*I know the chapter title isn't creative... maybe I'll get back to it later.*
Chapter Thirty-six
The slums of Jerusalem blazed with activity and a sense of urgency to be productive today. As Altair swaggered through the moving crowd his mind rushed just at the sight of many people. While he walked through the people he began to count how wide each shadow, whether it had been cast by buildings and opulent towers and palm trees, were by his normal pace. Soon he began to head deeper into the middle district and then the poor. There were broken shadows with jagged edges created by the piercing sunlight. Not many seemed pestered by this warm ray, but gladly wore it against their copper skin. Altair muttered a sigh slipping down onto an unoccupied bench waiting for any spark of information on his target. He precisely wanted a map of where his target was, and maybe a location to where Sarraf was. He snapped his head up as though he had been kicked by his horse. He couldn't sit and waste time. His intuition whispered to him that the execution would be carried out today.
He moved through the uneven streets, treading lightly past a group of city guards. He rounded a corner and scaled the side of the building. On the rooftops now, Altair glanced up at the sky until his eyes spotted an eagle circling a small tower close by. He hopped over a gap onto the next building dodging out of sight from a guard in a nick of time. He heard the gentle metallic clicks of his sword strap loosely tied to his hip. The shadow of the guard appeared stretched out and stopped moving. It was Altair's cue to press on, so he crept away in the opposite direction and leaped across to the next building.
His hands stuck to the rough features like caramel on bark. His hands were rough like such and this made it feasible for him to climb countless of structures. Altair hugged himself to the tower to inhibit the sight of his shadow to give away his position. He continued to climb out onto the ledge once it was safe. He scanned the area with his Eagle Vision. The eagle swirled around him once and fluttered away as if it was headed for the sun. Altair dove forward and down into a cart of hay. He jumped out shaking the hay off of him. There was someone around that held information and that would be enough to report back to Malik. However, Altair remained glued just outside the cart of hay. There was no way he could avoid Malik questioning him about Sarraf's recent activities... No, he couldn't tolerate to wast more time.
Underneath a pitiful cape of shade a man wailed to another in a desperate frenzy that it caught Altair's sensitive ears. He followed within hearing range behind the two men who walked the streets.
"They have him," the man moaned, "they have my son!" he placed his empty hands over his chest nearly complying to his emotions to wither out into tears.
"Who is they? What was your son accused of?" the other asked.
"I- I don't know! Just some high clad men pointing their fingers at my son for theft!"
"Your son did not steal anything that valuable, did he?"
"No! No, of course not. That is not a fitting trait for my son. He is innocent and they took him away for no reason." As they discussed this openly they slipped through guards monitoring a street way. Their words faded from his ears fast. He stepped out from the crowd and as he did so the guards' eyes were instantly attached to him. He could no longer hear the words of the men like he could no longer see them. Altair walked away down the forked street. He spied out a few city guards but none were suspicious of him until he climbed the side of the building. They all looked at him in a trance of awe. Some more brute than others that were amazed. He chose to ignore every single comment. Altair walked to the other side of the building picking out the same two men. They had made their way further down the closed off street.
He jumped down silently behind the row of guards and strode on his way without further disturbance. The two men had stopped around the corner by a guard's tower. They had stood in the shade in hushed tones to prevent gathering any unwanted attention. Altair paused at the corner adjacent to them.
"Where are they going to take him"
"I heard they will take him to an execution today and well... you know," the friend of the father chocked, his chest squeezing and heaving to remain steady. "There is little to nothing more I can do but give you this detail. The execution will be led by Majd Addin, and he prefers to set the stage in a dramatic limelight. It will all be held by the southwest exit at noon. There is word that there will be others too, not just your son, that might perish on the stage but their identities have not been found. Least to say Kasim, it would be irrational to do anything if you want to tamper your son from a merciful death."
"No... No!" Kasim broke out it made the guards turn their heads. Altair removed himself so closely from the edge to avoid the suspicion from attaching to him as well. Kasim's friend backed away anxiously trying to calm him down, yet nothing seemed to calm the grieving father. "This is not fair. My son had nothing to do with this and now he must pay with his life!"
"Kasim, you must try your patience. This fit in front of the guards does neither of us, including your son, any good."
"He is all that I have left but surely you wouldn't know a thing or two about that since you sold your happiness when she wasn't enough! Were it so that my son spoke out against this coward then I am proud of him for it," he hissed.
