Hello there! It has been a long, long time since I have updated this story... sorry about that! I will try and update as fast as I can now since we are close to the end! I hope you enjoy!

The first light of dawn shed peaceful long shadows on the Morrigan's deck, colouring the sea with magnificent reddish hues. Such a pretty view made it worth it to spend the whole night at the helm, shivering in the chilly July air and struggling to keep my eyes and the rest of the crew's minds wide awake.

"Good job, boys!" I finally screamed, passing command down to James. The bell rang from below decks, signalling the turn shift and hence allowing me to a small break before making ready to disembark.

Silently, I climbed the stairs to my cabin and opened the door to my room as quietly as I could not to awaken Hope, who was peacefully sleeping in my bed, curled up in my favourite spot.

"Good morning" I whispered, noticing her shrewd eyes opening as soon as my silhouette entered her sight.

"To you as well" her body discretely moved aside to allow me to lie down next to her for a while.

"Everything is ready. We will be harboured at the docks within two hours if everything goes smoothly"

"You don't seem too happy about that" she commented before sitting up in the bed, already keen on getting to work at analysing me.

"I am worried about Haytham. He has been oddly silent since we left that stupid island. I fear he might do something he, or we will regret in the future"

"Shay... We already have" she whispered, looking straight into my eyes for a long, dreadful moment. Her pupils were two large circles in her pale face.

"What... what do you mean?" I asked with caution, almost hoping she would not answer to me.

"We told him that this whole... Manuscript business was about something bigger, about him getting a missing piece to open a vault he had found in this area... remember? The Manuscript in exchange for it"

Slowly, very slowly, my stomach tightened up in a knot. Even swallowing felt like a hard task.

"Right. We did"

"What we had all secretly prayed for was for Haytham to turn into one of us, or getting killed on the way because another Templar would likely recognise him and label him as a traitor. I do fear the outcome will be devastating now that we are almost sure it won't happen"

She climbed out of bed nimbly, her petticoat perfectly in place, as if she had been sitting straight the whole time. Notwithstanding the tense moment and the hard decision to take, my eyes were drawn to her slim figure, wishing it wasn't covered up in so many layers. Not at all times, at least.

"Shay?"

"Well, I... I guess that when we will explain to him why it is so important to destroy all the Manuscripts, he will understand"

"And when should this confrontation take place?"

"You are too fast for me" I sighed, shaking my head regretfully. Even my last spirits had been choked now, and all I felt was the heavy weight of anxiety in my chest.

"I am sorry. I have been too hard on you" Hope finally said. She came closer to me and let my arms wrap around her waist firmly as I kissed her with all my heart.

Spanish Town. The hometown of one of the most famous pirates in history, Blackbeard, and now florid capital of the English Colony of Jamaica. It was a place full of trade, sale and business: a perfect environment for a Templar to thrive.

In order to avoid conflicts and 'misplaced worries'- as Haytham would define them- our Templar ally would be accompanied by Hope, disguised as Haytham's companion of travel, while John and I would scout the area and get ready for a signal to infiltrate the house late at night. After all, Haytham had assured that it was good custom according to Templar's etiquette to invite a fellow knight to stay as a guest at another affiliate's mansion in such circumstances.

In the end, it was with a little disappointment that John and I found ourselves roaming thought the city's streets, our gazes occasionally drawn to our backs, where the Morrigan towered proudly over the other schooners harboured at the docks.

"We need to get acquainted to the area... bur first, let us get something fresh to drink before we lose our minds"

The heat was, as a matter of fact, unbearable. After a little searching, we decided to stop for a drink in a nice tavern in an open courtyard. It was a quiet place, almost empty and with vines and other pretty flowers covering most of its walls.

We had been sitting and examining our city map for a while when John got distracted by something. I didn't pay him too much mind at first: we are Assassins after all and we tend to notice every little movement people make around us.

"Shay. Shay, look"

"What is it?"

"Just... look"

I raised my eyes from the map, annoyed, but immediately all my sense jerked awake.

"That is..."

"That is a Heron, yes"

Suddenly, the image of the tiny book that had belonged to the Heron's Captain came back to my mind, and with it the image of the battle who had seen us as winners. Then, another image materialised out of nowhere: the man who had ambushed me on our arrival in Mexico, and the fuss he had made about the colour of my hair...

'What a silly thing. People argue over philosophy and speak of great prophets, but no one ever fusses about hair colour. Skin tone, yes, but hair colour... never'

I shook my head. Somehow, a side of my mind was convinced I would never understand those people.

Right in that moment, the said Heron, dressed as colourful as ever, was slapping the hand of a seemingly drunken man who was twisting an ivy leaf from the plant of the wall.

"Is he stupid?" John exclaimed, "he's surely looking for trouble"

As he had foreseen, the drunken colossus didn't wait a moment to punch the poor, silly, gullible Heron to the ground. Convinced now that we were witnessing the prelude to a brawl, I sprang to my feet and run to help him.

