XxXxXx
1191
Altair looped his reigns over the saddle horn and steered Zauba'a with his knees, using his arms to cradle his throbbing ribs. The adrenaline from earlier had left his system and now he was paying the price.
He let his mind wander back to Acre, to the blood soaked bureau. He remembered Fatima's lifeless body sliding from his short blade with an odd sense of detachment. She hadn't really put up a fight. More like, she had speared herself on his blade, held before him defensively. Her death bothered him, even though it was just one more in the hundreds of lives he had taken. To him, her death was a needless one, another victim to the madness of that damned Piece of Eden.
Altair chewed on his lower lip and hugged his ribs a little tighter. Fatima's death was just another piece of the puzzle. Or was it? What if she had been totally unrelated in actuality, just a woman out for revenge who had used the current chaos to her advantage? Or had she been whoever was running this convenience? Altair bit harder on his lip and hugged himself even tighter as he growled in frustration.
He was so lost in thought that he wasn't really paying much attention around him. He couldn't hear the other sets of hoof beats over his own horse's thundering and didn't really notice Zauba'a prick his ears up suddenly and start snorting in excitement. Not at first at least
Zauba'a slammed into a skidding halt, sending a rather unprepared Altair flying through the air. Quickly he tucked into a tight roll as he hit the ground, wincing as his ribs screamed in pain. There was a moment of total chaos as loud whinnies and the surprised shouts of men surrounded him. As soon as he completed the roll, landing in a crouch, he leaped to his feet, snapping his short blade out from its sheath on his back…
Only to find several swords pointing at him, held by…assassins? Altair blinked a few times, making sure that he wasn't seeing things. Surely he hadn't landed that hard…
"Altair!" he heard a familiar voice call out, "Stand down, all of you!"
Poor Altair was very confused…what was the rafiq of Damascus doing here?
Aaaaaaa
Badoura squeezed her eyes shut. She had expected to die in so many different ways…but not like this, not pinned beneath her dead horse and certainly not scared out of her mind.
The "dead horse" suddenly twitched beneath her, startling her, and then she heard screaming. She quickly opened her eyes to see one of the men fall back, clutching his bleeding hand, his buddies falling back in shock. Katane used the interlude to shove his forelegs out in front of him and surge to his feet, Badoura still clinging to his back, snorting a little and shaking his head. He seemed none worse for the wear despite the nasty fall he took. In fact, he seemed to have come out better than anyone.
"Hey!" one of the men shouted, "I thought you said that that trick would kill the horse!"
As if in response, Katane pinned his ears and spun around, kicking out with both hind legs, sending the man flying a good ten feet. He didn't get back up.
The jarring motion seemed to snap Badoura back into reality. She grabbed the reins and leaned forward, "Run, Katane, RUN!"
The golden horse needed no more encouragement as he took off, dirt flying from all four black feet. Even though they were going full speed, Badoura could have sworn there was a certain swagger to his gait, a bit of smug satisfaction.
"You've been around Zauba'a too much." Badoura whispered.
As if in response, Katane snorted loudly.
Katane never let up his furious pace, galloping like the wind the rest of the way home, like he had never been tripped up.
Soon, the entrance to the valley leading to Masyaf came into view, making Badoura sigh in relief. She wasn't too late then.
As they flew through the narrow pass, barreling down the road towards the gate, Badoura suddenly got the feeling that all was not as it should be. Something was wrong. She could feel it.
She had no way of knowing that the war had already begun in Masyaf.
XxXxXx
2012
"So let me get this straight…No one knew exactly where he was buried because no one wanted to talk about it?" Desmond asked incredulously.
"Pretty much." Lucy admitted, "It seems that Altair took that particular secret to the grave."
"That was corny beyond belief." Desmond said dryly, "Never insult my jokes again, no matter how bad they are."
Lucy rubbed her eye with her middle finger, given him a friendly "up yours" sign that made Desmond smirk.
"So we have nothing…at least that means the templars have about as much. Right?" he added hopefully.
"Don't count on it." Lucy scoffed, "You know perfectly well how persistent those bastards are."
Lucy and Desmond fell silent, both reflecting on the cruel twist of irony. The assassins had tried to hide their secrets from the templars and been rather successful but now those same secrets were hidden from those trying to keep them hidden and about to be found by the templars. Just as their brooding started to hit an all time low, Gerson came running up.
"Guys, you might want to come check this out!"
