“You’re welcome,” The man said to me.
“T-thank you,” I replied, weakly.
“Can you tell me who you are?” I asked again, trying to get up.
“I could ask you the same, stranger. That was brave of you to stand up to a gang of thugs in the condition you’re in. Are you going to be okay?” The robed man responded.
I sighed and rubbed my forehead. I spent the past week trying to remember anything about me and nothing had come to me.
I answered, “I think I’ll be okay, thank you. To be honest, I’m not really sure who I am. For now, you can call me Eclipse. This group of kids were calling me that a few days ago.”
The robed man then replied, “Huh, well nice to meet you. You can call me by my code name, Nite.”
I smiled, “Nice to meet you, Nite.”
Nite turned and took a few steps before stopping. I was curiously waiting to see what he was going to do. He gave a sigh and turned back to me.
“I’m guessing you’re homeless. Do you need a place to stay?” Nite asked me.
“I do, actually,” I answered.
“Follow me then. I know a place that can help with that,” Nite said.
He turned to continue off to the other side of the alley, where I was going. I ran to catch up then slowed down once I was behind him and followed.
“Can we get food first? I’m starving,” I asked him.
Back in the present time, Nite, Motor, and I arrived outside the city. We stopped and Nite looked around. I looked around as well to see if we were being followed.
“Behind that rock,” he ordered, quietly.
I looked at him and saw he was pointing to a boulder that was a few feet away. We quickly ran behind it and kneeled. I peered out to double check for any followers, but I didn’t see anything. I looked and a smaller boulder next to it a hole dug into the ground. I looked in the hole to find our travel packs. I remembered that we came here this morning and left them here. Motor used his rock powers to create the boulder that we were hiding behind. I pulled them out and turned to Nite. He had pulled out his Comphone and pressed a button on it. A hologram then lit up from the device so he can show us a map easier. I turn my attention to it, as Nite navigated the menus and pulled up a map of our current location.
“We need to get back to base,” Nite said.
He moved the map down south to a random spot in the Dark Empire and pointed to it, which dropped a pin icon. He then plotted a route to the point.
I turned my attention to Motor and questioned, “Where were you when we were fighting Ranulf?”
Motor shook his head “I’m sorry, I knew what had to be done but I just couldn’t do it.”
Nite gave him a serious look, “You defied orders, Motor. He will not be happy.”
Motor got a look on his face of desperation, “I know. I’m sorry. But don’t you think that what we are doing is wrong? Spex, I know you are thinking the same thing too.”
His words started to dwell in my head.
“You must not report what I did, please,” Motor pleaded then continued, looking at the hologram, “Is that the route we are taking?”
Nite still had a look of annoyance towards Motor, “Yes, it’s the best way back to base.”
“Okay then, can you send it to my comphone? You guys go ahead after that, I need to make a quick stop somewhere before I go back,” Motor stated.
He took out his comphone. I sat quietly, as I agreed with Nite that we need to follow orders, but I also agreed with Motor that is something wrong with the work that we do. Nite shook his head and took a deep breath.
“Fine. I won’t report your failure to follow orders, but just this once Motor,” He told him.
NIte pressed some buttons on the hologram and sent the information to Motor’s comphone. Motor’s comphone made a notification sound, indicating that it was received.
Motor smiled, “Thank you so much, Nite. I’m going now and I’ll see you both back at base.”
He grabbed his travel pack, looked around, and then ran off into the darkness of the night.
“Come on Eclipse, this route will keep us hidden,” Nite explained and pointed to another spot on the route, then continued, “Here is where we will change into our normal clothes. Then we press on from there. Let’s move out.”
“Right,” I nodded.
We grabbed our packs and peaked out from behind the boulder to make sure the coast was clear. We both then sprinted in the direction of route we were taking. A few hours later, while traveling down the route, we stopped and found a good place to change into normal clothes. From there, we continued for the next day and half, traveling south. We only stopped to rest and stayed off the road to avoid being seen by passing cars. We came close to Central City and stopped in a town on the way. We stopped at an inn to rest for night. I sat on one of the beds and Nite turned on the TV.
“Since we are here, why don’t we take a bus or something?” I asked.
Nite rolled his eyes, “We’ve been over this. We need to travel in secret in case there is heat on us.
Suddenly a news report came on the TV. We both focused on the TV to watch. “…Unknown suspects are still on the run after murdering one of the senators from the Thunderlands,” the reporter stated, “The body was found by her daughter in an alley. Police arrived at the scene later. His daughter, Vera, was the one to find her father before she suffered unknown injuries. They both have been rushed to the hospital. Eyewitnesses claimed to have seen Randulf be chased into the alley where he and Vera were both found.”
