Oriel likes to do her work at night, but they were on a time crunch. She and Tassian didn't like scaring the townsfolk when they flew through the air. Instead, they resorted to walking through the town. Either way, they were going to be seen. Everyone notices their wings, swords at their hips, and their fangs when they smiled.

As they walked through the town, Tassian always walked at a pace behind her. He was always watching her back and his at the same time. The townsfolk backed away from them giving them a wide berth to walk through. Mothers clung to their children while some shielded their eyes. Occasionally a young child would try to wave at them and when Oriel would wave back their mother would snatch them up and run away. Men would sneer and reach for their knives, hammers, or anything they could use as a weapon against them.

"We need to be stealthier, Oriel," Tassian spoke lowly.

Oriel sighed. They went through this talk every time they had an assignment and had to walk through the town. "I know, Tassian, but there's no way for us to be stealthier." She turned to face him and walked backward. "Although I'm always open to suggestions. You got any?"

Tassian stared at her. "You know I don't. Turn around before you fall and pay attention."

Oriel rolled her eyes and turned around. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught movement from the rooftops. She snapped her head to the right looking for whatever was up there.

Tassian placed a hand on her shoulder. "I saw it too."

They stopped in the middle of the town's walkway and observed their surroundings. They were in the middle of the marketplace. Their assignments mansion was right on the other side of the marketplace. Venders lined the edges of the cobblestone. People were moving all around them. Most were sneering at them while others wouldn't make eye contact and turned away. Oriel reached out with her mind and tried to feel any unwanted presence but couldn't find any.

Tassian was in front of her now asking her a silent question.

"Yes," Oriel answered. "I'll keep walking. Signal if you find anything, but if not, meet at the assignments house."

Tassian nodded as he spread out his wings before taking off into the sky. He was going to find out if what they saw was truly a threat or not. Oriel and Tassian have always been jumpy. They've been taught to react first then think, but they did things differently. They had both seen what happens when you react before thinking. They've seen hundreds of innocent people killed because of it.

Once Tassian was in the air, she continued walking. She kept feeling out with her mind trying to locate the unwanted presence but never found anything. Maybe it was nothing, she thought to herself. We need to learn how to not be so jumpy at every movement. She shook her head trying to clear it and focused on her surroundings instead.

Eventually, she reached the walkway up to the mansion and surveyed it. It was surrounded by a tall brick fence that had vines growing messily on it. A large iron gate with the crest of the kingdom encircled in the middle of it. The crest was of a raven in flight holding a sword in its talons. Oriel always hated that crest. It always reminded her of the experiments that were performed on them causing her to have the same wings like a raven - the Queen's favorite bird.

She spotted Tassian flying around the mansion before disappearing behind the back. Oriel spread her wings and hopped the gate and landed on the other side. She took in the sight of the large house. The tiny house she shared with Tassian would probably only fit in one of the rooms inside the mansion. It was a large squared-off building with red brick. A large, double black door sat on the building with the same golden crest on it. Movement from the top right window caught her eye and she snapped her head over and watched the curtains snap shut.

They know they're there. "At least it'll be a challenge," she sighed. It was better when they put up a fight.

Oriel spread her wings and flew over the mansion and saw Tassian sitting on the railing of a second-story balcony.

"Took you long enough," he sighed as he smiled at her. "I don't know what that movement was, but I never anything. Could have been a bird."

Oriel crossed her arms. "It would have been a big bird."

Tassian shrugged. "Possible." He swung his legs around and hopped onto the balcony. Oriel carefully flew into the balcony and landed beside him.

"Someone saw me."

"Of course they did," Tassian teased her. "You always like to make yourself seen."

Oriel shoved him and motioned to the door. "You got it unlocked?"

Tassian grunted in response and knelt in front of the handle. He took out a small pin and proceeded to unlock the door. Oriel unsheathed her swords as the door opened. She started to walk past Tassian and through the door when he put an outstretched arm in front of her. He unsheathed one of his swords and walked in before her. When the coast was clear he motioned her inside.

She was surprised that the mansion wasn't boobytrapped and had guards running around it. This isn't the first time they had to kill an advisor, but before it had been a challenge to get in and had people to go over first before reaching their target. Here it felt different.