Aaaaaaa
"I took Desmond's idea earlier and ran with it, checking out all the incoming and outgoing e-mails and such Abstergo sends to each other, setting up a flag for all stuff pertaining to what we're looking for." Gerson explained as they went along, "I think I found something."
Sura was already in the room, looking like she had just woken up, her hair a mess. "This had better be good, Gerson, or so help me God…"
"It is, you cranky witch, I swear it." Gerson tapped the space bar on his laptop, the screen flashing on to reveal a file already popped up, "There, take a look."
The other three assassins leaned over to see a document labeled, "Piece of Eden Recovery Site". Desmond nearly snorted at the title. With a title like that, one need not lose sleep at night agonizing over the notion of grave robbery.
"After extensive searching of both existing information and new discoveries made at the fortress of Masyaf, the research teams have discovered that there is a grave site located on a peak east of Masyaf, known back then as Mt. Legam. It is believed that the Ismailies entombed some of their ilk there. There are rumors that the tomb we are searching for is there as well. We will be beginning excavating immediately.
You should be made aware of the fact that we have had a slight incident involving some individuals that were believed to be assassins. While we do not believe anything has been stolen, we believe that, now that they know we are here, they might try to either infiltrate or interfere with our plans. We will take the usual precautions in dealing with these individuals."
"The usual precautions?" Desmond asked incredulously, "What the hell do they mean by that?"
"It's a fancy way of saying 'kill any assassins on sight'." Sura said rather dully, "Fancy Templar bull-shit."
"So they think they found it." Lucy murmured, ignoring the others, staring intently at the screen, "I wonder where they got the information."
"They could have gotten local help." Gerson pointed out, "Remember that most people don't know what a templar is but get bent out of shape when you say 'assassin'."
"True, but what would they know?" Lucy asked, "Research by those not part of the sect is limited at best. Most of the knowledge surrounding the fortress and those who lived there 900 years ago is fantasy."
"Unless we've been betrayed." Gerson suggested.
"By whom?" Lucy snapped, "Every single surviving assassin resides here in this stronghold. There are none left to betray us."
"Who said it was by one of us? We trusted some outside of the sect." Gerson countered, "Any word from one of them recently? How about that water management operator that failed to mention the fluoride incident involving Abstergo? He was convicted of actually putting the stuff in! He knew that some of the people that would get sick were one of us! Better yet, that baggage handler at Denver International Airport? Some spy he turned out to be, not noticing an entire experiment involving a Piece of Eden under his nose until the damn thing explodes. Then what does he do? He runs his mouth and brings templar attention to us, because who else would do such a thing? My brother and I saved his ass purely because the fool wouldn't last two seconds in their hands before squealing like a pig. Do you want me to keep going?"
"How about telling me who would be the squealer now, since you know so much." Lucy snarled, her blue eyes narrowed.
"Now how would I know about any new contacts ya'll have made in the past few months?" Gerson said, his voice lowering, "I've been stuck in here like a damn dog tied in a damned kennel!"
"Alright, enough, both of you!" Sura broke in, pushing between the two; "This is not the time to argue, especially with all that's going on. Who really cares where they got the information? It saves us time and no one, and this I know for certain, knows about this place. So we probably weren't betrayed, Gerson, so chill out about that."
Desmond watched silently, noticing the rather nasty glare Gerson gave both women before silently backing down, still obviously seething. He filed all the information he had just heard away for future reference, especially that last bit. Gerson had a brother?
"Look, if you're so eager to get out, take Desmond and go see what Abstergo is up to." Sura said, "We'll keep looking over those scrolls and see what we can't find. Maybe the templars are completely off. The Jabal an Nusayriyah is a big mountain range, not to mention Mt. Legam is no tiny hill either. They could be searching for years and that's something we have in our favor; no deadlines. Go, and be careful…they know we're watching."
XxXxXx
1191
"What is going on?" Altair asked, "Rafiq…what are you doing here?"
"You just came from Acre, correct?" Hasan asked, ignoring Altair's question completely, "The bureau…was it…?"
"Attacked." Altair spat, his face clouding, making those standing near him take a cautionary step back, "None survived…on either side."
Hasan's eyes narrowed, "Damn…we were attacked as well. Too bad for those soldiers that they didn't know that there was a group of vigilantes that like to hang around outside the bureau. They gave us enough warning to prepare for them."
