The Blue flame
Chapter 1: Trouble.
"I know you too well Altaïr, you won't rest till you find this girl. So, do what I want and I'll do what you want." Hakim, the lord of Halif and a good friend, told me. With that he left, leaving me to look over my options. In my business I am known as Altaïr, and like my ancestors before me I am an assassin. One who follows the Assassins creed. But to my family my name is Giovanni Auditore. Things hadn't looked too bleak this morning. I had scrambled into Halif. I can scale a wall and I practically live on the roofs or in taverns. Well you have to in my line of work. I'm an assassin and I'm good at what I do. That why, at about midday, I was standing on a beam looking at an inn. I jumped down on to a near by roof and slid down a ladder and into the front door of the tavern.
As I ordered a tankard of ale the landlady looked me up and down.
"Not from around here, are you darling?" she cooed
"No, I'm not" I said. The land lady was pretty but I'd seen better. Just as I picked up my tankard a gruff voice boomed out behind me.
"Hay you! Get out of my seat" I looked up at him. The bloke was huge, but he was slow.
"I said get out of my seat!" he snarled. I shot him a look and told him I was here first and that he should buy some perfume. This got him very angry. And he threatened to tear my head off. Then he threw a punch at me. I ducked and hit him in the stomach. He doubled over and cursed. Then I served him a vicious uppercut to the jaw. There was a crack and he toppled over and lay on the floor unconscious. There was a moment of silence then a roar of laughter and cheering.
"Very good. Very good indeed!" boomed a voice from the rafters. "Come here I want to talk to you." I looked up and saw the owner of the voice. I also spotted the three wicked glints of crossbows and hidden blades (the mark of an assassin. I also have one and its well used let me tell you). I walked up and looked at the lord of the city. He was slightly fat with an aurora of authority.
"Alta is that you?" asked the lord.
"Um… yes. Why do you ask?"
"Don't you recognise your best friend?" laughed the lord
"Salamandas?" I started
"Shhhh not that name its Hakim now," he informed me.
"But that's not possible. Last time I saw you had fallen off a roof!" I said
"Your not the only one who can do some fancy tricks" he muttered "I grabbed hold of that flag pole and swung threw the window. I figured that it was best for me to stay dead so I invented a name and became a protector for the previous lord. When he died I got his kingdom and have been doing well ever since!"
"So why call for me?" I asked
"Because I want you to do a job for me. In return I will give you information on the girl you seek for"
Chapter 2: Negotiations
We sat talking for some time. Hakim wanted me to go and find the Blue Flame Crown that was stolen from him a month a go. He also wanted me to kill the one who stole it from the castle. In return he would tell me where Alana was hidden by the Templers.
He had a suspicion on who knew who was behind it and told me where to find him. He was a merchant who goes by the name of Ammon Sakami who lived in Jerusalem
"I know you too well Alta, you won't rest till you find this girl, will you? So, do what I want and I'll do what you want." Hakim sighed. With that he left, leaving me to look over my options. I decided to stay at the tavern that night and pester Hakim for a horse and some weaponry. In the morning I would ride out to undertake a great challenge.
The sun rose early and I was woken from my bed by the smell of bacon and eggs wafting up from the kitchen. Within the hour I was up, fed, paid for the room at the inn and out on the roof tops heading for the castle. Two hours later I had one of the best swords in my sheath and a magnificent stallion saddled up and ready to ride. He was a pitch black with a soft long mane. He also had a white star in the middle of his forehead.
"Good luck" said hakim "And take this" so saying he handed me a black ball shaped object. "Be very carful. It is called Indian fire and is highly explosive that means you can blow things to kingdom come!" he said. I clambered on my black stallion (whom I called Al Akbar) and galloped of towards Jerusalem which was where I could find Ammon Sakami.
After talking to a couple of locals who had no idea who I was I found out a bit about his house. Apparently he stores his oil on his roof. Oh good this should be fun!
Chapter 3: Ammon Sakami
The ride to Jerusalem took two days and nights. The sun beat down relentlessly on my back and I stopped at every stable to give Al Akbar food and water and to top up my own water flask. But in no time we were in the outskirts of Jerusalem. I put my stunning stallion in a stable and left him munching on a few apples and oats. Then I was off. Hakim said Ammon lived in the west side of the city. I (conveniently) was in the east side. I thought the roofs would be the safest bet so I scampered up the side of the wall next to me and wished I was in the ground again. A templar, in his white soldier's uniform, was staring at me in amazement.
"Who in god's name are you? And how did you get up here!?" he shouted "don't you know that this is a restricted area?"
As he drew his sword and I caught his gaze. It was as cold and as hard as stone. Then he lunged with a vicious downward strike. I blocked it and hit him with the flat of my blade. He stumbled back confused then I grabbed his tunic and plunged my sword into him. He gave a small gasp and slumped down on me. I withdrew my sword from the man's stomach and wiped the blade on his tunic. Blood stained the white patchwork. I set off, trying getting as faraway from the body as possible. I ran along beams. I climbed up walls and by the time the guard was found I was nearing my target.
