The Guild of Assassins

by Anna Kashina

  As the Keeper approached the table, Lance’s eyes slid over him with a mildly annoyed look, which quickly receded as he saw the other three Diamonds acknowledge the Keeper with welcoming nods, moving over to make room for him. The map they studied was the layout of the Monastery grounds, far more detailed than Egey Bashi believed was possible to procure for anyone outside the Church. He looked at it with interest, connecting some of the geography to the place he had previously known mostly through action on the inside.

  “What’s the plan, Aghat Mai?” he asked.

  “We’ll march tonight, Magister. I’m taking a small force, Diamonds and Rubies to the numbers Kyth can protect.”

  Egey Bashi nodded. It seemed like a sensible plan. Diamonds and Rubies could do very serious damage to the enemy, if not land a victorious strike with only minimal effort. And if worst came to worst, this force would at least enable them to access the enemy’s numbers and key positions without creating too much havoc.

  “Do you think they already know of our arrival, Aghat Mai?” he asked.

  Mai shrugged. “If they don’t, we can consider ourselves lucky. But I’m not counting on that. I expect them to be prepared, especially if our late Shadow Master is with them.”

  Egey Bashi nodded. Knowing that the man leading the defense had intimate knowledge of all the weaknesses and fighting styles of their attack force significantly worsened the odds. He hoped no surprises were forthcoming.

  “If my knowledge of the Monastery grounds can help, Aghat Mai, I would be glad to join you.”

  Mai shook his head. “No, Magister. We’re already extending to protect Kyth. I don’t want to stretch it even more.”

  Grudgingly, Egey Bashi nodded again. He had never thought of himself as a person who needed protection. But things obviously looked very differently to a Diamond Majat.

  “Aghat Raishan’s knowledge of the Monastery is fairly extensive,” he said. “We’ve been there together more than once. And, I believe Aghat Kara knows her way around as well. I’m sure you’ll do fine without me, Aghat Mai.”

  Kaddim Tolos strode through the Monastery grounds with a frown on his face. He only vaguely registered the hooded figures scurrying out of sight at his approach: priests, the unimportant and soon-to-be-extinct kind of the Monastery’s inhabitants.

  Things at the Majat Guild had not gone as planned. The challengers were supposed to use the advantage the subtly applied Kaddim power had given them to go for the kill, eliminating the Diamonds and the Rubies, and in the process exhausting themselves enough to let the Jades shoot them down. Kaddim Xados, posing as the Shadow Master for the last ten years through an ingenious mind control scheme devised and executed by Nimos, had laid out a perfect plan. It would have worked too, if not for that man, Mai, who not only was annoyingly resistant to the Kaddim’s power, but also managed to stop his hand in time to avoid killing two of his fellows in rank. Tolos still couldn’t get over his disbelief at seeing it in action. The man had been handed a perfect opportunity to even the odds, and he simply blew it. He showed a weakness that made it very clear to Tolos that in the long run he couldn’t possibly be a strong leader, even if his boyish charm had proven to be a temporary advantage in putting him in command. Men, women, they were all the same, eager to indulge in a fantasy over a pretty face. Tolos, with his centuries of experience, knew better.

  And now, the Majat were coming in force, with Mai in charge, and the only thing to hope for was that the man would indeed prove a poor leader and blow his chances at the Monastery as well.

  Tolos felt fortunate that the scouts they had placed on all the roads out of the Majat Guild had been able to send news quickly, relaying every detail about the Majat force marching against the Monastery. Even more so, Kaddim Xados was in charge of their defense, and there was no one better suited to deal with the situation. Who could possibly know more about the Majat and their weaknesses than their recent Shadow Master?

