Ellis arrived at the casino and dumped her sword into the umbrella stand outside, hiding it between the upright mess. She casually walked inside, with the casino’s cashier paying no attention to her. He was much too busy tapping away at his phone, not bothering to look up in the slightest, granting Ellis free entry. She doubted that he was even paying attention to his peripheral vision, making her entry even easier. Instantly, her ears and eyes were filled with the jingling noises of slot machines and the bright lights shining from the ceiling. Ignoring the incoming earache and partial blindness, she looked around at the crowded, bustling space and saw that Artificis was true to his word, as he always was. The man never lied. He had no reason to. His threats were real, his promises were faithful – and that was what made him so feared. Everything was always carried out to the exact detail and no part of the scheme was left to spare. His competition knew that whatever was said to them would come true sooner or later. He was the Reaper himself, carrying out his pledged retribution upon his enemies. As long as his right-hand was around, no one was going to escape from his icy claws of death. All they could do was run for their lives. Hiding from his agents was of little use. Everyone knew that his reputation was no mere story. Ellis’ eyes skimmed through the crowd. Almost instantly, she caught her target in her sights and locked in on him like a hawk, allowing nothing to distract her from her bounty. A man sat at the bar, sleazy, with short dark hair, just like Artificis had described. His tie was slightly undone and his top shirt button was open. His suit had seen better days. He had some thick stubble that was quickly growing into a beard and hair that looked like he had brushed through it in a single sweep with a broken comb. He was definitely not her type and looked like a slob, but the job had to be done either way. Without waiting for an invitation, she walked up to him casually, sitting down next to him. She looked at the alcohol bottles in front of her, waiting for him to make the first move. Being blessed with ethereal beauty did have its strategic advantages. As a result, it made her job so much easier and quicker to finish. All it would take would be one little distraction and her enemies' lives would be within her grasp. She threw her head back a tiny bit and shook it, waving about her glorious silver hair. It shimmered like a waterfall of liquid lead, catching the light. The man turned his head ever so slightly, glancing at her through the corner of his eye, and then went back to his drink. A couple of seconds went by, but his mental resistance was futile as its weak walls were easily broken down by the sweet melody of the singing siren. Giving in to his desires, he turned his head back to her again, fully this time, and she looked at him, acknowledging his gaze.
“Well, hello there.” He greeted her kindly, instantly enticed by her wondrous image.
“Good afternoon.” Ellis replied to him in her sultriest voice, giving him a smile, luring him into her deadly trap – not that it took much effort anyway.
“May I offer you a drink?”
“Sure, why not? A straight bourbon will do, thank you.”
The man's eyes widened for a split second and his eyebrows jumped up and down, surprised by her choice of drink. She was not like other women, it seemed. He snapped his fingers, facing his head forward, doing nothing to hide the growing confidence in his wonderful situation. “Hey, bartender! A bourbon for the young lady here!”
Without asking any questions, the bartender poured a short tumbler of the whiskey from an expensive bottle and placed it under Ellis' nose. He then walked off, leaving them to it. The man turned his attention back to her.
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“What's a classy woman like you doing in a place like this?”
Ellis shrugged casually. “Oh, you know, wandering about, going here and there.” Without saying another word, she drew a dagger out and immediately stabbed it into his chest. He gasped lightly, the air in his lungs being instantly forced out. His eyes ballooned out in sudden shock, but he quickly retaliated as he stepped back, drawing the blade out of himself. Without waiting, he retreated, limping away as quickly as he could, clutching at the gaping wound that poured his life force into his shirt like an open sluice. Ellis replaced the dagger into her suit and quickly grabbed the glass of whiskey, downing it in one swig. She could not let a free drink go to waste. Putting the glass down, she casually pursued after her target, not having to worry about any witnesses. Many of them were quite drunk to realise an attempted murder mere feet away from them. The bartender was too busy cleaning his grand's worth of squeaky glasses to hear the small scuffle behind his back. Ellis made her way outside, grabbing her sword from the umbrella stand as she did so, and looked around. The street was empty and her bounty was gone. She sighed and looked around for any clues. That was when she spotted the tiny drops of fresh blood on the ground. Giving herself a small smile, she followed after the trail and was led to a field. She climbed over the gate and saw him, frantically looking around, searching for a way out. He turned to her.
“Fine!” He suddenly shouted angrily, mustering up the courage to face his assassin. “It was me! I cheated that spectacled fuck! Besides, it was worth it for all that dough!”
“You may regret saying that last sentence.” She replied coldly, giving him a light warning. Her expression offered no hint of warmness, Ellis pledging her deadly promise.
“Why didn't you just kill me right then and there?” He asked her, slightly confused at the move that she had made against him. His heart was surprised that it was still beating perfectly. Ellis suddenly laughed, amused by his question.
“Did you really think that I would be stupid enough to kill you in a bar full of witnesses? That tiny wound was just to get you out of there so I can finish the job in peace.” Her eyebrows jumped up and down as she smiled at him, shaking her head the tiniest inch. “Nobody knows you’re here.”
Suddenly, rain began to pitter patter down onto them, but quickly turned into a shower, soaking them both to the bone. Neither of them seemed to mind the sudden cold water shock, more important things occupying their minds. Survival on one, murder on the other. Ellis threw her sword down onto the grass and ran towards him, grabbing the lapels of his suit, bringing him to the wet and muddy ground. She punched him in the face and went for another hit, but he dug his teeth into her knuckle, grazing some of her skin off. She screamed in pain and he pushed her off of himself, causing her to roll across the ground. They both stood up, muddied and sodden, both of their suits ruined. The man punched at her and she dodged the strike, sending her forehead crunching into his face. He collapsed to the ground, writhing in a quiet agony, pain shooting through every single nerve in his head. Ellis panted, wiping her mouth, spitting out the wet mud, and looked around, spotting a small shed. Walking over to it, she saw an axe laying against it and took it, stepped back over to him. She raised it into the air. The man blinked up at her and went to scream, just as she brought the executioner’s weapon down onto his neck. His scream ended as quickly as it had started as the heavy blade cleaved through his neck, burying itself into the ground. Ellis picked up the severed head by its hair as blood rained down from the stump. The head’s eyes looked around, seeming confused. Then it made eye contact with her. The head suddenly began to laugh without any sound and a couple of seconds later, it stopped completely.
