“I already told you, I’m not taking any more jobs. Find someone else for this one.”

I was speaking with Raleigh, one of my regular customers, in a small café, trying to avoid taking on another contract. The money was good, as always, but I hadn’t visited my pack in nearly a year, and even I could get homesick now and then. There would be plenty of jobs when I got back, but Raleigh was very persistent.

“No one else can pull this off!” the short, fat, brown-furred rat argued.

“You’re resourceful. You’ve hired other assassins before,” I countered, getting a little irritated.
“Besides, what you’re asking for isn’t even that difficult.”

“But I need someone I can trust completely!” Raleigh insisted. “I can’t risk this job going to shit
like that bakery incident last month. This one’s important.”

“Yeah, you say that every time,” I said, leaning forward across the table and growling softly.
“Find. Someone. Else.”

Raleigh nibbled at his claws with his filthy, yellow teeth, thinking deeply. “What if I, um… What if I
increased the bounty on this particular job…?”

I leaned back again and crossed my arms, raising a scaly eye ridge, “By how much?”

“I…” The rat hesitated, then muttered softly, “Twenty percent?”

“Is that a joke?” I asked, even more irritated now that he would continue to waste my time. “You’re
going to have to do better than that.”

“Err…” Raleigh twitched his whiskers nervously. “Thirty-five?”

“Stop wasting my time, Raleigh,” I growled warningly. “Double it or I’m out of here.”

“Double?!” The rat’s beady little eyes widened as if I had asked him to cut off his own paw and eat
it. “You know I can’t afford to be throwing around that kind of gold to anyone
who wanders in off the street!”

I just gave him a cold, unblinking, reptilian stare. Raleigh was one of the most successful businessmen in a nearby kingdom, and had been expanding outward for years now. His success was due in no small part to eliminating competition through intimidation and assassination. He owned shops in practically every type of business there was. He could pay any price, but I needn’t remind him of that. It didn’t take long for him to break down under my penetrating gaze.

“Fine, fine, I’ll double it, but just this once!” he said quickly.

“I knew you had some generosity in that cold, shriveled heart of yours,” I said, patting the rodent
on the shoulder with a scaly, clawed hand. He startled, but I was already
standing and pushing my chair back in. “I’ll be back in two days, an hour
before sundown. Have my payment ready, and don’t be late.” I began to walk
away, then turned to look over my shoulder. “Oh, and Raleigh… If you try to
talk me down in price when I return, you will deeply regret it.” I didn’t need
to be more specific than that. He knew what I was capable of, and he knew that
when I made a promise, I kept it. I wouldn’t have any more trouble with him.

_________________________________________________________________

          I wasn’t too excited about having to delay a couple of days more, but I was willing to compromise if I’d be taking home that much extra coin. I could use it to get my blades professionally sharpened up again, and it would put me one step closer to commissioning that set of armor I’d been thinking about for so long. I would have liked to have made the purchase already to show off when I returned home, but armor is extremely expensive; even more so for custom pieces. “One of these days,” I muttered to myself softly. Fantasies would have to wait. For now, I had a contract to fulfill.

          The assassination I was to perform was relatively simple. I was to find a human tailor and eliminate him in such a way that it appeared to be an accident. Seeing as tailors worked around strong ropes and sharp tools, it wouldn’t be
difficult to arrange for him to “slip” and fatally wound himself. The human owned a quite successful shop in the heart of a nearby village; a village which Raleigh had decided would be the perfect place to begin his next economic
takeover, or so I reasoned.

What Raleigh wanted mattered little to me, though. As long as I got paid, I was content to continue to hunt his targets. Hunting unsuspecting pretty was a skill that every raptor mastered at an early age. But to gain the trust of your prey and smile as you
drive your claws deep into his throat… It is an art.

          I spent the rest of the day close to the tailor’s shop, disguised in dull, brown scales and a simple tunic. I didn’t sit and observe the shop directly, of course. I visited most of the nearby stores and kept one eye on the shop at almost all times. My task would be easiest when the fewest number of customers were present. It was a nondescript wooden structure similar in size and arrangement to the rest of the shops in the area. Its only defining characteristic was a hanging wooden sign with a simple painting of a tunic and a pair of scissors. It had only a single door, so it was easy to keep track of who entered and left as long as I remained vigilant.

