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 10 – Behind enemy lines

1065 - England

The waves battered England's shores as if horses were trampling soldiers. It had been raining for days now, the sand of the beach was completely soaked and rough. In that sand lay Bjorn and Zilnir, unconscious and shipwrecked.

When their ship had nearly reached the east coast of England, they hit a storm and their mast fell down on the ship, sinking it in the process. Bjorn and Zilnir both jumped off and clamped themselves onto a floating piece of wreckage. And so, they drifted towards England.

While their bodies lay there, a shadow popped up and rose up above them. Heavy breathing and the sound of a mule could be heard…

When Bjorn woke up, he was disoriented. He nearly couldn't see a thing and his limbs felt completely numb. When he realized that he was temporarily blind, he tried to activate Eagle Vision. It worked. The so-trusted colors came to him again and he could see everything perfectly.

He wasn't in a house, as he had expected, but in what looked like a basement. When he looked next to him he saw Zilnir, safe and sound, but wounded. Zilnir had a small but deep wound in his side, that would take a while to heal.

Bjorn shook his head and looked around to orient himself more. Then he saw the Assassin symbol. He breathed out loudly. So he was found by colleagues in England. That was good. He fell on his back and fell asleep again.

'Hey, wake up! We have work to do!' a voice suddenly said, and Bjorn was nearly pushed out of his bed. He rolled out, landed on the floor with perfect balance and stood up slowly. The man that woke him up was like him; not tall, but in good shape.

'Who are you?' Bjorn asked the man. The man saluted in the Assassin way and said: 'Name's Garth, at your service.' Bjorn nodded and looked around, with his normal vision this time. He saw weapon racks, Assassin outfits and, to his surprise, more Assassins.

'Where are we?' Bjorn asked. The man spread his arms. 'Welcome, brother, to England!' and the rest of the men cheered loudly. Bjorn smiled, this was a jolly lot. Exactly the way he liked it.

He joined the rest at the table in the center of the main room. He slammed his fist on the table a couple of times to get everyone's attention. Then he cleared his throat of all the slime in there and began to speak.

'I don't know if you are all aware why Zilnir and I are here. But the situation is dire, so I don't have enough time to explain. However, I can tell you that you are in the presence of two Assassin Masters. Follow our orders, and we can send those bastards that call themselves Templars to an early grave!'

The man started cheering and applauding. Then, a woman came out of the shadows. 'And you think you can just waltz into their camps with an army of Assassins, and just kill them all, simple like that?' she asked. Bjorn stood up. 'And who are you, woman?'

The woman removed her hood and revealed her face, which was stunningly beautiful. 'My name is Isabelle, and I am an Assassin Master, just like you,' she said.

Bjorn's eyes grew. 'That means you can help us as well!' he said. But Isabella shook her head. 'I didn't tell you why I'm a Master. The reason why is because I always cover up my kills, am stealthy, and am the best strategist of all the Assassins. This is why you should be following MY orders!'

Bjorn growled. 'I'll have you know that I'm the best fighter of the entire Order. If you're planning to fight me, you're outmatched!' This time, the woman grinned. 'You think you can take me on, pipsqueak?' she answered.

That was the limit for Bjorn's patience. He rushed forward, grabbed the woman by the neck and pounded her to the ground. However, he soon found the woman's legs around his own neck and he was sent flying over her. With his stomach on the ground, he was defenseless, so he quickly rolled back and stood up.

Now, the woman charged at him, one fist in the air and another coming. Bjorn knew this trick, because Zilnir used to overuse it on him. He grinned like a wolf, grabbed her first fist out of the air, pulled the woman down, shoved her feet away from under her and pinned her down by sitting on top of her.

Bjorn's eyebrow went up. 'Who's the pipsqueak now?' The woman kept smiling, though. 'A good fighter. Haven't seen the likes of you in ages,' she said. Bjorn helped her up. 'My name's Bjorn,' he said, and reached out his hand. The woman shook his hand and said: 'Mine's Anna. Good to meet you too.'

They sat down at the table once again. This time, everyone seemed more impressed of Bjorn. He just bested their teacher, after all. Anna put her hand on Bjorn's shoulder and said: 'I know why you and Zilnir are here. Valnir's been kidnapped and you want him back to fight in the war, correct?' Bjorn looked at her with a surprised expression. 'You know about that? How?'

