The Order of Assassins

In a dark unrecorded time when the land was ripped apart by dozens of petty warring kingdoms, a new order was born from the unwanted and discarded.

This “Order” brought stability to the ancient world but it was not without a price.

For this new order was The Order of Assassins.

Rumor has it that member’s of this order still walk amongst us today influencing the world we live in;  however that is just a rumor…

The Order of Assassins

Chapter One
To Kill an Assassin

Lorick had received the message from the prospective client the previous day and sent back word he would agree to meet in this isolated place to discuss the offer of work.
It did not surprise him that the prospective employer preferred to meet in a neutral location and not venture to his home after all he was of The Order Of Assassins, and many would find visiting the home of an Assassin intimidating to say the least.

Though their faces would not be known to the prospective client who they were was evident by the Black Cloak and hood the Assassins wore which was the custom of their order.

The Master Assassin Lorick and his apprentice dismounted and began to walk towards the lone figure in the distance.

Suddenly the apprentice realized Lorick had stopped a few feet behind him.
The apprentice turned and looked over his shoulder at Lorick to see why he had stopped moving towards the prospective employer. Lorick stood perfectly still head tilted back, eyes towards the sky and his nostrils wide as he breathed in deeply, then he lowered his eyes even with the apprentice as he spoke.

“How many of us are there including the employer over their?”

The apprentice Assassin spoke “three Master Lorick”

Lorick spoke again,
“When you breathe in deeply how many scents of Men do you take in?”

The Assassins had been trained to use all senses to their fullest not just their sight.

The apprentice breathed in deeply then nearly choked on his own breath as he looked in Loricks eyes.

“There are dozens of men here in hiding”

Lorick looked into the apprentices eyes.

“Correct we’ve walked into an ambush”

No sooner were the Assassins on their horses then did the woods erupt with men in camouflage.

Lorick’s sense’s had served him well and warned him and the apprentice before they were in the center of the trap, however they were far from out of danger. The two Assassins pushed their horses hard through the narrow trail there only hope for survival was reaching the perimeter defenses of Lorick’s home.

Lorick did not have to wonder who was after him and the apprentice or why. In securing the area of the Great River around his home Lorick had angered the criminals who fed off the trade which traveled the River. Lorick knew by the size of the force behind him this was a full scale assault on his home. The leader of the pirates had chosen to strike at Lorick first; theorizing assaulting the lair after removing him from the equation would be much easier.

The pirates force was vastly numerically superior made up of thugs, mercenaries and outlaws recruited up and down the Port cities of the river, in short any bodies which the pirate could recruit to swell his ranks. Lorick’s only hope was that his tactical mind and the specialized training of his profession would make the difference.

The Assassins bore down harder on their horses trying to stay out in front of the river pirates as they raced for home.

While the ride had been short, the horses of the Assassins had not had time to rest and those the pirates force rode were fresh and now gaining. If the Assassins were to ever reach home again they needed to slow down their pursuers.

As the Assassins turned one of the few bends in the road and briefly disappeared from the sight of the pirates, Lorick drew his dagger from his belt and sliced open his saddle bag.  Lorick continued to push the horse forward as he began to scatter the contents of the saddle bag on the road behind himself and the apprentice.

The leader of the river pirates turned the bend and was delighted to see how close they were to killing the Assassins.  The Pirate knew Lorick was a Master Assassin and believed taking his head would solidify his own image and influence over the disenfranchised band he was attempting to meld into a cohesive force under his command. Yes once he killed the Master Assassin his men would have little fear of the Orders members who resided within Lorick’s home, for the myth of the deadly Assassin would be gone and all that would remain beyond the walls were apprentices who had lost their leader. Whether it was true or false did not matter what did matter was this was the mindset of the Pirate Leader.

The Pirate leader’s attention was so focused on the cloaked riders they were gaining on that he never noticed the horses crying out in pain and tumbling to the ground beside him till the nearest rider tumbled into his own horse.

