The Lin Kuei
"Wake my child... Wake my child..." These words echoed inside of my head. I couldn't tell if I was still in dream or awake. My whole body ached with pain. My upper body was cold and rigid, too cold. It was unnatural. My eyelids were weighted down with a sleepless night. I finally summon the constitution to open them. It was still dark in our temple but I knew the sun had already rose. Furious for not being able to sleep I roll off of the bed and right into push-up position. My plan was to do my fifty to wake up but I froze in place. My hands were slowly tinting a pale blue. Around them frost was starting to form in a perfect silhouette of my hand. What the hell is happening to me?!
Just then my eye caught a note beside my bed, written in blood ink was a note from The Grandmaster.
"Come to me, my child."
Simple enough as notes go. I was still dumbfounded by my display of unnatural physics. I looked back at my hands and realized in that short time they had almost turn back to my natural skin color. They still held on the the faintest blue. I quickly looked to the ground, afraid the evidence there was disappearing too. It was starting to melt but it was and undeniable truth: something was wrong. I took the letter in my hand and looked at it for a long moment as if to see some message that wasn't clear the first time. Nothing more than a simple summons.
I walk the halls towards Grandmaster Hall. It is where The Grandmasters stay. The Lin Kuei are divided into five separate groups. As far as I know it is to further divide us more than anything else. Each group has his their own grandmaster. He is your only contact in your long years here. I reach the huge metal door, and a step before the door I hear it move. He was anticipating my arrival and the door opened so quickly I didn't even have to break stride.
"Johns, my child, come closer." I obey. "You are aware of the failed mission against the life of Aaron McCallen?"
I nod. I was my brother's mission. I was unaware of the details of his defeat but I knew that was the reasoning for last night's display. Three days ago a man in yellow robes came to the temple to request the murder of McCallen. The charges were never released to the lower ranks of the clan but they must have been serious considering they sent SubZero the do the job. Defeat was never an option for him, death before dishonor was his way of life. It was a major blow for the public face of the Lin Kuei to fail in this mission, that was why SubZero had to give his life. He was an example for the rest of us, the true cost of defeat.
"You are now charged with the life of Aaron McCallen." I feared as much. He stepped forward with an old quill ink pen. In dark black he wrote the name of McCallen diagonally across my sash. "You will leave this temple. You will kill Aaron McCallen. You will not return until this has been completed. You have the rest of your day to prepare for what lies ahead. Do you accept this life to be extinguished by your hand?"
"With my life or with my death, Aaron McCallen will die." With those words I signed I soul-binding contract with the Lin Kuei.
"You have your day."
I spent the day checking and rechecking my weapons. My arsenal consisted of two 9mm Beretta handguns, several throwing knives, and a straight-sword. It's not much but it's deadly efficient. As soon as the sun fell I was off. I wouldn't stop until I reached the city.
My first kill lies close in the city of Phoenix. Our temple lies hidden deep in the Arizona desert. Under the cover of night it feels unusually cold but I figured it would be better than the scorching heat of the day. My peaked physical abilities allow me to run the entire way without much difficulty. On the way I think about my situation. The Lin Kuei demands 'Kill or be killed.' Ironic to think we claim to be peace-keepers.