Chapter I
I had just one target to take out this night. His name was Eduardo Suarez and the Holy Church wanted him dead. He had been witnessed swearing there wasn’t a God in the tavern. The Church does not care that he was in a drunken stupor at the time, the crime was done, and he was to face the consequences.

It was around four in the morning and Suarez was walking away from the tavern. He was drunk and stumbled around like a mad man with a bottle of liquor in his left hand. I watched him from the rooftops and tried deciding which way to end him. Finally I decided.

My Gauntlet was a specially designed, metallic glove that slid over my right hand. At the bottom was a slot where if I clenched my fist, a hidden blade would extend. There was a second button on the end of it that would activate a grappling hook that I used to propel myself throughout the city.

I aimed my Gauntlet at Suarez and fired the grappling hook. It went right past the front of him and then retracted, stabbing the barbed blades into his throat. Suarez screamed out in pain as I retracted the grappling hook, dragging him along the ground. He hit the wall and was dragged up the side of it, leaving a trail of blood. I ripped the grappling hook out of his throat and he immediately began to bleed out. He looked up at me with pleading eyes as my grappling hook disappeared back into the top of my Gauntlet.
“May God have mercy on your soul,” I muttered, blessing Suarez before driving my Gauntlet’s blade into his chest, ending his suffering and his life.

I stood erect and sighed. I walked away and immediately began cleaning my blade before bringing it back into my Gauntlet.

I walked back to my home and snuck in through the window. My beloved wife was asleep on our bed. I walked to my oak desk and slid my Gauntlet off and laid it onto my desk.
“Ramón, is that you?” my beloved asked of me.
“Shh… yes it is me,” I said, trying to quiet her.

I walked over to her after dropping my crossbow to the ground. I saw her shift in bed and her face illuminated in front of me as the clouds unveiled the full moon. She was wearing a white nightgown that hung loose against her body. I took the belt that hung over my shoulder off and let it fell to the ground. I then took my silk, hooded coat, leather vest, and cotton shirt off and climbed into bed with her.
“Diana, I love you,” I said, kissing her on the forehead.

She smiled at that and nuzzled up against my side, resting her arm on my chest and her head on my arm.
“I love you too, Ramón,” Diana responded, falling asleep against me.

I walked away from my home as soon as Diana left for the market and went for the Holy Church. The Holy Church was the largest building in the city. It was a massive, five-story square fortress with a courtyard inside the walls and a massive, twenty-story bell tower in the middle of it. The canal that cut the entire city in half laid right outside of the Holy Church’s walls.

I walked into the building past the armed guards. They knew who I was and they feared me. I sat myself down in the study. The study was a large room with a few lounges and a fireplace off to one side. The other three walls were covered from floor to ceiling of Bibles and other religious books.
The Holy Church’s messenger arrived and handed me my assignments before leaving without a single word.

I read over my three assignments and memorized myself with them. I walked over to the fireplace and threw them into the cackling inferno. I then walked out of the study without a word.

My first target was a protestor, Eduardo Gutierrez that has been trying to convince the city’s people of Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. It is illegal to speak of the works or words of such radicals within the city’s limits.

I followed him through the city and watched him make a shortcut through an alleyway. Now that we were alone, I pulled out a strand of piano wire. I clenched it in both hands and pulled it into the front of his neck. Eduardo tried to struggle, but I just pulled the piano wire into the flesh of his neck, cutting through his jugular vein. He fell over onto his face and didn’t move.

I used my boot to flip him over onto his back. He was dead and was staring right at me. I knelt down and closed his eyes as a sign of respect, before pulling the garrote out of his throat and walking away.

My second target was a noblewoman, Angelica Rosso. She was a downright Atheist and she was not afraid to flaunt it all over town like a whore.

I stood perched atop a roof and waited for her carriage to pass by the main street as it normally does. I aimed my crossbow and fired an arrow into the side of her carriage. I saw blood splatter all over the inside of it. The driver stopped and turned to see what had just happened as the people on the street began screaming and looking around frantically from where the arrow had come from, but I was already moving on to my next target.

My third target was a worker, Benito Gonzalez, in the factory who proclaimed that the Sun was the center of the universe and not the Earth. He was in his home and I knocked on his door. He opened the door and made it quick, stabbing him through the chest with my Gauntlet’s blade.
“No!” I heard a woman scream.

A woman inside of the home, whom I presumed to be Benito’s wife, stood to her feet, and grabbed her son. I pulled my blade out and threw the deceased man to the ground.
“I am so sorry, but I have to do this,” I said as I walked into the house and closed the door behind me.
“No! Please, God don’t let him do this!” the woman screamed.
“Shh…,” I said, bringing out my crossbow and loading two arrows.
“It will be over soon,” I said, aiming the crossbow at the woman’s skull before firing.

I looked at the son. He must’ve been only about five years old. I sighed and loaded a second arrow. The child just stood there in absolute fear as I aimed it at his skull.
“God, protect his soul,” I muttered under my breath as I pulled the trigger.

That last assignment left me so unnerved. I ran back to the Holy Church and burst into the Cathedral to have all of it washed away.

I stripped naked and dunked myself into a tub of holy water. I submerged myself completely under the water and screamed it all away until I needed to emerge for air.
“Hello, Ramón,” the leader of the Holy Church, Padre, said to me.
“Greetings Padre,” I responded, nodding as water dripped from my hair.
“Remember, this is all what God wants,” Padre reminded me.

He knew that I go here to wash it all away when an assignment affects me like this one did.
“I just don’t comprehend why His will is to kill a child so young,” I muttered.
“No one knows of His will,” Padre responded.
“This world is changing,” I said.
“Yes it is, the world is changing, but against God,” Padre said.
“They claim such ridiculous assumptions and yet I feel so drawn toward them,” I admitted.
“Don’t be a fool, Ramón, do not be a fool,” Padre said to me sharply.
“Yes, Padre,” I responded, nodding.
“Good boy, now dress up, and go home,” Padre said, handing me a towel.


After I dried and dressed, I moved out of the Cathedral and made my way from the Holy Church, but bumped into another assassin, Rook.

Rook was a large man that towered over me. He was stronger, but I was faster and more skilled of a fighter.
“Watch it,” he growled.

I ignored him and kept on my way.

Chapter II
The next morning, I woke up before Diana did and slipped out early to go to the Holy Church. I couldn’t sleep. My mind was plagued by the faces of that family.

I got to the Holy Church and sat down in the study. There was a piece of parchment on the table and I grabbed it. I opened it up and recognized it as a target notification. It was assigned to me and I looked at the name of the target.

The target’s name was Diana Estevez, my Diana. I read it over three more times and then ran off toward the Cathedral, pushing past Rook along the way.

I stormed into the Cathedral of the Holy Church and grabbed Padre by the front of his collar and slammed him against a wall with my Gauntlet. I held the piece of parchment depicting my assignment in my other hand.
“What is the meaning of this!?” I questioned him.
“Ramón, you’re choking me,” Padre responded.

I released him and put the parchment into his face.
“Tell me why my beloved is on the hit list!” I ordered him.
“She confessed her disbelief in God; therefore, by the law of the Holy Church, she must be eliminated,” Padre said nonchalantly.
“No, I refuse to let this happen,” I said.
“You’d turn your back on God, the Holy Church, for a mere woman?” Padre asked me.
“She is no mere woman, and I refuse to kill her!” I responded strongly.
“Ramón, this assignment; though originally for you, is now for Rook,” Padre said.

My eyes widened in realization and I ran out of the Cathedral.

I got to my home in the matter of minutes, but it was already too late. She laid there on the bed; her eyes still open, with a bloody wound on her chest and back, staining her white dress that she was going to where today. Rook stood there, cleaning the blood off of his saber. He just smiled at me.
“You bastard, I’ll send you to hell!” I shouted, tackling him out the window.

We fell two stories onto the top of a passing carriage. The driver reared his horses back to turn and see what had just happened. Rook immediately began trying to strangle me, but I punched him twice in the face with my Gauntlet. I then kicked him out of the side of the carriage.
“Who the hell are you!?” the large woman we both landed on asked me.

I ignored her and went out of the carriage to kill Rook, but he was already gone.

I fired the grappling hook to propel me back to my home. I collapsed to the ground and held Diana in my arms.
“No!” I cried out.

She stared at me with blank eyes, so I closed them, and cried out in aguish.

