It was then that he heard them. Figures moving in stealth, taking positions. The realization that his pursuers were professional assassins and not a ravenous mob did little to lift his spirits. How could anyone have possibly known I would land here? But there was no time for idle thoughts; not when Mardin had died in his arms, and certainly not now. He could curse his stupidity later. Karna suspected a sinister plot underway, of which the murder of Prakar Mardin was only the first step. He looked at his hands. He had no weapons. He was cold. And thirst plagued him like a swamp fever.

Karna scraped up some mud and rubbed it over his golden breastplate. Tonight, the moon was his enemy, and he was grateful to the stormy clouds for keeping her well cloaked. Heartbeats drummed their warning message as he treaded softly on the slippery cobblestones, keeping to the shadows of the sinking ruins. The eerie silence was broken only by the lapping water. He slipped past drowning buildings and tilted wagons till he came across a door that did not have a padlock. A trap.

He took a step back till he stood against the shuttered window. Then he threw himself against the window, breaking through the wooden shutters and rolling onto the floor inside the house. Karna’s attack had been so sudden that the two figures hiding by the door had no time to draw their weapons. He crunched his left fingers into a claw, and smashed brutally into one man’s throat. He slapped the palm of his right hand over the other’s mouth as he drove his skull back to crunch against the wall. Both men collapsed in a heap.

A moment later, Karna was searching their bodies for weapons. Unarmed a few moments ago, he now had a wealth of copper-headed fighting axes, knives and a bundle of throwing stars. The assassins appeared to be Northern, though he could not place them exactly. In the faint light, Karna saw the tattoo of the double-headed scorpion on the side of their necks, etched over their caste mark. Can’t say I disapprove.

Karna slipped out of the house through a back door. He heard the muted snap of a crossbow but there was not enough space for him to evade the quarrel. It hit his collar bone but was deflected by his breastplate. The force of the hit from such close range knocked him to the ground. Karna used the momentum to roll backwards on the wet mud. But instead of retreating, he charged at his attacker who was fumbling to let loose another quarrel.