The Writings of Assassination: Book One

by Cameron Style

  “D-D-Derrik.” He sputters out.

  “Derrik, you swore an oath to protect this fort, these Seven Sanctums, with your very life. I cannot thank you enough for all you have done.”

  His eyes move to mine, filled with tears. “No, please, no.”

  Roger chokes back tears and buries his face in his dirtied hands. “I’m so sorry, I’ve done all I can. The bleeding won’t stop, I fear it’s internal.” Roger pleads.

  Comprehending the situation, Derrik grabs my hand, clasping his weak, pale fingers around mine. “Then at least let me have the honor of dying while looking into the eyes of my Knight Divine.”

  I place my other hand atop his and grip tight. His eyes hold mine until they begin to lose light. His focus pulls up, away from mine. The grip on my hand loosens…and he’s gone. Roger buries his face in his hands and weeps.

  “It’s ok Roger, you did everything you could.” I place a hand on his back.

  He shakes his head. “It wasn’t enough.”

  I look up to realize the rest of the room has gone silent and is looking in our direction, Thorn included. “Roger, the rest of the knights are watching.”

  He turns to look over his shoulder. “What are you all staring at?” He cries out.

  The knights divert their gazes and get back to tending wounds.

  “That’s right. Unless you want me blubbering like an idiot over you, you’d better keep fixing one another up because I can’t handle any more deaths today.”

  The room falls silent.

  “Any more deaths? How many have there been?” I quietly ask.

  “Five.” He points to the corner where bodies lie under stained sheets. I look up and catch Thorn’s gaze, signaling him over.

  “How are you feeling?” Thorn asks.

  I shake my head. “The dead bodies, we need to move them out of the infirmary immediately. It isn’t good for those struggling to stay alive to see that pile growing.”

  “Agreed.” Without another word Thorn makes his way to the pile and grabs a corpse, heading down the hall to take it outside where more knights are preparing burial grounds.

  “As for you,” I look back to Roger, “you did all you could. Do you need a break? You’ve been at this all night.”

  Something changes in his face as I speak. Respect, I can see it.

  “Yes, Knight Divine. Thank you.”

  “Then go.”

  Hours later I join Thorn and Ethan outside, as the knights finish digging graves for the fallen.

  “It’s weird to see you without your hood and gloves.” Thorn studies Ethan’s features in the early sunlight.

  “Well get used to it. Helwain’s done hiding, and so am I.”

  I walk up beside them, wondering if Ethan’s told anyone we’re brother and sister. Someone grunts from one of the holes in the ground. I walk over and look down. “That’s the last one,” Danny breathes rubbing sweat with dirt.

  “You dug all those graves?” I ask.

  “Well no one else was going to do it.” He extends his arm to me. I grasp it pulling him out of the hole. Danny’s always been small, but he looks sickly now.

  “We need to bury the bodies fast. Helwain has no sympathy for the dead, he could strike again at any moment.”

  “Agreed.” Thorn says from my right. “We need to prepare.”

  “Prepare for battle or prepare for an attack?”

  “Battle.”

  Everyone turns to me. “Helwain has already attacked, twice. It’s our turn to throw the element of surprise.”

  “How exactly do you propose we do that?” Thorn questions with furrowed brows.

  “We attack the Realm.”

  XVII: Phase One

  ¶Luck. That’s all it is, I keep telling myself. Luck that Helwain hasn’t attacked us in three weeks. This is it, our last night at the fort. I’ve been preparing the knights from sunrise to sunset. They are ready, all of them. Everyone except Roger and Wizard are heading out with us at dawn tomorrow. I dare not show my own fear. The lightning bolt still flickers behind my eyes with unspoken meaning. My ability to hear and possibly even communicate with dragons, is still unconfirmed. I haven’t seen one since that night.

  Ethan is relentless with his confidence in me. He keeps telling me I have the power to communicate with dragons, and that it will come into play. I have no way of practicing in order to find out. Our plan relies on this idea, however. Another part of our plan lies on my alliance with Elethwayn and Hothor in the Sacred Colony. We’ll pass through it on our way back to the Realm, and be just under a day out from there.

