CHAPTER TWENTY – DEATH OF THE BARONESS Fierce Martial Arts InstitutesCalifornia, United States Alison was with a group of Maidens in a training room when they heard a loud shattering sound. Alarms started blaring loudly as red lights glowed and dimmed rhythmically. They all turned alertly on instinct. “Grab some things. Split up” she gave out instructions. The Maidens followed and armed themselves up with different weapons of their choice. They all rushed out of the training room. “Check the prisoners! Check the vault! Check the weapons room!” Alison ordered to different Maidens. Some other Maidens had rushed out of their several locations and were running down stairs, running up stairs, rushing out of elevators, sliding down poles. Alison ran alone towards an elevator and stepped in. She flicked a switch on her staff and blades extended from both ends. She heaved a sigh and pressed a button on the elevator that led for the executive floor. She steadied her breathing as the ele
CHAPTER ONE – KNIGHT IN BLOODY ARMOURDOWNTOWN CAIRO, EGYPT Khalid observed the entourage from a rooftop. One sports car, Six SUVs and a bullion van at the end, all black. They stopped at a building opposite the one on which he stood. Two men on black suits and black shades stepped out of each vehicle on either side and stood with one hand in their coat’s inner pocket. A pink-haired young man stepped out of the sports car. He looked around and walked casually into the building, patting the security personnel on their heads as he entered. One from each pair of the men followed him in. “Update” Khalid spoke into his comms after some minutes. “Room 456” a female voice replied via the comms. “Ironic” Khalid replied and pulled up his face mask over his nose and mouth. He adjusted his hood and swords and walked to the edge of the rooftop. He took one last look at the building across and leaped. Halfway between his initial position and his next one, he flung a metallic device out of his
CHAPTER TWO – THE ARSENALLE Rome, Italy The Arsenalle was a global coalition of first-class assassins headed by Marcus Denarius. They had three branches overseeing their business all over the world. The smallest, located in the underground of Alexandria, Egypt and overseeing the business in Africa and Oceania, was headed by Marcus’ right hand man, the one whom everyone in the Arsenal knew as and called Damascus. The second branch stood in California, United States. It oversaw their operations in both Northern and Southern America and surrounding areas. It was their only public front, functioning under the guise of a martial arts school. Sitting at the top and chairladying all affairs of the branch was Marcus’ half-sister, Prisca, the most dangerous woman in the world they called her. The biggest, most notorious and most concealed of the all was the headquarters situated in the heart of Rome, Italy. It was there and still wasn’t. Technically, it stood as an old abandoned churchyard
CHAPTER THREE – THE BLADES OF OSIRIS! Cairo, Egypt Khalid took off his costume and placed them in a universal cleaning machine in the room. The room was prominently dark, the only source of light being a window, more of a hole, very close to the ceiling. This was his lair. His weapons hung around the room, knives, arrows, crossbows, knuckle blades, shurikens and all sorts of crude assassinator weapons. The lair was an underground two-bedroom apartment situated beneath a continental hotel in Cairo. All his training and weapons had been sponsored and taken care of by a lady who chose to be referred to as Baroness. She had seen him assassinate people in the streets of Cairo and was impressed by how neat and stealthy, though amateur, he had done the jobs. She had approached him after one kill, the innocent-yet-determined look still in his eyes, and took him under her “wing”, though she was never close to him since then again. She bred him through different instructors in martial arts, a
CHAPTER FOUR – DENT IN THE PAN Cairo, Egypt Western Reserve Bank He opened the doors to the bank and two half-dead bleeding bodies dropped inside. The torrent of revelation and surge of rage in him had taken over his psychological chambers. Now he desired to put a sword to the throat of all his targets. Anyone who tried restricting him, friend or foe, innocent or accomplice, was automatically worthy of elimination. That included the front door guards he just incapacitated. The customers and clients gasped and screamed in horror as they scampered to clusters. He walked in the middle path paved for him by the scared-to-the-bones clients and workers alike. Security rushed down with batons and electric sticks. He made a don’t-come-closer gesture but their protection instincts got the better of them. They rushed at him, aiming to take him to the ground. He sidestepped the first, used his back as a step to project himself onto the rest. He swiped his sword midair, delivering lethal cuts
CHAPTER FIVE – PHARAOH OF BLOOD New Memphis, Egypt The scenery depicted few towering buildings that stood out amongst the majority of lower buildings. It had obviously been designed, chiefly by the Royal House of Rameses, to replicate the glorious ancient empire of Egypt but in a modern way. The pyramids would have brought unnecessary attention to the land so the idea was cancelled out for the time being. The mantle of the Pharaoh had been reenacted with a touch of modernization. The “nemes” and “shendyt” were replaced by the golden crown and a winter coat laced with gold at its fringes. The palace was adorned as royal with golden furniture all over its interiors. Few people of the outside world knew of the existence of the city, mainly powerful, wealthy or prominent people. These people were either beneficial to the city’s advancement or its economy. Whenever they visited, they were assigned to residential quarters in the royal palace, under scrutiny of the existing Pharaoh’s guar
