Long Temple of Legends

The Assassin's Tale
1. Auflage 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4835-4744-2
Verlag: BookBaby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 270 Seiten

Temple of Legends is told from the perspective of Mike, who is one of the top immortal assassins of the Temple of Legends. The story starts during the darkest part of Mike's life. As he is forced to face his own feelings and tries to battle through his depression. He has never felt so alone and even though it has been years since he broke up with Candice, the leader of the Temple of Legends, the one person he was forbidden to love. He finds himself at a crossroads in his long life as the events at Candice's wedding shape his future forever.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Long, Michael

Leseproben

Chapter 1 Mike was so distracted by his own thoughts that he barely noticed the snow falling all around him, not that it was really surprising though, since it was getting close to the end of the year. But it wasn’t winter that was causing his mind to wander but more so the upcoming wedding that he knew he needed to be at, a wedding between the woman he was in love with, and a man who wasn’t him. Candice had been in his life for a very long time, and most of that time they had been together, it was never in the open. They were always hidden behind closed doors or in the shadows, something that he always hated, but at the same time he knew their love had to remain that way, and it took him a very long time to realize that it wasn’t fair for either of them to live their lives like that. She deserved to be with someone she could love out in the open, someone she could have a family with, someone who wasn’t him. It was then that he realized he was getting closer and closer to his destination, and he made himself stop and take a few quick breaths of the brisk winter air. He could feel the snowflakes as they landed on the top of his head, something that came with having short dark brown hair. He could hardly feel the cold at all thanks to his thick dark blue leather armor, something he was very thankful for because he knew the weather was far below freezing this night, and he didn’t want the coldness to distract him from the mission at hand. His right hand made its way to the hilt of his ebony dagger on his belt, and he couldn’t help but wrap his fingers around it, he was so used to them being there that they were now nothing more than a part of his body, his very soul even, and with that in mind, he began taking a few more steps towards the cottage he knew wasn’t that far away. “Stop right there or I will be forced to kill you.” Mike barely heard the words, as he stood in front of the small gate blocking his way to the cottage, a place he needed to get to so he could kill the man who lived in it. He couldn’t help but let his eyes drift from the front door of the cottage towards the guard who had spoken to him, and it was then that he saw the man holding a small crossbow aimed towards him, but even that didn’t keep his sight for long. He knew this small town very well and had traveled here often in his hundred and twenty eight years, and even now with the snow falling so quickly and covering the ground with its whiteness, he knew he could make it to any one of the small town’s gates with his eyes closed and get away if he needed to. He once again shifted his gaze but this time towards his feet, and he watched as the falling snowflakes slowly began to cover his dark blue leather boots. He felt a small bit of guilt wash over him at that moment, knowing that very soon the perfectly white snow-covered ground would be stained with blood. He felt his hands slowly reaching for the hilts of his two daggers once again, and he couldn’t help but flex his fingers around them, feeling the smoothness of his dark blue leather gloves on their ebony hilts. The rest of his leather outfit was the same dark blue color as his boots and gloves and fit to his body perfectly, covering him from his neck to his toes in its harden but very flexible protectiveness. He also brought his two matching ebony swords with him, and even though they were weightless, he could still feel them strapped to his back, within easy reach. “And why would you want to kill me, kind sir?” Mike found himself asking, as he returned his gaze to the guard and the crossbow, which was still pointing his way. “You are trespassing on private land, and it is my job to keep people like you off of it,” the guard said while trying to keep his voice steady. Clearly he was afraid for his life. “People like me, kind sir?” Mike said, while taking a few more steps towards the guard. “And who might people like me be?” “You are one of those immortal assassins sent here from your godforsaken temple, on who knows what kind of sick business,” the guard said, as his finger inched closer to the trigger of his crossbow. “If you truly believe me to be one of them, why would you even bother pointing that silly thing my way in the first place?” Mike asked, pulling his two