“Derek…” Father began.
“What is this?” I asked.
My father and uncle looked at each other and my uncle said “I think we should show him, Henry.”
“Show me what?”
Father took a breath and said “Follow us.”
They went in the tunnel and I followed them. When we came to the end, there were six statues around the room with one in the center with a gate on it.
“What is this place?” I asked.
“This is the resting place of our ancestors. Every great member of our family. The Great Ones.”
“Who is the center one?”
“That is my great grandfather’s great grandfather. He was a gifted warrior. You remind me of him. He was adventurous and high-spirited. Behind the gate, is his armor, it is strong and very light. In order to open the gate we need six tablets. Your uncle and I found five. We had no luck on finding the sixth. We wanted to find it, but I had to stop.”
“Why?”
“Because I had a son to take care of. That and old age caught up with us.”
“Maybe I can find the last tablet.”
“You?”
“Aye, with my powers I can find it and win the armor for you.”
“No, if you unlock it, you win it. The armor will be yours.”
“How do we find the sixth?”
“We found the other five in secret rooms and temples in the kingdom. It could be anywhere. Churches, a stable, a castle, even a brothel.” Uncle said.
“Indigo, don’t give him any ideas.” Father said. “Oh, Derek, please don’t mention this to your mother. She has enough to worry about with the child.”
“Will do.”
We were about to walk out of the tunnel when we saw Damon, Katherine, and Annika were there waiting for us.
“What is this?” Damon asked.
“This is the tomb of our ancestors, Damon.”
Damon walked to our great-great-great grandfather’s statue. “That is very impressive armor.”
“It is our great-great-great grandfather, Damon.” I told him. “And the armor is mine.”
“I do not know, I would do a great deal of damage to the enemy with it.”
“Then find the sixth seal, and it will be yours.”
“Is that a challenge?”
“Aye, it is.” I said. My eyes began to burn again and I rubbed them. I then opened them and I didn’t see my family and Annika, but the church in the village. It went to a seal in the shape of a lion head that was behind a pillar.
“Derek, are you alright?” I heard Annika.
My eyes adjusted and I could see clearly again. My father was holding me up with his hand on my chest.
“Yes, just another power. Again with my eyes.”
“What you see?” Katherine asked.
I didn’t want to tell Damon where the sixth seal was, so I lied. “I saw your insides. Bone, muscle, organs. Everything. Not a pleasant image.”
Katherine shuddered at what I said.
“Dinner should be prepared soon. Let’s go back upstairs.” Father said.
Before we exited the tomb, I turned back and looked at the armor once more. I wanted it. More than anything. Not only could it help me in battle, but I had a feeling I could help me on my missions at James’s village. As we walked to the dinning hall, Katherine told me that Annika did well for her first lesson. The scholars felt that if she continued with her eagerness to learn, she could read and write in a matter of days. For supper, it was roast hog and elk. The chef cooked it rotisserie. Annika had only fruits and vegetables. In the middle of the meal, we heard a ruckus outside in the hall. The doors flew open as a servant tried to stop a woman entering. She was pushing the guard and shouting to see my father.
“Let her through, Bernard.” Father said.
Bernard stood down and the woman went to my father’s seat.
“What is the trouble?”
“Sire, my children. They’ve…they’ve been taken by my beloved. I did not know where else to go. He wants money. More than I have. If I don’t give it to him, he will execute them, publicly.” The woman explained.
“Where is he now?”
“The village square.”
“Derek, Damon, get your weapons ready. We have a problem to deal with.” Father ordered us.
Damon and I jumped from our seats and bolted to our bedrooms. I took my sword and my blade. We walked out of the castle and headed to the square. Sure enough, a man about twenty with brown hair hidden under a cap was holding a knife to a boy about nine. On the ground beside him was a girl about seven with her hands bound behind her.
“Bring me the money.” The man ordered.
“Why do you need it? Surely you have plenty.” Father said.
“Bring me the money or I’ll cut his throat now!” the man shouted, pressing the knife harder to the boy’s neck.
“Fine, here.” Father said, holding out the sack of coins.
I snuck away and climbed to the roofs. Using my poison darts, I shot the man in the right cheek. He began choking and coughed up blood. The boy escaped from his grasp and ran over to free his sister. The man died quickly. I went back into the ranks and one of our soldiers was checking the man. He found the dart and handing it to Father.
“Be careful sire, the tip is very poisonous.” The soldier warned him.
“Poison?” Damon asked. “Could the work of this man’s death be connected to the death of James’s captains?”
“I don’t see how. They were killed with a blade, not poison, but poison is another assassin tool.” Uncle said.
