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Alix approached the heavy wooden door of one of his haunts, quickly slipping his metal key into the lock and twisting it deftly. He stepped inside, dumping his heavy load into one of the rooms.

The place was never meant for holding someone captive; it was naught but a place for a man to settle down. As such, the room into which Seria's limp body fell was furnished fairly nicely. Though this was the closest thing to home for Alix, he had never felt a need for frivolous furnishings. This one particular room was Amasha's study, of sorts, so it was more comfortable than any other chamber of the small building. A flameless candle sat on the worn wooden desk, a quill pen and sheet of paper sat neatly beside it as always.

On one wall there was a varying array of weapons- swords, daggers, bows, quivers, throwing knives, darts, and a few staffs, most obviously had been out of use for a long time. The wall opposite was covered with shelves from ceiling to floor, covered in various herbs and other unidentifiable substances, containers coated in Alix's scrawled handwriting. The herbs were the most used of the two collections -particularly since Alix had no skill in any weapon save the dagger, though that was still only enough to be able to hold it without harming himself. Most of the purpose of the other weapons were to be sold during the times that Alix was unable to find a job.

Normally, he would be able to scrounge up enough money to keep himself alive, but with a wife to care for as well he took further pains to make sure she had enough of whatever she needed to survive. Her life wasn't the best one, but she never went in need of something; Alix made sure of that, for she was his sole companion and had kept him sane through the long years.

Luelon took a slightly nervous breath. He walked into the room willingly, and sat down beside Seria. He glanced at me.

He heard Luelon as he took a slightly nervous breath. The man walked into the room willingly, and seated himself besides Seria. He glanced at Alix.

"What now?"

Crouching down, Alix tilted his head towards Luelon, feeling a brief flash of pity. He punched the man in the face, hard. Standing up casually, Alix wiped the blood from his hand onto the leg of his breeks. That felt good, he admitted. The man had been getting on his nerves for quite some time now.

"That," He answered simply, watching Luelon as he bit his tongue, trying to suppress crying out as his nose broke. Alix gave a slight shrug and barely noticeable smirk, though the other noticed neither of these, too concentrated on the pain coming from his face.

"It does have to be authentic."

Turning and leaving the man to deal with his new problems alone, Alix strode out of the room. He sighed as he went, brushing his hair from his forehead.

As he went, he passed Kaeva in the narrow, short hall. The man was one of the few he trusted, and nodded to him without a word. The man would find the two others soon enough, and Alix had no doubt he would know what to do.

Alix went into his own personal chambers, where only himself and his wife were permitted. He made quite certain that no one else could enter without his acknowledgement. White in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and turning his head saw the neatly folded note upon the bed. Walking to it, he picked it up, unfolding it, and quickly scanned his eyes over it. After reading it, he set it back down on the crude bed, sighing slightly in relief.

So that's where she is. Alix felt better knowing she was safe.

As Alix was preoccupied in his own chambers, Kaeva walked into the room on the other end of the building, now containing the two new elves.

Luelon looked up as the door opened, seeing the guard.
At least, he assumed it was a guard. The man looked oddly feminine, soft facial features showing beneath a cloak that fell around his head and shoulders, down almost to the floor, he assumed due to the high cold. Auburn hair, dark in the dim light, could barely be seen around the heavy fabric.

Luelon felt Seria stir beside him, and decided that he'd best begin the act now, before she was fully awake.
Unsure of whether the guard was aware of what was fully going on, he subconsciously made up his mind to act afraid just in case.

"What do you want with us?"

He did a relatively good job with the emotions in his voice, but not to the proper effect; he sounded more annoyed than concerned.

In the long run, it didn't matter at all, since Kaeva ignored him, knowing that Alix would be annoyed at best if he were to find out that the guard had spoken to either.

A slight groan escaped Seria's lips, and Luelon fought the urge to look at her, to reach out and grab her hand. To his momentary relief, he soon had a distraction from Seria, for Alix walked back into the room. He had heard Luelon's voice vaguely; just enough to catch the tone of a question. And so he kicked the man in the stomach, keeping his face in a calm expression.
"Rule number one. You will speak only when spoken to."

