Keila could see the explosion before she heard it, her eyes widening in understanding as the palace began to disappear in a ball of expanding white.
“Ikram, we’ve got to go!” she started, picking up her partner and hauling him over a shoulder. She had wrapped up his wound, but he was still too weak to move on his own.
“We’re not going to make it far like this, Keila,” he said after looking back. “You’ve got to go on without me.”
“I’m not leaving you!” Keila replied confidently. “You’re my partner!”
“Keila, if you don’t leave, we’ll both die. You must go!” Ikram slipped out of her grip and pushed her forward as he fell. “Just go!”
“No! I won’t!” Keila yelled, her eyes tearing. “I can’t!”
The explosion had already engulfed the entire palace as it continued to spread out slowly, pulling buildings into its sphere.
“You’ve got to, Keila.” Ikram grabbed on to her hand and held it firmly. “Live on for both of us. I’ll always be there with you.”
“Ikram…”
“Go!” He let go of her hand and pushed her legs.
Keila hesitantly turned around and ran, at first slowly, not wanting to lose sight of her partner. Finally understanding Ikram’s resolve, Keila wiped her eyes and sprinted off down the city blocks, running as fast as she could from the expanding sphere.
Spectral Rim held Silent Frame on her lap, her friend’s hands were over the bullet wounds that had claimed her life. The turquoise haired Assassin gently rubbed Silent’s head as her tears fell from her eyes. Her attacker lay close by, one of Spectral’s knives lodged in his ear, dead.
“I’m so sorry, Silent…” Spectral cried, ignoring the approaching Templar guard with a black blade. “I should’ve seen him… I should’ve…”
“Don’t worry,” the Templar taunted as he lifted his weapon over his head. “You can join her soon enough.”
Spectral didn’t care. Her best friend was dead, and many of her other friends were also dead. Was there anything else to live for now?
“Do it,” she said and looked down, closing her eyes. “Just do it…”
She waited, but the blade never came. Only the sound of a large explosion made her open her eyes again to see where it came from.
The Templar was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a giant white ball seemed to be expanding a little further ahead, likely from the center of the city, swallowing everything in its path. Spectral slowly shook her head, but made no move to run.
This is it. I’m sorry, Silent. I’ll see you soon.
Spectral held on to her best friend as the explosion closed in on her, glad that she would be with someone she cared about to the end.
Trueshot watched with disbelief as the explosion absorbed the palace and the surrounding buildings, still pushing outward, threatening to absorb everything around them.
“Feather Duster?” he called. The Saddle Arabian Sniper also had her eyes on the explosion, but made no attempt to flee. “We don’t have a chance, do we? Of getting away.”
He was right. They were way too close to the palace. Perhaps the other Assassins at the perimeter could get out, but they couldn’t.
“We did good, Trueshot,” Feather Duster dropped next to him, one hand held out in front of her chest. “We fought for our cause.”
“Yeah…” Trueshot sighed and took her hand in a firm grip. “We’ve earned this break. Do svidaniya, Feather Duster. You’re a good friend. We work in the dark, my friend...”
“To serve the light. We’re Assassins, brother. Assassins to the end.” She smiled as the white explosion took them both in.
The ride from the Maredina airport had been long as High Noon finally pulled out of the highway, heading down the side road towards Masyaf.
Frigid Night sat all the way at the back of the jeep next to Morning Blade, tapping against the side of the vehicle. They had seen the news on TVs all over the airport. Most of the city had been devastated, with dead bodies lying all over the streets. He had wanted to get in on the fight as fast as they could, but airport security had been increased from the events in Masyaf, forcing him to be patient as Mentor Steel Shine got them through the customs with her ‘magic’.
The Mentor herself had tried to call Star Lance since the start of the ride, but the lieutenant had yet to pick up his phone. Frigid could see the worry scrawled all over her face, but there was nothing he could do about it. He could only hope High Noon picked up the speed from here.
