12: The Most Difficult Choice

I open my eyes. I am still in the same Strategy Room. Kang Yu and Lionhart quickly untie the ropes that bind my hands and feet.

Sharon gives me a hand as I help myself up. “Cousin, the Masked Assassin said he will only reveal your location in exchange for letting the Marked Ones leave the armory. We were so afraid that the Masked Assassin had taken your life. They took Nisa with them as well.”

Kang Yu looks disappointed. “Is this the end of everything, Gideon? After a tough mission, we return empty-handed with heavy Swordmaster casualties and without any Marked Ones. This would spell the end of our Swordmaster career. Our squad would be sent for performance evaluation. In the worst-case scenario, we will be sent back to the Academy for retraining sessions to compensate for our incompetence. We will become the laughing stock to our peers.”

I know the consequences if we fail this mission. I slam my fist into the ground. “I thought both of us have already earned each other’s trust. She even gave me her real name. I should have known not to trust her.”

Kang Yu raises his eyebrow. “So the Masked Assassin is a lady and both of you exchanged names? Are you going to ask your enemy out for a drink too?”

I say, “Her name is Kiera. She wore the Assassin’s mask as a facade to intimidate us.”

Kang Yu snaps his finger. “I knew it. Earlier I had my suspicions that it was all New Haven’s facade. Why would a do-gooder noble faction like them have an Assassin in their ranks?”

I say, “I had Kiera defeated when we first met in this room. Later on, she helped me to shield my emotional energy when I went up against the Wraith, the one Driesen called the creature of terror. I successfully killed it.”

Kang Yu is pleasantly surprised. “So you single-handedly killed the creature of terror? That’s truly a remarkable feat.”

I say, “It wouldn’t have been possible without Kiera’s help. So where did the Marked Ones go?”

Kang Yu says, “I don’t know. After we released them from the armory in exchange for your location, within that short time, I think they might have left the mansion. Let’s go home, Gideon. Our mission is over. The Marked Ones had escaped.”

I say, “No. They have not left the mansion yet. They are still in the mansion. They have a Portal Stone. They are waiting for a portal to open up at a specific time and location. Remember the room where Maleek and Driesen’s squads got wiped out? That’s their Portal Room. If we head over there now, we might still be able to catch up with them. How many hours have we been here?”

Kang Yu says, “Almost two hours. Jackal’s promised reinforcements should be arriving soon.”

I say, “Yes if we can stall the Marked Ones until Jackal’s squads arrived, we may still be able to capture them.”

* * *

As we head back into the Portal Room, we find ourselves in a new situation. Wait, Maleek is still alive? He is holding Nisa hostage with a sword over her neck. A slash wound on his chest does seem to hold him back a little.

Kiera and her sidekick are both masked and ready to confront Maleek. The remaining Marked Ones just look on, not knowing what to do next.

I walk over to Maleek. “I’m glad that you’re still alive. But how did you survive the undead’s attack?”

Maleek says, “After the creature of terror destroyed our squads, Driesen and I were pursued by the ghouls. I managed to hide in another room nearby while Driesen wasn’t so fortunate because the ghouls continued pursuing him.”

I say, “Driesen didn’t make it.”

Maleek says, “That is sad indeed. When the Masked Assassins and the Marked Ones returned to this Portal Room, I knew I had to strike them before their portal opens. I knew the little girl is the lady Masked Assassin’s weakness, as she protects her so closely. So I ambushed them and took the little girl hostage. I thought with our two squads dead, our mission would have been a failure. Little did I know that we can still win this game. So what did you contribute to this mission?”

I say, “The creature of terror which destroyed your squads, it’s called a Wraith. I had successfully killed it. It will terrorize us no more.” But I won’t reveal to him that it was achieved with Kiera’s help.

Maleek nods in respect. “Impressive, Gideon. You have avenged the death of our comrades. I didn’t know how you actually pulled off killing it. But your amazing feat will certainly be celebrated among the Swordmasters.”

Maleek points to the Marked Ones. “Our mission goals—the Marked Ones and the Masked Assassins are right in front for us to take. But we can end this mission on an even higher note. Their Portal Stone—we can have their key to their home. The Swordmasters can storm New Haven and take them down for good. One enemy to be struck off from our list.”

Maleek then says to Kiera, “Hand over the Portal Stone to us now. If not, I will take this girl’s life.”

Kiera appears fired up in her eyes. It’s like a different Kiera I knew moments ago. “You wouldn’t dare touch Nisa. We’ll fight you till the end.”

Maleek presses his blade tightly against Nisa’s throat. “Don’t challenge me. Just admit it, Masked Assassin that you’ve lost. I know your portal will be opening soon. If you activate it, we will storm the portal and follow you into New Haven. Your Captain is dead, so you’re the acting Captain now.

