Chapter Eleven: Shadows
A warning for younger readers, there is one swear word in here. Just one.
Desmond caught movement from the corner of his eyes and it made him tense inwardly but his training ensured he and his mare moved onwards as if nothing had occurred. The figure was familiar to Desmond's eyes yet the young man could not recall where he had seen the man before. He never saw the man for himself, just glimpses and reflections on the surface of mirrors and glass. The sword that rested on the man's hip seemed Syrian in origin but the robes were more modern. In truth the only thing Desmond saw was the sword and a long, thin silhouette. He briefly thought the man had only one arm but he shook such ideas off because he reasoned that no one-armed man would be as skilled as Malik in assassination and Malik was back in the 1100's in Syria.
But the most concerning thing was that these would-be-assassin's had got the drop on Ezio. When Ezio had healed and regained his strength he had told them about a sharp, finely crafted sword and amber eyes hidden beneath a dark blue robe. Strangely it sounded exactly like Altair but their lover was no betrayer and he would never harm either Desmond or Ezio. Which left the two of them questioning the existence of this assassin, although Desmond now suspected there were at least two and not the one like they had assumed before.
Travelling alone was now a dangerous affair. With at least two dangerous men on their tail Connor and Desmond were particularly vulnerable, if they could take out a Master Assassin, they could take out two novices with ease. Unfortunately their small number of only three meant that travelling alone was a must despite the dangers and so Desmond was once again alone and scouting for the POE's and clues on how to find Altair or to return home.
It was only by trying to avoid his tail that he found what he'd be searching for all along. His hunter had forced him all around the houses but Desmond believed he had lost the shadow by the time he found himself at the home of one Charles Lee. Instinct guided Desmond to dismount and to scale the outside of the building to the highest room and it was there that his searching paid off. On the bed, deeply unconscious and clearly thoroughly fucked was Haytham Kenway. The peaceful, almost gentle look upon the man's face was at odds with his domineering personality but in this light Desmond could see why Charles Lee loved the man. But Desmond's eyes weren't focused on this, they were focused on the medallion lying on the man's chest. There was no mistaking the ancient craft and the unearthly glow, this was a POE.
It was hard to believe that all this time Kenway had what they were searching for.
Fortunately for Desmond and not so fortunate for Kenway was the fact that the old fashioned windows were easily broken into. A sharp blade, a lot of wriggling and force meant that Desmond could force the window open. Luck was also on Desmond's side because Charles Lee had exhausted his lover to the point that Haytham did not even hear the window open and he definitely did not feel the cool breeze rushing through the room. A quick slash with the knife and the POE was in Desmond's hands and he climbed back out and shut the window. It would take time for both Templars to realise how the theft had taken place and by this time Desmond would be safely in Ezio's presence and far from the scene of the crime.
Ezio was ecstatic when he saw what Desmond had achieved and proud that Desmond had the foresight to cover the piece up with thick cloth and to resist touching it. The small coin may not have had as much power as the apple but it was still a dangerous artefact and needed to be handled with care which is why Ezio took possession of it and hid it within his thick robes. It was a somewhat dangerous place to put it but leaving it lying around was even more dangerous, besides Ezio had experience with the apple ad had thick enough robes that the piece would struggle to reach Ezio's mind to manipulate it.
It was Connor who returned with bigger news. It appeared his people had possession of several powerful artefacts that may be linked to the first civilisation. Unfortunately his tribe were not prepared to hand them over which was probably why the Templars were targeting the Native American's. But it was what Connor had to say next that startled them both. "The wise woman said that one piece she holds glowed bright about the same time as each of you arrived. But she says it glowed many times and she also claims to have felt great power flowing from the orb. She believes many spirits have entered this world from another."
"Molti spiriti." Ezio commented. "C'erano solo tre di noi. Se Altair è venuto attraverso chi altro ha seguito?"
"Non c'era nessuno con noi. Chi ha seguito Altair non può essere amichevole." Desmond answered.
"Hai detto uno sembrava avere un solo braccio. Potrebbero essere ... ombre ... copie di noi ei nostri amici e alleati?" Ezio asked.
Desmond looked genuinely impressed by the theory Ezio had suggested. "Il pezzo di Eden sembra avere una consapevolezza e sembra anche per godere farci soffrire. E 'ovvio che ha il potere di manipolare le nostre menti e, forse, se abbastanza forte che poteva manipolare la vita reale pure. Anche se non riesco a immaginare l'energia necessaria per produrre una cosa come cloni."
"E 'fatto in futuro?"
"Sì, anche se era in gran parte la sperimentazione e la maggior parte degli esperimenti non hanno avuto successo. I ricercatori scientifici possono clonare parti piccole del corpo, ma qualcosa di più grande è una lotta. Inoltre c'è un intero dibattito su se sia etico e giusto." Desmond explained.
"As much as I enjoy listening to you talk would you explain in English what you are talking about." Connor asked.
