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CHAPTER 1
It started out as just a normal day for Ja'far. He woke up early and prepared for the day. He took a walk around the Sindrian palace before he had to force Sin out of bed. The silver haired assassin allowed Sin to sleep in on most days because he was the king, of course. Sinbad had the luxury to rest for as long as he wanted. Ja'far, however, did not have that luxury. As the king's most trusted adviser, Ja'far had to handle most of the work around the palace. Well, he probably didn't have to handle most of the work. Ja'far could have allowed some of the other generals to help him. However, just the thought of Sharrkon or Pisti handling very important documents made Ja'far panic. Also, everyone in Sindria knows that Sinbad will do almost anything to avoid working. Therefore, the former assassin pretty much has to handle all of the work by himself.
Ja'far sighed as he approached the king's bedroom. Surprisingly, Ja'far could not hear Sin snoring like he usually is. Ja'far cautiously opened the door and stepped into the room. The thick, luxurious curtains were still closed so the large room was too dark to see anything. Walking closer to the king-sized bed, Ja'far asked, "Sin, are you awake yet? You should be getting up soon; there is a lot of important work you need to do to-" Ja'far stopped when he saw that Sin was not currently in his bed sleeping like he was expecting. Ja'far heard the wood floor creak behind him and he quickly turned around while readying the wires around his arms. Just as he was about to attack the intruder with his weapon, the silver-haired assassin was pulled into a tight hug. Ja'far quickly realized that the "intruder" was actually Sinbad who had managed to sneak up on the former assassin. Ja'far managed to push himself away from the king before he was suffocated by the surprise hug attack.
"Sin! What are you doing. Let go of me!" Ja'far tried to struggle out of Sin's grasp.
"Good morning Ja'far. It is a beautiful morning isn't it?" Sinbad sighed happily while ignoring his adviser's requests to let him go.
"We cannot waste any time today, Sin! There is a lot of work to do. Plus, knowing you, I'm going to have to do most of your work for you."
"Will you stay the night with me tonight Ja'far?" Sinbad asked as innocently as possible, still ignoring his adviser.
"Did you hear what I just said? There is too much work to do today. So, no, I cannot spend the night here."
"Would you spend the night with me later if I got all of my work done today?" Sinbad questioned.
Damn him Ja'far thought. Sin always knows what to say to get what he wants.
". . ."
I'm not going to let him get his way this time! This time it will be different. I need to teach him that he can't have everything he wants just because he is the king!
"Well? I promise I will do all my work to the best of my abilities and I will not bother you at all the entire day," Sinbad argued.
". . ."
No! I cannot give in! I will regret it tomorrow if I give in.
"Please Ja'far, it's been too long since you last stayed the night. I will even get all my work done tomorrow as well."
". . . I don't know Sin . . ."
"Today and Tomorrow's work will be done completely and quickly with no complaining from me, I promise."
"Well . . . Okay fine! You better keep your promise though, or I might never listen to you again."
"Thank you Ja'far. I promise you won't regret this. Plus, a true king never breaks his promises." With that, Sin released his adviser from the hug and ran out the door yelling, "Come on Ja'far! We have lots of work to do today."
The freckled assassin sighed and slowly followed his king. Darn king! Sometimes I really hate him. This is going to be a long day.
CHAPTER 2
It's cold. Why am I so cold. Ja'far shivered as he began to regain consciousness. He somehow couldn't remember what happened yesterday or when he went to bed. I must have gone to bed at some point or I wouldn't be just waking up now. I must have left the window open otherwise I wouldn't be this cold. The silver-haired assassin carefully opened his eyes expecting to see the bright sun. However, all Ja'far saw was blackness. It must still be night time then. He heard some soft sounds coming from the darkness. The former-assassin began to panic before remembering a little of what happened the night before. Oh, that's right. I went to bed with Sin didn't I. That would explain why I'm so cold; it is because I don't have any clothes on. Knowing Sin, he probably stole the entire blanket. Since I don't remember much, we might have drank some wine before going to bed. Might explain the headache I have too. Ja'far attempted to rub his sore head but his arms were restrained. Panic awakened his senses and he quickly realized that he was not in his or Sin's palace room. He was, in fact, blindfolded with his wrists restrained above his head and his ankles also restrained. He tried pulling at the restraints but failed miserably. Whoever trapped me like this knew not to underestimate my strength.
"So you're finally awake are ya?" Said a voice that sounded way too familiar to Ja'far. "We must'a knocked ya out good. I thought ya were gonna sleep for a week." Well I guess I know where the headache came from.
"Who are you? What do you want with me?"
"I can't believe ya don't rememba your ol' pals. I'm so sad." With that the whole room erupted in a mixture of agreements and laughter.
"Let me go right now or I'll kill you all whether you were my friends or not!" Ja'far tried to sound as intimidating as possible but it probably wasn't working because he obviously didn't look very intimidating.
"Oh I'm so scared. What are ya gonna do? Threaten me to death?" Again the room erupted in more laughter.
Suddenly, the blindfold around Ja'far's eyes was removed and he could clearly see who his captors were. It can't be, he thought. There, standing before him, was his old Partavian assassin's guild, Sham Lash. It's leader, Azhar, was standing closest to the former assassin. It had been more than ten years since Ja'far had left that place. The silver-haired man, or teen at the time, had chosen to stay with Sinbad instead after he had failed to kill the soon-to-be king. Ja'far had hoped that they would never find him in Sindria. After ten years, he thought they had forgotten him and he was just starting to forget them. As if to answer Ja'far's toughts, the leader said, "I bet ya thought we'd forgotten ya? Well you're wrong. Sham Lash never forgets a traitor, do we?" The rest of the guild shouted in agreement to their leader.