“Well, that was close,” I said, relieved.
“I guess, but we should still be safe and travel by foot,” Nite replied.
I then started wonder about Motor and asked, “What made you not report Motor’s behavior?”
Nite was silent for a moment. I could tell he was pondering hard, trying to come up with an answer.
He finally spoke, “Something told me that I could trust him. Like he was my best friend.”
I knew what he was talking about. If Nite was wanting the same thing as Motor, I know I would have let him go as well. I hope that Nite would do the same for me if I ever disobeyed orders or even go rogue.
“Let’s get some sleep,” Nite suggested.
We slept, then left the inn early in the morning. We traveled further south into the Dark Empire.
Chapter 2 – The Secret Base
We got past the Central Union/Dark Empire border then into the mountains. Finally, we arrived at our base. I looked on and started to remember the time I first came here.
It was shortly after I met Nite. This was the place that would help me get off the streets and make myself useful. I studied the building, as it looked like a patch up job. Half the walls and parts of the roof were rebuilt with scraps to reinforce the old broken parts of the walls and roof. It was also built into the mountain.
“This place used to belong to the Dark Rebellion years ago. Ever heard of them?” Nite asked.
Images started flashing in my head of people in cloaks and shooting guns. I didn’t recognize what I was seeing.
I shook my head, “No, I haven’t.”
“Well, they were a group of people who rebelled against the governments of each nation. They didn’t like the treaty that was in place and wanted to bring back the wars. They caused riots, and from what I heard, used theses orbs of power called The Master Orbs,” Nite explained.
The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
“They were defeated and thought to be wiped out, but there were a few survivors who changed their names and tried to fight the nations one more time. They almost succeeded but were taken down for good. The E.T.B. was watching this place for a few years after that but then stopped after inactivity. That was a long time ago.”
“So, are you part of a new rebellion?” I questioned.
Nite thought for a minute then spoke, “No but we share a similar interest. We are assassins a
nd we want to change the world for the better. We go by the name The Hollowed Night Assassins. We are in a peaceful time, but it’s not the way we want it.”
He snapped his fingers and two people that were dressed just like Nite came rushing at me. They must have been assassins. The only difference was that their uniforms had sleeves with different colors. One of the assassins had green sleeves and the other had red sleeves.
I was quick to dodger their attacks. The one in the green had a short sword and the one in the red had a dagger. I didn’t know what to do other than dodge the attacks. I didn’t know how I was even dodging the attacks. It felt so natural. I rolled on the ground past them and turned to towards them to see their next move.
Nite, who was behind me, spoke loudly, “It’s dangerous to fight them weaponless. Take this!”
I turned my head towards him as he was tossing his sword towards me. I turned around and caught the sword by the grip in the air. I spun back around a blocked their duel attack. I pushed them back, tripped the assassin in the green to ground, on their back, which made that assassin let go of their sword into the air. I knocked the assassin in red’s dagger out of their hand with my sword while catching the assassin in green’s sword. I pointed both swords at their necks, making them yield.
“Looks like you will make it here,” Nite commented.
I looked at him who was smirking. I guess it was a test to prove my worth.
“Is your mind wandering?” Nite asked.
I blinked to snap back into present and realized that we had just entered the base. The doors were closing behind us. It was dimly lit with fake candles on the walls. The candles had Filament LED bulbs. A female assassin member approached us. She wore dark yellow on her sleeves. I recognized her as Luna, which was her code name.
She spoke, “Welcome back.”
“Thank you, Luna,” I responded.
“Our Master wishes to speak with you two,” she said to us.
We nodded, and Nite replied, “Understood. Thank you.”
Luna escorted us. I don’t know why, but whenever I saw Luna, she reminded me of someone I’ve met before. I just couldn’t figure out who. Before arriving at the Hearing Chamber, we stopped into an empty room and changed back into our assassin gear. We exited that room back into the hallway where Luna was waiting for us. Together, we walked through hallway that turned into a cave tunnel. There was a wall with a door at the end. Luna opened the door and we entered the room at the end of the hallway.
There was a small opening that lead into the Hearing Chamber, we had to push draped curtains out of the way. The Hearing Chamber was a large cavern It was dimly lit with LED candles that gave off an orange glow. There was a throne chair on the opposite side of the room that was elevated up on a platform. There were three long steps leading up to it. There was also another assassin standing next to the chair with his hand behind his back. His code name was Dusk, but his real name is Marc. One of the duties we have is to take turns and standby our leader while he has meetings in the chamber.
