A vicious thunderstorm was in its prime, and what sounds weren’t drowned out by the thunder were covered by the heavy rainfall on the roof of Greenmise Castle. Sitting on a scaffolding over the throne room of Greenmise Castle was Naver Axio, one of the most feared assassins in history. An agent of the Eidiko Order, Naver was a master of stealth, sabotage, and killing. Though there was a large battle outside of the castle walls, Naver was able to slip inside the castle completely undetected. He had one objective and one objective only: Kill Vennitus.

Below Naver, surrounded by 3 dozen of his most elite guard, Vennitus Epanasion gave commands to his soldiers to leave the throne room and join the battle outside. Vennitus Epanasion was the leader of the Great Insurgis, the largest revolt in the history of Scymia. A former agent of Eidiko, the only thing that rivaled his leadership abilities was his expertise with a bow and arrow. He was once the leader of the Gestral Division of the Eidiko Order, but abandoned his duty and began a resistance movement that quickly turned into a full scale revolution. The Insurgis Army had been at the brink of victory, coming within miles of conquering the Capitol of Scymia. However, the tides had slowly turned, and the Scymian army, led by the Eidiko Order, was currently attempting to breach the Greenmise Castle, the base of operations for the Insurgis. Naver and Vennitus were once great friends, but had a fallout in the wake of Vennitus’s betrayal. Now, Naver was given the assignment of taking Vennitus out before he could escape the assault or mount a counterattack.

“Send word to Squad 4 to move to the right tower to cover our flank! Tell our cannons to focus on hitting the middle of their lines! And will SOMEONE give me a status report on how close to the gates they are?!” Vennitus grabbed one of his guards by the surcoat and barked at him, “Get me a horse!” The guard saluted and rushed out of the throne room. “Grebble!” He shouted.

Another much more bulky guard responded to him. “Yes, Sire Vennitus?”

“Send word to Commander Portenni to form a frontal assault down the center of the Scymian line. We need to form a path so we can escape with the documents and battle plans.”

“Where are we to go, sir?” Asked Grebble.

“I know of an old Eidiko Sanctuary in the Gestral plains, hidden behind a waterfall. It is not known by any living members of the Eidiko Order and it is large enough to accomodate a small army, and we can plan our next moves from there.”

Naver sat overhead, listening to the conversation. He figured that he would milk as much information out of his old friend before sending an arrow through him. However, his bow was completely drawn back, and he was prepared to shoot at any moment.

Vennitus looked at the other guards. “We are moving to the stable, when the counterattack begins, we will mount and ride for freedom!”

That was all Naver needed to hear. He released his arrow and watched it fly towards his old friend’s head. Suddenly, Vennitus jerked backwards, the arrow narrowly missing his head. Almost in the same motion, Vennitus swiped a throwing knife out of a holster and flung it toward Naver with incredible speed. Naver dove off the scaffolding, falling 4 stories to the floor.

As Naver hit the floor, he broke into a roll, mitigating the impact from the fall. He unsheathed his twin daggers to find himself surrounded by a dozen armed guards. “Vennitus!” Naver called over the guards, “Call off your men and fight me one on one, you coward!”

“Coming from the man who attempted to shoot me from above,” Vennitus scoffed, “As if I wouldn’t have expected it. Do you think I forgot my training?”

“You seemed to forget everything else!” Naver snarled, “You betrayed your country and everything we stood for!”

“Naver, do not try to make me out to be some traitorous villain,” Vennitus shouted back, pulling one of the guards away so that he would be visible to Naver, “My loyalty was, and always will be, to the well-being of the people. The Eidiko Order never cared about anything but control!”

Naver exploded in anger, “Explain to me, LORD Vennitus, how this revolt benefits the well-being of anyone but yourself!”

“Naver, how can you allow yourself to be so blind to reality?” Vennitus demanded, “The Scymian Government has been oppressing all of its people who aren’t of pure Scymian descent. More than half of our population lives in poverty, disease, and abandonment, simply because of their descent, simply because of the follies of their ancestors! Our benevolent King is more concerned with bolstering his own castle walls than building simple wooden walls for his subjects!”

