Chapter 43: Rescue Mission Part 1 - Saving Alex

Light shone upon the Capital of West Hrior. The men had just departed from their homes and were ready to work. They had had a long night, and they were slow to get up, but in order to provide for their families they had to work. After all, the look their child gave them whenever they returned from work made it all worth it. All of these men would agree with the statement “It’s the little things that make life worth living”. However, there is only one problem with living your life in such a way. Because it only takes one big thing to rip away all the little things that you have experienced throughout your life. The laughter of your child or a kiss from your wife, the entire reality you live can and will one day no longer be the same. Your wife might die, your child might fall sick, or a large disaster might happen. Regardless of what might happen you will have to endure times where it seems that all the little things no longer exist. Of course, you can recover, but you will never forget. Your heart will never rest again.

The morning light shone upon the Capital of West Hrior. The men had just departed from their homes and were ready to work. However, what these men did not know is that today they would not see the smile of their child, nor would they receive a kiss from their wife. Their little pleasures would be ripped away, and they would forever live in pain.

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“Do not worry brother. For the light has come.”

Trip stared at The Boss.

“Before I attack.” He said “What is your real name?”

The Boss was a little startled. Why would he want to know her real name?

“Dala.” She said.

“Well then, Dala, I know that you might not think that you have done anything wrong.” Trip said “But, you shall be punished nonetheless.”

Dala took a deep breath. She had experienced many situations where her opponent was cocky, but… This time it was a bit different. This kid in front of her was too confident. A small urge to flee built up within her mind. However, Dala was a professional, and she would not run away and disappoint her employers.

However, even though there was an urge to flee she was not afraid. Her revealing, skin-tight, leather clothing allowed her optimum movement, and the two blades she carried had an excellent track record. She stretched her body and got in position. She could see by the posture Trip was taking that he was going to attack first, so she took a defensive stance. Assassins tended not to have the greatest defences, as they did not require it, but Dala had spent a large part of her life as a beautiful woman. And in this savage world she had learned to defend before she ever learned how to offend. She wiped any doubts from her mind and smiled lightly, she had forgotten that these dangerous moments were the ones she enjoyed most.

 She retrieved the two blades from her sash. She held her back straight and put her feet in the direction of Trip. She held the blade in her right hand directly before her chest, in anticipation of an attack, the other she kept in her left hand, hidden behind her back.

Trip noticed the position, and took his own position. He used no physical weapon, but his position represented that of sword. His hands were clasped together in front of his chest. His feet were in position to run.

‘On the count of three.’ He thought.

‘1’

‘2’

‘3’

‘GO!’

Trip shot forward at a speed unknown to man. His clasped hands began to shake. The distance to Dala was not far, and the speed was great. Trip had never gone this fast before. He felt time slow down as his body shot towards her ready, exposed blade. However, Trip would never allow the metal of the blade touch his skin. As he approached closer and closer he twisted his back. He slid right past the blade and attacked. His clasped hands began to glow and shake uncontrollably. As his hands reached Dala’s motionless head he released his hands. A blinding light was released, and nothing could be seen. The blinding light covered Dala completely.

Trip sighed. He knew that the pressure from his hands made the light explode at a massive amount of pressure. No normal person could withstand such an attack. Trip looked towards Alex. His heart filled with emotion.

‘Finally!’

Alex suddenly looked up from the centre of the room. He saw Trip looking at him, but his eyes were not filled with happiness. His eyes were filled with shock and worry. He tried to open his mouth to shout, but no sound came out.

Trip looked at Alex with worry. Why was he reacting this way? Trip saw that Alex’s eyes were looking behind him. Trip turned around. He saw long blonde hair and blue eyes. However, there was no emotion in the eyes. The eyes contained no empathy.

Alex held his head low.

‘That’s the thing about Mabel.’ He thought ‘She is a superficially normal girl, but anything that threatens The Boss or her makes her go completely insane.’

Suddenly Alex heard a scream. He looked up and saw an arm on the ground. It was frozen and cracked in three places.

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Alex looked up and saw Trip standing with a cold expression. Mabel slumped on her knees before him. She held her head with her left arm as she screamed in pain and shock. Alex’s eyes widened. A black, fleshy wound replaced where her arm would normally be.

Suddenly, another crunching sound was heard. Another arm fell to the floor. This one clearly ripped off. Trip stood in front of Mabel. Both of her arms were gone. She had been professionally incapacitated.

“I’ll let Alex decide what to do with you.” Trip said angrily “Scum.”

Mabel’s body shook. Everything had been fine until The Boss turned up. How on earth could she betray the one person who truly cared for her? When she saw The Boss being hurt she could not do anything but attack Trip. She could only hope her precious boss was still alive.

At that moment, as if to answer Mabel’s prayers, a blade appeared from the chaos. It shot towards Trip’s heart, soaring like an eagle ready for a kill.

Trip saw the blade late. He could not catch it or move out of the way. In a last ditch attempt for protection he created an ice shield in front of himself. However, it could not stop the blade, but it could slow it down. The blade pierced through the shield, but still dug an inch into his chest.

He grunted a bit, and prepared for another attack.

He felt a whoosh of air behind him. He turned around immediately and saw the dishevelled image of Dala rushing towards him. Her eyes expressed pure anger and hatred towards Trip.

Trip looked at the approaching force calmly. He knew people full of hatred, while sometimes more powerful, were often more prone to mistakes. He analysed Dala’s attack. In a stroke of luck he saw that her feet were off balance.