Altair's face remained blank but he was inwardly laughing, rather sadistically. The reason why he had so readily obeyed Hasan earlier was because, during Altair's novice days, Hasan had been an adept and rather deadly swordsman, training the older novices in advanced weapon classes. Altair, as well as various parts of his body, could vividly recall the various slaps and stings from Hasan's dancing blades for every smart-assed remark (there had been a lot of those) and stubborn defiance (at least three times a day) he had done. He also remembered just how frightening the man was when he was angry, for, despite his normal jovial self, he had a nasty temper. Altair was willing to bet everything he had that Hasan had, despite his rage over the attack, thoroughly enjoyed thrashing the soldiers.
"You know of the army marching towards Masyaf, then." Altair stated rather than asked.
"Yes. Captured soldiers tend to have loose tongues." Hasan commented casually, making Altair shiver a little. "Have you learned anything?"
"Some." Altair said slowly, walking over to Zauba'a and running his hand down the stallion's neck, "There are two involved in this, both seeking to destroy us, but I don't think it's in the way we think."
"Oh?"
"I was told that we were 'stray dogs' going up against a 'jackal and a wolf'. Jackals don't kill…they deceive. And wolves won't really kill a dog…just make them part of their pack and rule over them. Maybe I'm taking the metaphor too literally but the way she kept referring to dogs and wolves and jackals was just too obvious to ignore."
"Did you say 'she'?"
Altair sighed. Not this again. "Yes…another woman. Just as crazy and dangerous as the last."
"My, my, you just seem to attract these dangerous women, don't you?"
"Except this one died." Altair said shortly, his tone indicating that he was done talking about that, "Another thing, how did they know the locations of the bureaus? If they attacked at the same…"
Altair broke off suddenly, his grey eyes going wide. If two of the three bureaus had been attacked at the same time…what about the third one?
"Oh damn... Malik" He said, his mouth going dry.
"I haven't heard anything from Jerusalem about an attack there as well." Hasan said, picking up on what Altair was getting at, "But I wouldn't worry too much…Malik is hard to kill. He managed to beat you once or twice or maybe a dozen times."
"Then let's just hope that that wasn't on pure luck." Altair moaned.
"Just trust Malik. He's full of surprises." Hasan said, noting how Altair didn't try to deny his losses to the younger man, "What were you saying earlier?"
"The symbol these soldiers wear…I've never seen anything like them. They look like a crusader flag with the red and white but the symbol isn't crusader."
"It's not. It's Saracen." Hasan said, drawing sharp looks from everyone, "You were right when you said that it seemed a crusader flag, because it is, but there is a Saracen symbol on it."
"I don't understand…why combine the two?"
"Well, at first I was just as confused as you but then you supplied a rather valuable piece of information." Hasan said, "You see, your talk about dogs, wolves and jackals makes perfect sense. A wolf and a jackal, two creatures who you would never see run together normally, have banded together under one flag. The two leaders you mentioned; one is Saracen, the other is a crusader."
"Not Richard and Salah al-din." Hasan added quickly, seeing the nervous looks on some of the other assassins' faces, "They are busy in Arsuf still. Salah al-din has no reason to come after us, not after that little message we sent the last time he decided to pay us a call."
"Richard will leave us alone." Altair added, "Not only for the same reason that Salah al-din will but also because I think he has a higher respect for us now. I heard it in his voice when I last saw him."
"Ah, yes, your little dual with the templars." Hasan nodded, "yes, that makes sense."
"I would hardly call being jumped by a dozen rabid templar knights a 'dual'." Altair muttered peevishly, still irked by that particular fight, "The only crusader I know of is Conrad of Montferrat."
"That I know nothing about." Hasan said, "However, I think that if you wanted to find the leader of an army, look in the army. Come, let us ride for Masyaf. Our brothers will need us if they are to survive this attack. An army marches at our heels. We must be off!"
XxXxXx
2012
Mt. Legam was located west of the fortress, meaning Desmond and Gerson had to be super careful skirting around the fortress itself, seeing as how the Templars had raised the security around it, even going as far as to post guards up on the walls over looking the plain around them. This was rather irritating seeing as how the fortress was raised above the entire area surrounding it until it reached the mountains to the west.
Fortunately, after the dicey trek around the fortress, it was rather easy scaling the easy to spot Mt. Legam, which wasn't very tall in comparison to some rather lofty peaks such as Mt. Hermon. It was, as Desmond put it, an 'over glorified foothill'.
Finding the Templars' site was even easier, almost to the point of being suspicious. However, neither assassin really cared. They hunkered down, out of sight, across a small chasm and above the excavation site, preferring to listen to the sounds of the work rather than watch it. It only made their stomachs churn in anger.
They spent several hours, sprawled in the cool shade, in a comfortable silence, punctuated only by the sounds from below. Then Gerson, who had been staring at the rocks in deep thought, broke the silence.
