Chapter 3

A new master


A sweet smell that came from the burn of incenses was invading Nalveth senses while he stayed in the center of the dark hall, surrounded by all the members of the order of the Sons of the Shadows. The silence was tense and uncomfortable, like the calm that precedes the tempest.
Nalveth looked at his father, Luciel, again, who was watching him with pride eyes while they waited for the priestess to finish the ritual with the ceremonial dagger, the dagger that should be given to the new master of assassins. The honour that was left to Nalveth filled him with pride, but leading the order was not something that attracted him very much. He continued to attend the ceremony while making swiftly looks to whom shall become his followers. They were all dressed with simple coats of dark purple and simple black tunics, clinging with the belts of the order. He observed slowly to the ones reunited until his eyes met with the ones of his sister. Neila was watching expectantly to Nalveth while she held strongly the grip of her bow, just to let go after that and touch it softly. Nalveth knew perfectly that Neila only did that when something was bothering her, and had many reasons for that. That notice shocked Karthael, who couldn’t accept such decision so softly. Show of his anger was, with no doubt, the fact that he didn’t even went to the ritual of ascending of Nalveth, unlike the rest of the order.

-“It’s ready.”- The priestess had finished to bless the ceremonial dagger, using the dark blood that was flowing from a thin slice in her own wrist. The priestess bandaged with a silk bandage the cut and pronounced one single word to stop the haemorrhage and looked with severe eyes to Nalveth. Nalveth approved in silence and made a step forward. Two assistants of the priestess undressed the torso of the future master of assassins with delicacy while the priestess approached with the dagger, still with her own blood.

-“Are you ready Nalveth, son of Shillen, to accept the charge of master of assassins and to lead the order of the Sons of the Shadows as a secret death instrument of the tetrarch?”- Said with ceremony the priestess.
-“I am.”- Said Nalveth.

The dagger began to go around the naked torso of Nalveth while her sharpened blade made a scar that recognized him as the new master of assassins. The pain was intense, but it was neutralized by the enormous pride that meant to receive that rite. The blood was healed with a few words of the priestess as she gave to Nalveth the dagger that carried the master of assassins. Nalveth looked to his father, Luciel, and with a smile, his father bowed, recognizing the new master and after that, in absolute silence, all the members of the order bowed too in signal of respect. However, the formal silence was interrupted by some claps. Nalveth search for the responsible and saw a single silhouette in the middle of the crowd who hasn’t bowed and stood with pride while clapping slowly, in a forced attitude. It was Karthael.
-“Hail, master of assassins.”- Said before he turned back and disappeared from the place.


Two Brothers

-“I don’t like being here.”- Said Luciel, without hiding a deep suspire full of melancholy.
-“But it’s what you must do, my friend.”- Said the tetrarch Thifiell while he closed a huge book with magical aspect. –“This is your new place, the Shillen Temple. Here you can share more effectively your knowledge with the rest of the tetrarchs and masters.”-
-“But I can’t myself from thinking that I’ve abandoned them.”- Answered Luciel. Thifiell watched again to Luciel, this time with a look filled of conviction.
-“They are the Sons of the Shadows, an elite among the assassins of our people in which you served almost three hundred years, Luciel. Your job was marvellous, but the order must renovate, must have young blood to lead it. Your decision to promote yourself to the high nobility of our people and leave the order in charge of your son Nalveth has been the most accurate.”-
-“If I must be sincere…, that’s what worries me.”-
-“What do you mean?”- Thifiell stopped doing his chores and looked intrigued to Luciel.
-“I mean that both Nalveth and Karthael were perfect candidates to be masters of assassins. Karthael has been always my best warrior, my best assassin. A beast thirsty for combat and glory is inside him and I always noticed that he took his relationship with his brothers as a competition to stand out and that way show me his merits. I think… I think that what Karthael desired most was being my right hand and being the leader of the Sons of the Shadows to show everybody his might and of what was he capable. But in the other hand, there is Nalveth. Cold, calculator and patient, he studies his decisions and consequences… he is not so bellicose as his brother and that’s why I chose him. I think that he will carry the order in a good direction.”- Explained Luciel.
-“Then what’s the problem?”- Said Thifiell. Luciel approached the stairs of the temple and observed the dark city of the Dark Elves with worried eyes before talking again.
-“It’s not the possible bad management of Nalveth what worries me…”- Said Luciel, suspiring again. –“What worries me is the silence that Karthael keeps about all this.”-

Three months had passed since Nalveth was promoted to Master of Assassins, but it seemed much more time to Nalveth. During that time he commanded the Sons of the Shadows as his father would do it, sending spies to every city and place to deliver information about any movement, event and notice of the world that could be of interest to the dark elves. The orders were always clear: Stealth, invisibility, discretion and hostility only if the situation required it. All the news that arrived were verified by him and sent to the tetrarchs of the Shillen temple. The Hierarch Mitraell itself was informed of all the movements of the Sons of the Shadows, and it was common that his executor, Kreed, personal assassin of Mitraell, appeared before Nalveth to give him a mission from the Hierarch.
It was something that irritated Nalveth, because the true intention behind the presence of Kreed was to see if he was capable of being the Master of Assassins. However, there was one thing that irritated him more.

-“News about Karthael?”- Asked Nalveth to Koril, one of his bodyguards.
-“We hasn’t receive any inform of him, master.”- Said the bodyguard.
-“It doesn’t surprise me…”- Said Nalveth with sadness.