He shifted his body to the right.

 ‘There he is! I’ve got him!’ Dala thought.

Suddenly, Trip retracted his movement. He jumped shoulder first into the off balance body of Dala.

‘SHIT! It was a feint!’

Dala’s entire body was completely off balance. She had no way of striking Trip.

Trip’s body collided with hers. His shoulder barged into her abdomen. Their bodies crashed into the ground. Dust rose from the ground covering the scene.

Alex looked towards the dust cloud. He tried to see what had happened.

Suddenly, he heard a gut-wrenching sound, and another one. The sounds repeated for a while, only stopping after the sound had been repeated ten times.

The dust settled.

Trip sat above the Dala’s body. His fist was covered in blood. Blood, teeth, and skin lay on the floor.

Alex looked at Dala.

Her face had been completely disfigured. It was obvious that Trip had struck her repeatedly. She was missing teeth and skin. Alex saw that she was still alive, but she was unconscious.

Trip suddenly stood up. He wiped the blood off his fist and he walked towards Alex.

Alex was weak, but upon seeing his best friend he felt the strength to stand.

They stood facing each other.

“You’ve grown.” Trip said.

“So have you.” Alex replied.

“I heard you became an assassin.” Trip said in disapproval

Alex scoffed.

“Oh please, look at the bodies over there.” He said “You did that.”

A single tear fell down Trip’s face.

“I’ve missed you.” He said.

They shared a hug that could only be experienced by two brothers. At this point it was irrelevant that they weren’t related by blood. They were brothers, through and through.

Trip helped Alex walk towards Mabel, who was still in shock.

“Can you wake her up?” Alex pointed towards Dala.

Trip obliged.

He headed over to Dala and spurted some water on her face. Trip held her in a restraining position. Though, to be fair, she wouldn’t have been able to move regardless.

Dala opened her eyes to the image of Alex holding Mabel. Alex used Dala’s blades and pressed them against Mabel’s throat.

Alex cleared his throat. He was ready to speak.

“Mabel.” He said “I liked you. I really did. But I know something about you. Something that I wish I didn’t know.”

“I know that you are the most insincere person in the world.” He said with a tinge of pain in his voice.

“All those semi-flirtatious acts, all those hugs and smiles…” He smiled “They were all fake, a mere act.”

Mabel’s eyes were already dead. She probably didn’t even understand what he was saying anymore.

“The second I became stronger than you I knew.” He said “I could feel hatred, because I was being prioritised by the boss.”

“Do you really think I didn’t notice?” He paused for a bit “All those times you tried to hurt me and poison me? Wait! I remember the exact number.”

He cleared his throat.

“You tried to poison my food 26 times; you tried to murder me in my sleep 11 times, and every time you played it off as a prank.”

Alex looked Dala directly in her eyes.

“And you let all of this happen.” He said to her “You are a terrible assassin. You let your emotions control you. You were blinded by your love for her.”

“You know what?” Alex smiled twistedly “Maybe it’s my turn to play a little prank.”

He slowly began to push the blade into Mabel’s throat. Mabel didn’t react. Her lips were dry and her face was devoid of colour. Her originally beautiful eyes contained no emotion. And yet, tears continuously streamed down from her eyes.

Dala saw the blade slowly push deeper into Mabel’s throat. Her face flushed red with hatred.

“DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE!” She screamed “I’LL KILL YOU! DO YOU HEAR ME?”

But Alex ignored her screams. He dug the knife deeper into Mabel’s throat. Her frail body started to spasm uncontrollably. Large quantities of blood started pouring out of her the wound. She made a horrible choking noise.

“Oh! Looks like she can’t breathe…” Alex said with fake concern.

Mabel tried to breathe, but she couldn’t. Her face turned blue. It took only a minute before she collapsed on the ground. She was dead.

Trip looked at her body. It was a pity, to see such a fine assassin succumb to her own childish emotions. He had heard Alex’s explanation, but he still worried. He worried that Alex might have acted rashly, and that he would regret it in the future. There was a hint of disbelief on Trip’s face. During the entire time they had travelled together she had seemed normal and friendly. They had even joked around a bit. He had never seen her as a bad person; maybe she just cared so much for her boss that she would do anything to gain her favour or try to save her.

Dala could only look on in shock. She had seen many things as an assassin, but she had raised Mabel from a young age. She knew Mabel hadn’t always been the most stable of people, but to see her dead. She had no words.

“Did she have to die?” Trip felt slightly uncomfortable.

Alex smiled, but his eyes were moist.

“There is something I realised in my time as an assassin.” He said “Never show mercy to anyone who does not deserve it. She did not deserve it.”

Trip had more questions, but he decided to save it for later.

“What should we do with her?” Trip asked, pointing at Dala.

Alex pondered for a few seconds.

“She never purposefully hurt me, and she even helped me get stronger.” He said.

“So, let her live?” Trip asked.

Alex nodded.

“Can you make people forget things with your light magic?” He suddenly asked.

“No.” Trip said bluntly “Why?”

Alex looked a bit disappointed.

“No reason, just knock her out and let’s just leave her here.” Alex said “By the way. I am a little tir-“

Alex suddenly collapsed on the ground.

Trip took care of Dala and looked towards Alex, who was sleeping soundly. However, the scars and burns on his body worried Trip. What sort of things happened during these four years?

“I guess I’ll have to carry you…” He groaned, but there was a smile on his face.