Snow fell silently over the fortress. The air was heavy with expectation.
Khalid summoned Arian to the Hall of Shadows a cavern lit only by oil lamps, where stone walls were etched with the names of assassins who had succeeded... and those who had failed.
At the center, on a pedestal, lay a small scroll sealed with black wax.
Khalid (sternly):
"Your training is nothing without blood. Tonight, you prove if you are hunter… or prey."
He handed Arian the scroll. His hands trembled as he broke the seal. The parchment revealed a single line:
Target: Karim ibn Wali – Merchant of Jalalabad.
Reason: He betrayed the League. His tongue wagged where silence was required.
Arian swallowed hard. This was not training anymore. This was death, deliberate and chosen.
Arian (quietly):
"And if I fail?"
Khalid's gaze was merciless.
Khalid:
"Then your bones will join the mountain."
….
…...
That night, cloaked in black, Arian descended from the mountains for the first time since his capture.
Arian on a rooftop, crouched in shadows looking at the bustling city of Jalalabad, it overwhelmed him, glowing lanterns, markets, people laughing, the smell of spices and roasted lamb. It all felt… foreign. Like another life he had been stolen from.
But Khalid's words echoed in his skull: Hunter or prey.
Karim, the target, was no warrior. He was a wealthy merchant, fat and smiling, surrounded by guards.
Arian followed him from the rooftops, learning how the man walked, how he laughed, when he was alone. His fingers itched on the hilt of his blade.
But as the moment came near his heart pounded. His breath grew shallow. The knife felt impossibly heavy.
Karim entered his courtyard. His guards dispersed.
This was the chance.
Arian leapt down silently, landing behind him. The knife rose, blade gleaming in moonlight
But then… Arian froze.
The man's laughter reminded him of his father. His hand trembled violently.
Arian (whisper, to himself):
"I… I can't…"
Suddenly, a voice slithered from the shadows.
Khalid (appearing, sharp tone):
"Hesitation. I warned you."
Karim turned at the sound, his eyes wide
Instinct surged. Without thought, Arian drove the blade forward.
The steel slid between ribs. Hot blood spilled across his hands.
Karim gasped, eyes wide with shock, then collapsed. The courtyard was silent, except for the sound of Arian's ragged breathing.
He stared at the blood on his hands. It looked black in the moonlight.
Arian (thinking, horrified):
"This… this is what I am now…"
Khalid stepped forward, eyes gleaming in the dark.
Khalid (calmly):
"Now you understand. Death is not an act. It is a language. And tonight… you spoke it."
Arian stumbled away, his body trembling. He wanted to vomit. His heart screamed that he had killed a man.
But then he remembered his mother's face, the night he was taken, the blood of those who had stolen him. And something inside hardened.
He clenched his fist around the dagger.
Arian (low, resolute):
Arian standing over the corpse, moonlight behind him, his face half in shadow. One eye trembling with fear… the other burning with new resolve. "Then I will learn to speak this language… until I am its master."
"To be Continued"