Zahi melted into the shadows, unseen, as people streamed out of the speakeasy. She watched, unimpressed, as the two magicians dueled, sputtering fire and ice. What a mess. At first, she leaned against the alley wall, certain that the scene would be too chaotic to make a move until the fight calmed down. But then she noticed the three men shift positions in the room. Reihe was now aligned again with the narrow opening in the speakeasy's wooden shutters. Zahi was poised again now, the blow dart pipe just short of her lips. Reihe was in line with the window, but the fight was going on in front of him. Zahi was confident that she would get an opening, but it could happen at any moment, and probably would not last for long. She would have to take it immediately once she saw it.
Inside the speakeasy, the fire mage – who seemed to have grown in height and stature upon invoking his magic – snarled at Dovan, flames whirling up around him. Reihe, meanwhile, stood back, watching the fight with a smug grin and the occasional chuckle. He was accustomed to, and enjoyed, watching other people fight his battles. You didn't stay alive, after all, by fighting your own battles.
The mage was conjuring a giant fireball, building flames and fire and energy up around him to unleash on Dovan when the Draconian hit him square in the face with the roundhouse kick, causing the fire to explode in the faces of both men, and the mage dropped to the ground.
This was the moment. This was the opening. The flames rushed up, and then cleared and for only a moment both men were out of the way, knocked back by the fire. One, tiny dart no larger than a wasp, lodged into Reihe's neck. A fraction of a second later, the upstart crime boss went stiff.
But the fire mage was angry and, not noticing that the slumped body of Reihe was growing quickly gray in pallor, he sprung to his feet. He wouldn't be bested by this assassin. With a dramatic thrust of his arms and loud yell, a dragon made of flame and ember sprung to life and sprung upon Dovan. The spell was a powerful one and sapped quite a bit of the mage's energy, but this was now a matter of pride for him.
Outside, Zahi was fairly confident that she had hit her target. Cleanly, without theatrics, and with nothing tying the murder to the Soot Wolves. But she couldn't be certain with the fight raging inside blocking her view. So for now she would have to wait. Noiselessly, she sprung up from the alley up a drain pipe and crouched on a roof opposite of the speakeasy, hidden in the shadow of its eaves. When the mages were done, she could verify her work.