18: Assassins

At the council of assassin guilds:

“Why is that child still alive?”

“She’s 18, she’s no child.”

“You’re still a child, and you’re 130 years old.”

“I’m a dragon! That’s different!”

“Enough! It doesn’t matter if she’s a child or an adult, or an ancient. She’s disrupting our plans. The Clear Sky sect can no longer be considered an ally, and their strength is growing fast.”

“As agreed, I sent Marduk, master of hidden weapons to kill her. He has not reported back. No body has been found. I assume he has betrayed us. Several of the people I sent to track him down have died.”

“When I heard about Marduk’s failure, I sent Killara. I also sent an observer to watch over things in case of a similar outcome. According to the report, after missing her first attack, Killara simply knelt on the ground as Lane spoke to her, then broke out into tears and both of them vanished. No sign of Killara has been seen since.”

“Killara failed too? Her spear skills are quite famous. Could Lane have some sort of sacred artifact protecting her?”

“Not likely. Talisman master Intero failed as well. She’s well known as one of the best at dealing with powerful artifacts. She tried to flee after her failure and has been slain.”

“So, we’ve lost three master assassins then. With nothing to show for it?”

“All I know is the scout that returned after Intero failed, reported she had convinced Intero to betray us with a lecture.”

“She defeated Intero with words?! That’s absurd!”

“Intero didn’t appear to do anything else after the initial attack, so it does seem that way.” 

“What about our efforts to infiltrate her lessons?”

“Only one agent managed to get in, and they quickly betrayed us. Thankfully, they don’t know anything important, but that girl’s words are clearly dangerous.”

…

Marduk’s view

It’s annoying to have to keep fighting to defend myself, but after listening to Lane’s words, I can’t return. Maybe if I had her gift with words I could convince my brethren of how misguided we were, but I know I’d only fail. 

I wanted to bring peace to this world. To end the constant battles and fighting. That’s why I believed in this alliance and devoted myself to serving our leaders. Yet a few well chosen words made me realize I was wrong. How could I have failed to notice it? We can’t create peace in the world through conquering all the other sects, when we don’t even have peace within our own sect. 

Since then, I’ve done some research. I looked at old records. I tracked down family and friends of dead members and realized: More of the sect members have died from conflict within the sect, than from the wars with other sects.

I’d been hoping, really, really hoping, to find evidence that would prove Lane wrong. I didn’t. This world is full of violence, and it’s not the conflict between sects that causes it. It’s the very way we seek to cultivate. We cultivate through taking things from others. It’s at the very heart of every sect. Only a few people receive good resources. Everyone fights over whatever resources they can see. If I really want to create peace, I have to change my entire way of thinking.

Easier said than done.

...

Killara’s view

I thought of myself as powerful. I thought of myself as great. Then I met her: Lane. She laughed at me. Laughed! It was only when I realized I no longer had the strength to even stand before her, that I understood why.

“Don’t you see? Power alone is meaningless. Your control is so bad, I can disrupt your internal ki flow from here.”

Her words… they scared me. I spent many years mastering my martial arts and cultivating my power, all so I’d never feel helpless like this again. Yet, before this woman I’d thought was weak, I could do nothing.

Power… I thought it was everything. I had more ki, more muscle, more power. Yet, I could not stand before Lane unless she let me. Was it really all meaningless?

“You need balance.”

I listened for a long time to her words. Even after we parted ways I continued to replay them in my mind. It took me a few days, but I had an enlightenment because of it. From now on, I abandon my old life. I shall live a new one. A better one. No longer shall I trade my services for causes I do not believe in. I will make my own path.

…

Intero’s view

Wasn’t there supposed to be some sort of after-life review or something? Why am I falling at high speed towards a river? I don’t even have time to contemplate where I went- *splash!*

… 

Boatman’s view:

Fishing souls out of the river is such a terrible job. How did I ever get talked into it? There’s no breaks, no rest time, just an endless stream of new souls to fish out! I can’t even listen to stories of their lives, because they’ll have already forgotten it all by the time I fish them out. I do wish god would find a better way to deal with them. Or maybe automate this so I don’t have to do it.

***Author Note***

I don’t know why there is a dragon assassin. I guess it’s youthful foolishness? Dragons don’t normally get involved in human affairs. My imagination found it funny though.

Well, that wasn’t at all what I originally thought I was going to write for this chapter. None of the main characters even show up! Heck, none of these characters have even shown up previously! Mostly, I just wanted to address the issue of people trying to stop Lane through violent means, since the idea of no one doing so in a cultivation setting would be a little absurd.