ebony daggers from their harnesses. “If that were to be true, then it wouldn’t really kill me now, would it.” “Maybe it would or maybe it wouldn’t. I’m not caring one way or another, as long as you turn around and walk away,” the guard said, and then he let out a soft whistle and three other guards came out of the small door of the cottage, all of them armed with a sword. “I am simply here to kill the lord of this house, nothing more and nothing less,” Mike said, gripping the hilts of his daggers even tighter. “My fight is not with you four, so if you wish to live through this day, I ask that you lay down your arms and let me pass.” Mike knew that even the four of them wouldn’t stand a chance against him, after all, he had trained for 120 years in the art of killing and fighting, where as he could tell right away that these guards were nothing more than hired novices. “Like I said before, if you come any closer, I will be forced to kill you,” the same guard said again, and this time Mike noticed the crossbow slowly begin to shake in the man’s nervous hands. “Fools you all are for protecting a man who rapes and murders the young, and if you insist on standing in my way, I will kill you quickly and your lives will become nothing more than a waste, and your names will quickly be forgotten,” Mike said, taking a few more steps towards the gate in front of him. Mike could tell right away that the men were not going to back down and let him pass, and he couldn’t help but feel a small amount of guilt wash over him. He never had a problem killing people who deserved to die, but killing the innocent ones who tried to protect them never sat well with the assassin, and with that thought fresh in his mind, he took a few more steps closer. He felt the crossbow bolt strike him just under his ribs and he could feel its metal shaft cut through his armor and bury itself deep into his chest, which would have killed most men but Mike smiled as he felt the pain, knowing he would live through it, and he couldn’t help but slightly laugh as he felt the poison of the dart slowly enter his blood stream. Mike ran towards the gate with a speed no simple man could have managed and made a quick jump over the four-foot high gate, landing with a slight roll. Coming back up to his agile feet in seconds, he slowly began walking towards the closest guard, who was quickly trying to reload the crossbow. “I guess you chose wrong this day, thinking you could kill me with such a weak weapon,” Mike said as he walked right up to the guard, kneeing him the chest. Mike couldn’t help but watch the man lean forward, as all of the air left his lungs. Guilt washed over him once again, as he brought his left hand down towards the back of the man’s neck, burying his ebony dagger’s blade right down to the hilt. He pulled it out a few seconds later and watched the lifeless man’s body drop to the snow-covered ground. Again his eyes found their way back to the falling snow and then back to the spot the guard now lay very dead by his feet, and he couldn’t help but feel a little sadness as the man’s warm blood quickly changed the white snow to a deep dark red color. It was the noise of the three remaining guards that brought Mike to the situation at hand, and he quickly realized that the three of them had made a triangle around him. He smiled again, as he looked upon them with disbelief in their eyes. “I will give you one more chance to lay down your arms and be on your way,” Mike said, while leaning down so he could use the snow to wipe the blood off of the blade of his dagger. “We have you outnumbered, and unlike our friend you just murdered, we will not be caught off guard,” The man standing right in front of Mike said, as he took a few more steps towards him. Mike looked up towards the man, even as he continued to clean the blood from his dagger, and he couldn’t help but smile, yet again. The guard in front of him was now within arm’s reach, and yet he had just said he wouldn’t be caught off guard. Once again with a speed no simple man could match, Mike launched himself forward, and with his right hand he came around so quick he managed to embed his right dagger straight in the guard’s wrist of his sword arm, which forced the man’s sword to fall from his limp grip. With a second quick spin, and a slight flick of his left wrist, Mike sliced the man’s neck and ended his turn, facing the last two remaining guards, not even looking towards the second dead body falling towards the snowy ground. He noticed then that the last two remaining guards had taken a few steps away from him, and he realized then that all of this nonsense would be over with soon enough, and he could continue with the business he had come to this small town for. Mike never liked fighting novices because they always rushed their movements and their attacks. They never planned ahead, and he could always read their plays before they even decided to make them. They always rushed because their life spans were short, like all humans, unlike him who had all the time in the world. After all, he was...