“By right, you could destroy the Portal Stone to prevent us from entering it. But if you do that, I’ll kill your little Nisa. Our reinforcements are already on the way and will be reaching this mansion soon. If you put up a fight, many of your refugees will die. No matter what you do now, you still lose, Masked Assassin.”

I study Kiera’s eyes behind the mask. I think she knows she’s in a deadlock.

Kiera replies, “Then we’ll fight to our death if you leave us with no choice.”

Maleek says, “Gideon, go capture all of them.”

Suddenly, I have another idea. I speak to Maleek in private without being heard by the others. “Maleek, hold that thought first. I’ve gained the Masked Assassin’s trust through an unexpected alliance while fighting the Wraith. The enemies are cornered with no escape. If they choose to fight till the end, it will inflict more casualties on both sides. I would negotiate with her to surrender. But if she refuses, then I will stall her time. Jackal’s reinforcements will arrive soon. They will be defeated with ease.”

Maleek laughs in disbelief. “You’re right. I don’t think I can fight at my best capacity with my wound. I’m impressed, Gideon. You’ve really shown your true strength in this mission. Now you really think like a true Swordmaster, determined and cunning when it comes to achieving a mission objective.

“I tell you what, when this mission is over, I will credit this mission success to your squad. You truly deserve it for leading your squad this far. Me? I got my entire squad wiped out by the undead. Today is not my best day. But I will present a good report to Jackal for you.

“You know, Jackal had his doubts on your leadership before. But I think after this mission, you would have gained his trust. To be able to complete a capture mission successfully, your squad will be highly regarded among the other Swordmasters. Your squad members will thank you for that. Lionhart, Jega and Tori had histories they are not proud of. Being in a well-performing squad, this will help boost their self-confidence. Your squad members will be proud to be associated with your leadership. Now, go do your thing and bring the enemies down to your knees. Finish this mission. Let’s make the Swordmasters proud.”

Maleek’s offer to help present a good report to Jackal sounds tempting, I have to admit. Is he sincere about helping me? Jackal has always wanted to bring me down. But that is because I haven’t always been very cooperative with his arrogant behavior. But if we succeed in achieving the mission objectives, it helps to reflect well on Jackal’s leadership as our Commander. So if Maleek can present a good report to Jackal on behalf of us, why not?

I walk over to Kiera and request for a private conversation.

Kiera says, “Gideon, if he lays his hand on Nisa, I will not hesitate to strike him down.”

I say, “I know Nisa means a lot to you and you would do anything to get Nisa back. Our Commander’s reinforcements will be arriving soon any minute. You need to back down. You can’t win this fight without causing more people on your side to die. If you surrender to us, I know everyone will be thrown into prison. But at least you and your people will still be alive.”

Kiera says, “Gideon, I want to apologize to you. When I knocked you out earlier, I was trying to spare you from this exact same situation. I know your heart. You wanted to help these Marked Ones in some ways. But I know you don’t have the heart to turn back on your duty as a Swordmaster. If we manage to bring all the refugees safely back to New Haven, this would be one step forward for the cause we are fighting for.

“You know, the refugees of New Haven, they are seeking for hope in a world where there is none. Each time we successfully rescue the refugees from the Outside World and have them settled into New Haven, everybody is motivated to do more good works. In this war against Hezekiah, our momentum hinges upon winning the small battles. Each small battle we win, the faith of the people grows. It may be a small fire now. But if we win enough small battles, our people would have eventually built enough fire in their hearts to conquer evil. That is how we fight every day—winning one small battle at a time.

“I know you sincerely want to create a positive change in this City. This would start from this very action, by helping the refugees who earnestly need your help. I understand that your performance as a squad leader may be compromised if you help me. And I certainly don’t wish that you end up like Itoshi’s fate.

“Are your squad members on your side? The only person here who is capable of compromising your performance is Maleek. If he were to report about your action to your Commander, your whole squad would be in trouble with the law. You need to figure out a way to remove Maleek from the picture. Will you help us, Gideon?”

Yet, on the other hand, I know Kiera is a good-hearted person who just wants to help provide a better life for the Marked Ones she has rescued. Am I supposed to turn a deaf ear to someone who eagerly seeks my help? If I am in the position to be able to do something about it but choose not to, am I going to be able to live with myself?

I say, “I understand what needs to be done. I’ll discuss with my squad members on what to do next.”

Kiera looks me in the eyes. “I believe in you, Gideon.”

What shall I do? This is getting very difficult for me. I may have to make the inevitable decision soon.

I ask Lionhart to send a message to Maleek who is at the other corner of the room. “Tell Maleek that I have the Masked Assassin’s trust. Wait for my timing.”

* * *

I walk to the rest of my squad members. Kang Yu gives me a worried look. The rest are clueless of what is about to happen next.

