The Four Territories: The Dark Assassin Book One

by Stevie Collier

  The Elder brought them in front of a horrible looking shack of a house. It looked as if at any minute it was going to collapse in on itself, killing all inside of it.

  “Here we are. Remember how to get here?”

  Esh nodded but wasn't sure if he even wanted to remember how to get back here. He must have been delirious, making jokes in his head right after seeing a demon swallow a kid whole.

  The Elder pushed the door and it opened with a loud creak. “Come on in,” he said, letting himself in first.

  There was absolutely nothing inside, no bed, no chairs, and no kitchen. Esh didn’t care. He let himself lay down and was almost to the brink of passing out.

  “What are you doing? A bed isn’t good enough for ya, lad?”

  “What bed?” Esh asked, his eyes closed. He heard the Elder walk across the room and open another door. He opened his eyes and saw the Elder descending down under the house. Nothing surprised him anymore.

  A light was coming from the hole in the ground and Esh couldn’t help but crawl towards it for he had never seen anything like it. He poked his head down the hole and what he saw about made him fall. There was a whole other space beneath the shitty hut!

  He felt along the hole and found a rope attached to the side. He shimmied down as fast as he could and landed in something soft. He looked down and saw that he had sunk into some sort of powder that covered the entire room. He looked up and jumped at the sight of large humanoid like dummies that had been installed in random spots of the room. He looked to his right and an astonished gasp escaped him. Weapons! He’d never seen so many! There were axes, batons, large sticks, swords, and daggers that were fastened to the wall leaving hardly any open space.

  “What do you think?” asked the Elder, picking up one of the large bo staffs from the wall.

  “I… I certainly… um, wasn’t expecting this. What exactly is this? Where are we?”

  “Well, my home of course!” He swung the staff at Esh and hit him square in the chest, sending him backwards into one of the dummies. He looked up to see the Elder charging after him. Esh was barely able to dodge out of the way of the crazy Elder’s next attack.

  “What are you doing! Stop!” Esh cried, holding his throbbing chest where he had been hit.

  His foot got stuck in the strange grainy substance and he fell. The Elder was over him instantly, the butt of the bo in his face.

  “Great, now that you’re awake we can talk.”

  The Elder backed away and placed the weapon back on the wall.

  “What the hell is wrong with you!” Esh yelled. He began to cry out of exhaustion. If he hadn’t agreed to seeking revenge against Mehch none of this would have happened. Now he was being attacked by some crazy senior who had just slit a fourteen-year-old male’s throat.

  His mentor crossed the room and sat crossed legged in front of him. He looked just as exhausted as Esh.

  “We have a lot to discuss, so when you are done crying we can begin.” He pulled out a small compressed can and pressed it to his lips. ‘Hot Slag’ was the slogan written on the canister, the alcoholic beverage of choice by most of the workers in the maintenance class. After he took his sip he offered it to Esh.

  The young male sat up and took it. He dried his tears with the back of his forearm and sprayed some of the liquid in his mouth. His tongue and the inside of his cheeks burned but it was the taste that about made him vomit. He forced himself to swallow and the heat traveled down to his stomach.

  He felt better, surprisingly. “Ok, let’s talk.”

  “We are sitting on something called sand. It isn’t from Reah, but from the land of the forest under the Green sun. Basically, sand is just rock that has been broken up into trillions and trillions of very small pieces.”

  Esh grabbed a handful and let it pour out of his fist.

  “However, you probably know it as ‘bosh’.” He took the slag back from Esh and took another drink.

  “Bosh? That’s Vivreonish!” Esh said excitedly.

  The Elder laughed, “Yes, yes it is, lad. You must be pretty good in Vivreonish to know words like bosh.”

  The child’s heart stopped. He had completely forgotten about his grammar book of Vivreonish. He had left it at the orphanage on the sun-cycle of the sentencing. It was probably in the trash by now.