"I hope you find peace out of all of this..." with that Kasim's friend took his exit as all eyes were narrowed onto him. Altair heard the sound of the dry sand blown over from reaching lands crunch underneath this man's sandals. When he turned the corner the man was startled by Altair seeming to loom over him. To this man this robed figure had omnipotent posture that manifested all his views on a physical form of dread. More to this poor man's surprise, he moved, this man and when brown eyes met the glint of fire from yellow eyes he felt his knees shake uncontrollably. Altair stood in place his face a mask from the brief contact. He watched the man trip over his sandals and made a bee line in the direction Altair came.
The Assassin flew across the rooftops, not stopping, untiring relentlessness as his hart never pumped so furiously from self exertion. Altair thudded into the Bureau and rose moderately with a commanding presence though he was absent-minded about it. Dalal had been situated as such tending and organize the resting room that she gave a little gasp when Altair had brutally entered without warning. The chimes seemed almost late to detect it. She found her hands trembling but didn't dare pop the question. Her eyes glued to Altair as he walked passed her into the Bureau. His robes fluttered behind him with his long strides.
Malik was hunched over his desk and a large, yellow parchment rolled out before him. The black eyes flickered catching Altair's amber eyes, but then darted back down to the map in the process.
"I have more news regarding Madj Addin." Altair breathed half expected for Malik to say something but he didn't. "Madj has struck a deal with the heralds to install fear to those who would think further to deny him. It holds the people's fear for his public executions. However, his flaw is that he enjoys to relish in the moment with words and often is described getting carried away in his... work. His been hiding behind men, that coward, ordering them to do his dirty deeds by falsely accusing citizens that still have the will to contend against him. He plans to take them to the southwest exit of the city and hang them." Still the Bureau leader left him in cruel silence. Altair didn't wish to push the studious Bureau leader if he could help it. Much of what he had presented Malik with evidence was done in a rush, sloppy at least. He wondered if Malik could detect the anticipation growing within him. He waited for the interrogation to begin. Malik wordlessly brought forth the single feather. Altair waited for a second and then took it.
"Before you go Altair," Malik looked up, "there is one more thing. A Brother, one of us, has managed to be captured. Al Mualim wishes to be seen that he is to be rescued. Do not load yourself with the actual rescue, my men will see to that, oh but do make sure Madj Addin does not take his life." His remark had a touch of laziness to it with a dull look in his eyes. Did Malik believe Altair couldn't follow such simple commands?
"I won't give him the chance," Altair replied feeling a certain warmth reach his fingers.
He heard Malik grunt, "I hope so." Altair exited the Bureau informed of what he had to do. Dalal remained tending to the plants quietly plucking the dead leaves from the healthy ones. The shadow of Altair flashed before her suddenly like a ghost from the corner of her eye sight. What fingers she had left turned ice cold and she swallowed when the chimes announced his departure.
"Peace be upon you all," she bowed her head into her chest in a soft whisper.
The ground began to tremor by the roars of the distressed audience. Many raised their fists and hissed in violent gestures. A row of blue-robed, embroidered crescent moon insignia, and bronze-colored breast plate and helmed men protected the stage so none would advance forward. Altair blended seamlessly in the chaos. A group of scholars passed not long ago and as Altair revealed his smoldering eyes from the beaked hood he spotted four archers. The stage remained vacant with four wooden posts with one swaying noose. Altair noticed a door on his far left.
He bowed his head finding his exit from the crowd. He planned it accordingly to the scholars routinely pace that all he had to do was smoothly step into the group. This prevented the risk of detection. The scholars led him to the next block over where the difference in sound were as different as the keen angle of a throwing knife. Altair unfolded his hands letting the scholars slip through him. He didn't wait for them to leave entirely to climb onto the old building. It was an instantaneous reaction scouting out the archers who were lousy at being a secret from any eye. He had this assassination within his grasp. There was no option to even consider failing. Nevertheless, Altair stood complacent holding his position behind a chimney waiting. When at last the archer to the left, upper front of the stage stepped in view of the Assassin there was no falter for Altair to end it swiftly. It went through the thick cloth between the space where the armor failed to cover the squishy flesh.
The blade made a clean exit returning back into the sheathe as the man made a final groan and slumped over lifeless. Across the other side of the stage the archer on the right looked up in alarm. Altair had jerked a throwing knife from his belt and flung it through the air. He did not have to check. He just knew it made its mark. The archer doubled over cradling the hilt that protruded from his gut. Altair saw him fall to his knees and then tumble onto his stomach with an empty hand hanging from the edge of the building.
