Chapter 102 The End, pt.1

Chapter 102 The End, pt.1
"There it is!" Perrin's voice carried through the boat and beyond.

Since his incident with the rigging, he'd become very serious about sailing and had improved a lot. He stood at the bow of the boat, his pale skin now reddish tan, and his curly hair blowing in the wind. He yelled again, and Zulee grabbed him from behind. The two young men hugged and cheered as Zorrik ran up behind them.

He took the spyglass from Perrin and looked through it to see the Imperial City's port up ahead. Then he turned and signalled for the people to start their chant. The Seadragons had travelled with them from Zytherion, and now the people called for the big red male.

The water was deeper than in the cove, and the ritual trickier, but since the first ride, Zorrik had developed a bond with the dragon. He quickly got in the water and waited for him to come.

Unlike the city, the port couldn't be seen by the Royal Palace. It only had a few guards, and as the Zytherian fleet came into sight, they were taken completely by surprise. Two of them watched from a small shack at the docks, and one of them suddenly shook his head.

"Was that a...Seadragon?" he said.

"Where?" the other one asked, picking up his spyglass and thinking his friend had been out in the sun too long.

"It just dove."

Then, the red dragon breached with Zorrik holding on to its back. The two guards got to their feet and almost fell out of the shack.

"There was a man riding it," the second guard said. "There was a man riding it!"

The two of them quickly looked through their glasses again to see more Seadragons and the entire Zytherian fleet. It had been generations since anyone had seen something like this in the Imperial City, and though defences had been prepared since the rebel attack, most of the sailors and shore workers simply watched in awe and disbelief as the Zytherian boats kept multiplying.

As they pulled up to the docks and surrounding beaches, alarm bells finally started to ring. The Zytherians and Assassins spilled out of the boats, and the alarms spread into the city.

"The Assassins know we're here now," Zorrik shouted at the army. "They'll treat us just like any other enemy, so be ready to fight for your life."

As everyone began to run for the port, Eloria and the Assassins in the lead, Zorrik took Perrin and Zulee aside.

"You've learned a lot in the last couple of weeks," he admitted. "But you're no match for a fully trained Assassin."

"Are you saying you don't want us to fight?" Perrin asked with a frown.

"I'm not sure you'll have a choice unless you stay with the boats," the Master Assassin replied. "But run if you need to, even hide if it comes to that."

There was a long way to go to get to the Royal Palace, but luckily, the people of the Imperial City seemed to have no interest in coming out of their homes and businesses to fight for either side. As they made their way into the city, the Assassins were there to meet them, though.

Caldan was the first to be injured, with a deep cut to his shoulder. He kept fighting, though. The Imperial Assassins were more hesitant than Zorrik had imagined, some of them not fighting at all, and simply letting the army pass. Familiar faces went by in blurred whirlwinds, and the Master Assassin tried not to remember who they were. Did they even understand why he was fighting? Did they understand why they were?

The closer they got to the Palace, the more experienced the Assassins were. Zorrik had lost track of Perrin and Zulee as the two sides had fought their way into a stalemate. Exhausted and covered in the blood of former colleagues, Zorrik ducked into an alley where he found the two young men. He smiled in relief and waved for the rest of his forces to join them there.

The streets were quiet except for the sounds of men and women catching their breath, and the screams of continued fighting echoing in the distance.

"Zorrik?" a voice suddenly said from the other side of the street. A man stepped out of another alley, his red robes torn and dirty.

Zorrik turned and looked at Eloria. "Do you recognize the voice?" When she only shrugged, he cautiously stepped out into the street too.

"I thought that was you," the other man said.

The Master Assassin recognized him as someone he'd trained with when he was younger, but they hadn't really spoken in years.

"What are you doing here?" he continued. "Why are you fighting with these people?"

"They're my people," Zorrik answered. "The Zytherians."

"Zytherians?" the man said in disbelief. "I thought they were all dead."

Zorrik nodded and then gestured for his people to join him. Some of the Assassins of the other side stepped out of their alley as well. For a moment, the two sides just stood and stared at one another.

Then Zorrik said, "That's not the only thing they've lied to you about."

Suddenly, another voice drifted in from the opposite street. "Zorrik!" it said, and then Ra'Jeem appeared, riding his Lomai.

The Master Assassin gulped down a breath of air, and a wide grin crossed his face. Ra'Jeem jumped down from his Lomai, and the two of them ran for each other, throwing their arms around one another as they met up.

"How did things go?" Zorrik asked.

"Easier than we expected. The people were ready to fight," Ra'Jeem replied.

The two of them stared at one another, almost forgetting why they were there, and then tuned back to the Imperial Assassins. They looked confused and dismayed at this point, unsure of what to think or do.

"Do you want to know why we're here?" Zorrik asked. "Or do you want to go on killing each other?