A soldier in an iron armor stands imposingly at the village's wall, at his side there is another soldier, but slightly smaller in height and who wields a calm smile on his young face, instead of a slight frown like the imposing old knight at his side.

  "Old man, when I get old, will I be like you?" said the young soldier with his usual calm smile and jokingly tone towards his superior yet partner in night watch.

  "You won't be like me even on your most adventurous dream, Luke." the older soldier voice is sharp, as imposing as his stance and calm, too calm.

  "Ouch… you're so blunt, Matthew." said Luke, this time slightly less jokingly and more hurt, but still jokingly.

  "Anyways, d-" his words are suddenly finished and a choke sound can be heard.

  Matthew completely ignores that, because he's used to Luke's bad jokes, but he still turns around to check.

  "You good, kid?" his voice is calm, but on the same moment his eyes are on him all he can see is Luke on the floor with an arrow on his neck. Luke is still not dead, he struggles as he tries to breath but chokes on his own blood and slowly loses his life. Matthew quickly get a cover on the merlon and draws the bow from his back.

  "Damn" Matthew whispers to himself. He didn't see that arrow coming from anywhere, and he was as attentive as always, so, the person who did this was way too skilled, why someone so skilled would attack such a common and peaceful village? Matthew swallows hardly, for the first time in years, maybe decades, he's scared, truly scared. He slowly tries to take a look on the forest, but on the same second his face leaves the merlon, he feels a hand on his neck and sweet words being spoken on his ear.

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  "You can rest now" the voice is low, gentle, too gentle, and feminine.

  Before Matthew can process, the knife from the assassin pierces his neck and his last sight on this life is of the forest he's being staring for his entire life trying to guarantee safety to his people.

  The assassin calmly takes the knife off his neck and puts it back to her hidden sheath beneath the weird cloak. Weird because it looks like rags, rags you'd find on the floor or see a beggar using as a blanket, but that's not the weirdest part, the weirdest part is the color, the color is so, but so black that if the person using the cloak were in a dark spot, maybe under a shadow, see them would be impossible.

  The assassin keeps walking calmly on the wall until she finds a ladder, the ladder that connects the floor inside the village with the top of the wall, she calmly gets on the ladder and goes all the way down. She graciously steps on the floor and stealthily saunters around the borders of the city until finding the main gate, the place she was ordered to open, the problem is, there is two guards guarding the place.

  "Dude, you know that girl I told you about?" said the slim guard.

  "Sure I know, you yapped about her for an entire month." replied the burly guard.

  "She kicked my ass dude, on the first date!" said the slim guard with a frown and evident sadness on his face.

  The slim guard kept silent, waiting for the burly guard to answer him, when he did not he looked at the burly guard with an angry face.

  "You'd at least ans-"

  A knife pierces right into his right eye, marking his fate as he can feel the blade touching his brain. He falls dead on the same instant. The assassin takes the knife from his head and kicks his dead body, he looks at the two dead guards and smiles calmly and sadistically.

  "Disappointing" her voice is low, sadistic and amused by how easy it was.

  She goes to the lever that opens and closes the gate and calmly uses it, opening the gate. She looks to the forest that now can be seen and calmly do a sign with her hands that signals the invasion could finally start.

  Maximus is asleep.