Slowly and deliberately Altair made his way across the rooftops, the night shadows hid him well and his hood hid him from unwary, unsearching eyes. When he reached his destination, he withdrew further into the shadows and waited for the right time to strike. Altair, was an assassin of the order, one of the youngest and one of the best. He was known for never hesitating and his blade was yet to fail him. He believed he was the tool delivering the blow, much like his hidden blade or the sword that hung at his waist, he was merely a tool that the order used to achieve its objectives, he was not the one killing, he merely did the delivering. This was the only way he could let his conscience rest at peace.
The assignment was a simple one, he was to take the life of a girl whose father had allied himself to the Templars. The father himself was well hidden from the assassins' righteous blades and would meet his end another day, tonight, the order had decided to put an end to his bloodline. Simple as it may seem, this assignment was different from all others, the girl that would shortly meet her end at altair's hands hardly knew anything of the secret war that raged on between the order of the Templars and the guild of the assassins. To Altair, she seemed innocent and he had never taken an innocent life before. He had sent corrupt nobles and over zealous Templars to their early graves but never had he killed an innocent. He tried to convince himself that the order had its reasons and that what he was about to do would be for the greater good, but no matter how he looked at it, he could not see the greater good in what he was about to do. He repeated the assassins code in his mind, "nothing is true, everything is permitted".
The night was as most nights are in acre, cold and unforgiving. The winter moon did shine but dully so. Beggars slept on the cold hard streets whilst just a few feet away, nobles and those with means slept comfortably in their warm and protective homes, oblivious to the world outside. Solitary guards nodded off at their posts, fighting to stay awake, as the gentle breeze coaxed them to sleep. Somewhere far off, a dog howled at the moon and a horse neighed, rudely woken by a man who would soon be off with her.
Meanwhile, one man waited, not asleep but alert, waiting for the right moment. Altair did not have to wait long, the moon slid behind some clouds and cast a dark shadow across the city, she would remain hidden long enough for him to make his move. There was nothing remarkable about the mansion he was about to infiltrate, he had its layout memorised and knew every corridor like the back of his hand. The girl's room was a huge room, at the end of the house, across from where he stood. He would make his way in through one of the many ventilators in the top floor and then to the ground floor, there, Altair was to deliver his final blow and exit through the back door.
The girl, sadia was 20, about altair's age. He had stalked her the previous day, after all, knowing one's prey is half the hunt. She had risen with the sun and had bathed in the warm waters that her maids had set up for her. After her morning prayer she had taken a long lazy stroll in the tulip garden. Then she had dressed in the finest and most beautiful dress he had ever laid eyes on and made to the market square, escorted by the two burly men who made her personal guard. She looked splendid like the desert sun. At the bazaar, after strolling around aimlessly for a while she had looked at some rich wedding gowns, Altair figured she was to be wed soon, like most girls her age but little did she know, she'd never live to see that day for, unlike most girls her age, she was the daughter of a tyrant who would soon be severed free of this world and who sadly, had set his daughter upon the same course.
Altair managed to find a ventilator large enough for him and slipped in unnoticed, his padded footwear muffling his footsteps. He quickly scanned his surrounding area, he was in a storage room of sorts, he could smell the wheat and the rice, he figured the large ventilator was there to keep them well aired. Despite the size of the room, it felt dank. He made his way across and quietly tried the door, which was, as he'd expected locked. Lucky for him, it wasn't bolted from the outside but had a keyhole and was locked with a simple enough mechanism. It took the master assassin about two minutes to pick the lock, hardly any sound was made. Altair opened the door ever so slightly and peered outside, the corridor he was looking at had a lamp lit at the end of it and was deserted. The light from the lamp was not bright enough to light the whole corridor and provided him with ample shadows to hide in should circumstances force him to. He gently made his way out and closed to door behind him. He knew he was in the west wing corridor and would have to make his way across all the way to the east wing and then down a flight of stairs to get to his target. He crept slowly to the end of the corridor and waited, listening to any sound whatsoever but apart from the usual night sounds, there was nothing to be heard. Making sure no one was around the bend, he made his way across the lamp, leaving it undisturbed. A sudden darkness would attract more attention than a shadow slithering across in a dimly lit corridor he figured. Finally, he arrived in the central hall, a large room, supported on huge pillars that had lamps, most of which had been snuffed out for the night, dotting the pillars. He noticed the rich furniture that he was sure had been brought in from Jerusalem. Large blue and yellow curtains adorned the walls and in spaces where the curtains parted, revealing polished stone, huge portraits had been placed, probably of their ancestors and old kings. At the end of the hall, were two guards, quietly talking away, very obviously abandoning their posts. This incompetency would later cost them their jobs and most probably their heads. Then again, if everybody was to do their job right, there wouldn't be a need for the assassins' order. Altair made sure to stick to the shadows and slowly made his way towards them, they were blocking the only path to the other side and this annoyed him, could they not have picked a better spot to while their time away?
He found a suitable spot in the dark shadows and gently drew an arrow from its quiver, he then notched the arrow in his bow, aimed at the nearest guards throat, drew the string part way and waited. The metal arrowheads were all covered in soot so as to not reflect any light and the bow was a dark shade of grey, perfect for the shadows. He waited because, taking out two men at once quietly was near impossible, he would take the quieter route when possible but should things get out of hand, his plan of action was to let loose an arrow at the nearest guard's throat and rush the second guard from out of the shadows taking them both by surprise, then he would have waited to check if he had alerted anyone else, if he did, he would have rushed to the girl's chamber and made quick work of her and figured out a way to escape, otherwise he would have proceeded as planned.