“Maybe this assassin is a silent hero. When he killed the guards, he was saving children from James’s soldiers and he killed this man when he was threating the children.” Father said.
“A protector of the young?” I asked.
“I will give fifty gold pieces for the one who finds out who the assassin is.”
We headed back to the castle to finish our interrupted meal. Katherine and Annika were surprised to hear that the assassin had possibly struck again. Father went to relay the incident to Mother.
“So, an assassin?” Katherine asked. “Just like our great-great-great-great grandfather.”
“What are you saying?” Damon asked.
“I went through the records last night and I found out that he went on secret missions assassinating his enemies.”
“How?” I asked.
“He designed some kind of blade in his bracer. I found it hidden in his record.”
“Hmm, I think that Dominic can design one for me in battle.”
“It’s an assassin tool, Damon. We can’t use it in battle. Well, maybe we could, but we would have to get awfully close, wouldn’t we?” I asked, crossing my arms.
“Derek has a point, Damon. It would be a stealth weapon.”
“Aye, however, it could be a secret weapon.”
“Swordfight with an enemy, then stick the blade into their gut?” I asked him.
“Aye.”
I shook my head at what he said. There was no way that he could have a blade. Yes, Dominic knew how to build it, but it was his own design. We then parted as night fell. Father decided to skip tonight’s training after what happened in the village. So I decided to visit James’s kingdom again. I dressed in my robe and armed myself with my new weapons. Valerio was happy to go out in the cool night air. He enjoyed the heat of day, but he loved how cool it was at night. He could also see fairly well in the dark. I wondered if I would have that power. He landed outside the kingdom and I made my way to the dark castle. Climbing up the wall, I managed to find the briefing room. James was there with his generals and the rest of his captains at a round table with goblets of wine or mead beside them.
“If we attack on both ends, the dragon cannot fight in two places.” James said.
“Are you suggesting that we flank them, sire?” A captain asked.
“That is the best plan we have.”
“And the rest of the family?” a general asked.
“Take Helen alive. I don’t want the blood of an unborn child on my hands. Kill everyone else.”
“What about Henry’s son? It will be hard to kill him with the dragon at his side.”
“Leave him to me. I want to kill Henry and his son, myself.”
“And the dragon?”
“A victory feast.”
“Sire, what about this assassin? The villagers say that he is striking against you, the other captains…” another general began.
“The other captains were fools. Reduced to ashes by one young assassin. I want him found and killed, but I want to see who he is before he dies.”
“What about the soldier that was taken?”
“It dose not matter, it was his own fault that the dragon caught him.” James said, walking out of the room.
I followed him up a tower to his sleeping chambers where his queen awaited him. I went to a stained window, but hid in the shadows.
“Margret, my queen.” I heard James say seductively.
“My king.” A cold voice said from the bed.
James’s wife, Margret, was known for two things: not being able to bear children and her cruel nature toward them. She had dark brown hair and hard black eyes the color to match James’s. He had a beard of black hair and a layer of hair the same color on the top of his head.
“What are we going to do about that brat?” she asked him.
“If she was lucky, they killed her. If they didn’t, I’ll kill her myself.”
"Do not kill her. I enjoy beating her and having her as our slave."
"Your scullery maid and my personal slave."
“We can’t let them know that she is your daughter. Could she have told them?”
“Maybe, but if she did, a year of slow painful torture will be awaited with her return, but she was never my daughter. She was born from my mistress. She is nothing, but a slave.”
“Enough of her. Tell me what we’re going to do when we take over their kingdom again.”
“Yes, we will make the dragon into a feast for our soldiers, we will keep Helen and her child as slaves, and we will rule their kingdom with an iron fist.”
“Can we really make the dragon into a feast?”
“Once Derek is dead, the dragon will have to surrender.”
“But it could also fight with rage. Derek and the dragon are bonded with each other. The death of one could enrage the other.”
“True, we’ll have to kill them at the same time.”
“Can your weapon pierce the dragon’s heart?”
“I don’t see how it wouldn’t. It is the strongest metal in the kingdom.”
“But the strongest arrow you made did not even stick in the dragon’s hide. It just bounced off.”
“That was metal, let’s see what iron can do to a dragon.”
Iron? They thought iron could hurt Valerio? We tested the sharpest iron sword on him and it shattered. I then decided that I heard enough. I climbed down and headed toward Valerio. I told him what I found out as we flew back home. By the time we came to the balcony, it was late. I pulled off my hood and the door opened.
“Derek, I came to tell…” Katherine said as she walked in. she stopped as she saw me in my assassin disguise and went jaw dropped.
“Derek, what are you wearing?”
“Katherine, it’s not what you think.”
“I think it is and I think I know what you are. You are the assassin.”