  He pushed open the doors of the Great Shal Addim Temple and stepped in. The giant space inside looked airy and light. Vaulted stone archways protruded from the ceiling, trapping sunbeams from the tall windows in the space around the altar in the center, shaped like a four-pointed Holy Star. The light shrouded the star in intricate golden lace, making it gleam, as if floating in the air. It was the holiest place in the kingdom of Tallan Dar, the apex of the Old Empire, soon to become the womb for its rebirth in full glory under the new rule. Very few could possibly stand in the way of the Kaddim Brotherhood, poised to reunite the lands and instigate the Reincarnate as the Emperor for ages to come. Once they dealt with their small Majat problem, nothing else could possibly stop them.

  Tolos strode toward the four silent men waiting for him around the altar – a place of worship, where heaven and hell clashed in constant turmoil. Only opposites could ensure the wholeness of things, and ever since the fall of the Old Empire these opposites had been thrown too far out of balance for things to work as they should.

  He felt pride as he surveyed the assembled Brotherhood: five of their Cursed Dozen – a force that could surely rival the Majat and the rest of the kingdom, if recent events hadn’t allowed several Diamonds with their devilish fighting skill to escape the Kaddim’s mind control. Still, even with this handicap, the force in front of him was not to be ignored. In addition to Nimos, with his superb Power to Control, and Farros, whose Power to Command extended to a unique ability to kill a man with a highly targeted blast, there was also Haghos, a man with intimate knowledge of Monastery affairs and a unique skill to preserve bodies for resurrection. On top of that, Xados, who had, until recently, occupied the notoriously fabled post of the Majat Shadow Master, possessed unique knowledge of weapons and military tactics. Added to Tolos’s own proficiency in leading large cohorts of Kadan Warriors, this force alone should be perfectly enough to deal with everything they had in the Kingdom of Tallan Dar, once the Majat were out of the way. In addition, their Bengaw Outpost harbored more Brothers, as well as the Reincarnate himself.

  “Adi Kados,” he greeted as he approached, acknowledging the assembly with a brief bow.

  As similar greetings echoed among the group, he kept his eyes on Xados.

  “The reports I’ve heard have been vague, Kaddim,” he said. “When we left the Majat Guild in a hurry, I assumed everything was set. What went wrong?”

  Xados shrugged, his light, graceful movement making him look almost like a Majat. He had always been a superb fighter, securing the choice of his candidacy for the Majat infiltration as soon as it became clear Nimos’s mind magic was likely to work on their Guildmaster.

  “We can only guess,” Xados said. “Mai has always been a wild card. Given a choice, I would have staked more on people like Oden Lan.”

  Tolos frowned. “We staked everything we could on Oden Lan. But he wasn’t going to bring down their Guild alone, without any help. He is, after all, one man.”

  Xados sighed. “For better or worse, Mai is now in charge and we will have to deal with him. I don’t think this is necessarily bad.”

  “How so?”

  “He’s still very young. Much too young for his post. However good he looks in command, he lacks experience and, if pressed hard, he might make mistakes a more seasoned commander would never succumb to.”

  “Shouldn’t we think in more immediate terms?” Tolos asked. “In the current situation, shouldn’t we be targeting his fighting style?”

  Xados shook his head. “Mai’s fighting style is nearly flawless. In fact, the Guild has not even been able to train a shadow for him.”

  Tolos waved his hand in dismissal. “These Majat terms mean little to me, Kaddim.”

  “It means,” Xados said, “that no one, even in their own Guild, possesses enough skill to defeat him one on one.”

  Tolos frowned. “In my experience with warrior training, Kaddim Xados, I have learned one important thing. No man can possibly be flawless.”

  A smile slid across Xados’s lips. “You are right, K
addim Tolos. While I couldn’t easily name an advantage we could use in a direct confrontation with weapons, Mai has distinct character traits that could perhaps be explored as a weakness.”

  “Character traits?”

  “On many occasions, he has demonstrated remarkable resolve to spare lives.”

  Tolos sighed. Were they desperate enough to call this an advantage?

