The sun shone brightly in the sky over in Canterlot Park as Morning Blade sat down on one of the benches surrounding its small lake, where a trio of ducks could be seen cleaning themselves.
Today was a rather warm day of winter and seeing as it was also the weekend, Twilight Sparkle had suggested a change of scenery, instead of just constantly meeting up over in CHS. Morning had been quick to agree with the pony princess, so here they were today.
"Thanks for the scarf, Morning Blade." Twilight had the red piece of fabric wrapped tightly around her neck. She had also donned a pair of leggings that had magically appeared when she came through the portal. Morning didn't know the science to that, so she shrugged it off as magic. "The place really is beautiful. I see why people come here."
"It is." Morning Blade shoved her hands into her jacket pockets. It had been so long since she'd been here. Or at least, it felt like it had been a long time. It had only been two years. "And the weather isn't too bad today, nor is it snowing much, so you know, it's a nice change."
"Definitely." Twilight nodded. "So where are we today, Morning Blade? In the story, I mean."
The ex-Assassin flipped through her book and pressed a finger down on the page she stopped at. "We're skipping ahead again. Funny, huh? How we always skip ahead after each day."
"It just fits more perfectly, I guess." The pony princess smiled.
"So today, we're going to a new place. Have you ever been to Saddle Arabia, princess?"
"Saddle Arabia, huh? Did you go there, Morning?"
"I did. We did. You know what happened there, eventually..." the ex-Assassin said with a sigh. "Well, this is just the beginning of it. Are you ready?"
"Fire away, Morning Blade."
Two years later, Masyaf, Saddle Arabia
The two Assassins crouched low as a searchlight passed along the roof they were hiding on, watching above as the light made its way past them and onto the next building. The female one, a woman with chin length raven black hair, let out a sigh of relief as her partner looked her in the eyes. She wore a simple Saddle Arabian attire, consisting of a grey sleeveless half shirt, exposing her brown abdomen, dark combat pants, and a brown jacket, resting only on her shoulders, flapping in the wind behind her.
“Ready, Keila?” the other Assassin asked, pulling back his dark blue cloak to take hold of two silver daggers.
The woman nodded to her turquoise haired companion and brought out daggers of her own before they leapt over the roof’s tiling and headed down to the compound below. The man had on a blue jacket over a white tunic and grey pants, along with two scimitars strapped to his thighs. Both their hoods were low over their heads, almost covering their eyes.
Over the past month, Templar sightings had increased, forcing the Assassins to investigate their home city further. Tonight, the two of them had found a whole Templar operations base, just on the outskirts of their city, Masyaf. It was close. Too close. Somehow, the Templars had gone about constructing a whole building without the Assassin’s knowledge.
After radioing in their findings, Mentor Shamal had ordered them to infiltrate the base and grab what they could to figure out why the Templars were here. Keila was the first to arrive at the edge of the next roof, looking down at the dusty streets below. Two guards patrolled around the side gates under them, each one carrying a grey rifle in their hands.
“Trouble?” her partner asked as he bent a knee to look down. “Looks easy enough.”
“Ikram, wait!” Keila grabbed for her friend’s cloak, but the male Assassin was faster, instantly leaping off and heading down, a blade poised up, ready to strike.
Keila followed suit, targeting the second guard as she fell. She felt her knees smash into the man’s back as she pressed him to the floor before stabbing into the back of his neck with her knife, watching as Ikram stood up from his kill, his blade glistening with dark blood in the moonlight.
The Assassins dragged the bodies out of sight, leaving them by a low wall in the shadows before they got to work on the side gate. In less than a minute, Ikram had picked the lock, holding the metal door open for Keila, closing it behind him once she was inside. They immediately put their training to use, keeping to the shadows as their superiors had taught them. It was a lesson, passed down from the old king of Masyaf during the first era; it was a simple rule.
“The shadows are your friend. Use them, and they will protect you.”
Enveloped in the dark, Keila and Ikram crept along the perimeter, looking for a good angle to rush for the building without being spotted. Guard towers outlined the four corners and some in between, their searchlights panning across the darkness of the rest of the city.
The two Assassins originally had a mission; they were to assassinate a Templar agent called Lightstream. She had been spotted on the other side of the city, where Keila and Ikram had begun tailing her, only to end up at this new Templar outpost. Perhaps they would still be able to complete their objective, but Mentor had deemed it less important. Gathering information was now their top priority to determine why the Templars had moved such a large amount of their resources and men to Masyaf.
They had never dared set foot in the first Assassin stronghold, but here they were. They must have had something planned, or something powerful enough to face the Assassins in their home field.
“There,” Ikram tapped Keila on her shoulder, pointing at an open door by a smaller building. “Let’s go.”
They moved fast, but silently, their footsteps unheard on the grey concrete as they darted from shadow to shadow, until there was no shadow left for them to use. They increased their speed, quickly crossing over and through the open door, Keila silently closing it behind her, just in case.