The heat was almost at its highest. The sun had risen high into the sky. Altair had slain the final archer just before the door on the left side of the stage had busted open. The crowd roared even louder inching closer to the stage. Four people with executioner bags over their heads were lead by four guards; their hands tied behind their backs. Altair watched with curiosity. He saw the last man out of the four resisting even still. This was the Brother Altair was to prevent from dying. If it had not been for the red, tattered sash around the boney hips he wouldn't have known which was the captured Brother.
The guard expressed little struggle in his face pushing the feet of his Brother forward. But with his effort to defy the guard he tripped forward on the stage into the sunlight. The audience had given a pathetic sneer, certainly out of fear to protest just like this man. Altair waiting for the executioner bag to come off but it was not removed. By the time the guard pulled him to his feet the other three were tied to their wooden post. The guard brought out a loop of rope from his belt and tied the Brother's hands tightly to the post. The head drooped into his chest. Out of the four, the Assassin was in the worst condition. The Assassin had been stripped only to his under clothes. His white tunic looked more gray. Dried blood at the neck and torso with cuts along the gray pants exposing the dirt coated flesh. It looked like he had been grounded in the dirt. The Assassin was bathing in his sweat that shined in the sunlight.
At last Madj Addin sauntered onto the stage with a look of disdain upon the ugly crowd. But he raised his arm high in the air swimming in all the cheers received. Once he made it to center stage his face hardened. "Silence! I demand silence!" he bellowed above them all. In a matter of moments the crowd dwindled into a few hushes and then a rapture of hearing. "People of Jerusalem, I've come to deliver a warning! There are malcontents among you," he accusingly pointed to the crowd with a sort of dryness. But Altair had to wait for the most opportune time to strike, he continued to bide his patience.
"They are the seeds of discontent, hoping to lead you astray," he continued to pace before them. "Tell me, is this what you desire?"
The crowd chorused in the very discontent Madj Addin was describing.
"To be admired in deceit and sin?" he established rhetorically. In the pause he turned his pointing finger into a fist and crushed the air in his hands as though he found a way to absorb life and wanted it all. The crowd grew to a steady roar of disagreement. "To live your lives in fear?" he questioned once more.
"No!" one shouted below.
"We do not!" cried another.
"Then you wish to take action?" It seemed a poor choice to defy a man in power like Madj Addin. The people of Jerusalem swayed, hands around their mouths like parentheses yelling, "Yes, we do!"
"Your devotion pleases me," for once he slipped a smile in his slight bow. He thought he was doing something righteous by condemning innocent people to empower that. Altair scratched his thigh momentarily with his eyes squinting. Madj Addin certainly did enjoy talking. "This evil must be purged. Only then can we hope to be redeemed."
"This is not justice," one man in cream colored robes appeared out in the front. Altair remembered that voice suddenly. Indeed when he gazed down at the scene it was the same man named Kasim. He had raised a sword for his son no doubt and he was accompanied by another man, dressed identical to him.
"You have no right to do that! Who do you think you are?" howled the other though his voice was not one Altair had encoded before. The crowd had set distance from the two men out of befuddlement.
"And you sit here idly compressive in this man's crimes," Kasim said that he had not noticed the smug expression Madj Addin wore as his guards pulled out their swords.
"Curse you all!" One man lunged forward to the stage but before he could even touch the guard up front with his blade another came from behind and stabbed him in the back. Terrified and dazed Kasim stuttered in his steps. The nearest guard disposed of him with a great slash across his chest that it looked too easy, too ruthless.
"See how one man's evil spreads to corrupt others!" Madj brought the crowd back under his control. He pointed down at the bleeding bodies and then sharply looked away with more disdain. "They sought to install fear and doubt within you but I will keep you safe!"
The people sang with relief. Such lies it made Altair livid.
"Here, I have four people riddled with sin." Madj Addin walked down the stage inadvertently being within Altair's range to leap down and assassinate right there. Altair paused though, he wanted to know more about Madj Addin's wicked reasonings before ending him. "We have the harlot," he threw up the executioner's bag revealing the face of simple beauty. This harlot had shoulder length hair the color of cedar wood, light brownish red in the light of the sun. She had a small face and strong, curved brows as she glared at the man who sought to execute her. He walked down the line, "the thief!" Once again he tossed the executioner bag off the man's head. The man's eyes, Altair narrowed down to Kasim's son, were wide at the sight of the people. The sun on his face, his mouth moved as if saying his prayers. "The gambler! And," he stood in front of the last man, "the heretic!" He hissed ripping off the executioner's bag and letting it drop before the destroyed boots of the Assassin. Beneath the dull, dark hair was the face of a woman- not a man... Natasha!
