{Mountains, just outside of Xylian}  Day 7, Mid afternoon

     Danial Banks lay on the ground, his hands behind his head, eyes
staring off into the sky.  He'd been in this same spot, every day, for
nearly a week.  Danny didn't mind though, in fact he suspected that was
why this contract had come his way.  Danny knew his superiors considered
him "stubborn".  This was going to be a long, drawn out assignment,
likely with attacks on the same targets again and again, and waiting for
weeks for just the right moments.  Banks figured that once things
finally got moving, all hell would break lose.
     A dragon flashed over head.  Banks knew the creature couldn't see
him from that height, even if he hadn't been wearing camo.  Banks' hand
slipped over to a lever concealed in the bushes beside him.  The dragon
flew strait and level, parallel to the lever.  *Perfect,* Banks thought,
*finally, the right one.*  Danny pulled down on the lever.
     The catapult the lever triggered jumped.  Silver flashes streaked
skyward as the basket of the catapult emptied it's contents.  Banks got
up, crossed his arms, and strolled away, whistling lightly.  It was
amazing what a basket full of razor blades could do.

----------------------------------

     J'ken eyed the warren green as his dragon, Nova, leveled out,
preparing to land.  They'd been out on a scouting mission and were just
now returning.  Nova turned slightly, then leveled out, unknowingly
putting himself in line with the catapult.  J'ken caught a flash of
silver out of the corner of his eye.
     [Nova,] he asked, [what is th.....]
     The razors flashed in the sun light, staining themselves with blood
as they tore into rider and dragon.  Nova's wings shredded and he beat
them profusely, trying to stay aloft.  Both screamed in pain, Nova's
screams echoing telepathically.  Down they tumbled, screaming, bloody,
pain filling their bond.
     Through a haze of pain, Nova got an idea.  Teleport.  Vainly he
tried to gather his thoughts, to picture a place to send them too.  Lake
Arial came into few, fuzzy but Nova was pained, so was his rider, and
they were desperate.  Nova focused on that thought...

     The two hit the ground a moment before Nova would have made his
desperate teleport.  The dragon's neck snapped as his head plowed into
the ground.  Over and over the two flipped, sickening snaps sounding as
bones broke or were shattered.  The bloody, mangled heap rolled to a
stop at the far side of the green.  Both, thankfully, had died on
impact.

------------------------------

{Above Xylian}  Day 7, late night.

     That night Banks sat among the peaks of Xylian.  He was high above
the Warren.  It'd taken a long time for them to clean the mess off the
warren green.  He'd watched them through a telescope and had to admit,
the razors had done their job.  Danny had also marked who appeared to be
giving orders, trying to put faces with the names on his list of people
important to the Warren.
     It was time for the physical aspect of sabotage.  "The destruction
of goods vital to the enemy," TAG initiates were told.  Well, Banks was
going to destroy "goods vital to the enemy" all right.
     Banks secured his anchor and pushed off the cliff face.  Guiding
with his right, breaking with his left, the assassin repelled down the
Warren.  He paused to let more rope out every 20 feet or so.  If Danny
had estimated this right, it should be about a 6 foot drop to the ground
once all the rope was let out.  He was taking a big chance, using only
one anchor, but he wanted no one to know he'd gotten in this way.
Slowly he let himself down farther.
     Banks looked up at the moon as he hung just 6 feet above his
target.  Two men guarded it.  Danny listened carefully to their
conversation, not wanting a dragon to sound the alarm should one of the
men be a rider.  If one was, he'd just return another night.  Nada, he
decided, both are dragonless.  Searchlings probably.
     Banks dropped down between the two men, twin scimitars snapped out,
their razor edge cleaving through the larynx and nearly decapitating
both men.  Calmly, Banks resheathed his weapons, ignoring the blood
spurting from the men and their last gasps for breath.  Carefully Banks
eased open the door to the coal bins, slipped inside, and closed them
behind him.
          Once inside, Banks light a small torch.  Quickly he made his
way to the back of the stores.  Pulling out a water bag, he unstopped
the cork.  Pouring the flammable contents onto the coal, he began to
move his way from side to side, working his way to the door.  He poured
four of the large water bags onto the coals, leaving each bag were it's
contents had expired.  When the last bag emptied, Banks placed his torch
about six inches away, in the coal.  Banks slipped back out the door,
jumped for his rope, and began to climb.
     Banks climbed quickly, stopping every ten feet to gather up the
rope.  He moved quickly, the fire would flash as soon as the heat set
off the flammable liquid.  He was about half way to the top, gathering
his rope again, when he looked down.  Banks saw a shadow move closer to
the coal bin.  He nearly swore.  The person was sure to find the bodies,
Danny could only hope they didn't get the fire out before it flashed.
The warren began to surge to life as the alarm was raised.  Danny bit
his lip when he saw the door crack open.
     Banks smiled as the fire finally flashed.  The doors to the coal
bin shrieked as the explosion ripped them from their hinges.  Banks saw
the figure that had opened the doors thrown back into the night.
Perhaps the figure wasn't dead, but every hair on their head was surely
gone and they'd likely be blind for a few days.
     Banks began climbing again as the warren folk began mounting a fire
fighting attempt.  It was nearly dawn when he reached the top, and his
arms burned from the exertion.  Danny pulled out the anchor, pushing
dirt and stones into the hole it had left, and gathered up his rope.
He'd sleep most of the day away, probably in trees or someplace safe.  A
quick glance told him that the fire still burned and would likely burn
ally day.