"Why am I a traitor?" Ja'far asked but he was fairly sure he already knew the answer.
"Because ya failed to kill your target, that's why."
Sin.
"And I'm sure you still remember what happens to the people who fail to kill their target," said the leader with an evil grin spread across his face. It was true that Ja'far had not forgotten what happened to the poor souls who failed to kill their target. He could still clearly remember their pained screaming. The former assassin had hoped that he would never have to share the same fate. However, it seemed to him that he would not be lucky enough to avoid it any longer.
Meanwhile, in Sindria. The king was finally waking up from a pleasant night's sleep. He awoke with a smile as he recalled the previous night's activities. The beautiful sunlight shining through the palace windows made the morning feel even more pleasent. Sinbad looked over but Ja'far was not next to him. That's not a surprise; he usually wakes up much earlier than I do. I am surprised that he hasn't woken me up by now though. I would have thought he would, considering that I promised to get all my work done today as well. I better get to it. And with that, the king of Sindria got up and got ready to start the day.
CHAPTER 3
Ja'far struggled against the chains on his wrists and ankles. It was of no use. He was kidnapped by assassins, of course it would be impossible to escape. What do I do? This is bad. This is really really bad! He knew he wouldn't die. The punishment for not killing a target was meant to convince the person never to do it again. It was not, however, to kill them. It was meant to be a reminder of the treason they committed that would stay with that person forever. It was different for each person that committed the crime but it always left an unmistakable scar. Not a mental scar. A literal, painful, permanent scar or multiple scars if the assassin's leader was feeling extra generous. The silver-haired man hoped that Azhar was not feeling generous today. However, it seemed that the leader of the assassins felt more generous today than he had been in many years. Probably 10 years to be exact.
"Ya should be excited Ja'far. I have been saving my favorite knife especially for ya. Do ya want to know why it is so special? It has a unique poison in the blade that makes it impossible for people to escape the pain. Most people would faint fairly quickly when I'm use'n this knife. But with this poison, fainting will not be an option for you. Oh no, I want you to feel every bit of this," Azhar said in a voice that made Ja'far cringe.
You could say that all of the assassins in Sham Lash were creepy. Azhar, however, was especially dreadful. It seemed like every aspect of him was menacing. He had white hair like Ja'far and most of Partavia's residents. Except, he died strips of it red to look like the blood of his victims. His face and ears were covered with more piercings than all of the eight generals of Sindria combined. It could be almost double the number of piercings. Most skilled assassins avoid piercings and other distinguishable features to blend in easier. However, Sham Lash's leader was vain. He wanted people to know what he looked like. He wanted his name to be feared among all the people of the world. He wanted there to be posters up in every village with his face saying "wanted for mass murder and assassination." He was despicable. Assassins in general are always considered despicable but he, he was on a whole different level of wretchedness. Ja'far never got scared easily but the leader of the assassins terrified him. The only reason the silver-haired teen did not run away from his assassination life sooner was because he was scared of his leader. He stayed with Sinbad because he thought that maybe Sinbad could be more powerful than Azhar. Ja'far hoped he was right about that.
Azhar neared him with the poisoned knife in hand. Ja'far could already feel the pain just by looking at the blade. It was designed to cause pain with its nasty serrated edge and the blade just dull enough to cause more agony without making it harder for the wielder of the knife.
"Let's see. Where shall we cut ya," the leader said while holding the knife above Ja'far in different places as if to see what felt like a good spot. Ja'far tried to stop himself from shivering in fear.
"We could cut up your girly, pretty freckles? Or we could cut up your arms to make it painful to use those wires ya love so much? What do ya think?" he asked even though he was never going to let his victim pick where he was going to cut.
"How about neither?" Ja'far said anyway trying to sound smart.
"Ooh, I know exactly where to give ya some pretty scars. Since ya ran away from us. I will cut your legs as a permanent reminder of what ya did, ya traitor!" The whole room yelled in agreement at that and now Ja'far was starting to panic more than he had in his entire life.
Azhar gave a few of his men a look and it seemed as if he said something to them telepathically because they went right to the small, helpless man and held his legs down even more. As if the chains were not enough.
The last thing Ja'far saw was Azhar's sadistic smile before his vision went completely white with pain. He hoped that his screaming could be heard from Sindria so that Sinbad could find him and rescue him. It seemed to Ja'far that Sin probably could hear him even from that distant island. Ja'far thought that it was a good idea for Azhar to have his men hold him because he felt like he could break those chains in an instant with all the pain he was experiencing at the moment. After what seemed like an eternity, the pain finally dissipated and the pale assassin, now more pale from blood loss (if it was even possible for him to be more pale), was able to breath for a little bit. But all too soon did the pain start again on the inside of his other leg. The whole process was repeated over again except this time Ja'far did not have enough energy to break the chains or scream. He was purely paralyzed with agony. Before he knew that it was over with, Ja'far's legs were being stitched up by another member of Sham Lash. Ja'far did not like needles or stitches but it sure felt a hell of a lot better than what he had just been through. The stitches were to stop him from dying of blood loss. Plus, they were done poorly on purpose to make a more distinct scar.
