Assassin by Tiffany N. (notion reading list .TXT) 📖

than ten or eleven years old. But his eyes were a cold, solid black that told her he will attack with the intent to kill if anything got close. His jet black hair was messy as usual and his cloths were tattered like he just had a fight. In his hand he had a black and red scythe that looked way too big for him.
“Chill out, Lucas. It’s just me.”
Lucas, the ghost, lowered the scythe a little, but kept it at the ready, “Violet… the gates claim you are no imposter. You may pass.”
As Violet approached the gates, Lucas called after her. “Violet… no trouble?”
She smirked. It might not have shown much, but she was on good terms with Lucas. “No trouble. You?”
He did not answer. His eyes seemed far away.
“Have you found your little sister yet?”
He stiffened. “No. I doubt I ever will.”
“Don’t worry about it. You’ll find her soon. I know it…” she tried to reassure Lucas.
The gates slowly opened showing nothing behind them except the rest of the crater. She paused, and then said, “Lucas, I have a favor to ask you…”

The gates closed behind her and revealed a hidden castle behind it. The stones were grey and the towers soared above her. Perched atop one of the towers was a guarding dragon. Its emerald scales were glistening in the torch light. At the entrance, there were four guards made of a black smoke like material. Their masks hid their faces and had on blood red robes. On their chests was the symbol the shape of a snake wrapped around a sword.
They pulled open the heavy iron doors with abnormal strength, allowing Violet to proceed. After walking though the long, winding hall decorated with spoils of war, she entered the throne room. It was an impressive sight. Two enormous piles of gold and jewels next to the throne were guarded by two Egyptian statues with the head of a dog and the body of a man. Each held torches the size of an elephant with another symbol the same as on the robes of the guards. On the walls were paintings of rare animals that the Lord had captured.
The man that sat on the carefully handcrafted throne was in black robes that were decorated with only the most pure jewels. His black and gold mask hid his entire face. His hair was black with streaks of grey from age.
“Oh! Oh! Violet’s here! That makes twelve. One more left!”
Sitting on the shoulder of one of the statues was Marilyn, she had the appearance of a seventeen year old girl though she was actually four hundred. Her long brown hair rolled to her waists and her ruby red eyes shone with mischief. She wore shorts and a black jacket covered in pockets. She wore black gloves that were decorated with diamonds and sapphires. She also wore combat boots and three necklaces with nearly all the jewels that existed in the world. She couldn’t fit all of them on one so she split it all up. It was no wonder that she was nicknamed the Jewel Hunter.
Violet studied her surroundings. The ten other Assassins were scattered all around the room. She spotted Ventus and Gladius bickering in the corner. Then she spotted Neko, the weird one.
Neko was a major cat lover. Maybe because his family was a long line of Cat Demons. His small but sharp teeth were displayed in his sly smile and he had the ears of a cat too. He wore the regular black cloak that the Assassins wore except for a select few. He was also the most athletic of the Assassins.
Romulus was also there, busy carving something on a wall out of boredom. Romulus was the Assassin’s weapons specialist. He was one of the few, including Violet and Marilyn, who looked close enough to human.
“Hmm? What happened to Thomas? It is not like him to be the last to arrive.” Marilyn pointed out.
“The book worm? I heard rumors that he died on the job.” Romulus said.
Gladius and Ventus stopped fighting at once. “Dead? That’s impossible!” they said together.
“Normally I wouldn’t agree with the block heads, but they have a point. Thomas is our best strategist. He would never go into battle if the risks were too high.” Neko jumped in. Neko might be weird, but he was sharp as ever.
“Yeah!” Gladius agreed. “Wait… what did you call me?”
He waved of the question. “That’s not the point. Romulus, you seem awfully calm for all this.”
All the attention was focused onto Romulus. “What? I knew he was going to die anyways. He was growing too soft to the humans.”
“Yeah, right…” this time, it was Andy who spoke. He was the tech geek who was closest to Thomas. That must be because they were cousins.
Romulus shot him an evil glare and pulled out a knife from his robes. He looked like he was going to attack him when the Lord suddenly intervened.
“Behave your selves in front of me! You may kill each other outside. I don’t want to get my floors dirty after last time.”
Romulus reluctantly slipped his knife back into his sleeve while Andy sighed in relief.
“Well? Line up!” the Lord boomed.
In a flash, the twelve present Assassins were knelt before the Lord.
“It would be useless to continue if there aren’t all thirteen Assassins present. We will have to elect another recruit.” The Lord sighed.