The room wasn’t big, but had plenty of crates, some stacked on top of each other. They outlined most of the room except for a small square area which held a brown table and a steel shelf next to it, containing more containers. Keila stood up and used her eagle vision to look around. For now, it seemed they were alone. She headed to the table, investigating its contents; stacks of paper were strewn across it. The female Assassin picked up a piece and read from it. Slowly, her eyes began widening as she continued reading, trying to understand what the enemy had learned.
“Artifacts?” Keila lowered the paper and looked at her partner. “You don’t think they know…?”
“I doubt it,” he shook his head and pulled his scarf down. “Even we don’t know where she hid them.”
“But what if they do? What if they’ve found her resting place?”
Ikram huffed and narrowed his yellow eyes. “Then we better find out what they know. Check the rest of the papers.”
The Assassins scrambled through the sheets, placing the irrelevant ones back on the wooden surface and pocketing the ones related to artifacts.
“Looks to be enough. We should leave.”
“Right.” Keila nodded her head and proceeded out the door, watching her surroundings as she poked her head out.
She really hated surprises and she wasn’t going to let a Templar sneak up on her. The Templars had no training or teaching. They simply knew how to kill and follow orders like dogs. Keila grimaced at the thought of a mere Templar catching her off-guard.
The two Assassins headed back to the shadows and began their trek back to the gate. Keila was first, opening the gate for the companion to exit through before walking out herself. She turned to close it, but caught sight of something in the distance. Something familiar. Golden flowing hair over a lithe woman in a black suit.
“Lightstream,” Keila whispered to herself.
She remained at the gate for another ten seconds before Ikram began calling for her. “Come on, Keila! Let’s go.”
“Our target,” Keila continued looking on. The woman was on the move, two guards following behind her towards another building. She had two options now: leave with intel they had, or pursue her target and return with two objectives completed.
She eventually made her decision and dashed back in, keeping low to avoid a searchlight.
“Keila!” Ikram called from behind her, but she didn’t stop. The faster she moved, the quicker she could get away from the danger zone.
The Assassin arrived between two buildings, the cement structures casting a long dark shadow in between and along a good stretch of ground, allowing Keila to stealthily approach her target. She had never lost a target before, and she wasn’t going to ruin her streak now. She dove from cover to cover, but moved at a fast speed. Keila had quickly closed the distance between herself and the Templar in a matter of minutes. Flashing her daggers out in her hands, Keila silently hopped up on a crate before leaping out of the shadows, her blade just over Lightstream’s head.
One of her guards had spotted Keila and screamed a warning, but he was too slow. Keila had thrown a dagger through the man’s eye, while her second one had found itself in the other guard’s chest. Spotting danger, Lightstream turned around, just in time for Keila to plant a solid kick to the front of her head, knocking her back.
Keila wasted no time. She spun a kick under the Templar’s legs, sending her tumbling to the ground with a groan. The Assassin yanked out her blade from the first guard’s eye and approached her target, knife raised.
Lightstream lived up to her name, instantly springing up and kicking out with both legs, hitting Keila in the chest so hard that she let out all the air in her lungs.
Careless! Keila thought to herself. She should’ve known the Templar could fight back. Most of them knew how to defend themselves. She scolded herself for not being careful enough, but she would deal with the rest of it later. First, she had a Templar to kill. Keila steadied her breathing and got to her feet, her dagger in her hands.
“Assassins,” Lightstream muttered as she got into a fighting pose. “I should’ve figured you would find us sooner or later. This is your city after all. I’m afraid, though, that you are not allowed to leave here, dead or alive.”
Keila said nothing and readied herself. Her eyes darted around, watching the area for reinforcements. So far, the rest of the base didn’t seem to notice her intrusion, but there was no way to do anything about it at the moment. She just had to take Lightstream down and get out before anyone else found out.
The Templar moved surprisingly fast, swinging a volley of punches towards the dark haired Assassin, instantly forcing Keila on the defensive. She lashed out with her dagger a few times, but cut nothing but the air around her. Besides punching, the Templar was also able to dodge past her blade with ease, spinning and jumping to get out of the way.
“You like that?” Lightstream smirked as she continued on the offensive. “I used to train in an acrobatic troupe before the Templars hired me. I don’t need weapons to defeat you. My body is my own weapon.”
With another swift kick, the Templar kicked the dagger out of Keila’s hand before twirling on the spot and smashing the back of her other foot into the side of Keila’s head, sending her sprawling to the ground.
Keila grunted as she broke her fall with her arm and shoulder, quickly rolling out of the way as the other woman delivered a axe kick to the spot where she had just been. Keila’s head was slightly spinning from the hard blow, but she managed to get on her feet as she slipped both arms into the sleeves she had at her sides. She still had one more surprise for the Templar.
“Getting a bit cold, Assassin? One would think you’re used to your city’s climate. Don’t worry. Once I’m done with you, you won’t be.”
Keila allowed herself to smile as the Templar closed the distance. Lightstream had an advantage at close range, since her attacks were fast, and she didn’t have a weapon, meaning her fists had to make contact with Keila. Being so close, the Templar would have a bigger blind spot, allowing Keila to do as she pleased.
