by Brian Keller
The Kinsman
Journeyman Assassin
by
Brian Keller
Copyright Brian Keller 2019
All rights reserved.
This book a work of fiction. All characters and events within this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Content may not be copied or reproduced in any way, with the exception of brief quotes included in reviews, without the expressed permission of the author/publisher.
The author may be reached on Cooper’s Page on Facebook or found on Goodreads.com
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 1
“This is not the time or place for a killing.” Cooper nearly spoke the words. As he lay concealed on a rooftop in The Dregs, he watched as Egil leaned back against a building and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Cooper was thankful for the breeze that was coming in off the water. It helped dilute the stench that wafted through The Dregs, the neighborhood that acted as the drain for the city. Paleros was a port city and it was already growing warmer as spring moved into summer.
Almost two years ago, Egil had broken a few of Cooper’s ribs, punctured a lung and almost killed him. But right now, Cooper had someplace he needed to be. He slid away from the edge of the roof as he pushed thoughts of murder from his mind. It would just have to wait for another occasion. Master Brais, his Movement and Stealth Instructor, was expecting him in a briar patch north of The Wounded Stag, the only tavern in the Dregs that was even remotely reputable. He had probably already taken too long, but now that he knew where to find Egil, any reprimand or punishment would be accepted with a grim sense of satisfaction.
Cooper had sometimes wondered how he’d feel when he saw Egil again. He thought he’d feel more emotional; scared, angry… something. Actually, all he felt was that killing Egil was simply something he needed to do; something to be done so he could move past it. Egil should be about fourteen, maybe fifteen now. The boy had already Manifested when they first met, meaning he’d reached puberty and had ‘come into’ whatever Talent for manipulating elemental power he was going to get. He’d shown a significant affinity for Earth, which gave him great strength but only as long as he could maintain concentration on it.
The challenge ahead of Cooper now was in getting to his next rendezvous point. To do that he needed to cross one of the widest thoroughfares in The Dregs. He called this area The Dregs, everyone did, except maybe City Officials. They called it the ‘South Warrens’. Perhaps that made it less unappealing to have to patrol it, or walk through it in order to collect taxes. Putting a different name to it couldn’t possibly improve the smell. The Dregs is where the sewer lines of the city emptied into the bay. Cooper couldn’t imagine why anyone would even put buildings here, but someone did, and then a bunch of others joined them. Go figure. The only reason he could fathom for the Dregs to even exist was that it was a place for the poorest trash in the city to live and still be close to the Trade Quarter. The Dregs was south of the Trade Quarter. Cooper grew up in Batter’s Field, which was north of the Trade Quarter but was also bordered by the Waterfront District. As a younger kid, Cooper was much happier to wake to the distant smell of fish than the stench of raw sewage. Even now, with the nighttime breeze coming off the water, it was difficult to bear. While houses in Batter’s Field looked like hurricane wreckage held together with baling wire, it was still a step above the ‘South Warrens’.
For the last year, well, eight or nine months if you insisted on accuracy, Cooper lived in the Guild after being recruited by the Assassin that had killed Skaiven. In fact, Skaiven’s body probably hadn’t even reached room temperature by the time Cooper had accepted the offer. Kids without parents, or a House, didn’t tend to survive long. He would be eleven years old soon, or maybe he already was. Usually he’d wait until he felt the breezes turn warm, then he’d count that as his name day. Whenever he could recall his mother celebrating his name day, the breezes had just turned warm. Today the air still held a little chill.
Cooper looked along the street. It was late enough, or early enough depending on your perspective, that traffic was almost nonexistent but the intent of stealth training was to remain undetected… completely. Not simply ignored due to someone’s inebriation or disinterest… undetected. Everyone had some ability to manipulate elemental forces, some even had the ability to manipulate more than one. Cooper wasn’t unique in the fact that he had a Gift for channeling energy which allowed him to manipulate most of the elements, but it was rare enough that he’d been told to conceal his ability. Apparently there were others that would attempt to kill anyone with abilities like his. As a result, he resisted the urge to manipulate Nature and blend with the shadows to conceal himself and focused his efforts on finding a suitable location to cross the street unseen. He looked north and south. The only person in sight was a drunk laborer that appeared to be simply looking for a suitable location to urinate. The unbidden thought came to Cooper, “You’re in the Dregs, mister. Anywhere would be fine…”. The man was facing away, leaning against a building for support, and exerting some effort to cough up something. Cooper darted out, crossed, and was moving on through the shadows before whatever the man managed to hack up hit the dusty street.
He glided from shadow to shadow, whether the shadow was along a building, or low wall, or spindly shrub made no difference. He paused only briefly enough to determine where he was going next and that it was safe to move. Beyond that there was no hesitation. Once a decision had been made, hesitation merely left room for doubt and second guessing. Given enough time or opportunity, doubt could become paralyzing. He had heard Master Worthan, a very old and wise man and Cooper’s first teacher in the Guild, once say, “The path to Ruin is paved with doubt”. It took a few weeks before that saying had made any sense to Cooper, but now he understood it and agreed, mostly.
