Chapter 1

The same sparsely decorated room. But at least it is my room, and I don't have to share it. They train us to not have any personal attachments, to not have anything of our own, but sometimes I wish I had something of myself here. Having attachments will kill you, that's what they keep telling us. Well at least, here it's always our masters that hurt us if we try to hold on to something. "Good morning Ms. Fox. Please follow me, it is time. " I've never seen their faces, nor any identifying features. Hell, I don't even know if it's a man or a woman. All I know is that we do what we're told. It's been a tough journey so far, but there is a promise that it will be worth it.
The hallway is a bit dark, with barely enough light to see. My Master, as I've started to call him, leads me to a small room. Not much is in it, except for a small table and chair. I've always wondered what our goal is, as my Master tells me to go sit down at a wooden table. It's odd, this table is perfect for my size. Almost as if it's been built just for me. There is a piece of paper on it. I know my Master is standing behind me, always just out of sight, out of my vision. It was weird at first, but I had no choice. It felt as if they were always watching me, even if I couldn't see them.
"Read it" the voice said in my head. They must be talking about the paper. All it had on it was some weird scribblings, I couldn't read it, it made no sense to me. Then I realized, that they must be talking about my gift. See, I had this gift, that I could read any text, as long as the text had a meaning. And it had to be writing, of some sort. It took some effort and time, but as I sat there and focused on the text for a few minutes the meaning became clear.
"Kill your worst enemy"
I studied it the note, but those were all the words. And then it hit me, the smell of roses, as my eyes got weary. It all happened so quickly, one moment I'm sitting on the chair and the next I smell the lush greenery of a forest. Possibly for the first time in a few weeks, if not months, I'm actually outside again, in a forest no less! I try to take it in, but then hear my Masters voice again. It's so odd, they never talk. And from the voice in my head, I can't make out any details either.
My last challenge before ascending is to stay in the forest for 3 full days, without being noticed. A task that sounds easy enough, thanks to all of the intensive training I've received. But surely my Master has a plan with it. Nothing they task us with is as easy as it sounds initially, I carry the marks that tell the stories, the scars are abundant.
He vanishes from sight, and yet I cannot shake the feeling that I'm still being watched. Looking at where he stood, I can't see any marks of where he stood. But then again, it's an assassins trademark that they never leave a trace to be followed. It's what we're trained for, to not leave any trace behind. Getting up, my primary goal must be to find a place to sleep. Food is a luxery I can go without for 3 days, and water is nice to have but not a requirement.
A tree with large open roots! I would almost count myself lucky, having found a place to sleep. It probably was a large rabbits nest, that made their home here. With a bit of vine and leaves, this would make a great hiding spot, and there's even a chance to catch some of the morning dew to drink. Who knows, perhaps that I really did get lucky. Failure is not an option, it's the equivalent of death. As the Master has said: "What use are you, if you cannot complete even the simplest of tasks? "