The leader just laughed as he wiped off his knife and put it away. "That was fun," he said. "Wanna do it again sometime?" He asked, clearly pleased with his work. After Ja'far was done being stitched up, the ghost-like man was unchained and dragged up in front of a dirty, old mirror so that he could see his now torn up legs. It made Ja'far sick how all these assassins found it enjoyable to see someone like this; suffering.
"Let this be an example to all of ya who would even think about betraying us! You cannot escape from us!" The leader yelled to all his men. Some were silent in fear, others shouted in agreement.
Ja'far was then thrown, quite literally, into a prison cell where sleep finally overcame him.
CHAPTER 4
Sinbad decided to start the wonderful morning with some breakfast, so he went to the palace kitchens and grabbed whatever was sitting on the table. He was careful not to get caught by the chef who would be mad to see Sin stealing a pastry. King Sinbad was walking down a palace hall with his breakfast in his mouth when he ran into Masrur.
"Hey Masrur, have you seen Ja'far anywhere? I haven't seen him around the palace this morning," he said after removing the pastry from his mouth.
"No, I haven't. I was just in the office. He wasn't there. I thought he was with you," the redheaded general said. Sinbad got a little worried after that response. If Ja'far wasn't in the palace office, Sinbad didn't know where he would be.
"Thanks Masrur. I am going to keep looking for him. If you see him around anywhere, let me know and tell him that I have been looking for him."
"Okay," said Masrur. Most people thought the Fanalis did not have any emotions. However, Sinbad knew him well enough to tell that he, like Sinbad, was a little worried.
Sinbad went to Ja'far's bedroom in the palace to see if he was in there. Sinbad highly doubted that he would be sleeping but it was still a possibility. The king of Sindria knocked on the door carefully at first as to not disturb Ja'far if he really was sleeping. After waiting a few minutes, he knocked harder. "Ja'far?" he said. "Are you in there?" With no response, Sin opened the unlocked door and stepped in. As he predicted, the room was empty. It did not appear that Ja'far even went back to his room after staying with Sinbad. That fact made Sinbad's concern double. He went to the office to see if his adviser was there even though Masrur said he wasn't in there. The only person in the room was Yamuraiha looking at some papers concerning magic.
"Yamuraiha, have you seen Ja'far anywhere?" Sin asked his female general.
"I'm sorry Sinbad, but I have not seen him today," the magician said.
"Can you use your magic to find him?"
"I can use Clairvoyance magic to see where he was a few hours ago. Maybe if he went somewhere, it could show us where."
"Could you do that for me, please?"
"Of course," she said as she used her staff to cast the spell. Instantly, a watery figure of Ja'far appeared before them.
"How far back do you want me to look?"
"Could you start at midnight?" The king said. He clearly did not realize where they were at midnight.
"Sure thing—"
"NO WAIT!" Sinbad tried to say in time. However, it was already too late. Before them were two watery figures curled up in Sinbad's bed together. Yamuraiha blushed and the king was pretty sure he was blushing too. She cleared her throat to try and break free of the awkwardness.
"Is this why you don't want a wife?" she said.
"Maybe," Sinbad said shyly.
"Actually, I don't want to know. Let's just fast forward." The magician used her staff to quicken the watery scene before them. She stopped speeding the image up when they noticed some activity. They saw Ja'far wake up and uncurl himself carefully from Sinbad's grasp. He got out of the bed and walked out onto the balcony connected to the king's palace room. At first, Ja'far seemed to be acting very normally until he suddenly fell over seemingly unconscious.
"What happened? Why did he fall over?" Sin asked worriedly.
"I don't know. He could have been knocked out by something."
"Or someone?"
"Maybe. We just need to keep watching and see."
They didn't have to watch for much longer at all before Ja'far was picked up and carried away by an unknown force. They were able to follow the watery figure of Ja'far to an abandoned building near the edge of the Sindrian isle.
"That's it! That's where he is! Let's go. I will not wait another minute," Sinbad exclaimed. He was already half way out the door before Yamuraiha stopped him.
"Wait, your Majesty! With the Clairvoyance magic, we cannot see who took him there or what their numbers are. It is way too risky to go barging in there without a plan!"
"I don't care how many people are there! You cannot stop me from rescuing him!"
"I know I can't stop you," she sighed. "At least let the other generals come with you to reduce the risk of Sindria's king getting killed."
"Okay. Assemble the generals. Tell them to be prepared to fight if we need to."
"Yes, my king. I will do that right away," the female general said before leaving to assemble the other generals.
When the seven generals and Sinbad arrived at the building on the edge of the island, they were prepared to fight if necessary. However, they did not expect the building to be empty. There was no one in sight. The building looked like it might have been an old illegal slave trader's building. It had chains everywhere; hanging on the wall, attached to chairs and tables, and hanging from the ceiling. It was a large building so there was definitely more to it. It was probably abandoned because slavery is illegal in Sindria so it must have been closed down ages ago. There was no sign of Ja'far or anyone else in the building. However, Sinbad couldn't leave without scouring every inch of the property . . . twice.
"Split up! Look in every room," Sinbad commanded his generals. Ja'far must be here! He has to be. I will not give up until I find him, Sin thought to himself.
The generals had not been searching long before one of them found something.