  Xados eyed him calmly. His disconcertingly purple Olivian eyes made him look strange among the group. Yet, Tolos reflected, distinct-looking eyes seemed to be a trait among the Kaddim brothers. Purple did not look nearly as exotic as Farros’s speckled gray, or Nimos’s iris-less dark disks that made him look like an owl. The only man here with more normal eyes was Haghos, but the devilish gleam in his gaze did nothing to comfort a casual observer.

  “The signature style of Mai’s command,” Xados went on, “has always been in the way he tends to lead his people in action, rather than staying behind and giving orders like many other commanders prefer to do. This style makes him very inspiring to his men, but it also harbors certain weaknesses. Perhaps we can play on them.”

  “How?”

  Xados smiled. “Our compound affords very few opportunities to fight in an open field. Whatever force he brings, he will likely begin his attack by personally leading a small group in the hope of dealing a quick surgical strike. You can count on this group to be nearly invincible, nothing we can possibly handle in direct confrontation. However, if we lure them into a spot where we can gather enough fighters to distract them all for a short time, we could target him personally through a highly coordinated ranged attack. If all of us here can use our combined power to do it, he won’t even see it coming.”

  Tolos thought about it. A combined mind power of five Kaddim Brothers could make them all act like one, if they fully lended themselves to it. It could also amplify their skills through this shared mind link. He knew about Majat’s synchronous training, but no training could possibly compare to five people truly driven by one single mind, on top of the exceptional weapons skill of the Cursed Dozen, rivaled only by the Majat.

  He hesitated. “He’s bringing several ranks, including Rubies, Sapphires, and Jades. Each of these ranks can outperform our current warriors in training.”

  Xados shook his head. “In fact, I would put our best warriors against their Sapphires with no hesitation. And their Jades, of course, are good only in ranged weapons and cannot stand up to a direct attack. However, the Ruby and Diamond ranks are continuing to present a challenge to our men.”

  “So,” Tolos said, “even if we take him down, we’ll still have three other Diamonds to deal with – not to mention whoever else he brings. He has sixteen Rubies in his force, assuming our scouts got it right.”

  “They did,” Nimos assured, breaking his silence for the first time. Tolos slid a brief glance over him. He knew he could take this man’s assurances at face value. His mind control was superb, the way he could not only communicate with his men at great distances, but also seemed to be aware of their thoughts. Fortunate that they were able to revive him after the blow he received last time they had all faced their enemy.

  “Only Mai and Kara are immune to our mind control,” Nimos went on. “And, last time I saw them, I couldn’t help noticing the bond they share. If we manage to hit him, she will be shattered.”

  “Enough to succumb to our power?”

  “Enough to do something foolish, perhaps.”

  “Something foolish can hardly be relied on as a tactical advantage, Kaddim.”

  Nimos shrugged. “Even barring that, their attack would be blunted without him. The Majat would be greatly demoralized. We would not only have one less Diamond to deal with, but also leave them without a leader.”

  “Would one of the other Diamonds be able to take his place?”

  Xados shook his head. “These are fine issues, Kaddim. Lance would probably step in, but their men would not follow him as eagerly as Mai. He’s a bit too arrogant for his own good. Raishan is the opposite, if anything, too mild to be an effective leader. And Kara, of course, has no formal authority to command. Not unless she resumes her rank in the Guild. I’d say, short-term we would have nothing to worry about.”

  Tolos nodded. It made sense. Except, any attack plans seemed shaky after the way things had gone at the Majat Guild. Above all, the incident made Tolos realize how little they still knew about powers at play in that enigmatic fortress, despite the fact that their man had been so close to their command for the past ten years, freely sharing all inside information.

  “Let’s plan a ranged attack,” he said.

  29

  FLYING DAGGERS

  Kyth felt clumsy and slow as he moved in the midst of the Majat force, twelve men whose stealth and power surpassed anything he had ever seen in action outside the training grounds. The four Diamonds kept to the front, and the Rubies formed a tail in their wake, positioning themselves on Kyth’s sides so that they could protect him from any attackers and benefit from his power at the same time. Kyth felt nervous as he walked. Up until now, all his training had been theory, never tested in a real fight. And now, he was going to determine once and for all if this training worked. He hoped he was not going to let anyone down.

