The Sly Enemy

"Signore, that was a very unusual way of testing a person for a job. You could have killed me." Natalia, still amused, said as they walk the halls of Tigreal's home to his library. She notices the halls decorated with gold moldings and extravagant chandeliers. She knew Tigreal holds an important position in the empire to own such luxurious home. "I see that this is not a simple 'delivering a letter' task like Nestore told me."

"The letter bore the monastery's sigil." Tigreal said as he put the letter out and read, "It says here 'to ensure the reputation of the assassin the elders have sent after, you may want to have to challenge her to a duel'"

"Challenge a duel? You attacked me off guard!" Natalia claimed.

"Like you are completely helpless." He sarcastically answered. "I know the church won't send a weakling after this mission. Besides, I saw you spy and observe at my house before talking to the gardener. What you wear, your stance, the way you place your dagger, were of no ordinary assassin. You even single-handedly held me defenseless earlier. That's impressive. No one can do that, not to me."

"So you've met a handful of assassins then?"

"I did. Some work for the Moniyan Empire. Usually I oversee their training. But this mission got the better of them. We have recently sent a dozen to gather information but very little return. Those who don't, we believe met a very unfortunate end. And the ones who returned were not even normal anymore. They started to act strangely so we keep them safe at the castle dungeon while we observe. I wouldn't want another one to go through the exact same fate."

"Strangely? What do you mean?"

"They are erratic, resisting and attacking the guards like crazy. They bite, scratch and some even steal a sword and tries to fight while they shout like they were some kind of demon."

"You say they were possessed?"

"Maybe. I don't even know how to describe it."

Natalia tries to process everything in her head. She had dealt with killers, thieves and thugs but not demons and evil magic. How does she plan to fight this off? She needs to know more.

"I'm surprised Signore Nestore have not informed me anything of this." She said as Tigreal reached for the keys to his library. "If I'm going in alone I wouldn't know what I'm fighting."

"You will know more. I'll show you."

As they enter the library, Natalia immediately noticed the huge, open book at the table in the center. Tigreal approached the book and turned the pages.

"This is a book of what we know of the abyss. It holds some of the information our researchers gather regarding their empire."

"Empire? There's a whole lot of these people out there?"

"We suspect, yes."

"You mean I'm fighting off an entire empire?" Surprised, Natalia said.

"It sounds as though you are afraid." She is however, afraid at the thought of not knowing anything about their enemies. Tigreal points at a page with an image of a man, almost sly looking, grey-haired. "This here is Faramis. He is a master sorcerer and necromancer. He wields a very powerful magic capable of bringing dead people to life."

"Well I have to admit that's a useful magic."

"It is, but these people return no more than a walking corpse. They can fight, but they are mindless."

"Sounds like a boss to me. We bring him down, and all the abyss comes with him." Natalia cockily claimed.

Tigreal smiled at her innocence. "Sorry to end your little party but I believe not. He can possibly be working for a higher, more powerful mage, but the identity we know nothing of."

"Could he be the one experimenting on your assassins?"

"They definitely are. We have studied Faramis' work. If it was him the assassins should look like a corpse but they returned almost clean, only crazy and wild." Tigreal sighed. "I hate this. The enemies are always one step ahead of us. There might be mages spying at us right now we don't even know." He then looked at Natalia. "We are going to need you to spy. Know their plan, study their movements. Right now we have nothing against these men so be very careful. While you gather intel I will try my best to raise our odds against them. If you are as good as Nestore claims then I should not have to worry."

"I'll work on it Signore."

"I trust that all will be well. Should you need company do not hesitate to ask me. But right now I doubt I will be of any help to you. Stealth is not exactly my strong suit." Tigreal said.

Natalia immediately went out of Tigreal's house. She knows this task will not be easy; necromancy and evil magic. She will need to rethink her approach. As she's walking, lost in her thoughts, Matteo runs towards her in panic.

"Natalia!"