Page 2547

~~((National Senior Citizens Day -- page 19 of 24))~~
Raul closed the gap between him and the taller Abolisher, but he didn't want to get too close just yet. While he now had a fair amount of faith in the invisibility power of this bone ring on his finger, a part of him still worried that perhaps the man would be able to sense his presence in some other, subtler way.

Smell, for one. Raul hadn't bathed in days. It would be pretty goddamn embarrassing if he botched the mission because of his body odor.

And maybe he was just being superstitious, but he felt like there might be something that he didn't quite understand about presence detection. He'd heard the rumors among the Rainlords back in Warrenhold. The ones about Lord Goffe. They said it was like he had eyes in the back of his head, even when his reaper wasn't around.

Raul remembered asking Melchor about it, too, and the man had just smiled at him like he knew something but couldn't tell him.

So Raul wanted to be careful here, as ever. He didn't have Arumoro to heal his wounds or grant him superhuman strength, but he was confident that he could take both of these Abolishers if he just made the right decisions. Tall one first, short one second.

And he bided his time, waiting for word from Arumoro that the others were in position. It took a long time. The two Abolishers alternated between sitting in a corner chair and pacing across the room, observing the hostages. They were probably waiting on word from their reapers, too, Raul figured.

Then it came. Confirmation.

'On zero,' said Arumoro. 'Five... Four... Three...'

Raul's heart was racing, and his palms were clammy. He tried not to shift his feet in anticipation, because the sound of his shoes scraping against the stony basement floor would be too loud at this range.

'Two... One...'

The taller Abolisher's head perked up suddenly. He didn't look at Raul, but it was enough to cause confusion.

'Zero! Go!'

From a crouched position and still invisible, Raul bounded on the guy, going straight for the neck with his left hand.