"Avaaanti - !" a brute bellowed, leading his group of guards after Franco and his gang with his axe raised high.

"Franco! Above you!" Lara cried, dodging a guard's scimitar.

"Die, you scum!" Her pursuer swung the blade just as she leapt over a merchant stand, slicing through a wooden post and sending the construct toppling onto panicked citizens.

Franco looked above him and saw a squadron of archers firing from the rooftops above the town square.

"To the water! Everyone bail!" Dominico cried. Before he can flee, an arrow pierced his right shoulder, sending him careening down the set of wooden building projections he had been crossing.

Noticing the source of the attack, Franco vaulted over some barrels of wine, executed a wall – run onto a dilapidated grocery carriage, and used the additional height to climb over a narrow brick wall separating the chaos from the streets before leaping onto a suspended wooden platform.

"Oi! Ludicolo!" Franco taunted the archer standing on the rooftop just ahead of him.

"– what –" the guard directed his arrow at Franco, appearing confused, "– did you call me?!"

I don't know! Franco thought angrily as he realized he needed to dodge.

"Quickly! We need help!" Lara said hurriedly, rushing to Dominico's aid below him.

Ah, cazzo! Franco jumped onto the rooftop and sprinted in a zigzag motion towards his assailant. Unsheathing his notched cinquedea as he approached the guard, he dropped into a front roll to avoid an arrow and slashed at his shin.

The archer doubled over in pain and Franco immediately grabbed his arrows.

"Lara! Duck over the beams this way!" Franco called to his comrades below.

A few hours later…

Back at the Guild, Ugo noticed from atop a building a small group of people making their way towards the entrance.

She reminds me of my sister, he thought of Rosa, always vigilant and eager. I guess their spirits must be the same.

He sat up from the edge of the guild rooftop and squint his eyes at the approaching figures.

Franco and his team!

Ugo hastily made his way down the ladder and bolted towards the group. As he neared, he noticed Lara and Franco barely holding Dominico up by his left arm.

"What's happened?" Ugo rushed to their aid.

"What do you think, idiota? Look at him!" Lara replied angrily.

"Argh, pain – " Dominico winced.

"It's alright, Antonio's in his office! Just a few more steps ahead," Ugo said, attempting to calm his injured comrade.

"Merde, I'll probably die before this thing comes out – "

"Where are the others?" Ugo asked hurriedly.

"We don't know. It was chaos," Franco answered.

"Dominico! Franco!" Antonio came bolting towards them from his office. "This way, we have to hurry!"

Inside, the four of them rushed to grab clean linen and medicine while preparing a bucket of fresh water.

"I'm…losing…blood…" Dominico muttered on the couch.

"Yes, we're getting at it!" Antonio replied, examining his wound. "Ah, damn it, this one's deep. And the impact of his fall has likely made it worse."

"I'm…too young to die…"

Ignoring him, Antonio gently turned him on his side.

"I see a small lump there, behind his shoulder," Franco noted, carrying a stack of linen.

"Good, good. At least we can see the arrow's point. You're not as thick as I thought," Antonio said to Franco, "but we need to surgically remove the point from behind your shoulder."

"…what…?" Dominico uttered worriedly.

"We'll need to take you to a doctor, so you can live," Antonio said, "And most likely you won't be climbing for months after this."

"No…this is bad…" Dominico muttered sadly.

"For further clarification amico, he means we'll have another disabled thief sitting around, which also means you don't have to worry about sticks and stones for a while," Lara reassured him. "Lucky you."

"Si, we really should create a handicap division," Franco added, cleaning the blood with the linen.

Hours later, the sun has begun to set across Ugo and Rosa's meeting place near the palazzo…

Ugo sat at the base of the bell tower with arms crossed, watching the sunset.

Another one down…

"Hey there," Rosa emerged from atop a ladder to join him. "Where's your 'coolio' attitude? You look like a pigeon's dumped on you."

"Dominico took an arrow to the shoulder, and now he's incapacitated. Turns out you won't be the only one now," Ugo replied solemnly, pulling down his cap.

"Tsh, that's no news. You know what I heard today? Someone's been spying on us."

Ugo's heart leapt.

"How did you know?"

"One of the gals overheard a conversation inside the palazzo last night, after everybody left. We didn't know who it was, but it appears that someone has been reporting to the city guards on our activity."

"Franco's team," Ugo's eyes lit in sudden realization, "the assault at the town square…it was a trap!"

"Come again?"

"The rest of his team…they were gone when they came back. They must have gone to the guards!" Ugo stood up with his fists clenched.

"Now now, you aren't expecting to launch another attack just after we've been busted," Rosa put a hand on his shoulder.

"Then what can we do? With each minute we waste they could be on the way to finding our headquarters!"

"Do not forget about Dominico," Rosa warned.

Ugo sighed and sat down slowly. As the hours passed by he stared out at the sea hopelessly and rested his face in one hand, rolling a small gray blob of clay in the other.

"What is that?" Rosa asked, barely suppressing a laugh.

"Stress relief," Ugo replied, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Aw, don't worry. They won't find us," Rosa said. "If they do I will protect you."

"Very funny. Damn it, where's Ezio when we need him…"

Rosa jumped slightly at the mention of his name.

"Ezio…I wonder where he's gone. I wonder how he's been able to remain so obscured all along," Rosa commented.

"He works alone, for the most part," Ugo answered, making a dent in the clay with his thumb, "Like a mouse in the dark."

An idea lit up in Rosa.

"That's it! Remember what Antonio said? He's heading for l'Arsenale, into mercenario district. If we could hide ourselves behind his efforts and look smaller, we can rally the mercenaries to our cause and divert the attention to the big guys."

"What of the traitors?" Ugo asked.

"Forget them. They will be crushed soon enough, if we can get the city to focus on other things. No doubt the cazzos that framed us did it for coin, and the guards would never have us in their interests if it weren't for our apparent link to the assassin. We must not let them think we're the ones leading the effort so we can focus on cleaning up anything Ezio's left behind."

"Thieves were never leaders. We follow those with more coin in their pockets or more authority…I see what you mean," Ugo put the clay blob back in his pocket.

"Come, let us make plans for the bait with Antonio." Rosa extended her hand and helped Ugo up to his feet.

Together they made their way across the rooftops, with the canal waters glistening with the light of the moon.

Chapter 4…