“Go it alone, then. You don’t need me.” Elijah interrupted again as he sheathed his sword and stalked past Hassan.
“Yes, I do.” Hassan grabbed Elijah by the shoulder and spun him around. The two men stood face to face. “Hear this; he will be in a tent in the middle of the desert surrounded by more than forty guards and lookouts. It is probable that there will be no cover. I need someone who can get in and out of there fast enough that no one will notice him, or at least no one will be able to catch him. All you need to do is dagger this note to the floor beside his bed.” The note said the same thing as so many others Elijah had delivered, the same as the first note he ever delivered for the order. It was meant to spark paranoia in the target, letting him know the truth, that he could never be safe, never far enough from an assassin’s blade, forcing him into submission.
Chapter 19
Elijah and Hassan waited in the desert for the sun to go down. They were just out of sight of the sultan’s lookouts.
“Remember brother, no bloodshed tonight; the very existence of our brotherhood depends on it.” Hassan took the note from a small pouch hanging from his waist and handed it to Elijah.
Brother. Elijah pondered that for a moment as he looked at the note in his hand and then up again at Hassan.
“Do you understand, Elijah?” Hassan pressed. Elijah closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Hassan’s words had run right through him. He could feel frustration and hate building with the tension in his back and shoulders. He rolled his head backwards trying to relieve it but it had little effect. Elijah was growing very tired of these mortals who gave him instructions as if he were some kind of subordinate.
Brother. He thought about Hassan’s words once more and then took off towards the tent with blinding speed. He could see well enough in the dark to stay as far as possible from the guards and lookouts stationed around the tent.
Standing in the dark, just fifty paces from the front of the tent, Elijah saw he needed to create a distraction to help him slide by the two men guarding the entrance. He grabbed a small stone from the desert floor and threw it towards the left side of the tent, hoping the guards would investigate, but it failed to get their attention.
When the ruse failed, Elijah’s pulse began to race in anticipation of the coming release. He rushed toward a lookout standing about thirty paces from the front right corner of the tent. He approached from behind and plunged his dagger into the lower right side of the man’s back causing him to cry out in pain, and then sliced through his windpipe so he couldn’t continue.
A bit of tension lifted from Elijah’s shoulders, but only enough to leave him aching for a stronger release. He plunged the blade twice more into the lookout’s side and twisted it, relishing the man’s grunts and moans.
He could hear the other guards calling out; he heard them running towards him. Elijah plunged the blade into his prey’s heart once, twice, three times, but his frustration and tension were now only growing. Killing this man hadn’t provided the release he had expected.
He wanted to continue stabbing, but as the running footsteps grew louder, he realized this was his only chance. He raced around the back of the tent to the front entrance, and slipped in.
To his surprise, the sultan was asleep. Elijah wondered for a moment how a man could sleep through this commotion, but then he noticed the opium pipe next to the bed. A woman sat up in bed beside the sultan and looked straight at Elijah. She didn’t scream; she appeared to be frozen with fear.
Elijah’s tension continued to escalate; he wanted so badly to kill this pathetic worm who called himself a sultan, but he could not allow himself the pleasure. He had orders, and he didn’t want to let Hassan down. Elijah laid the note down on the ground next to the sultan’s bed and raised the dagger to plunge it through. He could hear footsteps and voices now; he needed to hurry.
Elijah paused with his the knife raised and thought once more about Hassan’s words.
Brother. He thought. Orders. He thought. He no longer cared to take orders from mortal men. He would do as he pleased.
A rush of peace and freedom flooded his mind and soul as he rammed the dagger down into the sultan’s gut, and while the sultan’s screams rang out Elijah was awash in a bloody calm. He pulled the blade from the man’s belly and slit his throat wide open.
As guards came rushing into the tent, Elijah spun from his kneeling position and thrust the small kopis through the first man’s heart with his right hand. At the same time he pulled his sword loose with his left and swung it at the man coming in behind him, severing his head. He plowed through the rest of the men like a sandstorm.
