Dean stood in the boat, waiting patiently for everyone to make it aboard. Whenever they finally made the decision to leave, the young-looking man helped lower the vessel down into the water. Perhaps fifteen feet long, with a single small mast, the boat had oars and plenty of room for all of them and the small assortment of gear that he’d packed – just enough to get them started and to prevent them from starving, that is.<br/><br/>As soon as they had all disembarked, the massive ship behind them shuddered. Shadow power roiled through the vessel and it seemed to fly away – no, not flying away - *shrinking* in place. It went lightning fast, appearing as nothing more than a speck of darkness against the sky in an instant, the vanishing from view. Dean watched as it went, the first, small hint of a smile he’d shown since his encounter with Aza on his face.<br/><br/>He could still feel the vessel, or what it represented, and did not expect it to vanish entirely anytime soon. Though how it might reappear or interfere was anyone’s guess. Turning his attention from the empty waters, he took up a pair of oars and began helping toward the distant city.<br/><br/>***<br/><br/><div class="floatleft">(http://th06.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2014/224/4/3/female_ninja_gaiden_by_bigwhitebazooka-d7uv8so.jpg)</div>The killer’s name was Mylin. She was a sleek little lady with olive-colored skin and a slinking, sensuous walk that belied just how deadly she was. Garbed all in form fitting, heavily enchanted, leathers, her arms were bare – though the revealed flesh was decorated with an assortment of tattoos, each relating to a weapon or charm that she could summon at a moment’s notice. An extremely experienced killer and the leader of the local assassin’s guild, she’d taken personal interest in the Vizier’s call. The ten thousand gold bounty on this group’s heads (well, captured heads) would have bought ten missions from her, personally. It was enough to hire the entire guild twice over.<br/><br/>Thus she perched on a roof near the bay and watched the oily, roiling darkness out in the bay. Her guild – called the Eagle’s Talon – weren’t usual. Most of the members were former adventurers and several had quite unique powers and abilities. One such member, Staniel, sat next to her on the roof. The young man with the pale skin looked her way and smirked at her flicked gaze.<br/><br/>“They will be here. Trust me. Fortune favors us,” he announced. “We just need to make sure we make our play at the correct time, with the right agents, before we reveal ourselves.”<br/><br/>Hired thugs. He was talking about hired thugs. The guild used them from time to time, mainly for missions that required little in the way of skill or unique ability. They’d wear the party down, or so Staniel had advised. He was a master of probability and chance; even without seeing the players, he could guess at their maneuvers and choices. The best odds, he’d asserted less than an hour ago, were for them to send a gang of bruisers after the landing party.<br/><br/>Mylin had agreed, pending confirmation of their arrival. Now, they just had to wait and see if that little speck on the horizon was, as she suspected, a small row boat carrying their prey. If so, the group was in for a rather nasty surprise. And she was in for a ten thousand gold bounty.<br/>