Templar Chamber ~ by Schuyler

I walked into the chamber, and the scene was like a vivid nightmare. The cold, musty Templar cellar overwhelmed my nose. In the dancing candlelight, everyone stood bleached white. Their thin faces were wrought with stress as if a demon was haunting them; I didn't want to ask what was wrong. Besides that, no one greeted me. For an odd reason, I felt like an unwelcome guest. I searched the room hoping to find the cause of this tension. I shouldn't have. I realized something that made my gut drop. Someone was gone. No, it was worse, I knew that by the way everyone was acting, someone was dead.

I searched the mass of people, but as hard as I tried, I couldn't put my finger on who it was. Then it came to me. "He's dead," I muttered, my voice slowly rising. I knew Eric wouldn't miss a meeting for his life. Something was horribly wrong.

"He's dead! Eric's dead!" I yelled, my miserable voice echoing in the halls. My best friend Eric was dead.

1120 A.D., Isreal

My memories took over as I thought back to the time when we had once fought together as friends. I remembered the blistering heat of the desert. The Muslim city glimmered in the distance like a mirage. The city intimidated me. I knew it was going to be fateful day, filled with life and death. The horn sounded, and I took off on my horse. I had a spear in my right hand and was ready to draw a sword in my left. As we neared the Sejuk Turks on the outside of the city, we let out a feral war cry. We were the outside city guard. When we got past them, it would be straight to the city. I pressed on, drawing nearer. Then I remembered Eric was to my left, and I turned my head and to see if I could grab his attention.

"Eric!" I yelled. The wind blew away my voice like grains of sand in a dust storm. Still, I caught his attention. I smiled at him. For all I knew, it might have been the last time I ever saw him. He gave me a sad, melancholy smile. I turned back towards the city. I prepared myself for a long, bloody battle.

I snapped back to the present and asked, "Why? Who did this?"
"We don't know," said William, the leader of the Knights Templar in the area. "We all were walking down the hall and found a dagger in his back. It could be any one of us." William knew everything, all the secrets about the group.
"Why though?" I pressured, "Why would someone do this?"
Someone in the group announced, "Maybe he was after money or a relic from the crusades?" All eyes turned toward William. Personally, I didn't know about any relic. We waited anxiously for William to speak. At last he announced, "That's none your business." With that he walked off, down a side passage, leaving us in a confused silence.

People started talking, their thoughts boiling like a thick stew. I knew I couldn't trust anybody. I kept my thoughts to myself. I sat pondering. Who would have done this, member or not? Finally, I couldn't stand the murmuring, so I quickly slipped out without a word. I headed towards the ancient oak door. I wanted to leave. My hands gripped the the chilled iron door and pulled. My heart skipped a beat. The door wouldn't budge. I pulled and kicked, but the door prevailed. Now I was really worried. A sick feeling sprouted in my stomach. I sprinted back to the meeting room as if I was running for my life. For all I knew, I was. I burst into the center of the room, panting like a dog. Everyone's eyes turned to me and stared at me like I was insane.
"The doors are locked," I announced, surprising everyone. Following my announcement, an outburst of angry discussion erupted. People were frantic. I knew the sanity would only last so long, so I slowly slipped out of the meeting room. I walked down the hall a small distance. The whole way I kept my eyes peeled. I started thinking. Why would someone do this? Is it for money? power? or do we have the relic? My gut tensed. Why hadn't William told me if he had a relic? Did he think I was a traitor? Anger swelled in me, but I slowly calmed down. I knew that making rash predictions would get me nowhere. My thoughts came back to earth. William had come back. Everyone was still heavily debating. I asked William in a hushed, pained voice, "Any lead on who you think did this?"

It was impossible for me to think that anyone here besides a new member would have done this. The new members were my main suspects, but I wasn't sure. Even though we were extremely careful who we let in, a spy could have joined. I was glad now that I brought my dress sword. If the situation escalated to violence, it might just come in handy. The dark tunnels were only occasionally lit with a torch, so they provided the perfect place to hide. On the way back to the center room, I wondered if the fight had grown. I had to keep everyone from leaving the center room. Whoever killed Eric could easily pick us off if we were caught alone in the tunnel. Thinking of Eric brought tears to my eyes. All though years we had worked together as each other's right hand man, and now he was gone.


