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When nobody came out to answer Kayna, the half-elf decided to cast a clairvoyant spell. She could not see the assassin that had kill the orcs but she was certain that she was not alone. The half-elf was impressed by the skill of the assassin and the deadly poison that killed the orcs. She had no intention of becoming his next target. She wondered why he had not attack her, he certainly had plenty of opportunities.
"He could have been one of the mercenary hired by the caravans. It would be reasonable to assume that he had wanted avenged the gruesome deaths of the merchants..." the female analyzed.
She sprinkled another handful of powder on the silver bolt and tried to capture an image in her mind. The result was a small burst of harmless green explosion.
Nothing...? How can it be nothing? I have one of the assassin’s weapons.
It did not make sense to her that she could not get a glimpse of the assassin’s identity. She could not even feel his presence through the spell. She had one of the assassin’s personal weapons as a spell component, under usual circumstances, it would have been more than enough for her to get a complete image in her mind. Yet, she had nothing.
She felt helpless and weary from the battle. For one that had survived countless battles, she was not accustomed to feeling helpless. The only thing in her mind was to flush out this person from the shadows. She decided that it would be wiser to go into a more open area where there would be less places to hide. She quickly read her emergency teleportation scroll, a spell she always packed for emergencies. Imoen had given her several empowered teleportation scrolls for her to use whenever there was a need to. Even with her own magical talents, such a teleportation spell was still beyond her abilities at this moment.
"Whoosh!"
The half-elf found herself a good several miles away from the battle scene. She felt safer with the distance between herself and the assassin widened. She had no clue if the assassin had followed her but she was not going to remain in sight. The female strained her pointed ears to filter out any foreign noises from her new surroundings. She was relieved to find herself alone, or so she thought. The half-elf quickly made her way out of the forest.
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The stalker had observed the half-elf investigating the dead orcs. He had not expected the half-elf to find his tiny silver bolt amongst the bodies. These bolts were so small and sank deep once they hit their target. His trademarked silver bolts were one of his most deadly weapons and he could fire them with deadly accuracy. These orcs had skin so thick and were so huge that it would take a very keen eye to even notice the bolts.
When he saw the female gathered a handful of powder from her pouch, he anticipated her next move.
Very clever, half-elf... but you've underestimated me.
He slipped into the shadows and was pleased to find the frustrated female gasping in surprise at her failure. He gazed directly into her eyes under the cover of the trees, she could not see him but he had made his appearance felt. He was not surprise when the half-elf fled the battle scene, that was typical of his quarry whenever he chose to make his presence felt. What did surprise him was that the half-elf was resourceful enough to teleport away. He was further impressed by her wizard talents.
His reputation was not gained by hearsay, he had the means and resources to track a quarry and he had never lost a quarry before. He slipped out of the shadows and approached to the site where the female had teleported away. The aura of powerful magic still lingered in the area and the resourceful stalker could estimate the location of his quarry. The half-elf had disappeared into a portal opened by the teleportation spell. The male dabbed some of the powder left by the portal. Such powder was not visible under normal sight but to one with magical talents, he could easily see the remains of any spell casted.
He chanted his own spells and was able to open a similar portal. He gleamed with pride and slipped into the opened portal.
No quarry ever escaped.
~(@)~
Kayna reached Trademeet within two weeks. She had teleported several times and traveled without much rest. Since the battle with the orcs, she had felt that someone was stalking her. One who was very resourceful and skillful in tracking her. She was amazed that anyone could still follow her through the series of teleportation spells she used. Apart from being impressed, she was also angry. The half-elf was upset that she had to miss a lot of fun crossing the forests, just to lose her trail. Though she did not want to admit, she was feeling wary and fearful for the unpredictable. The stalker's motives, his identity and if he was another assassin after her life.
She was relieved to see the gates of Trademeet in sight. The female was sure that she would be able to loss her stalker once she was in the city. Trademeet was a busy city; merchants and caravans from over Faerun came to do trading here. Her sister Imoen lived in Trademeet with her husband, Kelsey. The half-elf was eager to see her sister again; she missed the mischievous mage and the times they spent together laughing over pranks and jokes they had played on others. The other reason was that Imoen was a more powerful spell caster than the half-elf. Imoen would be able to flush out the stalker with her spells, if not with her thieving abilities.
Her footsteps were considerably lighter as she entered the familiar Trademeet.
After all these years, Trademeet was even busier than she remembered. She had to wait in queue for the caravans to register their entrance and the streets of Trademeet were decorated with flashy sale signs and notices of an upcoming festival. The half-elf felt at ease immediately, shaking off the dark cloud of weariness.
Her first stop was to Imoen's house. As she walked into the corner of the street leading to Imoen's residence, an idea came to her. She had missed her fun in the forests, and was dying to make up for the loss; She crept to the main door and sprinkled some black powder on the door, and chanted a small harmless spell. Next she knocked on the door with her fists and stood aside.
Poor Kelsey was the one who opened the door. The moment he opened the door, he sense an aura of magic. The sorcerer hesitated and looked around for hostility. The half-elf took full advantage of his hesitation by throwing a handful of black dust on the sorcerer. The result was a sorcerer covered with soot and a half-elf laughing hysterically on the ground.
Kelsey had not seen the half-elf from where he was standing. The mischievous half-elf had been taking cover behind the walls and she had timed her 'attack' precisely. He shook his head in defeat as he realized this was but the first of many he would suffer.
"I glad you are happy, Kayna. Are you going to come in or shall I leave you here? I'm sure you know, I'll not open the door for you a second time," the sorcerer sighed.
"Wait for me... Ha!" The half-elf was still giggling as she followed Kelsey into the house.