Anna smiled. 'We've seen him being taken in and we know where he is. And because it's a suicide mission to go even with two Master Assassins, you're going to take me and my disciples with you.' Bjorn thought about this for a moment. On his own he would be much more silent, even together with Zilnir with him, but allies would provide even better cover, distraction, and help if need be.

Bjorn nodded. 'But if you figured that all out already, then I presume you have a plan, too?' he asked. Anna nodded and grabbed a map out of her pocket. She spread it out and pointed at a big square in the middle of the map. 'What's that?' Bjorn asked. Anna looked at him vaguely. 'You never been to England?'

Bjorn shook his head in confirmation. 'Indeed, I haven't been. Only Norway, my fatherland.' Anna nodded. 'Alright. Since you're completely new to England, I'll explain to you a few things. This entire island is under control of the Templars, so we're behind enemy lines here. The square I'm pointing at is Fort Blighthill. It's called that way because of all the dead soil there. That's where Valnir's being kept. The place is locked up tighter than a thief's purse, so they're heavily guarded. They have around a hundred guards stationed there. Twenty on the walls, plus five watch dogs and an elite soldier they call 'The Flail'. Seems that's the weapon he uses, but he uses a stiff chain and he can swing it around like a stick.'

Bjorn nodded while he took all the information in. So there were a lot of guards, five guard dogs with excellent senses and an elite that would no doubt be patrolling everywhere and checking up on the guards if they were doing their duty properly.

Anna looked at him with a frown. 'What do you think, Bjorn?' she asked. Bjorn looked at her with twinkling eyes. 'We're going to assault Fort Blighthill! Let me do a short reconnaissance, so I can check if there are no other entrances except the main gate.'

Anna put her hand on Bjorn's shoulder and said: 'Bjorn, it's too dangerous to do even that. I've tried scouting around myself and I nearly got killed! And you may be a better fighter than me, I'm still pretty sure that I beat you in stealth!' Bjorn grinned again. 'Let's see about that!'

Two hours later, he reached the outskirts of Blighthill. When he turned around to tell Anna he'd be fine, she suddenly kissed him. When she backed off, she only said: 'Come back in one piece for me!' And she went back to the hideout. Bjorn smiled. His previous wife had died, and he mourned her every day. But this woman… This could turn out into something big.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and continued up the road. 'Onward and upward,' Bjorn said to himself while he stealthily and quickly snuck from one bush to the other. Good for him that this was England, otherwise he would have had to charge up the hill as fast as he could. But these English Templars were careless, and easy targets.

When Bjorn reached the top of the hill, he saw why it was called Blighthill. The ground wasn't just dead, it was turning into grey dust, every step spreading it around. He had to be careful here. His tracks could be found right away.

First, he looked around from his current position. He spotted a lazy guard just in front of the bush next to him. Bjorn decided to wait until the guard would reach his bush, then assassinate him. And there he came, the guard stumbled on until he was suddenly grabbed, pulled inside a bush and stabbed in the neck. 'I hope you become a better lookout in wherever you people go when you die,' Bjorn whispered.

He stormed out of the bush, leaving the dead guard behind. He quickly jolted from one bush to the other until he reached a tree. He climbed in, but not before making sure nobody would notice him. He had to take down three more guards silently before being able to do this.

When he reached the top, he had perfect view over the hilltop. And as he spied on the Fort's walls, his eyes caught something interesting.

What he saw just outside the walls, was a trapdoor. It was just big enough to let a man through, but it wasn't exactly hidden. 'Probably a wine cellar, we could get in from there,' Bjorn thought to himself. Then he heard a voice from below him.

'And who the hell might you be?' The voice was deep and dark, full of threat and arrogance. Bjorn's face went pale, because his suspicions as to who was under him were true. It was The Flail!

Thank you for reading this chapter everyone! Getting excited yet? I can promise you all one thing: There's going to be one hell of a battle in the end, but I'm not going to tell you why, how, where or when yet ;) If you all would please be so kind as to review the chapters, so I know what you all think of them, would be much appreciated. And as always: Insieme per la vittoria!