The bag over my head had finally been removed and I saw the roaring crowd and felt the blazing sun. I never thought I would be standing on this stage as someone to die. I gazed up and over, away from Madj Addin's face to the sky. Was this really it? Al Mualim had not sent Assassins to rescue me the night prior to today. Madj Addin made a sarcastic snickering sound between his teeth. I saw the sun being blocked by his pearly white turban darkening his features but his black eyes sparkled like wet ink. He rotated around to address the crowd.
"They will pay for the sins they have committed against us!" he spat. I was stunned to see how the crowd drank up every word as if it were truth. "Now, bring forth the harlot," he squinted his hungry eyes at her. His men untied the rope that bounded her to the post but did not untie the one that held her wrists together.
"I am no harlot as he states. He only wishes to see me dead because I would not lay with him!" She cried to the people with her feeble strength reserved but the inescapable noose drew nearer.
Madj scoffed, "She lies. With her outward features she beguiles men into laying down with her. She spreads sin and filth so she must be stopped. A lesson to all that do not think carefully." He opened his arm up as if to tell his men to bring her to the rope.
"Please! I would never do such a thing! He is the sin that must be stopped not I!" Yet no one would listen to the woman. The coarse rope was around her dainty neck and fitted where the knot came to touch the back of her neck. The crowd responded indifferently to this and right to the last moment she breathed remained so until her feet hoovered inches from the ground. The people boomed with all their voices combined. I wiggled my wrists but the rope was fastened tightly to the wooden post. There was no chance I could escape free like this.
The next man already had tears streaming from his dirty face. The guards bullied him up to the rope where I heard the unforgettable screams. Did I scream like such facing the horror when I saw my family slaughtered before me? I... I thought I would remember everything crystal clear but the night was far from today and the only thing I remembered vividly was Robert de Sable. Oh, how I wanted to end him too. But I was not going to get the chance it seemed. The poor man wailed at the sight of the dead bodies left directly below the stage.
"Father! Father no! No!" he sobbed uncontrollably as the noose quickly went around his neck. "No! No!" he repeated. His voice went hoarse suddenly and in the midst of his tears stopped all together. There was a pop this time. He too allowed the gentle wind every now and then rock his body. From his ill-fitted robes I saw his spine protrude. I cringed. It was all distorted and grotesque looking.
"That is one less thief stealing in Jerusalem!" shouted Madj.
He received the same response from the crowd, sounds of delight.
"The next one," he turned his head around and the silent gambler walked slowly to the stage. The body before the gambler was removed and dumped over the side of the stage with his father I presumed that was slain there. I scanned the audience hoping to find a familiar face. Surely Altair would not allow this to happen. Surely he had come searching for me. The more I thought of this happy thought the more it dissolved like salt on the tongue equally leaving you with a bitter taste. Perhaps he was done with it as well. Truly there was no reason to come rescue me... I could see why he didn't want to. Just because I was his assigned partner for his redemption quest meant almost nothing. He could always be assigned a new partner. Al Mualim would grant it, would he not? The long cold night I got kidnapped cleared a lot of things from my head. Did I honestly forgive Altair for what he had done? Yes and no. I always understood since joining the Creed purpose for the clan meant everything but at the same time such as self desires had to be aligned with the clan, for that determined worth in all forms. By breaking the three tenants you broke yourself from the family. The Creed was your family, the only family you ever needed from then on. If you could not accept it, I dare add even follow it blindly, then your actions reaped consequences predominately.
Sadly, the gambler had gambled away at his time. In his final moments he said nothing but allowed the noose come in contact with his naked neck. The people were cheering all the way until the moment he dropped and suspended from the ground. This was it. I was last on stage. A part of me wished for the executioner's bag to be placed over my head to chill my nerves of dying but at the same time I thought it best to see my hometown, though I would see the downtrodden slum of Jerusalem, it was still home, and it was for the last time.
Our eyes met from ends of the stage. Should I have been honored that Madj Addin personally made his way over to me? I knew he was going to die and then the thought crashed me. Perhaps my death was needed to give an opportune time for Altair or any Assassin to strike. Which possibly meant someone from the Brotherhood was watching. Madj broke out his sword. His shadow loomed over me and I no longer saw the pale blue skies. It was only his face. He wants to insure that I get the most brutal sustaining death of all. I'm not getting hanged I'm going to be stabbed and bleed out to death.
