Part One - Blood on the Briar
The Faileas disturbed nothing with their movements. Not the snap of a twig, clank of stone, or crunch of dried leaves underfoot. Even in near darkness, their movements were perfectly placed. They were as the word Faileas meant in the old language, phantoms. Their prey on the other hand clumsily scrambled through the woods leaving traces of blood and broken branches. The prey they stalked was a wanted criminal that had stolen from people of influence. Requesting a name to be added to the Prey List was not cheap or common. More so, to add to the strangeness was the request made to them regarding this fool.
Dath eyed the man in torn clothes who was on his knees drinking from a river between gasping breaths, while the three other members of his claw were spread out doing the same from a different vantage. Raising his hand upward he flashed his fingers in sign to tell the others to hold. Stepping out from behind his cover Dath walked casually up behind the man, amused at how easily it would be to end his life. With a quick swipe of his blade, he made a small cut on the back of the man's neck. In fear and surprise, the fool scrambled forward into the water looking at Dath with wide and confused eyes before the paralytic toxin set in and those eyes rolled into the back of his head. Seeing the figure awkwardly collapse into the shallow water the veteran Faileas barely contain the contempt he felt. It would be far easier on both of them to just let the man drown, yet a contract once given must always be fulfilled. The Grand Owl saw something in this man he didn't see and as he pulled the body of his newest apprentice from the water Dath knew he had his work cut out for him with this one.
