The Final Mission

Rov 20, 4717
 
Last night was my final mission with Aunt Ellyria. The innocent blood on my hands will never wash off.
 
Ellyria received word that a Drow the Lantern Bearers wanted eliminated was in the forest midway between Omesta and Siavenian. He had taken an Elf for his wife and they were living off the beaten path. Ellyria's mission was clear: assassinate Dian Wyldroc but leave his pregnant wife unharmed. There was no to be no Elven blood spilled.
 
The cabin was dark and silent when we arrived. The nighttime sounds of the forest were the only things to be heard. Simple and quick, Ellyria promised me. After we assessed our surroundings she surprised me by telling that this was to be my kill.
 
I told her that I wasn't ready but she assured me I was capable as I slid through the open kitchen window. Silently, I made my way to the open bedroom door and waited outside for a moment to collect myself. Then I heard movement in the bedroom. Before I even knew, a tall dark figure emerged quietly from the door. Panicked, I thrust my dagger towards the figure's chest. I prayed that it was Wyldroc as my blade plunged deep into flesh. As I twisted the dagger, the shadowy figure screamed. I drove the blade in further but there were no sounds of death. No gurgles, no death rattle. This was certainly my target- the voice was too masculine to be anyone else.
 
The screams of surprise and fear quickly changed to agony- not pain, but anguish. Blood ran down my blade as I pulled it back. I could feel blood drip on my hand. Stunned, I looked at the dagger gripped in my hand and then at Wyldroc's chest. In the darkness I could see that the was holding something I had struck instead of him!
 
Slowly I realized what he was holding. As his wife rushed toward his blood-curdling wails I saw the newborn baby, now lifeless and mangled in ts father's arms. I gasped.
 
Horrified, I ran. I ran out the door and toward the woods, screaming for Ellyria. When we regrouped in the cover of the trees I described the scene. I was nearly sobbing as I told her bout the child, who could not have been more than a week old.
 
"Excellent!" she said. "The only blood spilled tonight was tainted blood."
 
"TAINTED!?" I exclaimed. "That was a fucking *child*!" Ellyria went on to call this the best possible outcome. She had heard the child had just been born and knew the target and his wife would be exhausted and distracted. The perfect time to strike.
 
She *knew* the child had been born. She *knew* the baby would be at risk during our mission. Yet she kept that *secret* and sent me in anyway.
 
We will return home tomorrow and two days after is the Swallowtail Festival. That will be my chance to leave Avennara for good without being noticed.
 
If the Lantern Bearers knew I was planning to leave . . . well, I wouldn't make it out of the village alive. I know too much.
 
Leaving undetected is my only chance.
 
-- Ryel