The huntsman enjoyed sitting on the porch to the cottage, overlooking the city of Calrok. The great moon illuminated the city with a silvery glow and made the waves of the Gant Sea sparkle. The Scar Cliffs best lived up to their name in the glow: scarred silhouettes etching the night sky.
Merrick had embraced the evenings as his time for peace and quiet. Evenings had also become an opportunity for reflection with Ralowyn, sometimes Karnak, and even on occasion, Tanessa. He enjoyed the evenings so much they had moved the two chairs from the little cottage to its porch.
When Merrick first sat down that night, Karnak waved before heading inside for the evening. Everyone had turned in, and Merrick was grateful for his time of peace.
Once fatigue set in, he lifted himself out of the old chair and entered the small cottage.
They had seen fit to acquire a more proper bed for him, and the sitting room had been transformed into a bedroom for him. Merrick glanced at the door on the right and smiled at the thought of Ralowyn asleep there. He had learned that the slight elf could snore like a great plains bear. He grinned at the memory of a particularly loud night. But that night, all was quiet, and the stillness made for great sleeping conditions. He was in bed for only a moment before he was swept off into his dreams.
The night was quiet across the city of Calrok. Even the bells near the docks chimed almost inaudibly as the moored ships bobbed on calm waves. The orcs in the watchtowers that overlooked the docks were content to save their whispered conversations for another night.
Everything was quiet, including the deliberate and controlled paddling that cut through the water.
The small crew of the boat that crept around the bend, following the coastline northward, rowed in silent synchronization. They did not need to speak or whisper. They had reviewed their plan many times. They knew what to do and why they had come to Calrok.
As they beached their vessel among some reeds to the south of the city, they climbed out and hiked over the low ridge of a rocky outcropping. The moon’s light touched them for only a second before they disappeared into the shadows again. One of them signaled to the others, and they spread out, each following a path of their own to the same destination. Their work would be painstakingly slow in order to make their way through the still city undetected.
They were there because they were the best. Each brandished their preferred weapon for the dastardly work they were well trained to do. They would swoop in like a shadow and vanish like smoke. If all went according to plan, none of the sleeping folk of Calrok would even know they had been there.
Someone would eventually find their prey. But by then, the team of assassins would be long gone. After all, they were the best Kelvur had to offer.
And even better, the huntsman did not know he had become the hunted.