Luelon gave an involuntary gasp and grabbed his stomach before giving Alix a glare, only half-faked.

Alix started back out of the room, nodding to Kaeva, and locking the door behind him. "Kaeva, I need to talk with you." The other man gave no reply, simply watching and waiting for his master to continue. "You must not speak with either of them, though I think you know this by now. Do not enter that room unless it is absolutely necessary; give them their food, and leave. No more." He paused in his speech, looking at Kaeva, dryly thinking that the man would be dead before the morrow. Pity.
"You'd best scrap up something for them to eat. I can't have them starving on me, and it may be that they will spill all they know if they feel comfortable. If they're smarter than that -which I doubt-, it won't matter."

Kaeva nodded. He already knew most of what was said, but had listened obediently anyway. Turning, he was off, and Alix leaned his weight into the wall, heaving a tired and annoyed sigh.

Within a few moments, he heard voices coming through from the other end of the door.

Seria had since managed to weakly open her eyes, head throbbing. "Luelon," She said, softly, throat dry, but her voice was still angry aside from the grogginess.

"What are you doing here? I haven't seen you si-..." Her eyes closed mid-sentence, and she passed out again, too tired and in pain to remain conscious.

Hearing nothing at that time, Alix reluctantly stood up straight, and unlocked the door once more, walking in and closing it firmly behind himself. The woman was still out cold.

He seated himself in the chair by the desk, after turning it to face Luelon - with no arms on the plain wooden seat, he could sit easily. He rested his arm on the back of the chair, which was now to his side, and looked at the other elf thoughtfully.

"You know, it's funny," He mused, "you still haven't asked me what I do yet...what my job is."

"I don't care." Luelon replied flatly. "It isn't important to me. Although, I do suppose it has at least something to do with killing."

"Yes, that would probably be considered a large part of the job description."

He glanced at Seria's still-prone form. "When's your lady going to wake up?"

Luelon started to give a sharp reply to the 'lady' comment, but thought better of it, and shrugged. However, she had been slowly regaining consciousness as the two men discussed.

She coughed up a bit of blood, before speaking sourly. "Okay, I am staying awake this time." It was a barely muttered sentence, hard for either of the men to hear properly.

Alix gave a slight, genuinely amused smile, straightening up in the chair. Seria pushed her self from the floor into a sitting position slowly, wincing as the pain in her head increased.

For the first time, she noticed Alix's form sitting there in the room. Slowly raising herself to her feet as her balance improved, she shot him a venemous glare. "Damn you."

As her vision cleared and the throbbing of her skull began to subside, she pushed herself away from the wall, and balanced unsteadily on her own two feet. Stepping forward, she curled the fingers of her right hand into a loose fist.

"I'll teach you to hit me." She growled, mind still not completely clear.

Without a prior warning, she was bounding across the room with all the speed of an elf and towards Alix.

"No! Seria!" Luelon shouted in thickly mocked horror. He made a grab for her wrist as she went past to stop her, and purposefully missed.

Alix flipped the short, blunt knife at his side out of it's rough sheath and into his hand. The woman began to barrage him with blows; wild hits and grabs with no plan. While she managed to kick the chair out from under him, Seria overall did little harm, and none that would do her any good. Once he had risen to his feet, he assessed the situation automatically, with little though. He had to stab blindly, without a target, as she was moving too quickly and unpredictably to be able to accurately work the blade as he wished.

So he lashed out quickly, but pulled back with the same speed, making sure that the cut would be shallow and not enough to cause her permanent harm, no matter where his blow struck.

The whole thing was over in a matter of seconds. Luelon was unable to see anything past the tangle of furious blows being exchanged. Now that they were still, Seria having had stepped back away from the man, his eyes caught the shallow gash beneath the fingers that covered it. Blood had already begun to soak her clothes.

Alix moved quickly, barely allowing Seria any time to view the wound. He stepped forward, closing the distance she had made between them when she retreated. Grabbing her throat, Alix pushed her forcefully against the wall, knocking the breath out of her lungs. Seria's breathing spiked as Alix increased his grip, slightly, though she could still force air into her lungs.

