Aka: YuGiOh meets Assassin's Creed.
The Scarlet-Eyed Assassin
The last Spinner was the Assassin,
Red eyes, black coat conceal his face.
Lord of the kill, he found his place
Under green light, a knife with compassion.
Orion's earliest memory was the hold of the ship which took him to a land of strife and war. He left it with the clothes on his back and a bindle and wandered the streets of the harbor, a lost little boy. Then a man found him, wearing a black hood.
"Are you lost, child?"
"I don't know."
"Do you have a home?"
Orion turned to the streets and shook his head.
"Do you have a family?"
"No."
"Do you want one?"
Orion blinked, his scarlet eyes looking up to the man.
"…Yes."
Was a home and a family worth damning your soul? As the man took him to the fortress of Masyaf and introduced him among the Assassin Order, Orion would answer "Yes" in a heartbeat.
Training wasn't easy. The Assassins were skilled killers, and those skills were obtained through blood and sweat. But Orion endured. The Order was his family, the only one he remembered. At his side was Amin, his brother in all but the blood. Together, they patrolled the rooftops of Masyaf, hunting those who would threaten the Assassin Territories, as the Crusader Kings called their land.
But what do you do when the threat comes from the inside and the very man you see as a father threatens to tear apart all which you hold dear? How far do you go to protect the only family you've ever known?
This was how, one evening, he stumbled upon a strange pair.
"So, you're sure the Key and Shadi's ring are in that fortress?"
"I'm certain, Jeremy. The people who broke into the Tomb of the Millennium were skilled. They managed to dodge the traps, solve the enigmas and reach the Chamber of the Key, and even defeat two of the Spirits guarding the place before they had to escape. I checked the corpses of those who didn't make it and the clues led me there."
"A shame Ianna is between reincarnations. Her ability to charm those who see her dance would have been useful."
"Hey, don't sell my magic short! I'll get us inside in no time. The problem is that Assassins are fearsome killers. I could handle them with large-scale magic, but I'd like to cause as little collateral damage as possible."
"So, no storming the fortress?"
"As a last resort. The Assassins protect these lands from the Crusader Kings and they are doing a good job at it. I'd hate to deprive these people of their protectors."
"Alright, Sinuhe. Let's go back to the inn. We need to plan."
Well, wasn't that worrisome? Orion followed them to their inn, then went to find Amin. As always, his brother was watching the moon atop the minaret. Amin turned to him.
"What is it, Brother?"
"Trouble. Two people plan to infiltrate the fortress to recover two items, a ring and a key. I need your help to stop them. Apparently, one of them is a mage."
"A mage? Uh oh… I agree, better not face them alone. I'm right behind you."
So, the pair went to the inn. Amin frowned.
"Facing a mage is always problematic. Let's wait until they are asleep and slit their throats. It's the safest way."
"True."
They waited. The pair was a teenager of Frank origins in possession of a beautiful staff – clearly, he was the magician of the pair – while the other was a woman owning a beautiful yew bow. Soon, enough, the two were asleep. The two Assassins jumped on the inn's wall and slid their blade in the windowsill to open it. Amin went for the mage. Orion went for the woman. So far so good…
But Jeremy the Falcon Hunter was the Viridian Wing Signer, and his power was the ability to talk to animals. Their kite partner had warned them they and Sinuhe were being watched, so both were expecting the Assassins. Their sleep was feigned.
Amin raised his knife over the mage's throat… and got a wind needle right between the legs. The Assassin collapsed swearing between his teeth. Orion raised his knife over the huntress's throat… and a kite dive-bombed him out of nowhere. Sinuhe and Jeremy both jumped from the bed, the mage tying his opponent with stone bindings while Jeremy wrapped their with sharpened thorns. Orion and Amin were both powerless. Orion sighed.
"This is why I hate fighting mages. You are way too hard to kill and have a counter for anything we could bring."
Sinuhe and Jeremy high-fived.
"We can't blame you for wanting to defend your order." The huntress shrugged. "We won't kill you, just keep you locked there until we have what we want, then we'll let you go back to protecting your land."
"How kind of you." Amin gritted his teeth. "Why do you even want these items, anyway? They must be really valuable for you to risk tangling with us."