The column of river pirates came to a sudden halt as horses in excruciating pain cried out and threw  riders to the ground who tried to urge them on in spite of their pain.

The Pirate brought the column to a halt and then dismounted to look at the triangular spiked weapons which had maimed their lead beasts and stopped their advance.

The road at this point had been cut through jagged rocks on one side and dense woodland on the other the only way to continue on was for the pirate to have his Men dismount and clear the metal traps by hand.

Lorick would escape only to die at his home for the pirate would continue on to the Lair of the Order of Assassins, surround it with his over whelming numbers and then have ships brought up river with siege equipment. The Pirate believed the end result would be the same this was just a minor setback.

NO! Yelled Lorick as the apprentice began to leave the road for the path the order had cut through the dense woods which was mined densely with Man and Beast traps.

The woods surrounding Lorick’s home had been so heavily packed with camouflaged snares and traps only an order member who had memorized the location of every trap could make it through the woods to the safety of their home.

Several days earlier Lorick had ordered the men to remove all traps and anti personnel devices on this narrow road which lead to the foot of the bridge in front of his home.

Heading through the mined woods would most naturally enable them to escape but it became clear to the apprentice in that moment that escape was not Lorick’s plan. The apprentice remained behind Lorick on the clear road heading towards their home.

The Pirate Leader slowed the long column of men as they came with insight of Lorick’s home or as it was better known “The Black Fort”.

The Black Fort was an ominous stone fortress which seemed as though it eerily hovered over The Great River, rather than rise from its immense structure which lay below the waterline.

All four sides of the Black Fort were flanked by the murky water and the deadly predators which lay below the surface, a large wooden draw bridge served as the only means of gaining access other than boat.

For the first time since springing the Ambush an uneasy feeling crept over the pirate leader as the two dark cloaked figures in the distance became visible as he slowly approached.

Lorick and his apprentice had not raised the Draw Bridge and taken up position behind the well fortified walls, instead they simply stood with torches and crossbows in hand on the shore at the foot of the bridge as though they were waiting to greet expected visitors. No the pirate leader didn’t like the looks of this at all but he could not break off the attack now without losing face with his Men.

As Lorick saw the pirate leader begin to slow his column of riders as he approached, The Master Assassin spoke and he spoke loudly which was something rare for Lorick; however the killer wanted to make sure he was heard.

“I should thank you pirate; your consolidation of so many who would challenge my will on this river has delivered to my door step dozens of potential enemies, which I am now at liberty to deal with in one evening.”

The Pirate snickered to himself and then yelled back.

“Your good Assassin but I know you’re bluffing trying to scare us off”

The emotion left Lorick’s face as he spoke.
“No bluff you have been maneuvered to where you and your people can be killed at will and our defenseless to stop it.”

Lorick spoke softly to the apprentice by his side

Lesson number one,
“The use of ranged weapons is best employed when the enemy has been maneuvered into a position where he can neither return the attack nor retreat from its arch.”

Lorick pointed his crossbow straight up towards the night sky and lit the oil soaked wad of cloth which was attached to the bolt with the nearby torch, then released the bolt into the sky.

The Pirate watched as the flaming quarrel danced across the full moon, which made for an exceptionally bright night. Was the Pirate concerned at the sight of such an action on behalf of the Assassin? Yes he was but it did not matter because his concern was overwhelmed by his belief that the mystic of The Deadly Order was no more than a myth. As the quarrel faded from the sky and the woods and shoreline remained silent the Pirate looked to the riders by his side and said

“Just a bluff he expects us to believe we have walked into a trap and run but as you can see he is caught and probably alone exempt for a few apprentices inside his home cowering and cursing the day they donned those stupid black cloaks.”

At that moment dozens of fiery quarrels slammed into the front line of the Pirates column, the fiery quarrels served as tracers for the dozens of quarrels which were to follow. The quarrels struck horse as well as rider for the target was neither but rather the column as a whole, which sat on the narrow road and was flanked by dense woods on both sides and of course the Great River directly in front of them.

