Sparrow crouched - just metres from the master. He was trying his best not to shake - not to breathe too loud. Over the night the remaining powder that clung to his clothes had become invisible. He couldn’t be seen - but he could be heard.

Master Gochi pulled a thin sword from his waist. He used it to slice the sizzling duck meat in two.

‘Come… Spirit,’ the man said, ‘You must be hungry.’

There were drops of dew on the melon - and flavour sizzled from the duck meat. Sparrow found himself drooling.

‘I don’t think you’re a spirit,’ Master Gochi said, ‘I think if you were an unstoppable force you would’ve killed me by now.’

The master pulled a strip of duck from the platter, and popped it into his mouth, the juices ran like blood through his teeth.

Sparrow was almost hyperventilating, his heart was pounding, what the hell do I do? He watched as the man’s sword sliced a melon clean in two.

Do I say something… do I? Oh hell…

‘What do you want from me?’ Sparrow said. His voice seemed far squeakier than he’d intended. He wiped at the sweat on his forehead.

‘I want to kill you,’ The master finished his mouthful.

‘I hope there’s a but in that sentence…’ Sparrow ventured.

‘You’re right,’ the master said, ‘I want to kill you, but… I also have a problem.’

There was an agonisingly long silence. Sparrow was impressed - the silver haired assassin could wield silences like blades.

‘Whatever you are, you seem to know at least a little magic,’ The assassin said, ‘I’m going to give you a chance to not have your windpipe ripped from your neck.’The man stared - directly at Sparrow, ‘We are merciless to those that try to obtain our secrets.’

Sensing he had nothing to lose, Sparrow decided to go on the offensive. He stuck his shoulders back and tried to make his voice deeper than it was, ‘Well… sounds like you must really need me. Like you said about spirits earlier - if you wanted me dead, you would’ve already killed me.’

The master assassin laughed, ‘I don’t need you.’

‘Yet I am still alive… tell you what, I’ve already decided on my price.’

The assassin’s teeth clenched together, ‘You don’t get to name a price.’

Sparrow felt the wave of displeasure that rippled off the man. It was like the wave of cold you get from falling in snow - only magnified a hundred times. It was almost enough to make Sparrow give up...

...but he figured he’d already dug a big enough bullshit hole that he might as well try to keep bullshitting his way out.

‘I want one of those green gemstones - you know. The ones that help you to fl-’

The sword sliced into Sparrow’s ear, pinning a patch of skin to the back of the cave and creating a tiny line of blood from his ear to his shoulder.

Sparrow bit his tongue to suppress his scream. His fists heated up.

‘You don’t get to name a price,’ the assassin said, his tone was firm, ‘Now, shut up and listen, I’m going to tell you a story and you’re going to listen. Afterwards, I’ll ask you whether you think you can help me, if you say no then I will kill you with a quick clean cut to the neck. If you say yes - and you do help me, I will allow you to walk away from the mountain unharmed.’

The man paused, his eyebrows moved into vicious clumps, ‘But… if you lie to me - if you say you can help and you don’t solve the problem then I will start from your toes - I will stick needles under your nails, I will peel your calves from your shins over the course of a month, I wi-

-Oh god,’ Sparrow interrupted, almost vomiting, ‘Enough said, I’m not going to lie to you… hell, I don’t think I’m going to eat again after that descriptive bit of-

-Quiet,’ the master assassin said, ‘I will begin the story.’

‘The story begins with a proud king. A king who could kill any mortal that stood before him. A king who ruled the killers of the world.

Now - take a man like that, a man who doesn’t fear a thing - who has done more to increase death’s empire than most plagues - and give that man a pregnant wife.

On the day she was to give birth all the women from his wife’s side of the family came to the king’s door and begged him to perform the birth rituals - a set of sacrifices and tributes to the gods to help ensure the birth would be lucky.

But the proud king - the man who would bow before no mortal didn’t give a damn about the gods - he’d resisted her family’s pleas for months and he wanted his children to be logical - not ignorant idol worshippers.

So he didn’t do the sacrifices, he ate the tributes and the next day his wife delivered twin boys.

A boy was what he’d been secretly hoping for - someone to carry on his name and legacy. Two boys were even better - a sign that the gods were for fools.

The boys were healthy too - two arms, two legs, and one head each. They had blazing golden eyes and strength beyond their years.

There was just one problem.

A small piece of sparkling string - made from diamond joined them together - the string went from the place where one twin’s belly button would’ve been, to the place where the other twin’s belly button would’ve been. There was only a finger length of diamond string between them.

As the boys grew, life grew harder for them… using the toilet was a complicated manoeuvre - if one wanted to go, the other had to go along. They couldn’t crawl, or run. Their world was shrunk by a finger’s length of diamond string.

The king called his doctor and his jeweller; neither of them could figure out how to separate the boys.

So the two boys and their father travelled the land - there wasn’t a door the king couldn’t open. They visited Chin Cho the Great - a master jeweller rumoured to be the richest man in the world.

Chin Cho offered the king two new boys to replace his sons - and a hundred gold coins for the diamonds. The three of them had to slip out a window.

They journeyed into the mountains - met The Great Sage of Azaran and dined with him in his cave. Yet even the great sage could not figure out why they were bound by diamonds - or how to separate them.

They met kings and emperors and cultivators - and yet none were able to explain the diamond link between them.’

The silver haired king stopped talking and his composure slipped away. His chest heaved.

‘The boys and their father returned home - the twins had royal blood in them - but still they were scorned by their friends and their family. Everyone looked at the king - and they knew that it was he who caused the twins to be deformed by the diamonds.’

‘I didn’t honour the gods,’ the silver haired assassin said, ‘I didn’t do the rituals.’

Sparrow swallowed as the king began to weep.

‘I’ve tried to be strong,’ the man said, ‘I’ve tried to find solutions - but I can’t help feeling that it’s all my fault. I want to be able to look my sons in the eyes again.’

The man wiped his eyes and then his face hardened again - all traces of emotion were covered up.

‘Can you help them? Can you help the twins?’

Sparrow thought about all the kings, cultivators, and magicians that had failed before him. He thought about having needles shoved under his nails. He thought about how he had no idea how to help the twins. But he also thought about the king, and the lengths he was prepared to go to for his kids. Sparrow was reminded of his grandma who’d defied the administrators just to give Sparrow a chance at a better life.

‘Yes. I can help them.’