With each swing of his blades he saw William’s face and his cold, callous eyes at the moment he twisted Malaki’s small neck. Every slice of his sword dulled his pain, his anger and his guilt; with every thrust of his dagger he tried desperately to kill his sensitivity, his memories, his old life, himself.
The only surcease he could find was in the battlefield. He could lose himself in the blood, the killing, and the screams. But when the fighting was over, once all the screams had died down and there was no more blood to shed, everything he had fought to escape came rushing back into his soul—all the pain, all the anger, all the guilt.
Elijah saw Hassan standing a few yards away. He approached him, his body stained red with the blood he had spilled. Hassan’s expression was grim; his eyes wandered. He wouldn’t meet Elijah’s gaze.
“Do you realize what you have done, Elijah?” He rubbed his fingertips hard against his temples.
“I have opened the gates to the temple of Janus; let the war begin.” In that moment, Elijah knew war would be his peace. The battlefield would be his holy of holies, his solace, his only sanctuary.
Chapter 20
As the weeks and months passed back in Alamut, Elijah became increasingly isolated. Despite his formal apology, most of the members of the order blamed him for the increasing Mongol attacks on Assassin strongholds, as well as their recent advance towards the Alamut valley, even though the Sultanate of Rum hadn’t been involved.
In fact, the Assassins’ best intelligence sources asserted that the sultanate blamed the Great Khan for the slaughter. The scene had looked much more like the vicious and merciless work of the Mongol hordes rather than the targeted slayings typical of the Assassins.
Still, Elijah realized, whether or not his actions had directly hurt the order, he had put them at risk and betrayed their trust. He knew it was time to move on. Even Hassan had seemed to lose his conviction that Elijah could be helped… or even trusted. He seemed to finally understand that Elijah’s hate was what he held closest to him, his most dear mistress of malady.
“Elijah, I need to speak with you.” Elijah wasn’t surprised to finally hear from Hassan. He knew Hassan would be the one. He was the only one with the fortitude to do what was necessary.
“I’ve been waiting for you, my friend. I thought you would have come much sooner.” Elijah raised his brows and smiled gently.
“I have been putting it off because I know your potential is vast. I still believe you will realize that potential one day, Elijah, just not here, not with us. There is nothing left for you here.” Elijah knew Hassan was right. He was ready, and leaving this place would allow him more time to search for his father and brother.
“I will be gone by morning.” Elijah smiled in a friendly way and reached out his hand to Hassan in a polite gesture. Hassan grabbed his hand and then pulled him into a tight embrace.
“Never give up on finding hope and peace, my stubborn student,” Hassan whispered into his ear. He gently pulled away, his eyes red and wet with tears. He pinned Elijah with his gaze. “I have heard men say that if you take away a man’s family he truly has no reason left to live. I always hoped they were wrong, my friend, and I still do.” Hassan smiled broadly as he quickly wiped his right eye. On the way back from their last mission, Elijah had finally told Hassan a bit of the truth about his family.
&n
bsp; “Please, travel with me one last time. We must go to the fortress at Maymundiz. I have something for you there, and I want you to see the imam and request his permission for and acknowledgement of your departure from the order. I know you do not need his permission; it is simply a display of respect for all he has allowed of you. I hope you will do it, for me.” Hassan gazed at him expectantly.
A quick rush of anger burned through Elijah’s body. All he has allowed of me? What about all of the missions I have accomplished for the self-righteous bastard? He looked to the ground and swallowed everything he wanted to say, then looked back up at Hassan and nodded.
“I agree.” He softly spoke in agreement for the sake of Hassan alone. He respected the big man, and had grown to care for him. “When do we leave?”
“Right away. Get your things and meet me at the gate.” Hassan spoke quickly, then hurried back into the fortress. Elijah didn’t have many things, nothing more than his weapons and clothes. He had an extra set of silk robes that fit into a small bag; his matching blades were both on his person at all times.
