Chapter 1: Mindset of the insane
The horse was galloping as fast as it could as it carried the pile off bloodied white robes that was once an assassin. Lilith had tried to kill Abbas but had waited too long. She waited for Altaïr to return and establish order, but in doing so she had allowed Abbas to grow in power. The man had exiled or killed everyone that stood in his way. Lilith was interrupted by the whizzing of a knife flying right past her head. She looked back and saw two horses chasing her carrying their assassin riders. Lilith was in no condition to fight head on but right now she didn't need to worry about doing the running, all she had to do was throw the knives. Lilith grabbed one of her throwing knives and took aim. The state of her condition was obvious by how far off her throw was. As a result of her miss, a second knife was thrown right into her horse's heart causing the creature to stumble and collapse. Lilith was thrown a few feet foreword and landed on her side facing her horse's corpse. She slowly tried to stand up but felt a boot connect with the side of her head. Lilith felt blood running down her ear and down her face but was still able to hear the sound of a hidden blade being extended. A hand turned her over so she could clearly see the two men she once called brothers standing over her. The two chuckled as they prepared to slice her throat open. Lilith knew she was dead, but she wouldn't go down willingly. She clenched her fist as she looked up, either she was going to walk out of this with two new horses and a fresh set of throwing knives and feathers, or she would die with her blade in someone's jugular vein. Lilith chuckled at the thought. The first attacker brought his hand down expecting an easy kill, but was quickly surprised when Lilith grabbed his arm with her right hand and used the hidden blade on her left hand to slice the vein on the man's wrist. The second attacker quickly ran over to Lilith but left himself exposed allowing Lilith to deliver a swift kick to the crotch. Lilith was allowed to slowly stand up and pulled out her rather long knife. She stood over the assassin pair and quickly stabbed the pair in the heart before stealing one of their horses and riding. She looked back and muttered "See if the doctor can fix that you lousy bastards".
Lilith rode to the gates of Acre where she dismounted her horse and snuck into a cart of hay that was being brought into the city. Once inside she made her way to the poor district and found a house on the corner of a street. She knocked on the door a couple of times and was relieved to see it open up. The man inside took a short look at her and quickly led her inside and onto a spare bed he had ready. "Lilith what did you do?" the man asked as he went through his medical cabinet.
"Abbas is the cause of my current situation" Lilith grunted from the bed. "He attacked me and took over the assassin order. I can't go back, the assassin's will be plunged into an era of darkness and I fear thousands will suffer for it. You are the best doctor in Acre my friend, I need you to heal me so that I can find Altaïr and help reclaim the assassin order" Lilith exclaimed.
The doctor shook his head in dismay. "I will fix you as best I can but no doubt you will be stuck here for at least a month". Lilith shook her head. "I don't care how long it takes, all that currently matters is that I get ready as soon as possible so that I may work to reclaim Masyaf".
The doctor nodded to her. "well I will do my best to make sure you can return as fast as possible".
The next month consisted of constant medical care for Lilith, eat this, drink that, lift that, run there, and lots of sword training but eventually she was back to her normal self. For Lilith it wasn't a moment too soon. As much as she wanted to hunt for Altaïr, she was reminded of a more important matter. Abbas still has a presence in the city through the assassin den. Lilith knew that if she did not remove this problem as soon as she could she risked her own life, the life of her doctor and friend, and a place where she could rest without having to worry about Abbas finding a way to kill her. No doubt agents were already in place within Acre looking for Lilith constantly and as long as the den stood in place, that threat would last until she was killed. As much as she hated doing it, Lilith knew that if she were to move throughout the city at all she would need to find a different way to hide among the people. Lilith removed her white assassin robes and equipment and put on some civilian clothing.
"You know I never knew you had blue eyes although I always did figure you had black hair...I just didn't think it would be so long." the doctor stated. It was true, Lilith had bright blue eyes and straight black hair that went well past her shoulders but not quite halfway down her back.
"Can you just find me some black robes?" Lilith asked in an annoyed tone.
"No need" the doctor replied. "A package came through three days ago, I figured you wouldn't need it until you were ready to fight". The doctor opened the package to reveal robes that looked just like Altaïr's only these ones were pure black that rivaled even the darkness of the night.
"A note was on it when I first got it" the doctor said. "The note said that now you could truly move throughout the shadows of the city". Lilith quickly put the robes on and replaced all of her weapons and equipment. "This will make it much easier to move throughout the city. During the day I can blend with all the other women in black robes and during the night I can simply round a corner and become completely invisible". Lilith chuckled at her new attire, tonight she would move in on the den remove any connection Abbas had to the city.
Night time had come rather quickly for the people of Acre. All the assassin agents had either retreated into the den, or made their way out of the city. Lilith left from her house and climbed up onto the roof. She began jumping from roof to roof while at the same time remaining almost dead quiet. She reached the assassin den in just a few minutes and saw the opening locked shut. Lilith looked down and saw two agents sleeping in the main room and chuckled. Lilith shifted and removed a gift her doctor had given her along with the robes. Lilith readied the arrow onto the bow and took aim. The first arrow went straight into one of the assassin's left eye and the second found itself in the seconds neck. The two died almost instantly allowing Lilith to pick the lock and quietly make her way to the second room where the den master was going through some books. Lilith walked in turned to face the den master.
"What? Who are you?...Our robes are supposed to be white, you new recruits are getting dumber all the time" the man said while Lilith remained silent. The man spoke again "Recruit remove your hood at once.". Lilith stood still not moving at all. The den master grew agitated and decided to remove the hood himself. He stepped out from behind the counter and moved close to Lilith. The second her reached for her hood he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He stumbled back and looked down to see the stain of red on his shirt slowly start expanding and the streak of blood left on Lilith's hidden blade. The den master collapsed to the ground while Lilith grabbed one of the lit torches. She through all the paper and books she could find onto the floor and covered as much of the building as she could in alcohol. Lilith climbed out of the den and dropped the torch into the building and walked away as it was engulfed in flames.
Assassin agents returned the next day to find nothing of theirs managed to escape the blaze. The only thing they found was a feather covered in blood laying atop the ashes. The feather was brought before Abbas who knew exactly what it was. Lilith had openly declared war against him and he would not rest until she was brought before him where she would be executed and her head kept as trophy. Nothing would stand in his way, and anyone who said otherwise would perish at his hand.