That night, a storm rolled in and I was standing on the roof of my home, looking up at the sky. Diana’s body was taken by the doctors to be buried.
“God, I know you can hear me! Why did you let them kill her!? Come one, damn it, tell me! I was a good man, she was a good woman! Why did you take her!?” I shouted up into the heavens.

A bolt of lightning cackled through the sky and was followed by a boom of thunder.

I immediately took off in a run across the rooftops toward the Holy Church. I charged in and slammed Padre up against the wall and extended the blade from my Gauntlet right next to his face.
“Give me a reason why I shouldn’t kill you,” I growled at him.
“Ramón, you took an oath to the Holy Church, if you break it, you will be an enemy,” Padre said.
“Is that all you care about? Your church? I’m holding a blade next to your face!” I snapped at him.
“I am not afraid of your blade, or you, Ramón. I am only afraid of His divine wrath,” Padre said.
“Yeah? Well you should be afraid of me,” I growled, bringing my arm to get ready to stab him in the face.

Rook suddenly appeared and grabbed my arm. He threw me down the aisle of the Cathedral. He drew his saber and smirked.
“How far, you have fallen, Ramón,” Rook growled.

I stood to my feet, but another assassin appeared and swiftly kicked my legs out from under me. She stood over me with twin daggers in her hand. She had brown hair that hid one of her eyes and wore a hooded cloak to hide her face. Her name was Shadow.

I stood back to my feet immediately as the other assassins appeared. I was surrounded.
“I’m done,” I said, turning my back to them.
“Kill him,” Padre said to Rook.
“Gladly,” Rook replied.

He walked forward and towered over me. He raised his saber to deliver a kill strike, but I stabbed my Gauntlet’s blade into his arm and kicked him squarely in the chest. Before anyone else could respond, I fired my Gauntlet’s grappling hook out of the Holy Church and it grabbed onto a passing carriage. It immediately began pulling me away from them all.

I pulled out my crossbow and fired an arrow, striking an assassin running after me in the throat. He fell over, clutching the shaft of the arrow as he bled out in the matter of seconds.

My grappling hook then slipped off of the carriage and I fell to the ground. The assassins were running at me and I stood to my feet. I knew I couldn’t fight them all and I would surely die trying. I closed my eyes for one last prayer before death would be handed to me.

Suddenly the entire area became engulfed in smoke and I felt a pair of hands grab me and lead me away as the assassins began blindly sifting through the thick smoke. I was led away from them all by the stranger and was then pushed down an entrance into the underground catacombs beneath the city. I landed without harm as the stranger covered the entrance and climbed down the ladder steps.
“Who are you!?” I growled, readying a blade.

The stranger stepped into the limited light of a torch hanging off the wall. The stranger was wearing a cowl that hid most of the face; accept for the eyes. The stranger unwrapped the cowl and revealed to me that the stranger was a woman. She had auburn-colored hair and green eyes.
“Who are you?” I asked the woman, aiming my blade at her head.
“God is this how you thank someone who just saved you?” she asked me.
“I don’t know you, I have the right to be wary,” I responded.
“Fair enough, the name is Ali,” the woman said, holding her hand out right next to my blade as if it wasn’t even there.
“Why did you help me?” I asked her, ignoring her outstretched hand.
“Alright, not polite… come on,” Ali said, walking deeper into the catacombs.

I stood there and watched her before she turned back to me.
“Follow me and I will answer all of your questions,” Ali said.

I kept my crossbow aimed at the back of her head. She knew I was doing this, but she was unperturbed. She was a strange woman indeed.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked her.
“To a safe place, where neither the Church nor the assassins can reach,” Ali responded.
“What kind of safe place?” I asked her.
“A safe one, duh,” she responded like I was an imbecile.
“Don’t pester me, little girl, I will not hesitate to fire an arrow through your skull,” I threatened her.
“Yeah, yeah,” she responded, waving away my threat like it was some common bug.

I growled, but didn’t pull the trigger to my crossbow. I kept it aimed at the back of her head and followed deep into the catacomb’s labyrinth.
“What was that smoke?” I asked Ali.

She stopped and turned to me. She pulled the sleeve to her cloak back on one arm and revealed some strange mechanism attached to her arm and hand. She squeezed a trigger that hung in her palm and it shot smoke from holes by her knuckles.
“What is that?” I asked her.
“Science,” she said.

I narrowed my eyes at her. She turned and kept walking.
“I know what you’re thinking, assassin,” Ali said to me.
“No, you don’t,” I said.
“You think that I’m some damned nonbeliever. Trust me, I believe in God. He’s up there watching over the good and waiting to put His judgment upon everyone else. I just don’t believe that He created all of this in the time the Bible says he did. I am fascinated with Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. Understand me, assassin, I would not be telling you this if I knew that you’d kill me in a moment’s notice,” Ali said.

I just nodded. Ali nodded as well and turned and continued leading me down the catacombs.


We soon reached a hidden bunker beneath the city where I saw what must’ve been a thousand people crowded within it.
“What is this?” I asked Ali.
“This is home for all of us who have lost friends and family to you assassins, this is The Resistance,” Ali responded.

Chapter III
I looked over the crowd of people and I saw man, woman, child, and elderly.
“Assassin, look at all of these people. These are the people who have fled to this hell under the city because of the Holy Church’s oppression! They live in fear and starvation and many die a day, all because they spoke what was on their mind!” Ali started yelling at me.
“My God,” I muttered, dropping to my knees.
“No, God didn’t do this. You psychopathic people did this in your diluted version of His will!” Ali snapped.

She suddenly drew a dagger and pointed the tip against my throat.
“I should cut out your jugular vein and send you to Hell where you belong,” Ali growled.

Suddenly I fell back and kicked her feet out from under her. She threw the dagger up into the air and I caught it and placed the sharp edge against her throat.
“If you want to cut out my throat, you should’ve done it right there,” I said.

I could feel her heart rate accelerate and some of the other refugees looked over at what was going on.
“I however won’t hesitate to kill you,” I said.
“Then why aren’t you doing it?” Ali asked me.
“Because you saved my life,” I said, pulling the knife away from her throat and pushing her forward.

Ali turned and faced me. I handed her the dagger and she took it.
“Why were the other assassins trying to kill you?” she asked me.
“An assassin named Rook killed my wife,” I said.
“He is the same bastard that killed my brother, father, and mother,” Ali said.
“Then I guess we have something in common,” I said.
“Ali, who is this man!?” a man with a missing eye asked her aggressively.

He stormed over and got into Ali’s face. I almost intervened, but I chose to stand back.
“He was going to be killed by the assassins and I intervened,” Ali said, unperturbed to this man getting into her face.
“I overheard that he is an assassin!” the man snapped.
“Was,” I muttered.
“What is your name, assassin?” the man asked me.
“Ricardo, don’t,” Ali said, trying to divert his attention back over to her, but he pushed her away, knocking her to the ground.
“Your name, now!” Ricardo snapped at me.

I aimed my crossbow at his face and glared at the man.
“I suggest you do not lay another hand on her ever again, understand me now, and I will not have to pull this trigger later on in life,” I threatened the man.

Suddenly a few other men pulled their own crossbows and aimed them at me.
“I suggest you put down that crossbow before I allow those men to fire their crossbows,” Ricardo said, smiling at me.

I sighed and put my crossbow away.
“My name is Ramón,” I said.

Ricardo looked down at my Gauntlet and his eyes widened.
“You, bastard! You’re the one who killed my parents!” Ricardo yelled, punching me in the face.

I ignored that hit and actually chuckled.
“You’re gonna have to clarify that a bit more, I’ve killed a lot of people,” I said.

Ricardo punched me again in the face, but I just spat blood onto his face.
“Ricardo, stop this!” Ali shouted, stepping between us.
“Ali, this man killed my parents and is the sole reason I live in this hell!” Ricardo shouted.
“Wait was your mother the prostitute whose throat I slit?” I asked Ricardo.
“Kill this bastard!” Ricardo screamed at the men holding the crossbows.
“Stand down!” Ali snapped immediately.

The men listened to her and lowered their weapons.
“And if you ever touch me again, if you ever try to question my leadership again, I will kill you myself,” Ali said, poking Ricardo on the chest.

He bit his lower lip and turned and walked away. Ali then turned to me.
“Come with me,” she said.