CHAPTER SIX – AN OMINOUS MEETING Alexandria, Egypt Greyshot navigated his way through the alleys and past many crowded areas in the city. He basically had no identity in this city so he didn’t have to worry about who was watching him. He had even gotten into the city without mobile transportation. He simply went through one of the doors in the headquarters, automatically channeling his exit to the backdoor of a notorious club here in Alexandria. As he strode, he reflected on the trajectory of his life. This was his last mission under Marcus’ wing. After this he could either stay with Marcus as a contractor or become independent. But one the disadvantages of the latter was that his targets might be clients or friends of clients of Marcus. This was a problem he knew he couldn’t handle. He got to a deserted crossroad and looked around. There was a manhole cover right in the middle of the intersection of the roads. He could see some black-clothed figures lurking at strategic points on
CHAPTER SEVEN – CONFIRMATION Alexandria, Egypt Khalid walked into the previous secret bar-restaurant. He wanted to confirm if the bartender from before was still around or she had fled the surrounding areas. To his surprise and interest she was still there. Serving customers and greeting friends alike, most of who were inquiring of the previous incident. He went by a corner and sat alone, observing the girl. Either she was strong enough to endure a beating from the grey-dyed-haired man or she had a supporting force capable of saving her or defeating the man if the situation went beyond her breaking point. Either way, her staying back deeply impressed Khalid. When the space around her was clear, he walked to the counter. “Are you okay?” he asked without any formalities. The lady looked up, the temporary tattoo trailing from her eyelids to above her cheeks became more visibly detailed. She immediately recognized him as the man who had stood up for her and her expression switched to o
CHAPTER TWENTY – DEATH OF THE BARONESS Fierce Martial Arts InstitutesCalifornia, United States Alison was with a group of Maidens in a training room when they heard a loud shattering sound. Alarms started blaring loudly as red lights glowed and dimmed rhythmically. They all turned alertly on instinct. “Grab some things. Split up” she gave out instructions. The Maidens followed and armed themselves up with different weapons of their choice. They all rushed out of the training room. “Check the prisoners! Check the vault! Check the weapons room!” Alison ordered to different Maidens. Some other Maidens had rushed out of their several locations and were running down stairs, running up stairs, rushing out of elevators, sliding down poles. Alison ran alone towards an elevator and stepped in. She flicked a switch on her staff and blades extended from both ends. She heaved a sigh and pressed a button on the elevator that led for the executive floor. She steadied her breathing as the ele
CHAPTER NINETEEN : A LIFE FOR TWO LIVESFierce Martial Arts InstituteCalifornia, United States Alison struck Felix with her staff once more on his face. He spat out blood involuntarily. His hands were tied apart to different horizontal ends in the weapons room. His head hung downwards as blood dripped from it. Several Maidens stood and watched the scene with contempt directed at Felix. The ones who stood on guard outside or attended to different activities watched the scenario on screens that Alison had them project. They had listened as Alison related the situation to them and Felix admitted shamefully. “You bastard!” she cursed like she was feeling the pain all over again. “Look at their faces!” she instructed gesturing towards the Maidens. “They adored you. The experienced and caring Master Felix” she demonstrated scornfully. “Now they know it was all a façade. A mirage intended to blur out your evil intent!” she whipped him again. Blood oozed out of his nostrils from the impact
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN – A NEW PHARAOH Fierce Martial Arts InstituteCalifornia, United States Alison stood over the unconscious, immobile or dead bodies of the Syrian Sons. Deep down she knew that the advantage they had was that they were on their home ground. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t defeat the Syrian Sons so easily. She looked approvingly at her Maidens as they assisted each other up and gathered the weapons they could. Some others cleaned up the dead bodies, packing them into trucks. Still others carried the unconscious and immobile ones into locomotive containers that transported them through channels into the underground section of the towering building. Alison watched all these with mixed feelings. She was happy that they had prevailed but she was scared for future events. Now that Marcus’ and Damascus’ divisions were opposing forces, the Baroness inactive status was highly detrimental. They would need her greatly in the days to come. She looked at the Maidens wo