“It is you who is blind to reality!” Naver shouted at his old friend, “You know very well that stability in that region is impossible! We spend almost half of our resources on trying to rebuild NeoRosia! No efforts of man can fix what so many years has done!”

“No efforts of man, Naver!” Vennitus said, “But we have more at our disposal than the mere efforts of man!”

Naver stepped back. “Vennitus,” He said, almost in a whisper, “You can’t mean-”

“The Sphere of Rostion, Naver!” Vennitus declared, “The same sphere that we were sworn to protect with our lives. For what reason, Naver? To make sure it isn’t placed in the wrong hands, right? WRONG! The Eidiko Order was formed to protect the kingdom and its people, right? What do we do now? We protect this sphere! This gift from the gods with the potential to solve all the problems in the world, to do the things that we men cannot do alone! But instead, we keep it locked away, to keep it safe from falling into the wrong hands. But if we don’t use it to make our world better, who’s to say that we aren’t the wrong hands in which it fell?”

“Dammit Vennitus, how can you be so shortsighted?” Naver said in disbelief, “That kind of power is not made for any man. It destroyed an entire country and tainted the land where it once stood! That kind of power corrupts the mind of anyone and everyone and can only end in disaster!”

“I harnessed the power of the Sphere, Naver.”

“What? No you didn’t.”

“The Sphere called to me, Naver. It called me, and I answered. It showed me the future that it could create for us, for everyone! A world without poverty, without disease, without violence, without strife. The Rosians used the Sphere to create violence, and that is why it created disaster. If we use it for benevolent purposes? Could there be too much benevolence?”

“Vennitus, the Sphere corrupted you! You shouldn’t have let it enter your mind! You don’t understand what you are saying!”

“Naver, my mind was not corrupted,” pleaded Vennitus, “It opened my eyes. My thoughts have never been clearer! It showed me how the Eidiko Order clouded my vision to the potential of what we possessed! Naver, give me a chance to show you what I see. Help me, and together we can create a better world for everyone.” He held his hand out to Naver. “Please, old friend.”

Naver didn’t move. “Vennitus, you have lost your mind! There’s no way in hell I would abandon my duties or betray my kingdom!”

Vennitus frowned. “I am sorry you see it that way. And I wish you wouldn’t see me as a villain for doing what I believe is right. But nonetheless, I can’t allow you to jeopardize our goal. I am sorry, Naver.” He turned his back on Naver and walked out of the circle of guards. “Kill him.” He commanded quietly.

The circle of guards quickly closed in on Naver. He desperately looked at the guards, looking for a plan of action. He spotted a gap between two of the guards, big enough for him to get through. The guard on the left had apparent apprehension on his face and the guard on the right held his sword lower than he should have been. Naver took the opportunity. He leaped at the guard on the right, kicking off his sword arm, knocking the weapon to the floor and launching himself at the guard on the right. Naver grabbed the face of the guard and snapped his neck as he lept out of the circle. The body of the guard crumpled to the floor in front of his comrades.

Naver wasted no time. He took his bow from his back and knocked 3 arrows into the string. He shot at the crowd of guards, 2 guards fell dead on the floor, another staggering back with an arrow in his shoulder. The other guards in the room rushed at Naver. He took a dozen throwing knives from his satchel and picked off as many guards as he could before he ran out.

In the midst of the confusion, Naver searched desperately for Vennitus. He suddenly felt a sense of alarm, and jumped in the air and did a back flip. As he turned midair, he watched an arrow whiz past his head. Vennitus was on the other side of the throne room, his longbow in hand.

Naver took out his daggers and dodged arrows as he darted towards Vennitus. As Naver got within striking distance, Vennitus dropped his arrow, pulled out his own twin daggers and jumped out at him. The two met midair, and their daggers got locked into each other as if they were having a battle of their own. They both fell to the ground, quickly standing up and continuing their fight. Vennitus swung his daggers wildly at Naver, who dodged each strike nimbly. Naver brought his foot up and kicked it into Vennitus’s knee, making him stagger back. Naver took the oppurtunity and lunged at Vennitus. Vennitus dodged Naver’s slashes just as skillfully as Naver did, and launched himself in a back handspring to remove himself from the range of Naver’s knives.

