A Long Way to Fall

by Cinders of War


Chapter 79: Sand and More Sand

The journey to Saddle Arabia was long and boring. Frigid lost count of the amount of times he fell asleep in the plane, only to be woken up by turbulence every few miles.

Star Lance had met up with an old friend and contact in the Trottingham airfield, Airshift, who was the one smuggling them into Saddle Arabia via air transport. Sure, traveling by air was the fastest way, but Frigid Night wished that the man had a more advanced and sturdy plane. The Assassin felt like the craft was going to fall apart any minute.

“Frigid?” Morning Blade got his attention with a hand on his shoulder. “You feeling alright?”

“Sure,” he mumbled, making sure to increase his grip on the worn out leather seat. “I just hate air travel. It’s dangerous. Feels like we can just keel over any minute.”

He looked across to see High Noon almost as uneasy as he was. The cowboy flashed a weary smile to Frigid who nodded back to him. At least High Noon was done throwing insults at him. He turned to his apprentice, who didn’t seem to worry that they were in the air at all.

“You’re not bothered by all this?” his curiosity piqued by his calm apprentice.

Morning shook her head. “When I was still in school, I used to travel a lot during the holidays. History was my favourite subject, so I thought I’d see the world and all the historical sites it has to offer. So yeah, flying doesn’t frighten me much.”

“Well, that’s good. But I’m not frightened. Just uneasy.”

Frigid didn’t know why he bothered to act all tough and fearless, but he just forgot about it and closed his eyes again, returning to sleep.

He soon found himself awake again, staring out the window at a sunny, sandy expanse of land beyond the plane’s interior.

“Morning, Frigid,” Star Lance said, almost startling the grey haired Assassin. “You sure slept well. We’re here. Time to go.”

Frigid rubbed at his face and got out of his seat. It seems he did manage to get some good sleep after all. High Noon and a few of the other Assassins had already left the plane, while Morning still sat calmly beside him, a smile on her green face.

“Morning, sir,” she chuckled. “You look like you had a good rest.”

“Yeah…” Frigid scratched at his face. “How long since we landed?”

“Only about twenty minutes. I was just going to wait for you before we head out.”

“Well, let’s go then.” Frigid walked out the side of the plane and was immediately hit with the different climate.

Saddle Arabia was much hotter than any of the other cities he had been to before; sweat was already starting to form just under his hairline. High Noon had his hat on as usual, but in this situation, Frigid wished he had brought one along too.

Man, it’s hot. Frigid put a hand over his eyes as he trekked down a small staircase to the rocky pavement below. The Mentor was already ahead, talking to a few people in long coats.

“Assassins,” the Mentor said as the rest gathered nearby. “Welcome to Saddle Arabia. I know, the heat will take some getting used to, but if we’re efficient, we won’t be here long.” She raised a hand to man with black hair and a shaggy beard. “This is Mentor Shamal, the one in charge of the Saddle Arabia bureau. He’ll brief you on the happenings here.”

The man bowed and beckoned them to follow. “Welcome to our city. Things haven’t been going as we have planned I must admit. That’s why you’re all here. The new Templar Grand Master, Sombra, has full use of the artifact. And the worst part, he has control of the shadows too.”

“Umm… What’s wrong with that?” High Noon raised a hand, but immediately stuck it behind his back when one of the female Assassins, a woman with black hair, shot him a look. “Well, n-not like there’s anything wrong with it or a-anything. I-I was just won-wondering is all. N-no problems. Yeah. Just forget I said anything.”

“It’s fine, Noon,” Steel Shine said to him before explaining. “Saddle Arabian Assassins are trained in the old art of shadow walking. It’s a skill that was passed down since the founding of the Brotherhood. These Assassins are able to use the shadows to blend into their environments better than you are able to, almost disappearing from sight completely.”

“Yes,” Shamal continued, his dusty cloak floating along behind him. “Without the shadows, I’m afraid our sneaking just won’t do. We’re not so used to doing things like you Assassins just yet, so I hope you’ll all be able to get things done where we can’t.”

“What do you need of us, Mentor?” Frigid asked the new faces. “Whatever you need, we’ll get done.”

“The Templars are planning to expand. They’re scouring the city for clues on the other artifacts’ location. Our mission from here, is to stop them.”