"King Sinbad! Come look at this," Spartos yelled from a different room. Sinbad and all of the generals ran to the source of Spartos' voice. What they saw was a sickening sight. It was a stone table covered in fresh blood with chains at either end. It was impossible to tell if the blood was from Ja'far or not but they all had a feeling that it was.
"Sinbad, I'm sorry but if he really did lose this much blood, he is probably d—," Yamuraiha began to say.
"No! I refuse to accept that he is dead. I just know that he is still alive. This just makes our search all the more urgent," Sinbad said to his generals. "Keep looking, please."
All the generals continued to search, now faster than ever. Most of them grew more doubtful by the minute. They had begun to accept that Ja'far, their friend, was truly dead. Sinbad, however, was not deterred. He had a feeling that Ja'far was still alive. That thought pushed him to search more quickly. That was the reason that he was the only one still searching when all the other generals had gone home to the palace.
Sinbad was just about to give up as well when he spotted something unusual. He was surprised that no one noticed it before. There was a rug covering the floor in one of the rooms. It was unusual because, one, who puts a nice rug in a slave trader's building, and two, the building had been abandoned for years but the rug looked practically new. Sure enough, when Sinbad lifted the rug, there was a door hidden in the floor. Inside the door was a staircase that led to a basement level. The basement was filled with prison cells. They were lining all of the walls. They were all unused except for one. In a prison cell at the far end of the room was Ja'far with no clothes and covered in blood. Sinbad rushed over to him to check if he was alive. Sure enough, he was still breathing slightly. The silver-haired man was only unconscious.
"Thank God," Sinbad exclaimed. "See, I knew you were still alive, Ja'far. You couldn't die with all the work still left to do," Sinbad said to no one since Ja'far couldn't hear him. Sinbad took off one of his outer robes and wrapped in around the sleeping assassin. Not knowing where all the blood was coming from, Sinbad carefully lifted Ja'far and carried him back home.
CHAPTER 5
When Ja'far woke up, he didn't know where he was. All he knew was that he was not in that same place he fell asleep at. He was not sleeping on the floor of a prison cell. He was, in fact, sleeping on something soft. It occurred to Ja'far that this was the second time in a row that he had woken up in a different place than where he fell asleep at. This place seemed like a more pleasant place to wake up than the last place was. Ja'far opened his eyes slowly to see where he was. He was blinded by the sunlight for a few seconds. Once his eyes adjusted, he saw that he was, in fact, in a bed, more accurately, Sin's bed in the palace. If it were not for the pain in his legs, the silver-haired assassin would have thought that it was all just a bad dream.
Ja'far tried to sit up but there was a weight on his chest preventing him from doing so. He looked down to see Sinbad sleeping with his head being the object preventing Ja'far from getting up.
"Sin?" Ja'far asked.
Sindria's king quickly jumped up. Once he noticed who had said his name, he blushed a little and scratched his head in embarrassment. "I was just checking your heartbeat to see if you were still alive," he said awkwardly.
". . ."
"Yamuraiha told me to do that. Yes, that's what happened."
". . ."
"Sorry, Ja'far. I fell asleep," Sinbad finally admitted.
"How did I get here?" Ja'far asked Sinbad.
"Yamuraiha used Clairvoyance magic. It showed us where they had taken you."
" So, I wasn't in Partavia?"
"No. You were in an abandoned building on the edge of the island. No one was there when we went there. You were unconscious when I found you."
"How long was I out?"
"You were out for a few days."
"A few days!"
"Yeah. Yamuraiha said it was because you lost so much blood," Sinbad said, looking down at his adviser's bandaged legs.
"Oh."
"She said that if it weren't for those stitches, you would have definitely died," Sin continued. "Did you do those yourself?"
"No, they did those. They wanted me alive for some reason."
"Oh."
"Thank you," Ja'far said quietly.
"For what?"
"For getting me out of there."
"Sorry," Sinbad said quietly after a short pause.
"Sorry for what?"
"Sorry for letting them do this to you in the first place."
"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault, Sin," Ja'far said. However, Ja'far did not tell him that it was almost half his fault because if Sinbad had let the former-assassin kill him like he was supposed to, none of this would have happened. Ja'far didn't blame Sinbad though. He was grateful that Sin had not let Ja'far kill him. The new scars on his legs were just a small price he had to pay compared to the many wonderful years he has spent with Sin.
Neither of them spoke for some time. After a while, the silence was interrupted by an all-to-familiar voice.
"Oi, Freckles," the voice said. Sinbad and 'Freckles' looked over to see that the voice was coming from Judar who was currently floating outside a window.
"Good! You're finally awake. I thought I was gonna have to wait around here all week," Judar said as he flew over to the open balcony and walked in.
"You've been flying around here this whole time?" Ja'far said angrily.
"Yeah, I have been. Just be glad I didn't kill you both in your sleep. Trust me, I had plenty of opportunities," the Magi said.
"What do you want Judar," Sinbad said harshly.
"Some weird assassin guys wanted me to give Freckles this," he walked closer and held out an envelope with Ja'far's name on it. Sinbad went to take it from Judar. However, Judal hit Sinbad on the head with the envelope and said, "They said to give it to Freckles, not you!" With that Judar threw the envelope at Ja'far and walked back out onto the balcony. "Don't worry. I'm leaving Sindria," Judar said before using his magic to float away from the island.
