S1: E25 "Flames in the Distance"

The Fight

The quality of assassins has really declined in recent years. There was a kind of art to taking a life, a pride in one's work. You prepared to infiltrate a party, prepared a costume even, and struck your target with a precision that took years to perfect. By inserting a blade, drop of poison or administering a firm bit of pressure you could render your target dead in an instant. You developed a kind of signature that others could recognize. 

I could recognize this assassins work. He had a certain panache I could appreciate. He took his time, like a predator teasing his prey. He relished the look in their eyes as they realized the betrayal, the life slipping out of their eyes and spreading out beneath them on the floor. But he lacked originality, relying on the same old tricks he always used. A great masquerade. A bit on the nose, all things considered. And despite all his preparation, careful navigation of a dance floor, an assault on the pitiful rubbish he left behind the couch named Telmage, he still missed.

To be fair, Yuko dodged. I do not think she actually realized what was happening as the assassin lunged at her with his blade again. Northerners frequently spar, preferring brute strength and martial skill over all else. In fact, there is a cult dedicated to the art of weaving magic and brawn together into an elegant performance which is aesthetically pleasing as it is deadly. But that doesn't help us understand how someone like Yuko could have survived. Sometimes the Fates weave our lives in strange ways. But my money is on an overconfident assassin who thinks he's made an easy mark and doesn't descend with maximum effort. Or perhaps he wasn't meant to actually kill her.

As Yuko screamed and panic spread, our Mayflower drew his weapon and fired. Well, he drew out the
electric pistol that Thomas had given him and attempted to fire. Mayflower knew precious little about mechanical devices, and thus failed to notice that the weapon was completely depleted of energy. If they had only had a few power cells on them, the weapon would have performed stupendously. With a huff he drew out his Flintlock. Raymond Lamb chose at this moment to leap upon the assassin. It was an awkward exchange. I don't know if you've ever witnessed two people mistakenly attempt to hug, change to a handshake and then settle on rubbing knuckles together. Or of you have seen two people attempt to move around each other only to choose the same path, adjust and then attempt to counter, mirroring each other for what feels like minutes. Take all of that and make it more violent, and you have a good idea of the exchange Lamb and the assassin had. This did give Yuko enough time to flee to the safety of Lindion who she spotted entering the ballroom. The assassin attempted to strike Yuko down as she fled, but Thomas drew his cane sword and stepped between him and his prey, locking blades with the man. As Yuko reached Lindion, the protector drew out a small derringer from her pinned up hair and fired, managed to miss everything. 

Mayflower had drawn his flintlock and stuck the assassin, somehow not killing the man as the slug knocked him back on his heels. Lamb, raised his own cane, whispered something and the assassin blade flew from his hand and towards the cane. Lamb raised the cane, causing the blade to arch through the air and land on the floor far away from its owner. Thomas, being a reasonable man and a gentleman, chose at this moment to encourage the assassin to surrender. The assassin laughed and darted away through the crowd.

Yuko had somehow found herself in the grossly protective arms of the *sigh* real Telmage. The pair made good their escape from the ball. Lindion attempted to summon Arthur as she went in search of the assassin's blade. Mayflower and Thomas pursued the assassin as he pushed and jostled his way down the back stairs to an exterior door. Mayflower and Thomas had closed on him where a sword prick would have been most lethal, when the man turned and extended his outs out in a splayed manner. Flames leaped from his fingers and engulfed the stairs in an aetheric blaze. Thomas managed to get out of the way of the incoming flames, but Mayflower leapt deftly over the inferno, fringed but able to land his cutting blow with precision. The assassin recovered remarkably, bowed and vanished into the gloom of the back garden hedge. Mayflower crept carefully outside but thought better of pursuing a man who had demonstrated a surprising abundance of tenacity and made it his profession to hide in plain sight before murdering you. 

As Thomas and Mayflower returned to the ball room, Lindion had recovered the knife where it lay undisturbed on the floor. Hiding it in her dress, he tried to find Arthur. She located him near the door where he was arguing with the servant who had barricaded the doors and refused to let anyone leave. As sounded the charge of the Constabulary who had come to the rescue, Lindion fainted.