An Assassin's Anthem

The lines crashed together. Metal screeched, and soldiers screamed. Glowing attacks lanced back and forth.

Riley studied the field and threw, sending her blades streaking through a man barking orders. He staggered momentarily, and an arrow ripped through his throat.

The enemies surged forward regardless. She conjured blades and watched the enemy soldiers stream in, surrounding the group guarding the breech.

A line of archers formed, and magic rained on them. It crashed on shields, stones, and ice.

Riley paused. Should I activate my auras? They really should have told me more about this plan. She huffed and debated what to do.

Soldiers screamed, and she felt the pain of the nearby soldiers roll into her mind. With it came a growing desire to heal them.

“Riley! Dominating, now!” Travis bellowed.

Riley grabbed her inspiration and fed it all into the skill. The aura surged through the area, and she leaned against the wall. Focusing on the worst sources of pain, she began burning mana, sending healing to the wounded.

The pain grew. Like a storm of mental anguish, every cut and every wound surged into her mind.

Nicole knelt next to her. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“Not sure,” Riley panted, slumping onto the stone.

Nicole frowned. “What skill?”

“I can feel them. I can feel every cut.” Riley buried her head in her arms and sent out another burst of healing.

“Turn it off, Riley. Will the skill to only show critical wounds.”

Riley looked up at her, her vision dimming. She turned inward. Please. Only life-threatening wounds. The growing pain dimmed, fading back to manageable levels before surging. Gods, how many are on the brink?

Sending bursts of healing, she sat against the wall and fed heal after heal.

“Riley, don’t use all your mana. We need it for other things,” Nicole said sternly. “Help me with the archers.”

Riley forced herself to stop, anguish on her face. “What can I do?”

“Shoot them.” Nicole chuckled and walked back up the steps.

Riley poked her head up and looked out. Ivan was being swarmed. His sword cleaved through a soldier, sending blood spraying out onto the field. Soldiers rallied to him.

Stealing a bit of mana to get a soldier back on his feet, Riley studied the field. Where can I make the biggest impact? The archers on the wall were warring with the archers below, each volleying off arrows. Mages perpetually blocked them, and the melee below warred.

I’m not getting into that, but I could throw daggers into it. Riley studied the distant rangers. Arrows flew toward them, and the archers dove behind cover.

One shouted. The archers poked out just enough to volley arrows. The fort returned the favor, sending another volley.

Riley reached down and grabbed her spell book. Carefully watching their distant leader, she waited for him to bark orders.

“Fire!” the man shouted.

The group peered out, and Riley triggered Ambush. Time slowed. Shadows from the storm and fiery spells were everywhere. She targeted one at the end of the archery barricade and released her skill.

An enemy archer jerked up, and she sent void magic ripping down the wall. In the next breath, she triggered Ambush again, appearing behind the wall.

She peeked out to see chaos. The void magic crackled down the line. Stone and ice vanished and crumpled. Arrows streamed in, hitting the exposed line in the gap where spells wouldn’t work.

“Kill that bitch now!” the enemy commander bellowed.

Riley’s eyes went wide, and soldiers teleported.

The air rippled. Enemies appeared inside the fort, and soldiers spun. Riley stashed her book and spun. Looking down at the enemy soldier, she slashed his throat with a transparent blade. He gurgled and fell. The archers dropped their bows and grabbed swords. The sound of fighting chained through the courtyard, and the smell of blood flooded the air.

Spinning like a snowflake in the storm, Riley kicked a woman off the stairs and stabbed another. Blood sprayed around her. The teleporting enemy soldiers quickly vanished or died, surrounded by far too many foes.

Riley flicked her blades, sending them ripping through a slow soldier. Turning back to the wall, she looked out at the field. A row of dead archers lined the field, but the wall had been restored. Arrows soared out from behind it.

Riley ducked down and looked into the courtyard. A stream of soldiers flowed from the buildings. Vaulting off the stairs, Riley sent her knives blazing through the line, imaging them tearing at the enemies’ minds. The first soldier screamed, blood running from his nose.

A group of soldiers turned and charged. Riley stopped. Can I avoid allies with these? She conjured a blade and imagined it only hurting a foe’s mind. Then she pushed it gently against her arm. The blade passed through without doing anything.

Turning, Riley threw a blade, sending it through an enemy and clipping an ally. The ally didn’t notice. Perfect.

Conjuring blades, Riley launched them into the fighting soldiers and moved closer to the group of allies, using them as cover.

A captain barked orders. Riley continued her rain, and he paused to look at her.

“What?” the captain asked. “Who are you?”

“An old friend,” Riley said, throwing her blades through her allies and into the enemies.

“Lady Riley?” the captain asked, confusion on his face.

Riley shook her head, winked, and used Ambush. Appearing near the gate, she launched blades out into the mess. As the blades went through each person, Riley felt it.

Focusing on the feeling, she threw her blades again and felt a ripple through her mind. Trying it repeatedly, she sent blades streaming out into the troops while trying to better understand the connection.