I didn’t make any response, but followed her away from the mistrust being emitted from every other person in the colony. Ali led me past a curtain that hung over a doorway.
“This is my quarters, I invite you to stay here for as long as you wish,” Ali said to me.
“That won’t be for long, as soon as I’m rested up, I’m going back up and I’m going to kill every single person in affiliation to the Holy Church,” I said, sitting down on chair.
“Assassin… Ramón, we all have a grudge against the Church, and we all want to see it burn to the ground…,” Ali started in.
“What are you getting at?” I asked her.
“Listen, we’ve been planning to stage a revolt against the Church for months, but they’ve mostly been militant attacks on only a handful of their less-skilled assassins and we’ve been unable to stage a full-on assault,” Ali said.
“And now you think you can because of me,” I said.
“Yes, listen I know it sounds preposterous, but I honestly believe that we can achieve our goals,” Ali said.
“It will never work,” I muttered.
“Why?” Ali asked me.
“The Holy Church is a fortress, its walls are surrounded by archers, and the courtyard has soldiers. In addition to the assassins, the Holy Church’s “army” ranges in the numbers of a thousand,” I said.
“The numbers don’t matter, we have the element of surprise due to the fact that they will not be expecting us to actually attack them, with the secret catacombs running directly under the Cathedral, and with a little bit of science,” Ali said.
“What kind of science?” I asked her.

Ali smiled at my question.

We stood on a ledge and watched a man wearing thick goggles plant a strange tube with a candle wick sticking out one end.
“It’s called gunpowder, it’s extremely flammable. It is held within the container which is made out of porcelain. When the lit wick hits the gunpowder, shards of porcelain will fly off in every direction and imbed themselves in everything from walls to flesh,” Ali explained.

I watched as the man lit the wick with a torch and ran for the cover of a large, concrete block. The fire burned through the wick and hit the gunpowder, causing the porcelain container to burst apart in the resulting explosion.

I held in my amazement even as a shard of the container imbedded itself to the wall and inch from my head.
“Interesting, but I do not believe one would do sufficient damage,” I muttered.
“We have hundreds and we’ve already noted that the soil holding up the courtyard is loose enough for the bombs to be planted and lit,” Ali said.
“Alright, let’s say these explosives fail to do anything sufficient and we’re forced to fight the Royal Guard, then what?” I asked of her.
“Well… I was hoping you could train us,” Ali said.
“I do not believe anyone here would be so easily moved to be trained by an assassin,” I said.
“They will if I tell them,” Ali said, smiling at me.

Chapter IV
Ali and I stood side-by-side on a ledge that overlooked the whole refugee camp.
“Excuse me, could I ask of your attention?” she asked them.

Everyone gave her their attention to show their respect. Ali then nodded at me and I stepped forward.
“I’m not going to start off with a lie; I am an assassin for the Holy Church,” I said.

The entire area went into uproar and I looked at Ali.
“Told you they wouldn’t take it lightly,” I muttered.
“Quiet down!” Ali called out.

It took them a few minutes, but everyone quieted down.
“Now that that’s settled, I am going to train whoever wishes to join the revolt against the Church,” I said.
“Why would you help us?” a man asked.
“Because I want to see the Holy Church burn to the ground,” I responded.
“Why?” a woman asked.
“It’s a long story,” I muttered.
“Anyways, Ramón is going to help train us for the revolt. I know I cannot ask of any of you to trust this bastard as far as you can throw him, but I ask of you all to put your trust in me,” Ali said.

I looked at Ali and she smiled at me. A few men stepped forward, but definitely not enough to stage an assault.
“He has the skills and knows the layout of the Holy Church better than anyone,” Ali pointed out.

A few more men and women stepped forward. Finally enough to stage the assault stepped forward. I looked at Ali and nodded.


She led us all to a large courtyard within the catacombs.
“This will be our training area,” she said.

She then looked at me.
“First, we will be learning about hand-to-hand combat, now I’m going to need someone to spar with,” I said, taking my Gauntlet off of my arm and putting it in a pile with my crossbow.

No one stepped forward. I heard Ali let out a sigh.
“I’ll spar with you,” she said, walking out in front of me.
“Alright… punch me as hard as you can,” I said.

Ali then threw a very fast punch that even I was surprised at, but I caught her fist in the palm of my hand, twirled her arm around her back, and pinned her up against the wall, placing my hand on the back of her neck.
“Take your opponent’s momentum and use it against them,” I said, releasing Ali.

She looked at me.
“You okay?” I asked her.
“Yeah,” she responded.
“Good. Now throw another punch,” I said.

She looked at me and hesitated before throwing a second punch. I caught her fist again and twisted her arm out in front of her and placed my hand against her elbow.
“Hit their elbow with enough force, you’ll break their entire arm back,” I said.

I let Ali go. She glared at me.
“Alright, I’ll throw punches and you try to block,” I said.

I threw a punch using only half my strength and speed and Ali caught it easily and twisted it behind my back. She slammed me up against the wall rather hard and she got cheers from the refugees watching.
“Good, you learn fast, but you made a mistake,” I said.
“What mistake?” she questioned me.

I used my superior strength to spin her against the wall. I raised a fist and held it an inch from her face.
“You never try to pin a larger target, you will never succeed. They’ll overpower you and then kill you,” I said, stepping back from Ali.

She looked down at her feet, but I grabbed her chin gently, the same way I usually did with Diana when she felt down.
“Don’t feel too bad, you’ll learn,” I said.

Ali smiled and nodded.
“Now I want everyone to pair up!” I shouted.

Everyone started pairing up.
“I never expected a murderer like him to be sort of kind,” I heard a woman mutter to her partner.
“I still don’t trust him,” her partner muttered.

Ali and I watched as the men and women began sparring.
“Stop!” I shouted suddenly after seeing several wrongs.

Everyone stopped and looked right at me.
“That was pathetically wrong,” I muttered.

Ali looked at me like I was crazy. I walked out into the middle of the group. I stopped in between a man and a woman.
“You’re stronger than she is, use that!” I snapped at the man.
“And you’re faster than he is, use that!” I snapped at the woman.

The woman nodded timidly. The man just glared at me.
“Let me spar with you!” the man exclaimed at me.
“Fine, let’s just end this early, throw a punch,” I muttered.

The man didn’t waste any time and threw a really sloppy punch that I just sidestepped and watched him fall over his own feet.
“I really expected more,” I muttered.

The man stood to his feet and threw another punch, but I ducked under it, and threw him over myself. I looked at the woman he was sparring with.
“Maybe you can do better,” I muttered at her.

She smiled at me and blushed slightly.

The man tried to punch me from behind, but I spun around, and caught his fist. I punched him with his own fist and pinned the man onto the ground. I then pulled a knife from a sheath wrapped around my ankle.

Everyone was at a standstill as I pointed the point of the knife at the man’s right eye.
“You’re lucky I don’t just kill you right now,” I said.

Ali got the bravery to place a hand on my shoulder. I looked over at her and sighed. I stood to my feet and sheathed my knife.
“If you ever try to hit me when I’m not looking again, I will kill you without any hesitation,” I warned the man.

He looked at Ali for assistance.
“I’m not going to help you, Fernando,” Ali said.

The man stood to his feet and stormed off.
“Alright, what is your name?” I asked the woman.
“Rosa,” she said timidly.
“We’ll spar,” I said.

Her eyes widened and she backed away.
“Come on, spar with me,” I said.

Rose shook her head. She was obviously scared.
“Rosa, spar with me or you will have to leave. I cannot have you in the militia if you’re scared,” I said.

Rosa stepped forward. She threw a punch at me that I caught in my fist easily.
“Again,” I said, giving her hand back to her and letting my hand fall to my side.

Rosa threw a second punch, but I caught it despite it being faster.
“Again,” I said.

Rosa kept throwing punches, but I kept catching them in my hands. We did it for about twenty more times before she stopped.
“I’m not going to be able to punch past you,” she said.
“I know that,” I said.
“Then, why do it so many times?” Rosa asked me.
“So you won’t be afraid,” I said.
“How is that supposed to make me not be afraid?” Rosa asked me.
“Before we did this, you refused to say a word. Now you’re talking to me with full sentences,” I said.

Rosa looked at me for a moment to think over what I had said. She didn’t look as timid anymore. She then smiled at me and nodded.
“You’re going to make it, kid,” I said, patting her on the shoulder.


We kept the hand-to-hand training going throughout the night and by morning, we were all exhausted.
“Alright, you all deserved some sleep, I suggest you get some food, some water, and get that sleep.

Everyone left Ali and me alone in the courtyard.
“You deserved some sleep as well,” she said to me.

I nodded and she led me to her quarters. She laid out some sheets on an old mattress.
“Um… here’s some bread,” Ali said as I sat down on one of the chairs in her quarters.