  The Elder stood back up and crossed the sand to some barracks in the corner of the room. He picked up a black item and tossed it to Esh.

  It was his grammar book. “How did you- “

  “You do realize that I am the reason you are here. I chose you. Rigged the system and everything just to make sure you would be placed under my care.”

  “You… did what?” Esh demanded, dropping the book. His anger turned his vision red. “Are you telling me that you’re the reason I’m not going to be a soldier?”

  “You don’t know what you’re sayin’, lad. Give me a second to explain.”

  But Esh didn’t give him a second, not before he was charging straight for the Elder’s legs. It was a complete failure. The Elder side stepped effortlessly out of the way and grabbed the child’s ear with amazing accuracy, nearly ripping it off.

  “Ahhh!”

  “You are going to listen to me and you are going to listen to me right now!” the Elder yelled, yanking Esh’s ear to his mouth. “You would have never gained what you were looking for in the army. If anything, you would have been worse off! The army is filled with humanoids who want to kill the undesirables, and YOU are HALF undesirable. Do you hear me?”

  Tears started up again, they were cold against his cheeks. His anger faded.

  “I have been watching you ever since that sun-cycle you stood up against the other children.”

  “Oh ya, well where were you when they cut me open!”

  The Elder let go of his ear, his face looked hurt and he took another slug of slag. He took a few deep shaky breaths before saying, “You’re right. I should never have left and I’ll never forget it. It may be the biggest mistake of my life, lad.” He began to pace. “I wanted to forget about you, wanted to move on with my life. But I couldn’t. I saw you laying on that table every moon-cycle when I shut my eyes. And… I’m sorry.” He turned his back away from the young male.

  Esh didn’t say anything, what could he say to something like that? The Elder could easily have saved him, but who would have imagined that the humanoids of Reah had it in them to cut open an eight-year-old male?

  “What was that thing back there?”

  The Elder took a deep breath, “That thing was pure black energy, an ancient energy that has no emotion and feeds off the souls of this world.”

  “In my dreams, the demons, or, these black energy things… They seemed to be enjoying what they were doing. How can that not be emotion?” Esh asked.

  “They do not have emotion, but they do have intelligence. They use those sorts of dreams to weaken the half breeds. You see, the souls of half breeds are more nutritious for the Wisps.”

  “The Wisps?” Esh asked.

  “Yes, we call them the Wisps.”

  “Who’s we?”

  The Elder scratched his head, “Oh, right. You don’t know anything do ya? Well, I’ll make you a deal. You hear me out and hear me good. You let me tell you everything my job on this world entails, including all the hardships and sacrifices one has to make in order to protect the innocent. If you hear me to the end I will give you a choice. You can either join me and endure my training… or I will rig the system back to where it should have been and you will be placed under the army.”

  Esh nodded his head in agreement and the Elder continued.

  “My association is called the Order. We are a group of like minded assassins who understand the threat that lives with us and underneath us. The threat with us are the humanoids of Reah, who will, one of these sun-cycles, rage a war against the other three territories, a war that will devastate this world. The enemy beneath us are, as you probably guessed, the Wisps. The Wisps desire t
o farm us humanoids. They let us give birth and only eat when they need. However, now that they know they are in danger from the Order, they will soon try to fully eradicate every race with a soul that lives on this world. Just like they have before.

  “Before? Before what? And wait… you’re an assassin?”

  The Elder lifted an eyebrow, “Ugh, yeah… The whole assassin thing should have been obvious by now. I have a WALL of weapons, lad. Old farts like me don’t just have a collection of shiny objects made for killing. And yes, like before. This isn’t the first world the Wisps have visited. In fact, the Order’s philosophers believe they have destroyed many others.”

  “But how does the Order know this if you can’t speak to them?”

  “You should know the answer to this, lad. You’ve spoken to them yourself.”

  Esh slowly shook his head, “No I haven’t, I’ve only dreamed of them.”

