Broad-Spectrum Assassin

Memory 10: His First Sacrifice

I get paired up with CamOctopus and we hide in the trees near the bottom of the hill.

Three enemy students begin the ascent, but one of them steps into a trap.

The leaves give way beneath them and they fall into a pit.

While the two other students try to calm their trapped ally, CamOctopus crawls through the grass, blending in perfectly.

Once she is close enough, she leaps into action, jumping down and slamming a rock against the trapped student. The other two freak out, giving me my opportunity to move in.

I am blindsided by a sudden elbow to my face and then I get sliced by the other student. They both then kick me into the pit.

Not good. Everyone is counting on us!

CamOctopus helps me to me feet. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, the stinging feels kind of nice."

"Get on my back. I'll climb us out of here."

"Are you sure you're strong enough?"

"Yeah. I love climbing. I gotta survive this so I can climb the highest mountain in SteamPunk."

I grab onto her back. "What's the point of that?"

She begins climbing, stabbing her fingers in the dirt. "I never asked to be an assassin. None of us did. Killing people is scary."

"I think it's thrilling."

"Oh really, how many people have you killed?" She makes it to the top.

I point to a girl caught in a leg trap on the left side of the hill. "She's all yours."

CamOctopus nods and we race up to the girl.

"It hurts so much. I give up! Please don't hurt me."

"Why are you all after StarBorne?"

"You mean you weren't told? If anyone kills him, then our class passes. And if we don't...we die."

I step on the trap, digging the wooden teeth deeper into her leg. "Didn't they teach you about loyalty? How is killing a fellow student helping the Assassin's Guild?"

"We were taught to succeed any mission we are given. The mission comes before everything."

I look to CamOctopus. "Is this true?"

"Our class wasn't given this mission. Ugh. None of this makes any sense." She whacks the girl upside the head with a rock.

After the third heat and lots of screams, the girl passes out.

I hug CamOctopus. "Why are you crying?"

"I don't like hurting people," she says, burying her face in my shoulder.

I pat her head. "Thanks. I don't feel like a pathetic assassin around you."

She pushes me off. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You can climb, camouflage and you've got a strong arm, but you lack the heart of a killer so it's all wasted." I continue the trek up the hill.

"My parents say that killing people isn't normal!"

"Who wants to be normal. I want to be a hero. A killer whose deeds are his legacy, whose stories inspire many more kids to be great assassins. I want to be a beacon. You want to climb big hills." I snicker.

"Mountains aren't hills. And yeah. I feel free when I'm climbing. It's the only time I'm not overthinking things."

We find WarWolf and BladEagle fighting off four other assassins.