Kang Yu says, “Gideon, we should capture the enemies while they still think you are on their side. Kiera has only one fighting man by her side. The Marked Ones are unarmed and defenseless. They may have the numbers, but we can take them down easily.”

I say, “While I was working with her to defeat the Wraith, I got to know her side of story a little better. They are good people. New Haven is helping the refugees to settle for a new life. If we take that hope right out of the refugees and throw them into prison, how different are we from the oppressive regime of Hezekiah’s Undead? They escape from the prison of the Immortal Lord right into the prison of our City. We are in a position of power to help them. Are we going to commit actions that go against the values of our humanity?”

Kang Yu looks disturbed over my indecisiveness. “You’re not thinking clearly, Gideon. I’m all out to help those who need it. There are many days when you can choose to help others, but not today. Because if you help them, you’re sacrificing the future of our squad. That is not helping us at all. Remember what happened to Itoshi? You don’t want to drag the entire squad down that dark path with you. That end of the tunnel only leads to death for our squad. People like Sharon, Lionhart, Jega and Tori trust that your leadership will bring the best for their future. You have heroic instincts, I get it. I have my heroic instincts too. But really, Gideon, not today. If today you choose to do that, you jeopardize everybody’s future. Just like Itoshi, a dead man can never do any good works.”

I believe there must a be way around this. “I know all about Itoshi. What if we’re smart about it?”

Kang Yu says, “My late father was a herbalist. When I was younger, before the war broke out, my father was arrested for selling untested herbs to the citizens. He claimed that they had healing effects. But someone ate it and died from its poisoning effects. Apparently, my father knew about the potential side effects of the herbs but did not fully disclose about it. The magistrate claimed that my father wanted to maximize his business profits and therefore declared him guilty. He was then thrown into prison for his crime. Do you know I had difficulty making friends with others because they associated me with my father’s crime? They said, ‘Oh, you are the son of the herbalist who poisoned one of his customers. Are you like your father?’

“The world can be very unforgiving. Because I lost my father to the prison at a very young age, I had to help support my mother’s living by looking for jobs nobody wanted. Everywhere I went asking for a job, nobody would hire me because they were worried if the son was like the father. I was frustrated. I was being judged for my father’s mistake. One tavern decided to hire me as a lowly floor scrubber. What? I was the son of a well-known herbalist, now turned into some floor scrubber, cleaning up after the patron’s puke and mess. I was working there for a few years till I realized that I was going nowhere in my life. Nobody wanted to talk and befriend me. I was even afraid of showing my face to any familiar faces who showed up at the tavern for fear they would laugh at me.

“Then one day, I had enough. I would not let the world decide my fate simply because I was associated with my father’s action. I had to get out from wiping people’s puke for the rest of my life. So I decided to send in my application for the Swordmaster Academy. I heard they were looking for the best recruits. When a Swordmaster instructor came to the tavern to do a background check on me, my employer gave a bad report about my history. The instructor was looking for recruits with a clean reputation. Once again, being associated with my prisoner-father, instantly caused my application to fail. I would not give in to such helplessness anymore. I must rise above my circumstances.

“You know that I had never liked using a sword. But somehow in this City, I see it as the key to my freedom. So I started practicing sword fighting on my own. One day, a veteran Swordmaster saw me practicing my sword in the alley. He decided to have a friendly spar with me. He said he would send a word to the Academy to allow me to join their recruits if I was good enough to outmatch him. But of course, I failed to beat him. He told me something, ‘Most Swordmasters would just focus on the sword-fighting techniques to rise in the ranks. But your wits can bring you to places a sword cannot. Don’t walk your life like a straight line. Find your shortcuts.’ Such a powerful statement, though I did not fully understand it at that moment.

“One day, a Swordmaster patrolman was pursuing a thief in the alley. He got stabbed in his arm, and the thief was about to escape. I quickly threw my sword at the thief and by some luck, I managed to hit him. When his squad leader arrived at the scene, suddenly I had a brilliant thought. I thought, ‘This is it! This would be my moment for the Swordmaster to report of my achievement up to the Swordmasters and then finally I would be enrolled into the Academy.’ Then my wits spoke to me instead. I did something entirely different. I didn’t know why I did what I did. But I told his squad leader that the Swordmaster patrolman did a great job capturing the thief, and I claimed no credit for it.

“Man, I thought I lost the chance to join the Academy by passing the glory to someone else. But then a week later, an enrollment letter came. I was accepted into the Academy, because the Swordmaster patrolman whom I helped, recommended me. I was overjoyed. Finally, I had someone who lifted me out from a social position where I was stuck due to the stigma of my father’s action. I had found my shortcut.