It was getting dusk and I could see the top of Ammon's house it was full of oil barrels and torches. What an explosive combination that could be I thought to myself grinning. I lit a torch and from a safe distance threw it onto the barrels. The torch flew through the air and sank into one of the holes of the top of the barrels. They exploded into a flaming frenzy. People came running from the house one of which was shouting at the guards
"If anything in there is destroyed I'll blame you commander." he fumed, as the commander ran off he started to whimpering to himself "My carpets my beautiful carpets! Who would do this?"
"I think I have an idea "I told him. He spun round
"Who's there? Show yourself!" he commanded. I dutifully dropped silently behind him. As he turned round he saw me and laughed. "An assassin? To what do I owe the honor of your company?"
"The Blue Flame Crown" I said calmly
"Ha! And you think I have it? You are more stupid than you look. Do you think I would have it on me now?"
"But you know who does"
"Oh yes assassin I do. It is with lord Alexia, the new leader of the Templers."
"Where would I find this Alexia?" I asked silently sliding out my hidden blade.
"You would find him in Al Kasa but your quest is useless. Alkasa is one of the most heavily guarded places in the land! You won't get to him!" snarled Ammon.
"We'll see about that." I whispered. With that I pounced on him, plunging my hidden blade in between his eyes. My timing was rubbish. I had killed Ammon just as seven guards came running with buckets. I looked up at them. All seven drew their swords in unison. It was like watching a well oiled machine. Seven minuets later five guards lay on the ground either unconscious or lying in pools of their own crimson blood. The two remaining guards fled. I scrambled up a wall and disappeared away into the night leaving one dead merchant and a burning house in my wake.
Chapter 4: Al Kasa
I had to admit Alkasa was big, no, big wasn't the word. It was huge! It was extremely well guarded. I had to hang on to the bottom of a cart to get in unnoticed. But once I was in… wow. What a city. It was an assassin's parricide. Lots of roves close to each other, and low roves to start off at. And they looked deserted. I soon found out there was a good reason each roof had a basket, which hissed wickedly. As I stood looking at it the lid shifted and fell to the floor. Two cobras slithered across the floor. I drew my sword and the cobras reared up hoods out stretched. I cut their heads of and two writhing bodies lay in the dust. I ran across the rooftops avoiding the brown wicker baskets.
It was only after two hours of roof running did I finally run into some guards. They looked at me. Then one drew his sword. I drew mine to match. He swiped down at me. It was messy and I blocked it easily. I noticed a guard circling round behind me. I sliced diagonally down and to the left across the guard's chest then spun round to face the guard behind me and plunging my sword backwards into the first guard. He slumped to the ground and lay still. Then the second one attacked, a powerful diagonal downward swipe followed by a jump bringing the sword vertically down on my head. I blocked both attacks with some difficulty ad then did the firs two strikes that I did with the first guard, but then I ran up the guards front and back flipped off kicking him in the face in the process. He reeled backwards and fell over. I stabbed him threw the chest to make sure I had finished him off. Hen I was threw to Lord Alexia. I decided I would get the crown in his chambers. I scaled the wall to an open window and climbed in. After stumbling into lode of lavs and other bed chambers I finally found Alexia's room and scrambled up on top of a wardrobe and lay there and waited. Two hours later Alexia stumbled in and walked over to his bed, put his crown (the Blue Flame one) on his bedside table and collapsed on to his bed. Within twenty minuets he was asleep. I stole down onto the floor and took his crown then I slit his throat. It was a clean cut, but he woke up and his empty eyes stared up at the ceiling. I ran for two hours over the sleeping city. The crown was threaded through my belt. I jumped on my horse and galloped away into the night
Chapter 5: Back Home
Three days later I was standing back inside the home of my friend Hakim. He was holding the crown in both hands and muttering softly to himself. Then he looked up from the desk and smiled.
"I had not expected you to do this well but then a gain I am a bad judge of character." He smiled again then said "I suppose you want to know about your girl now don't you."
"Got it in one" I muttered
"She was taken to Venice in Italy. What they want to do with her I don't know. When you reach Venice, go to a man called Leanardo Da Vinci. He will give you help and guidance, but please don't kill him. He is old and a good friend of mine."
"Ok Hakim I'll try not to" I smiled.
Somewhere in Venice 4 years later….
The party was getting under full swing. Claudina Kristin was being offered fifty gold pieces by a man in a white hood to start flirting with Tomas Arden. This would get him away from his master, Lord Galeazzo Maria Sforza. This was exactly what I wanted. As Claudina did her thing and started flirting I skirted round behind him. Suddenly Tomas put his hand to his neck where I had plunged my hidden blade. Crimson blood dribbled down his hand and he toppled forward. My primary target saw this.
"Get him!" he shouted "kill the assassin!" with that he fled. I slipped into the crowd and followed him over the rooftops. He ran into an archway and ordered his guards to hide until his signal. He stepped forward.
"Come down assassin. Show yourself" he ordered I dropped down from the rooftops and started walking towards him. Then I stopped and loaded my miniature crossbow. Before Leopold new what happened I had put an arrow in hi skull. The lord stood there and then collapsed the guards ran out onto an empty street.