I stood hidden in a dark corner as men of the last remaining free tribes argued and screamed at each other over what to do about Memnon.
Memnon……The man who was sweeping across our lands like the plague. He had taken everything from me. My friends, my family, and my home fell……all fell to Memnon. Akkadian women perished along with the rest of Akkadia…or so the legends say. I am the last remaining Akkadian woman. And this is my story of the Scorpion King.
Flashback
"Sina! (See-na) Run! Run child and don't look back do you understand that?" My father yelled as he fought hard against one of Memnon's soldiers. My five-year-old self looked at him wide-eyed and I shrunk back into a corner.
He struck down the soldier before turning around and striking down another. He looked to me again. "Run! Go to your betrothed, Mathayus, and stay with him do you understand!? Do not lose sight of him!" He yelled before I saw a soldier come up behind, his sword raised high. He plunged the sword into my fathers back and let out a loud war cry.
"Daddy!" I screamed as he gasped and fell to his knees. I screamed to him again, but it was too late. A thump sounded as his body hit the ground. His lifeless eyes starred up towards the Gods. I placed my hand over my mouth to stifle a sob and looked up at the soldier behind him.
The man yanked the sword out of his back, and smirked at his lifeless body. A flash of red passed into my mind. I straightened up and walked forward picking up my fathers sword. "Oh, little one wants to play does she?" the soldier sneered. I swung the sword around expertly, well as expertly as I could with my father and my betrothed, Maythayus, had shown me. He laughed but was quickly cut off as I swung for his head and lopped it off without a second thought.
I stood there frozen as his body fell and his head rolled to my feet. The screams of all the Akkadian women and men were surrounding me. Smoke and the smell of blood filled my nose as my senses faded and my world turned to black.
End Flashback
I shook my head vigorously to clear my mind of the painful memories. When I woke up after that fateful night, I assumed everyone had been slaughtered, as that was Memnon's way. I spent the last 17 years traveling as a nomad and an assassin. After years of traveling, I had studied the ways of different tribes fighting styles. And I was damn good too. Being as good as I was is what brought me here today to hide in the shadows as the leaders raged on about plans to kill Memnon. King Pheron had begged and pleaded with me to come and listen to what he and these men had come up with to get rid of Memnon.
"Silence!" King Pheron yelled. No one stopped to listen. Takmet, the king's son, stood up. "My father has called for silence! HOLD YOU TONGUES!" He screamed. The crowd hushed and turned their frustrated and angry gazes to the King.
"We are gathered in this place to put our differences aside. There is still time for us, the last of the free tribes, to stand together against this tyrant." King Pheron said. I twirled my dagger in my hands listening, and not speaking, my eyes roaming the face of each leader seated in the circle.
"With his sorcerer at his side, no mortal can defeat Memnon." One of the old Chieftains said. I nodded to myself. Yeah, that was going to be a problem. Memnon never let his sorcerer leave his side and he didn't plan on changing that anytime soon if he was smart.
"And if the sorcerer were to die? What then?" Pheron asked. I tilted my head in thought. The sorcerer's death would leave Memnon blind to his enemies' moves, but he was a smart man when it came to military tricks, and death would not come easy to him.
"It's too late for your schemes Pheron." Balthazar, a large black chieftain, said. He stood placing his sword aside. "I have raided Memnon's caravans, broken his supply lines to his troops, but he still swept across the land like a plague. I will not send my people to their deaths in a battle that can't be won." He finished.
"And what people would that be Balthazar?" Takmet said stepping forward. "You are the ruler of nothing but a pile of rocks and sand." Takmet stood in front of Balthazar, looking him dead in the eye. Balthazar grew angry at his statement and grabbed one of Takmet's hands in his, crushing it within his large fist. The grip was so strong that it brought Takmet to his knees before Balthazar.
"If I am no king, then why are you on your knees before me?" Balthazar gritted through his teeth. I smiled and shook my head at Takmet's pained face. That boy never knew when to hold his tongue.
"Balthazar!" Pheron yelled. Every tribe pulled out their swords and prepared to fight. I stood still watching them and their ridiculousness. Balthazar went to grab his sword, and that is where I saw fit to act. I threw the dagger I had in my hand towards his hand aiming for the wood slightly above it. Just before my dagger hit its target, a scythe flew towards it, knocking it from its path.
I turned my head towards the direction it was thrown and saw three hooded figures step closer towards the fire. I walked out from the shadows, my eyes still upon them. The leader or what I assumed was the leader, as he was in front, removed his hood. I gasped as I saw my betrothed standing there, only he had grown into a very handsome man, as my mother always predicted. His eye met mine and I saw them go wide. "Sina," he whispered. I set my face to look impassive as I turned and reached for my dagger.
"Akkadians. I thought they were wiped out long ago." Balthazar said angrily as he eyed me and the men. I turned and looked him in the eye. "Yes Balthazar, Akkadian. It's good to see that all that muscle has a little bit of brain underneath." I smiled sarcastically. His face turned into a deeper frown, his eyes trying to glare daggers into my soul. I simply shrugged and bent over to pick up my dagger. Pheron chose this moment to speak. "They are the last of their kind. Sina was the only of their women to have survived the slaughter. By them the sorcerer will die." I smiled at the thought, but it was short lived as I thought of my family. I grabbed my dagger and stuck it back into my bootstrap, finding the feel of the blade comforting against my skin. "You put your faith in a clan of cutthroats who kill for money?" I turned and looked at Balthazar. "Do not forget Balthazar, I was once employed by you. Did I not complete your job? Did I not bring back his sword and his head to you to show you that the job was complete? Think before you speak Balthazar, or you find yourself speaking like a hypocrite." I hissed angrily to him under my breath. He quieted as he heard me and turned his anger towards Pheron. But Pheron continued on, "They are more than that, they are skilled assassins. Trained for generations in the deadly arts."
"What price did these mercenaries ask from us father?" Takmet questioned turning towards his father. His father answered, "Twenty blood rubies. Ten for Sina and ten for Mathayus and his men." Takmet became outraged. "But that's the last of our treasury." Takmet said approaching his father, King Pheron stood and stepped down from his throne, "Be quiet. If these assassins kill the sorcerer, will you FIGHT?!?" Pheron shouted to the tribesmen. The leaders murmured in agreement, and began nodding. Shouts of yes and other answers of agreement came from the men. Pheron nodded. "So be it." I smiled and held out my hand as a bag of rubies was tossed to me from the king.
"As long as one of us breathes," Mathayus looked at me, "the sorcerer will die." I nodded in agreement and picked up my stuff from behind a pillar and began to push past Mathayus and his men. Before I could make it far Mathayus grabbed my arm and held me to his side, catching the bag in his other hand. He then looked down to me. "You ran for years after the tribes' destruction, I'm not letting you go again Sina." Mathayus turned with me still by his side and we began walking away.
"Assassins!" Balthazar called to us. We turned and suddenly Balthazar threw Mathayus' scythe at us. He barely blinked as he caught it and placed it back in his sheath. "Show off." I muttered under my breath. He smiled slightly, but only I could detect it. Mathayus looked back at Pheron nodding towards Balthazar. "Him? Him we'll kill for free." Mathayus said seriously. I rolled my eyes and turned and pushed past my fellow Akkadians and began walking towards the direction of Memnon's camp leaving the boys to fend for themselves.