Chapter 16
"That same night, the two remaining Knights, the King, the Princess, the General, and the Warlords all met again. "It seems you were right, Sir Otto." the King says in a defeated tone, as though all hope has been lost to him. "We may not live to see tomorrow." Sir Otto, thinking hard upon these words, says, "You could be right, for Sir Bolor was indeed one of the best fighters I have ever known. But at least we have good on our side." Sir Otto states, with nods coming all around. "Pray that we are good enough." Lady Sandwind says flatly. "The only chance of success we have is to band together." Lady Sandwind continues. "If he catches us alone, none of us may live to see the morn." And with that everyone agrees, stands up, and dons their weapons. "Then we shall seek him out, for he must still be in the castle this night, for I know now he wishes us all dead." Sir Otto states.
And they were right. For the Assassin did indeed want all of the Knights, the general, and the warlords to die as well. He did not, however, wish any harm to come to the Princess or the King."
"Why not?" the boy asks. "Why not the Princess or the King?" Grandfather looks at the boy, with a far away look, and says, "Well, my boy, perhaps he liked the King and the Princess, but not those who fought for them." And with that, he continued reading, "And so, the Assassin set about a way to get rid of the General, the Warlords, and the Knights. He would do something most Assassins would not do. He decided that he would openly challenge these fools right then and there! In open combat. Hand to hand, one against eight." As Grandfather reads this last part, he pauses, and says, "You must understand my boy, that no typical Assassin would ever, under any circumstances, attempt this ploy. But after having worked on their emotions, and playing on their fears for many days, and being that he could summon the very Shadows to work for him, against his enemies, he knew he had a fair chance of winning the fight." As the awestruck boy waited, Grandfather continued.
"He didn't of course, give them any advantages. No open declaration of his arrival. No waiting, talking, or negotiating. He simply strode up to the door, after walking through the halls of the castle, silently killing any who got in his way. Not a single guard screamed. Not a single servant who stepped into the hallway stepped out of it. The Assassin was a Shadow of Death. The Shadow Spinner of legend, and he would afford no quarter to those foolish enough to be caught in his Web of Death.
The Assassin approached the door of the War Room, listened to those inside, and waited patiently as the meeting adjourned. The door, swinging open as one of the Warlords pushed on it, snapped back and closed with a resounding thud! The Warlord who had pushed the door open fell backwards, clutching his face, and promptly fell, face up, with a dagger rammed to the hilt in his eye.
No one moved, for not a single person wanted to be the next to open that door… Finally, Sir Otto drew his sword, said a prayer to his God, and charged out of the room, bashing the door into the hallway, breaking it off of the hinges in the process.
Looking around, Sir Otto found the entire hallway completely empty. He looked all around, then motioned for the rest of the group to come out. They all drew their weapons, with even the Princess holding a dagger, and carefully tread down the hallway, making their way to the throne room…