Angel of Darkness: Chapter 9

It only occurred to Issa once he was in the maze that a few weapons would be called for. He had his darts, knives and his sword but he knew that wouldn't be enough. Shaking his head, and begging to god the he wouldn't be found, Issa made his way down the small corridor. It was thin, barely wide enough for him to pass through with a few inches on either side. The man who had passed through the night before might have had a little trouble if he had been any larger.The ceiling was low enough to brush against Issa's head. The walls, lit with torches were long and seemed never ending as the shadows swallowed them up. Every so often, side corridors would break off to the side. Issa stayed in the corridor that he had started in, realizing quickly that it was just a service way since many of the perpendicular hallways were a lot wider and better lit. The hallway ended with just a wall and a turn to the right. Issa decided to turn right. This passage was wider and lined with doors. Issa walked into a few. Some were empty except for a few dusty boxes or broken pots. Others had old, moldy beds in them while others had what seemed to be chairs and tables. The maze was in ruins, obviously a lot older than they seemed. In one room, Issa found a dagger. It was gold, like the knives that the Mask of Death had been rumored to use. He picked the knife up, tucking it into his belt with the other one, grateful for the extra protection. He followed that hallway until it ended as well. Then he turned right again and entered another service hallway. It was identical to the other. If Issa didn't know that it was physically impossible to travel forward in a straight line and end up in the same place as before without circling the entire globe, he would have sworn that he was back where he had started. He followed this hallway as far as it went as well and turned right again. This hallway also had many doors but they were different. They had been reinforced with better wood and metal bars running across. After trying a few, Issa found that they all required a key. A key that he didn't have. Quietly, he knocked on each one, hoping that Layla would respond but there was only silence. Issa pulled his map out again and studied it. Then, he meticulously read through everything. Seeing that there was way to much for him to see in one day, Issa put the map away and followed the tunnel until the end. It stopped just where the staircase was. Issa had walked in a square. When he got out of the tunnel, he was surprised to see that the sun was already near the ground. He had spent two hours in the ruins without meaning to. Sighing, Issa ran back to his cave. There he ate while mulling over what he had seen.
Not much, he concluded. He knew that someone was using the maze as a base at night. The doors on the hallway nearest to the entrance he used were reinforced and locked. Issa worked out after eating and made a plan for the next day. He would go to work and tell Lateef that he was taking another day off, then he would go back to his cave and stock up on as many weapons as he could without being obvious. Then he would spend the rest of his day in the maze. Issa stayed up until past midnight memorizing the map of the maze so that he wouldn't have to take it with him. He finally fell asleep and woke up at six the next morning, well rested.
"Lateef, I won't be at work today either. Please tell the king that I'm still working to find the Angel, you know, the one who killed his son. Were any of the notifications urgent?" he asked.
Lateef shook his head.
"No, sir. May I know where you plan on going?"
"Following up on a lead," Issa replied, dodging the question.
Lateef caught on to that and just nodded.
"See you later maybe," Issa said, and left with a small wave.
He jogged back to the cave and changed. He slipped on a pair of brown boots, slipping knives into each one. He also slipped on a knife belt. They were regular silver knives, not black like Layla's had been. When she had disappeared, she'd had most of her weapons on her person except for a few extra darts and poison, and arrows but no bow. Issa had bought a bow of his own and other weapons as well. Now, he equipped himself with everything he owned. Ten knives, his government sword, a bow he had bought, and some of Layla's darts. These he tied around his thigh and bicep. When he was ready, he left the cave and ran to where the maze was. He scouted the area and, seeing no one, entered the maze. This time, he knew exactly where he was going. The first thing he did was examine the passageway with the strong doors again. There were only eight rooms along the whole length. Issa could have forced the locks but not without damaging them and possibly getting caught by the assassin. He satisfied himself by exploring the maze for the rest of the day.
The maze wasn't actually a maze, it was just a series of hallways with doors on each side. Only the first had been reinforced. The rest were just plain, rotting doors with rotting material inside. Some seemed like old bedrooms, others had aging wine in them, a few had become homes for rats. When Issa finally left the maze after exploring everything it was already late afternoon and he was starving. He ate quickly and then changed. He slipped into a black shirt, black pants and black boots. He tied a black scarf around his face and slipped his weapons into the folds of his clothes. He had decided to go to the maze that night and attack the assassin to see what happened. It sounded stupid but he had come up with a plan. This guy, whoever he was, was either very righteous, wanting to kill all assassins or was doing it for the challenge. Issa assumed it was the first one. He was betting his life on the idea that the assassin wouldn't kill anyone who hadn't taken a life. Issa's plan consisted of arming himself to the teeth and then attacking the assassin, claiming to be a guard from the property. In this situation, the assassin would either fight back to get away, fight back to kill, or try to placate him and lie his way out of trouble. Issa hoped that he wouldn't fight to kill. Issa also had enough confidence that if he wasn't caught by surprise, he would at least be able to run away or yell for help, neither of which Layla would ever have considered. She would have had enough confidence in her abilities to win a fight and if she yelled for help as an assassin, she would have gotten locked up. Issa was willing to run far and fast and as a government official he had nothing to fear when it came to calling out for help. The plan was dangerous but Issa needed to see the skills of the assassin and even kill him if he had to to get Layla back. Maybe, if he was lucky, he would be able to see the assassin's face and get an ID on him. If he was just able to get him out of the way, he would be able to save Layla.
As he finished putting his weapons away, he saw the darts and an interesting idea occurred to him. Carefully, so as not to prick himself, he tied a sleeping dart onto the tip of each of his fingers on his left hand. His plan was that if he was caught, he would at least have enough time to touch the assassin and have him fall asleep. Grinning at his own intelligence, Issa left the cave. Once again, he arrived at the maze entrance not long before the sun disappeared. This time he wore a long shirt and long pants and he had remembered to bring a black cloak to shield himself from the cold. That night he only had to wait until midnight before the man appeared. As quietly as he could, using all the techniques Layla had taught him, Issa crept out from his hiding place to where the man was. He had barely gone three steps before the man spun and attacked Issa. Issa yelled out his first defense.
"Stop your attack. I am a guard for the Great Oba's Government. I tell you to cease."
The assassin froze mid-step and for a second, Issa thought that his strategy had worked. Then, he dove at Issa again. Issa had seen this coming. The assassin, seeing how he was dressed and the time of night that he was out, would immediately distrust him, so Issa pulled out his second defense: his government issued sword. He brought it up just in time to stop the assassin's arm from hitting him across the chest. The assassin had arm guards up and down his forearms which he was using to brace against the sword. He didn't attack again, having seen the sword.
"What are you doing on this property at night?" Issa asked.
"I was just passing through. You know the borders are a little fuzzy in my mind and it's just sand. I wasn't breaking anything," the assassin spat back, angrily and Issa thought he recognized the voice. The moon was at the man's back so his face was shrouded in shadow. Issa pushed the man back with his sword and spun around him so that the moon was in the assassin's face and Issa froze. The assassin's face was very familiar to Issa. It was handsome, about 21 years old, and under his hood, Issa could see some curls of brown hair.
The assassin was Darius.