"That was weird," Ja'far said while picking up the envelope and opening it.
"What's in the envelope?" Sinbad asked Ja'far.
"I don't know."
Inside the envelope was a message from the leader of Sham Lash.
Be prepared, It said. Be prepared. Now that we know where you and your old target are hiding, we'll be coming to finish off the job that you failed. Say goodbye to your beloved king.
CHAPTER 6
Ja'far's expression turned into pure terror after reading that message. Sinbad quickly snatched the letter away from him to see what scared his adviser so much. Sin being the oblivious king he is, asked Ja'far, "Is the 'beloved king' me?"
"Yes! Yes, Sin, it is you. They are going to try and kill you," Ja'far yelled angrily. He wasn't mad at Sinbad for asking the question; he was more upset at himself for getting them into this mess. What made Ja'far even angrier was the fact that if the assassins did attack Sinbad soon, he would be unable to protect his king because of his legs. The assassins, no doubt, planned it that way. Ja'far should not have underestimated their intelligence. It occurred to the freckled assassin that if they were capable of using intelligence to fight against Sindria, he could use intelligence to fight against them. A plan started to form in Ja'far's mind. This might actually work, he thought.
"Sin! I might have an idea. We need to hold a meeting with all the other generals as soon as possible," Ja'far said. He got up out of the bed to start assembling the other generals. However, as soon as he stood up on his newly scarred legs, he winced in pain and collapsed on the floor. Sinbad rushed over to help him.
"Are you alright? You shouldn't try to walk yet. It could reopen your wounds," Sinbad said as he knelt down by his adviser.
"Dammit!" Ja'far shouted as he slammed his fist into the floor. "I am completely useless to you now. I can't do anything on my own until these stupid scars heal."
"Ja'far don't say that! You are not useless!" Sinbad almost yelled until something caught his attention. Ja'far was crying. Sinbad couldn't see his eyes or face from the way Ja'far was looking at the floor. However, he could see the teardrops as they fell from Ja'far's face to the floor where there was a damp spot forming.
"Ja'far?" Sinbad asked in surprise. In the ten years Sin had known Ja'far, he had never seen his adviser cry.
"I can't do anything now. I'm useless," Ja'far said as he cried. He kept saying those words over and over again. Sinbad didn't know what to say to comfort his friend. Instead, Sin decided to stop Ja'far's crying by kissing him. It was nothing special but it did stop the tears.
"You will never be useless to me Ja'far. Just because you cannot use your legs now, does not mean that you will never be able to use them. Even if you could never use your legs again, I would still value you as my adviser and as my closest friend. You said you had a plan, right? That just proves my point. You are not useless now and you never will be."
"Thank you, Sin."
"If you're ready, I will assemble all the generals to discuss your strategy."
"Sure."
"Do you want me to gather them in here so you don't have to walk at all?"
"No, don't do that. Have them gather in our normal meeting room. I can walk there. . . I just might need a little help."
"Okay. I'll be back in a minute." With that, Sinbad helped his friend off the floor and left to find the other generals.
The king of Sindria was back after a few minutes. "I gathered all the other generals. They are just waiting for us now," Sinbad said. "Do you want to put your arm around me for support?"
"If you wouldn't mind," Ja'far said, slightly embarrassed.
"Of course not."
Sinbad helped Ja'far to stand up. Even while being supported by Sin, it was still very painful for Ja'far to walk. He was wincing in pain after almost every step he took. Sinbad would have liked to pick up Ja'far and carry him to the meeting hall where the generals were waiting, however, he didn't think that his adviser would like that too much.
When they finally made it to the meeting hall in the palace, the other generals were all there as expected. However, the other generals were not expecting to see Ja'far walking, even if he was mostly being held up by king Sinbad. It pained them all to see him in this condition. They had all seen the awful lacerations on his legs after Sinbad had carried him back to the palace. Of course, when Sinbad did bring him back, they were extremely grateful that Ja'far was alive, however, it saddened them to think of all the agony he would have to endure when he regained consciousness. None of them knew exactly how the young adviser got his legs carved up but they were almost positive that it was not an accident. Someone had to have done that to him. The fact that someone would do something that cruel to him made them all feel sick.
Sinbad carefully set Ja'far down on one of the open chairs at the large table. The way he was breathing, you would think that he just ran a marathon. Sinbad sat down in the chair next to his adviser. The room was silent except for the sound of Ja'far breathing heavily as he recovered from the painful walk. After he calmed down enough to speak, Ja'far explained about what happened to him. He told everyone about his past as an assassin. He explained that the reason he received his scars was because he failed to kill Sinbad ten years ago. Lastly, he showed all of the other generals the message delivered by Judar.
"What are we going to do? If Sham Lash is as powerful as you make them sound, how are we going to protect Sinbad?" Sharrkon questioned.
"Don't worry," Ja'far reassured everyone. "I have an idea that just might work."
CHAPTER 7
The guild of assassins made their way to the entrance of the Sindrian palace. Including the leader, there were 47 of them total. All of the assassins were well armed and prepared for a fight. They knew Sindria was a large and prosperous country with many people, so they were ready to fight them all. However, they were surprised at how few guards were posted outside the royal palace. Most of the guards that were there, dropped their weapons and ran away at the sight of Sham Lash. The assassins were disappointed with the guards' cowardice. They expected a long and enjoyable fight, instead, they were confronted with guards that wouldn't put up a fight. There was no signs of the eight Sindrian generals either. The assassins wanted to kill every last one of the generals and their king. They all hated the fact that Sinbad wasn't killed by Ja'far ten years ago. Now they were at the palace to correct the mistake.