Around midday, I took a seat on a nearby bench to rest and warm myself under the sun. It was then that I noticed the majority of customers exiting the shop. If my count was correct, however, there were still a few inside, so I knew the shop couldn’t have been closed. The customers all headed in one of a few different directions. They either headed east
towards the side of the village that held most of the housing, or they entered one of the two competing cafés for tea and perhaps a mug of ale.

It was interesting, to see so many people indulging in the same activity at nearly exactly the same time. Interesting, that is, in the sense that I thought it terribly foolish for a population to behave in such a predictable fashion. I’d observed this
behavior in large, well-guarded cities, but never in a mid-sized village like this one. It must be a thief’s dream come true, I thought to myself. It would be far too easy to take advantage of a café’s profits just after the teatime rush. I admit I entertained the idea for
a few seconds, but decided it would be dull compared with the thrill of the hunt. Besides, I only had interest in gold for its usefulness.

To blend in, I took part in the community activity. I wasn’t particularly fond of tea, but I could stomach the unfamiliar liquid without difficulty. In just under an hour, the majority of the village’s inhabitants had returned to their typical daily
activities, and the tailor’s shop was once more filled with customers. I had performed assassinations in as little as a minute from the time of entry to escape when I was in a hurry. Three quarters of an hour would be more than enough time.

           My disguise for this mission was simple, yet elegant. My scales had changed to a deep green that most people, furs and humans alike, expected of reptilian species. I was wearing a simple tan tunic that gave my legs plenty of room to stretch and stopped at my shoulders. I, like several other reptilian species, didn’t like sleeves. They would always catch on our scales. Besides, I needed flexibility at all times. The one distinctive feature of my outfit was a small first aid kit attached to my belt. To anyone who didn’t know me, I would appear to be a young medical student. I was nondescript, but not suspiciously so. In my experience, it was
always better to assume a specific identity rather than simply to blend in and hope nobody asked questions. And this particular disguise would have more than one use.

          I casually walked into the tailor’s shop as any customer would, another torn tunic draped over my arm. It was noticeably cooler indoors, but I took comfort in the knowledge that I would be out soon. The store was filled with examples of the tailor’s handiwork on wooden racks which were semi-organized around the shop. Outfits ranged from simple tunics like my own to extravagant wedding dresses. I tried my best to avoid crinkling my nose at the pervading scent of wool and dye. In the back right corner, there was a wooden counter in front of a doorway that led to a back room. I had to suppress a grin when I found that I was the only customer inside.

          Not long after I entered the shop, a large, bearded man emerged from the doorway. He was dressed in a simple, worn tunic, brown pants, and boots that had seen more than their fair share of dye spills. Though the day was still young and the store was cool, he bore faint beads of sweat on his brow. He had clearly already been working quite hard. Nevertheless, he gave a weary but joyful smile in my direction as he waved to welcome his new customer.

“Hoy there! Welcome to Barne’s, the finest tailor’s shop in the land. What can I do fer ye?” the man, presumably Barne,
said with a broad grin. As kind as he was even to a newcomer, it was easy to
see how he’d become so successful. A pity he had to die.

“Hello there. I’m just here to repair an old tunic of mine,” I replied, returning his smile in kind.
“I cut it along the shoulder and now it just slips off.”

“Ah, that oughtta be an easy fix,” Barne replied. “Let’s see here,” he mumbled, taking the tunic and
holding it up to inspect the jagged cut I had made. “Mm, that’s a nasty cut
there… I’m gonna have ta cut some o’ the shredded parts off and patch it up.”
He looked back to me curiously and asked, “How’d you even manage to get a cut
like that and keep your arm?”

“Ah, the neighbor’s damned dog got a hold of it,” I replied after only a brief hesitation. One
could never thing of everything.

“Aye, dogs. They’re a tailor’s worst enemy, and his best friend,” Barne said with a sly grin. “Okay,
I’ve got a lot of work to do here… I can have it back to ye just before closin’
tomorrow, sound good?” This posed a small problem, but one for which I had
prepared.

“Well…” I muttered softly as if I was deep in thought. “You see, I have to get back to the
University early tomorrow, and the carriage ride will take all night. Is there
any chance you could fix it now?” I asked, putting just a touch of pleading in
my voice.

“Ah, a medical student!” Barne exclaimed, eyeing the first aid kit at my belt. “Gods know we
could always use more o’ those. In fact, if it weren’t for you lot, I wouldn’t
be standin’ here talkin’ to ye. They saved me mum they did, jus’ when she was
givin’ birth to yours truly.” Seeing my slightly raised eye ridge, Barne
recollected himself. “Sorry ‘bout that, jus’ got a little excited is all. I’ll
get to work on it straight away!”

