by Ammar Habib
However, the president was silent. As he leaned his palms against the table, he hardly fathomed what was happening. Tonight, when the treaty was signed, was supposed to be a special day. It was going to be another highlight of his administration. The treaty would have been a boost to the nation’s already prospering economy.
But it had become a nightmare.
Feeling somebody arrive next to him, Villanueva looked up and saw his chief-of-staff. The grey-haired and slim man held a phone in his hands, but covered the microphone. “It’s King Maximus, sir. He wants to speak with you.”
Villanueva knew this was coming. In fact, he was surprised it had taken this long. “Thank you.”
The chief-of-staff quickly spoke into the phone one last time. “King Maximus, you’re on with the president.”
The chief-of-staff said those words just loud enough for everyone in the room to hear them. Their voiced died away and all eyes came onto the president. Villanueva took a silent deep breath before he stopped leaning against the desk and stood up straight. “King Maximus, this is the president.”
The king’s nationality showed in his thick accent. Also revealed in his tone was his heated outrage. Villanueva never knew the king to be a pleasant man, but he had never heard him with this much anger in his voice before. “Mr. President, what is all this!”
“I can assure you—”
“Ten minutes after my niece arrives, she is attacked by terrorists. Is this the type of country you are? One that cannot protect its own guests?”
“These are no normal terrorists.” As Villanueva spoke, he kept his eyes on his chief-of-staff. “We have information that leads us to believe the assassin orchestrating the attacks is a man who goes by the name Jaing.”
There was silence on the other end.
“No doubt, the name is familiar to you. He’s the one who was believed to have been a part of your brother’s death.”
“How sure are you?”
“Almost certain.” Villanueva began to slowly pace towards the emblem only a few feet behind him. “Also, we know that your niece has not been captured.”
“What?”
“An eyewitness who escaped the attack says that The Guardian was at the scene. When the attack began, he dispatched two of the terrorists before getting the princess out of the gunfight and to safety.”
“By Guardian, I assume that you are referring to the known criminal your people hail as a hero.”
Coming to the emblem, Villanueva turned back around and looked at the screen. “King Maximus, right now he is the best shot your niece has to survive.”
“But they are still in the airport?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Why haven’t the police moved in?”
“They have several hostages.” The president made his way back to his seat, and his gaze went onto a couple of generals in the room. “This was a planned attack and they have taken out our cameras. There’s no way for the police to move in without risking the loss of civilian life.”
“Are you saying that the lives of these hostages are more valuable than Amelia’s life?”
“What I’m saying is that I am under oath to protect the lives of my citizens.”
It was clear that those words did not sit well with the king. “If that is the case, then I fear that my niece’s chances for survival are slim. You are not doing what is necessary and Jaing is not a man known to fail.”
“All we can do is hope. But I can assure you, there is nobody better suited to protect your niece than The Guardian. He was trained by Ethan Daniels himself, and if there is a way to save your niece, then he will find it.”
“That may be—but I have little hope in knowing that Amelia is in the hands of a criminal. One who may have his own agenda.” There was a long silence on the other end before the king’s voice grew more threatening. “And know this, Mr. President: I can assure you that if any harm comes to my niece—if Amelia is not returned safely to me at the end of this crisis, there will be hell to pay.”
The line went dead.
***
Under the full moon, Ethan walked alongside Veila. The skies were clear as the stars slowly began to appear and add to the moon’s light. The two of them silently followed the creek. The only thing heard was the gentle rushing of the water and the sounds of insects. The night was peaceful, the jungle calm. However, Ethan’s soul was anything but that.
He was still attempting to digest everything Veila claimed. It all made sense. In some weird and twisted way, every word that Veila uttered perfectly fit the puzzle Ethan had been putting together for years. It filled all the blank spaces and connected all of the dots that haunted him for so long. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that not a single thing she spoke was a lie.
“All of this—these things that you’re telling me—can it be stopped? Can he be stopped?”
Veila glanced at the ground. “I don’t know if he can be stopped. Nobody has ever defeated Daken. But—I know that his plans can be delayed and maybe even bested altogether.”
“By stopping the assassinations.”
She nodded.
“William will rescue the princess of Northshire.”
Veila looked at him. “You have that much faith in your comrade?”
“I would trust him with my life. I have trusted him with my life.” Ethan paused. “But the more assassinations we stop, the better it will be. I will go and rescue China’s president. Can you get me there?”
“In an instant.”
“Who’s the assassin going after him?”
“Daken has one of his soldiers planted in the delegation of the Russian ambassador. Within twenty four hours, they’ll be meeting and the assassin will make quick work of the president.”
“Not if I’m there.”
“There’s something else you should know.” Veila paused for a moment. “If you fail in stopping the assassination and William cannot get the princess back to her throne, then you will have only one option. You must go into hiding.”
“Hiding? Why?”
“Once all of Daken’s pieces are in order, the catalyst to start everything is you.”
Ethan did not say anything but listened on.