“Hey, what’s that?” Dewdrop pointed out, seated beside the cowboy. “Looks like a-”
Her answer was cut short by the sound of a huge explosion, seemingly originating from Masyaf. Frigid slightly lifted himself, seeing what looked like a huge white ball, slowly expanding from the city’s center. It swallowed everything in its path, from buildings to cars, to roads.
“Explosion!” he warned, sitting back down. “Turn around!”
“I can’t!” Noon yelled from the front. “It’ll take too long to reverse!”
“Well, do something! Fast!” Frigid barked at him harshly.
High Noon jammed on the brakes, but there was nothing he could do as the ball began increasing in speed, making its way past the buildings, still moving towards them.
“Everyone down!” Mentor Steel Shine ordered and stood up, taking her sword from its sheath.
She spun her weapon up and placed one hand on the blade. The weapon glowed and pulsed for a bit before a round bubble of light grew around the entire jeep just as the explosion reached them. Light that seared through closed eyelids enveloped the car, but oddly enough there was no heat. The jeep rocked and skidded in the sand for what felt like forever, with Steel Shine straining against it with her sword’s shield.
And then all of a sudden, it was over.
Mentor Steel Shine collapsed in her seat, exhausted. Frigid lowered the hand he had held out in front of his face and looked over to the city. Or what was left of the city. Where Masyaf had once been now stood a huge, gaping crater.
The Mentor lifted her head and panned it around the blast zone, her eyes widening with every pass. “No, no, no, no…”
She lifted the phone to her ear again, trying to ring her lieutenant, tears already streaming down her face.
“Mentor,” Morning Blade placed a hand on her shoulder. “I… I don’t think there are any survivors.”
“No…” she choked and dropped the phone. “Star Lance… The others…”
Morning Blade held the Assassin leader as she let her emotions flow, trickling down her face and onto the jeep’s leather seats.
“What could have happened?” Dewdrop asked as she hopped out of the passenger seat and onto the sand.
“Could it be the artifacts?” High Noon joined her, placing an unlit cigarette in his mouth as he took his hat in one hand. “All our brothers and sisters…”
Frigid couldn’t believe it himself. Gone. They were all gone. Everything was gone. He jumped out of the jeep and walked out in the sand. He stopped, standing on the edge of the crater. It was just as Mirror had said.
“There is nothing gained by going to Saddle Arabia.”
They didn’t gain anything. They didn’t even get one of the artifacts, and now, it looked like everyone else was gone. Wiped out in the explosion along with the rest of the city.
Frigid clenched his fists and fell to the hot sand under him. He grunted as he pounded a fist into the ground over and over again, sending particles of sand up into the air, some sticking to his face and coat. “No! No!”
Everything and everyone was gone. Rose Petal. Trueshot. People that were actually his friends. Gone.
Frigid buried his face under his sandy hands and shouted as loud as he could.
"Frigid was definitely not the same again after that." Morning Blade was quickly filled with sorrow for her lost friends. Even now, Frigid, High Noon, Dewdrop, Mentor Steel Shine, they were all gone. "I guess until that point, he still cared about others. But after that... I didn't know for a long time."
"But he did, right? He realized his mistake eventually?" Twilight sipped at her coffee, looking at the ex-Assassin expectantly.
"At the very end." Morning looked back outside at the passing vehicles on the road. "Perhaps if he had knew it sooner, things would certainly be different."
"Aw, come on, Morning. You can't keep thinking about what could've been. You know that already."
"I know, I know..." the white haired Assassin sighed and leaned back. "But retelling this story. I just really makes me think. Frigid he's... he's really gone..."
Just thinking about it, Morning felt a well of sadness begin to flow out again and her eyes began to blur. Of all of them, she admired Frigid the most. There had just been a lot of potential in him to be a better person. If it was any consolation, at least he had redeemed himself in his last moments.
Pushing her journal over to the pony princess, Morning leaned her head down into a hand and began to cry.