Assassin's Creed fan fiction – Eyes of an Eagle
Written by Durai
WARNING: If you haven't played the games yet, make sure you do because they're awesome. Also, if you haven't played all the games yet, this will probably contain some spoilers for you. You've been warned!
Chapter 7 – War Preparations
Norway – 1064
Bjorn had been trained to a stone-cold killer at this point. He was feared, but also respected throughout all Norway. Every year he took down more than fifty large figures in the Templar Order. And each time, he would vanish, only to be found in the capital a few days later.
But now the time finally came. Bjorn met his masters, now his equals, and King Harald in the Great Hall. Valnir gave Bjorn a pat on the back. 'Brother,' he said. Bjorn greeted Valnir and Zilnir the same way. Then, everyone turned their attention to Harald.
'I hear that you've been preparing for war?' Zilnir said. Harald nodded. 'Aye, I've been thinking this through a lot. The people from Normandy also want to attack England, so we should have the upper hand if they decide to attack. We'll have King Harold II locked in between William's army and our own.'
Bjorn shook his head whilst seeing this. 'I say we should strike now!' he said. Harald frowned. 'Are you sure? We should just wait…' But Bjorn hushed him, something he was allowed to do since he became a Master Assassin.
Bjorn pointed at the map. 'Look over here,' he said. 'The landscape is perfect for our men to attack and defend right here. If we can cover that ground, we'll have Harold's head on a spike in no time.' Harald nodded. 'You sound like a real Norseman now, Bjorn!' he said. 'And I like the idea, too. No loose ends, no retreat and no excuses.'
Harald began to nod now. 'Valnir, Zilnir, I'll leave you two with the task to train my army,' he said. And then he looked at Bjorn. 'You are now my personal guardian' he said. Bjorn nodded. 'As you command, Oberjarl,' he answered.
Days passed, while sounds of training could be heard in the courtyard. Ten thousand five hundred men exactly were trained by the two Master Assassins, while Harald and Bjorn were planning how the assault would go. But another assignment came for Bjorn. This time, he had to save lives. The lives of his army.
Harald handed him the scroll. 'You know what needs to be done, Bjorn,' he said. Bjorn nodded and opened the scroll. He didn't react outwardly to the assignment, but his heart started beating faster nonetheless.
There had been reports of people in the army gone missing. Each time Valnir and Zilnir could see the killer, he escaped. This man was clearly aware of Assassin techniques. 'That man doesn't know you exist yet, so your masters have left you the task to track the murderer down and kill him,' Harald said. Bjorn saluted in the Assassin way, by putting his right hand on the left side of his chest, at his heart. 'I won't fail you, Oberjarl,' Bjorn said. And he left.
Night had fallen. Most of the soldiers were either laughing softly in their tents or already sleeping. But not the Assassins. Valnir was patrolling northeast on the wall, Zilnir was on patrol in the southwest on the ground and Bjorn was on watch on one of the wall's towers.
He was sitting on a wooden beam, looking out over the camp to see if anything was amiss. So far, he didn't find anything. But when he switched his eyes to Eagle Vision, as he came to call it, he saw something weird.
There was a red shade, shifting through the camp, silently sneaking past the tents. Bjorn knew immediately that this was his target. And so, he jumped down from the beam into a bale of hay below. He crawled out and swiftly but quietly ran to the red shade.
It wasn't long before he caught up. He switched back to his normal vision and saw that he was somewhere in the middle of the camp right now. And right before him, he saw a suspicious man trying to enter one of the tents.
'You hold it right there!' Bjorn yelled in English, which he had learned from Harald. The man turned around. 'You're not one of us, are you?' he asked. Bjorn grinned like a wolf. 'Too bad you've chosen the wrong side!' And he drew his axe.
The Templar drew his sword and attacked him in one flowing movement, but Bjorn was already prepared for tricks like this. He countered the blade with the bottom of his axe, locking the blade in place. Then, he pulled out his hidden blade and tried to stab the Templar, but he retaliated by kicking Bjorn on his hip.
