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 EIGHT – A LORD AND HIS KNIGHT Alexandria, Egypt Akinis sat on the sofa on one end of the room facing Khalid who stood with arms crossed across his chest. They had both boarded a small lodge after stealthily leaving the murder scene. He had recounted his life from when his family escaped the Rameses coup to him losing his entire family and new master’s family in an inter-clan war with surviving at the cost of his sister. He also detailed how he encountered the Baroness on a ship while defending a merchant from marauders. He then described his life in service to Marcus Denarius who employed him after a failed mission of the Baroness’. As he explained these, he felt his initial fear of leaving Marcus diminish greatly. This was because he had found a much better master worth serving. And Khalid here was in no way inferior to him in terms of combat. The only difference was in their respective styles. While he enjoyed long range hunting of his prey, delivering lethal shots, Khalid