As he waited, he figured the guards were speaking of the girl's marriage and about how they would all be treated to a sumptuous meal. This confirmed altair's suspicions. Just as the guards began talk of the groom, footsteps were heard. Altair heard them before the guards did, heavy deliberate foot steps and when the guards did hear them, they stiffened and shut up, both of them stared ahead in horror and out of the other end of the hallway came a big burly man, clad in maile," amir! Jaffer! Why on god's earth are you not at your posts?!" He demanded, loud enough to be heard and to be menacing but not loud enough to wake the household, the guard closer to Altair answered, trembling," sorry mustafa! Amir and I were just taking a short break" and before amir could say his part, mustafa raised a hand," shut up! If I catch you fools out of position again, I will have you whipped till you regret ever exiting your mothers' wombs, now off!" With that he sent the two men scrambling away. At this point the patient Altair switched targets to mustafa's throat, who, then proceeded to make himself comfortable on a nearby diwan and promptly fell asleep, apparently the man did not believe in leading by example. Relieved, Altair slowly and quietly left the hall, after waiting a while just to be sure. He finally arrived at the stairwell that would lead him to the threshold of his target's room. The stairwell, unlike other parts of the house was brightly lit with lamps that lined the wall, Altair quickly made his way down, making sure to stick to the wall side of the stairs the whole time. Once down, he returned to the familiar shadows once more.
Sadia lay in her room, wide awake, for she had much on her mind. As any twenty year old would be, she was excited by the thought of marriage and the celebrations that would follow but she was also afraid and unsure. She hardly knew the groom, her father had introduced her to him once, before he had left to some far off place and she had never even met the groom since. Also, this man was of Jerusalem, she was sad about the fact that she would have to leave home for a strange place soon. She hoped he was a nice man, he sure looked like it and he was from a well off family, which was a comforting fact to her. As she lay there, lost in her thoughts, a faint smile dancing at the tips of her lips at the thought of bearing children the turning door knob broke her out of her reverie. At first she was puzzled, who could it be at this ungodly hour? And then fear slowly took over, who could it be at this ungodly hour?! Her questions were soon answered in the form of a menacing hooded figure, he or she seemed to be clad in a fabric made from the shadows and before she could say or do anything, he was upon her, a firm hand against her mouth and another firm hand holding her down. Her eyes widened in horror at the thoughts of what was sure to follow even as she hoped against hope to wake from this nightmare.
The figure then spoke,"I will release you now, make a move or an attempt to scream and I'll slice your throat before you can say your god's name". Surprisingly, the voice was human and not demonic like she expected it would be and the tongue did not drip of venom. She barely managed to nod in agreement.
Altair gently let go of her but was alert, one wrong move and he would keep his promise to the last word. As her questioning eyes looked at him for answers, answer he did," I am an assassin and was sent here to kill you for your sins and for those of your father's", a look of horror came over her face as she began to comprehend the situation she was in, she whispered back through broken words and a dry throat,"I... I... Do not understand, what sins? And why father?!"
"Your father has allied himself with the Templars. Even now, sure as the night he moves to join forces with Robert de sable. With the influence he has in acre, he will surely be the downfall of this city", Overcome by woe, she begged through teary eyes,"but why me? I am hardly 20 years old, what of my wedding?! What of azad?!...", Altair cut her short,"azad?! Azad bin la mazafar?!", puzzled, she nodded an affirmative,"what is he to you, sadia?", Altair asked, "he is the man I am to wed", came the reply and the pieces suddenly fell into place, azad was the son of Mazzafar Salim, a Templar and a tyrant, the order long sought to put an end to, sadia's father was trying to use her as a tool to further his relationship with the Templars, that is why the order wanted her dead. Altair broke the sudden silence that had permeated the room and looked into the girl's, afraid eyes,"sadia, you will yet see tomorrow's dawn, forget you ever saw me but I need to know, when is azad coming to acre?", puzzled she answered,"mother told me he arrived yesterday and that he intends to stay at his father's old house till the day of the wedding", suddenly, a realisation dawned upon her,"wait, you don't intend to...?" She broke off, Altair, sheathing his wrist blade, chose not to answer her question, instead he said," I will leave now whence I came, do not think of alerting the household, you will only cause unnecessary deaths by doing so", sadia nodded, still shaking, with that, Altair released the grip he was holding her down with and made his way to the door, every muscle in his body ready to react in case she shouted. Sadia stopped him just as he reached the door, "wait, will you not even tell me your name? What should I say when I tell your story ?", a faint smile stole a glance across the young assassin's face, he stopped and turned, "Altair", and with that he was gone like the shadows. "Altair", she repeated to herself, " the falcon".
The next dawn found azad found dead along with three of his personal guard, the Templars were dumbfounded about how the assassins had found him. A silver feather was found next to his corpse. the woman that he had spent the night with, his mistress, kept babbling on and on about a dark demon, clad in the fabrics of the night. Shock and fear had led her to pass out during the attack.
Far far away, in the assassin capital of Masayaf, a young assassin was whipped twenty times for not following orders, apparently when asked why he did as he did, he had said,"nothing is true, everything is permitted". The other young assassins thought he had lost his ways, only the grand master knew that he had found his way instead and the grand master in turn had found his heir.
Thank you for reading.