Last Dart Of The Scholar [ADDED]

[El Scumbago]

Last Dart Of The Scholar
by Astochus Enrinus


Once, there was a famous scholar who was brought to the court of Mournhold to inspect the security measures of the Royal Palace, certify and improve them.
At the very same time though, the Dark Brotherhood who operated almost openly in the city, was charged with the duty of finding a certain person and eliminating it.

Rumor had it that the target of that death contract was right there, in the court of the Royal Palace. Silent and efficient as these killers were – and still are – they couldn’t be tracked, setting all the royal heads in great headache and confuse.

All know that no one has stood between a Dark Brotherhood assassin and his prey and survived, and this knowledge caused everyone in the Palace to be extremely cautious.
The scholar was also warned but paid no attention to the advice and kept wandering around at both day and night, organizing his thoughts and seeking inspiration.

Night after night everyone was locking themselves indoors while the scholar was enjoying the silence in the corridors of the Palace.

A week passed, and while nothing was heard about the assassin, everyone kept locking their doors and sleeping next to their arms.
Finally, a night like every other, the scholar was sitting on a bench next to a supposedly insignificant resident’s door, reading a tome thick and heavy as a Nordic war hammer, under the blurry light of a bug lamp.

Suddenly he felt the air going cold and a gentle breeze blowing. He felt a cold chill down his spine and stared to the end of the corridor, where an exterior light revealed a window had been opened.
He tried to calm himself down and begun reading again.
Not a second after, he saw it; a dark cold shadow had silently made its way next to the bench he was sitting, making no sound, probably because of crawling cloaked next to the darker parts of the corridor.

The scholar gathered all his courage and spoke; “So, the person you were meant to assassinate is me?â€Â￾
“Noâ€Â￾, the shadow replied, “but you are standing next to his door and you saw me. I am now forced to kill you. It will be quick and painless.â€Â￾
The scholar knew he had nothing to lose, so he decided to provoke the assassin in an attempt to escape a destiny he had done nothing to deserve.
He stared into the two bright spots that were the shadow’s eyes, reflecting the light, and said with arrogance: “And what gives you the right to think you are barely worthy of killing ME?â€Â￾
The assassin was surprised by the scholar’s reaction.
“Wh-what gives me the right? Have you any idea of my profession? Have you any idea of who I am and how good am I in what I do? I’m twice as good an assassin as you are a scholar.â€Â￾

The scholar smiled with satisfaction. He had noticed that the assassin was carrying five darts on his belt but no blade of any type.
“If I am to die, I have to know that my killer deserves the honor. Prove yourself to me and not only I will show no resistance, but I will also tell you how to enter this man’s room without sweating.â€Â￾

The assassin smiled, not even suspecting the scholar had already set a plan in motion.
“Very well, I shall do so. It’s not often that I prove my worthiness to someone else than my masters.â€Â￾
“Very wellâ€Â￾, said the scholar, “I shall set a small test for you, and I do hope it will be within your capabilities.â€Â￾
“Nothing is beyond meâ€Â￾, the assassin answered with his voice filled of pride and arrogance.
â€Â￾Alright then, do you see the painting of Lady Barenziah in the end of this corridor?â€Â￾
The assassin nodded with his head.
“I want you to hit the center of the Lady’s forehead.â€Â￾

The assassin aimed and shot one of the darts, hitting precisely the center of the forehead that was drawn on the Lady’s painting.
“Not bad, but not good enough. Now I want you to hit another dart onto the one you already fired.â€Â￾
The assassin nodded again, aimed, and hit the previous dart right on its tail.
“Good shotâ€Â￾, the scholar said, admiring the assassin’s efficiency and skill but trying to show calm at the same time.
“Let us go to the semi-finals now, shall we?â€Â￾ he said with a bright smile.
“Fire two darts at the same time and hit the Lady’s eyes. Oh, I think I see a lack of confidence. Is this task too difficult for you? Perhaps you’re not as great as you let yourself believe.â€Â￾
“I’m thrice as worthy as you, and when I’m done you will die slowly!â€Â￾ the assassin said with anger, being totally focused not at his mission, but his evaluation.

Preparing two darts and aiming for several seconds, he fired. The darts hit the spots on the painting.
“Ha, see for yourself scholar! I am unbeatable.â€Â￾
“I do congratulate you, you are indeed a professional, but to be my champion of death you still have one last trial.â€Â￾
The scholar took the little bug lamp that he used to carry from the bench and placed it on another bench, several meters away.

“Your last and most important trial, assassin; from the point you are standing, fire a dart. Do not hit my bug lamp though, I am assured you can.â€Â￾
The assassin smiled.
“Instead, I want your dart to fly so close to the lamp that it will create a wind powerful enough to put out the light of its candle.â€Â￾ Saying these words, the scholar went and stood right next to the assassin.

The assassin prepared his dart, aimed for much more time and finally fired.
The dart hit the flame and put it out before getting spiked on the wall.
The assassin smiled with confidence and reached out for his darts to fulfill his promise to the ignorant man who was arrogant enough to put these test in front of him.
Suddenly his face grew pale. He realized he had used all his ammunition to complete this ridiculous trial and hadn’t even thought a blade could come in handy.
The scholar on the other side -like most people- had a dagger with him as always, just in case. Shutting his eyes, he gathered all of his strength and stubbed the helpless assassin several times in every part of his body.

When he opened his eyes he was standing over the assassin’s dead body.

"It finally seems that I am not only ten times the scholar you could be, but also twice the assassin you were."

[Arthmodeus]

2.B.MW