Lightstream attacked, swinging punch after punch, adding in a kick after every few salvo. Keila avoided them to the best of her ability, and when she saw her chance, unsheathed a hidden blade in her sleeve and jammed it right under Lightstream’s left arm, completely catching her off-guard and by surprise.
“Agh… what…?”
The Templar immediately stopped and took a few steps back before falling flat on her back. Keila returned her hidden blade to its sheath and crouched down over the Templar as she tried to breathe.
“Very sneaky… Assassin. But it won’t matter…” Lightstream coughed as she clutched at her side. “You cannot stop us now…”
“What do you hope to accomplish?” Keila finally spoke to the woman, her voice low and serious. “You already have one artifact and you can’t even use it. Why get more?”
Lightstream tried to laugh, but a gurgled cough emerged from her mouth instead, along with a spat of blood. “You Assassins don’t... know anything. Grand Master Sombra is coming… and you can’t stop him… The artifacts… will be ours…”
Keila had more questions, but the Templar was gone. With one last breath, her head fell back against the ground and she stopped moving. The Assassin moved a hand over to close the woman’s eyes before standing up.
“Rest well.”
Finally able to stop and think, Keila put a hand to her head as she began to notice the pain. The Templar had really kicked her hard, but no matter. She could rest back at the bureau. Now she just needed to get out and find Ikram before heading back. There was plenty of news to discuss.
Sombra.
It couldn’t be a coincidence that they had a new Grand Master called Sombra. Every Assassin in Saddle Arabia knew the name of the old king. So why did the Templars have a Sombra?
It seemed things were about to take a turn into dangerous territory.
“That was really dangerous, Keila,” Ikram told her as he wrapped an ice pack to her head. “You could’ve died there.”
Keila sat with him in an air-conditioned room as he finished up her wrap. Due to the warmer temperatures of Saddle Arabia, the ice pack wouldn’t last very long outside the room, so temporarily, she had to stay here.
“Well, I made it out, Ikram. I even got our contract,” she said as she rubbed at her chest where the Templar had planted both feet. It was still sore when she breathed, but it would wear off in a day or two.
“True,” he muttered. He looked down at her chest and chuckled. “You want me to message that for you? I’m really good at it.”
“Yes, I remember,” Keila joined him in laughter. “But no thanks. Not right now. Maybe later?”
“Sure. Sounds like a plan, Keila. After our debrief perhaps?”
There was a knock on the door; both Assassins turned to look at it.
“Come in,” Ikram said as he stood up.
The door swung open, revealing a familiar man with black hair and a beard. He had a brown cloth wrapped around his head, along with a beige cloak around his neck and shoulders.
“Mentor Shamal.” Keila tried to stand as well, but after having too long of a break, her head immediately started spinning, sending her back on the chair.
“It’s okay, Keila,” Shamal waved a gloved hand. “Stay seated.”
“You wish to speak of our mission, Mentor?” Ikram hazarded a guess.
“Correct. From what you said over the phone, the Templars know where the artifacts are?” The Saddle Arabian Mentor took a seat across from the two Assassins. “Fill me in on the details.”
“We found notes, Mentor.” Keila placed a hand to her bandaged head, pressing the cool pack closer against her head. “The Templars know the rough vicinity of the artifacts. The ones buried in Masyaf.”
Their Mentor put a hand to his chin and hummed. “How did they get this close without detection?”
“Our contract,” Keila started. “She mentioned the Templars had a new Grand Master. She said his name was… Sombra.”
Even Shamal was taken aback by the news. “Are you sure? She said his name was Sombra?”
“Yes, Mentor.”
“This is troubling news indeed. You sure you didn’t mishear the name? How can it be the name of Saddle Arabia’s old king?”
“No, of course I heard it right,” Keila said again. “Perhaps we should get Mentor Steel Shine on the line? I’m guessing she’ll know what to do.”
“It’s fine,” their Mentor shook his head. “I don’t want to involve her in this. We can do it.”
“Mentor,” Ikram called for his attention. “This is no small matter. If the Templars know where the other artifacts were buried, that could prove a huge disadvantage to us. We still don’t know where they are and we’ve lived here all our lives.”
“Ikram is right, Mentor,” Keila added on, her eyes shining with fighting spirit. “We can’t let the Templars win. Not here. And if this Sombra thinks he can get the artifacts without a fight, then he’s wrong. Call Mentor Steel Shine. Get the other bureaus to help.”
Shamal thought about the plan for a second, eventually conceding with a nod. “Yes, you’re right. This is our home. The heritage of all Assassins. I shall get on the line with her immediately. Keila, Ikram, thank you, and may your sleep tonight be well. Get some rest.”
The two Assassins got up to see their Mentor out before leaving themselves.
“Well, Keila,” Ikram dusted his hands. “It’s rather late. Shall we retire to my room?”
Keila wore a playful smile on her face. She grabbed him by the coat and began pulling him down the corridor. “No. Let’s go to my room.”