Shilon

"...I wonder if there is a leash that binds you to the bidding of these madmen. Or have you truly lost your soul?”"

-Master Taldonis

Leon sat in a beautiful chair positioned in the center of Master Moomow’s large quarters. He faced four young monks kneeling in prayer. Young Thomas strolled quickly through the room’s open doorway and prostrated himself alongside the other monks. Master Leon wiped, shakily, a bead of sweat that was making its way down his face. His bald head gleamed in the candlelight of the room. His eyes swept from one monk to the next. His mouth opened slowly. A tongue ran over his chapped lips as he prepared to address his followers.

“Please arise, my friends. It is time I address my summoning you here.” The monks raised their heads eager to hear the message of their master. “The time has come for you to demonstrate all of the skills you have acquired, all the teachings you have learned, and show forth the faith that you have grown these many years.” The monks looked from one to another in anticipation for what they thought to be another exercise. “For today death has come to meet you, to test you to see if you are true defenders of Harmony.”

The chamber doors groaned as they slowly shut. The students whipped around to behold a large man clad in black stealth-ware, his face hidden behind a black facemask. A loud click resounded from the doors lock as the man twisted the chamber door’s fastener. The students leapt up from their kneeling positions and moved into various martial art forms. The man stepped away from the door walking slowly toward them.

“I am peace, I am death, I am justice.” The figure approached Thomas, who slowly backed into the cluster of other monks. The dark man stopped. “Like a banshee of lore, I will stop your breath with one swift punishment.”

One of the monks seized a short sword from a weapons wrack against the wall and lunged towards the large intruder. The dark man threw a concealed knife into the monk’s forehead, slicing through his brain. The other learners stepped back in shock as their comrade thudded against cold floor, sharing his blood with the cracks in the stone.

“Behold I am Shilon Thrisfalen. I am the avenger of William Thirsfalen. The right to his life was not yours and for this breach, I will kill you all.” Shilon removed his crossbow from the satchel on his back and unsheathed a long knife held to his left thigh. “I will slay you with the ease you slew William while he slept. I will cherish all of your screams as precious jewels. Not even the skill of Yansen can save you now.”

The monks stood dumbfounded. Thomas stepped in front of the group, his voice raised in desperation. “What are you talking about? How were we involved in the death of William?” The monks backed up past Leon, against the chamber’s stain-glass window.

Shilon raised his crossbow facing Thomas. “You should have picked your masters more wisely.” He squeezed the trigger, sending a thick serrated arrow into Thomas’ stomach. The force of the arrow sent Thomas through the window behind him, leaving him to tumble several stories until he impacted the garden floor.

The remaining three monks seized various weapons along the wall and charged Shilon. In the space of seven seconds Shilon decapitated the first monk, slashed through the heart and lungs of the second monk, and opened five arteries in the remaining monk’s arms, legs, and neck.

As the final monk gurgled his last breath, Shilon approached Leon who had been covered with splatter. Commotion could be heard from outside and various panicked voices sounded about the garden below.

Shilon took his bloodied knife and raised the chin of Leon, who was glaring about at his pupils. “I wonder if I should kill you myself or if I should wait for the good Yansen. It would not surprise me if he comes up with a more creative death for the one who ordered the death of his son.”

Leon’s eyes looked up at Shilon. “Yansen? William has no father known by that name among our records. He was a… an illegitimate child.”

Shilon arched his head back and chuckled. “Oh forgive me, I didn’t realize that even the masters of this monastery were so very ignorant. Yansen… I meant your dear master Moomow.” Shilon took his blade away from Leon’s chin and steped away from the chair.

Leon repositioned himself in a casual slouch. He put his hand against his mouth and pondered the new information. He then looked back toward Shilon. “It would seem that both of us possess some semblance of ignorance.”

Shilon glanced curiously back at Leon. “Explain yourself.”