"I think I know how they got their information."
Desmond glanced up, "Oh? How so?"
"There's this tour guide lady that occasionally gives visitors tours throughout the castle. When there are visitors, that is." He shrugged, "She's as old as dirt, probably was around when the assassins were, but she knows more about them than anyone around. Templars probably went up to her and simply asked. She probably thought nothing of it, was probably delighted even to have an attentive audience for once."
"She would know about those tombs?"
"Probably knew rumors about it them." Gerson said, shrugging again, "You can erase any physical evidence about something you want to keep secret but secrets are told much easier and faster by simply leaning over and whispering in another's ear. Granted that's the fastest way to distort a story, but when you are running against no evidence and a tight dead line, a twisted rumor is better than nothing."
"You seemed pretty upset earlier with Lucy about some spies that betrayed us."
"Yeah, that's an old argument." Gerson said, "Lucy tends to not listen if you aren't right next to her screaming in her ear. However, I wasn't the one to start that whole argument… I just picked it up after…"
"After what?" Desmond prompted.
"Nothing. Someone else started it and I picked it up after the Templars killed him." Gerson said evasively, dark eyes distant, "Not that it matters now."
Desmond opened his mouth to say something, but he was rudely interrupted.
"Over here! We found it!"
The two assassins exchanged startled glances. That was quick. Too quick, in all honesty. Even a fourth grader would have been able to tell something wasn't quite right.
"Good, send in the excavation teams and open it up. Hurry now, I don't want this to be interrupted." A grating familiar voice echoed up to Desmond, making his blood boil suddenly.
"Vidic." He growled, hands clenching into fists.
"Aint he that doctor who…Hey! Where do you think you're going?"
Desmond ignored his friend, already starting to move away.
"I don't think so." Gerson snarled, pushing off with speed that belied his size.
He tackled Desmond, easily pinning the smaller man to the ground and keeping him there, despite his sudden ferocious thrashing.
"Will you pretend you have a brain for a moment and think?" He snapped, not at all bothered by Desmond's struggling, "Did the word 'trap' ever pop into your head at all?"
"What?" Desmond demanded, ceasing his struggling.
"For God's sake! Think!" Gerson moaned, "How ironic is it that they found those tombs not two freaking days after our little raid, that they just so happened to send that oh-so-obvious email when they know full well and good that, despite our ancient origins, we do know how to use advanced technological equipment, and, the icing on the cake, they are loudly announcing their find when they know that we just might be in the area watching their every move. It's a trap, Desmond. They want us to pop our heads up out of our hole like some damn gopher."
"So we sit here and do nothing?"
"What does Altair say?"
"What?!"
"What is Altair telling you? You said he's in you, that he's…'still around'." Gerson let the now still Desmond go, "What's he telling you? He's better at this than the two of us put together."
Desmond stared at the ground for a few seconds before looking up at the older man, his dark eyes, so much like Malik's, boring holes into him. Malik, the rational side to his more brash nature. His nature? His…or Altair's? No…it was both of theirs. Altair's blood ran through his veins, bits and pieces of his character mingled with Desmond's. The Animus had only amplified that, awakening those lost memories and unlocking hidden depths in him that allowed him to tap deeper into Altair's personality, his skills and talents…his emotions. They mingled to become one, yet…they were separate.
Desmond looked back up at Gerson, a cold smile slowly stretching across his face. Gerson would have sworn that his eyes flashed grey for a moment.
XxXxXx
A/N: Sorry this one took a while. I know I said that I had already written out the story…but not this bit. Darn writer's block!! I was also looking up information on the assassin fortress to make sure I was right about the geography and such (some of it is still a little inaccurate due to lack of information), as well as mid-terms (that were supposed to be some weeks ago but postponed due to hurricane Ike and one of my professor's passing), projects that take up more than half my life, and a variety of other things which were keeping my writing to a utter minimum. So, my sincerest apologies. Here is the new chapter. Read it. Review. It makes me procrastinate my other projects and write this instead XD!
Good grief, you would think that since AC was such a big hit that there would be some information about it, but no. It took quite a bit of digging, and finding out that it wasn't considered a castle so much as a citadel. Terminology…(groans) no wonder I couldn't find anything. Anyway, as it turns out, the castle is called "Masyaf Castle" or "The Citadel in Masyaf".
Big Kudos to Alimah for helping me out with that research bit!! She saved my hair…I was close to pulling it out in frustration!!
-Vanillathunder215