Free Shades of Blood and Darkness (Templar Chronicles Missions eNovella #1) by Joseph Nassise Page A

disappeared.
    Using equipment the missing Templars left behind, the parish pastor had communicated directly with the Preceptor and had requested further assistance. Since Cade
unit, Echo Team, had been closest to the site, and presently unoccupied with any other duties, they had drawn the short stick and had been asked to take the assignment.
    That had been several days ago.
    Oh how Cade wished he could have those days back.
    As was standard procedure, Echo Team's active commander had sent the fourth member of his squad, Bishop, in ahead of the rest of the team, with instructions to set up a secure location unbeknownst to the locals and then, and only then, rendezvous with the parish pastor. Bishop had carried out both tasks without a hitch, relaying the address of the safe house during his regularly scheduled communication a few days ago. He had checked in the next night as well, leaving a brief message that he believed he had some information about the fate of the first squad and that he would see the rest of the team in a few days.
    The night after that he'd missed his call.
    Cade hadn't been too concerned at that point. His team was trained to use secondary and even tertiary communication schedules just in case any activities they were engaged in prevented them from making the primary one. When Bishop missed the second check-in, however, Cade grew more concerned.
    By the time he missed the third, Cade had the rest of the team and the necessary gear loaded onto one of the Order's jets and had gotten underway the moment the Preceptor had given them the word.
    Now, as the pilot made the announcement that they would be landing soon, Cade reached over and picked up the long, thin case resting on the seat next to him. Balancing it on his knees, he opened the case's three clasps and raised its lid.
    Inside, on a smooth bed of white silk, lay the sword that had been given to him during his investiture ceremony on the night that he had pledged himself and his life to the Order.
    The weapon itself was an unadorned English long sword. Like all Templar weapons, its hilt had been specifically molded to match the grip its owner's right hand. Along the length of the blade that was facing upright in the case, the word Defensor had been inscribed in silver.
    Translated, the Latin word meant Defender.
    Cade carefully withdrew the sword from the case and held it up in the aisle, turning it slightly to and fro so that the dim lighting of the cabin made the script sparkle and shine. According to the Code, a knight in the Order was allowed personal ownership of only a few, specific items. The sword given to them during their investiture ceremony was one of them, a symbol of their fidelity to the Order and their unrelenting dedication to its ideals. The weapons were supposed to remain undecorated, chaste if you will, just as the knight who carries them pledges to do the same. Enhancing the weapon in any way after it is awarded was cause for a variety of punishments, for doing so was considered a sin of pride.
    Cade wasn't concerned with his sin. Or his pride, for that matter.
    He had ignored this rule, just as he had ignored more than a handful of others over the last several years when the success of his missions required it. On the day after the ceremony, he had secretly commissioned a silversmith to help him add a second word to the same exact location on the opposite side of the blade from the first.
    Now, as he turned the weapon over, he smiled grimly at what he had written there.
    Ulciscor.
    Vengeance.
    That word represented the driving reason behind Cade's daily existence and the true reason for his membership in the Templar Order.
    He gently replaced the sword back into its case, this time with the opposite side facing upward. Tugging the thin, cotton glove off his right hand, he traced the Latin word with the tip of his index finger. He could barely feel the inscription through his skin, but his Talent sent the raw emotion locked in it