“Daken is not strong enough to absorb all the strength of 7 billion people all at once. Before he does that, he needs to increase his might. And to do that, he has to kill something that will give him this capacity.”
Even before she said her next line, Ethan knew what was coming.
“And that thing is you. This is why Daken has allowed you to live for so long. He’s been waiting for this moment, where you’d be strong enough that killing you would give him all the power he needs to carry out his plan.”
Ethan again looked straight ahead as he came to a complete stop. Veila followed suit, but she kept her eyes on him. “So all this time, he’s wanted me to kill his soldiers. It would make me stronger, and he needed that. It’s all part of his endgame.”
“You have to swear that if you fail to stop the assassination, you will go into hiding. No matter how Daken tries to draw you out, you can’t fall into his trap.”
“I’ve never been one to back down from a fight.”
“Promise me, Ethan.”
“It won’t come to that.”
“What if it does? You have to be prepared to do what is necessary.”
Ethan was silent for a long moment. “Tell me who you are. If you want me to trust you, you need to be open with me.”
Veila’s gaze left her counterpart. “I—my soul is from the same place as Daken. After he was cast out, my people thought it would be the last of him. But I knew better. I knew that he would not go away so gently. He would hatch a plot for revenge. And so I spent years searching for him. Centuries.”
“So you found him here?”
“About the time you were born, I finally found him. I did not possess the strength to kill him but hoped to find someone who did.”
“And have you?”
/>
She looked at him as she nodded. “I’ve come close.”
He got the hint, but did not acknowledge it. “So tell me about the assassin. Who’s going after the Chinese president?”
“You’re no match for him, Ethan. He’ll be ready for you.”
“Tell me.”
Veila slowly nodded.
***
In the airport, there was complete silence on the ground floor. Nine reporters were in a circle and on their knees. With their wrists tied together, their gazes stayed on the ground.
The two injured secret service men were in the middle of the hostages. Unlike their counterparts who had been blasted in the head, these two were wounded in the ribs. Their captors had treated their wounds shortly after the gunfight, making sure that they would at least survive the entire crisis.
Two of the gunmen slowly circled the hostages, their footsteps softly echoing all through the silent floor. They both held semiautomatic rifles. They kept their eyes on the prisoners. A few minutes after the gunfight, they had roughed up one of the reporters who tried to be a hero. The rest became more than cooperative after that.
The remaining four henchmen stayed sharp for The Guardian. Jaing stood a distance away from them. With his silver revolver and a Walther P99 hanging off his belt’s russet holsters, a pair of sleek sunglasses covered his eyes while he wore a dark trench coat.
A voice suddenly broke the eerie silence. “I’m here.”
The cold words seemed to be coming from all around them, as if it was the voice of a ghost. The gunmen instinctively held their guns tighter, eyes scanning the rafters
But the assassin remained unfazed. Rather than feeling any terror, a slight smile spread across Jaing’s face. The new Guardian tried to mimic the cold voice of his predecessor, displaying much of Ethan’s unbreakable will and tenacity. Jaing looked up towards the rafters as he replied, “Then come out.”
“Let the hostages go first.”
“I’m afraid that I can’t do that. With them gone, the police will move in and ruin our little game.”
“Then at least let the reporters go. No innocents need to be here.”
Jaing was silent, but the smirk remained on his face.
“Refuse and you don’t get the princess or me.”
“You won’t let them die.”
“Is that a risk you’re willing to take?”
Jaing casted a glance at the hostages and noticed their faith.
The Guardian’s voice grew stronger than ever. “Let. Them. Go.”
The assassin looked away from his prisoners. Deep down, Jaing knew that The Guardian would not let the hostages die. No doubt, he had a contingency plan if Jaing did not let the hostages go. But the assassin needed to speed things up if everything was to remain on schedule. Glancing at his men, Jaing nodded. “Have it your way.”
The two sentries wordlessly pulled out switchblades. Within a minute, they cut free all of the reporters’ wrists from their constraints. Nobody uttered a single syllable. The air was tense. Everyone knew that one wrong move and everything would go south. However, nothing happened. Moments after being freed, all the reporters quickly ran off and were out of sight.
Jaing looked away from his two remaining, wounded prisoners. “Alright, I’ve played your game. Now show me yourself and the princess and I’ll let these two secret service agents go as well.”
From the high rafters, The Guardian made his presence known. Hanging on a strong cable that was latched onto the ceiling, he was quickly lowered down to the ground floor. His cloak flew behind him, revealing his belt full of weapons and pouches. All eyes were on him as he landed no more than ten yards away from Jaing. As his feet touched the ground, he disconnected the cable from his wrist and kept his masked eyes on the assassin.
The henchmen all faced him, their weapons raised and readied. With their fingers on their triggers and their eyes focused, they looked for an excuse to put him down for good.
Jaing slowly drew out his revolver, but did not aim it at his nemesis. “Your predecessor did a good job of teaching you how to remain invisible. I see that he also taught you about negotiations.”
