章 5: Realization
A group of seven men appeared before us. Their shirts where riddled with holes and tears. The bottoms had started to fray and fade away with years of use and neglect. Dirt and grime caked on to every inch of their exposed skin, gave them a rough look, and honestly a need for a bath. You could smell them from such a far distance that my nose wrinkled. If I didn't know any better, I would say that they where already dead. Their pants where just strings at this point that hung at their hips and their feet where barren. These where the poorest men I had ever seen. But their threats made them no longer pitied in my books. That and my desire to kill was blooming.
"You poor poor dears." I cooed as I unsheathed my second blade, dragging them both on the ground as I approached them. "You have come at a very unfortunate time my lovelies. You see, we haven't been able to kill in so long." I drawled out, a wide grin spreading across my face. Sebastion chuckled as he revealed himself from behind the building. An evil grin also spreading across his face. But with his features, he looked even more sinister than I did.
"Ah yes, so very long Sister. You see here, we belong to a very special Assassin Guild. The only guild to make you into blood thirsty beasts. And when you don't kill for so long, well there is no mercy." Sebastion's voice was cool and low as he launched himself into the group. Blocking and pairing there attacks as he ripped into them. I liked giving my brother a chance to kill as many as he could before I stepped in, so I watched. Observed their desperate swinging blades and grunts as Sebastion laid into them. They couldn't keep up with him as swung his sword expertly with such force and grace, you would think he was dancing and not fighting. I always admired his swordsman ship.
So as Sebastion went to work on distracting them, I prowled around the small group. Waiting for the perfect moment to strike when they wouldn't expect it. The group kept swinging away at Sebastion, who effortless parried their blocks and counter struck. But he wouldn't be able to keep up with seven people for ever. So I inched closer, a cat closing in on their pray. A few of the bandits noticed and broke away from Sebastion and advanced on me. I chuckled as they spread out and tried to surround me.
But that was their mistake. I have been blessed with the abilities of supernatural speeds and excellent hearing. I could always keep track of their position, and if they where about to attack. I eyed one of the men as they flicked their sword around precariously. Each swing making a clean slicing noise as it cut through the air. This one was impatient, he would try to attack first and his movements would be sloppy.
So I waited. I let them surround me as they slowly continued to circle. My swords limp at my sides while I watched. My waiting finally ended when one of them lunged at me, his sword aiming straight for me chest. Casually and with quick fluid motion, I side stepped and slashed at my assailant's knees, dropping him as blood spurted from my inflicted wounds. He cried out, trying to stab me in retaliation. But to his dismay, I smacked his sword out of the way with one blade while skillfully slitting his throat with the other. He grabbed at his throat, trying to breath as he fell to his knees. He gasped in agony his eyes rolling to the back of his head as he collapsed on to the ground.
His comrade was not pleased as he cursed at me over and over. His anger was his mistake as he ran towards me, his sword flailing around like a three year old with a rag doll. I tsked as I side stepped and watched him run right through where I was just standing. I would toy with this one. He was entertaining as he growled impatiently. It only spurred on his anger as he swung over and over trying to touch me. Every time he missed, his face would only grow more red with anger. Deciding that I was growing bored, I let him run towards me one last time. He didn't realize what I was doing as I side stepped him one last time, my arm raised over my head as I brought it down upon his neck.
I watched as his body stumbled across the field, head falling to the ground with a sickening thud. I shook my head in disappointment as I wiped my blade of on the man's tattered clothes. He had no proper training, and no patience. There was not even a slight chance for him to make it out of here alive today. Such a pity really.
I pulled my attention away from the deceased body to check on how Sebastion was doing. As always he was skillfully dodging their attacks. He had dropped three guys that had now sat at his feet. Eyes wide open and frozen in angry shouts as they stared into the sky. He wasted no time in taking them down one by one, and it was truly amazing. I knew he could handle the last two guys that he was parrying with, but I wasn't ready to stop. So while winking at Sebastion, I casually advanced on the two guys he was attacking, and stabbed both guys in the back, shoving it all the way through. They gasped in pain before dropping to their knees, the light fading from their eyes as they died. They went limp on my blades as they sat impaled. Blood trickling down the exposed blades. With one swift tug I had them both slide off, and fall face first on to the ground.
"What the hell, I had that." He growled angrily as he stomped to close the distance between us. I couldn't help but laugh at him as I crouched to clean of my blades once again. As Sebastion ranted, Drake had walked out from behind the building. His lips where pursed together, unsettled by the scene that unfolded before him.
"That was truly....unsettling to watch. But nice work." Drake offered quipped as we finished cleaning our blades and sheathing them in one fluid motion. He stood before us, his eyes glued to the bodies and shaking his head. I wasn't sure if he really meant his compliment. He truly seemed appalled at what he was looking at, even without speaking. But I really didn't care either. This was needed regardless if he was appeased by it or not. It wasn't like they where good men anyway.
"Maybe I can tolerate Aspin's annoying question now with out imagining ripping his throat out." I stated blandly as I turned back towards the gate and to our horses. There where no replies. So the walk to the horses was filled with unease and tension. Silence was filled with light patters of our feet as we quickly made our way through the gates. Our horses where still waiting by the gates where we left them, grazing as if nothing had happened. It was quite honestly amazing that these creatures where so easily unsettled, yet so stubborn as well.
