Spirit of the Ashes: A Nyssara story

Chapter 8

Sara's POV

I smile at Nyssa and she smiles back. I may be a coward, but at least I'll be around her.

A knock comes from the door and Nyssa goes to answer it. A man wearing a black garb bows when he sees her. He says something in a strange language and Nyssa nods, the man leaves and she closes the door.

"What language was that?" I ask.

"Arabic, it is the language we speak here; unless talking to a guest or new recruit." She looks at me, "If you are going to stay here, you will need to learn it."

I nod and she goes and changes into black and red protective robes. She walks over to me, "I have to go, but I will be back soon."

"Where are you going?" I ask, the question seems to catch her off guard.

"I have to train some new recruits." She answers honestly.

"Can I come?" I say. Over the course of my time spent here, I learned about the League of Assassins and what she does, but I've never seen her in action.

She thinks for a moment, then nods, "But you will be there to watch and nothing more." I nod excitedly. I didn't think she would let me.

As fast as I can, I get out of bed and start towards the door. Nyssa looks amused as she walks over and opens the door. "This way." She starts walking down one of the hallways. I follow her.

We eventually go into a large room with a weapon rack and two pairs of men fighting with swords. Nyssa shouts something in Arabic and they stop and bow to her. She looks at them, "We will be speaking English today in honor of our guest." She looks over at me and smiles. One of the men glares daggers at me and says something under his breath in Arabic, Nyssa walks over to him and strikes him in the face, it echos around the room.

"You will do as you are told or face my wrath." She says this quietly, her face a mask. The man quickly realizes his mistake and nods. He lowers himself into a deep bow and remains that way.

Nyssa looks him over and kicks him in the stomach. I gasp as he falls onto the floor. Nyssa observes at him without pity, "Get up."

He does and turns to face her. Nyssa moves to face the rest of the men. "Okay, you will all be trying to get this away from me." She holds out a small star-shaped rock. "If you manage to accomplish this, then you might not be wastes of space." She turns her back to them, "Any time you wish."

One of the men came first, attacking with his sword. Nyssa smoothly blocked it and pushed him onto the floor. Two men attacked from different sides of her. She gracefully stepped out of the way, causing them to collide. The last man was the one from earlier. He stays still for a couple seconds before attacking. He lasts for about a minute before Nyssa disarmed him and kicked him to the floor.

"It seems as though you all are failures. Sharaf el-Galla will be taking over the rest of your training. Your incompetence insults me." She walks over to me. "We may go now."

I look at her in fright, I had never thought she could be so ruthless and cruel. She looks at me, "Do not be afraid, I will never hurt you."

I don't move, her stature seems to change as she watches me. Her back shifts from its ridged position to more relaxed, her eyes seem more kind then moments before. This is the Nyssa I know, not the calloused person that stood before me moments before.

Slowly, I stand up and walk over to her. She bows her head in shame, "I am truly sorry you saw me like that. It will not happen again."

I study her. She has had to live this way her whole life, she didn't have a choice but to become the way she is. "It's okay, You were born into this, you didn't have a choice."

She looks up at me, "You are right, here it is kill or be killed. Nevertheless, I should not have brought you here. It was a mistake."

"No, I'm glad you did." I look around the room, my eyes resting on the weapon rack. "Can you teach me?"

Her eyes snap up to meet mine, "Of course not, It is far to dangerous."

"But like you said it's kill or be killed here, so wouldn't it put me in more danger not knowing how to defend myself." I gesture around, "You don't have to teach me everything, just the basics."

She mulls it over. "Fine, but you must do everything I tell you. And if it becomes to much, you must alert me immediately."

"Deal." I hold out my hand and she shakes it.