I took the bread and just nibbled on it.
“Um, I have to get undressed,” Ali said.

I nodded and turned away as she changed into a nightgown.
“Alright,” she said.

I turned back around and took another small bite out of the bread. I finished the bread and then took off my trench coat and shirt.
“What are you doing?” Ali asked as her cheeks tinged scarlet.
“I’m getting ready for slumber,” I said.

Ali looked away awkwardly as I walked over to my mattress nonchalantly.
“What is wrong with you?” I asked her.
“Nothing…,” she muttered.

She then quickly disappeared behind the curtain where her mattress was and didn’t come back out.

I laid there on the mattress and looked at the ceiling above me.
“Good night, Diana,” I said before falling asleep.

Chapter V
I dreamt that night. I was back at my home and I was lying in my bed. Diana climbed on top of me and straddled my chest. She smiled down at me and I smiled up at her.

Suddenly her chest exploded in blood as Rook’s saber burst through her chest. Diana let out a gasp and blood trickled out from her mouth before she died. I cried out her name before I woke up suddenly, bringing the hidden blade out of my Gauntlet and pointing it right at Ali’s face.

She looked scared.
“Calm down, it’s just me,” she said, looking past the blade and right into my eyes.

I relaxed and retracted my blade.
“You were having a bad dream; do you care to talk about it?” Ali asked me.
“No,” I muttered, shaking my head.
“Okay, Ramón,” Ali said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

She turned and walked out of her quarters.
“Feel free to walk around, but do not start any fights, we cannot afford to lose any soldiers,” Ali said, winking at me.

I let myself smile weakly and watched her leave for parts unknown.

I sat there before the growling of my stomach made me stand to my feet. I dressed quickly and walked out of the quarters.

Several of the refugees were still asleep, so there was no worry that a fight could start between one of them and me. I ran into Rosa, who was sitting in front of a fire pit, poking at the embers with a curved sword.
“Morning,” I said to her, nodding curtly.
“Morning,” she responded, smiling.

She stood to her feet.
“Is that your sword?” I asked her.
“It was my father’s before he was killed…,” Rosa said.

I looked away.
“It wasn’t you, it was a rookie assassin,” Rosa said.

That still didn’t make me feel any less guilty.
“I realize I am solely responsible for placing half of these people in this situation,” I muttered.
“But you cannot dwell on it like a fear,” Rosa said, smiling at me.

I nodded.
“So what kind of training are we doing today?” Rosa asked me.
“We will find out,” I said.

I walked away from her and went into the back part of the catacombs where a waterfall came out from the ceiling and made an underground spring.

I looked around and saw no one, so I stripped down to my undergarments and dove into the spring. I came up and stuck my face into the waterfall to see the other side.

I heard a scream and saw an unclothed Ali from the waist up staring right back at me. I backed up immediately and turned my back to her. I honestly didn’t know what to say.
“What are you doing!?” she asked me.
“I was going to bathe,” I said.
“That’s what I was doing,” she said.
“Well, I hadn’t a clue,” I responded.

We then went into a silence.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized.

I started to go back toward where my clothes are.
“Ramón, wait,” Ali responded.

I turned back to the waterfall. She then appeared right in front of me.
“Don’t worry, I’m clothed now,” she said.

She swam around me and smiled slightly before splashing water at me. I dove underwater quickly, leaving Ali to look around nervously. I grabbed her by her ankles and pulled her under. She kicked at me and slipped out of my grip.

We both emerged and laughed a little bit.
“We do need some recreational activities such as this to keep a level head,” I said.

Ali nodded and then moved in close and put her lips against mine. I immediately pushed her away and turned away from her.
“Not that recreational,” I muttered, swimming out of the spring.

I grabbed my clothes and walked back to the quarters, leaving Ali on her own.


I found a towel in the quarters to dry myself off and I dressed. I sat down on a chair and thought about what just happened.

Ali soon stepped in and we didn’t look at each other. She was already dried and dressed and she tossed a wet towel wrapped around her wet clothes into her section of the quarters.
“I’m sorry,” she said timidly.

I didn’t respond.

Later that day we began more training. Ali and I stood side-by-side and looked down at the revolutionaries-in-training.
“How many of you have a weapon of any kind?” I asked them.

Rosa pulled out her sword and only a handful of others pulled out small knives, daggers, and an ax along with crossbows. Ali pulled out several small daggers.
“We need to get these people armed,” I said to her.
“Well, we’re not an armory, we’re a refugee camp,” Ali responded quickly.
“Then we need to go up to the surface to receive some weapons,” I said.
“You mean steal them from the Holy Church’s Armory?” Ali asked me in surprise.

I nodded.
“No, we’re not thieves,” Ali said.
“We’re stealing from the very people who have stolen our families, our homes, our lives and our freedom! I think that is justified and forgiven!” I snapped.

Ali flinched and nodded at me. She then turned to the people.
“Ramón and I will go up to the surface and get as many weapons as we can,” Ali said.
“I have a few bags that are big enough to carry a great sword that you can use to carry them,” a man said to us.
“That would be much appreciated,” Ali said to the man.

I strapped my crossbow to my back and fitted my Gauntlet onto my right hand. I slid my hood over my head and looked at Ali.

She had wrapped her cowl around her face and fitted her smokescreen glove around her hand. She also had several daggers sheathed in a belt that she hung over her chest off of her shoulder. She hid it behind a cloak and slid her hood over her head.
“There is an underground entrance to the Armory,” Ali said to me.

I nodded in confirmation and followed her through the catacombs and to this entrance.
“Damn it, the ladder must’ve broken away from the rust,” Ali muttered, pointing out a broken ladder.
“I got it,” I said, firing my grappling hook at the entrance.

It hit the door and opened it before locking onto the ceiling of the Armory.
“Hold on,” I said, wrapping an arm around Ali’s waist, and pulling her in close to me.

I began retracting the wire back into my Gauntlet and it hoisted both of us up into the air.
“I wanted to apologize again for kissing you,” Ali said.
“It’s not that you’re unattractive or anything, it’s just that I still love my wife,” I said to her.
“I understand,” Ali said.

We were in the Armory and I pulled my grappling hook back into my Gauntlet.
“We have to be careful, this is where the assassins get their weapons,” I whispered to Ali.

She nodded and we began filling up the three bags with as many knives, daggers, short swords, and arrows as possible. I grabbed a large handful of arrows and loaded them specifically for my crossbow. I then saw a whole rack of swords and shields that would be perfect, but there was no room in the bags.
“Drop them,” I whispered to Ali.

She nodded and dropped the bags down into the catacombs. I pushed the rack forward and began unloading the swords and shields down into the catacombs.

Ali was behind me when the door to the Armory opened up and Shadow had caught us. I brought the blade out of my Gauntlet, but I was kicked down through the doorway and back down into the catacombs.

Ali reacted fast and began swinging one of her daggers at Shadow, but the female assassin easily ducked and dodged her strikes and kicked Ali in the stomach.

Shadow grabbed Ali by her hair and pulled her head back, placing one of her daggers against her throat.
“Time to die, b****,” Shadow smirked.

I then appeared on my grappling hook and kicked Shadow in the face. She fell off of Ali without harming her.
“Come on!” I shouted at Ali as Shadow got up to run off.
“No, we have to stop her before she tells someone about the entrance!” Ali called out, running after Shadow.


Shadow ran into the lobby, but found out that no one was there. Ali then appeared and tackled her from behind.
“Time for you to die, b****,” Ali spat.

Shadow then elbowed her in her face and knocked her onto her back. Shadow stood to her feet and brought out her dagger and Ali took out her own.

They lunged at each other and lashed out their weapons, but both came up empty in delivering a blow with their weapons.

Shadow then tackled Ali to the ground, but was slashed in the face with Ali’s dagger.
“Aww, did I cut up your pretty, little face?” Ali teased.

Shadow punched her in the face and tossed her dagger aside. She tried to stab Ali with her dagger, but Ali sprayed smoke from her glove in Shadow’s face and punched her in the face, knocking her back.

Ali kicked Shadow’s dagger out of her hand and took the assassin to the ground. Ali grabbed a hold of Shadow’s hair with one hand and began punching Shadow in the face.

Ali sat down on Shadow’s chest and continuously punched her. Shadow then lifted her legs and wrapped them around Ali’s neck and began choking her.

Shadow knocked Ali off of her and kept her in the hold. Ali reached out and managed to grab Shadow’s dagger and stabbed it into Shadow’s leg.