Within minutes he was within sight of the briar patch that Master Brais had designated as their next meeting place. As he moved closer he saw one shadow separate slightly from another and recognized his instructor’s shape. His teacher stepped out far enough for Cooper to be able to distinguish three quick gestures before he faded back into the shadows. He’d held out an open hand, palm towards Cooper, “Stop… ok, got it”, then held up two fingers, then a shoo-ing gesture. This had Cooper stumped, “Come back in two minutes? What could that mean?” Cooper saw shifting, dancing shadows between a couple nearby buildings along with a glow that became brighter and brighter. “Ah, two guards approaching, get back… got it!” Cooper receded, settled onto the ground and melted further back into the shadows as he waited for them to pass. As they drew closer, he began to pick up traces of their
conversation. Apparently one of them felt something for one of the local tavern dancers and was convinced that she shared his feelings. The other guard was trying to set him straight; doing him a favor no doubt, but the smitten guard was not to be deterred and was saying, “No, Herik! She said so! There’s a real connection there! It isn’t just about coin with her anymore!” Cooper was pleased that eyeballs made no sound when rolling, he just had to suppress his laughter. He was still a kid but even he knew better than that! Herik had the tone of a patient father, or maybe helpful big brother, trying to advise caution and save the man from himself but it seemed that his mind was already made up. Cooper was glad when they moved out of earshot. He pitied Herik, who would have to walk alongside the other man for a full shift. As the torchlight faded and darkness returned, Cooper unfolded himself and returned to a crouched position, then surveyed his surroundings before joining Master Brais and Evan, the master’s protégé.
Master Brais spoke in a tone so quiet and low it was difficult to understand, “It took you quite a bit longer than it should have for you to get here. Did something happen?” Cooper shook his head, “No, sir. It has been awhile since I’ve been away from the Guild grounds and I got a little distracted. It also took me a few minutes to get across the wider street. There were a few people that had to be avoided.” It wasn’t a complete lie. His teacher gave him a quick nod, “Very well. We’d heard no sounds of you being discovered, so I felt certain that all was well. But in the future, stay focused. I would require you to make two or three circuits around the Trap when we get back, but since that’s simply an exercise for you and no longer a punishment I’ll have to be satisfied with simply warning you.” Evan broke into the conversation, “The Trap is no longer a punishment? I need to hear this!” He looked from Master Brais to Cooper and back to his instructor. Master Brais shrugged, “The Trap no longer poses a challenge for him. I may need to devote some time and thought to creating a new obstacle.” This seemed to do nothing to alleviate Evan’s surprise. He turned to Cooper, “When we get back to the Arena, you’ve got to show me!” Cooper shrugged, “All right.”
The Arena was Master Brais’ classroom. The room was huge and had two obstacle courses, each running around the perimeter of the oval-shaped room. One course was anywhere from eight to forty feet off the ground. This was the Low Course. The forty foot obstacle actually overlapped slightly with the second course, the High Course, which was suspended from the ceiling and was about sixty feet up. The Contraption, or ‘The Trap’ as it was called familiarly, was an obstacle in the center of the Arena. It was about sixty feet across and looked like a huge spider web of rope netting except that the rays stretching out from the center were four inch beams. Stepping from one beam to another caused a ripple through the entire obstacle, like ocean waves. This would still be manageable except that the waves went both to the front and to the rear of the person moving beam to beam, and when the waves met on the far side, the Trap became a storm-tossed mass of unpredictability.
Their instructor silenced their exchange and announced the location where they would next meet. The next location was to the north and would take them almost to the walls of the University. He assumed that the teacher was guiding them back to the Guild and this training session would be ending in two hours or less. He was right.
Upon their return to the Arena, Cooper took a few minutes to demonstrate to Evan that the Trap could be navigated using a combination of balance and agility, but the primary factor that provided the solution was timing. After a few minutes of practicing, Evan could manage the Trap with only minor difficulties.
By the time Cooper and Evan made it to the sleeping bay it was a few hours from dawn. Cooper fell into bed without getting undressed. He fell asleep almost immediately but before he dropped off he considered what he might do now that he knew where to find Egil.
Cooper was awakened all too soon by the sounds of activity. The other kids in the room were getting ready for breakfast. Cooper took a look as he walked to the privy. Evan’s bunk was already empty.
