Umar wouldn't call himself an attention-seeker, but this occasion was worth it. His training was almost complete. He had almost completed his dream of becoming a Master Assassin, just like his Father, who had died a few years before from an enemy attack on Acre. All he had to do is wait for Al Mualim to summon him for the last assassination. At that moment, one of the younger novices ran up to him.
"Sir," he said, while catching his breath. "Breathe, young one," Umar said. "What is it that you have to tell me?" "Al Mualim has asked of me to tell you that he wishes to see you."
This was what Umar was waiting for. It was time for his last task as a novice assassin. As he looked around the small but well-battle prepared village, he thought of his duty once he was accepted to the Order. He looked towards the mountain, a tall shadow leering over the village of Masyaf. There sat the Castle, where he lived with his mother. The three towers overlooked the cliffs that surrounded the mountain on each side except for the entrance to the village. The Master would be most likely in one of the towers, looking over the village that the assassins protect more than the bigger cities such as Jerusalem. Most likely the Watch Tower, where attacks on the village are spotted.
As he began to hike up the mountain, thinking about what The Master had planned for him, he was intercepted by the one person that didn't want him to complete the training, to become an assassin. His mother, Nejet.
"Where do you think you're going?" she requested, folding her arms over her chest.
"The Master has sent for me. It's time, Mother," he stated, nervous about what his mother would say.
"I don't want you to do this," Nejet insisted, just as she always does whenever they bring this conversation up. She loathed the fact that he could die at any moment during a battle.
"Why are you so against me becoming an assassin?" His mother had never answered that question before but now he wanted an answer. "What is so bad about me becoming what I have wanted, and what Father wanted me to be, since I was a child?"
"Because there is the risk of you dying like your father!" Nejet yelled, hoping to get through to him, make him understand. "You're the only one I have left; I don't want to lose you to."
Umar looked in his mother's eyes and saw the tears that were threatening to fall from them. He could feel his own tears starting to run down his cheeks. He wrapped his arms around his mother and hugged her, while she hugged him tight. "If you did lose me, I would be in a place where no more harm could come to me."
"I just wish that there was a way for me to convince you otherwise," she told him as he let her go and they both began to continue up the mountain.
"Mother, I will always be your son. But at some point, you need to let me have a chance at living a life, and this is what I want in life."
"I know. I just worry, especially after what happen with your father." They never really talk about his father. It was a hard subject to both of them. Umar's father was stabbed in the back by a sword while fighting another Templar.
"I know. But I promise that I will be very careful at all times, you know that."
They had finally reached the Castle. Al Mualim was at the entrance, waiting for Umar. He didn't seem surprized when he saw Nejet. He greeted her then turned to Umar.
"Are you ready?" He asked his eldest novice. Umar looked at his mother, who turned to him. She smiled and nodded. He turned back to his Master.
"I'm ready."