Shadow yelled out in pain and Ali punched her hard in the stomach to get her off of her. Ali stood to her feet and had her back to the fireplace. She grabbed Shadow by her hair and pulled her up to her feet and began punching her in the face several times. Shadow then grabbed Ali’s hair and slammed her head into the mantle above the fireplace.

Ali fell to the ground and looked up at Shadow who stood over her. Ali’s head was near the cackling fires of the fireplace as Shadow sat down on her chest and began choking her.
“Time to send you to hell, b****,” Shadow spat, grabbing a fireplace poker.

She swung her arm back and Ali looked at the fire above her head and managed to smack a chunk of burning wood, spitting sparks and embers onto Shadow’s face and chest.

Shadow screamed out and fell off, dropping the fireplace poker. Ali grabbed the solid iron fireplace poker and slammed the spike that stuck out to the side of it into Shadow’s chest.

Shadow grunted and blood sprayed from her mouth. Ali pulled her weapon out and then stabbed the end of it straight into Shadow’s face, killing her.

Ali was sitting on her stomach, breathing hard.
“Good job,” I said.

Ali looked over at me and saw me leaning up against the wall.
“How long were you there?” she asked me as I approached her.
“The whole time,” I said, helping her to her feet.
“And you didn’t think once to help me?” she asked me.
“No, this was your fight, and I needed to see if you could handle an assassin,” I said.
“And what would you of done if she did kill me?” Ali asked me.
“She wouldn’t have, if she got the upper hand for too long, I would’ve shot an arrow straight into her head,” I said, showing off my loaded crossbow.

Suddenly the Holy Church’s messenger walked into the study and I fired the loaded arrow into his throat.

I then grabbed both the messenger and Shadow by their feet and dragged them away. I threw their bodies down into the catacombs.

I then cleaned up the study and the Armory and then dropped down into the catacombs. Ali dropped down after me and I caught her.

I fired my grappling hook at the door and closed it. I grabbed all three of the bag full of weapons and dragged Shadow’s body behind me as Ali and I walked back to the refugee camp.

I dropped the weapons in front of the revolutionaries and pinned Shadow’s body up to a wall of the training area with an arrow through her chest.
“Ali has just killed an assassin, her first one, she deserves your respect!” I shouted.

Everyone began applauding her and I supported her as she waved at them, accepting the applause.
“Now, I want you all to weapon-up,” I ordered.

Everyone went to the bags and the swords and the shields to armor up.

Ali moved to grab her own weapons, but I grabbed her shoulder.
“No, come with me,” I said, leading her away.

Chapter VI
I led Ali back to our quarters and I sat her down on a chair. I grabbed a towel and dipped it into a bucket of water.

I moved her hair back past her forehead and saw a nasty gash on her head. I soaked up the blood.
“Damn it, this is going to need some stitches,” I muttered.

I wiped away the blood and popped out a slot from my Gauntlet, revealing several medical supplies.

I knelt down in front of her and pulled out a needle and some thread. I began stitching up the gash in her forehead. I had to cup the side of her face with my hand to keep her head still.

She was blushing the whole time.

I finished stitching up her forehead and kept my hand on the side of her face. She tilted it and we looked at each other.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” I said.
“Thanks, I wouldn’t be without your help,” she said.

She moved her face closer to mine, but I pulled away slightly.
“Ali, I am starting to feel for you, but my wife,” I said.
“Ramón, she’s dead… I am sorry, but she is dead,” Ali said.
“I know,” I said.

Ali then kissed me, but I pushed her away.
“I’m sorry, but let me move on from my wife, so I can see where I will go,” I said, backing away from her.

I walked back to the training area, but I was cut off by Ricardo, Fernando, and several other spiteful men and women.
“You think you’re such a hero?” Ricardo asked me.
“Nope,” I responded, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Damn right, you’re not a hero!” Fernando snapped at me.
“I know that, I just said it,” I muttered.
“I want you to leave,” Ricardo growled at me.
“Really? Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not leaving,” I said.
“You son of a b****!” Fernando roared.

He lunged at me, but I drew my crossbow; already loaded with an arrow, and aimed it at his face, stopping him in his tracks. Two of Ricardo’s men aimed their crossbows at me.
“This doesn’t have to be a bloodbath,” I said.
“It won’t you will die before too many of us die,” Ricardo said with utter calmness.
“Oh trust me, plenty of you will die,” Ali said with her daggers in her hand.

One of the archers aimed at her, but the second still had me in his sights.

Rosa then appeared behind the archer and pressed the edge of her blade against her throat.
“Move and I slit his throat!” she snapped.

All of the revolutionaries appeared with their weapons and easily outnumbered Ricardo’s men.
“Ricardo, I have had enough of your vengeful desires against Ramón,” Ali said.
“B****, just shut up!” Ricardo snapped.

I aimed my crossbow right at his face and brought my blade out to keep Fernando back.
“Aww, how sweet that you have this murderer to protect you. I saw you this morning, fucking in the spring,” Ricardo responded.
“I will put an arrow in your skull!” I snapped angrily.
“Ooh, touched a nerve,” Ricardo teased.

Fernando snickered.
“Ricardo back down, now!” Ali shouted at him.
“No, I don’t think I will, your tyranny over these poor people is over! You bring in the very murderer who has put half of us into the hell we are in right now and expect us to train with him! No, that is not how it works!” Ricardo snapped.

His people agreed loudly.
“I am going to lead an offensive right into the Holy Church’s throat!” Ricardo snapped.

His people agreed loudly again.
“No, if you do that, you will all die!” Ali snapped.
“Ali, let him kill himself and all of his people,” I said.
“Ramón, no, I cannot allow that to happen,” Ali said.

I put my weapons away and backed away.
“Go ahead, go up there, attack the Holy Church, and die,” I said.

I glared at Rosa who backed away from the archer.
“Go, and get every one of your followers killed!” I snapped at Ricardo.
“Let’s go,” Ricardo said.

His followers pushed past us and he stood next to me, facing the opposite direction.
“The moment the Church falls into the fires of Hell, I will personally throw you into the pit,” he said to me.
“Just don’t reveal where we are hidden, if the Church finds us, they will kill all of us… even the kids,” I said.
“Oh, don’t give me that. You do not care about anybody here, but yourself,” Ricardo spat in response.

He pushed past me and led his hundred followers out of the catacombs.
“Please, don’t leave!” Ali called after them, grabbing onto some of their shoulders.

They just pushed her to the ground. She sat there on her knees and watched them disappear.

I walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Come on,” I said, helping her to her feet.

She was starting to sob and I led her back to our quarters.

She broke down completely and sat down on my mattress. I sat next to her and just looked at her.
“I was supposed to protect everybody,” she sobbed.
“And you have,” I said.
“They’re all leaving to be slaughtered!” she screamed at me.
“You cannot hold yourself accountable for their choices, their mistakes,” I responded.
“But it is my mistakes that led them there,” she said.

I knew that she meant me. I didn’t take any offense to that.
“Well, we need to forget about all of our mistakes,” I said, placing my hand on her shoulder.

Ali just looked at me.
“I’ve made my fair share of mistakes. I killed people because someone told me to, I wasn’t there to protect the woman I loved from being assassinated, I’ve done things most people cannot live with,” I said.
“How do you live with them?” Ali asked me.
“I don’t know… stubbornness, will, or maybe this whole damned thing down here!” I exclaimed.
“Hell it could be my desire to kill all those bastards from the Holy Church, it could be the grief I feel every second I go without my wife, it could be all the tension that is injected into my eye sockets from everyone down here, or maybe it could be that I’m starting to think that I love you!” I shouted at her.

Ali looked at me, blinking several times in surprise.
“Oh well, my mistakes are in the past… I will not dwell on them, I refuse to dwell on them,” I muttered, standing to my feet.
“Ramón!” Ali called after me.
“What?” I asked her.
“You just said that you were starting to think that you loved me,” she said.
“So what, not the kind of recreational activities, remember?” I asked rhetorically, walking away.

Ali followed me back to the training field.
“Are you going to save those people!?” a man called out to me immediately.
“No, they made their choice, let them suffer from the consequences,” I responded.

I looked at Rosa.
“Rosa, you’re going to be in charge of instructing the ones who chose a sword. Ali, you will be in charge of the ones who chose daggers. I will be in charge of the ones who chose crossbows,” I said.
“Got it,” Rosa said, leading off about a hundred and fifty people to instruct and train them.

Ali nodded at me and led about a hundred other people, mostly women, to instruct and train them.