Oriel stepped into the room and waited until her eyes adjusted to the room before taking in her surroundings. They had walked into what looked like an office. Bookshelves lined the walls and the only light that came into the room came from the door. On the right side of the room sat a large oak desk and a chair line in red leather. On the left side of the room sat a super large table with papers spread over it. She walked over to the table and started to shuffle through the papers and maps.

"Wonder what he's looking for," she bit her lip as she picked up a map of the kingdom and noticed a red x placed over the seas.

Tassian came up behind her and spread the map further. They looked at each other before looking back at the map. He reached forward and picked up a scroll. He read what was on the scroll. "Queen Vega."

"She was the Queen before Krathys correct?"

Tassian nodded. "I wonder what this guy wants with her."

A sound came from outside the door that lead to the rest of the house and they both grabbed their swords. Tassian walked towards the door and held out his sword as he slowly opened the door.

The door swung open as a man in black garments ran at them with a sword. Tassian cut him off quickly and deflected his advancement.

"Eagle," Tassian growled at her, "go find the assignment." Eagle was a little pet name he had given her during their training and now he uses it on assignments.

She hated leaving Tassian to fend for himself, but she knew he could handle it. She gripped the handles of her swords tighter as she ran out of the room and turned into the hallway only to be met with three more men dressed in the same clothes as the other. All three of them were holding swords. She sighed as she spread her feet apart and held her stance. She wanted this done quickly, but now that's not going to happen. The man standing in the middle came at her and she met his advancement with her swords.

"What was that?" She heard Tassian yell at her from the other room.

Oriel grunted as she pushed off one attacker and the other one came at her. "Found three more, honey!"

"Be there in a minute!"

"Take your time!" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement and twisted her sword in her right hand and slashed it behind her. She felt something spray against her back and a gurgling noise came from behind her. She dashed to the left and landed behind the man and shoved both of her swords through his back. When she pulled out the swords, blood pooled out of the wounds. She heard the last man run at her and spun around the meet him. She pushed him off of her and backed up towards the doorway to the office. She smirked as he ran towards her and a sword went through his neck and blood hit her face.

Oriel wiped off the blood from her face as Tassian came through the doorway and pulled his sword from the man's neck. He looked Oriel over as he wiped the blood off on his trench coat. "Are you okay?"

Oriel nodded. "You took your time," she smirked at him.

Tassian shook his head at her. "I knew you could handle it. Let's go." He turned around and continued to walk down the hallway. Oriel followed him but stopped short when she heard movement come from behind the last door on their right.

"Tassian." She motioned to the door and swung it open. She stabbed both of her swords to the side and felt them empale two more men. She pulled them out as Tassian sliced both of their throats making sure they were dead. She turned to look at a man standing in the middle of the room quivering in fear. She shook the blood off of her swords and advanced to the man who she assumed to be the Advisor.

"P-p-please, don't kill me," the Advisor pleaded as he fell to his knees.

Oriel heard the door close behind her. "What did you do to make the Queen mad, Advisor?"

The Advisor quivered as he looked at her. "I was w-working on personal r-r-research."

"What kind of research?" Tassian asked as he landed behind him. He rested both of his swords on the Advisors causing the man to shake even harder. His eyes widened dangerously wide.

"R-r-research on Queen Vega," the man stuttered. "The Q-Queen V-Vega may be able to s-s-save this kingdom."

Oriel squinted at him. "You're being very open about what you were doing."

The man eyed the swords still resting on his shoulders. "The t-t-truth comes out when you're about to d-d-die." He turned his eyes towards her again. "S-she can help you. S-she can help h-h-him."

Tassian looked up at Oriel and tilted his head. His eyes held a simple question and she answered with a nod. Tassian crossed his swords and quickly sliced them across his throat. Oriel knelt in front of him and watched as the life left from his frightened eyes.

Tassian walked over to her and helped her up. "Think he was telling the truth?"

Oriel shrugged. "I don't know." She looked up at him. "I would like to find out. If she could help us, we would be free."

Author note: Thank you for reading! Leave a comment or a vote if you enjoyed this!