Breakfast was delicious as usual and when he arrived in Master Darius’ class, Locks & Traps, the teacher was sketching on a sheet of parchment. He was making some marks and scribbling some notes with a piece of charcoal. Instead of going straight to his work table, Cooper took a detour bringing him closer to Master Darius’ desk in order to get a better look. He was still several steps away when he recognized that Master Darius was putting together an actual working diagram for the trap that Cooper had devised. His teacher raised his eyes from the parchment and greeted him, “Ah, good morning, Mister Cooper!” Cooper replied, “Good morning, sir. That sketch looks fairly far along… have you slept?” His teacher thought about that for a moment, “I suppose I haven’t… your concept is very exciting and I haven’t been able to step away from it. If the prototype proves that a working model is feasible, well, it could really bring some changes to the way the Guild approaches trap usage.” He pointed at the plan, “Here. Take a look at this. I’ve added a second vial of acid. When the trap is fully triggered the spring action scatters this second vial of concentrated acid to dissolve or disfigure the remains of the trap.” Cooper had to wonder, “Sir, what purpose does that serve?” Master Darius was rubbing his hands together as if his fingers were cold, “Well, if a Guild member used this trap to cover their escape, then they wouldn’t be going back for it, would they? Once the trap was sprung, the effect would be apparent and the remains of the trap would be sitting there for all to see, and even examine.” He paused for a breath and then continued, “Anyone with some intellect would then have a chance to scrutinize the remains of the trap, the investigation would begin and eventually they’d find the smiths who’d helped make the components for us. The trap itself would be a trail leading back to us.” He shook his head, “No, a mechanism to ensure our anonymity is necessary. In fact, I’d say that without it, the trap is almost more of a threat to us than it would be a boon. No offense to your concept, it’s truly remarkable in fact. But once I thought through all the steps from start to aftermath, it became apparent that some modifications were in order.” He gathered the papers and arranged them into a stack, “I suppose I’ll need to put all this aside until class is over.”
Master Darius’ class had mostly become a matter of studying different manner and mechanisms of traps. Master Darius had volumes of books depicting different mechanisms for different purposes, ranging from simple snares used by hunters for catching wildlife to lethal traps used on battlefields capable of killing even cavalry. Repetitive study was sometimes tedious but it was these studies that gave Cooper the idea for the trap that Master Darius was developing.
Cooper’s second class period was Etiquette Class. Cooper drew the dagger card in the second exercise, which meant that he was to be the thief in that scenario. For Cooper it felt so simple that it was almost pointless. The scenario was a dinner party and he was assigned the role of a server. The target was a pouch on Birt’s belt. Cooper had the pouch before the plates from the appetizers were cleared from the table. He handed the pouch to Mister Ysel almost immediately. The theft wasn’t discovered until after the main course had been served, at which time Mister Ysel produced the pouch and announced that it had been taken and delivered to him almost twenty minutes ago. Birt was looking around the room, “Wait! Who’s the thief?” Cooper placed a fresh napkin in front of him and unfolded it to reveal the dagger card as he said, “Anything else for you, sir? Dessert, perhaps?”. Birt stared at the card, dropped his head and spoke, “Well, that figures, I suppose.”, then clapped his hands, calling out, “Alright, what’s next!”
Miss Camilla had been administering weekly written tests in Apothecary class. The tests weren’t designed to weed out less diligent students, they were simply administered to make sure that no one was falling behind. She announced that the end of the week would mark the middle of the semester and that she’d be giving a test that would cover any of the class material to date. Coope
r was thinking since every week pretty much built onto what they’d learned the week before, every test was a ‘cumulative’ test, but he said nothing. Miss Camilla announced that a few minutes each day until the test, she’d conduct a review of some of the more significant points they’d already covered. A couple hours later, Cooper felt like he’d reviewed almost everything he’d learned in Apothecary class, and the test wasn’t until the end of the week. What could Miss Camilla still have planned for them tomorrow?
In Combat class, Mister Skran remained primarily focused on helping Kolrem adjust and capitalize on his recent Manifestation. Cooper had expected to see Master Loril in the Training Room. He had spoken with him yesterday and he’d been told that Master Loril would be coming in to help Kolrem. “Something must’ve come up.”, Cooper thought. Mister Skran had been starting Kolrem off simply, teaching him to block and strike in rapid succession, but today he began incorporating footwork. Kolrem had already benefitted from receiving instruction last night from Master Brais, and used this training from Mister Skran to build on that. Kolrem seemed to be adjusting quickly. According to what Cooper had heard, learning to deal with newly Manifested abilities could take a week, for some it could take two weeks or even longer. Kolrem had Manifested just two days ago. Over the last several weeks, Cooper had been paired with Kolrem, but now he was being paired with Rukle. Rukle was a good fighter but he was having some trouble adjusting to fighting with a weapon in each hand. If Cooper changed up too many things at once Rukle would get distracted, fall behind and his movements would become disjointed as he struggled to regain a slightly unfocused state. When he saw this happen, Cooper would disengage, pause and give Rukle the chance to take the initiative. Once Rukle attacked Cooper would strive to take the initiative back from him. In this way, they could maximize their training time. Cooper assumed that if what they were doing didn’t suit Mister Skran’s intentions, he’d certainly make it known to them. Their teacher would sweep his eyes across the room every few minutes at a minimum, and he was mostly leaving the pair of them to practice as they were doing. Rukle was quick and aggressive, but all things being equal, Kolrem provided more of a challenge. But now that Kolrem had Manifested, Cooper had doubts about whether they’d be sparring together again.
