The rogue assassin

Our basis

A month went by and the weather changed slightly. It was a bit hotter during the day, but not hot enough to change into shorter pants or anything. We were here for three months now and the fighting skills of the rogues were improving. They were able to dodge a lot of my swings and kicks but they still relied a lot on each other. They needed to learn how to be independent. There will be a time where we need to choose between our lives and our teammates' and we cannot choose them. We have to fight for ourselves to survive. That is why I asked the leader of another rogue team to arrange a surprise attack. The leader accepted my offer as a good training exercise. I knew this exercise would be a tough one for my team as the other team was more experienced. They already finished some assignments where we were still waiting for the first one. The strategy used for this exercise would be divide and conquer and I hoped my team was ready enough for it. The leader and I discussed some details before heading our own ways. Casey stood guard as I made my way over to my favorite willow tree. I made myself comfortable and decided to go for a small nap before the 'surprise attack '. I woke up around 4 am by a nightmare. It was the same one I had for years now. It was about the death of my pack and especially the death of my parents. I shook it off as I raised from my spot. I knew Casey was to switch guarding turns with Sam around midnight. Sam was the youngest rogue of our group. He was only 14 years old but an excellent fighter. I was the oldest member of the group as I just turned 17 last week. I felt kind of bad for him that he had to stand watch when I knew the attack was coming. But he needed to learn how to think and react fast, so I knew it was a good challenge for him. I stepped around the shed when I heard an alarming howl. I guess it's time for some training. The other rogues woke up by the sound and followed me as I ran towards the forest line. Sam was already fighting the first attacker. I climbed a tree to have a better view of the situation while the other rogues took their stances. I was ready to facepalm when I saw some of my rogues run straight to the attackers. This was not even close to what I taught them. They gained meters from the attackers before they shifted into their wolf forms and dispersed to surround the group. At least they did one thing right. A voice in my head agreed with me and I knew it was my wolf side. I did not speak often with my wolf as there was plainly not much to talk about. Thinking about it, I never actually spoke at all besides pieces of training. Neither did the rest of my group. My rogues were now attacking the intruders. While we seemed to be in our victory, a new wolf entered the playing field. I immediately knew it to be the leader of the intruders, named s***h. Yeah, s***h. It wasn’t his original name, but no one still used their real names. We were tortured enough times by the elders to remember only the names given to us. My name was Vicky from the word victory. I gained that name during one of my first fights as I defeated a lot of opponents. I mind linked my team not to kill any of the intruders as this was just an exercise. I had thought of the opponents to have the same attitude towards this fight but I realized I was wrong soon enough. Cries of pain echoed through the forest which caused one of my rogues to be distracted. The opponent took its chance to bite down on the throat of the distracted rogue, killing it in an instant. I gasped in surprise to see his dead body thrown onto the ground. s***h stayed out of the training just like me until the first kill was made. He chose that moment to enter the playing field in his naked human form. He decided to end the match, which was my signal to come down. I walked over to s***h and shook his hand in a firm handshake. I gave him a nod before telling everybody to make a circle. It was my time to shine. My group had failed this challenge which meant that I was the only one to save their pathetic lives. This rule was made in case of the death of a rogue. If I were to lose this next battle, it meant that I was weak just like my group of rogues. This didn’t only mean my death but also that they were to submit to s***h as their new leader. I threw away the jacket I was wearing before giving a small nod to s***h. His mount turned up into a small smile that never reached his eyes. I immediately saw his love to fight but also the fear to die, which would be the fate of the loser. He shifted back into his big brown colored wolf while I took off some clothes to do the same thing. My wolf was different than his as I had sand-colored fur with white ears and paws. I was a bit bigger but he compensated for the odds with his muscles. We both took a step forward as a signal that we were ready to fight. One of his wolves howled, giving us the signal to land our first attacks.