"Don't even bother trying," he started, moving the dagger upwards, a few inches from her throat, "or next time it'll be your neck."

He let go of Seria, righted the chair, and sat back down again, as if nothing had ever happened. The knife slid easily back into it's place at his side, and he watched her. "Cooperate, and it'll be easier for both of us."

As soon as the man had let go of her, Seria fell automatically to the floor, not expecting him to move away so quickly. She had come to her senses now, the pain from her shoulder bringing her back. Moving towards Luelon, she looked at him with an odd expression. "What is going on?" She asked quietly, voice holding a panicked note.

"I don't know," Luelon lied smoothly. "I just ended up here, the same as you."

Seria suddenly gave a start, and her eyes narrowed, watching Luelon suspiciously. "Did you tell him?!" she asked, tone raising slightly, knowing that if Luelon had even hinted towards it, all could be lost.

"Tell him what?" The male replied, in a comforting tone, attempting to calm you down. "You never told me anything..."

Seria bit her lip. "Well...there's nothing...that anyone could want...that I own..." she choked the words out slowly.

Luelon wrapped his arm around her shoulder comfortingly, and rolled his eyes as soon as Seria had turned her head to stare at the ground, unable to see him.

Alix decided it was time to break up their little moment.

He crouched down in front of Seria, gently lifting her head with his finger.

"Now, don't be silly. You can tell me anything," He said gently, before his demeanor changed.

"Either way, you will tell me everything, one way or another."

Seria struck at him, smacking his hand away. "Don't touch me," She growled, glaring at him.

Alix certainly wasn't happy at this, and he let his anger show on his face. Reaching for her free wrist, Luelon spoke. "Seria, honey, please calm down." He silently pleaded with his eyes.
"I don't want to see him hurt you again. Just...tell him what he wants to know."

She fought back frustrated tears. "But I don't know what he wants!" She snapped back. One of the tears fell from her eyes, running down the side of her face.

The assassin glanced at Luelon. "I'll deal with you two tomorrow. Let's see if a little time can't help you get your priorities straight." As soon as he saw that Seria was looking away, he gave the other man a brisk nod and forced smile, and walked out.

"Kaeva!" Alix snapped, once outside of the room. "Stay outside of this door. It is unlikely that they will be able to get out of it, but in any case..." He left the sentence hanging. The other man gave a tired sigh, but moved to the door anyway.

Meanwhile, Seria had lost what little control she had remaining, and her body deserted her. She was now sobbing, leaning against Luelon, murmuring things he couldn't catch. The man bit back his annoyance and did his best to act just as afraid as she, hearing Alix's footsteps fade into the distance.

"I don't know what he wants," Seria repeated, loud enough now for him to catch.

"I don't know either," Luelon replied softly. "I...I heard him mention something, though. Apparently, he did not take us from his own idea; he was paid. Whoever bribed him enough to come here mentioned something about getting information out of you...what you call, 'your treasure'." He spoke quietly, attempting to push some information out of her.

The change in Seria's face became obvious. "No..." she said. A fresh wave of tears swept over her and she sat there crying on Luelon. Luelon just patted her back, bored.

The change in Seria's expression was painfully obvious. "No..." She started. A fresh wave of tears swept over her, and she sat there, crying on Luelon.

The man just patted her back, bored.

"But there is something?" Luelon asked her, still pushing for answers.

Seria nodded. "I just...can't tell you what it is..."

Luelon nodded, though inside it was somewhat triumphant. At the least, I know that there is something...

He changed the subject. "We have to get you out of here." He smoothly picked up the key that was laying on the ground as he inspected the perimeters of the room, then headed towards the door. Slipping the key into the lock, he faked effort, as if he was attempting to pick the lock without a key.

He doubted that it worked at all.

Silently, he opened the door, and pocketed the key.

He started to open the door with silence, but Kaeva was plenty aware of the movement, having taken his position leaning on the door from the outside. As the wood swung inwards, Kaeva fell with it, the hood falling from his face, underneath it a pair of red ears amidst his hair of the same color.

