Chapter 2

Malik carried me all the way up into the Southern Mountains.  He explained that he'd heard my screams when he'd been leaving to find work for the day. He'd run to my aid, finding me being beaten to death by my father.  Malik told me he'd take care of me from then on, raise me like one of his own. 

At the time...I didn't know that "raise me like one of his own" meant "train me to become an assassin like him."

I slept in the assassin's arms during the long journey into the mountains with no dreams.  

_ _ _ _ _

Malik gently shook me awake, running his hands through my frozen, mangled hair when we'd reached his home.  

Malik's home was a large stone house built into the side of the mountain.  It seemed to be carved into the side of the mountain, each wall chiseled and cut until the rock resembled walls made of stones glued together in some magical way.  There were a few tall windows on the sides of the house and multiple smaller windows on the upper floors.  The front door was polished oak, simple, but elegant.

"Welcome home." Malik sighed.

"Is this all yours?" I asked him.

"What do you mean?" 

"Is this place yours and only yours?"

"No.  There are many others here.  I've taken in many other runaways and orphans like you." he replied.  

I was practically sweating in his cloak.  "You take in orphans and runaways?" I almost laughed.

"There's more to it than that.  I train them to become assassins.  I don't take them in out of sheer kindness.  I take them in because I see potential, something I admire them." he explained.  "I took you in because you have some fight in you.  You have potential and strength.  It's amazing to see in a young girl."

He brought me inside.  Warmth enveloped me like an old friend.  I was lucky to have been saved by Almirea's Assassin.  The inside of his home was insulated by wood.  Children around my age ran around sparring with wooden weapons.  They too wore tunics and trousers, but remained barefoot.  

A little boy of about seven or eight with brown hair and gray eyes, wearing a green tunic looked up at me when I came in.  His face was round and lightly tanned, losing its summer tones.  He smiled at me as Malik carried me away.  

"Who's that?" I asked Malik, pointing at the boy.

"Adonijah." Malik replied, not even glancing at the boy.  

Malik cleaned me up and bandaged my wounds like a true father, gentle and patient with me.  He gave me a fresh tunic and trousers before leading me to my new room to meet my roommate.  He told me her name was Ezra Southerfield.

Ezra was a quiet little red-headed girl with blue eyes that had green flecks sprinkled throughout the iris.  She studied me for a moment before asking if she could braid my hair.  She almost looked afraid as she asked.

I nodded.

Ezra was gentle as she brushed out all the tangles in my pale blond hair.  Malik had washed all the ice and blood out of it so it wasn't as mangled as it had been.

As she braided my hair, we got to know each other.  Ezra was only six months younger than me and came from a small city in Endwale, north of my home in Fensande.  Ezra's parents had been killed by soldiers because they had been rebels against the king.  Malik had saved her before the soldiers killed her too.

_ _ _ _ _ _

Ezra wove two small braids into my hair that traveled around my ears  and pulled the rest of my hair up into a long fish-tail braid.

I did Ezra's hair too, weaving small braids on each side of her head to the other.  Her hair was shoulder-length, red like fire, and soft like a cloud.  

Malik came in just after I'd finished weaving the majority of Ezra's hair into a braid at the back of her head.  He smiled.  "I see I chose the right roommate for you, Ezra."

Ezra and I both smiled.

"You both look beautiful." he commented.

My face warmed.

"Do you mind if I borrow Iris from you, Ezra?" Malik asked.

"No." Ezra replied quietly.

"She'll be back before dinner." Malik told her as I stepped outside of the room and he closed the door.

Malik led me around his home, introducing me to the assassins-in-training as we went.  I didn't catch all the names, but I wasn't worried about it yet.  My brain was still numbed by agony and shock at my attack and the loss of my mother.  I'd have plenty of time to learn their names.

Malik had seven children - including me - who were between five and ten years old that he was training.

"Do you have any kids above ten here?" I asked him as he led me past the quiet kitchen.  

We'd seen the dining room which was an enormous room with drapes pulled back on every window and a long wooden table down the middle.  Candles lined the center of the table, unlit.

"Yes.  There are only five of them.  All of them are between twelve and sixteen.  They are in meditation right now."  Malik replied.

He opened a door to his left just a crack.  Then, he lifted a finger to his lips, warning me to be quiet before he opened the door the rest of the way.  Inside, the five older students were all dressed in tunics and trousers, sitting cross-legged on the floor.  Their eyes were closed, their hands rested on their knees.

I was utterly amazed at the silent order of the room.  None of them moved a muscle.  None made a sound.  You could hardly tell they were breathing.  You'd think they were dead.  

When Malik closed the door, he grinned at my amazement.  

"How long do they have to do that?" I asked.

"One hour every day.  We do it to concentrate and calm our minds.  If you are calm on the inside, your actions will show it.  I'll show you how to do that sometime soon."

Malik led me a little further down the hall and paused in front of another door.  He knelt to be eye level with me, resting his hands on my shoulders.  His eyes were impossibly green.  "The people in this room are also instructors.  They trained me to be the assassin I am today.  They are the Assassins of the Black Desert.  Some of them aren't as gentle as I am so, be careful."

I nodded.

Malik stood and opened the door, allowing me to go in first.

The room was fairly large.  Tall windows lined the wall directly ahead of us as well as the walls to our left and right, allowing us to view the world below.  Men and women dressed in dark clothing formed a semi-circle in the center of the room.  Most of them were men, towering over me with lean bodies and hardened eyes.  The few women were almost complete opposites of the men, full of jaw-dropping grace and beauty.  I wanted desperately to be like them.

Malik stood beside me, clearing his throat and straightening his back.  He looked down at me, his green eyes sparkling.  "Iris Ravenheart, meet the Assassins of the Black Desert."

Reviews

[Ace St. Jean]

Love the names of your characters. Great chapter especially with the descriptions and dialogue between them.

[Tessa Melendez]

Thank you so much.