  “What are you thinking about?” Thorn nudges the bowl of beef stew in front of me.

  “What?” I look up to his shadowed face. For a brief moment I see doubt behind his eyes.

  “Nothing,” I pick up my spoon and scoop a portion of beef into my mouth. Ethan walks over to the table, taking a seat by Tristan and Shauna. The knights have left a noticeable space between themselves, and between Thorn and I. He gazes at the crowded end of the table with a frown.

  “Hey Roger,” I yell to the kitchen. He sticks his head out. “Grab yourself a bowl and sit next to me, will you? Everyone else seems too afraid.”

  Scooping himself a bowl so large broth drips down the edge, he waddles over to me and takes a seat.

  “That’s more like it.” I pat his back. “Hey Wizard!” I yell behind me. “You never eat with us either, get in here and sit next to Thorn, will you?”

  A meager smile crosses Thorn’s lips as Wizard sits next to him. “There, now the table is full. We dine like a family.” A few cheers pipe up from the end of the table.

  “We have a big journey ahead of us tomorrow. Let us hope our trek to Oakenlich goes unnoticed. Eat up tonight, drink up tonight, sleep it off and be ready to go at dawn.”

  Ethan smirks, holding his goblet of red wine up for a toast. “Here, here!” He shouts, the other knights join in unison holding up their cups. The room fills with chatter, drinking, and laughter.

  I finish my stew and wine before the rest. Getting up from the table unnoticed, I take my bowl to the kitchen and rest it amongst the others in the sink.

  “Hey,” Thorn stands with his bowl in the entryway.

  “Hey,” I brush my hair behind my shoulder and walk past him. He sticks an arm out to stop me. I roll my eyes up to meet his under a heavy brow.

  “Don’t give me that look.” He laughs walking past me, tossing his bowl into the sink with a clatter. “Come on, let’s go for a walk.”

  I shake my head crossing my arms, folding them out of his reach.

  “Jaria,” he lowers his voice eyeing the dining hall, “what is it? You’ve barely talked to me in weeks. Since the whole attack, really.”

  My gaze remains hard on the floor.

  “Look, I know you’re nervous about tomorrow, but you’ve done such an excellent job preparing everyone. I don’t think…”

  “It’s not that.” I cut off his thought.

  “What is it then?”

  “I can’t tell you.”

  He pulls his head back in confusion. “What is it?” He presses.

  I look to Ethan in the dining room. He seems so oblivious and happy dining amongst the knights, like he’s one of them for the first time.

  “Keeper?” He follows my gaze.

  I say nothing.

  “I know it has something to do with him, you haven’t been the same since the night he almost…” Thorn draws his eyes up to him sullenly. “I’m sorry about what happened. You saved him, though, same as you saved me. He’s alright now. Though, I still don’t understand why he’s not wearing his hood and gloves any longer.”

  I take a step out of the kitchen. “I’m headed to bed. I’ll see you at sunrise alright?”

  His fingers lightly curl around my bicep. I pull through them and keep walking without another glance in his direction. Ethan hasn’t told anyone else the truth, not even his name. To all the other knight’s, he’s still Keeper.
He’d told me a few weeks back that in order to protect this plan he didn’t want to reveal himself to the knights further than his appearance. After all, he’d had a bad feeling about Banes and he’d been right in not trusting him even when I couldn’t see it. Taking the risk of another mole in the fort isn’t worth it. It’s been hard not telling Thorn the truth. I’d had to keep my distance from him since that night. He knows something isn’t right, but I can’t tell him what, or why. He’s trustworthy, it’s not that…it’s everything else. This plan is too important to fail.

  I head through the apothecary grabbing a small vial of gold dust on the way to my quarters. Wizard had been stock piling it for me since the attack to help me sleep. Some nights it works like a dream, others I still awake screaming; seeing wolves biting up at me, dragons swooping down at me, Vampiric Elves eyes burn at me from the shadows, Gravnere, Dameon, Banes…

  Knock. Knock. Knock.

  “Who is it?” I ask lying down the empty vial of gold dust into a small wooden bowl piled with others beside the bed.