"The worst of all will now face her judgment." Madj Addin took his sword and slashed the rope connecting me to my post. I felt the rope tied around my wrists slacken but they were not frayed enough to break a part. "People like her lie within the deepest cracks of earth, festering in the dark with their conspiracies. They want you to believe in their lies too." He yanked me by the hair and thrust me forward. I collapsed to my knees just below the noose. This was my only free opportunity to gaze out the people. To my delight I found four scholars closer to the front of the crowd moving closer. To mention whether or not an Assassin was blending within them was completely obscured.
"Look at her with scorn and perhaps even pity," Madj went on, "for she goes to a place far worse than here." Madj raised his sword in the air. I closed my eyes looking in on the red insides of my eyelids. I listening as I got the loudest response from the people. I remained silent and still on my knees before them, showing them I was at the mercy of the people and certainly not Madj Addin. It probably didn't matter to him, either way he was getting a kick out of this performance.
He began probing and guiding me like a puppet master around the stage. I stood up for him, the noose hitting my head and I cocked my head to the side to get out of the way of the noose. Madj continued to talk like he had the previous people that now remained in a pile of lifeless bodies. The scholars were now in front of the stage. They even had the subtle power to gain access passed the line of guards and onto the stage. Madj had the noose tightened around my neck when he noticed the group of scholars ascending up the stairs.
Madj shouted at his men. He was clearly startled by the unplanned unwelcomed guests. I twisted my head over as Madj left me by the noose approaching to the scholars. Was he clever enough to count ten feet total in the group? All the scholars kept their composure with their heads bowed at the same level and their right hand folded into their left hand. Madj Addin saw none of their faces. "What is going on?" He turned around to communicate to one of his men on the opposite end of the stage.
"It is over now," the voice hit Madj Addin like cold water. That same cold voice emerged from the scholars and before anyone else had time to react the blade met its target...
The Animus took me to a familiar screen where Altair laid down his victims for their final chat. But it seemed this time the Animus did not give me an option but to watch and listen instead of actively being a part of if like usual.
"No, it can't be," Madj croaked as Altair settled him to the ground on his back. "It was only just the beginning." Altair tugged on the front of his robes pulling Madj to sit half way up on his elbows.
"It is. Tell me what was your part in all of this? Do you intend to explain yourself the way others have to justify your evil deeds?" At first Madj gave him a bare, dull look as his neck became weak to holding up his head.
"The Brotherhood wanted the city, I wanted power. There was... an opportunity."
"An opportunity for what? An opportunity to murder innocents for your game."
Madj let out a sigh as a sign he was involuntarily losing his senses. "Not so innocent," he sharply said. "Distant voices cut deep as steel. They disrupt order. In this regard I agree with the Brotherhood."
A crease between Altair's eyebrows formed, "You kill people who have different views from your own."
"Of course not," Madj shot back, "I killed them because I could. Because it was fun. Do you know what it feels like to determine a man's fate? And did you see the way the people cheered? The way they feared me? I was like a god! Such power... You would do the same I know."
"Once perhaps but then I learned what becomes of those who try and lift themselves above others."
"And what is that?"
"Here, let me show you," he replied coolly. Altair plunged the blade into the throat at last. Madj made a straining sound as if drowning in his own blood then when he had expired his head bent back completely and fell limp. Altair dropped him to the ground pulling out the eagle's feather and swept it through the stream of blood, closing the eyes in the process.
The Animus brought me back to the current assassination memory and the crowd was screaming. Altair was ambushed by more guards and archers streaming from the open door. I wiggled around on stage trying to get my hands free. Guards on the right side of the stage started making their way towards me. I eyed the lever that would drop the floor beneath my feet. They better not. My efforts to break free escalated I began hollering random nonsense to add to the chaos. To my surprise they did not head for the lever they lifted me a couple inches off the floor and unloosened the knot to slip my head out of the noose. My face turned bright red as I thrashed in their arms. They were carrying me off stage through the door on the left.
"Get your disgusting hands off of me!" I barked. It had no bite. They ignored my threats as they descended down the narrow staircase. I thrashed and kicked madly, panicking as it grew darker and darker. At the bottom of the steps I realized that this was one way to get to the prisons. The same ones they stored me in the night before. They opened a random cage, cut me free from my bondages for some reason and tossed me inside. I was greeted by the hard rock floor lightly powdered with dust. I hunched over bruised, scratched and bloodied. I resembled a wounded animal. The cage slammed shut. I ran up to the door and clasped the iron bars. "What do you still want with me?" I called to the men that brought me down here but they turned their backs on me and walked briskly the other way.
