Broken Birds

Chapter One - Rescued

Sara's POV:

I slowly opened my eyes, feeling pain all over. I shivered as the cold water lapped against my bruised body. I fell in and out of consciousness, mostly from the pain but partially because of my dehydration.

I woke up again, a sharp pain spread across my cheek. I opened my eyes and looked up. I was tied to a chair with a man dressed in all black, in front of me. He slapped me against the face again. "Wake up, child" he grunted, "Ra's Al Ghul wishes to speak with you."

I slowly lifted my head, using all my energy "who is that?" The man tilted his head in confusion, "the head of the demon". I shuddered with fear and fell out of consciousness again.

I woke up to the sound of chanting. I lifted my head off the cool stone floor and looked at my surroundings. I was in a large room, with figures dressed in black, lining the walls chanting "أقتلها (kill her)".

With all my energy I knelt on the floor and looked in front of me. A man lazily sat on a throne of bones. He was pale skinned with dark hair and eyes. On either side of him were two smaller thrones. One was empty and the other had a girl sitting in it. She also had pale skin with dark hair and eyes.

The older man in the middle stood up with his black cape flowing behind him. He retrieved a silver sword from his belt. I focused on the intricate design on the handle. It had engravings of dragons and a red gem placed in the centre.

He stood before me and said "من أنت". I didn't understand the foreign language. My voice cracked from my dehydration as I said "where am I?" He wickedly smiled "an American? I asked who you are." I attempted to clear my throat "my name is Sara Lance, the boat crashed, I woke up on the shore."

His cold dark eyes widened slightly when I stated my name. He soon regained his wicked smile and hit me in the face with the hilt of his sword. The people around me began to chant. I looked around at the dark figures chanting in a foreign language. The man looked around "the league of assassins has spoken, they require your demise." I began to giggle, "the league of assassins?" I continued to laugh as the dark haired man raised his sword to my neck. I looked over at the woman on her throne, she looked like she was in some sort of trance, watching me carefully. I continued to laugh at the name League of Assassins.

The man swung his sword, about to strike, until the dark haired girl abruptly got off her throne and silently walked towards us. She furiously whispered something in the man's ear . Then he sheathed his sword back into his belt and walked to his throne.

The figures along the walls stood in silence as the girl picked me up and carried me away. I whispered "help". She looked down at me with eyes as cold as the man before had and said back "silence, you need your rest." I lost consciousness again as the girl carried me away.

I woke up again, tucked in a large bed. I looked around the grand bedroom. I no longer felt dehydrated, someone must have given me water but I was still in pain. After a few minutes the girl I saw earlier walked in. I struggled to sit up. She looked at me and said "Sara, do not move, your injuries will worsen."

I looked up at her, curious about her accent I asked "what language were you speaking earlier?" She placed a small bowl on the table and began to crush some herbs. "Arabic" she responded. "And where are we?" I asked.

She swiftly looked over at me "how do I know you are not an American spy?" I sighed "you can trust me, besides it seems like I'll be dead before I can return home." She continued to grind up the herbs, pouring in a clear liquid and stirring it into a green paste.

"You are in Nanda Parbat, located in a mountainous region of what you would call the Hindu Kush." She quietly walked towards me, holding up the bowl. "Where are you hurt?" I eyed the bowl of paste "what are you going to do with that?"

She sighed and placed the bowl on the table next to the bed. "It will heal your wounds, now present them to me." I slowly removed my shirt, showing the deep cut along my abdomen, then I rolled up my pant leg so she could see the scrape along my calf.

"You need stitches" she said sternly. I grabbed her hand and stopped her from leaving. "I don't want stitches," I whined. She pushed me away, "what you want is irrelevant, it is what you need."

She moved to a smaller table next to the door and removed a small wooden box. She pulled out a large needle and black thread. She came back to my side and picked up the bowl of paste. "This may hurt," she said as she applied the paste to my wounds. I felt dizzy with pain as she soon after began to stitch up my cuts and wrapped them in bandages.

She stepped back "the pain shall subside within the week." I weakly said "thank you." She nodded and walked back to the small table.

I slowly sat up so I could watch her. "What are you doing, now?" I asked, watching her closely. She poured water and more herbs into a wooden bottle and shook it. "This will prevent your infection from entering your bloodstream," she said and she walked back to my side.

She moved the bottle towards my lips, allowing me to drink. I coughed up the liquid and moved back. "It tastes horrible" I spluttered. She rolled her eyes "I didn't realise a liquid saving your life required an acceptable taste ." I glared at her and finished drinking the foul substance.

The girl began to clean up the mess she made as I silently watched her. Finally, I broke the silence and asked "what's your name?" She turned around and darkly started "Nyssa Al Ghul, heir to the demon." I tilted my head "heir to the demon?" I asked.

She sighed and sat on the end of the bed, with a stiff posture. She made no noise with every perfect motion. "The man you previously acquainted yourself with, is Ra's Al Ghul, my father, he is the ruler of these lands and is the head of the demon. Upon his passing, I will inherit these lands and become the next Ra's Al Ghul."

I quickly sat up, yelping in pain, "your father tried to kill me, Nyssa." She slowly nodded "you breached our lands, this territory is protected through secrecy, we cannot allow outsiders to infect Nanda Parbat." I sighed "is he still going to kill me?"

She looked down at her hands "I attempted to prevent your demise, but at a cost, you can never leave Nanda Parbat." I angrily yelled "I want to go home." She stood up swiftly, "you can never leave or I must kill you, I wish not to, but I cannot disobey my ruler."

I glared at her "you can't kill me, let me go home." She walked towards me, her face inches from mine "I have honour and I made a promise to my father which I will not break." I furrowed my brows "and what is that promise?"

She grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at her dark eyes. "You will join the league of assassins and pledge your loyalty, I will train you myself. For Ra's mercy in allowing you to live, you can never leave. I swore that if you do, you will no longer be living. We cannot allow you to compromise the secrecy of our lands."

When she had finished speaking she pushed a dagger near my stomach "do you understand, Sara?" I quickly nodded with fear "yes, Nyssa." She let go of my chin, "we start training tomorrow morning, get your rest".