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN : WINS AND LOSES New Memphis, Egypt Akinis and the Eagle walked towards the throne room. The door was still open. They observed the surroundings carefully before walking into the room. The first thing they saw was Nailah’s dead body. She had Akinis’ blow pipe tightly clenched in her hand. Her face was pale and traces of blood were visible on her nose, eyes, ears and mouth regions. They cautiously looked further past the dead maids on the flood and saw another body on the ground. The body was pale and dried of blood. Its neck was slashed open in a crude manner. They looked at the face and saw the once haughty, bloody and evil Pharaoh. Now he was slain like a sacrificial animal. The last figure was a young man who sat weakly on the steps before the throne. His head was buried in-between his thighs, his hands were clasped together forwardly, caging a red glow in them and his hair was scattered over his face. The duo exchanged looks and increased their vigilance. They
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: WOMEN HAVE ALL THE POWERFierce Martial Arts InstituteCalifornia, United States Alison whipped her staff fiercely towards Felix’s head. The latter ducked on time and used his baton to deflect another incoming whip from Alison. His baton buzzed on contact with the staff, sending electric currents into the staff. Alison’s hands were well gloved so she didn’t suffer any electrocutions. She back-flipped and landed some feet away from Felix. She waved her staff in the air and the baton flew out of Felix’s hand. Felix chuckled. “Electromagnetic kinesis. I’m impressed” he commented and stretched his hands. A blade flicked out from below each of his wrists. He clenched his fists and gestured at Alison. ”I do not want to hurt you Alison. I also do not want to hurt Prisca. But the thing is I’m a Grey Disciple and I work for the Master. In our service, there is no such thing as feelings or family or friends. Assignments come first. And the Master has assigned me to keep you b
CHAPTER FIFTEEN – ROYAL BLOOD Fierce Martial Arts InstituteCalifornia, United States “So all this time Marcus has been keeping an eye on us here through you?” Alison asked with her gaze fixed on Felix. Felix smiled and nodded. “It’s an extension of his business after all isn’t it?” he said, playing with the switch on the baton. “Prisca loved you Felix. Like a brother, like a friend. You feel no guilt betraying her?” Alison asked with contempt. “Marcus’ followers are always the most disloyal. And he’s well aware. But that doesn’t mean we won’t fulfill our assignments. He knows that although we serve him for selfish interests, we will carry out our assignments so that he satisfies those selfish interests” Felix explained. “Up until now, no one has ever deterred from these assignments. Until Greyshot. And Marcus will never let that go unpunished. He might not be proactive in it but again, he knows that the Syrian Sons will do a clean job due to the fallen being of their own Felix
CHAPTER FOURTEEN – BUT MY SOUL AIN'T YOURSNew Memphis, Egypt Khalid was slammed down forcefully against the ground. He spat out several mouthfuls of blood. Before he could recover he felt claws forcefully send him off the ground and onto the wall at the farthest end. He rebounded onto some empty flower vases and shattered them in the process. Hasani rushed at him immediately and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up against the wall. He raised his other hand to slash at Khalid’s head but suddenly screamed. He let go of Khalid and withdrew. Khalid felt the silver dagger in his right hand vibrate. He glanced at it and back at Hasani before smiling, revealing blood-stained teeth. “New upgrade” he chuckled. The silver dagger was still clenched tightly in his right hand. It had prevented Hasani from maintaining contact with him for more than two seconds. Hasani rushed again and grabbed him but dropped him before it spanned three seconds. Every time he touched him, a black smoke-lik
CHAPTER THIRTEEN : THE WORLD IS ALSO MINENew Memphis, EgyptIn the Royal Palace “So it’s true” Khalid’s grip on the silver dagger tightened. “You really have turned yourself and your killers into monsters. When I first saw the Blades reanimate after receiving death-worthy attacks, I expected you to be something much more surprising. But I’m disappointed” he and Hasani had begun walking in circles. “Is this the power of your precious gem? He asked. “Turning you into an ugly beast? This is how you want to conquer the world? Your Majesty, I’m disappointed” Hasani laughed. “You are still immature and inexperienced. Just like your father. After I give the Bleeding Seed your blood to its fill, there will be no need for me to drain myself for it. Its thirst will be quenched for eternity. Your blood will satisfy its craving for the blood of its ancestral line of sealers. And I will become a Pharaoh in the true sense of the word. A monarch with the highest power the world can ever imagine”
CHAPTER TWELVE – THE KINGDOM IS MINE New Memphis, EgyptIn the Royal Palace Hasani grinned widely, revealing fangs that protruded from his gum. “Don’t tell me you didn’t miss me” he said to Khalid. “What have you turned into?” Khalid asked, obviously shocked. “I seem to sense a missing title that should be at the end or beginning of that question. Uncle? Or have you lost all respect and love for your only family?” Hasani asked, his grin fixed. “You lost all that right the day you plotted against His Majesty” Akinis said from the side. Hasani turned to him. “And you are?” His face twitched before he smiled again. “Oh. I remember. The servant’s son. You ran around a lot with my boy here back in the days. You both pulled quite some pranks on me as well. Akinis, is it?” he asked. The latter didn’t reply however. “Whatever you’re doing here has to stop. You have ruled for long and to your taste. It benefitted no one but you. The rightful ruler is here to reclaim that position” Akini