I punted, I punched the bars but it had no effect. I screamed in frustration yelling at the bars and had the same result. The keys to all the cells and chest of items were left on the table far from my reach. Obviously they wanted me to die down here. I heard the shrieks and the gasps coming from above and how useless I felt getting myself stuck down here. I grabbed my stomach fighting the pain of hunger. I hadn't eaten for a whole day and a half now. When I removed my hand scarlet bled through my gray tunic. I cursed lifting up the shirt to reveal a gash given to me last night by Madj Addin's men reopen. I attempted to staunch the slow trickling blood with my hands pressed on top of another and applied force. I let out a gasp.
I saw Altair but the question ringed in my head, did he see me? I could not hold back the questions any longer and they spilled like never before. Was he out to look for me or was he originally out to assassinate? Did I matter? Oh, of course not. An Assassin is pledge to certain duties, love affairs are not on that list of pledges. But did he see me? Am I left to die down here? Will he rescue me? I puffed out air. Ugh, I was the one needing help. No, don't call it saving... nope. Don't think it. I needed help. I heard the heavy thuds of guards feet as they went up another way to the stage as reinforcement. The stairs I came down remained clear. That is until there was a slam and the sound of a wooden board sliding into place. I didn't move from the center of my cell. Feet came padding down the stairs.
Altair glanced over at all the empty cells until he reached mine. I sprang to my feet meeting him at the door. He reached for my hands through the bars and pulled them into his while catching his breath. "How did you... evade all those guards?" I asked looking up at him after a moment of distilled silence. I still hadn't made up my mind whether to forgive him or not.
"They will eventually break that door open and continue looking for me." He stared at me. My lip was badly bruised and had been busted open. He didn't ask what I had to endure last night of my abduction.
"I need the keys on that table over there," I guided with my gaze over at the table. Altair nodded his head curtly and grabbed the black ring of keys from the table. He quickly went through the keys until the right one unlocked my cell. I stepped out into the dust hall. Without another word he instinctively tossed me the keys and I bent down to unlock the chest that contained my belongings. My bloodied fingers opened the lid where I began to collect my things.
"There is no time for that," Altair mentioned from a distance standing there watching me. "Malik is sending a rescue team that will retrieve your things and you." My eyes went round though I did my best to cover my surprise.
"I'm not going with you?" I always went with Altair and running away from the bad guys just seemed natural. Now I was being left behind until further notice.
"My orders were to assassinate Madj Addin and make sure he did not assassinate you," he sternly said. His tone remained neutral, it was hard to detect what he was feeling as he stood before me. The door above groaned, it was about to give in. "Come this way," without warning he took my hand.
I grimaced. I said nothing to the discomfort of flying forward so quickly. Altair had no idea where he was going but he made every turn like he had built the underground floor himself. The place began to look like catacombs. There was no true exit it seemed. Then Altair paused out of nowhere. I stood next to him. He still had hold of my wrist when he looked at an opening between a cell and the settlement of stone. There was a gap large enough to fit one slender being if they moved in sideways. "If you go back far enough they will not see you." The door had busted open and the fight poured into the prisons from an eerie distance.
I bowed my head.
I crawled into the crack in the wall. I made a snug fit, ebbing closer to musty air as I went further back. My stomach and back were sandwiched between the two walls. I stopped continue going further in case of being stuck but felt like I went far enough from being detected at first glance. I turned my head over where Altair stood in the opening. I blinked and he was already gone.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. It had been some time before I saw anyone pass through the crack in the wall I was hiding in. Three men approached the crevasse in the wall paying close attention to detail. One stared directly down and saw me.
"I found our Brother," he whispered loudly. The other two Assassins turned their heads and peeked in and saw me. Their lips were partially open. Once I had crawled out of the crack in the wall I stared up at them. I had never seen them before. They all had a dark complexion and facial hair and seemed to be about mid twenties.
"You must be the rescue team?" The one who had found me crossed his arms and nodded. The other two were carrying my belongings.
"We need to get going and return to the Bureau, Jerusalem is upside down once more."
.
.
*Did I ever tell you I enjoy writing cliff hangers? I do! What do you think will happen to the duo pair of Assassins now? Thank you for reading. ~MissKayoko*