“He taught me a lot more than that.”
“Perhaps.” Jaing took off his sunglasses and slid them into his coat’s inside pocket. His blue eyes stayed on The Guardian. “Now where’s the princess?”
“She’s gone.”
Jaing’s eyebrows slightly rose.
“My man got her out.”
After a few long seconds, Jaing slightly shook his head. “And here I thought you were a man of your word. Seems like Ethan never taught you that.”
“You’re not one to speak of accountability.”
“Even bad guys have honor.”
The Guardian was silent.
“But I don’t think your lackey will get very far with her. If my intel is right, this is his first real field mission. And without you, nobody can really protect the princess from me.” Jaing’s smirk grew. “And besides, what makes you think that the princess was my target in the first place?”
The Guardian’s heart suddenly froze. Looking at the silver barrel now aimed right at his chest, the truth dawned on him. This had all been a show. The princess was never the one Jaing was after. Jaing did all this so that he could come face-to-face with his true target.
“She will just be extra credit. But the person I was really here for—well you just gave him to me on a silver platter.” Jaing cocked back the gun’s hammer. “Your usefulness has run out. It’s time to take out anyone who can hinder my master’s plan. And you’re on that list.”
The Guardian didn’t have a chance. If he went for his weapons, Jaing would be too fast for him. There was only one way to even out the odds. His voice did not show any of his shock at the turn of events. “Before you kill me, don’t you want to know?”
“Know wh—”
Jaing never finished his sentence. From the cable launcher around his wrist, The Guardian released three small cylinders, no larger than bullets. And in an instant, they exploded into bright flashes, blinding everybody and forcing them to look away. When the flashed ended and the assassins looked back, thick smoke surrounded where The Guardian had stood, its edges almost upon Jaing.
The assassin stared into the dense fog. He blindly fired two quick rounds into the smoke, but heard his bullets bury themselves harmlessly into the wall. The assassin could not pick up The Guardian’s scent anywhere.
From behind them all, a second masked man appeared. With his extended metal bō staff in his hands, Adam soundlessly charged. Coming behind the two sentries next to the hostages, he brought his staff down against the first one’s skull before they even knew he was upon them. The man was out cold before he hit the ground.
Jaing heard the commotion, but did not turn around, keeping his attention on the smoke. Suddenly, the assassin sidestepped two bullets just as they were fired at him from the fog. The roar of the deafening gunfire ended with the bullets lodged in a column. From behind the wall of smoke, The Guardian sprang out at him. Dagger in hand, he leapt right at Jaing. But the assassin easily countered and dodged the first four quick strikes before knocking his foe away.
The Guardian did a backwards flip. Streams of bullets flew all around him as two of the henchman tried to gun him down. The roar of their gunfire was deafening, but the bullets did nothing but put a few holes in The Guardian’s cloak. As he soared through the air, The Guardian armed his free hand with a pistol from his belt. With hardly a glance, he fired off five bullets at the henchmen. Both henchmen dropped and crashed onto the floor, one with three bullets in his chest and the other with a couple of rounds in his head.
Landing perfectly on his feet, he aimed his pistol at Jaing while the assassin did the same. Neither of them pulled the trigger as they stared down one another.
“It seems I was right,” Jaing proclaimed. “Your lackey is here, which means the princess is not far. Once you’re dead, she’s mine.”
> The Guardian’s voice was filled with as much conviction and courage as ever. “Let’s finish this.”
They both fired.
***
The Guardian leapt to his left, dodging Jaing’s bullets as the assassin also easily avoided his foe’s barrage. The bullets loudly and violently buried themselves into the airport’s walls. But the opponents kept their eyes on each other.
They ran parallel to one another and stayed step-for-step as they fired away, only separated by thirty yards. Between them stood two long rows of columns, which provided the only cover. The roar of their guns echoed all around them, drowning out everything else.
The Guardian pulled his triggers again and again, releasing one bullet after another. All his training was kicking in. The military had taught him to hit any moving target no matter how quickly it was moving.
But Jaing avoided each and every bullet.
Leaping, sidestepping, and rolling, no bullet even came close to touching the assassin. As he avoided the barrage, Jaing continued to fire back mercilessly. His revolver quickly ran out of bullets, but his Walther had a much larger clip. But every single bullet Jaing fired missed their mark.
The Guardian’s first pistol went dry. Three rounds later, his second gun ran out of bullets as well. Hearing his clip go empty, The Guardian stopped behind a column and sensed his foe do the same. Bullets wouldn’t end this. That much they both knew.
Throwing their guns aside, the two of them charged.
The Guardian pulled out two daggers and Jaing used his fists. Colliding, The Guardian sent down six strikes with his daggers. He sent blow after blow, using the blades as extensions of his arms. But the assassin expertly used his forearms to knock away the attacks, not allowing the daggers to get close to him. In one quick move, Jaing disarmed The Guardian of one dagger, letting the blade fall to the floor.
