fuck this job.com

In the early morning light of May in the town of Balistica in the Pyrenees, a gang of boys is working to dig a new well. The oldest is twelve, the youngest, Orlando, is six. Their friend Raymondo runs up to join them.

"Are you going with Stephano to Jerusalem?" His face is red and his ear is bleeding. He barely hesitates before he races down the road to catch up with a crowd of people who have already left the town. The boys look at the muddy well and think of how much more work it will be to finish. They all know what it's like to be beaten. They drop their tools and chase after him.

"Where is Stephano?" asks Pedro, the oldest. Orlando, the youngest has to run hard to keep up. Raymondo looks back at him.

"Stephano is in The East. He has ships and soldiers to take us to the Holy Land!"

Without thinking nor even a goodbye to mother or father, the boys get in line and walk with the others. They walk until they are sore. They eat food brought out to them by holy sisters and priests. They sleep. They walk again.

In the late evening light of September a group of boys is piled up together for warmth on a stinking fishing dock in Venezia. Pedro spits blood into the lagoon. Orlando has found a small dagger. He has killed two men with it. If they come at him again, he will kill more of them.

In the bright, hot sunshine of December a ragged collection of slaves is driven to the market in Alexandria. Orlando drags his chains beside his only remaining friend, Jacques. Jacques is sold to a Seljuk Turk. Orlando is sold to The City.

In the darkest hour of midnight, a very young man escapes from the slave's quarters. He jumps five feet between roof-tops and murders an man with a paving stone. He steals his clothes and blends into the crowd. He steals some money and buys passage to Jaffa.

At high noon on the hottest day of the year, a young man is given food and lodging for his service to a group of knights, just arrived in Jerusalem and eager for adventure. His job is to dig. To dig a well. A well to be located directly under the ruins of the holy temple of Solomon itself.

At an hour beyond time, five greedy and ambitious knights and one peasant hired to dig kneel in the presence of the holy relic. The leader of the group raises it up in his hand and turns to the others.

"In the names of Uri-el, Micha-el, Gabri-el, and..."

"No! Wait! We need six to complete the hexagram. We have only five!" The knights all look at Orlando.

"Stand over here, boy!" Orlando hesitantly joins the group.

"In the names of Uri-el, Micha-el, Gabri-el and Rapha-el, I dub thee true knights of this holy temple, and convey to you the right to wage holy war upon the enemies of Christ, and to do as you see fit in the dispensation of God's justice! Arise, and go forth to smite the enemies of God!"

On a dusty road to Damascus, a tired and bitter man who has worn the crusader's cross for a dozen years rides a camel north to the mountains. At his side is the Emir, his friend and one-time enemy. It is there in Damascus that Orlando--who once called himself Orlando de Balistica in his pride and arrogance--will find Hasan of Alamut--and forsake this God that has forsaken him and taken his only love.

On a warm October night, the assassins of the legendary city await the morning and the announcement by the mullah that this strange, blonde-haired foreigner is chosen by Allah to lead them. Within the mighty fortress, the one-time slave boy stares lustfully at a hillock of gold. No power on earth can touch a hair on his head. He is master of it all.

The sky turns dark at noon on the North Sea. An older and wiser Orlando feels his stomach turning and twisting with the waves as the old feelings surface again. The great leader burned as a heretic. Christ himself betrayed! And his beloved home of Alamut torn down by wild men from the east who ride without sleep or food and can fire a bow that an ordinary man cannot bend. The world turned upside down.

Great storm clouds roll above as war engines built on rafts of oak approach the island in the center of Lock Cullen. The army of King John has surrounded the last of the Templar hide-outs. Orlando took up the cloak of mastery only when the Grand Master himself at last succumbed to plague. The motley collection of fighting men now occupying Caer Cullen is a far cry from the mighty armies they once led. Now, only those who die the hardest remain to continue the fight. A lightning strike illuminates Orlando as he holds forth.

"We will die here today, for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, we will never be brought under the rule of Anti-Christ. It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honor that we are fighting, but for God's Truth- for that alone, which no Christian man shall abandon--as the gates of hell shall not stand against it. For those who die here will not die, but will rise, and walk again!"

A heavy downpour begins to fall as the hordes of the King's men begin their final assault upon the Templar stronghold. Several of the King's ships roll and begin to capsize. The men scream in terror at the sight of the dragons--arisen from the depths to fight for the evil Satanic Templars! Many run or swim away, but many more are filled with holy zeal at the sight of the awful beasts. Let the devil bring all his armies of Hell! Onward, men, for St. Andrew and St. George! Onward!

Simon rolls out of bed and thuds into the carpet painfully. His elbow is bruised a bit. He tries to remember the dream, but it's fading fast. Wow! What a dream that was! What a dream. Simon hears a voice, shouting out in the street.

"Help! Somebody help me! He's robbing me!"

Simon tries to clear his head and listen. It's a male voice--a young person. It's not hard to understand. He's being mugged.

(TO BE CONTINUED)