"No!" The man shouted as I got into position to punch the drunken brawler in the face, "don't do it!"

"What do you suggest, then? Shall we sit and wait for him to break our bones?"

More eyes rose to observe the scene, surely not a good sign considering that it was imperative for us to keep anonymity in town... at least for a while longer.

"Let's get out of here" John advised wisely as he got between me and my opponent. He offered the latter a golden coin he accepted with bewilderment before dragging the Heron and me out of the tavern.

"Have the two of you lost your minds?" he growled once outside. His gaze was particularly harsh on the stranger he was grabbing by the collar.

"He was tearing ivy from the wall!"

"What the bloody hell should you care about that?" I exclaimed incredulously, "It is just a plant"

"That is the matter! It is not just a plant" he growled back, shaking his head with evident anger, "plants are life!"

"These people... they are mental" I whispered to John who was equally surprised.

"We are not. If only you could understand..."

For a while we all walked in silence, unsure about the next move. After everything that had happened between our... teams, if they could even be called so, it was everything but safe to walk side by side with someone so unpredictable. However, my mind flashed back to the body of the brave soldier who hang in Rodrigo's dungeons and my heart softened. After all, these people had uncommon guts and such a quality was anything but useless in our circumstances.

"Tell me something. Why do you call yourselves Herons?" I asked as soon as we reached a semi-deserted road.

"Because of Him. Of our Prophet"

"The 'Redemptive Heron'" James nodded, quoting the book we had found in the captain's poach.

"And who is that? A sort of... second Jesus?"

The Heron shook his head and a rather embarrassed smile spread on his face. "We have nothing to do with religion. Our Creed preaches peace among all living creatures, but it is so much more about that..."

"And what about the black hair thing?"

My question arose a rather unexpected reaction: our newly-made friend busted into laughter who took him so strongly that he had to stop to draw a breath.

"I am sorry about that. My colleagues are rather... foolish at times"

Long from having quenched my curiosity, the Heron decided to take matters into his own hands.

"Well, my friends, if you are convinced about infiltrating Mr Costa's house, I suggest we get to work"

"How..."

We had no idea about how this strange man- who turned out to be called Nestor- came to acknowledge our plans, or why he was so keen on helping us. Even when some time had passed, John and I could not quite figure out where that mysterious figure had come from... and where he had disappeared when it was all over. However, we decided to give him a chance without revealing too much information. So we disguised ourselves as common citizens and we waited for a signal from Haytham and Hope.

"Bloody hell. I had no idea that a meal could last so long" I muttered under my breath. The sky was getting darker and darker as the minutes passed and still there was no sign that that endless lunch (later turned into dinner) would come to an end. Sure enough, that Costa guy didn't seem too healthy. He often coughed and I could swear his handkerchiefs were smeared with blood.

Nestor and I had been squatting under a window for hours while waiting for a sign- anything- that would prove that the meeting was proving fruitful. The biggest issue had been keeping quiet the guards assigned to that spot, who now laid gagged at our feet, and make sure that they wouldn't escape. Our time was coming to an end though, and we were fairly convinced that, since the turns were about to switch, their absence would be notified soon.

"Shall I call John? I wonder if he's found a way inside"

"No, Shay. Don't do anything stupid or this whole thing will end up pretty badly for everyone"

As soon as he had pronounced these words, there was finally movement at the dining table as Haytham and La Costa stood up and walked out of the room.

Hope remained sitting in the same spot she had occupied the whole afternoon, with her shoulders turned to us and her usual upright position. Probably she had disguised as Haytham's wife and was not allowed to follow the discussion, a solution not too congenial for my taste even in such a circumstance. However, it was not the time to get carried away by distractions. I motioned Nestor to keep an eye on her as I began following the two Templars from the outside.

"Shay?" he called me just before I lost sight of him, "beware of the horns"

I had no idea about what he had just said.

The task proved to be much more arduous than I had imagined as the possessor of the Manuscript guided Haytham through an intricate series of corridors and hidden passages that represented the core of the house itself. In the end, I found myself forced to sneak inside the mansion from an open window in order not to lose sight of my target, wondering: what if this was a mere distraction? What if it was a trap?

I didn't have enough time to deepen the matter as La Costa suddenly came to a halt, dismissed the guards and asked Haytham to turn his back to him.

"Safety reason, nothing more"

I leaned forward from my already unsafe hideout, hoping to catch a glimpse of the mechanism that the enemy was setting up. He pressed a series of spots on the wall until a small cavity opened. Then he took off a key from his pocket.

Damned Templars.

"Please, come inside"

The last thing I saw was Haytham's doubtful eyes: he turned around briefly, as if for searching something- maybe someone?- before heading inside the passage and disappear in the darkness.