Desmond chuckled and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Sorry, me and Ezio just get carried away. Drives Altair nuts sometimes." Ezio who was used to such wording merely laughed but Connor blinked, what was nuts and how did they drive Altair? Desmond sensing Connor's confusion chuckled again. "Altair gets really annoyed because of it. Which is a surprise because he is just as fluent in Italian as Ezio?"
Ezio laughed. "He's jealous because you could never get your head around Arabic."
"It's confusing." Desmond whined. "The only thing I remember is Habibi."
Ezio laughed again and looked at Desmond with fondness. "He knows you struggle with it, he's not angry at all but sometimes he can be a little jealous and we do often get carried away."
Connor coughed and Desmond laughed. "Sorry. We were just saying that the Piece of Eden may have cloned us or our allies and friends. The POE tends to enjoy messing with our heads, we're not surprised it is now messing with our lives. Although I cannot imagine how it had the power to make copies of us all."
"If the Piece of Eden is as powerful as we suspect I would be surprised it hasn't done so before now." Ezio stated. "It is dangerous to everyone but it cannot be destroyed."
"And burying it just delays the fight, people will always search for them or stumble upon them and this whole war starts again." Desmond added. "They can't be hidden, they can't be destroyed, the only thing that can be done is to collect them and to keep them in Assassin's hands, but we can't trust that either. Abbas, Al Mualim and I do not know how many more were easily manipulated into doing what the POE wanted."
"So, if there are copies out there, then there is a chance that a copy of our Altair is out there hunting us." Ezio stated. "Which makes me wonder, where is the real Altair?"
"But what if there are no copies?" Desmond countered. "I am sorry but the Piece of Eden can create illusions but I truly don't think it can produce copies. If the assassin hunting us is Altair we need to know why."
"Altair can't be hunting us." Ezio retorted. "He'd never do such a thing."
"The Piece of Eden has been inside our heads, manipulating us from the very beginning and it has had a greater hold on Altair then any of us." Desmond countered. "For all we know Altair thinks he still inside the apple and that the people he is hunting are illusions and not us at all. Or it could be that the POE's are showing us glimpses of Altair and trying to frighten us into thinking our eldest lover betrayed us."
"There is no real answer. We do not know how the piece's work." Ezio added.
"God…I'm sorry, I didn't mean…" Desmond whispered realising what he'd just said.
Ezio shook his head, a gentle hand rested on Desmond's shoulder. "No, Desmond, you're right to question, even us from time to time. The Piece of Eden is a powerful artefact and even though we can withstand its power for the most part, we aren't immune. Altair has been in the item for a long time. Several hundred years in fact and it affected him badly, it is not my place to say in truth, but the Piece of Eden affected him greatly and now he tries to avoid it for however long he can. He will not handle this situation well but Altair is no coward, he will not give up."
"No he won't." Desmond replied, a hint of pride in his voice. "He's strong."
"Incredibly strong in body and mind." Ezio corrected. "And he has something worth coming back to." He added as he stroked a hand over Desmond's cheek with love and affection. "He'll be with us soon, until then it is up to us to try and solve the mystery of these items. We now possess one, let us see if we can collect the others."
"It will not be easy." Desmond answered. "I think the Templar's only had this one. Which means if there are any others in the nearby area they will be hidden or in the possession of Native American tribes."
"And the tribes won't surrender them." Ezio added looking disappointed.
"Which is why the Native American's are being hunted and killed, a Templar has obviously worked the mass of people up into a righteous fury to have them go to war with the indigenous people so that they can hide their plans and get their hands on the pieces." Desmond commented.
"All Templars do. The people are filled with ideas that all land is theirs by their 'God's' will, any other God and its people are abominations." Ezio stated. "The Templar's use these old texts and the mass's religious views in their favour. They tell the sheep what they want to hear and the sheep stampede unaware of the wolves at their heels."
"An apt expression." Connor agreed, fury on his face. "My people have done nothing, in fact we welcomed the travellers at first, offering to help them but my tribe stood in the way of what they wanted and so we were attacked. I lost my mother and many of my kin because of that small medallion. The soldiers attacked my clan at the word of one, maybe two men, both Templars."
"That's what people do." Desmond said softly. "They follow, they do not make up their own minds or if they do they keep it quiet in fear of being slaughtered by the mindless followers around them. They'd much rather follow a man quoting from a text written hundreds, if not thousands of years ago because it is far better to think of someone who is different or who believes in a different God as a demon than just another person trying to live and survive."
"Human nature can't be changed, Desmond." Ezio replied. "We are as evil as we are good. There is a darkness in our hearts, a gaping hole that can't be filled with love, power or money and yet we will continue to try to fill it with as much as we can get. If we judge them we are no better than them. Some religious beliefs are evil and so are some laws, women are stoned for even looking at a man in the eye in some places and in other countries the torture inflicted upon people, even prisoners, is barbaric. As much as I'd like to change this and to prevent such sick beliefs and actions from ever existing I cannot, I cannot cure the world of all evil but I can ensure that the greatest evil of all is removed. As evil as some humanity is if we take away free-will or allow others to do so we become monsters. All humans have the right to free speech, to free thought and to freedom as a whole. If the people use that freedom for evil then the punishment they receive by authority and by the Gods will be well deserved."
