"I'm not planning on staying up here forever." Blade raised his hand and began covering the sun. He chose to lie on the rail, he was clearly insane, as I chose to just sit next to him.

 "If you ever get the opportunity then can you take me with you? I've seen enough of this city..." I grumbled.

 "Of course. You need to get out there. I use to live in a home outside the city, deep within the forest. It's truly a beautiful thing." He had a certain awe in his voice.

 A life outside the walls is what I'm use to, yet a life outside the city seems impossible to imagine." The Rim was a dark and gloomy place, outside of that were farms. Farms that supported the massive growing population that was Arinfel.

 "It's something you can't explain. Only something you can experience for yourself. To wake up to the sun shining in your window, to the birds being your company, as well as foxes being your neighbors." The picture he painted seemed to be ripped from a fantasy. Our conversation was brought to a sudden end when a guard stepped onto the balcony. He held papers; our orders. We received our orders. Mine were simple, the note read:

 Code Name Willow,

 The targets you are visiting tonight have been found guilty by Queen Ira of crimes that threaten our peace. Make sure these vermin are dealt with accordingly. You and your team are to enter the property and kill these criminals before what they do begins to corrupt the city. Remember that no one can survive, if a single one of them escapes, more will spread. You mustn't allow Arinfel to fall to crime and anarchy.

 Sincerely, General Julian

 I stood and stretched my back.

 "Are you ready, Blade? Ready to keep Arinfel pure?" I asked. Blade remained silent he read and re-read his orders.

 "They aren't that difficult to understand. C'mon, I'm sure someone of your skill can figure it out." I chuckled as I left the balcony. I reached up to one of the large golden candlesticks that decorated the room. My orders burned within seconds. They burnt faster than paper and were meant to leave no ash.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 All three of us sprinted through the night, running and jumping from building to building until we made it to our destination.

 Another generic, white stoned house stood before us.

 "Blade?" Beast asked.

"I'll enter through the balcony on the second floor, Beast you go through the third floor, Willow enter through the front door. We clear the floors and do our job, follow your orders and do not leave your floors." We all broke off from one another.

 I sprinted to the front door. I pulled a pin from my silken hair and began to pick the lock. A slight jiggle opened the door easily. I swept through the mansion-like first floor. I, strangely, found nothing. I made the choice to disobey my orders and go upstairs. I heard shuffling throughout the entire house, it must've been Beast stomping around in the top floor. I, however, still found nothing until I turned into a corridor. The door at the far end of the dark hallway stood ajar. I crept through the darkness, making sure not to make any noise as I entered the room. I carefully and slowly shut the door behind me.

 I had just entered a bedroom. There were two beds in this wide room, an open window and a balcony, this is where Blade entered. I scoured the room to find nothing of interest. I was on my way to the balcony whenever a slight breath stole my attention. I had been purposely ignoring the beds, if there were people there then I would have let Blade deal with them.

 There was no harm in looking, right? I snuck through the quiet room until I came to the bed that had made that noise: nothing. The bed was empty and unmade. I focused my mind, I sensed life close to me. I was confused, where would the man or woman be? Then it hit me: the bed was too small for a man or woman. So where would a child hide? I lowered to one knee and slowly fell to the floor. I was hoping I was wrong. Alas, I wasn't.

 There, lying underneath the bed, covering their terrified mouth, was a child. A young boy, no more than eight he was. I reached my hand out.

 "Come on... I'm not going to hurt you." I whispered. It took time but eventually he reached back. As our palms touched, a memory struck through my body. I saw Blade, he was standing at the foot of the other bed. The perspective was from behind him. The boy was unnoticed by Blade, as he entered, he hid behind him. As I came to this conclusion, Blade slowly reached his hand up to his back. Touching the hilt of his sword, he began to draw the blade.

 I picked the child up. With much regret, I had made the subconscious decision to check the other bed. As I approached the second bed, the child in my arms grew increasingly terrified.

 "I have to see..." I whispered as I pulled back the covers. The sight that laid within made me want to vomit; to scream; to die even. Lying in the bed was a headless child whose blood ran so deep that it began to drip through the bottom of the bed. I stumbled back at the sight, it was the boy's sister. I gained better grip on the kid before I turned. I reached forward and grabbed the door handle. My flesh singed, scorching and burning with pain, I was forced to let go.

 Curious, I pressed my ear against the door. The crackling of roaring fire hummed through the wood. I stepped back. I realized the situation I was in, I turned and sprinted. As soon as I reached the terrace, the entire floor behind me exploded in a violent cascade of flames. I flew forward, slamming into the rail as the flames seared our flesh. I gathered my strength and jumped from the balcony. With a loud crack, I landed on the ground and was now unable to use my left leg.

 I slowly began to lose consciousness. The blast and the fall knocked all I had out of me. Suddenly I heard a shatter as Beast ripped me from the ground. He shook me until I came to. I stared in horror as the home before us burned. It was resorting to nothing but cinders.

 "That wasn't part of the orders..." My voice was hoarse from the smoke.

"No sweetie, that wasn't in our orders. But it appears that Blade got his own set, isn't that right?!" Beast turned to face behind us. I had yet to notice that Blade was standing in the light of the fire. He faced the darkness, refusing to look at the flames.

 "You did that?..." I shuttered at the thought. He, however, remained silent. I climbed to my feet and walked over to him, I stood in front of him.

"Why?..."

 "Because that's what his orders said to do!" Beast shouted. I faced Beast for an explanation.

 "'Take the second floor, ignite the building, make sure no one gets out.'" Beast chuckled.

 "Be honest with me, I beg of you to, were they guilty?..." I asked the two of them. Blade remained silent as Beast had began to chuckle.

 "No, sweetie, the only thing they were guilty of was of being kind. Do you want to know the real reason why the Benevolent Queen Ira wanted this to happen? Because this family had different opinions to Her Majesty and, believe it or not, they were becoming more famous than even her. Ira couldn't have that now could she?" Beast's laughter boomed in my skull.

 "They... were just orders..." Blade whispered.