  “Thorn.”

  I grumble to myself. I don’t have time for this right now. With any luck, the gold dust will kick in within the hour and I’ll be off to one last night of good sleep before the battle.

  “Please, open the door.” He asks from the other side. Sighing, I push myself off the bed and walk to the door, opening it just a crack so I can lean on it for balance.

  “Hey.” He looks down at me like I’m a wounded deer.

  “I’m exhausted.”

  “Then let me guard you as you sleep so as you may sleep more soundly, my lady.” He throws me a cheesy grin. A small laugh escapes me. I can’t refuse. He enters and I close the door behind him. He walks over to the nightstand and picks up an empty vial of gold dust.

  “What is this?” He asks looking down at the bowl of vials.

  “Gold dust to help me sleep.” I meander over to the bed and flop down on my back. “Wizard’s been making them for me.”

  He studies the vial. “I had no idea.” He takes a seat next to me on the bed.

  “Some nights I take two vials, even three to try and stop the nightmares. I can’t sleep. All I see is blood. All I hear are screams. I wake up drenched in sweat.”

  He pushes back the red velvet drapes and lies next to me, our feet hanging off the side of the bed. “Whose screams?”

  I shut my eyes taking in a deep breath. “Everyone’s. Mine. Yours. Gravnere. Dameon…Banes.”

  Thorn sighs. “So much has happened since we first met that I have forgotten half of it.”

  “I wish I could.”

  “You’ve experienced things the rest of us can only imagine. What you must be feeling,” he pauses, turning his head toward me. “It’s a wonder you can sleep at all.”

  “I can’t, really. If I’m lucky I get a night or two a week.”

  “Listen, I know you want to get some sleep and who knows how much time we have before Keeper comes back, but I wanted to talk to you before we head out tomorrow.”

  I turn to face him with burning eyes that beg to be shut. “I’m listening,” I say through a yawn.

  “I’ll make it quick. I just wanted to say that you don’t owe me anything. The arena when I saved you,” he shakes his blonde locks, “you saved me just as equally here at the fort, in more ways than one.”

  I steady my eyes on his face, studying his expression.

  “I will protect you with my life.” His eyes meet mine once more, “Always.”

  Without thinking my hand reaches up to his face, smoothing his dirtied stubble. “And I, you.”

  He pauses.

  “If there is something between you and Keeper, I understand.”

  I shake my head at him. Now is not the time for revealing secrets. “There is nothing like what you’re thinking.”

  A doubtful look spreads across his face. No, I am not doing this right now. I need him strong, mind and heart clear, ready for battle.

  “Listen to me,” I pull his face closer to mine, “there is nothing. Trust me. Fight with me. Do not allow your head to be clouded. Not now. I need you.”

  He studies me for a moment, accepting what I have said. He plants a soft kiss on my cheek, affirming his trust in what I have said. My head dizzies with darkness. “I must sleep now, and so must you.”

  “I do not know that I can. But you must.” He rises from the bed, grabbing my ankles and turning me so I lie fully upon it. Walking around the perimeter he loosens the red drapes. One by one they fall around the corners of the bed, darkening me from the fire. “Sleep now, my lady.”

  I crawl up to the pillow letting my head sink in. “And what of you?”

  He stands before me at the last open drape. “As promised, I will guard you while you sleep so that you may sleep more soundly.”

  “You need sleep too. I need you on guard tomorrow, not now.”

  “I will guard you with my life, always.”

  Before I can argue further he shuts the last drape. Darkness envelopes me and within seconds sleep overtakes me. The next morning I awake to Thorn asleep in the chair beside the fire, and Ethan asleep in his room with the door open.

  “It’s time.”

  ¶We take our leave at dawn, while the sun bleeds blood orange across the land. Warm rays glint across our armor as we ride with ease to the east, heading towards Oakenlich. We make our way through the trees along the north to conceal our journey. It was either this, adding a few hours to our path, or riding in plain sight through the fields, which was not an option in my book.