"They are." Sinuhe answered harshly. "The ring contains the soul of an old friend who has been trapped there for a century."
Orion and Amin both swore.
"That's horrible!"
"Yeah, not a fate I'd envy anyone. As for the Key, it is a dangerous item capable of manipulating the mind of others. You can understand why I'd rather it stays safely in its tomb."
Amin froze.
"Wait, did you say manipulating the mind?"
"Yes. Why?"
Orion and Amin shared a look.
"And here I was wondering why more and more of our brothers had that fanatic look in their eyes. How does the mind-manipulation work, exactly?"
Sinuhe frowned deeply.
"The Key accesses a person's mind and allows its wielder to alter it by moving or manipulating its contents. It leads to memory manipulation, mind-control and similar effects. The people manipulated by the key have an empty look in their eyes. Why are you asking?"
"Because…" Orion winced. "This is exactly what our brothers of the Order look like. Their eyes are empty when they aren't burning with fanatism, and all they have in mind is serving our grandmaster. It had us kind of worried, but we are rather low-ranking. We were given no explanation, they just told us to keep on doing our duties."
Sinuhe and Jeremy shared a look.
"Well, this is going to complicate things."
"That's why I'm taking more patrols, these days." Amin admitted. "Our brothers are quietly scaring me and I take any chance I find to stay away from the fortress."
Jeremy turned to the pair.
"If we asked you to help, would you?"
"In a heartbeat." Orion answered. "The Order is my family. Its members are my brothers and our grandmaster is the closest thing I've known to a father. If there's a way to stop this madness, sign me in!"
"Sign us in." Amin corrected. "The Order is my family as well."
"Thank you. Let's meet tomorrow atop the minaret after the Zuhr prayer. We will discuss how to proceed."
The two Signers agreed. Soon, the two Assassins were free and heading back to the fortress. Amin was thoughtful.
"Do you believe them, Brother?" Orion asked, scarlet eyes watching his brother with concern.
"Yes. What they describe is exactly what is ailing our brothers." Amin shuddered. "Mind control. What got into our grandmaster's head to rely on this?"
"Beats me, but they have a point: he must be stopped. We are a family." Orion said bitterly. "I will not let him destroy it, especially through such unholy means."
The pair was in agreement. Clad in dark clothes to vanish in the night, they shifted to white hoods when dawn fell and the sun painted the walls of Masyaf with pristine light. As agreed, they met the mage and the huntress atop the minaret after the Zuhr prayer, past midday. Amin crossed his arms.
"So, I believe you have a plan."
"We do." Sinuhe confirmed. "In fact, we have several. The first would have been to sneak inside the fortress either by disguising ourselves as servants or using Furtivity magic to conceal our presence, then reach the grandmaster's chambers, get the ring and the key and get out."
"I can talk to animals." Jeremy explained. "I have asked the birds and rodents inhabiting the fortress for the location of the items. We know where to go and what to expect."
Alright, the pair had come prepared.
"The other plan is to blast the door open and tear our way inside until we reach the grandmaster and take the items by force." Sinuhe shrugged. "Not my favorite plan but, if stealth fails us…"
Amin and Orion shared a look.
"I have a better idea." The Arab Assassin suggested. "As an Assassin, I have my entries in the fortress. I can go pretty much where I want. Stay there and I'll get those items for you."
"I'll watch your back, Brother." Orion instantly offered. "Where are the items?"
"That's the problem." Sinuhe winced. "With your grandmaster. He never parts from them."
Alright, yeah, that was a pretty huge problem. The Grandmaster of the Assassins was the best of their order. Stealing the items from him wouldn't be easy. Amin took a small bottle.
"Poppy milk. Slip it in his drink and the Grandmaster should be asleep for a while, long enough to steal the ring and the key. Remind me what they look like?"
"The ring is a golden band decorated with a skull carved in ivory." Sinuhe explained. "The key is golden and in the shape of a cross with a teardrop-shaped loop – an ankh, to use the proper term."
Orion frowned.
"I remember seeing him wear those items. Alright. I also have poppy milk on me. Tonight, we drop it in the Grandmaster's drink and you retrieve the items while I distract any passer-by." The Grecian Assassin turned to the Signers. "Wait for us at the North Gate. We should be back before dawn."
