Chapter III: The Black Lotus (Cont. III)

The hooded assassin opened his eyes and looked around the pale lit room. “He” wouldn’t be happy about this, he thought to himself as he rose. Before him stood a figure shrouded in a black and gold-trimmed robe. The figure’s head was shrouded in darkness and shadows seemed to spill from the opening around his feet. The hooded assassin swallowed, looking at his comrades for help. The female assassin still lay in the corner, black sand slowly beginning to pool around her. The same was true of one of the twin brothers, while the other had begun to stir.

The hooded figure turned towards the assassin. Without a word he looked up at the broken gates and the darkness, a deep and almost inaudible sigh rolling out. “I expected more,” the figure said.

The hooded figure scrambled to his feet, “I’ll go after them,” he suggested.

“Yes,” the figure said, “You will. As for your three allies, well, the Black Lotus does not want to be noticed as ‘existing,’ so I shall handle things with them,” the figure replied.

The hooded figure, a pang of loyalty running through him, replied, “My ally over there is still alive, let him come with.”

The figure turned to the stirring figure, black sand had begun to pool around him, too. “No,” the figure replied in a way that gave no room for argument.

The hooded assassin nodded, thankful to be alive, and raced off through the broken gate.

The figure looked about the room for a moment, observing the three bodies. “How disappointing. It seems I’ll have to make other arrangements. This is taking too long,” he sighed to himself. With a wave the black sand surrounded the three bodies, a gurgle coming from the swirling pile surrounding the waking assassin. The figure waved again and the sand slid slowly along through the broken gate, the remaining bar slowly disintegrating as if being eaten away. The hooded figure sighed and leapt straight up through the trap door as if gravity did not exist. And the room was empty….no blades, no bodies, as if the assassins had never existed.