1120 A.D., Isreal


The impact of my spear impaling the first soldier in my path almost knocked me of my horse. The Calvary had just hit the enemies front line. My spear was sticking out of the man like a weird body part. I swapped my sword into my right hand and charged ahead on my horse. In my few seconds of spare time, I looked behind me. I saw Eric on the ground clutching his knee. I could tell he was in agonizing pain. My heart was torn. The captain had given strict orders not to help anybody who was injured or fallen. He didn't want soldiers getting off their horses until battle was over. He wanted everyone focused on the battle. I heard another war cry, along with the distant rumble of hooves. I defiantly spun my horse around and leaped off. That was a big mistake.
I rushed to Eric and urged him to tell me where he was hurt. I knew if he didn't get up, the oncoming Calvary would plow us down. I dragged Eric over to my horse and tried to pull him onto my horse. As the Calvary got closer, I saw a soldier staring me in the eye. He sneered at me as he drew his sword and raised it above his head. I had to move. As I turned Eric around, I saw an arrow sticking out off his side. My heart dropped. At that moment, life slowed. I heaved Eric onto the horse and desperately searched for a weapon to defend myself with. I spotted one and desperately lunged at it. As I lifted myself up I saw a sword swinging down toward my head.


I shook my head, clearing it of distant memories. “Everyone,” I announced, standing on a chair, “whoever the killer is will not be able to pick us off in the center chamber. Stay here and do not leave.”
Nods of approval replied in the audience. I hopped off the stand and walked towards William. He nodded in approval, agreeing to my plan. I took him over into the corner to discus our predicament. "We need to find a way out of here," I whispered to him, "we should try breaking open the door."
"You know as well as I do that that door is more than one foot thick. We would never be able to break it open - even in our wildest dreams," he snarled back at me.
"Fine, but at least I'm trying to get out of this God forsaken pit. These tunnels are riddled with exits, we just have to find one." With that I walked off to talk to a few other senior members about what we should do. I knew that we had to find a way out. I proposed to the group, "We should organize a search party with about half of our group. That group would head off in search of a way out. The rest of the group could protect the center chamber." Or at least it was my plan.
They agreed and one of the most respected members announced, "Everyone, we need to break into two groups. One of them will venture into the tunnels and search for a exit. The other will stay here. We must act now."
"I will go!" I cried. Others chimed in after me. When we had a sufficient number of volunteers, we armed up. I grabbed my sword and prayed, I prayed to the lord. I asked for guidance. I slowly gathered my thoughts and pulled myself up from the chair I had sat on. Then, I slowly and solemnly lead my group out into the tunnel.
As I continued walking, William ran up behind me. "Don't do this!" he told me urgently.
"I'll do what I must," I responded gravely.
"You're on a suicide run and you know it," he yelled at me with all the malice in the world entwined into his voice. "You were always stupid. I'll be glad when you exhale your last breath. Good riddance"
This stopped me dead in my tracks. "Well it seems all you want to do is to sit in the chamber and rot to death. I guess it comes to this. When I find the way out, I won't bother helping you escape." I instantly regretted saying that. It was against my heart.
With that, he turned around and silently walked off. I beckoned for everybody to follow me. I couldn't speak as I knew my voice would failed me. As I walked down the torch lit tunnel, I grabbed one of them off the wall. I was glad I did. About thirty feet ahead the torch line ended. We slowed down as we entered the shadowy realm. I felt my very life slow down as a silver tipped arrow skimmed past my face. It was an omen of death from the devil himself.
As life instantly snapped back into real time, I heard the arrow sink somebody; this is a sound you would never want to hear. A black shadow leaped though the air, an omen of death. I instantly unsheathed my sword, but he shoved me down. With a quick few swings everyone was dead within seconds. Before my eyes flashed the image of Eric. With a yell of anger at all the deaths of the past, I leaped at the assailant. Our swords met with a unearthly clash. I quickly spun my sword above my head and brought it down on him with all weight of the deaths of the past. But he barely blocked as he staggered back. We went back and forth. Finally, I sliced his torso in a lucky swing. He stumbled back to the wall clutching his wound. I slowly walked up to him, preparing to give the final blow. As I approached I saw his face. He was Arabian. As I got a closer look I realized he was a Hasheem, a type of assassin. Before I could respond, I saw a flash of steel felt a searing pain from my rib cage. I sliced at his head and felt a soft swosh. I won't tell the details. I fell to the ground, gasping for breath. In my last minutes of my life I thought about my life. I realized William had only acted out of fear. Fear controls people. I slowly let go of life. At least I could be with Eric. I was at peace. For a final time I closed my eyes.

~ by Schuyler