Assassins lined the wall of Lorick’s home firing in rapid but controlled rhythm one wave of quarrels after another and were joined by Assassins in the trees flanking the road on the right and left.

The pirate began to lose control of his force as death struck them from the dark, the rear of his long column turned and headed away from the onslaught of the quarrels in the direction they had come, only to find the road had been covered with hundreds of the type of metal spiked triangular antipersonnel weapons Lorick had used to slow them down earlier. Beyond the sea of metal obstacles and beyond sword range stood another group of Assassins also with crossbows in hand, the rear of the Pirates column began to fall quickly.

With Quarrels raining down on the column and the Assassins out of sight and range the Pirate yelled to his force to take cover in the tree line of the forest which faced Lorick’s home.

The Pirates band got about 20 feet into the forest on the left and right side of the road when the screams began.

Instead of cover from quarrels they found their limbs being ripped off by steel traps scattered across the forest floor and wooden spikes piercing there torso’s as they set off swinging logs with spikes protruding from them. 

Before the Pirate could even consider ordering his men back to the road Lorick touched the torch to the ground on both sides of the road where the ground had been left clear of traps but soaked thoroughly with lamp oil.

The wall of fire blocked the pirate’s men from the road and further illuminated the already moon lit woods beyond. With the quarrels raining down on them and the traps maiming and killing them with each movement in the forest many panicked and dove into the river hoping to swim to their safety.

However unknown to the panicking men the river had been chummed by the Order for days.
Everything from slave’s who had displeased Lorick to left over’s from the kitchen had been thrown into the surrounding waters. The result was every predator that inhabited the great river had taken up residence in the water surrounding Lorick’s home for just this occasion.

As the terrified men entered the water they were not waist deep before river sharks and other predators swarmed their flesh and turned the water red in the moonlight.

Along the roof top wall of Lorick’s home the Assassins continued to take aim and fire quarrels down upon the panicked and disorganized force which was now but a fraction of its original size.
An older more experienced Assassin who Lorick had designated as trainer began to strike apprentices for not taking down their targets with one shot. What had started as an attack on the Order of Assassins by a vastly numerically superior force had degenerated into nothing more than a live action training maneuver for Lorick’s  apprentices. With only a token force left of the pirate’s Men the Assassins laid down their crossbows in exchange for torches and swords.

Cries of terror could be heard echoing up and down the Great River as the Assassins tossed the surviving members of the pirates force into the red murky water.

Those that were already dead Lorick gave the order to line the shoreline up and down the river with the heads for all to see. This was not just an attack on his home but a strong hold of The Order; this was one event he wished the results to be known throughout the land.

Lorick walked toward the leader of the river pirates who sat with his back to a large tree and two quarrels buried in his torso as he spoke to the apprentice.

“Lesson number two, If every battle is won or lost before it’s fought, then he lost this battle 3 days ago when his drunken fools shot their mouths off with pleasure girls. This is why I pay well for information”

The Pirate leader’s mouth had filled with blood one of his lungs had been punctured by the quarrels.
So he might speak he cleared his mouth by spitting the blood at Lorick and staining his black cloak, then he spoke;

“May the Gods bring me back so I can kill you slowly for this, you son of a whore!”

At that moment two apprentice Assassins were about to throw the pirate in the river so he may join his men as food for the river sharks when Lorick stopped them.  Lorick looked down at the pirate and spoke,

“Hatred, good instead of wailing like a female or begging for mercy you face your inevitable death well”

“For doing so I grant you a quick death”

The Pirate looked up and nodded as a means of acknowledging the respect he is being shown by an enemy.

Lorick spoke again, “Your body?”

The pirate spoke,“Fire”

Lorick spoke again. “It shall be done”

In one swift movement Lorick drew the short sword from its sheath and dislodged the pirates head from his body, then turned to the group of apprentices.

“The head and body, Build a large fire and burn him”

Lorick then turned to the Apprentice who had been standing by his side the whole time and spoke.

“Lesson number three respect an enemy who hates you openly, here ends your lesson for the night young killer”