"Its always fucking something," Karth groaned as he rolled out of his bed and slipped his boots on. He still didn't know how his powers activated but he tensed his body as his hand rested on the door knob and tried to anticipate what or who could be out in the hallway.
His door squeaked as he slowly pulled it open. The hallway was empty as the creaking of the floor continued. He quickly and quietly hurried down the hallway following the mysterious noise as it got louder but still he still found nothing.
Karth's sharp hearing picked up light footsteps behind him. He whirled and still found nothing. "Who's there?" he finally called out.
A sharp laughter was his only response as he followed the bouncing laughter down the other end of the hallway. Doors blurred by as he wove through the hallway, turning left and then right before the hallway ended. A blue brick wall that was in sharp contrast to the rest of the hallways that he had been through.
"There will always be more of us than you can stop," a sharp voice hissed as laughter continued from behind the wall. "You better make sure the King is alive.
"Shit!" Karth darted back the way he had come before realizing he had no idea the layout of the castle or where the King's quarters would be. He raced down the hallway until he came the door leading to the dungeon. His eyes scanned the surrounding area until he found the red door where he had met with the King earlier.
He rushed over and pulled on the handle. It didn't budge. Karth banged on the door but to no avail. He glanced around for a stair case or anything that looked different then the hallways he was in.
"Can I help you assassin?" A gruff voice grated against the air.
Karth whirled to see a guard approach him. The guards instinctively had his hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword. Karth didn't blame the guard. He too would be apprehensive if he saw an assassin trying to open a locked door where the King would normally reside.
"Can you take me to the King?" Karth asked the question so quickly he wasn't sure if the guard understood him. He took a few breaths between answers to try and calm his racing heart.
"Why do you need to see him at this hour?" The guard gripped the hilt a little tighter.
The last part of that question caught Karth off guard. What hour was it? He glanced behind it at the massive pristine windows and saw the sky was now dark. He had slept the better part of a day and yet he was still tired.
"There is someone or something after him," Karth breathed out. "I need to make sure he is alright."
The guard's sword flew out of the sheath. "What is after him?"
"I'm not sure but we mustn't waste time," Karth took a few steps toward the guard and was met with the tip of a blade.
"I don't trust you even if you are working for the King," the guard's eyes narrowed at the assassin.
"I don't give two shits if you trust me or not," Karth waved the guard's blade away from his face. "If the King dies then it is ultimately on you for stopping me from saving his life."
The guard lowered his blade and sheathed it, too slowly for Karth's liking, before motioning for the assassin to follow him. They rushed to a nearby hallway that ran across from the King's Room. They made their way into a small crevice that blended in with the now blue walls of the hallway.
The guard made it through the crevice without hesitation and didn't look back to see if Karth was keeping up. Karth was keeping up with the guard no problem but he was more importantly taking mental notes of the path he was taking to the King's sleeping chamber.
The crevice dumped them out into a dark cold concrete corridor. A lone torch was lit in a hanging wall sconce that the guard took and thudded along the corridor.
Their footsteps echoed throughout the corridor as they made their way to a black iron door. Two guards stood sleepily at attention when they approached.
"What are you doing here Ang?" The guard on the left asked the guard who tried to catch his breath next to Karth.
"The King is in danger San," Ang answered the guard.
"What are you going on about?" The other guard asked. "No one has come through this way."
"The King's assassin believes someone is after him Dag," Ang's tone was sharp.
"Gods you guys waste a lot of time," Karth said pushing his way past the guards. The metal door was heavy as Karth put his full weight into it. Slowly it opened inward as his eyes adjusted to the candlelight that lit up the bed chamber.
The King stared wide eyed as Karth entered the room. Standing over the King in his bed was a woman with a flaming sword raised over her head ready to bring it down.