The Unseen Blade (The Unseen #1)

1

The mud is squelching beneath my feet, I’m trying everything I can to be quieter but it’s not possible in this terrain.

I may have the powers to be invisible but I’m definitely not capable of drowning out sound, that’s an ability one of my comrades has.

I knew I should have asked the silencer to come with me on this mission but I ran out of time and honestly, I mostly just prefer to work alone. If things go wrong, it’s much

easier for me to slip out when I’m invisible, than when I have to help someone else.

I quickly side step off the main path, if I’m going to be noisy, I need to be at least out of range of the soldiers ears. Which if I’m honest, they’re probably too drunk to notice but better safe than sorry with a mission like this.

I duck behind a tree to gather my bearings and organise my gear.

I quickly take off my pack and grab my daggers, strapping them to my thighs and the sheaths at my rib cage around my chest armour.

Normally, I’m much more organised but I took off in a hurry.

My commanders didn’t give me a lot of time for this mission and I’d have normally demanded more but this case is time sensitive, as the enemy soldiers will be moving tomorrow night.

Missions never worry me anyway, even with tight time constraints or lack of planning.

I’m used to it from the years at the Agency and if I’m honest, I love the extra pressure.

Ever since I was little, I have always had the god of death looming over my shoulder, so when things go south, it just makes me feel closer to home.

That’s part of how I got my reputation as the most deadly assassin in Hidale. It makes me smile whenever I hear other fae telling the stories of me around tables in taverns.

‘The invisible assassin who has no fears.’

That’s what I hear most of the time, it’s always the same but no one truly knows me.

If they did, they would know that I’m not fearless.

I hold one fear and it has been the same for over a decade.

Though, over the years I have forced it into the back of my mind.

But it’s still there, I feel it threatening to break the surface every day.

After I fix up my weapons, I realise my braid is coming loose, so I make sure to quickly tuck that on top of my head in a crown.

I’ve learnt my lesson from my previous missions when I was younger.

I accidentally flicked someone with my hair as I was trying to sneak past.

They realised there was an invisible fae roaming around and managed to grab my hair and yank me back.

I still completed that mission but it made things more complicated and threatened to put a damper on my reputation.

Which I would rather not do, as my reputation for being a good assassin and thief keeps me in the higher ranks when I’m with the army and earns me more money on personal missions back at the Agency.

I almost sigh at the memory of the Agency, I hate it there but the missions were nicer.

For now, I’ve been conscripted to the army’s special forces, which is a lot less glamorous than my usual contracts at the Agency.

I never thought I’d say it but I’d love to get back there.

I’ve thought about running a few times but even if I did run from the army, it would be a while before I’d be able to get my job back at the Agency.

They had signed a contract for me, so even if they wanted to take me back, they can’t until I have completed the terms.

Years ago it used to be voluntary but when soldiers stopped coming home and Hidale’s citizens stopped volunteering, they had to make conscription orders instead.

I don’t agree with it in the slightest but I work with what I have.

It’s honestly much worse for the fae with no experience that get conscripted.

I’m one of the lucky ones.

I’m now ready to move, so I make my way around the edges of the enemy soldiers camp, still staying invisible just in case there’s some guards on watch.

I’m on the lookout for their main tent. Our commanders want an artifact that will apparently give us an edge in this war, so that’s what I’m stealing before they move to the next post.

I peer out from the outskirts of the base, there’s a bunch of little forest green tents with men and women gathered around camp fires in front. I note their uniforms, they’re dark grey but have no patches or anything of significance. They’re definitely just regular soldiers, so I keep walking on.

Usually the more important tents are in the middle, ensuring they have forces protecting them from all sides but this one’s tricky to spot in the darkness and especially from the outside.

I’m going to have to go in, I grab my dagger from my thigh and make sure it’s blending in with my invisible body before I head further into the camp.

When I’m invisible, I have to concentrate to turn the objects I’m holding invisible as well and it can weaken my powers, depending on how big the object is. For a dagger and my pack, I can keep those items and myself invisible for hours, which should be much more than I need.