The doors to the throne room were swung open. “Me! Pick me!”
There stood a chubby boy with fat legs and a neck so thick, it seemed like he didn’t have one at all. His brown hair was short and wet like he had just ran ten miles. His black eyes did not possess the hardness of a killer. Violet thought the most he had done was maybe throw rocks at cats (Neko nearly killed him when he did that). He was around fifteen, sixteen at most. This boy was Shay, the spoiled son of the Lord.
“Shay, I told you to stay put in your room…” the Lord sighed once more.
“Yeah, yeah. But I over heard that you need another Assassin! I could be it! I mean I have every thing like speed!” he started running as fast as an old man. “And… umm… power!” he punched to wall, only to yelp in pain and suck his thumb. He stopped when he remembered that everyone was still watching him.
Even with the mask, Violet could tell that the Lord was growing furious as well as embarrassed by his defect of a son.
“Shay! Leave this room at once! We have no time for your useless squabbling!”
Shay seemed hurt, but Violet knew it was only an act.
“At least let me watch! I swear that I won’t interrupt!”
“Fine! If that’s what it takes to shut you up!”
Shay sat on the smaller throne next to his father’s with the look of triumph on his face. Even though he didn’t win anything.
“As I was saying,” the Lord continued, “are there any suggestions for the job?”
Silence filled the room. There weren’t many with the qualifications of being an Assassin. Then Violet had an idea.
“What about Lucas Black my Lord?”
“Lucas? No, no. that won’t do. He is already the guard of the Judgment Gates. Once he takes that job, he cannot leave his post until the Judgment Gates release him from his contract. That is a rarity already.”
Violet felt a little stupid to miss such an obvious factor.
“My greatest apologies, my Lord.”
He waved the apology away and focused on the other Assassins. “Any ideas?”
Neko shifted back and fourth. “What about…”
“What about whom? Speak!”
Neko stiffened, then continued. “What about… Thorn?”
“ARE YOU CRAZY, NEKO?” nearly all of the Assassins blurted out.
Marilyn nearly strangled him. “That guy’s a lunatic! He’ll kill us all! No one can control him! If we release him from the jail, this whole castle is going down!”
“Marilyn… can’t… breathe…”
Marilyn put him down, and then punched him in the gut, sending him back twenty feet.
“Calm down! If you don’t like it pretend that I didn’t say anything!” Neko jumped back with great agility, avoiding another punch from Marilyn.
“… That might not be a bad idea…” the Lord mumbled.
Attention was focused back to the Lord. “Umm… I mean no disrespect, my Lord, but is it wise to let loose Thorn?” Andy said timidly.
“He will be a good addition to the Assassins… as long as there is no restriction to how much he kills… and pay him a good amount… there should be no problem…” the Lord was completely ignoring everyone’s protests.
“I’m starting to think that the Lucas idea wasn’t so bad now…” it was Leo who spoke. He was a half man, half lion. He too was wearing black cloaks. Basically, he was a just muscle brain.
The others also muttered disapprovals.
“If even Leo thinks it’s a bad idea, we’re all doomed…” Gladius sighed.
“My Lord, please reconsider! The risks are much too high…” Violet’s attempts to get though to the Lord were futile. It is as if someone is manipulating his thoughts. She weighed the possibilities. Could it have been Thorn? No. He did not possess such abilities. But something was still nagging at the back of her head.
“Who is everyone talking about?” Shay said, stuffing himself silly with potato chips. “These chips have to be the best thing that those puny humans have ever made!”
“Silence, Shay!” the Lord’s temper was raising. “Violet, Marilyn, Leo. You three are to keep an eye on him for the next three days you are here.” He pointed his long finger at the pig beside him.
“SAY what?” Shay exploded, choking on a chip.
Ignoring Shay, the Lord proceeded. “I don’t want Thorn near him. Shay is too weak to defend himself in case Thorn is tempted to attack him.”
“So we are going to release Thorn?” Neko shivered.
The Lord did not answer. He seemed to be in deep thought. Or he was listening to someone through his thoughts. “Of course… why did I not think of this earlier… that should work…”
The Assassins froze in place. Someone, or something, was watching. Its presence was unfamiliar. And above all, powerful. Even the statues sprang to life, raising their shields and spears to the ready. Violet glanced at the windows. Nothing. She could not detect anything through the shadows either. Gladius was using his highly trained nose and sniffing the air. Still nothing.
From the sound of the Lord’s mutterings and Shay’s constant crunching, they have not noticed… yet.
The Lord’s voice broke her concentration. “It is decided than! Thorn will be the new member of the Assassins! Summon him here at once!”

Chapter 6: That's a Secret

Jake did not particularly like the scene shown to him at the other side of the hill. There were at least a