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"So you were on your own for four years?"
"Sure was," I said, releasing the arrow. It whizzed through the air and hit the bullseye of the target about twenty meters away. My brother, Keith, looked only slightly impressed.
"I'm surprised you even remember anything I taught you at all," he commented. He was a few years older than me, and was a champion at archery in high school.
"Dad put up a real fight," Julia told he as she took aim with her bow, "But there were too many of them even for him.
"What did they treat you like?" I asked, turning serious.
"They weren't that bad," Julia admitted, "Quite a few of them didn't want to be there. Abstergo threatened their families the force them to work for them."
"Yeah," Keith added, "A few of them were talking about letter the prisoners out and escaping. They're being held against their will in there."
It had been a month since the rescue operation, and my family had been moved here. After a few discussions, Jones agreed to let Keith and Julia into the Brotherhood as recruits. After the rescue, a temporary archery range had been erected while we considered relocating.
"Did you guys know?" I asked, "About what Dad did?"
Julia shook her head. "No, he only told us after we were captured."
"Ryan?" I heard. Turning, I saw Jones approaching us.
"Yes?" I replied, lowering my bow.
"I need to see you and your team in my office," he said, looking grim, "You two as well."
"WHAT?!" Ethan thundered, jumping out of his seat.
"Ethan, I know you don't want to believe it, but-"
"Where's the evidence?!" he raged, pacing around the office, "There's no way it can be true!"
"What is this?" my father had entered the room with an impatient look on his face.
"We have reason to believe-" Jones began.
"It's NOT TRUE!" Ethan shouted, "Nobody here would do anything like that!"
"Like what?" Charlie asked.
"We believe there may be a traitor in the Brotherhood," Jones said before Ethan could interrupt again.
Everything was silent for a moment.
"Wha-what?" Charlie stammered, "No, it can't be possible."
"Think for a minute Dad," I told him, "Why did the Templars get to the highway almost before we could get out of there? How did they know where we lived even when you tried to hide us? This kind of thing can't be pulled off without an inside man."
"Charlie, the Templars have been one step of the Assassins since Al Mualim betrayed us in 1191," Jones reasoned, "It could be possible that there's always been someone on the inside."
Charlie sighed. "Alright then," he said, "Do we have any suspects?"
"No, only that it's nobody in this room," Jones informed him.
"So what's the next move?" Keith asked.
"First of all we need to relocate as soon as possible," Jones explained, "If there is a traitor, then Abstergo probably knows where we are."
If fate ever had a sense of humor, it was then. Because a loud BOOM erupted somewhere in the hideout.
"Well we got our answer," Dave said grimly.
"Wait," Vince said, "How can we be sure it's them?"
"Who else would it be?" I replied, "We gotta get out there!"
Jones' office was located under Venice Beach, and the only parts of the base at sea level were the training ground and the anti-aircraft guns. Judging by the direction from which the noise came from, I decided that the blast came from the training grounds. It turned out that I was right, because when we finally reached the training grounds using the railway system that was used to go from place to place quickly, we found the tunnel blocked off by rubble, while Assassins led injured allies out of the station. Dust made it difficult to breathe, and we left the station quickly. Charlie had stayed behind to escort the recruits, including Keith and Julia, and my mother out of the base.
What we all saw when we reached the surface was a scene of absolute carnage. Smoke filled the air, rising above the burning buildings of the training ground. People ran all over with assault rifles and bazookas, firing at something on the other side of the large metal wall that separated us from the outside world. Another shell, from a tank perhaps, flew over our heads and literally blew part of a watch tower off it's base and sent the rubble hurtling in all directions.
"They've got the place surrounded!" somebody yelled.
"We've gotta use the tunnels! It's our only chance!" some else called.
Before anyone could make a decision, part of the wall was blown open and hundreds of Templar soldiers swarmed the compound. Some of them had guns, others had short blades that sliced open the necks of anyone who was unfortunate enough to be near them.
"This way, to the armory!" Jones yelled, leading us back down into the station and through a side door. We found ourselves in a long room with weapons of all kind displayed. Blades, guns, explosives, you name it.
"Grab whatever you can get, we got a lot of Templars up there!" Jones ordered, grabbing a blade and two pistol.s I picked out a deadly-looking short blade, similar to a machete, but with a slight curve to it, a small, modified pistol with a suppressor and flashlight, and a second hidden blade with the Assassin emblem engraved on it.
The Templars and Assassins were engaged in battle, scattered across the training ground. Some were already dead, blood surrounding the bodies. A Templar agent ran at me, knife drawn, only to be met with a blade that opened his neck and sent him sprawling to the ground with blood spurting everywhere. As two more aimed their rifles at me, I pulled out my pistol and grabbed my dead foe's gun and fired. Both men dropped to the ground.
"We've almost got them! Push 'em back!" Jones commanded. The Templars were losing the fight, and began to retreat to the wall. The Assassins cheered and took out as many as possible until we'd sent them running back over the hills. Everyone shouted their delight, but a few heard the sound of engines above.
I was one of them, and when I looked up, I saw planes flying overhead. And when the bombs began to fall, I shouted "RUN!"
Only my team, Jones and a handful of others heard me, and looked up at the sight of the bombs falling at an alarming speed. We ran as fast as we could for the station, while the others got the message and ran for their lives. Just as we reached the safety of the underground station, the bombs went off.
I was propelled forward, and the last thing I remembered before blacking out was the impact of my head on the cold tiles below.