Hassan had Elijah’s horse waiting for him when he arrived at the gate just minutes later. There were also five other men waiting with him. Elijah recognized them; they were five of the most skilled assassins in the order. He was immediately suspicious.
“Why are they here, Hassan?” Elijah hitched his chin in their direction, a scowl narrowing his eyes.
“We have started traveling in packs ever since the Mongols began invading the valley.” Hassan’s eyes widened and he broke Elijah’s gaze as he spoke. Elijah wasn’t buying it; Hassan knew Elijah alone could easily handle any raiding or scouting party they might encounter.
Was Hassan really going to try to kill him? Surely he wasn’t that stupid. Elijah did not want to kill Hassan; however, killing the others would be a pleasure. He was sure this plan was not Hassan’s, but orders from higher up. Hassan was just a good soldier who was now being ordered to clean up his own mess, or so it seemed.
“Okay, let’s go.” Elijah mounted and led the way. He hoped his exposed back might encourage them to get on with their plan; he would see it unfolded as quickly as possible.
Elijah waited and waited, and before he knew it they were nearly at the fortress and still nothing had transpired. Had he been wrong? Had his own guilt led him to misinterpret Hassan’s demeanor back at Alamut? Even so, what could explain his blatant lie about traveling in packs?
Soon, Elijah could see the fortress in the distance. As it came into focus, so did Hassan’s plan and the reason for his lies and uneasiness. A huge Mongol force was approaching the fortress at Maymundiz.
Elijah immediately halted his mount and Hassan stopped right beside him. He turned to look at Hassan; there was no apology in his eyes. He was loyal to the bone, and did what he was commanded to do. “I knew you wanted me to leave, but it never occurred to me that you wanted me to accomplish that task by trying to fight off this invasion.”
Hassan looked at the ground for a moment and then back at Elijah.
“I know you thirst for blood to fill the loss that consumes you. Right now you are not a man, simply a pit of lust; your only desire is to kill.” Hassan paused for a moment and shifted his gaze to the fortress, then once again back to Elijah.
“These men knocking at our gates are not men at all. They bring a horde of monsters, monsters like the ones we encountered the day we met and the one that killed your family.” Hassan paused again, waiting for Elijah to say something, but he remained silent, so Hassan continued.
“Although you refuse it, I know how much you long for death, and there before you is what you long for.” Hassan extended his hand and pointed at the horde gathering below the fortress.
“I have tried to teach you to control the darkness within you so you can unlock peace and your true potential, but today, my brother, I concede. The power before us is pure evil. It is an army of demons, and they threaten to overwhelm us, to annihilate us.” Hassan paused for a moment and took a deep breath.
“I have seen the darkness that lurks just beneath the surface of your thoughts, and that darkness could consume the devil himself. I know it is wrong, and selfish, and it goes against everything I believe in and have tried to teach to you, but I am asking you this one time, in order to save our brothers and our imam, please give in to that darkness which pervades you. Relish the bloodshed; fill your cup until it is overflowing. Unleash hell upon them, Brother!”
Hassan stared intently at Elijah, who sat quietly on his horse, thinking over all that his teacher had just done and said. Hassan had tricked him into coming here, and the Assassins were using him to ensure their survival, but none of that mattered.
If the army before him was truly an army of vampires, the same villainy that had taken everything dear to him, then he had no choice. He could feel his chest tighten and his heart begin to race as he jumped down off of his horse and strode toward the fortress.
“Elijah! One more thing.” Hassan was fiddling with something around his waist. “I said I had something for you. I have seen your affinity for the ancient Spartan kopis. This sword is the finest weapon I have ever seen. I acquired it early in my association with the Assassins. It belonged to the greatest Khan of them all, Genghis Khan.” Hassan threw the sword and sheath to Elijah.
“And before that,” Hassan’s smile stretched all the way across his face, “to King Leonidas himself. It is fitting, don’t you agree?”