There was a short recess in the combat, as Naver and Vennitus stood across from each other, catching their breath. Vennitus’s guards arrived and started toward Naver. “Stop!” Vennitus commanded. “He is mine.” The other guards backed off. Vennitus motioned to one of his men, who tossed him his sword and shield. He then nodded to another guard, who did the same to Naver.

“What is this?” Naver asked.

“Standard duel, Naver,” Vennitus explained, “If you win, you can kill me as you wish, and you can walk out of here, my guards will not bother you. Should I win, you will come with us when we escape. You will help me break into the Archeidiko Compound, and you let The Sphere enter your mind, so that you can be enlightened as I am.”

“Well,” said Naver, “Considering I’m surrounded again, I don’t really have much of a choice.” Naver raised his sword in the ready position.

“En guarde!” Declared Vennitus, and the duel began. They parried for a while, blocking each other’s strikes and failing to land any hits. Naver was searching for weaknesses in Vennitus’s defense, but also had to remember that Vennitus was trained to do the same to him. Suddenly, Vennitus charged at him with this shield in front of him. Naver was caught off guard and knocked back. Vennitus continued to strike at him, and he fought desperately to block off his strikes. Naver realized the Vennitus had the upper hand, so he made a desperate desperate dive to the side to avoid the onslaught. He escaped the barrage, but he left his shield behind. Vennitus charged again, and this time, Naver had nothing to defend himself with but his sword. He was pushed back until he was almost in contact with the wall of guards. Then, Naver saw an opening. As Vennitus tried to make a disarming strike with his sword, he was leaving a large opening in his torso. Naver waited for Vennitus to make this strike again, and when he did, he closed his eyes and lunged into Vennitus with the sword in front of him.

The guards stood in silence. Naver opened his eyes. His sword was lodged inside Vennitus’s body, right near the heart. Vennitus said nothing, but looked Naver in the eye for several seconds. Then Naver saw something extraordinary. Vennitus’s normally bright blue eyes began to glow a light green. It was bright for a few seconds, and then disappeared, leaving behind dull, lifeless brown eyes.Then, Vennitus whispered in Naver’s ear, “What have I done?” Then, his eyes closed, not to be opened again.

Naver pulled the sword out of Vennitus’s body, and it crumpled the the floor next to him. Naver turned to the guards, who were all shocked and confused about what to do next. After a few moments of silence, half in silence to the fallen leader, half in utter disbelief that he had fallen, a couple guards nodded at Naver and backed out of the circle, leaving him a window to leave the border of guards. Naver walked out slowly and cautiously, and when he was at a safe distance from them, he turned to them.

“Soldiers,” he began, “Vennitus Epanasion was a brilliant leader, a masterful fighter, and one of the greatest men I have ever had the privilege to know. In forming this rebellion, I know that he had the purest of intentions, and I am sure that you all did as well. However, the armies of Scymia are at the gate of this castle, and in moments you all will most likely be imprisoned. You were the trusted guard of my best friend and I know you are all loyal to your ideals, regardless of whether or not I agree with them. For this, I am offering you a chance at amnesty for your war crimes. Lay down your weapons to me and come with me to meet the Scymian armies, and you will be freed of your charges and will be able to return to your families and live out the rest of your life in freedom. This is my offer of reward of your courage an honor, as well as a last testament to your leader, whose name shall not be squandered in history, but will be remembered for all the good he did for this country.”

The guards all stood in silence. “If you are to take me up on my offer, lay down your arms and join my side.” Moments passed. After a long period of apprehension, one man finally made the first move. He walked to the body of his fallen leader and laid his sword down at his side as a sign of respect. He walked across to Naver and stood by his side. Another did the same, as did another. One by one, the guards laid their weapons next to Vennitus’s body and joined Naver. Every guard soon found themself standing next to Naver. “You are all brave men, and you deserve to be honored and not disgraced. I promise that as long as I have a say, you will not be put to death for fighting for what you believe in.” He walked slowly to the end of the throne room to leave the castle, and the guardsmen followed.