Bjorn had no choice but to let go. He stepped backward a bit. When he touched his hip, it seemed that the kick didn't do much damage. It was only a little sore. 'You're full of surprises, aren't you?' Bjorn said. The Templar smiled. 'Never thought I'd battle a Master Assassin anytime soon, either!'
Now, the Templar made a stabbing motion towards Bjorn. Bjorn wanted to change the blade's direction, but the Templar did that himself. Whilst stabbing, he set his left foot in front of his right foot and turned around, making a sideways swing with his sword.
As Bjorn blocked this, he realized the sword was weighed down for extra power. Yet this man was wielding it like a saber! He had to be extra careful to avoid getting hit. If Bjorn got hit by that sword, he'd be cut in half in an instant.
Bjorn changed his tactics. He sheathed his axe and drew out his second hidden blade. The Templar raised an eyebrow. 'You plan on killing me with those little things?' he asked. But Bjorn didn't answer. He lunged forward, but now performed almost the same trick as the Templar just then.
When Bjorn made the Templar take a step back, he jumped and turned around in the air and let his hidden blade come in contact with the Templar's blade with a loud clanging sound. The Templar frowned as he tried to retaliate further, but his sword was useless against these little ones. So he decided to change his tactics as well.
He threw his sword at Bjorn and quickly drew his dagger. While Bjorn dodged the incoming sword, the Templar ran to him and tried to stab him in the neck. But Bjorn was smarter.
Bjorn stepped to the side, grabbed the Templar's arm and broke it. The moment the man's arm broke, he let his dagger go. Bjorn caught it out of the air and pounded it into the Templar's neck. As a finishing move, Bjorn grabbed his own dagger and slammed it into the Templar's head. The Templar fell down and was killed instantly.
Bjorn sighed. No matter how skilled the Templars were, they never managed to kill him. Bjorn started searching the Templar's body for orders or any other items. Then he found a small document. When he opened it, his eyes widened.
This man was supposed to act as a regular soldier, but kill the army from the inside. Afterwards, he was to report back in England, where he was to prepare their own army to invade Norway!
Bjorn swallowed and realized he just prevented a disaster. He turned the Templar's body around and closed his eyes. 'May you never hurt anyone else ever again. Rest in peace,' Bjorn said. Then, he stood up, turned around and simply walked away.
The next day, Bjorn was back in the palace, still thinking about the orders he found. What if the army was already being trained by someone else? His waterfall of thoughts was interrupted when Zilnir entered the room, covered in blood.
When Bjorn saw that Valnir wasn't with him, his face went pale. 'Where is Valnir?' he asked. Zilnir shook his head. 'I think the English took him. I was nearly defeated by the three Elites of the Templars. I had to flee and told Valnir to do the same, but I think they caught up with him.'
Bjorn nodded. 'Do you have any leads on where they've taken him?' he asked. Zilnir shook his head. Well, they were fleeing back to their ships, so I think he's on his way to England by now! Bjorn cursed. He was a Master Assassin himself and knew exactly how much skill it would have to take to capture a Master Assassin, let alone kill one.
Bjorn stood up and looked at Harald. 'When are you planning on attacking England?' he asked. Harald frowned. 'If you want to get him back, you're on your own, Bjorn,' he said. 'I want to attack two years from now. We are well-prepared, but I still want to train my men more, raise their morale further and support them in the war itself.'
Zilnir slammed his fist on the table. 'We're talking about one of the Masters here, Harald!' he yelled. 'Do you have any idea of how big the impact would be if he were to die, or left forever?' Harald looked at him with earnest.
'No I don't,' he answered, 'And I don't care. The Assassins have guarded me for a long time, I know. But if you have troubles in your Order, do not ask for my help. I'm about to fight a war, here. And I don't intend to lose it!'
Bjorn cursed again. 'So be it. Zilnir, meet me just outside the gates tonight,' he said. Zilnir nodded. 'As you wish. Have a good night's rest until then, because I'm planning on going ahead to England!
That was it for chapter 7. Hope you guys like it, hope you enjoyed. Please tell me what you think of the story so far and also please leave a review for this chapter, it really helps me out a lot. Thanks for reading people, insieme per la vittoria!