Once they entered the palace, they found that there was no one in sight. The place looked completely deserted. What is going on here, they all thought. Azhar, Sham Lash's leader, heard something being whispered behind a nearby door. "We need to get to the throne room soon to protect king Sinbad," the voice said. Azhar quickly motioned for his men to be silent. He then located the door where he heard the voice. He thought that it had to be one of the generals. They had said that Sinbad was in the throne room. Idiot generals, he thought. How in the world have they managed to keep Sinbad safe for all this time? He must not have very high standards for his generals. He even made an assassin who was trying to kill him a general. What a stupid king.
Azhar kicked open the door to see a large generals with white hair and another large general with red hair standing inside. They both started to run away from the assassins.
"Quick! Follow them!" the leader yelled.
All of the assassins ran after them. They were hoping that the two generals would lead them to Sinbad. After chasing the generals for a while, the assassins got their wish. The two men ran into a large open room. Against the far wall of the room was Sinbad with only a regular sword to protect himself. His generals quickly ran next to him. The assassins could see that the room was completely open and it had no windows or other doors. While they were still outside of the room, all of Sham Lash laughed at the pathetic looking king.
"We've got ya trapped now, king Sinbad!" Azhar said. "Prepare to die."
He then ordered all of his men to kill Sinbad. Azhar wasn't sure but he thought he saw a slight smile on Sinbad's face as his men ran into the room. He grew a little suspicious and decided to let his men charge in the room while he waited outside in case there were any traps. Before some of his most trustworthy men ran into the room, he stopped them. "Wait," he said. "Stay outside the room for now."
He wanted to be safe in case Sinbad was truly planning something, so he had three other assassins wait with him outside the throne room. What is Sinbad planning?
Earlier that day.
"Don't worry," Ja'far reassured everyone. "I have an idea and it just might work."
"Let's hear it!" Sharrkon shouted excitedly.
"Okay, first we need to tell the people of Sindria to stay inside their homes for the day. Also, tell all the people working in the palace to go home for the day. Drakon, Hinahoho, would you do that for me?"
"Of course," They both said.
"We should then tell the guards to not attack if they see Sham Lash. We don't want any of this country's people to die today, so the guards should be alerted to not provoke any of the assassins. Instead, they should run away to alert us when Sham Lash does show up. Spartos, can you notify them of the plan?"
"If that is what you require of me, then yes."
"Pisti, since you are small enough to hide easily, will you stay hidden in the palace and keep track of the assassins' location. Just be careful that you are not seen."
"Sure thing Ja'far," she said.
"Now for the actual plan. Sharrkon, Masrur, you will both hide in one of the rooms on the main floor. When the assassins get there, you must lure them to the throne room without them getting suspicious. Be careful not to get yourselves trapped in a corner. Just make sure that you get all of them to the throne room, okay?"
"Sounds like a fun challenge!" Sharrkon answered.
"Sin, you will stand at the back wall of the throne room to lure them all into the throne room. Sharrkon and Masrur, once you get to the throne room, run back to where Sin will be standing and stand by him. Yamuraiha, you and I will stand by Sinbad while you use your invisibility magic so that they don't see us. Once they are all lured into the room, you need to use a water spell to cover the floor with water. Except, make sure not to get yourself or any of us wet. Do you have a spell that would work for that?"
"Yes, I think I have something that would do the trick."
"Wait, back up a minute. Why am I bait?" Sinbad questioned.
"Because you are the one they are trying to kill, remember."
"I still don't know why I, the king, has to be bait."
"Just listen to the rest of the plan, Sin."
"Okay fine."
"Thank you. Okay, once all the assassins are standing in water, I can use Balalaq Sei to electrocute them all with its lightening magic. Hopefully that will kill them instantly."
"You're right, that might just work," Sharrkon said.
"That's brilliant Ja'far!" Sinbad exclaimed. "I don't even mind being bait anymore."
"Thank you. Now everyone go to your assigned tasks. I have a feeling that they could be here any minute.
All the assassins, except for Azhar and three others, had run into the throne room. They were completely oblivious to what Ja'far was planning. The other generals could barely hide their excitement as the plan was going perfectly. Yamuraiha cast her water spell that spread a few feet of water over the room. The assassins were all puzzled by the water that appeared out of nowhere. They instantly stopped in their tracks. Once Yamuraiha stopped her invisibility spell, Ja'far quickly attacked the water with his wires.
"Balalaq Sei!"
The floor that was covered in water lit up with lightning. All of the assassins within the room were shocked by the electricity and collapsed to the ground. Ja'far pulled back his wires and Yamuraiha used a spell to get rid of all the water. Their plan had succeeded. All the members of Sham Lash were dead. The assassin side of Ja'far was almost sad that their deaths were instant and painless. However, he quickly shook that thought out of his mind. He was not an assassin anymore; he did not want to think like one. Ja'far looked over the bodies of assassins on the palace floor. He quickly realized something, Azhar was not one of the dead bodies. The other generals in the room were too busy celebrating their victory to notice that their job was not done yet. If Ja'far had not have noticed, no one would have noticed when Azhar came out from where he was hiding behind the throne room door and ran as fast as he could, knife in hand, toward Sinbad.