"We should probably start heading back. The sun is setting and we need to find a place to camp before it get's to dark." Drake called out as he mounted his horse. I looked towards the skies as they where filled with golds, reds, and yellows as the sun set. It was breath takingly beautiful as the fluffy clouds, lazily crossed the sky. You could see birds, just small dots, in the distance. Once again I was at peace, quietly enjoying the nice breeze that swept across our group. With a smile I pulled myself into the saddle.
"Master is not going to be happy with us." Sebastion muttered. I raised an eyebrow questioningly at him as he brought his horse over beside me. "He gave us strict orders not kill, and now there are seven people dead." He continued muttering under his breath. I sighed and shrugged my shoulders.
"What else where we suppose to do Sebastion. It's not like we went out of our way to find trouble. He is a reasonable leader, I'm sure he will understand." I dismissed his worry, but he still pursed his lips not completely convinced. We trotted along in silence, trying to put as much distance between us and the fallen Kingdom as possible.
We traveled for maybe an hour in the dark before we found our self a small clearing and built a fire. With camp set up, we sat in a circle around the make shift pit, keeping warm. The wind had picked up now and was blowing cold air. It wasn't a very fast breeze, but it was enough to chill the surface as it dragged across my skin. Giving a slight shiver I thrust my hands towards the fire, rubbing them to warm up. Sebastion nudged me as he pointed to the sky.
"Ah damn it. You missed the shooting star. Guess you don't get a wish." I rolled my eyes, smiling at his feigned disappointment as he teased me. The sky tonight was so pretty. Tiny scattered lights flickered across the sky. Some in large clusters, some in small, and there was even lone stars that sat all by themselves. To my appeasement, hardly any clouds dotted the sky. The moon was so full and bright that even the stars where barely visible. The branches that hung over our head made it that much more magical. If it wasn't for the chill, it would be a perfect night.
"You guys have been through a lot together it seems." Drake stated as he poked a stick at the fire. The flames erupted and flickered as they settled back down. Embers floated through the air like yellow fireflies.
"Aye. That we have." I gazed at him through the smoke, wary of his presence. He had been quiet since we left the Kingdom. I wasn't sure whether it was because of the situation with the Kingdom, or because we had appalled him with our blood thirsty killing spree.
"So what made you become assassins." His eyes flicked up to us. His eyes shifting back and forth between us as he watched us through the smoke. I scoffed at him.
"Yes...because we had a choice." I spoke bitterly as I pulled my cloak tightly around myself. Memories of our adoptive parents filling my head. Well you couldn't even really call them adoptive since they hadn't even taken care of us for very long. The only thing they cared about was drugs. Their damn high state of mind as they dropped us off, literally handing us over for a damn baggie of drugs. Only to be murdered seconds later because Drakos found them despicable.
"If you didn't have a choice, how did you end up in the assassin's guild?" Drake's eyes landed on me, not wavering as I stared him down. Why was he prying? Why did he care? Was he really trying to question our loyalty?
"I don't know what you are trying to do, and I honestly don't care. We don't share personal information. Not even with our Master." I practically hissed at him. My defensive shield came up, trying to deter him from further questions.
"I only wish to know about the team I'm suppose to start helping. It's not very often I get called out of the field to help." Drake went back to poking the fire. Sebastion smiled coyly at him in response. I could tell that he was going to say something extremely stupid, so I tensed.
"You'll fit in with the other incompetent people we are...sharing housing with." I punched his and glared at him. If this guy was close to the Master, he was going to get us in trouble. He passed me a dirty look before averting his gaze to the fire.
"Your 'Master', as you call him, has his reasons for the people he chooses. Just as he has his reasons for having you. I've known him practically my entire life. Odd man, but gets his results." I suppose he had a point. Still annoying none the less. No one would understand the dark and twisted ways of life like we did. Our lives where filled with dark irony, something that even I hated.
"Instead of pushing your 'house mates' away. Try talking to them. They might be more of value than you think. What's the worst that going to happen? You make friends?" I scoffed darkly and shook my head at him. Even though we did have 'friends' it still wasn't easy. We earned our alliances through respect. Respect by beatings. Then Drakos words came to mind:
"You are assassins. Assassins don't have friends. You have enemies, and colleagues. Friends make you weak, reliable, and dependent." Sebastion and I quoted Drakos. We weren't meant to make allies, just people who wanted to share a bounty. Or have someone else do the work and murder them for it. Money, money, money. That's all that mattered. Of course it goes without saying that we have strayed far from the assassins path since Master recruited us. But some things will never change, not over night anyway.
"You don't just undo nearly 15 years of damage in one day, Drake. Besides, we would rather just be the diligent soldiers as opposed to sappy friends." Sebastion replied as his back touched the ground. He closed his eyes. I stared into the fire, watching the flames flicker as it crackled.
"What will you do when the day comes and this war is over? Where will you go?" Drake asked as he continued to play with the fire. What would it matter to him. It's not like he had any reason to care. But his questions did start springing stuff to mind. Because he was right. Where would we go? Our family was dead, the assassins guild would hopefully be buried by the time this was over, and we had nothing to turn too. It never occurred to me that there would ever be an end. Not in our life time anyway.
Drake nodded his head, taking my silence as his answer. With a sigh he leaned back and laid on the ground, leaving me alone with my thoughts. It wasn't like I didn't want friends. In fact even in the guild I had made close allies, but they where like me. Dark and corrupt. There was nothing that I could do that they hadn't already done so there was no judgement. These idiots where still naïve to what the guild even did, so there would be no doubt they would turn their heads if they knew what we really did, or had done.
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