The Assassin's Passage

A gust of wind dashed past the locals, a plaque hanging under his arm as he swiftly swept over a bundle of crates and barrels. His eyes shifted to view the hurdle of guards running with bayonet-muskets and cavalry sabres dashing through the crowd of weary civilians and only stopping to aim their muskets or find a way around the objects that the assassin merely moved through. The assassin took a sharp left turn into the walled-off area which for some reason was full with a clutter of people blocking and flooding the gate. The assassin quickly attacked the plaque to the hook on his belt and checking its stability before jumping onto a crate and grasping the sign of a barbers shop, swinging on it and hastily moving almost seamlessly over the wall, he landed on the stone path by the fountain, he couldn't roll and damage the plaque and so he swayed to the side and stumbled slightly before jumping over the large water feature and balancing on the thin border for just a moment before dashing rapidly inside of the town's centrepiece church. Three guards stood on the inside all loading their muskets as soon as the assassin entered the main room, his path quickly diverted, he grasped the bookshelf and pulled it in front of himself, all three bullets came charging towards him, he wasn't quick enough and was struck on the shoulder by one, as the other two were absorbed into the bookshelf. A short glance to the side had revealed a new escape route, an entire hallway hidden behind the one bookcase and on the wall, a lever. The assassin dashingly pulled the bookshelf over the hole once more and yanked as fast as possible on the lever, watching the stone wall cover the hole he had just snuck through. He removed the plaque from his waist as the pain from his shoulder surged through his body, the arm of his white shirt was completely bloodied and continued to bleed. He inspected the plaque and to his dismay, cracks and blood droplets were scattering the entire wooden and metal piece. A large groan escaped his slightly opened mouth as he began to walk slowly down the dark stone hall, venturing into the tunnel he had now trapped himself in. Just about now, he was thinking about how it would've been wise to look before locking the door as he wasn't sure there'd be an exit on the other side and the guards would most definitely not leave any stone unturned. His vision began to become blurred and his legs couldn't seem to walk straight, and as he lay against the wall attempting to regain his sight, the whitest light blasted his eyes and when he could finally see, he was laying on the ground against the wall and the plaque was no longer in his arms but on the ground, face down. A mysterious figure waded from the darkness and waved a hand in front of his face, the assassin let out a few indistinct mumbles as the bearded man leant down and picked up the plaque, turned it over and sniggered at the damage.

"This is no use to us! If you want to be a real member of the darkened crow, at least bring us something that's in good condition." The man launched the plaque towards the assassin's face and it struck him directly in the nose, bursting it open.

"Darkened crow?" The assassin mumbled as the man turned to walk away.

"Hmm? You're telling me your not an assassin or a thief attempting to join the biggest band of assassins and thieves in the country and you just happened to bring an item we want into our catacombs? Ha!"

"No." The assassin groaned as he struggled to a stand, still pressed against the wall.

"No?" The man repeated, clenching his fist and swiping it across the face of the injured assassin. "See your self out, commoner." The assassin sighed and begun to walk back down the hall, dragging blood across the wall before looking back to the man and reaching for his dagger, in one swift movement, he dashed for the man and pierced through his neck only slightly, pinning him against the wall.

"I'm not attempting to join, I'm taking over." He forced the dagger completely through the man's neck and dropped him and the dagger as his neck gushed across the floor. The assassin took a deep breath and walked forward towards a wooden door, as he opened it, he found himself upon the stage of an underground room. "The leader is dead, I appoint myself the new leader of the Darkened Crow and I demand medical attention on my arm, don't believe me, see for yourself." The assassin walked off the stage as all the assassins and thieves around him peered through the door. A female and male dashed towards the bleeding assassin and immediately begun to perform certain procedures to remove the bullet from his arm and patch it up. Gasps of horror filled the room as more and more people saw the previous leader lying dead on the bloodied ground, and because of the blood on the walls, people began making up stories on how the fight went, envisioning it much different than it was. The assassin began to look around as his arm was being patched up, seeing candles filling every inch of a large table.

"Each of you, take a candle... and burn the unworthy leader." Everyone nodded and done as instructed, everyone began burning the clothes of their previous leader. Once the assassin's arm was fixed, he walked over and grabbed a canister of oil, unscrewed the cap and walked over to the burning clothes and crowd of people.

"Move!" He screamed as he launched the oil over the dead leader before wiping his bleeding nose and grabbing a candle. "Throw!" He instructed as everyone launched their candles towards the body and it engulfed into flames.