CHAPTER 8
"Sin!" Ja'far shouted. He ran towards Sinbad as fast as he could even though the intense pain in his legs told him not to. He hoped that his legs would hold out long enough to push Sin out of the way of Azhar's knife. Everything happened in slow motion for Ja'far. He saw Sin's expression change from happy and cheerful to surprised and frightened when he finally noticed Azhar heading straight towards him. It was already too late for Sinbad to react. Ja'far prayed that he would get to Sin in time. He figured that four possible outcomes were possible, one, that he would push Sin out of the way, two, that he would push Azhar away, three, that he would run in front of Sin and get stabbed himself, or four, that he wouldn't make it in time and Sin would get stabbed. However, Ja'far couldn't even imagine what he would do if the fourth option happened. As he was getting closer to Sin and Azhar, Ja'far closed his eyes and prepared himself for whatever happened next. There was an agonizing pain in his right shoulder that told him that option three had occurred. Ja'far was actually quite happy that it was him who met with Azhar's knife. Well, he was happier than most people would be after getting stabbed in the shoulder.
The pain from getting stabbed and the pain from his newly reopened wounds came rushing back to Ja'far all at once. He winced and then fell to the ground. The last thing he heard was Sin shouting his name before he faded into unconsciousness.
"Ja'far! Ja'far! Stay awake! Please," Sinbad half shouted and half pleaded.
By now, the other three assassins that were hiding came out. They all stood, ready to fight, behind their leader. The other generals in the room had assumed the same position behind Sinbad as he was holding the unconscious adviser.
"I'm sorry Ja'far. Please hold on for a little bit longer. I'll try to make this a quick fight."
Sinbad stood up and drew his sword. Sharrkon, Yamuraiha, and Masrur readied their weapon of choice as well. Soon, king Sinbad and the three generals were fighting the remaining four members of Sham Lash. Sinbad was fighting with Azhar. They were both the leaders so it was only natural that they would fight against one another. Plus, Sin wanted revenge against Azhar for stabbing Ja'far.
After fighting for a few minutes, Sinbad started to take the lead in the fight. Both men had many small cuts from the battle, however, Azhar had the most wounds out of the two of them. At this point, he was unable to do anything except dodge Sinbad's attacks. However, he was slowly losing stamina and he would soon be defeated. He decided to try a different approach in defeating Sinbad.
"Hey king Sinbad," he said in a mocking tone. "Did your friend over there ever tell ya the reason why he got his legs all cut up like that?"
"Yes, he said it was because he chose not to kill me."
"Or maybe it was actually your fault."
"What?"
"Think about it. Ya were the one who prevented him from killing you."
"What else was I supposed to do? Also, I think your guild is to fault for scarring his legs, not him or me."
"It is just one of the laws of our guild. You wouldn't go against the law now would ya? Since ya are such a powerful and just king," he then made a fake, mocking bow to the king. "However, if ya are such a powerful and just king, how did ya fail to protect one of your own citizens? And not just an ordinary citizen, your most trusted adviser and probably more than that since ya had clearly slept together before we captured him."
"Shut your mouth," Sinbad said sharply. Azhar grinned as he saw that his strategy was starting to have an effect on the king.
"Yes, ya failed to protect him. Ya weren't there for him as he was screaming at the top of his lungs in pain. I think he might have even called out your name once or twice through the ordeal. He was practically begging for ya to save him. But ya didn't save him. I wonder if he will ever forgive ya for that?"
The last sentence cut into Sinbad's heart like a knife. His attacks were becoming more and more sluggish as Azhar's words ate away at him. Azhar was able to start attacking again and he was quickly taking the lead in the fight.
"What's worse is that ya even let your beloved Ja'far get stabbed again! And by the same blade as well."
Sinbad paused his attacks for a moment at that comment. "If he was stabbed by the same blade as the one that tore his legs up, then does that mean that you were the one who used that blade then too?"
"Why yes it was I who carved up your precious little adviser's pretty legs. I made sure to make it as painful for him as possible. Ya should 'ave heard his screaming."
Azhar thought that he had finally defeated the king with his last comment, however, before he had time to react, Sinbad was able to make a deep gash in the assassin's side. Azhar quickly jumped back while holding the wound.
"What! How did you do that?"
"You made a big mistake in telling me that it was you. Now I have even more reasons to kill you. I will never let you hurt Ja'far again."
With that, Sinbad's attacks quickened and he was easily making more cuts on Azhar. One of Azhar's dodges was sloppy and he ended up falling to the ground. At that point, Azhar knew he was done for. Sinbad stood above him with the tip of his sword on Azhar's chest.
"I would love to make you suffer like you deserve for hurting Ja'far like that, but sadly, I don't have time to waste on you right now."
Sinbad swiftly killed Azhar and he joined the rest of his dead comrades. Sinbad saw that the other three generals had also defeated their enemies. Ja'far was still unconscious on the floor. Yamuraiha had gotten some bandages to cover the wound on his shoulder and the reopened wounds on his legs. Sinbad figured that Ja'far had torn his stitches while running to save him. He also received a new wound by saving him. Azhar's comment replayed in his mind 'I wonder if he will ever forgive ya for that?'
