Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Playing with the Shadows
Chapter 16: Playing with the Shadows
***
Blood dripped out of Arthur's body, poling down on the ground. He coughed out blood, and blood also came out of his nose.
The three men took out their knives at the same time with clear glamour. Showing that they were professionals. They didn't make any silly movements or anything too flashy, a simple kill that went for a man's weak spots, heart, balls, and brain.
They silently started cleaning their blades, no words were exchanged between the guards and the healer.
Then they got ready to clear the body, and the first one to go forward was the healer. But as soon as he touched Arthur, the body on the ground started to disappear into specks of red light, like the crimson webs of a spider.
"What?" Asked the healer with calm confusion. But the surroundings around them shifted and changed, and the next thing they knew they were all tied up.
***
-Arthur XVI-
I stared down at the tied-up people in front of me. Using a weak Hypnosis spell worked on most humans, and even would be able to put 1-5 people to sleep, depending on the potency. Though it was a weak-class spell, it was very useful.
Its drawback was that it could be resisted for some time and victims of the spell could also grow resistant to it after some time. So it had quite some drawbacks, but as long as it was used smartly, then its effectiveness was undeniable.
But I had started using this spell as soon as they had come into my tent.
I had already noticed before that they were enemies. If I had fought them head-on, I would lose. Even with magic, three professional assassins are deadly in close combat, especially since I was severely weakened.
Sighing I walked towards my dead 'subordinates' and started unclothing them. I completely stripped them naked and even checked if they had any weapons hidden in their mouths or any other place normal people wouldn't check.
After doing that, I take out three vials from my pouch. Magic had many uses in this world, and this was one of them. The Drought of Living Death… had another name in a high Valyrian language, and it had a different meaning too. But by now I had learned quite a lot of strange potions names and changed their names into something simpler in my mind. Something that would help me remember their functions.
I had to remember these things by heart because writing them down or having books about them around wasn't too good.
I dropped the vials down the three assassins' throats. The Draught Of Living Death, without the antidote, they will never wake up and their bodies will eventually die from hunger and dehydration.
Magic in this world might not be the army-destroying kind, or even anything close to that. But even then, it didn't mean that it wasn't a useful tool when used correctly.
Baam!!
I kicked one of them on the chest, probably cracking a couple of ribs. Then I slapped the others as hard as I could. This was done in an attempt to try and see if serum worked.
Magic is an untrustworthy power, it will decline, become stronger or even go away completely sometimes. Trusting something like that was the last thing I would ever want.
Still, none of the men showed any signs of being conscious. I extended my hand towards my healer's face and like an invisible mask, the 'face' of the healer was pulled off and it showed a whole new face behind it.
"Fucking faceless men," I muttered, clenching my teeth in annoyance, but then I took a deep breath and calmed down.
I had always been on guard against these guys as even with my magic I couldn't notice them. But they were still human, and although they copied the two guards perfectly, they missed one thing. The healer, they had copied him very perfectly too, but the way he walked while he was in my presence wasn't the same.
When my healer sees me, he always walks a certain way and radiates a certain vibe around him. Something that they didn't copy. Pretty much, the healer was a kissass, someone who always tried to please me.
Normal people wouldn't probably even notice the minuscule change in behavior. But due to my hawk-like eyes, everything was laid in front of me. I assumed the worst when I noticed the small change, and it was the worst kind of situation… faceless men went after me.
Normal people wouldn't even notice but with my Hawk Like vision, I could see it. And immediately assumed the worst-case scenario, which was the worst.
I can already guess who ordered the Faceless Men, not a lot of people have this kind of power. So the options on who did it were limited, but that didn't mean that I would let them go. No… I will take care of this problem and rip it straight out of the root.
Immediately I went towards the side of my tent and pulled out a large cloth and put all of the faceless men in the middle and made it into a sack with all of them inside. They might die, but I didn't care about it that much. I went outside and made sure to intensify the angry stride on my step.
"Guards!!" I called out, and immediately some people around looked at me curiously. But my guards immediately came towards me. "Notify all of my men that we will be returning to Essos."
They didn't question anything and just nodded. I then went back inside my tent and took out a quill and started writing a letter. My eyes suddenly flashed and my hawk showed another one of my men moving suspiciously. Oh, I know that guy, he was the spy sent from my 'friends' if I am not mistaken.
After I finished writing the paper, my red hawk came into my tent and I tried a letter to its leg, it knew what to do. I was returning to Braavos and there was a lot of work to be done there.
As the hawk flew off, I smiled a little regretfully since now my eyes in the sky would be gone. But this was necessary, as its wings flapped and it flew up high in the sky without anyone noticing anything.
As I saw this, I couldn't help but rethink some of my plans to stay in Westeros any longer. It seemed like watching the Mad prince Rhaegar Targaryen sealing his fate by doing something dumb wasn't something I would be able to witness.
***
After five hours I had everything ready and went towards the Ravenry of Harrenhal, there was another job that had to be done here. As I entered, I saw one of my soldiers, the only one who hadn't gathered yet and was supposed to be in the shitter. Good excuse, I will give him that since no one would question it due to the gross details.
I stalked him like a cat and my steps were silent and just as he was about to tie a letter into a raven's leg.
Fwish!
I stabbed him on the back of his neck, the tip of my knife came out of the front of his jugular. He tried struggling, but it was for naught as strength was drained out of him and his body lost all signs of life.
I grabbed the letter from his hand and smiled. As expected, it was a notice sent to-
Suddenly I felt something strange and looked around. Someone else was in here with me? Fuck. The ravens were startled on the corner, someone was there and I knew how birds behaved in these situations.
I quickly copied the handwriting from the letter and changed the message and with one look into the raven's eyes, I subtly hypnotized the creature and sent off the note. Looking around, I pulled out my sword and looked around cautiously.
"Come out, I know you are there," I called out toward the pillar and a figure slowly came out.
_____
A/N: Arthur's hawk vision is very helpful in the general gist of things. It helps with archery and even noticing things that no normal human would. For example, the birds were already distressed due to him killing someone, but the small distress they showed due to another presence in the room wasn't something anyone else by Arthur would notice.
Now the stakes will rise even higher as enemies who Arthur… Well, I won't spoil it and you will see in the next chap who the enemy/enemies are/is.
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