I was left with about fifty people to train to aim, fire, reload, aim, and fire again using a crossbow effectively.

Ricardo and Fernando stood in front of his followers just outside of the walls of the Holy Church.
“Draw weapons!” Ricardo called out and everyone drew their weapons.
“It’s time to send these religious fanatics to Hell!” he shouted, leading the charge.

Chapter VII
“Using a sword is simple enough, you hold the end that doesn’t cut your hand open and the pointy end goes into your enemy,” Rosa said, swinging her blade for emphasis.

I chuckled and shook my head at her remark.
“Most people think that a crossbow is just aim, fire, reload, aim, and fire again, but everyone who has ever thought that is probably dead by now, so I wouldn’t want to listen to them,” I said.
“An arrow is a light-weight stick with a pointy part on one end. Shoot the enemy with the pointy end,” I said half-jokingly.

I brought an arrow out and loaded it onto my crossbow. I looked at the ones I was teaching and fired it without even looking at my target. The arrow hit my target; Shadow’s corpse, right between the eyes.

I heard several gasps of amazement.
“Yeah, I know,” I said, cutting them off and putting them back on track.
“Left eye,” I said, loading, and firing a second arrow.

As the second arrow went through the air, I had already loaded a third arrow.
“Right eye,” I said, firing that arrow.

The three arrows made a straight line between their points of entry.
“I will tell you this right now; you will not be as fast or as accurate as me. I trained for year after year perfecting these skills and I am not anywhere near perfection and I will never get there,” I said.

I began firing arrows and reloading them quickly, calling out every single spot the arrows hit on Shadow’s corpse.
“Alright, enough showing off,” I said, grabbing several, large planks of wood with drawings of the outline of a man’s chest.

I lined them up in front of us and made five lines.
“Fire,” I said.

The first five fired their arrows which were tipped with red feathers.

The next five fired their blue-tipped arrows. There were eight other teams, green, yellow, pink, purple, white, black, grey, and orange.
“Alright, red team did the best with three bulls-eyes straight in the heart,” I said.

The red team looked happy at the praise.

Ali was busy showing the other women how to take a target down and deliver the killing blow, but she needed a real target.
“Ramón, come here!” she called over to me.

I walked over.
“What?” I asked her.

She kicked my legs out from under me suddenly and brought her dagger out to point it straight at my throat.
“That’s how you take out a target,” Ali said.

I then flipped her onto her back and pinned down with my knee, pointing my own blade at her throat.
“And that’s how you counter that,” I said.

I then stood to my feet and helped Ali to her feet.
“Good job, kid,” I said, patting her shoulder.

Ali smiled at the praise.

I walked over to see how Rosa was doing and she was showing all of the swordsmen and swordswomen how all of the fluent movements of a sword.
“Rosa, spar,” I said, bringing the blade from my Gauntlet out.

We stood across from each other and Rosa lunged with her blade, but I blocked it easily. She swiped it at my, but I blocked it one-handed and knocked her back.
“You’re doing well,” I said, lunging at her, putting her on the defensive.

Finally a made a final lunge and tripped her over my foot. I caught her by the back of her top and pulled her back to her feet.
“Thanks,” she said, smiling at me.


I was back at the archers-in-training, teaching them to reload as quickly as possible.
“The trick is to load up a new arrow right as you pull the trigger,” I said.

I fired my preloaded arrow and already had a second arrow in as the first arrow hit its target.

Everyone began trying to load it the way I did and there were several of them dropping their arrows. There was one archer that impressed me. He was on the red team and fired it to near perfection.
“What is your name?” I asked him.
“Gerardo,” he said, struggling to keep the pace up with his reloading.
“Try taking breaths each time you touch an arrow in your quiver,” I said.

Gerardo nodded and followed my direction and regained the pace.
“Good job,” I said, walking away.

Rook was walking on the walls that surrounded the Holy Church. He saw Ricardo leading his people.
“Archers shoot them all down!” he called out.

Ricardo and Fernando were leading their people toward the walls as the archers aimed their crossbows at them and fired.
“Shields up!” Ricardo shouted, dropping to one knee, and bringing his shield up.


Several of the men weren’t able to bring their shields up and fell to the ground, dead.

Rook went to the courtyard and met with two other assassins.
“Let’s kill them,” he smirked.

The front of the walls opened up and the three assassins charged into the fray.

Rook met with Fernando’s shield and knocked the man onto his back easily. He thrust his blade downward toward his chest, but Ricardo blocked it with his blade and hit Rook in the face with his shield.

The second assassin drew twin wave swords and began spinning through all of the people and began cutting down most of them.

The third assassin brought out a large ax with a wickedly-curved blade and began hacking people to pieces.

It was a bloodbath.

We had finished training and I was busy sparring with Ali with hand-to-hand combat. She had gotten cocky after killing Shadow and I wanted to put her in her place, but it was a damned struggle to do so.

Every hold I had gotten her in, she kicked me away.
“You’ve gotten better,” I commented.
“Thanks,” Ali said, sending a kick toward the side of my head.

I ducked under the kick and took her to the ground. She quickly began choking me with her legs. I used my strength to lift her off the ground. I then slammed her back against the ground and she slipped off.

I pinned her to the ground and she looked up at me and smiled.
“I can still put you down,” I said, smiling back at her.

Suddenly I noticed Ricardo moving toward us covered in blood. I stood to my feet and watched him fall onto his face.
“Get a medic!” Ali screamed at Rosa.

She nodded and ran off, but I knew he was already a dead man.

Ali flipped him over onto his back.
“I’m… I’m sorry… I should’ve listened to you,” Ricardo muttered weakly.

I recognized the wound on his chest and recognized it as Rook’s handiwork.
“What happened to everyone else?” Ali asked him.
“Dead, we were slaughtered before we even got close,” he muttered.

I decided it would be inappropriate for an “I told you so”, so I stayed quiet.
“You should’ve stayed here,” Ali said.
“I know…,” Ricardo said.
“Ali, stop trying to keep him,” I said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

I looked right at Ricardo.
“I’m sorry…,” he tried apologizing to me, but I interrupted.
“Do not apologize. Ricardo, you are going to die and there is nothing anybody can do to stop that, now just close your eyes, and go to your parents,” I said.

Ali looked at me in utter surprise. Ricardo looked at me like I was crazy.
“Die already!” I growled.

Ricardo slowly closed his eyes and didn’t open them up again.
“We could’ve saved him!” Ali snapped at me.
“No, there was nothing that could’ve been done,” I said.
“How could you have known that?” Ali asked me.
“I know death,” I said, walking away.

Ali just watched me walk away and then looked down at Ricardo.

Chapter VIII
I sat down on a chair in the quarters and Ali stormed in after me.
“You bastard, why did you just leave him to die!?” Ali screamed at me, getting in my face.
“It was a hopeless attempt to save him and a waste of energy and supplies,” I said.

Ali looked at me and I could see the tears growing in her eyes.

I stood up and lifted her chin so she could look me in the eyes.
“It was hopeless, he’s with his parents now,” I said.

Ali then practically fell against me and I wrapped my arms around her.
“I’m sorry, I wish it could’ve been differently,” I said to her as she sobbed.

Rosa then appeared and looked distressed.
“What is it?” I asked her, moving away from Ali.
“Rook… he’s here,” she said.

Ali and I looked at each other and then we all ran out to where we could hear screams.

Rook was trashing several different quarters belonging to the refugees.
“That bastard!” I yelled, firing my grappling hook up at the ceiling.

It gripped on and I swung through the air and kicked Rook in the chest. He didn’t fall, but instead grabbed my legs and threw me into a tent.
“There is the traitor, kill him!” Rook shouted and the two other assassins appeared.

The one with the twin wave swords, Jose, came swinging his weapons at me. I pulled my crossbow out and began firing arrow after arrow at him, but he blocked each one with his swords.

I shot my grappling hook up at the ceiling to get away and then dropped back down behind Jorge with my blade out.
The other assassin, Alejandro, appeared and swung his ax at me, but I ducked under it, and Ali appeared and kicked Alejandro squarely in the jaw, knocking him through another tent.
He stood to his feet and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
“Wanna dance, chica?” Alejandro asked.
“Sure, I’ll lead,” Ali responded in a very dangerous voice, rolling across the ground, and thrusting upward with her daggers.

Rook drew his saber and Jose began swinging his wave swords. Rosa appeared on my left and began blocking Jose’s swipes, so I directed everything on Rook.