---------------------------------

{Mountains, just outside of Xylian} Day 8, late afternoon

     Ice colored eyes watched as the warren folk milled about the
catapult.  The people where inspecting the contraption.  Banks didn't
care about the catapult, it was just a crude siege engine he'd made for
the occasion.  What Danny was looking for was some one to discover his
little surprise.  He'd placed only one in the area, but that one might
just keep them from snooping around too much.
     There was a scream from one of the men as his foot sank into the
ground.  The pit wasn't deep, it didn't need to be.  It was filled with
three inch long pun gee sticks.  The man's companions gently pulled his
foot out of the hole.  The wound wasn't fatal, probably not even real
serious unless he let it get infected.  It was, however, a very painful
wound.  With luck, it'd make them think twice before they came back
after him again.  Banks quietly slipped away, careful not to leave a
trail.

--------------------------
{Xylian Warren} Day 8, midnight.
     Banks again repelled into the warren, again with only one anchor.
This time the target was a person, not supplies.  The targets name was
Bar'ton, apparently the warren's quartermaster.  When he reached the
entrance of the dragon riders quarters, he gently dropped down.  Taking
a quick glance to see just how high up he was, Danny listened carefully
for sounds and slipped inside.
     Inside a dragon snored.  The thing was huge, one of the few Banks
had actually seen up close.  It snorted and snuffed, so much so that
Banks was sure it must be fast asleep.  *Good,* Banks thought, *the last
thing I need is a dragon to rear up on me.*
     Banks removed a stick of crude explosive from his satchel.  The
assassin drew a dagger, carefully cut a short piece of fuse and affixed
it to the explosive.  He carefully lifted a corner of the beast's mouth,
even more carefully noting just how big it's teeth were.  Placing the
explosive just inside the beasts mouth, Banks with drew a match.
     The creature snorted when Danny struck the sulfur match, causing
the assassin some very intense moments as he decided if he should run
for it yet or not.  The dragon snuffed a few more times, and the match
was starting to burn low, so Banks decided to light the thing and then
run.  One problem, in all the snuffing, the explosive had been drawn
back into the creatures mouth!
     Tediously, Banks reached in.  The monsters tongue rolled slightly,
it's slimy surface not aiding Banks' attempted recovery.  Finally
getting hold of the run away explosive, Danny removed it from the
dragon's mouth to inspect it.
     The damned thing had ruined the fuse!  Angrily Banks tore the fuse
away and threw it into a corner.  Quickly cutting another fuse and
fixing to the explosive, Danny dropped it back into the creatures
mouth.  In the mean time the blasted match had gone out, forcing him to
light another one of the precious commodities.  Striking another match,
Banks quickly touched the fuse before the damned dragon had a chance to
ruin another one.
     Danny was out side and up the rope in an instant, gathering the
hemp up behind him.  He was going fast, realizing that he hadn't thought
about how much time the new fuse would give him.  Apparently it had been
a little longer than the old one, Banks was nearly to the top when an
explosion shook the warren.  Hoisting himself over, he shook his head as
the dragon riders came to investigate.  Banks was certain that poor
Hogarth would be lacking any head at all right about now.  The explosive
was a dose, no matter how crude.  He again filled in the anchor hole and
slipped away to sleep.

-----------------------------------

NRPG:  Well, enter one assassin.  I hope I've made things interesting
enough for you :)

-Shane Morris
      AKA:  Banks & Bruce, M/X Warren

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