Novices's Trials
13 Velen 1224
POV Novice
I'm standing outside a room in the training hall, with two adults in front of me and around twenty children who must be between ten and twelve, while I'm eleven. The adults are men and women wearing personalized uniforms, showing their status within the League. The man wears black trousers and a pair of black leather boots. A long tunic made of leather and brown fabric stops at his knees. A red ribbon encircled by a wide leather band. V-shaped patterns in white and green on her torso. The woman wears dark brown trousers with black piping. A white sleeveless tunic around her torso, which becomes increasingly brown as it reaches her knees. The tunic has a slit at the front to allow freedom of movement. A long piece of black fabric with white motifs hangs around her waist. A small brown belt with a red ribbon cinches the black material around her waist.
Their hoods are pulled up, exposing their faces. These two assassins are Aya and Aguilar, the two assassins trained by Saibus, the Demon, one of the Council of Elders. Saibus is a legend within the League. He is the youngest member to become an Assassin, completes many missions, and is first in terms of missions completed with no missions failed. Aguilar and Aya are not to be outdone either. Although they are much weaker than Saibus, both are deadly and competent Assassins. The two of them always work as a team. Synchronize to kill.
Aya is known under the code name Amunet for her mysterious personality and ability to manipulate her targets' lives. She manipulates her target in the shadows to do what she wants with them. Few know these abilities, hence the name Amunet after an ancient being linked to the mystery. Aguilar is called the Eagle of the League for her intelligence and ability to transform into an eagle.
(Image Aya)
(Image Aguilar)
The two Assassins have a straight, stern look on their faces. Aya and Aguilar don't say a word. They stare at us. One by one, we pass before their judging eyes, watching to see if we might have the skills to become an apprentice to a mentor.
"You are all novices trained by the League for several years. You have been trained in the basics of a League Assassin. Now, you will undergo a test to see how well you have assimilated what you have been taught. After this day, you will be apprentices of the League." Aguilar breaks the silence. There are murmurs around me. Whispers about the trial, about Aguilar and Aya. There are emotions of fear, eagerness, joy, and many others. All the novices are feeling these things right now, even me.
Aya's low voice interrupts the whispering.
"Silence... Behind us lies the trial you will have to endure and emerge victorious. Behind this door lies your future. You will have to use everything you've learned, all your knowledge, all your know-how to face this ordeal and prove yourself worthy of being part of the League."
CLAC
CLAC
The doors swing open as Aya finishes her sentence. A dazzling white light prevents anyone from seeing what lies beyond the doorway.
"Now move towards your future. Move towards your ascension in the Order of Assassins.
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I have walked to this door and passed through it, like all the other novices. Now I'm in a strange room. I'm alone. No other novices came through the door at the same time as me. The room is dark, very dark. I can only see five meters in front of me. I get into a fighting stance. I take my Viking sword in my right hand and my round shield from my back. Trying to concentrate on my hearing instead of my sight. Closing my eyes, and applying the method taught to me by my instructors, I slow my heart rate.
Boom boom, Baboum baboum'.
I hear my heart beating.
Fuuuuu' I hear my breath in the silence of the room.
'Boom boom, Baboom baboom'
Boum boum, Baboum baboum
'Boum boum, Baboum baboum' (Boom boom, Baboum baboum)
Three hearts are beating, three with a slow rhythm, close to a lethargic state. Three hearts and mine is one of them. I'm not alone in this room. Two other people or creatures live with me in this enclosed space. Deciding to strike first, I approach the heartbeats without a sound. With my eyes open, I observe my surroundings, remaining alert for any surprise attack. I moved forward silently without rushing and eventually caught sight of the silhouette of two people sitting on two chairs. I take five more steps to see these people in the half-light. I see something I didn't expect to see in the League. The two men are unconscious, their heads towards the bin. A thick rope holds their bodies together, sealing them to the chair. Their hands behind their backs, their feet tied to the chair's front legs, and their torsos and necks glued to the chair. Traces of blood are visible on their necks and hands.
Sizzling
The sound of burning candles echoes around me. At the same time, dozens of candles appear in the air. They float around me and the two men to the four corners of the room. Seeing the room perfectly now, there's nothing but me, the two men tied up, the floating candles, and a large cupboard stuck to the wall behind the men.
