The rubble exploded, detonated by the enchanted daggers and spraying shrapnel in every direction. A few pieces of debris pelted Zasia before she got a wind barrier up. She imagined her dress and hair were a mess now.

Assassins with enchanted weaponry? Well, that complicated things.

The two assassins didn’t give her time to think any further as they capitalized on her surprise. One had produced a shield while the other carried a mace. Both glowed with mana as the runes inscribed in them activated. Something was vaguely familiar about them, but Zasia couldn’t place why.

Shaking off her doubts, she converted her wind barrier into an orb of solid air that she launched at the shield bearer. He raised his shield to meet it, and the orb simply vanished like it had never been there. Irritated, Zasia conjured water from a nearby garden pond and molded it into a whip, striking out at both of the charging men. The one with the mace struck the whip with his weapon, causing it to disintegrate and splat uselessly on the ground.

Running out of space, she conjured a pillar of earth directly beneath her, raising her ten meters straight up into the air. As the assassins gazed up at her in confusion, she pulled hard on her mana pool. A torrent or brilliant white flame roared forth from her hands, slamming into the earth and flooding the area around her pillar. She tried to limit the flames to her immediate area to save the rest of the courtyard, but Kedrin was still probably going to be cross with her.

Even after she cut off her spell, the area was awash in a sea of white flame. She let out a long breath as she waited for the flames to burn themselves out. These two had been far more dangerous than the other assassins sent after her. She assumed they were the leaders, since they had been given what were likely priceless pieces of magical equipment. That brought up many questions about who could be backing them.

The thing that had her most worried, however, was this mention of the “Demon’s Legacy”. Balrus had apparently been right. She would need to talk to the others about this as soon as Aldric got back.

The white fire was suddenly and violently funneled to a single point, like water circling a drain. At the center of it all was the assassin with the shield. The shield sucked in all the flames, leaving the courtyard empty within moments. It glowed white hot for several moments before fading back to normal again. The runes etched into it seemed to glow brighter than before.

Despite her alarm, Zasia had a sudden realization. Of course these weapons were familiar. She’d known their creator for most of her life. She’d even been there when they were crafted nearly fifteen years ago.