"Works for us."
The two Assassins left. The Signers returned to the inn, Jeremy sending their kite partner to watch the fortress. At night, Orion and Amin set in action, slipping their poppy milk in the Grandmaster's drink and waiting until he fell asleep. When he heard him snoring, Amin snuck in his room while Orion waited. And waited. And waited. And figured something was wrong. He peeked through the small opening…
…and saw a golden tear-shaped loop. He jumped back before the Grandmaster could use the Key and slipped in the shadows, glad he was wearing his dark outfit. He acted just in time. The fortress was suddenly a kicked anthill. Nearly every member of the Order was searching for him, and the Assassin had to deploy a wealth of stealth to avoid being caught. Silently, he made his way to the North Gate and joined Sinuhe and Jeremy.
"We failed." He said bitterly. "When I peeked through the opening, the Grandmaster had the Key pointed straight at me. I had to escape."
"Gahr eil!" Sinuhe swore in Afan. "Treacherous hatred! Fine, violence it is! Tomorrow, we will sneak inside the fortress and beat the Grandmaster to an inch of is life before getting back the items."
Orion cracked his knuckles.
"With pleasure. I don't know if Amin is dead or alive, but whatever was done to him cannot be pretty. The Grandmaster will pay for this."
The morning held an ugly surprise, however. A Crusader Lord had come to talk with the Grandmaster, who had decided to perform a display of power.
"No fortress is impregnable. How long will your men remain loyal when the wells run dry and the food runs out?"
"My men are loyal to the death." The Grandmaster retorted. "They obey my single word, be it to kill themselves. Behold!"
Three men stepped on wooden platforms hanging over a deep chasm. Orion watched in horror as one removed his hood, revealing himself to be Amin. However, his face was blank and his eyes were empty. Sinuhe instantly recognized the symptoms of the Millennium Key's mind-control.
"They are in his thrall!"
Orion's scarlet eyes were filled with bloodlust.
"When you get to him, make that traitor suffer. I want him to pay for ruining my family."
"We will." Jeremy reassured.
The Grandmaster gave the order. Before the shocked eyes of the Crusaders, the three Assassins mindlessly jumped to their death. But Sinuhe was ready. The Scepter of Silence in his hand, he called the wind to slow their fall and liquefied the ground to a pool of mud. The three Assassins suffered nothing more than a few bruises. The mage then glided down the charm and healed them, Orion and Jeremy close behind. The Grecian Assassin held his brother tight.
"The magic of the Millennium is old and powerful." Sinuhe winced. "Undoing the brainwashing is nigh-impossible without the Key."
"That artifact is that powerful?"
Sinuhe turned to Orion and looked him dead in the eyes.
"Don't get me started. My own uncle crafted it and six others from the unholiest mixes of magic I have ever seen. It unleashed such a terrible evil upon Egypt my own twin brother had to give his life to seal it, and I spent the past two thousand years looking for a way to destroy them. The Artifacts of the Millennium are Evil with a capital E."
Orion grimaced.
"Alright, I understand. But, if you don't mind me saying, you look younger than two thousand years."
"I reincarnate. My memories come back in my teens. It lets me pick up where I left."
"Ah." The Assassin looked at the fortress. "So, how do we proceed?"
"Most of the Order is clearly in thrall of the Grandmaster. They are innocents. We will use stealth to reach that bastard. Then, once we are face to face, no hold bared."
Orion smirked, his scarlet eyes shining with mirth. Once Sinuhe and Jeremy were done tying Amin and the others, he guided them to a secret entrance at the bottom of the fortress and led the way to the Grandmaster's chambers. All along, Sinuhe's magic concealed them, a shroud that dimmed the perception of any people they met so they would pay the three no mind. Orion had to admit the spell was potent. Even the higher members of the Order dismissed their presence as "Just the wind." This even though they were right next and the Assassin could have easily stabbed them if he'd felt the urge. But he didn't.
Soon enough, they reached the chamber. The Grandmaster was inside. He turned to them when they entered.
"Ah, the expected company. Your magic must be powerful, young mage, that you could sneak past all my men."
"It is." Sinuhe quietly answered. "And I am older than I look."