I sneak around the first tent, still trying to keep my noise to a minimum, the sparks and pops of the fires and chatter of soldiers should be enough to keep me concealed.

I’m trying to listen out for conversations, anything that will tell me where the artifact or the main tent might be when I hear someone sobbing and begging.

The sound is something I’m not unfamiliar with but can’t stand all the same. I move slightly closer to listen in.

“Please no—” I hear a woman beg, voice breaking and sobs erupting from her.

“Please leave me alone!” The woman yells through her cries, but it sounds like it’s no use. I hear the unmistakable sound of a man grunting and more struggles from the woman.

“Help—” she cries out again, “anyone, please.”

Her voice is so desperate, sounding like she’s about to give up, give in.

I don’t blame her, no one’s going to help her here. The women in the army are often ignored and heavily mistreated, rarely anyone steps in.

My heart breaks for her, I can’t let her be hurt, even if she’s on the enemy’s side. It’s barbaric what these men do and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

I start to make my way towards the woman, her sobs and cries for help are starting to sound more and more desperate, if that were even possible. I look around the camps and no one is paying her any attention.

Fucking useless soldiers.

Even the soldiers that do care won’t do anything, they get beat up by the other men for stepping in.

I increase my pace, I don’t think anyone will pay me any attention as I get closer to her either, they’ll try their best to tune out any noises they hear in this direction from now on.

It’s better for them to seem like they had no idea than to look like a coward. Gods, they make me sick.

I walk around the last tent between me and her. The woman’s cries have subsided. Though I can see her still trying to get away, still kicking at him as her back is pressed against this much bigger man. I watch as he’s trying to haul her back to his tent. Disgusting pig.

The woman’s putting up a decent fight considering the size difference, I’m actually surprised she’s held him off for as long as it took me to find them.

I strengthen my grip on my dagger and move closer.

Because of the height difference, there’s an opening at the side of his neck.

I waste no time and fling my dagger straight towards his throat.

I was able to get so close that he doesn’t notice the dagger turn visible as it leaves my grip but she does and her eyes go wide.

I'm internally begging her not to scream as I’ve already risked my mission to save her.

Thankfully she doesn’t and as the dagger hits its mark, I let out a breath.

The bastard lets go of her and falls to the ground with a thud, clutching his neck and sputtering.

The woman doesn’t hesitate to take her chance as soon as she’s free from his hold.

She sprints off to her tent, away from the man, or his body I should say.

He’s stopped moving and has finally taken his last breath. Good riddance.

I make my way over to the man and grab him by his feet to drag him into his tent. I don’t bother to make him invisible, it would take too much energy and the bastard is already hard enough to drag as is. I channel some power to help me drag him quicker and get him inside the tent.

Normally soldiers share but this guy looks like he has one all to himself.

I may have just killed a high ranking soldier but I couldn’t care less.

Though considering he is high ranking, I figure I may as well look around his tent.

He might have some clues or at the very least some valuables that I can take.

The tent is small and dark, only being lit by one lantern on a box next to his stretcher.

I grab the lantern and hold it up so I can see more around the room.

There’s a table in the middle with a bunch of discarded parchments.

I pick them up and start sorting through them, there’s just maps and personal letters.

Flicking through the maps I notice that some look different to ours, they show the same land but there’s markings that aren’t listed as main cities or towns.

The markings could be outposts, supply drops or even planned attacks, all useful information to someone I’m sure.

I tuck one of the maps into my pocket, maybe I can sell it to someone that’s looking for some more information about enemy plans.

I would give it to my commander but I don’t want to give anything to our leaders for free. I may technically be on their side in this war but I still don’t trust them or care enough to help them without something in return.

I leave the tent carefully, so as not to raise suspicion with a tent opening by itself.

Though, if I’m honest, no one really notices that stuff anyway.

It was surprising to see how much I could get away with over the years when I would test my powers.

Everyone tends to be too fixated on themselves to notice anything.