Karthael had always been very proud and was always anxious to show his father his mighty. He trained in the combat and killing arts almost with a fanatic devotion, and was clearly delighted with the admiration of his fellow comrades when they saw his skills. Karthael and Nalveth were like the two sides of a coin, but above all that there was the blood link and the good relationship among brothers. Nalveth always counted with the help of his brother, and so did Karthael, but since Nalveth was promoted to Master of Assassins, Karthael became aloof and lonely. Nalveth knew that Karthael felt hurt and humiliated for not being the election of his father and also knew that his heart was beginning to envenom with the resentment of a defeated champion: Karthael just couldn’t stand that the new Master of Assassins and leader of the infallible order of the Sons of the Shadows, his father order, were precisely his brother. It became more common as time passed by that certain members denounced a negligent behaviour of Karthael, showing unnecessary hostility and openly attacking objectives that just had to be observed. And what was of more concern to Nalveth it was that Karthael attitude was more and more accepted among various members of the order.

Koril put herself in guard, guiding her hand to the grip of her short sword while she was watching the dark hall of obsidian as she detected a movement in the dark, but she relaxed when Nalveth stood up his hand as a signal of peace.
-“Master…”- Said a feminine voice while she was walking in absolute silence to the room of Nalveth, revealing the beautiful face of Neila, half hidden with a black veil that fell on the shoulder as a mantle.
-“Sister.”- Said Nalveth with a little reverence while he indicated with manners to Koril that she shouldn’t be there. The bodyguard tucked her shoulders and leave in silence. Only then, the brothers began to talk.
-“Must I refer to you with so high respect, master?”- Said Neila, with a funny look.
-“Speak to me like that again, and I’ll send you to get cut your throat”- Said Nalveth with irony. –“You know that I hate that you talk me that way.”-

Neila made a little laugh and took the hair that fell in front of the face of Nalveth, stretching it a little so that way Nalveth had to incline towards her, until his face was a few centimetres of distance from Neila.

-“Really? Only you would have a chance to surprise me from the back, Nal…And you make so much noise that you would find for sure an straight arrow in your heart before you could reach me!”- Said Neila, provocative, before releasing the hair of her brother.
-“Heh… you’re right. Well Neila, there’s something that you want to tell me or you just came to see your brother?”- Said Nalveth.

Neila hesitated a second and turned down her head before speaking. It was then that Nalveth realized that Neila smelled like blood.

-“You have to come with me, Nal. Our brother, Karthael…, has acted again.”-

Secret Plans

-“Where the hell did they come from?!”- The elf went down among the grass while the thirty elves in charge of her searched in the surroundings with their bows prepared.
-“I don’t know, dammit! Three arrows, I think they flied form the north and while our companion felled down… they…”
-“I already know that for Eva’s sake! We have six companion dead and still don’t know who or what have attacked us! Guard the area and form in circle! Open widel…!”

An arrow whistled and went through the throat of the elf, who fell to the ground with a gurgle sound.
Shocked, the elves watched everywhere, in despair to find a target. They fell in the trap of distraction. A leg was cut off with a poisoned dagger and another elf was dragged under the grass with the only noise of the blades piercing his elaborated leather armour. The shadows raised above the grass they crawled taking advantage that the eyes of their enemies was watching the far horizons. In such short distance, the bows were useless, and the elves lend their hands to their belts looking for their daggers and short swords. To slow for Karthael. He showed up from the grass with a victory howl, like the predator that taste’s his prey before killing it. His short and balanced sword danced in a truly demonstration of mortal art, provoking horrible wounds to the elves, deep enough to be mortal, but with enough dexterity as to not kill instantly, giving as result a chorus of agonic screams that made Karthael tremble with the jubilee of his superiority against his disorganized enemies.

-“Kill them! Kill them all! We had enough of the arrogance of these bastards!”- Growled Karthael, while his shadow fellows hailed to his orders as they killed without mercy.
-“Stop! This is a violation to the Splendor Era! We are the escort of the lord…!”- The elf guard was silenced by an envenomed dagger that passed by his side and pierced the throat of the noble that they escorted to the Neutral Zone, Karthael approached the elf guard and his pierced the abdomen.
-“Ha! I don’t give a crap who your lord is, neither what were his intentions! Our lord Mitraell had given me this chance and I pretend to take it!”- Screamed euphoric Karthael while he took out the dagger of the elf body, leaving his entrails on the grass.

Mitraell kept sit down while he felt the kindly touch of his concubines, which danced naked for him. The pleasure and the pain was the only things that the Hierarch was still able to feel with his numb body, immobilized for years thanks to that human sorcerer that betrayed him. One of the concubines sited on him, and he noticed a reach of pleasure when he penetrated her.

-“I hope didn’t come in a bad moment. I wouldn’t like to interrupt something important, my lord.”- Said a voice behind Mitraell. He didn’t need to see the intruder to know who he was.
-“Kreed… I expected news from you. What do you bring to me?”- Said Mitraell, while accompanied the movements of his lover with the games and scratches of his other concubine.

Kreed went near a dark metal table and took a bottle of centenary wine, giving it a good shot. –“The order has been received successfully and right now, Karthael and his followers should be taking care the mission.”- Said while he tasted with a expression of disgust the wine.

-“The lord Hiendel, of the silver nobles. An important noble elf. I almost feel pity for him falling in the hands of that crazy assassin. And the second part of the plan?”- Said Mitraell.
-“As we planned. Nalveth goes to his brother and Luciel don’t suspect anything. Around the half of the order approves the more aggressive politic of Karthael and soon enough they will have an internal conflict.”- said Kreed.
-“Nalveth and Karthael. The sons of Kemler… let’s see who can reach the legend of their father.”- Said with a smile in his face Karthael. –“The Eye of Shillen will see us again soon and a new paladin of the goddess will rise. And then, the Splendor Era will die to release the Raise of Darkness. Keep me informed, Kreed. You can retire.”- Said Mitraell.
-“Yes, my lord.”- Said Kreed, giving his back to his lord and leaving the hall with a smile of impatience. A new order was about to born.