Another of the mutations, Luelon thought with disgust. With a quickly snapped spell that drained Luelon's energy -although he had sapped some energy from the guard, who was too distracted to avoid it- the guard lost consciousness.

He turned back to Seria, bending down and reaching out for her hand to help her up. "Come on, now. We've got to get out of here, quickly."

Airrata. She thought silently to her dragon, who picked up on it.

Yes, little one? The voice responded in her head, deep and resonating voice soothing.

Do you have any idea where we are?

I do.

"Airrata is outside. Or, she will be, soon." Seria muttered to Luelon. He nodded, and led her through the small house towards the exit, grateful that the place was so little; he could work his way out without Seria being suspicious of him finding the exit so quickly.

It was only a few minutes before they were on the scaled back of Airrata, who blended in gracefully with the blackness of the night about them. The burdened flaps of her wings shook the air, slowed by her two passengers.

Weariness was taking over Seria. Against her will, she slumped back against Luelon, half-asleep. She could smell his shirt...it was just the same as she remembered. It was her favorite scent in the world.
It calmed her dawn, and she fell into a restless sleep.

And so the dark creature disappeared into the inky blackness.

~~~

"You idiot!"

Kaeva was still regaining consciousness as Alix spoke sharply. The kick in the ribs brought enough pain to bring him back slightly quicker. The man blinked, confused and startled, unable to suppress a moan as he woke.

The voice was spoke in a mock anger; Alix was more annoyed at having to wake from one of the best sleeps he'd had in a long while.

"They're gone. It seems that someone has made a mistake."

Alix had already found and pocketed the rest of his money that morn, stuffed out of Seria's sight the night before. Now he stood, glaring down at his guard, waiting for an answer.

As his mind sluggishly began to comprehend the words spoken to him, Kaeva shook his head. "And?" He retorted, not bothering to try and protest. Though he was unsure what exactly happened, he would be the one blamed no matter what his reply was. 'Admit' it or not, he'd be damned either way, so Kaeva dryly supposed it wouldn't put him any worse off to say what he was thinking at this point.
"There's really nothing you can do about it now. They're gone."

Alix suppressed an amused smile, taking a step forward.

"You seriously think I'd have a problem killing you?" He asked, cutting to the chase? "You've seen me at work, you know what I can do."

As his stood, Kaeva's first words were lies. "Yes, I do think you'll have a problem. From what I can tell, I'm the only person that works with you, and it's very obvious you've become dependant on me."

"Don't think for one second that I require you for my job or life, because you'll just be lying to yourself."

Still calmly watching his guard, Alix's weapon –less of a sword and more of a long knife- was out of his sheath and into his hand. Without warning, he cleared the space between the two, gripping Kaeva's shoulder tightly and turning him slightly as he shoved the guard into the wall, pushing his blade neatly through the younger man's ribs, feeling the familiar resistance of flesh beneath his blade, which he angled so that it punched his heart.

Alix dropped his suddenly limp body carelessly, before disposing of it with a spell.

No one would search the deepest parts of a forest for a man almost no one knew of.

~~~
Alix strode casually into the room where Luelon and Seria had been, footsteps trodding over the drying blood of both the guard and the two 'prisoners' wounds.
He cast his glance along the chamber, and his eyes quickly uncovered a bag resting in the corner. As he picked it up, he noticed how light it felt. Alix frowned and opened the cloth sack, but it looked like it was all there.

Well, that's strange.

His eyes narrowed. The only other explanation would be...

It took a lot of self-control not to run to his own room, and he almost did, upending the bag and it's contents onto the table. The coins spilled over the wood, shining slightly in the light. After running his hands over the metal, he quickly snatched a bottle from one of the shelves. Nitric acid.

Lifting one of the coins, he let it lay in the palm of his hand. Tipping the small glass container slightly, he let two drops of the liquid fall onto it.

With painful slowness, it's color changed.

He dropped the coin, swearing violently. That dirty, lying, thieving elf...all of it was counterfeit, he was willing to bet on it. Turning, he picked up part of his original payment, and repeated the process with one of those coins.

The once gold surface turned to black.

All of it was fake.

Luelon was going to be so very sorry for this.