Together as One: The Story of the Teams

Chapter Nine ~ The Second Assassin Pt. 1

I swing my sword at the dummy, causing its head to fly off.  Straw flies into the air, raining down on the ground.

"Good job, Khali!" my dad praises.  He has his assassin hood over his head as he expertly twirls, stabs and slashes gracefully at his own training dummy.

"It wasn't very good compared to you," I mutter. I look at the straw and cloth head on the ground and sigh.

"That was incredibly good for a seven year old! You have a lot of potential to become a great assassin.  Now come on, let's go have some lunch," Dad says.  He takes my hand and together, we walk back to the house.  The smell of rabbit stew fills the air, making my stomach growl.

"We're home!" my dad calls. My mother walks out of the kitchen and smiles at us, her black hair tied back into a braid.

"Perfect! I just finished the stew."

My bowl in placed in front of me and I gobble it down hungrily.

"Slow down before you choke!" Mom laughs.

I slow down a little bit and continue to eat.  As I do, I listen to my parents talk. 

"Did you hear about the grade two girl a couple of towns over?  One of her classmates discovered that she was an Ender hybrid and she was dragged away without her parents knowing!" Mom says, bringing her spoon to her lips. 

"Yes, that was Alt and Crimson's daughter, Justina.  They've been trying to get her back home, but the men who took her won't bring her back to the village.  An assassin's daughter, of all people to take!" Dad exclaims. 

"The Brotherhood won't stand for it, even if she is an Ender hybrid.  I mean, Alt is one and he's one of the best assassins we have." 

I finish my stew and leave them to talk.  I head for my room, where I grab a wooden sword.  This one isn't for training, just for play.

"Stay your blade, Mr. Piggy!" I say, pointing the tip of the sword at my pet pig who had just wandered into my room. He snorts and ignores me, and I sigh.  "Mr. Piggy, engard!"

He looks up at me before rummaging through my room. I know what he's looking for.

I walk to my chest and open it, grabbing a saddle and a fishing rod with a carrot on the end.  Mr. Piggy perks up immediately.

I put the saddle on and sit on it, holding the fishing rod out in front of him. He snorts happily and runs from my room and into the living room.

"Khali, go ride Mr. Piggy outside. He's going to break something," Dad says.  I sigh and ride Mr. Piggy outside into the streets, pulling out my sword while keeping the rod steady.

"Let's go to the ocean..." I suggest.  I can see the deep blue water from here, it's not that far.

I ride my pig to the water and dismount him.  While he drinks, I sit on the sand and look at the waves. People ride by on their horses, probably heading home from work. I ignore them. The waves are so beautiful.

The sky becomes a mosaic of colours and I sigh, smiling at its natural beauty.

I watch until the stars come out, and Mr. Piggy starts squealing anxiously. When I look up, I see monsters beginning to spawn.

I hurriedly jump onto his back and start riding towards home as fast as I can. A creeper starts coming towards us, and Mr. Piggy freaks out and bucks me off. I land hard on the ground while he runs towards home. The creeper continues walking towards me and I scramble to my feet.

I unsheathe my sword and swing at the creeper.  It takes the hit but doesn't die.  Using some of my training strategies, I manage to kill the creeper.  As its body hits the ground, I feel a sharp, stabbing pain in my back. 

I fall to the ground, laying eyes on the skeleton with its bow aimed at me.

Warm blood oozes onto my robes and drips onto the dirt beneath me.  It doesn't take long for me to black out.