CHAPTER 9
Sinbad stayed by Ja'far's side all day after the battle with Sham Lash. He still had not woken up. One of the palace healers said that he might not wake up for a couple days, however, Sinbad felt that Ja'far would wake up the minute he left the room. He definitely didn't want Ja'far to wake up without him there. He wanted to be there for his adviser. Sinbad constantly thought about Azhar's words. He had said that Sinbad was not there for Ja'far when he needed him and that he did not protect him. Sin wanted those words to be untrue, but, sadly, they mostly were true. He kept telling himself that the assassin only said those things to try and win the fight, however, he just couldn't get what he said out of his mind. 'I wonder if he will ever forgive ya for that?' He couldn't stop thinking about that comment. Sinbad wanted Ja'far to wake up so he could tell him 'I'm sorry.' If Ja'far died without Sin being able to tell him that, he didn't know what he would do. No. I can't think like that, he thought. Ja'far Is definitely going to live. He is not going to die. I will not let him die. If he dies, I'll kill him. Wait, no, that wouldn't work.
"uh Sin?"
Sinbad almost fell out of his chair. He had been so distracted by his thoughts that he didn't realize that Ja'far was waking up.
"JA'FAR!" he shouted excitedly.
"Gosh Sin you don't have to yell, I'm right here."
"Sorry, I'm just so glad you're awake."
"Did you know that this is the third day in a row that I woke up in a different place than where I fell asleep at?"
"Really? I guess I hadn't thought about that."
"I wasn't asleep for a couple days again, was I?" Ja'far asked worriedly. He was probably worried about how behind he would be on his work if he was out for a couple of days again.
"No, you were asleep for one night. It is morning now. All the other generals are working on cleaning the palace after what happened."
"Is Azhar dead?"
"What?"
"Is the leader of the assassins dead?" he clarified.
"Yes, I killed him. He won't ever be bothering you again."
"Good."
"Yeah."
". . ."
". . ."
Neither one of them spoke for some time. Sinbad still couldn't stop thinking about what Azhar said and Ja'far couldn't stop thinking about the amount of work he was behind on. Now that Ja'far thought about it, he realized that he wouldn't be able to work until his right shoulder healed. That was a scary thought. If Sinbad was the only person doing the paperwork around the palace, the country would surely perish. Ja'far didn't want to think about what would happen if Sinbad was the only person running Sindria. That would be a nightmare.
Later on in the day, all of the other generals came in to see how Ja'far was. They all thanked him for saving Sinbad. Ja'far thought that he didn't need to be thanked because it was his duty as the king's general and adviser to protect him at all costs. Ja'far didn't care if it cost him his life; it would be worth it if he saved his king.
At the end of the day, Ja'far wanted to sleep so Sinbad left him alone for the night. He promised that he would come back with breakfast in the morning. Sinbad, no doubt, was glad to finally have an excuse to steal breakfast from the palace kitchens. If he said that it was for an injured Ja'far, the palace cook would give them both plenty to eat. The cook had a soft spot for Ja'far when it came to taking food. He always thought that Ja'far was too thin. He always put a little extra food on Ja'far's plate at dinner. Ja'far usually just gave the extra to Sin without the cook knowing. I need to stop thinking about food. It is making me way too hungry, Ja'far thought as he fell asleep.
The next day.
Ja'far carefully opened his eyes. Am I still sleeping in my room? Yes, I am, thank god. He breathed a sigh of relief when he woke up in the same place as where he went to bed. Sinbad came in the room shortly after Ja'far woke up. He was carrying two plates with something that smelled very good.
"Thank you, Sin," Ja'far said after they ate.
"It was no problem at all," Sinbad replied happily.
"You know, I was thinking about something this morning."
"Oh? What about?"
"About how you promised to get all your work done for two days last week and you clearly only did your work on the first day."
"Well, you were missing and I had to look for you."
"That is no excuse! You said that I was out for a couple days. Why didn't you do your work then!?"
"I guess I could have. I didn't think about that."
"Of course you didn't," Ja'far said with a sigh.
"So that makes both my work and Sin's work that I have to catch up on but I can't work because of my shoulder, well, maybe I could work with my left hand. No that would just make it sloppy," Ja'far mumbled to himself. He was counting on his fingers the amount of hours it would take to do all the work. Sinbad was not paying attention to what Ja'far was saying. He was thinking about Azhar's words. He wanted to ask Ja'far about it but he didn't know how to.
"Well maybe I could find a general with good handwriting and just tell them what exactly to write. Yeah that might work. Let's see, which one of them has the best handwriting. Well . . . that would be me. This is hopeless, I will never get all this work done," Ja'far continued to mumble to himself. However, Sinbad cut him off.
"Hey Ja'far?"
"Oh sorry. What is it?"
"Do you . . . Do you forgive me for not protecting you from them?"
"Where does this come from? You know that I would never blame you for something like this."
"Really? It's not my fault? You forgive me?"
"Wait. I take that back, I don't forgive you."
"What!?"
"Nope. I won't forgive you . . . until you get all the work done that you are behind on."
"Okay fine. I promise that I will get it all done."
"Well you better get to it. The day is half over and there is four days' worth of work to do."
With that, Sinbad finally got some work done and Ja'far was finally able to relax for the first time in almost a week. It's finally over, he thought. Sham Lash has haunted me for years and now they are finally gone. I never have to worry about them again. Thank you, Sin, thank you for everything.
"Huh? Di you say something Ja'far?"
"Oh nothing . . . just . . . thank you."
The end.