“It’ll be the same then,” Frigid said, wiping sweat off his brow. “Just… A lot of sand and heat.”

“The sand’s only outside town,” the black haired woman pointed out to him. “And doesn’t mean it’ll be as easy as your home city.”

“It’ll take time to get used to, but we’ll get the job done.”

“Good spirit,” she nodded.

“This is Keila,” the Saddle Arabian Mentor put a hand in front of her. “She’s one of our best Assassins here.”

“Thank you, Mentor, but that’s hardly true.”

“And this is Frigid Night,” Steel Shine pointed to the white coated Assassin. “He’s become one of our best.” The Mentor turned to him and made a more serious face. “But he still has a lot to learn and a lot of trust to earn back.”

“Nice to meet you,” the one called Keila stuck out a hand for Frigid to take.

Great, Frigid thought as the Assassins moved out from the airfield, heading to a set of jeeps. More people trying to be friendly.

“Nice… to meet you,” Frigid mumbled as he shook her hand.

“Frigid, the people here seem generally nicer,” Morning said to him in the back of the sand coloured vehicles. It smelt of old socks and smoke. “They’re a lot friendlier than the Assassins on our side.”

Frigid sighed but agreed with his apprentice. Keila seemed genuinely interested to meet them. But Frigid wasn’t here to play nice. They were only here to take down Templars and leave. That was all.

“I’ll just keep speaking to a minimum. Don’t want to start trouble.”

Frigid watched from the corner of his eye as his apprentice looked down at her hands with a heavy sigh. He felt bad for always upsetting her so much with his attitude, but he didn’t want to let his emotions control him. He had lost so much along the way and he didn’t want to experience all of it again.

Then there was that nagging paranoia at the back of his head.

What if Morning Blade was going to betray me? I shouldn’t get too attached to her like I did with the others.

Frigid figured that distancing himself from everyone would make it better in the long run. Emotions were a hindrance. He would be better off without them, but no matter what, you could only harden yourself by so much.

Emotions will always be there, no matter how far down you keep them, and Frigid had pushed them really far away.


Timber stacked all his papers together before shoving them violently into his bag. This was his chance. Grand Master Sombra and Mahogany were away in Saddle Arabia trying to figure out the location of two more artifacts in one of the cities there.

Timber had tried to convince his brother that this wasn’t the same vision they once had, but Mahogany wouldn’t listen. The chairman saw Sombra as the one who would fulfill everything they ever wanted.

The scientist saw it differently. Sombra didn’t want world peace, he was sure of it. He was after something much bigger. Timber didn’t know what it was yet, but he was sure once the Templars fulfilled their purpose, then they were no longer needed. If his brother couldn’t see it, then he needed to go to someone who would.

He hadn’t told anyone of his plans, not sure who he could convince and who would go straight to his brother and inform him.

He shifted his glasses up his nose and picked up his briefcase before heading out the glass doors of the lab and towards the staircase leading to the carpark. He was almost to his car when he spotted two more familiar faces standing by the vending machine.

“Sir, there you are,” Test Tube saw him and stashed his coins back in his coat pocket.

“Test Tube! Quantum!” Timber quickly regained his composure and walked forward. “Yes. What do you need?”

“We know why you’re leaving, sir,” Quantum started after a sip of his soda. “And we want to go with you.”

“What? Really?”

“This new Grand Master is too much,” Test Tube continued. “We knew you would come to the same decision, sir, so we waited here for you.”

Timber couldn’t help but laugh. His scientists had come to the same conclusion after all. Sombra was only here because it suited him. Once they achieved his goals, what would become of them? Timber was sure he knew the outcome and it didn’t look nice.

“Then we leave now,” Timber said as he moved for his car boot. “We’re getting out and finding help.”

Test Tube got in the back while Quantum sat with Timber in the front. The head scientist started the engines and drove out of the carpark and down the street away from their lab. They had to go to someone. Someone who would believe everything they say and would be willing to help. Now the question was, who could they look to for help?

Timber only knew of another group that had a chance at fighting Sombra. He made a left turn at the next road and headed towards the Trottingham highway.

None of them noticed a dark motorcycle and its rider lurking in the shadows just outside the gates, following them with its headlights switched off.