Much to the assassin’s chagrin, the woman standing before him hadn’t even flinched. Either that or she was very good at supressing her emotions for him to exploit, he could not tell. This certainly unnerved him if intimidation didn’t work on her. If she was a mage, that meant that she would be able to cast spells without any sort of problem at all, compared with the novice Rune-Mage that he encountered before in this city. He knew he should have gotten to his previous client, gotten the money and got out before anyone picked him out. Now, he has to deal with this woman. Seeing the events rolled out as they have now, he knew he should have scarpered off when he had the chance. Still, he had the other person to rely on in the case she went for him, now that she has her weapon drawn. Ixion mentally noted the runes that were on the sword. The pale glow that came from the crystal indicated, at least to him, that she was a Rune Mage, but if she was able to find him thus far in Zerul. Despite his weakened state, he still held on to his weapon, throwing caution into the wind. She knew of two of his magical abilities, least of all his ability to teleport though he hasn’t revealed the limitations to the spell as far as he was aware of. He still had one more trick up his sleeve just in case she does attack.

[i]"I serve the Duke of Zerul. And he wants the Fixer to stop disrupting out efforts to prevent the Crimson Dawn from acting within Zerul. Let me examine your eyes so I can ascertain whether you are him, or I will have to examine them against your will."[/i]

[i]So, she works for the master of this region,[/i] he thought, keeping the mental note for a future reference. He wasn’t sure if the merchant he had killed previously for his client was important for the Duke, but he knew that he can’t give that life back. The laws of magic were certain of that, but also for another reason if that law wasn’t in existence. As soon as she finished, he laughed at her, as if something she had said was a joke. When he finished a moment later, he glared at her with the same piercing stare he always had. “You think I’m with those fools…” he started, his throat burning. “While I do serve the Grand Master, which I could gather that you already know otherwise you wouldn’t be confronting me on this matter, I am not a part of the Dawn. While the majority of those fools decided to sell their souls for whatever they want, I still have mine. I am… a steel-for-hire, if that’s what they call it in Zerul.” The statements he were saying were technically true, despite him signing one of the contracts automatically guarantee him a part in said group. The details of that contract were different from any other and he was not going to give a single detail of that away, lest he turn the person up above away for it.

While he tried to state that he was not a part of the Crimson Dawn, Ixion thought about the latter part of what this woman had said to him. Despite everything he has seen, or the lack of, from her, he knew that she would not be intimidated by him at all. He also knew that she didn’t draw her weapon until he drew his, despite the close call she indicated earlier when her hand almost reached for it when he revealed the teleportation magic. Since she hadn’t attacked him yet, even with the intimidation that he failed to give her, the assassin concluded that she was only brandishing her weapon to show that she was ready to defend herself. This was certainly a natural reaction to give to someone when they were wielding a weapon themselves. No, he concluded that, despite all of this, he wasn’t going to provoke her to attack him directly through fear mongering. He had to think of another way to get out of this or for her to start attacking him first.

“Despite your threats against me just so you can examine your eyes,” he started, responding to her demands. “I do not have to obey them. As I have said, I am a steel-for-hire, so I am not obliged to grant those requests. The only people I take orders from are my deity, through his infernal contract, or those who paid for my services.” He dropped the weight of his weapon, the metal landing on the ground in a dull thud. The chains that were around his hand uncoiled as it followed. He didn’t fancy his arm tiring from holding the weight for a long time, not in this condition. If things break down, he needed every bit of his strength to react. Moreso in his physical state. “So unless you do not have any valid reason as to why you need to examine my eyes besides forcing me, I am obliged to depart from this street.”