I'm back.
School didn't get out for me until today.
Updates will hopefully be somewhat frequent, but I'm doing a lot this summer and I don't know for a fact what my schedule is.
The prologue to Love and Hate is up now.
I would also like 3 things from whoever's willing:
2 beta readers for Love and Hate – I want to have 2 so no mistakes are made. Kinda like a filtration process, you know? But I want it to be fast because I don't enjoy posting chapters that are unedited and sloppy. Unfortunately this is what happened to most of War and Peace.
1 beta reader for War and Peace – I'd like to think that my writing has improved greatly over this long hiatus, so I'd like somebody (who isn't on a rushed schedule) to go back and re-read/edit War and Peace with me. We don't have to be on a tight schedule, I just want to work out some issues.
Thank you for hanging in there,
LivesTooShort52
Disclaimer: I claim any ownership of Assassin's Creed. Un-edited.
Warning: I'm back, bitches!
Apparently with no surprise
To any happy Flower
The Frost beheads it at its play -
In accidental power -
The blonde Assassin passes on -
The Sun proceeds unmoved
To measure off another Day
For an Approving God.
Emily Dickenson
Prologue
"We need to hurry."
"Are you sure The Mentor will believe you?"
"Al Mualim did."
"Al Mualim isn't The Mentor, now is he?"
"Don't worry, Anima. Everything is fine." Raan grunted while working his way through the prisons beneath the church.
"You know, when somebody says that everything is fine, it tends to be anything but." I snapped back. He rolled his eyes in the dim lighting instead of replying. A pale hand reached towards us and I muffled a shriek before swatting it away. "Where is he supposed to be anyways?"
"Aren't you the one who is supposed to know this?" Raan replied with a panicked look in his eyes.
"Umm…" I tried to remember the last time I was thrown down into this hell hole, "let's just say the details are fuzzy at best."
"Oh God. We've lost our potential ally already. We're doomed." He clutched his hands over his chest while running, but didn't slow down.
I gave him an exasperated glance before I pushed past more cells. I was pretty sure I knew where I was going. Then again, the only time I was in this dungeon was when I was three hours into death. "They're probably keeping him this way."
"They didn't even give him a trial." I didn't have to look at his face to know it had a sour expression on it.
"Betrayers usually don't." I kept my eyes glued in front of me so I didn't see any of the dead or dying people in the cells surrounding us. They were all at least unconscious from starvation or dehydration. I stopped at a cell that had iron bars around it. "Okay," I took a deep breath and looked around, "either there is a mass murderer behind these bars and we're totally fucked, or this is Amir."
Raan took a deep breath before stepping forward and started picking the lock. The door swung open. Amir stumbled out, half naked and deathly thin. "We need to go." He ordered a surprisingly strong voice.
"Do you have anything here?" Raan asked quickly.
He shook his head. "Just get me out of here."
"There should be an escape drainage system somewhere, leading to an aqueduct. It'll be safer than going back." I cocked my head down the hallway, it was dry and dusty; any guard with half a brain could follow our footsteps. They nodded and I started leading again. We got to the stables quickly and I felt like the devil was breathing down my neck and hell's flames licking at my feet. Amir was slung in front of Raan on the horse. Neither of them had time to steady themselves before we took off.
"I need to go south: into Turkey." The old Assassin pointed towards the horizon. Without a second thought we took off towards the Assassin's supposed sanctuary.
"How long is Malik covering for us?" I shouted over the sound of pounding hooves about an hour into our travels.
"Less than twenty four hours. The Mentor thinks we're running a last minute mission before the armies arrive."
"Hopefully we'll have time get organized once we reach Turkey." I glanced at Amir, he was shaking his head in doubt. After a couple hours were stole some fresh horses to continue on our way. It was late morning when Amir finally pointed out a small village where he would be staying. We dismounted the horses outside the city limits and made our way inside the walls as discretely as possible. A small shack on the far side of town was where Amir finally made us stop.
Raan knocked on the door with a solid 'rap' once. There was a heavy pause before it swung open, revealing a shockingly familiar face.
"You're the nun." I couldn't help but point out the obvious.
The old nun smiled at me, yellow and gapped teeth showing, "Nun, no: Amir's wife, yes." I gave her a confused glance before both she and Amir chuckled. We made our way inside and sat down at a modest table.
"What's going on?" Raan cut right to the point.
"There's a war going on, boy." The once-nun pointed out with a knowing tilt of her head.
"I gathered that much." Raan deadpanned. I tossed him a withering look before turning back to the old woman. A knock on the door interrupted her. Surprise flashed across her face. She glanced out a hidden peephole before paling and turning towards Raan and I.
"You two need to go. It's the guards." She made a shooing notion towards the back door. Raan and I backed away slowly. Raan was out the door first, but I hesitated.
I gave Amir a pleading glance. "Don't worry about me, children. I can more than handle a couple guards. You two, however, need to return now. Once you get back ask for Vidman. He will send Anun and another apprentice to me and we will thrive in Egypt. You will come to us later, but for now, flee."
I wanted so badly to know more, but instead I was hauled out the door by a frantic looking Raan, who was more than comfortable to leave the area with no answers and no clue as to what was going on.