We walked to the middle of the room and kneeled next to each other and put our heads down. Luna made her way to next to the chair and stood next to it facing us. About a minute later, our leader entered. I glanced up to see him. He was wearing a hooded cloak with fur that covered the edge of the hood and sleeves. The coat was open, revealing his combat robes underneath. He was old and had a grey goatee. His name was Lord Sharik. He approached the chair, took a seat, and looked back down at us. We both bowed our heads.
“My Lord, we have completed our mission,” Nite spoke.
“You may raise your heads,” Lord Sharik told us.
We lifted our heads, and he smiled sinisterly. It was uncomfortable to me.
“So, the senator is dead?” he questioned.
I answered, nodding, “Yes, Lord Sharik.”
He changed sitting positions, putting one leg over the other, and leaned to the side with his hand supporting his head.
He continued to smile and said, “Good. Where is Motor?”
We were silent for a moment.
Nite spoke, “He said he had something important to do first.”
“More important than debriefing? I also heard you were almost spotted,” Sharik pointed out.
We looked at each other and then looked back at Sharik.
Nite answered, “Unfortunately, yes. Thankfully, we got away before the senator’s daughter could make out what we looked like.”
Sharik explained, “Well, I care more about results and you succeeded. We can’t have you go on another mission to assassinate anyone yet. The E.T.B. is currently out investigating. There is, however, something I need you to do.”
Suddenly, another assassin came rushing in. Nite and I turned to the assassin to see what he was doing while we were still kneeling. It was Motor and he seemed flustered.
“You’re late Motor. Kneel before me,” Sharik ordered him.
“N-no. S-Sharik, I can’t do this anymore. These two killing the senator was the last straw. I want true peace without killing people. A few other assassins and I have talked. We decided that we are leaving for good,” Motor told Sharik, shakenly.
Nite and I looked at each other surprised. We both turned to see Sharik who was pondering quietly. He smirked and stood up.
“That is fine, Motor. I understand how you feel. You may leave if you wish. The door is open to do so,” Sharik said, in an understanding tone.
That surprised me. My mouth almost dropped but I fought against it. I turned to see Motor give surprised look as well. His face then changed to being happy and started to smile.
Motor then stuttered, “T-thank you, Lord Sharik. I think I’m just going to live out in the countryside, away from everything.”
Sharik continued to smile, “That sounds great. I wish you a good life.”
Motor smiled, turned, and began to walk to the curtain. We watched as a knife quickly zipped through the air and stabbed Motor right in the spine. Motor was stopped dead in his tracks for a few moments. Blood started to drip down his back.
He dropped to his knees and turned his head to look at where the knife came from. Nite and I did the same and saw Sharik standing up with his hand outstretched. We turned back as Motor fell face down on the floor, dead.
Sharik turned around to sit back down and ordered, “Luna. Dispose of the body. Then take care of the others who are committing treason against us. You can request help from the other members if needed.”
“Yes, my Lord,” Luna complied.
Sharik sat back down and Luna dragged the body away outside the chamber. We turned our attention back to Sharik. I started to feel uneasy for some reason.
“Anyways, we lost some members while on a mission to the forgotten Ice Village. They did manage to send a message to us before disappearing. If what they were able to report to us is true, there is something or someone hiding there. It will ruin our goals for true peace. They reported seeing something coming from a facility there. I’m pretty sure whatever is up there, it killed them. You need to destroy this thing before it gets its chance to do anything else,” Sharik explained.
It’s as if he wasn’t fazed that he just killed his own subordinate and order the death of others as well.
“We will do so, my Lord,” I accepted.
Nite nodded. Lord Sharik raised his hand out in the direction of the exit.
“You are dismissed, Revolver,” He said, looking at Nite, then looked at me, “…and Spex.”
Nite and I nodded at the same time and stood up. We then exited the chamber. Nite started to lead me through the halls and into the common room on the first floor. Here there were other members of the H.N.A. relaxing and talking with each other in different parts of the room. Nite walked up to the bar and I joined. There was a TV mounted up high over the bar. On it was the RFN news was doing a report. Revolver ordered a beer, and we both watched.
“In other news, the voting for the Sovereign is going well. Current vote
s seemed to put Amaya as the majority favorite over the other four candidates: Rawlings, Cyris, Nari, and Argo,” the reporter stated.
Nite spoke, “That’s good.”
I was confused and asked, “Why do you say that, Nite?”
Nite looked at me funny and replied, “Because Spex, we want her to win. She is running for Sovereign, the new government position that helps with final decisions of the Union Leaders. She wants true peace just like us, and we must make sure she wins. Why do you think we keep killing the senators and other people that have to do with the government?”
I then remembered and responded, “Oh yeah, that’s right. The leaders haven’t been able to come to an agreement on important decisions lately. Sorry about that. My head went blank for a moment.”
The Masters- RE- Revolver Page 2