“Soldier!” a captain barked. “The condemnation are you doing?”

“She’s with me,” Nicole called from up the steps.

The captain frowned. “What are you doing out here?”

“We had assassins,” Nicole replied.

The captain turned back to Riley. “My lady?”

Riley held her finger up to her mouth. She conjured replacement blades and threw them through the wall.

“Right.” The captain turned and ran toward a wounded soldier who was being dragged inside.

Riley burned a little mana to ensure he was stable. She turned back to her test, flinging blades while trying to understand that itch in her mind. It feels sort of like the healing one.

With a growing desire to experiment, she tried feeding a slight bit of mana into them before throwing. The glowing blades ripped through the wall. The first foe hit screamed, blood oozing from his eyes and nose. An arrow ripped through his throat, and he crumpled.

Well, that does seem to make them stronger. Riley conjured another blade and watched. Fireballs roared forward, and water slammed into them. Steam billowed everywhere.

Riley capitalized on it, throwing blades as fast as she could make them. The feeling in her mind grew with each hit. The steam cleared, and realization slammed into her. These are just psychic attacks. I’m using my mind for this. She threw a blade and felt her mind lash out, slamming into another person’s mind like a gavel.

Blood spurted from his nose, and the connection dropped. Riley felt her mind connect to the next. Could I just do this? Recalling her attempt with the rangers, she didn’t try more than one. Instead, she reached out and slammed into an enemy soldier. Blood spurted from his nose, and pain slammed into Riley. Her head pounded.

Grabbing her head, she grimaced and darted behind the wall. Okay. That can wait. She took several breaths and looked up the steps. A cowled man stood there with an angry look and bloody hands.

Riley forced up her mask. “Sir,” she said, walking forward. Don’t let him —

“Nice try,” Roger replied, grabbing her arm. “I know you far too well.”

“This is safer. They’re looking for someone else,” Riley replied, blushing.

“Nicole!” Roger barked and pulled Riley toward the barracks.

Riley groaned. “This is safer.”

“No argument on that, but we need your mana and strength for later.” Roger escorted her back to the room. Waiting a moment, he let Nicole in and slammed the door, spinning to look at both of them.

“Dad, be reasonable,” Riley said with a growing scowl. “This is a giveaway.”

Roger smiled and winked. His hands flashed. “Change back and get ready.” Then he walked behind her.

Riley triggered Assume Disguise and conjured her blades. What did he see? She stood there and waited.

With a burst of wind, a cowled figure appeared. More out of reflex than thought, Riley stabbed furiously. Blood splashed on her face and back. The assassin dropped, and a head hit the floor.

A searing pain rammed into Riley’s side. She gasped and turned in time to see blood erupt. The assasin’s head flew, and she stumbled, blood pouring out of the wound on her side.

Roger shoved a potion in her mouth. It tastes like cherries, Riley thought as her heart thundered and her vision dimmed. She watched the blurs around her. Blood splashed everywhere. Dad? She blinked and grimaced. Pain rolled up her side, and a head thumped in front of her, splashing blood all over her face.

Coughing, she tried to stand on the slippery stone. An arm reached down and pulled her up.

Roger pulled her into a hug. “Riley?”

“It hurts,” Riley replied, pain lancing through her side in growing fury.

The door opened, and Nicole shouted.

“Dad?” Riley whispered.

“Just hang on,” Roger said, shaking his head. “That rotten scout got a lock on you. He managed to run off, and I knew.”

Riley gasped. Magic surged through her, and the wound in her side knitted back together.

“Let me see her,” a booming voice said.

Riley looked over and saw a towering man walk into the room. His beard looked wild. He’s a ranger or druid for sure.

He walked up and inspected her. Magic flashed through her again. “She’s fine. Though, she should be careful,” the man said. He paused and met her eyes. “It’s nice to see you, Lady Riley.”

“Thank you,” Riley murmured.

“You’re welcome. I’m sure we’ll chat again sometime.” The grizzled man turned and walked from the room, shutting the door behind him.

Roger frowned. “Sorry. I was a little slow on that coordinated effort.”

“It’s okay,” Riley said, slurring slightly. She reached for the blood that was oozing down her face.

Nicole walked forward and dabbed it up. “Sorry, Riley.” She wiped away the blood.

“You don’t act like a servant,” Riley said, blinking at the girl.

“Because she’s security,” Roger said. “Who was supposed to keep you out of trouble.”

“We need the levels,” Nicole replied.

Riley chuckled and looked at her growing list of notifications, pausing at one.

[You have slain a level 262 human. +262 experience.]

She looked through the list and saw similar numbers. Another message popped up.

[Your base level has advanced: 287 → 288!]

She cleared it away, looked down, and watched the blood vanish. Her armor mended itself.

“Charge!” Travis shouted. His aura flooded across the group.

“Alright, Riley. Stay close,” Roger said, reaching for the door.

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