“Don’t worry about me,” replied SunChaser. “I have been spying in this city for a long time. I know how to keep out of trouble. Get going.”
The Sakovan assassin nodded and rechecked the street before darting across it. When he looked back for SunChaser, she was already gone from where he had left her. HawkShadow gazed up at the building and plotted his course. He chose a section of the wall not far from the lit window, but not directly near it. His hands rose above his head, and his fingers felt the smooth stone for a hold. He tightened his fingers on the small sliver of stone presented by a seam in the wall. He pulled his body upward as his feet sought a perch.
Slowly, HawkShadow climbed the exterior wall of the headquarters of the Imperial Guard in Okata. He moved unhurriedly and deliberately as he inched upward, his fingers beginning to feel the strain. When he reached the third floor, his hands grasped the sill of the darkened window. He pulled himself up a little higher and tried to peer through the shutters into the darkened room. He could not determine if the room was occupied.
HawkShadow found a higher perch for his feet and then removed a small thin strip of blackened metal from his belt. He slowly moved the metal between the shutters and unlocked them. He restored the metal strip to his belt and eased the shutters open. He still could not see anything inside the room. It was too dark.
The Sakovan assassin eased his body through the window and quietly slid to the floor. He felt around with his hands and discovered the corner of a desk nearby. Slowly, he stood and closed the shutters and locked them. It took him several minutes to cross the room, each step taking with the utmost care to avoid banging into anything. When he reached the door to the corridor, he placed his ear against it to listen for sounds outside the door. He heard nothing.
HawkShadow eased the door open, flickering light from distant torches illuminating the hallway. He gazed through the crack and saw two Imperial Guards standing outside the next door along the corridor, the door to General Lafor’s office. HawkShadow silently closed the door.
The minutes passed slowly as HawkShadow let his eyes adjust to the darkness again and then inched his way back across the room to the window. He unlocked the shutters and opened them. He gazed down at the city streets for several moments before easing through the window and hanging from the sill by his hands. Again his feet sought a perch that would allow him to reach the middle of the window. He reached for the thin metal strip and set it in place as he closed the shutters. He manipulated it gently until the lock slid into place.
HawkShadow stowed the metal strip and started to inch sideways across the rear face of the building. He moved in excruciatingly small increments until he approached the lit window. The flickering light flowed out the window and illuminated the windowsill. The Sakovan assassin knew he would also be illuminated when he was entering the room. He turned his head and gazed at the street below, his eyes searching for any sign of a witness. He saw none, which was mildly disturbing, as he knew that at least one person down there was watching him. Could there be others?
The Sakovan assassin pushed the thought from his mind as he lowered his body half a pace. He inched rightward until he was under the windowsill and then reached up and grabbed it. He hung there for a few moments, letting his fingers rest as he used his wrists and feet to keep himself from falling.
HawkShadow pulled himself up and peered into the room. General Lafor was the only person visible. The general sat at his desk facing the door and drinking his alcohol slowly. HawkShadow lowered himself below the sill and waited. The assassin mentally kicked himself for not waiting longer before scaling the rear of the building. Now he was forced to hang onto the stones and wait for the general to pass out.
HawkShadow’s muscles started to cramp, and he changed positions several times. Again his eyes drifted downward to see if anyone was watching. He was just about to climb down the building and wait the general out when he heard a dull thud pass through the window. He pulled himself up again and peered into the room. The general’s head was on his desk, his glass was empty and near his hand.
HawkShadow silently pulled his body through the window. He immediately slid along the wall so that he was not visible from outside. The Sakovan assassin stood behind the general’s chair and gazed about the room. A torch not far to his right was the only illumination in the room. HawkShadow moved to it and extinguished it. He crouched behind the desk and waited to see if the sentries outside the door would peek in when they noticed the light had gone out. Of course it was possible that they could not tell it was extinguished. The hallway also had torches, and HawkShadow had no idea if the light from the office would be noticeable to the sentries. He waited several minutes to be sure.
HawkShadow rose and moved behind the general. He reached out and grasped the general’s head and gave it a quick twist. The crack sounded loud in the confines of the small room, but HawkShadow was sure that it was not loud enough to alert anyone. What he was about to do next would not be as quiet.
The Sakovan assassin knelt next to the chair. He tilted the chair forward, causing the general’s head to slide slightly across the desktop. Grabbing one of the rear legs of the chair, HawkShadow exerted pressure on it until it cracked loudly. The noise shot through the silent room like a giant tree falling in the Sakova. HawkShadow heard the sentries outside the door say something to each other. They had obviously heard the noise, and he pulled a Sakovan star from his pouch as he waited for the door to open.
Several minutes passed without anyone trying to enter the room, and HawkShadow returned the Sakovan star to his pouch. HawkShadow stood and pulled the general’s body up against the back of the chair. He slowly lowered the body and the chair to the floor so that it looked like the chair had broken a leg and caused the general to collapse along with it. He painstakingly arranged the body so that the general’s head was against the wall at an angle. He hoped that the death would be considered an accident; otherwise the soldiers in Okata would be alerted to the presence of an enemy. When everything was properly arranged, HawkShadow slid through the window and climbed to the ground.
* * *
SunChaser cautiously opened the front door to her mansion. She smiled when she saw Lyra, StarWind, and Goral. She waved them in and quickly closed the door.
“It is so good to see the three of you,” smiled SunChaser. “Did you have any trouble getting into the city?”
“Surprisingly none,” answered StarWind. “I would think that the Imperial Guards would be very alert during a war, but the ones at that gate hardly bothered to look at us. Even Goral did not faze them.”
“HawkShadow assassinated General Lafor last night,” grinned SunChaser. “I do not think you will find much attentiveness from the Imperial Guards in Okata any more. The Monitors are another matter, though. There are several hundred of them, and they take their jobs seriously. Come and join the others.”
Lyra stopped when she entered the dining room. Her eyes passed over the assembled group with surprise. She smiled as she nodded to each of them.
“I am surprised to see some of you here,” the Star of Sakova said, “but I am glad that each of you is here. We have a daunting task ahead of us.”
“Sit,” smiled Temiker as he rose and pulled another chair to the table. “Let’s begin by reviewing where we are in this war.”
StarWind and Goral picked up chairs for themselves, and everyone gathered around the table.
“We are in far better shape than I ever imagined possible,” Lyra began. “General Romero surrendered at Alamar. General Kapla is fully entrenched as a Sakovan now. Thanks to SunChaser for that piece of work.”
SunChaser grinned and shrugged her shoulders. “He took a liking to me.”