“I plead with you, Gideon. My wits tell me that if you allow the Marked Ones to escape, you would subject all the members of the squad to association with a traitorous act. I spent many years during my younger days trying to claw myself out from such deep hole. At times, you need circumstances that can lift us out from it. We would be helpless on our own. If we capture the Marked Ones, we would be lifted up in the ranks of the Swordmasters. But if we forego this chance, we would miss the chance to be lifted up in our ranks. If Jackal finds a trace of evidence that reveals our act of treason, our entire squad would be associated with a reputation you cannot hope to shake off in this lifetime.

“With greater power comes greater flexibility. When you’re stuck in a deep pit, you have no flexibility and you have to rely on the mercy of others to survive in this world. We must be at the top, Gideon. We cannot allow others to push us down to the bottom of the pit. And by capturing the Marked Ones, this would give us a chance to push ourselves to the top.”

* * *

My cousin Sharon walks to me. “Cousin, I would like to have a word with you before you make your decision.”

I turn to my cousin. “I’m in a difficult dilemma. I want to know, what do you think if we capture the Marked Ones?”

Sharon has her own side of the story as well. “These people whom you’re contemplating to help, they are not nobodies. If you believe in them and give them a chance today, your action can change their lives.

“With the power in our hands, we are on the verge of sentencing a little girl like Nisa to a lifetime imprisonment. Are we even human for allowing that to happen? When I was a little girl, I used to play with the other kids in the neighborhood. We would play a game of ‘Undead vs Citizen’ where the kids playing the ‘Undead’ team would have to outrun and catch the ‘Citizens’. The big kids nicknamed me ‘kind-hearted Sharon’. They would often place me in the team with the younger and slower kids.

“No matter how many times we were pitted against the older team, my team would always lose to them. When the older team became the ‘Undead’, they would always catch us because we were slower. When the older team became the ‘Citizens’, the game would never end because our team could never seem to outrun them. I was upset because of the unfair advantage. I secretly wanted to join the older team because I wanted to win.

“On one fine day, during the team member selection, I managed to manipulate my way into the older team. We thrashed the younger team, denying them all chances of winning. For once, I felt good in my life because my team won. After that day, the kids from the younger team refused to talk to me. I asked them why. They said I joined up with the mighty to oppress the weak.

“I was like, ‘What?’ It was just another game on another mundane day. Why did they take such offense against me? The kids from the younger team expected me to side with them. It didn’t matter if we lost against the older team. They simply enjoyed my friendship with them. They appreciated that I sided with them as the underdogs even though I knew we stood no chance against the older team. Ever since that day, I told myself that I would help those who need it even if siding with them doesn’t help me in any beneficial ways.

“We know the culture of the Swordmasters values achievement and competence. When I was in the Academy, those that didn’t perform too well, I often befriended them. I had a friend called Aaron who was expelled from the Academy for horrible sword-fighting skills, I was by his side as I watched him packed his bags and left the Academy. I had another friend Hunter who barely passed his exams, but I stood by him and encouraged him because I believed every person on the losing team needs someone to support them.

“Today, Hunter served in one of the squads in Lord Wrazen’s escort team. Today, Aaron runs a successful blacksmith shop down the road. He made this fine sword specially for me when I graduated from the Academy. Aaron’s shop was then appointed as the new weapon supplier for the Swordmasters.

“All I want to say is that if you believe in someone who cannot even believe in himself, you will see that person rising up to meet your expectations. Right now, these Marked Ones are looked down upon and judged because they carried the cursed Marks on their foreheads. By the law, they should be captured and sentenced to life imprisonment so that they would not be a threat to the City. Everybody else will look away and not give them a second thought. But what will you do, cousin? Will you be the one that believes in them?

“I know what Kang Yu will say. He would say that we shouldn’t be naïve to believe that all good deeds are rewarded, and he would quote Itoshi’s example. But what will you do, cousin, if you have the chance to believe in them even if it brings no reward to your side? Will you still believe in them?

I say, “You know this is a tough choice, Sharon. If I choose to help the refugees and our squad gets compromised as a result of my decision, then the burden is on my shoulders.”

Sharon says, “I know, cousin. I know you’re sticking your neck out for this and you may end up carrying the consequences of your decision. I know it’s not easy for you. If you put me in your shoes, I don’t know what I will decide. I’ll probably still look to you for advice. You will always be the leader. But I know no matter how difficult a decision is, you will always find a way through. You always know what’s the best thing to do.”

* * *

Maleek looks at me with his pressuring stare. Kiera gives me a hopeful stare. Both are waiting for me to make my next move. It’s time for me to make a decision. What shall I do?

Shall I provide a safe passage to Kiera and her Marked Ones to return to New Haven?

Or shall I capture the refugees because I believe the importance of boosting our squad’s reputation among the Swordmasters outweighs helping the Marked One refugees right now?

What shall I do?

Next: 13: I Thought We Are Safe →