  Under the cover of dusk, they approached the wall at an inconspicuous spot indicated by Raishan. Mai and Kara went first, their grappler hooks flying up the wall in perfect unison, sleek shapes pulling up and over like two darting shadows. After a long moment he heard a click of hooks retracted from the other side, indicating that the way was clear.

  Kyth’s heart raced as he wielded his own hook. He had tried it before, with variable success. He hoped he could do it now, without appearing ridiculous to the men at his sides who clearly didn’t consider the task of scaling the smoothly hewn wall, over two men’s height, difficult enough to train for. He put all his force into the throw, trying to mimic the brisk moves of the Majat by his side. His hook caught, but when he pulled, it released and fell down, landing very close to Kyth’s foot. He cursed under his breath, bending over to pick it up, aware of the shapes disappearing from his side one by one. Were they just going to leave him behind?

  Raishan reached over and took the hook from Kyth’s hand. “Here, let me.”

  Kyth nodded gratefully, feeling like an idiot for not being able to do it himself.

  “We’ll go together.” Raishan flung the two hooks up with a smooth movement, catching them on the wall perfectly, with enough distance in between for both of them to scale the wall side by side. Kyth only nodded as he took the thin rope from the Diamond’s hands, focusing on climbing up without making even more of a fool of himself. Of course Raishan could catch two hooks on the wall with one throw, so confidently that he didn’t even need to check if they held before putting his weight to it. No surprise at all that Mai thought so little of the task that he went ahead without bothering to consider that whether Kyth, their main protection against the Kaddim, would have any trouble following behind.

  The courtyard connecting to the other side of the wall was large and rectangular, and completely empty. Being here brought back bad memories. Last time, Kyth, Alder, and Ellah had been marched in here at the orders of the old Reverend Haghos, later found to be a Kaddim Brother, who had planned to use Kyth in his elaborate plot to take over the throne. And now, through several turns of events no one could have possibly foreseen, Kyth was coming back to pay the debt. Hopefully, the Majat force they had brought made it possible to ensure that this particular debt was paid in full, once and for all. Last time, Haghos had forced a sword through Kyth’s chest. Even though the wound had not been as bad as it seemed, Kyth did not cherish the memory.

  He caught himself when he realized Mai was looking at him.

  “Are you ready?” he asked.

  Kyth nodded.

  “Just make sure,” Mai said, “your mind doesn’t wander the way it did just now. And, try to keep up.”

  Without waiting for a respon
se, he turned and slid off into the gateway ahead, moving so smoothly that his black-clad shape melted into the shadows.

  From the moment they entered the Monastery, Kara couldn’t escape the feeling something was wrong. The way each empty courtyard in their path yielded to another, without so much as a man in sight. The way the entire Monastery grounds stood eerily quiet, as if devoid of life. They were being led, into whatever trap the Kaddim had prepared, and, for better or worse, they had no choice but to follow.

  Mai led the formation known as a spearhead, a powerful strike force that was very hard to resist for warriors of any skill when led by the top gems. Kara and Raishan stepped side by side in his wake, with Lance bringing up the rear. The Rubies fanned out at their back, completing the spearhead and keeping Kyth closely in their midst. Such formation could quickly and efficiently take out a focused enemy force, but had its flaws when faced with vast numbers. Of course, the amount of men Kyth could protect with his power made their choice of attack plan very limited anyway.

  Kara knew they should likely have nothing to worry about. Four Diamonds were a formidable force, and the Rubies nearly doubled the odds. Together, they were infallible even with such small numbers. But she also knew the enemies were led by their own Shadow Master, who knew each of their weaknesses in great detail. The thought was just too disconcerting to dwell on.