With one tap of the Scepter, the wall expanded to fill the door's hole. The Grandmaster had no retreat left but the windows. Orion took his daggers, crafted with Damascus steel, and glared at the man.
"Why did you do it?"
"I do not have to explain myself to a lowly boy. Orion, obey your master: kill them."
"No."
His dagger flew. The Grandmaster caught it in his fingers. Then he waved the ring on his hand – gold with an ivory skull, Shada's Ring – and Sinuhe looked around, startled.
"Negation! He cut our ability to use magic!"
Snarling, he held the Scepter while Jeremy aimed their bow and Orion held his dagger. Then, they fought. The room preventing the use of magic meant Sinuhe and Jeremy couldn't use their own spells, but the Grandmaster couldn't use the Millennium Key or Shada's Ring either. It was a contest of pure skill between the four: the mage, the ranger and the assassin against the grandmaster of the order. And, as they learned quickly, the old man was Grandmaster for a very good reason: he was the best.
Sinuhe swung the Scepter as the Grandmaster dodged several of Jeremy's arrows. Orion swept low and cut his leg at the knee. The old man reacted briskly and stuck a knife in his chest. Orion tumbled back, then took the knife and threw it back at his former mentor, who was busy dodging the metal end of the Scepter of Silence. The knife struck between the ribs. The elder man gasped and threw another knife at Orion, who took it in the stomach. At the same time, he moved back to avoid the metal end of the Scepter of Silence, only to receive two arrows in the shoulder courtesy of Jeremy. The pain made him stumble. He lost his footing. The Scepter of Silence, shaped like a Djed at the top, had sharpened edges in ivory. They tore the old man's throat. Sinuhe took Orion's Damascus dagger and planted it firmly in the Grandmaster's chest, abbreviating his death. Then he looked around.
"The Negation field is still around. Either we need to find its source or we need to get out there. It should be something metallic."
Orion was bleeding from several wounds, and he knew the ones in his chest and stomach were fatal.
"Hey… Sinuhe, right?"
The pair turned to him. The Assassin tried to smile.
"When… When you're out, you can use the Key to undo the mind-control?"
"I never used any of the Millennium Items before, but Shada has." Sinuhe reassured. "Once he's free from the ring, he will undo the Grandmaster's mental manipulation."
Orion relaxed. He could feel his life ebb away, yet he couldn't bring himself to regret anything. The Grandmaster was dead. Amin was safe. His brothers would soon come back to their senses. His family was going to be fine.
The wall burst apart and two dragons, one white with a fake arm and the other brown with brown and black feathery wings appeared in the opening. Jeremy took Orion while Sinuhe grabbed Shada's Ring and the Millenium Key. Both flew out and went back to Amin and the other Assassins. Orion was barely breathing at this point, despite Jeremy's Restoration magic. As soon as they landed, Sinuhe broke Shada's Ring. The Viridian Head Signer emerged, his ghostly silhouette quickly taking on a more corporeal form.
"Free at last! Thank you, old friend."
"You're welcome, Shada. Here, can you use the Millenium Key to undo the Grandmaster's mind-control?"
"At once. I saw him act from within the ring. Being unable to stop him was really getting me mad."
He took the Key and held it to the three Assassin's heads. However, as green light filled the sky, he froze in his tracks. All three Signers looked up and saw the Viridian Dragon fill the sky with their body.
Orion had stopped breathing. His last vision had been the Egyptian-looking man hold the Key to Amin's forehead. He had died smiling, knowing his brother would be the first to come back. Then his soul left his body and found itself face to face with a majestic dragon of green energy.
A choice was given. An offer was made.
Orion accepted. He owed the Signers that much. And, just like Sinuhe, his life had been ruined by a Millennium Item. It was his fight as well.
The Viridian Dragon nodded and branded the assassin with his Rear Claw. Then the soul was sent away to be reborn. Down among the Signers, Orion's body was cloaked in a green and white light. When it faded, the creature it had become was a fearsome dragon of deep black scales and blood-red eyes, all hard edges and sharp talon.
And yet, for all his fearsome appearance, Scarlet-Eyes Ebon Dragon was still a force of good, the knife with compassion who had turned against his leader for the sake of his family.
Was a home and a family worth bargaining with a Dragon? Always.