“Thank you so much!” I sighed in mock relief. “It’ll save me a lot of study time not having to wash my
clothes as often.” Barne was friendly, but he talked too much for my tastes.

“It’s a good path yer on,” Barne said as he made his way around behind the wooden counter and grabbed
a pair of scissors from a lower shelf. “Don’t let nothin’ keep ye from
finishin’, or yer gonna end up workin’ twice as hard the rest o’ yer life,” he
indicated his dirty tunic to demonstrate his point, and then began expertly
snipping away at the shredded parts of cloth.

          Finally, the talking was over. Barne was done with his incessant jabbering, absorbed in the art of his craft, and now it was time for me to demonstrate mine. I made a casual sweep of the store. There were still no customers inside, but that could change at any moment. At the rate he was going, Barne would be done with his scissors in seconds and my opportunity would be past. I had to move quickly, and I had to make it look like an accident.

          As focused as he was on his work, Barne didn’t notice me walking around behind the counter with him. When I was directly behind him, I gave him a rough kick directly to the back of his knee. As he fell, I shoved his head forward so that his neck fell upon this scissors, penetrating his flesh with a wet sssk. I let Barne’s bleeding form fall to the ground unhindered, and barely paid him any mind as I stepped over him to excuse myself from the store. He gurgled softly as he clutched at his profusely bleeding throat, but it would do him no good. He would be unconscious within seconds, and dead within a minute or so.

          My job was almost done. A man of Barne’s weight could easily have fallen and injured himself in such a manner, so all I had to do was act as if nothing had happened, unless a customer entered, in which case my disguise would become useful once again. Luckily for me, I was spared the inconvenience. I made my exit without incident, and was soon on my way to find a good place in the woods to rid myself of this disguise before collecting my payment. I couldn’t have asked for things to go any better.

          When I returned to Raleigh to collect my payment, he had with him two burly tiger bodyguards. Knowing Raleigh, there must have been at least three more in hiding. Luckily for all of us, the rat assured me that it was only a precaution in light of my threat the day before. He was very reluctant to hand over the gold, but he knew better than to cheat me. I left several dozen coins richer and no worse for the wear. Moreover, I now had no obligations keeping me from returning home. Things were looking up.

          As I prepared to leave, I gathered my meager belongings, consisting mostly of my accumulated wealth and a few weapons, and bought a chunk of meat to take with me. Normally I would have hunted my own food on the way, but my anxiousness to return home was growing by the minute. It would be nice to see my old friends Jalen and Reshka again, I thought as I began heading west away from all the cities and villages. I hadn’t been home in nearly a year. We would have any stories to share and much to talk about. Once I had settled in, I would donate a significant portion of the gold I had earned during my travels to the pack. I had limited use for it, and our traditions demanded that any raptors that wished to travel must not return with empty claws. My quest was not for gold, but for the thrill of the hunt.

          I stopped only twice on the entire two-day trip – once to eat and rest, and again to sleep just after dawn. I knew better than to sleep alone at night when the most dangerous of predators roamed. I also managed to catch a wounded squirrel to eat. It appeared to have fallen from a tree and broken two of its tiny legs. It served as a pleasant snack as I neared one of my pack’s usual campsites. We had to follow the herds to survive, but they usually seemed to move in a regular, annual pattern except in dry years.

          Judging by the scent of meat and territorial markings, I couldn't have been more than a few miles away from the camp when I sensed that something was wrong. I knew I was in the right place, but there was a new smell that I had never experienced before. It was only a moment later that I felt invisible eyes watching me. I was rarely wrong about such feelings, but I kept walking along the path as if I hadn't noticed anything.

          I casually scanned my surroundings, but I could perceive nothing except the sound of the wind. No, not wind… breathing. Though it was rare, there were predators in these woods that had been known to attack lone raptors to eliminate competition. The sound of dirt and leaves crunching underfoot was my signal that the time to prepare was over. I spun around as quickly as I could, only to be knocked flat on my back by a large, scaly blur. The air was forced from my lungs painfully, but I knew I had to act quickly. I snarled fiercely and swiped my claws upwards, but I soon found my wrists pinned to the ground. A low growl
rumbled from above. As I finally took a moment to take in my assailant, I widened my eyes in shock. I hadn’t been expecting that…