Elijah was speechless as he removed the sword from its leather guard to admire it. He examined it at arm’s length. It was exquisite; the weight, the balance, the length and detail, a weapon created by a true artist.
“Leave your dagger beneath your arm, brother. I think you will need both your swords this day.” Hassan smiled and laughed.
Elijah drew his other sword and held them both out in front of him before twirling them as he knelt and laid them side by side on the ground. He washed his hands in the dry dirt and retrieved his weapons before rising to his feet..
“What are you doing?” Hassan asked, when Elijah threw the leather encasing on the ground.
“I won’t have need of that, not today.” Hassan smiled and nodded as he drew another sword from his saddle.
Elijah led the other men into battle on foot. As his excitement grew he moved faster and faster, soon leaving the horsemen far behind. The fortress was highly elevated, and the channel that wound its way to the fortress gate was narrow and steep enough to make the siege extremely difficult. It was in such a position that the Mongol army was unable to surround it; they were forced to fight on one front.
Still, the landscape was grim. Rows of Mongol archers on horseback were raining arrows down on the fortress. Huge ladders were propped up against the wall. Hordes of men were climbing the ladders, while numerous vampires climbed up the wall itself.
Assassin archers were stationed on the high wall, picking off hundreds of Mongols. They threw buckets of hot oil on some of the ladders and set them ablaze. The Assassins also poured oil on the vampires who scaled the wall and attempted to hit them with flaming arrows. However, most of the vampires were too fast and were up the wall in seconds. Mongol catapults were bombarding the city wall and setting fire to many Assassin archers.
Noting that the vampires who made it to the top of the wall were doing the most damage, Elijah looked back at Hassan. Pointing with a sword, he instructed Hassan and his men to take to the wall. Elijah charged the horde from the right side, using his swords to deflect numerous arrows.
He dodged a spear as one arrow lodged in his thigh; he yanked it out without missing a step. As he grew closer, he could see the soldiers’ faces more clearly. Hassan was right; there was a huge company of vampires.
One vampire lunged for him with a spear. Elijah was barely able to maneuver away, and in one quick motion spun around and drove a sword directly into the back of the vampire’s head.
Elijah jerked the blade, swinging it outward as he turned and qui
ckly decapitated a vampire to his right. Another vampire grabbed Elijah’s swinging arm and held it. Elijah quickly leapt into the air and drove his other sword straight down through the vampire’s throat, nearly severing him at the neck.
There were so many of these monsters, he didn’t seem to be making any headway. Their preternatural speed and strength reminded him these were not mere men, and with their vastly superior numbers, it seemed as if he would soon be over whelmed.
Still he hacked and slashed his way through them, making his way into the center of the battle outside of the wall. At this point, it seemed every vampire on the battlefield was aiming for him. Elijah deflected two more swords and he spun around and decapitated the vampires wielding them with one blow. He quickly glanced behind him and spotted an arrow honing in on him only a few yards away. He bent to slip the arrow and at the same time drove the sword he had crafted himself into the ground. Drawing the dagger from beneath his arm, he hurled it at the archer and nailed him in his left eye.
As the archer fell, Elijah could see Hassan behind him. He pulled his sword from the ground and quickly raced to Hassan’s side. Retrieving his dagger, he could see the archer had been human. Elijah couldn’t understand why the khan would send hundreds of men to certain death.
Rolling past Hassan’s side, he positioned himself so they now stood back to back.
“Even knowing your strength and skill as I do, I am impressed! You drew the vampires away from the wall in a matter of seconds. I will never doubt your abilities again.” Hassan deflected a lunging blow just to the side of his abdomen and stabbed the ensuing vampire through the side of the head with his dagger.
“What do you mean, ‘again’?” Elijah looked over his shoulder and quickly noticed Hassan’s smile. “Well, I did learn from the best. But listen to me, Hassan; you are going to have to be quick out here.” Elijah smiled through the blood covering his face.
Apotheosis of the Immortal Page 8