I blocked his first strike and punched him in the face with my other hand. He elbowed me in the side of the head, knocking me to the ground. I rolled out of the way of his saber as he thrust it downward, and kicked out his legs from underneath him. I tried to cut out his throat, but he blocked it with his saber and kicked me in the chest.

Ali was ducking, jumping, sidestepping, and doing everything in her power to avoid Alejandro’s ax. She turned and ran and Alejandro followed her.
“Quit playing hard to get,” Alejandro commented as he chased her.

Ali ran up the side of a wall and did a back flip over Alejandro, but he caught her by one of her legs and slammed her to the ground. Ali began kicking him right in the face several times, causing Alejandro to release her.

Ali got to her feet and stabbed one of her daggers into Alejandro’s shoulder. He punched her in the face and lifted her up by her hair before throwing her against the wall.

Rosa was struggling keeping up with Jose being down two weapons to one. We had our backs to each other, blocking and swiping our weapons at our opponents.
“Get down!” I shouted, taking both of us to the ground.

I had seen Gerardo approaching Jose from behind and began firing arrows at him. Jose wasn’t prepared and took five arrows in the back and two through the back of his head. He fell over dead and Gerardo kept firing arrows at Rook who grabbed a large plank of wood to use as a shield.

Rook then took a spear off of his back and threw it at Gerardo, impaling him in the chest. I watched as the best archer being taught by me fell over and died.

I glared at Rook and began plowing my blade against his makeshift shield, yelling out in anger. Rosa used my back as a launching point to jump over Rook’s defenses and swiped down onto his back with her blade. Rook grunted in pain and glared at us.

Ali was hiding behind a tent as Alejandro walked by.
“Come out, come out wherever you are, beautiful, heh, heh, heh,” Alejandro growled.

Ali watched as he walked away and let out a sigh. Suddenly he burst through the tent and threw her aside.
“Found you, honey,” he growled.

Ali rolled onto her back and started crawling away. She started smiling as Alejandro stood over her.
“Yeah, smile before I kill you, babe,” Alejandro growled.

Ali then slid forward between Alejandro’s feet, slicing two daggers through his ankles. Alejandro yelled out in pain and dropped to both knees, dropping his ax in the process. Ali grabbed his ax and kicked Alejandro onto his back.
“Be sure to smile before I kill you, babe,” Ali said dangerously before slamming the ax blade down onto Alejandro’s face, vertically splitting his face in half.

Ali stood erect and walked away.
I was viciously hacking away at Rook’s makeshift shield with my Gauntlet’s blade then ripped it out of his grasp, throwing him off balance.

Before I could deliver a fatal blow; however, he grabbed Rosa and held his saber against her throat.
“Let her go!” I shouted at him.
“Nah… I’m gonna take her with me, and if you follow, I will kill her,” Rook said.
“Ramón, kill him, do not fret about me!” Rosa called out.
“No, I will not allow him to kill another,” I said.
“What happened to you, Ramón, you used to be our best assassin, but then you grew a damned conscience!” Rook snapped at me.
“I grew a damned heart, something you clearly lack. Maybe you weren’t close to your whore mother,” I responded.

Suddenly smoke began to fill up the area and I lunged at Rook, pulling his saber away from Rosa’s throat with my Gauntlet and threw her out of the way. Rook then punched me in the face and I fell onto my back. As the smoke cleared away, Rook was gone.

Ali approached me and helped me to my feet. I looked over at Rosa and she was okay.
“He’s going to tell the Holy Church where we all are, they are going to slaughter all of us, kids, women, men, even the elderly,” Ali said.
“They will not care who they slaughter as long as they believe that they’re doing it in the name of God,” Rosa added.
“Then we need to accelerate our plans and begin the assault on the Holy Church, and then we can watch them all burn in Hell!” I exclaimed in anger.

Chapter IX
I stood in front of everybody just a few minutes later.
“Those bastards from the Holy Church have killed, extorted, abused, and bullshitted their way throughout the whole city for far too long. Their reign of tyranny is over!” I shouted.

My audience began their applause.
“The plan is to place the explosives beneath the courtyard and hit them by surprise; send them in a panic. We then send half the army to attack the walls from the front and the back and then send the other half through the Armory to weapon up with everything and cut them off from their supplies. That group will also hit them from the inside. We have about three hundred soldiers. They have a thousand. Most of their soldiers are on the walls, so we take the walls down by throwing the explosives at them,” I said to them.
“What if this doesn’t work?” a woman asked me.
“Don’t say that, it will work,” Rosa corrected her.
“This is our last ditch effort to protect every civilian down here. Failure is not an option because the price of it is so great,” I said.
“Rosa and I will lead the first half against the walls. Rosa hit them from the front, I will hit them from behind,” I went on.
“I will lead the other half to place the explosives in place and then we will go in through the Armory,” Ali said.
“But how are we going to get through the Armory with the ladder broken?” a man asked Ali.
“Uh… Gerardo put in a new ladder before he was killed,” a woman muttered.
“And may God bless him and his family for what he has done,” I said sternly.

Everyone, even the nonbelievers, agreed with me.
“I cannot promise any of you a safe passage and I know you still do not completely trust me, but if you’re with me, then be with me. If you want to fight for your freedom; for your family’s freedom, then fight with me. If you want to watch the Holy Church burn to the ground, then damn it all, watch it with me!” I exclaimed.

Everyone went into applause and I basked in it.
“We begin the assault at dawn, I suggest we all get some sleep,” Ali said.

Everyone left to go to their quarters, leaving Rosa, Ali, and I alone.
“I guess I will go to sleep,” Rosa said, fare welling Ali and I.

She left us alone. Ali looked at me and smiled. She still had some dried blood on her face from her fight with Alejandro and I could see some bruises beginning to form. She looked even more beautiful than ever.
“I’m not going to kiss you,” I said, walking away from her.

Ali watched me unperturbed and I stopped.
“Yet,” I added without looking at her.

Ali smiled as I walked away.

I walked past my quarters and stopped in front of the spring. No one was around and I dropped to my knees and began to pray.
“I do realize that it has been some time since I have prayed to you, but I plead for some help. You must know; with your divine wisdom, that what they have done to everyone down here and everyone up there is some deluded version of your words. They have corrupted them with every murder they have committed. I know I am not an innocent man. I have been tempted with sin, I have committed sin, but I am still here, praying to you, begging on my knees to you, just so I can receive some assistance so we may make it through this battle. I do not question why my beloved passed on anymore, I do not question your will, your choice, your decision, anymore,” I prayed.
“Amen,” I muttered before standing to my feet and walking back to my quarters.

I did not sleep well that night.

I woke up before dawn and led my hundred and fifty men and women warriors and archers down through the underneath of the Holy Church’s courtyard. We had arms full of explosives that we placed in holes we poked through to the courtyard. We could see perfectly through them and we stuck the explosives in them with the wicks hanging down from the ceiling.
“How do we light them all at once?” a man asked me.
“Just go tell me when dawn arises,” I said to him.

He ran off and climbed up the ladder to the Armory. He poked his head through the door and watched the building sunlight out of the window.

He finally sent us a hand signal.
“Dawn it is,” I said, loading an arrow tipped with a sticky, flammable oil.

All of my arrows were tipped with the oil and were lit ablaze with a torch. I lined up the first line of wicks and fired the first arrow. All of the wicks were lit by the time I fired a second arrow. I kept this routine up and lit all ten lines of twenty wicks on fire.

“Come on, where’s the explosion?” Ali asked herself, waiting just outside of the Holy Church’s walls with her seventy-five men and women.

Rosa was on the other side of the Holy Church with her seventy-five men and women.

Rook was resting in the study just beside the lobby when the entire ground shook and exploded with fiery fragmentations that broke through the glass and tore apart the sofas in the study. Rook threw himself to the ground to protect himself.

The entire courtyard exploded as all ten lines of explosives exploded nearly simultaneously.

Soldiers who weren’t killed by the explosion or fragments were screaming in pain as their eardrums were knocked out or from injuries from the fragments.

The archers; thinking that the attack was coming from inside the walls, stood and aimed at the inside of the Holy Church, having their backs to Ali and Rosa.

“Archers, fire!” Ali screamed.

“Archers, fire!” Rosa screamed.

Archers from both sides fired at the backs of the archers on the walls of the Holy Church, taking them down in surprise.

The remaining archers turned and aimed.

“Shields up!” Ali screamed.

“Shields up!” Rosa screamed.

Both sides had rounded shields in the front and in the back and the people in the middle held large planks of wood over their heads to protect them from the arrows as they charged the doors of the Holy Church.