"Well said." Connor answered. "You both make good points. I hear many mobs, thieves and murderers quote that their God wills their actions but I refuse to believe any God would condone the mass slaughter of innocents. If the Gods created us all why would they want to see us divide and slaughter each other and if the Gods created the landscape and the animals why would they allow man to wipe them out just for trophies and smugness?" It was clear Connor was very passionate about this, and why shouldn't he be? The Native American was raised to respect all life and watching people hunt for pleasure and to kill each other for fun must be a shocking sight for the man. "In my time I have spent watching those people I have learned one thing, people will always hide their evil acts behind the illusion of good. They will pretend their jealously and hatred is nothing more than self-righteous fury and they will condone such actions with law and the belief that their God's allow it."
"But are we not the same?" Desmond asked. "We murder all these people and granted we may have good reasons but yet we are doing the same thing."
"Yes." Ezio admitted after a few moments. "But that is why we are assassins. We become monsters so that the innocents don't have to. We cannot stop the evil of humanity, we cannot stop those men who desire nothing more than control and power but we can stop the subjugation of thousands, if not millions of people. But to do so we have to stop those evil men at all costs."
"I'm under no illusion that I am a good man." Connor added. "But if I did not do what I am doing who else would protect the people from an enemy they can't even see?"
"Let us end this conversation here." Ezio stated firmly. "We do not need to upset ourselves when we have work to do." He added as he tugged Desmond to his side to embrace the younger man. "We have all made good points but pondering why we must do our work is not important right now. We know we must do this, we work to protect thousands if not millions from the greed of a small group of men and our work must continue if we are to succeed. Connor I need you to continue talking to your tribe, I would at least like to see the pieces if nothing else. I'm taking Desmond with me to town, if there really are assassin's as skilled as us out there we will need as many weapons as we can to take them on and more armour to."
"I'm not used to wearing armour." Desmond replied. "But I'm willing to try."
Ezio squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "Armour will only protect us so much but we need to build up a line of defence and armour will protect you from most blows."
"Then I'll wear some." Desmond agreed readily.
And so the three quickly divided. Ezio and Desmond were not too worried for Connor, the man was at home in the forests and knew them well, no enemy would be able to get the drop of the Native American in there. Desmond on the other hand was more vulnerable, unarmoured and until recently not very skilled at horseback riding and the young man still had much to learn when it came to fighting and tactics. Ezio had never been so worried for his younger lover, before he had Altair at his side and no one even glanced at their precious treasure for fear of a hidden blade of throwing knife to the neck but now Ezio was alone and the assassin's had proved they could take him out easily. "Dio ci aiuti."
Desmond heard the whispered plea but steadfastly refused to turn and look, Ezio would not want Desmond hearing the despair in his voice and so Desmond pretended not to have heard. Ezio may have been able to pretend he was strong in front of Connor but Desmond knew Ezio well, he saw the worry and despair form on Ezio's handsome face and saw the wince every time Ezio strained his injured side. A few days ago fate had been on their side, now it looked like she had betrayed them. Their lives, their very existence and their plans were hanging by a thread, if the three of them failed there would be no more assassin's, Connor was currently the last one in America meaning if the man died Desmond would not exist. 'God help us' was not an apt prayer, they needed more than one God to survive this.
There was only one being, one man who had the training, the power and standing to help them now.
They needed Altair.
Italian translation: Google translate
Molti spiriti- Many Spirits.
C'erano solo tre di noi. Se Altair è venuto attraverso chi altro ha seguito.- There were only three of us. If Altair has come through who else has followed?
Non c'era nessuno con noi. Chi ha seguito Altair non può essere amichevole.- There was no one with us. Whoever has followed Altair cannot be friendly.
Hai detto uno sembrava avere un solo braccio. Potrebbero essere ... ombre ... copie di noi ei nostri amici e alleati?- You said one appeared to have only one arm. Could they be...shadows...copies of us and our friends and allies?
Il pezzo di Eden sembra avere una consapevolezza e sembra anche per godere farci soffrire. E 'ovvio che ha il potere di manipolare le nostre menti e, forse, se abbastanza forte che poteva manipolare la vita reale pure. Anche se non riesco a immaginare l'energia necessaria per produrre una cosa come cloni.- The Piece of Eden seems to have an awareness and also seems to enjoy making us suffer. It stands to reason that it has the power to manipulate our minds and perhaps, if strong enough it could manipulate real life as well. Although I cannot imagine the energy needed to produce such a thing as clones.
Cloni- Clones.
E 'fatto in futuro?- Is it done in the future?
Sì, anche se era in gran parte la sperimentazione e la maggior parte degli esperimenti non hanno avuto successo. I ricercatori scientifici possono clonare parti piccole del corpo, ma qualcosa di più grande è una lotta. Inoltre c'è un intero dibattito su se sia etico e giusto.- Yes, although it was mostly experimentation and most experiments were unsuccessful. The scientific researchers can clone small body parts but anything larger is a struggle. Plus there is a whole debate on whether it is ethical and right.
Dio ci aiuti.- God help us.