  “And like I’ve told you before, they only visit half breeds in their sleep. If you can learn to lucid dream you can actually speak to them, and they will be more than happy to communicate with you.”

  “Why would they want to speak to someone who is part of the Order?”

  “Because the longer you speak to them the more they can grasp control of you.” The Elder grimaced. “I remember long ago when we were forced to kill one of our own. He must have lost track of time in his dream, became too confident in his abilities. He gained so much information from the Wisps, but the information never made it to our ears. His body had slowly begun to turn black, his veins becoming more and more visible through his skin. He started to attack us, killing four and wounding three before we were able to bring him down.”

  “Is that why you killed Mehch?” Esh asked.

  “No, I killed him because of what he was about to endure. If your soul is consumed by a Wisp then it stays with them for all eternity. I’m sure you saw what work these Wisps can do to their prisoners.”

  Esh knew exactly what the Wisps did and he never wanted to see that again.

  “But I was too late. I’m pretty sure the child wasn’t dead before that Wisp got to him.

  “Let me get this straight. You’re part of a secret organization that fights against these black demons who now want to kill off everyone on this world?

  “When you say it like that it sounds ridiculous, but yes, you have the general idea.”

  “And half breeds like myself can actually speak to them?”

  “Exactly,” the Elder said, trying to take another drink but was disappointed to find that the canister was empty.

  “Ok, but why did you choose me?”

  The Elder threw the canister to the other side of the room. He turned and grabbed Esh by the shoulders, “What you did that sun-cycle when you stopped those orphans… You did what no other humanoid of Reah would have done. This land is a corrupted monarchy, where freedom isn’t even a dream because it has never existed. Do you know why the land of Reah hates the other three worlds?” Esh shook his head no. “Because they cannot control the other three! That is where the big raids come into play.”

  “What raids?” Esh asked.

  The Elder let go of his shoulders. “Do you even know what the soldiers do when they march out of this land? Humanoids hang out of their windows and give praise to these brave soldiers, but do you even know what they do? The raid’s main objective is to kill as many undesirables as possible, it’s as simple as that.

  “I thought the raids were to take care of possible terror threats?”

  The Elder laughed, “If by terroristic threats you mean the killing of innocent villagers, females and children, then yes.”

  “I don’t understand,” Esh said, shaking his head. “If there are no terrorist threats, why kill the innocent?

  “To incite fear in the three territories with a hope that they will one sun-cycle bow to the humanoids of the Red sun.”

  “Is that what you think happened to my parents?” Esh asked, looking down at the sand.

  The Elder rubbed his temples and sighed, “There is another reason I have been watching after you, Esh. You having a role in the Order is something your parents didn’t want. In fact, they made me promise that if anything ever happened to them that I would make sure you would live a normal life.”

  “You knew my parents?” Esh asked, his eyes widening. Until this very moment he had never heard a single thing about his parents. He honestly never even thought about them much, only occasionally. His fake mother even told him that no one really knew his exact date of birth. “Tell me more!” Esh demanded excitedly, standing up, his heart pounding. “I want to know about them!”

  The Elder stood up too and put his hand on Esh’s head. “First, I need you to get some sleep. You have a lot to think about and a choice to make, probably the first choice anyone has ever given you. I made you a deal and I plan to stick to it. If you want to join the army, I won’t stop you. Or… you can stay here with me and maybe even join the Order one sun-cycle.”

  “How can you possibly think I could sleep after you just told me you actually knew my parents!”

  The Elder walked over to two beds that were already made up. He pulled back the covers of one and slipped inside, clothes and all. “We will talk about it in the morning, after training,” he said.

  “You can’t do this to me!” But it was too late, the Elder was already snoring.

  10 - Breakfast with an Assassin

  Esh’s nose woke him up from a dreamless sleep. The Elder was across from him turning a large spoon in an even larger pot. Whatever he was cooking smelt amazing.

  “You’re not a very good fighter,” the Elder said without turning from his stew.