Leon straightened himself up in his chair and continued. “It would appear that your masters have not given you the news of Master Moomow’s death. It would seem that you are waiting for a ghost to come and enact vengeance upon me.”

Shilon raced toward Leon and lifted him out of his chair by the collar. “You lie. No man could kill Yansen. No empire could kill Yansen. The only way one could kill Yansen would be if he allowed them to kill him. And the only reason he would do that would be to…” Shilon’s shoulders sank. His grip on Leon loosened. His face grew pale and a look of terror covered his features. He whispered to himself, “No… If William is also dead then the key keeper will not be adequately protected. I must get to West Port, before the order... ”

Loud chatter could be heard coming from the other side of the chamber doors. Shilon forced Leon in front of him and placed his knife to Leon’s neck. The door bulged along the middle and then splintered open. Several armored monks armed with spears and axes, along with several other monks armed with bows and arrows entered the room. They halted several feet from the bodies of the three slain monks in the front of the room. Shilon moved slowly back with Leon toward the broken window behind him. A voice from the crowd of armored monks called out, “You have nowhere to run agent of Madness. Release Master Leon and we will not kill you.”

Shilon kept his head and body tucked behind Leon until he reached the shattered window. He kept his voice calm and mechanical. “Do not interfere monk. I came for justice and will now leave you, having achieved my aim.”

The monk who called out stepped forward out of the crowd. “I am Master Taldonis and I order you… Release Master Leon or you will surely die.”

Shilon smiled. “He will be given his release, Taldonis, and now I bid you farewell forever, for my ties to this monastery are now forever severed.” Shilon moved his blade from Leon’s neck and forced it through his shoulder blade. He used the knife as a handle to steer Leon over the edge of the window. He then gripped Leon’s waste and fell out the window with him. They both dropped three stories to the garden floor. Leon landed on his back, while Shilon’s feet landed on Leon’s chest, crushing his rib cage, and partially absorbing Shilon’s fall. Shilon then rolled out his remaining momentum, but snagged his face and mask on a protruding root. He jumped to his feet and tore the bloody mask from his face, he looked up to the window he had just plummeted from.

Taldonis ran to the window and looked out at the twilight lit garden. He darted his eyes from the broken and lifeless body of Master Leon to the tall assassin that stood several yards from the dead master’s body. He stared in bewilderment, at a very familiar face that met his gaze. He shouted in a mix of anger and disbelief. “SHILON… Your name was written in the book of recorded heretics and you were banished. Because of this trespass you will be written among the names of the cursed fallen. You will be hunted until your body has been desecrated and your soul has been enchained. YOU WILL DIE SHILON.”

Shilon held his bloody mask up in the air. “This is the last of the blood that your monks will ever shed from me Master Taldonis.” He threw the damp mask to the ground. “I came to avenge my nephew, William Thrisfalen, and I have fulfilled my mission. Now I must attend to matters that dwarf the significance of this pathetic monastery. Send your hunters, but I promise that none of them will return to you alive.” Shilon turned and ran toward a tree that reached over the interior wall. He jumped and pushed himself off the wall, launching up to a thick limb. He pulled himself up the limb then jumped atop the inner wall. He then let himself down the other side.

Master Taldonis relaxed his shoulders and lowered his head. He whispered to himself, “Do you think that anyone could kill the seed of your brother so easily, Shilon? Did our cover-up really trick even the great ones into thinking that William is dead? Or is someone wielding you? I know you are no fool, Shilon, and so I wonder if there is a leash that binds you to the bidding of these madmen. Or have you truly lost your soul?”

(Yeah, so I killed off Master Leon and Thomas, whatcha gonna' do about it. No I'm kidding, please dont kill off my characters. You know, they could still be alive... maybe... If you really wanted them to be. So I sort of replaced the name Martin with the name of some unknown monk called Thomas, so if it seems a little bit odd that I introduced a character and then kill him off it is because I originally had Martin in the post but He already died. Oops!)