“Go!” I shouted to everyone who was crowded in the Armory.

We all then pushed down the right side wall of the Armory and charged at the soldiers, injured and uninjured, in the courtyard.

I brought out a short sword I had gotten from the Armory and retracted my blade from my Gauntlet. I stabbed one soldier through the chest and lobbed the head off of another. The archers tried to turn their attention away from Ali and Rosa to shoot at us, but the moment they turned their backs away from them, they were shot down.

Rook looked up from his spot in the study. He saw the chaos out in the courtyard and saw me immediately.
“Ramón!” he yelled out angrily.

He drew his saber and charged out into the courtyard.

Ali and Rosa had broken through the walls and had joined the fight.

I turned to see Rook lash his saber out at me, but I blocked it easily and Ali ran to aid me.
“This is your fight,” I said, kicking Rook in the stomach to knock him back.

I ran off toward the bell tower as more assassins joined the battle.

“What in God’s name is going on!?” Padre called down upon us from the top of the bell tower.

He looked down in utter speechlessness as he watched his soldiers, archers, and even his assassins die. He then saw me looking right up at him.

I aimed my Gauntlet at him and fired the grappling hook up at the supports holding the bell and retracted myself up to him. I kicked Padre in the chest and knocked him against the bell, causing it to ring.

He placed his hands against his ears and yelled out in pain. I stopped the bell from ringing anymore and glared down at Padre.
“Oh my God…,” he muttered.
“He won’t save you from the consequences of your sins,” I growled.

Ali squared off against Rook.
“Do you remember me?” she asked him.
“Why should I?” he asked her, spitting blood down at the floor.
“You killed my father,” Ali spat.
“I killed a lot of fathers,” Rook replied.

Ali screamed out and lashed her daggers out, but Rook knocked her back with his boot.
“Ah, I recognize that scream. You screamed like that when you saw me killing your daddy. You’re lucky I didn’t kill you right there,” Rook said.

Ali then threw one of her daggers, hitting Rook in the shoulder with the blade.

He grunted and pulled it out.
“I will not show you the same mercy, you stupid b****!” Rook shouted, lunging at her with his saber.

I retracted my blade and tossed my sword to the ground. I grabbed Padre by the front of his shirt and threw him against the walled corner of the top of the bell tower.
“Please, don’t kill me!” he pleaded.

I punched him in the face with my Gauntlet, breaking his nose. Padre spat blood on the ground and looked up at me with necessary fear in his eyes.

He then saw one of his assassins creeping up behind me.

Chapter X
Rosa was hacking away at people with her sword, but soon more and more soldiers started appearing from inside the Cathedral. Eventually she was cornered by seven soldiers. They knocked her to the ground and she looked up at the morning sky.
“Here I come,” she said before closing her eyes.

Ali was trying to gain an edge against Rook, but he was too strong, too skilled, and was starting to tire her out.

The assassin pulled out a strand of rope and wrapped it around my neck and began choking me.

I tried to get him off of me and slammed him against the bell, causing it to echo throughout the Holy Church.

He knocked me onto my face and started pulling the rope back against my throat.

Padre stood to his feet and watched as the assassin tried strangling me.

I managed to grab my discarded sword and hacked the blade into the side of the assassin’s head. He fell off to one side and I picked him up and threw him over the side of the bell tower.

I glared over at Padre and retracted my blade. I saw several of our men and women desperately spreading the sticky oil around the base of the bell tower as the soldiers appeared and slaughtered them. I saw Ali being knocked around by Rook and I aimed an arrow down at him.
“This is for Gerardo,” I said, firing a flaming arrow through his right hand.

Rook yelled out in pain and dropped his saber. He picked it up in his left hand and went back to trying to deliver a fatal blow on Ali.
“And this is for Diana!” I yelled, firing a second arrow through his left hand.

Rook dropped his saber and Ali caught it and slashed open his throat. Rook fell back and clutched his throat as blood gushed out from the wound.

Ali stood over him.
“And this is for my father,” Ali growled angrily as she hacked Rook’s saber a second time across his throat, decapitating him.

She looked at me, nodded, and smiled. I saluted her and was then attacked from behind by Padre. I easily threw him over myself and began stomping on his chest with my boot.
“This is for everyone you have killed, bullied, threatened, and forced to live in that subterranean hell!” I shouted, stomping on his chest right after each word.
“Please, this is not what He wants!” Padre pleaded at me, spraying blood from his mouth.
“I know, He doesn’t want me to kill you,” I said, moving away from him.

Padre looked at me in relief.
“But He does want me to make sure you burn in a blazing fire for eternity,” I said, firing a burning arrow down at the oil, setting it ablaze.

My soldiers had spread the oil throughout the courtyard and up the walls and it spread throughout, keeping the soldiers cornered and letting my soldiers escape.

Ali ran out and saw Rosa leaned up against the wall. She grabbed her and carried her out of the Holy Church.
“You fool, you’ve stranded yourself to burn,” Padre spat at me.
“No, I’ve already seen how tall this tower is and if it falls when someone is standing on the very top, they’ll land safely in the canal.

I stood on the edge of the bell tower and looked back at Padre.
“I suggest you pray for forgiveness; I will give you that,” I said, climbing out to the very top of the bell tower.

Padre watched me and he began praying.

I dropped a quartet of explosives glued together with the flammable oil onto the ring of fire at the base of the bell tower.

It hit the fire and shattered and exploded, tearing through the base of the bell tower. The tower began falling over toward the canal and I braced myself against the tip of the tower.

I saw Padre fall out of the bell tower and disappear amongst the flames below as the tower tilt over.

I waited and then jumped toward the canal. I hit the water safely and the massive tower splashed down on top of me. It hit me broadside and knocked me out. I rested on the bottom of the canal.

I was met with a bright light and I woke up in a white room wearing a pure white, one-piece gown.
“Where am I?” I asked the question and listened to it echo throughout the room.
“You are in the Hereafter of life,” a voice said.
“Who are you?” I asked the voice.
“You should know, you prayed to me just last night,” the voice said.

I was speechless.
“Do not fret, I have never thought you were a sinner. Only those who have abused my word to control others are sinners, but they too can be forgiven,” He said.
“What about the nonbelievers?” I asked Him.
“Let them be. I did not create Man to solely believe in me. I created Man to believe in what they wanted to believe,” He said.

I stood there in utter speechlessness yet again.
“I have someone you would like to talk to,” He said.

Diana appeared in an elegant white dress and she smiled at me.
“Diana!” I cried out, embracing her in a hug.
“Ramón, you must move on. You must move on,” she whispered into my ear.
“I know… I know,” I said, holding her close.
“She’s very pretty, and she loves you so much,” Diana said to me.
“I love her too,” I said.

I began feeling pressure on my chest and face.
“She is trying to revive you this minute,” Diana said.
“Let me stay for a minute longer,” I said.
“No, you must go now, you must go and love her more than you have ever loved me so you can move on,” Diana said before disappearing.

I woke up in a start and I was looking right into Ali’s green eyes.
“I love you… I love you,” I said, grabbing her and kissing her.

She blinked in surprise, but then met my kiss with her own passion.

We separated and I stood to my feet. I looked at the Holy Church and saw it burning to the ground.
“How many were lost?” I asked Ali, holding her against me.
“A hundred, including Rosa,” Ali said.

We looked over at her body together.
“She fought bravely,” I said.
“Yes she did,” Ali agreed.

I looked at the surviving soldiers.
“The Holy Church has burned to the ground!” I shouted as loud as I could.

Everyone began shouting as loud as I could and several civilians waking up to see the Church burning joined in the celebration, finally cut loose of the oppression of the Church.

I kissed Ali once again with the Holy Church burning behind us.

Epilogue
I stood in front of the whole city as the elected leader.
“My people, I present you with a new way of life, I present you with a new opportunity for freedom. You were once oppressed and threatened with death and excommunication from the Holy Church if you did not view the same way they did! I now give you all the chance to voice what you want to voice without any threat, without any pressure, I give you freedom!” I exclaimed.

Every single person in audience applauded me.
“You can pray to whoever you want to pray, you can say whatever you want to say, and as long as you stay within the general laws, you will be free!” I shouted.

The applause went on and on and on and on for what seemed like eternity. I looked up at the sky and I could see Diana, Rosa, and Gerardo smiling down at me.

I smiled back at them and held Ali close to me, who nuzzled her head against my shoulder.
“This is the way it should be!” I shouted through the applause.