  Esh raised himself up with care, surprised that he felt no pain or fatigue. He actually felt very well rested. “What’s that you’re making?”

  “Just something quick before we start our work. Lots to be done.”

  “But I didn’t say I was going to join you yet,” Esh said, rubbing his eyes.

  The Elder turned to Esh and dried his hands on his robes. “Ok, well let me finish this food up and I’ll go and put you on the army roster.” He called the bluff.

  Esh sunk his head back down to his pillow, his cheeks hot. “I… I don’t want to go to the army,” he mumbled, feeling like a child.

  “What makes you think I haven’t changed my mind? Why should the Order accept someone with your attitude and lack of skill? This isn’t a game, lad.”

  A string of thoughts pushed themselves into Esh’s head. He jumped out of bed and stuck out his chest, he knew now what he wanted.

  “I want to make a difference! I want to be different!”

  The Elder stared at Esh and his head began to slowly nod. “Alright, I’ll give you a chance, lad. You’re training starts this afternoon. For now, let’s eat and discuss where you came from.”

  Esh stood up and took in his surroundings. The walls were bare except the one with all the weapons. All of the light that the room had came from several hanging torches that gave a surprising amount of light but he still couldn’t shake the eerie feeling he was stuck in some dungeon. And the sand, although nice at first, quickly became a nuisance. It was in his hair, his mouth, and in his bed.

  “Let me give you a tour,” his mentor said. “I’m sure you already know what this wall is for.” He pointed at the wall with all of the weapons. “You will become accustomed to all of them through time. You are too weak for most of them, but we will start small and work our way up.”

  The Elder walked towards the only exit in the room and Esh followed. “And this is the kitchen,” he said, gesturing to a lone table with four chairs and then over to his steaming pot that sat over a much used fire pit. Above the pot was a handmade chimney made from lava rock. “There is no bathroom so you will have to leave the pit and do your business outside.”

  “The pit?”

  “Yes, I call this humble home the pit. Looks kind of like a pit, wouldn’t you say, lad?”

 
; It did look a lot like a pit, but was still somewhat nice. Nicer than the orphanage anyways. The beds looked to have clean sheets and the sand seemed to have been freshly raked. “So, this is where you have been living?” Esh asked.

  “Sure is,” he replied.

  “And do you actually use all this equipment?” Esh gestured back at the wall of weapons.

  “I don’t use each one every sun-cycle, don’t need to anymore. Each of them has become sort of like extensions of my arms. I just… know how to use them.”

  Esh didn’t quite understand, but he walked up to the wall and found the dagger that was used to kill Mehch and picked it up. “What power does this blue gem have that you can’t even look at it?”

  The Elder stroked his beard and smiled, Esh hadn’t noticed before that his mentor was missing a couple of teeth. “Well before I answer that question, answer one of mine. Do you believe in sorcery?”

  Esh furrowed his brow, “Sorcery? What’s that?”

  The Elder didn’t look surprised, “You see, sorcery is like power. A power that can be manipulated at will. Now I’m not talking about political power or power that a certain rank gives you, but a power to bend the rules of the Universe,” he said all of this with one of his eyes making a crazy twitch.

  “I won’t fall for your tricks, Elder. You just want to see me get all excited for nothing.” Esh tried to put the dagger back on the wall but couldn’t. His grip grew tighter on the dagger’s grip and his arm moved without his brain telling it to. The dagger came closer and closer to his own neck, finally the edge of the blade was touching the skin at his throat.

  He tried to scream for the Elder’s help but his head and face were frozen in their position. His head began to turn itself against the blade, making him look over his shoulder. What he saw behind him was the Elder’s arms pointed directly out wards and his eyes shut. There was a violet star of light between his hands.

  “How do you-” the Elder huffed, obviously struggling to make words, “-do you like… my sorcery?” He finished, dropping his arms and the violet star disappeared. Esh was able to move again and he quickly replaced the dagger back on the wall.