  We should arrive to the edge of the Sacred Colony an hour into nightfall. There, we are to spend the night. I will meet with Elethwayn about our plans the following day. As we make our way through the forest, the knights grow silent. No sounds are to be heard by us other than the soft crunch of snow beneath our horses. My mind wanders far and back again. I wonder if my father is still alive, and if so, will I be able to save him?

  Glancing to my left I can see the same thoughts spread across Ethan’s hardened face. Still no one knows we are of kin except him and I. It is for our own safety if we are to succeed. I peer through the corner of my eye to the men and women behind me. Thorn, Shauna, Danny, Tristan, all of them bear the same hardened look. It does not elude me that many are journeying to their deaths, never to return to this sanctum or Fort Guarded Dusk.

  For most this is their first time out of the fifth sanctum, their first encounter with elves, their first time in the Realm, their first and potentially last time in battle. But they are ready, my knights. They have been training their entire lives for this. Everything prior to this moment was only a leading up to it, anticipation of the inevitable. Will they survive? Will I?

  Lost in my thoughts I halt as Ethan, beside me, whistles sharp and holds up his hand. Everyone slows to a stop behind us at the signal. My eyes rifle through the thin, sparse trees ahead of us. There, just far enough ahead not to be of threat is a pack of snow wolves with their young heading north. Three small white cubs pounce through the snow, led by the father, whom is by far the largest of the wolves. The mother stays at the end of the pack ensuring the cubs stay within her sight. Sensing us, she lifts her eyes our direction. Her eyes seem directed at me somehow, warning us from a distance. “She’s looking at you,” Ethan whispers. Once her cubs have passed out of sight, she walks after them.

  “Let’s move out.” I smack the reigns on Stallum, leading us south east. We’re only a few hours outside Oakenlinch now.

  The sun is long gone and the stars fade with wisps of graying clouds in the night sky as we make our way further into the forest. We should be within the borders of the Sacred Colony at any moment. The snapping of a twig halts us as I look to my right. A figure steps through the blackened shadows of trees. Hothor. Relief spreads through me as I step off my horse and wrap my arms around him.

  “It’s so good to see you my friend.” I step back.

  “You as well.” He returns.

  �
�No wolves this time?” I ask, half joking.

  He shakes his head at the question, when I notice his empty quiver. “I made sure of it.”

  Looking back to the knights I can see the same relief spread across their faces. “We’ve been traveling for some time.” I state looking back at my exhausted band of knights.

  “Then it is good you have arrived. Come, Elethwayn has prepared arrangements for your men and women.”

  Looking back to Ethan I sense the hesitation on his face. The woodland elves have been nothing more than a myth to those outside the third sanctum. Very few could attest to having seen one. Most who did were looked down upon as liars. I give him a reassuring nod to which he replies with a sharp whistle, motioning the knights to follow.

  After dismounting our horses, Hothor leads everyone save myself, Ethan and Thorn to a dining hall three stories up a twisted oak staircase. Adjacent to the dining hall lies our sleeping quarters.

  “Come, Elethwayn wishes to speak with you.” Hothor leads the three of us back to ground level. We walk towards a large oak with roots twisted high out of the ground, where I first met her.

  “Lady Jaria.” She rises upon my entrance. The same two elven men with auburn hair rise alongside her. She holds her arms out to me. I walk up to her. Hothor holds out his hand signaling Ethan and Thorn to stay. She greets me with a bow, then clasps my hands in hers. She marvels at my armor, my sword.

  “You are the Knight Divine.”

  “There was never a doubt in my heart.” The elven man to her right quips.

  “We have a surprise for you.” She says.

  “A surprise?” I ask.

  “The lady has arrived!” Elethwayn calls to hall behind the room. I pause, looking back at Ethan and Thorn whose faces are twisted with more confusion than my own. We wait in the silence.

  “Lady Jaria,” a sharp voice calls. I turn my head to the hall entrance. I know that voice. That’s when I see her.

  “We are honored to aid you in this fight.” Rulsh emerges from the shadows with her piercing red eyes, accompanied by the rest of the vampiric elves from the tomb.

  “By the Saints. Can it be?” I run to her and throw my arms around her in embrace. “I never thought I’d see you again.”