Little Red

She waited, not so patiently, for the target to arrive. The blonde kept peeking past the carriage's curtain. She didn't like waiting and she wouldn't stop fidgeting in her seat. Her companion, who sat opposite her in the carriage, was becoming rather annoyed by her restlessness. The prince clicked his tongue, which got him a glare from the woman.

She wasn't fond of the man across from her, but he paid her well. She could put up with the prince as long as money stayed involved. While the two of them might have grown up together, that didn't mean that they had a good relationship. She never thought of him as a friend when they were children and now their interactions were only business-related. If he needed someone eliminated, then she got the job done.

She glanced back out of the window. They were in the middle of the woods. Their carriage was off of the path and it would be hard to spot at this time of night. She knew what sign she was looking for. The men that she was after were meeting within these woods secretly, but their torches would light the way. Once she saw the light, then she would follow them.

They waited in silence until eventually, she saw the sign that she was looking for. With one last look at the prince before departing, she asked, "How would you like me to handle this?"

"Kill them, but leave one alive to set an example. Whoever you keep alive, make sure that they get the message. I do not want people to think that it is so easy to tarnish the reputation of my kingdom." Once the prince gave his command, she nodded. He did not wish her to stay safe or say his farewells. There was no need to. She would be fine, as she always was.

She left the carriage, glad to finally be free of that confinement. She was the type of person who didn't like being stuck in one place for too long. Being stuck inside a cramped carriage with someone she didn't care for all that much didn't make it any easier. Now, she was in her element. She was in the wilderness, where no one would hear the cries of help from her victims. The men believed that they would be safe out here. They thought that they could scheme against the kingdom without a soul finding out about it.

Boy, were they wrong.

The Kingdom of Ambria wasn't a place that should be messed with. While the king was a peaceful man, his son was not. Prince Lucas worked behind the scenes, rooting out any evil that might try to infiltrate their peaceful nation. He had many spies who fed the prince any information that could be harmful to the crown. After investigating, that's where she came in. She was the prince's puppet, his little assassin.

As she got closer to the men, she could hear them speaking in hushed voices. Though they were out in the middle of nowhere, they still kept quiet. She wasn't particularly interested in what they were discussing. It wasn't her job to care. However, if she was able to get something out of them, then the prince would reward her with more gold. Information was something that the prince paid well for, and she needed the money. If only she could hear what they were saying.

She was almost close enough to hear them now, but before she was able to get too close, she stepped on a fallen branch. The snapping sound reverberated in the silent woods. The men quickly glanced in the direction of the sound. She was able to hide behind a tree in time before they caught sight of her. Since it was pitch black in the dense woods without a light source, they might think that she was only an animal.

The men were on alert now, though. She heard one of them ask, "Do you think someone followed us?"

"We were careful. It was just a wild animal," another was quick to diminish their fears. From his tone of voice, this man sounded like the leader of this operation. He wouldn't be the one that she spared.

Instead, she would have to find the weakest one in the group. He would be the one to spread the news of what happened here, and he would be too scared to rise up and fight back. That was her best option. She knew that Prince Lucas would also approve of this decision as well.

Once the men started moving again, she waited for a few more seconds before following. She would have to be more careful this time. If she made another sound, then they would know that someone was definitely following them. They were already taking precautions by meeting out here in seclusion. She also noted the swords that were strapped to the men's belts. They might have brought weapons, but that didn't mean that they could use them.

She usually had the upper hand when it came it came to combat. She had trained to fight since she was a child. While she might not have been as physically strong as some of her opponents, she was able to make up for that with her speed and quick wit. Besides, when it came to fighting, she wasn't the type to play fair. She used whatever technique she could to her advantage. When it came to her line of work, sometimes, she needed to use dirty tactics. People who knew her name would fight for their lives. It was either her, or them.

Eventually, the men stopped walking. They were in a clearing that was already set up with candles forming a circle. She also noticed the lines of chalk that were drawn on the ground. The men had performed this beforehand. She hid in the shadows and watched as the leader pulled something out of his cloak. From what she could see, the objects were a dagger with intricate designs and a book. While she might not have known much about magic, it was clear that these men were preparing some sort of dark ritual. She wanted to gather as much information as she could to get more money out of this operation, but she knew that she needed to stop these men now. She couldn't allow them to unleash any sort of dark magic in this world.

The leader started chanting something, which was when she decided to act. She unsheathed her sword and as quickly as she could, she ran towards the men. She was light on her feet so she was able to move silently. The men only noticed her when she was close enough. When the first two turned to face her, they were too late. Her sword was sharp enough to cleanly cut through the men. They were dead in an instant. Only three more were left.

The disturbance caught them by surprise, making the leader stop his chanting. She didn't give them the chance to react either. Instead of just knocking the book out of the man's hands, she decided to cut his hand off. With one swinging motion, she severed his hand with her blade. The man let out a scream as he clutched his arm. Then, she silenced him for good as she drove her sword through his chest.

Two men were left. She eyed both of them, wondering which would be the lucky man to survive. She could see the fear in each of their eyes. One stood there, frozen in fear, while the other quickly turned around. He was trying to make his escape. That's when she decided that he would be the one to die. She dragged one of her daggers there were strapped to her belt, then threw it at the man who was running away. Her aim was on point as usual. The dagger hit his back, and the man fell face-first to the ground. He wasn't dead yet, though. She walked past the last standing man to reach her final victim. He tried to crawl away. She stopped him by plunging her sword into his back.

She took a deep breath and turned to the last man. He couldn't take her eyes off of her. When she approached him, but took a small step back, before falling over. He couldn't even stay standing because of his fear.

She looked him in the eyes. She gave him a smile and asked, "Would you like to tell me what you guys were planning?"

In a meek voice, he said, "P-please don't kill me."

She clicked her tongue. She hated when her victims begged for their lives. It made her feel a little bad. It was nothing personal. She was only doing her job. "I won't if you tell me what you guys were up to. And make it quick. I have places to be."

He nodded. "O-okay. I wasn't told many of the details. The man who was in charge told us that there was a very powerful deity that he was planning on summoning. He said that it would help us take over Ambria if we made a contract with it."

"A deity? So I'm assuming that you didn't realize that he was planning on actually summoning a demon? The magic circle, candles, book, and dagger were a dead giveaway of what he was planning on doing." It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. This man was dumb for not realizing that sooner.

He looked shocked by this, which confirmed that he didn't know what he was getting into. "I swear, I had no idea! I never would have signed up for this if I would have known."

She sighed. There was no use telling her this. The next step of her contract with the prince was to let one of these men go, so regardless of whether this man knew what he was getting into or not, he would be allowed to go free. She wanted to press for more details, but she had a feeling that this man wouldn't know anything useful.

"Right. Well, you're free to go. Just tell whoever is your higher-ups that Little Red Riding Hood is watching. I will be keeping an eye on your little organization and I will kill everyone involved. If you'd like to avoid meeting me again, then I suggest that you quit after you relay my message," she said.

"Yes, of course, Miss Red!" The man scrambled to his feet. He ran away before she had the chance to change her mind.

Red watched as he disappeared into the forest. Once he was out of sight, she turned to the mess that she had made. It wasn't her most bloody kill and at least no one would easily find their bodies. Wild animals would take care of the carcasses, leaving behind only a trace of what she had done.

Without hanging around for a second longer, she left the scene.