BOOM
A blow hits the wall behind the cupboard, causing a thud to reverberate throughout the room. The echo of the room caused by its lack of furniture brings out the gravity of the sound.
BOOM
BOOM
BOOOOM
...
BOOOM
The blows speed up, stop, and space out. I pass behind the men and approach the cupboard. The blows continue in rhythm, repeating themselves indefinitely. In front of the cupboard, I hold my shield in front of my face and use my right hand to open the cupboard door with which I hold my battle axe. I open the door with a quick, sharp blow. I see an empty cupboard. Glued to the wall, the back of the cupboard doesn't tremble from the brutal blows. But one thing makes me stop and think. The blows aren't coming from the cupboard now but from all around me. It's as if the sounds are echoing in my head.
Perturbed, I close the cupboard and head off, ready for an attack, to the front of the men, ten paces away. Positioning myself, I try to concentrate on the blows. Perhaps they have a hidden meaning. Time, the next stage of the trial, a clue. It could be anything that the Order can do with the magic that exists. Apart from the banging that repeats like a cycle, no other sound can be heard. My sense of time is disrupted, and I do not letting myself be fooled for how long I try to understand the meaning of the blows but finally stop understanding them. The blows are phrases in Morse code.
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The trial is a murder trial. The Order wants us to kill a criminal between ourselves and an innocent person once we've found the guilty party. I know that the League trains us in murder, in assassination, they don't hide from us the dark things we'll have to do as Assassins, but I never thought we'd have to kill someone with no proof of their crime. "Find the Evil," but how? Nothing in the room but an empty cupboard and flying candles.
Attempting a solution, I approach one of the two men and shake him awake. But it doesn't seem to work. I shake him harder, but he doesn't wake up. I pull his cheek to see if feeling pain can wake them from their unconscious states, but that doesn't work either.
I understand I'll be alone in this ordeal, but will I even pass? Do I even want to do it? I was expecting a fight with the other novices or a test of intelligence, not a kill, to see if I could become an Assassin and join the Order. The League defends the innocent from the evil deep in the hearts of men. A just but difficult cause. Forced to live in the shadow of the innocent, watched, protected, fought, and killed. All this is what an Assassin must be capable of to achieve his goal. To protect people from themselves. Is it possible to achieve such a goal? Can the League protect the innocent, or will it end up losing the war against the darkness in the hearts of Men? I don't know, and I don't think I want to know.
Find the Evil and kill it, say the blows. What Evil? The masters tell us that Good and Evil is a question of perspective, of point of view. For me, killing a person is evil, but for a vampire or a magician, killing a person is not necessarily evil. It can be necessary or a moment of joy. Do I have to kill Evil for me? For the League? For the world? For Man? I don't know what I should do. Maybe I'm not ready to be an Assassin. I don't even know if I want to be one anymore. My family is part of it. My parents, my sister, my grandparents, my ancestors. All proud members of the Order. But am I proud of that? Am I worthy of carrying on that legacy? Surely not. I fail this test. I ask myself questions instead of realizing why I'm here.
"You are all children still learning what there is in the world. Don't rush. Take your time and concentrate. The League has one goal but many members. We can't all agree. We don't have the same ideals, the same life. On the other hand, we Assassins all have the same Creed" The words that the instructors used to say to us during our training courses spring to mind.
"Four fundamental precepts that unite us and reflect the world around us," I remember the teacher standing before a class of children listening attentively to these words. I murmur along with him.
"Your blade will not shed the blood of an innocent" Protect the Innocent even as the blood is shed.
"Show yourself but remain invincible." Act in the shadow of your enemies. Hunt them down, kill them, and when they're on the ground in a pool of blood looking at you with resentment, look them in the eye, showing your Assassin's hide.
"You will never endanger the Brotherhood." An Assassin would rather kill himself than betray his brothers and sisters.
Each word resonates within me, giving me confidence, telling me what I must do, and showing me the Path others have trodden before me. A Path where I run and where others will walk after me. A Way in the Shadows.
"A Way where nothing is true and everything is permitted."