A/N: Indra1989: It means a lot to me that you are following the story with great interest, thank you very much for commenting on every chapter so far (and sorry for not replying in an earlier chapter). But enough fore-talk, please enjoy chapter four (as far as someone can enjoy what has already happened)

Survivor12-21-12: Nice username btw, I actually hosted a small end-of-the-world party the evening before the 21st. Anyway, thank you for your support and please have fun reading (is that even an appropriate wording? because I don't think it is)

Chapter 4: Out of the Frying Pan

"Lift your arm, Amal! Watch out for low blows!" Ilyas was standing next to Rauf as he was correcting the novices while they were practicing combat with each other. Soraya had found some peace in the shadow of an olive tree and was resting there though she would look up from time to time to make sure that Ilyas was still there. The novices had been curious about her but after every one of them had had a chance of petting her they let her rest in the shadow.

It's been about three and a half weeks since Ranya and the three Assassins had left Masyaf. Almost every day Ilyas had accompanied Rauf as he trained the youngsters. The boys must be around thirteen which was an age that Ilyas didn't particularly remember. He had started stealing before he had been their age. Of course those thefts had only been petty offenses, the heists had started later, past his childhood. Perhaps he had started practicing with a sword at that age, but he couldn't remember. The years seemed to him like a never ending flow without a clear separation from each other.

Yesterday, Rauf had invited Ilyas over for dinner with his family. Ilyas was more than glad - even though the food that was cooked for everyone who resided in the castle was quite good, he didn't like being alone while eating. He wasn't used to loneliness at all. The only times that he had no company was whenever he was on a mission, and there he was too busy to be bothered by it. In the Vault he was never alone, even if he wanted to. Their sleeping quarters were always shared with other thieves.

Rauf's family had heartily welcomed him. His parents were a lovely couple - his mother was a gentle and caring woman who seemed to be someone who would never raise her voice. And with such a nice family, Ilyas thought, that wouldn't be necessary anyway. Rauf's father was just as mild-mannered as his wife. The man used to be an Assassin, but after a serious injury, which had cost him half of his right leg, he had decided to care for his house and his family. Sometimes he would work for the brotherhood when some paperwork was due as Rauf's father was a natural at writing and reading not only in Arabic but also in French which was just as important for the brotherhood as their native language.

Rauf's siblings couldn't be more different. Sarah, his older sister, was a very polite yet witty young woman. Her husband hadn't been in Masyaf yesterday as Assassin business kept him in Damascus for some days. Ilyas had already met their daughter, Amala, on his first morning in Masyaf. Rauf's brother was a cheerful young boy as was his niece. Since their age gap wasn't that big they seemed like siblings and were mostly treated as such. Ilyas admired Rauf's family and was upset that he would probably never see them again once he will leave Masyaf. Perhaps, he thought, the forming relationship between guild and brotherhood would allow him to come to Masyaf from time to time.

Ilyas watched Amir, Rauf's little brother, who was pounding on his opponent with his wooden sword. They were very young, needless to say, but if they continued hitting each other as if their swords were some sort of sticks, their long training sessions would be in vain. Perhaps all they needed was some motivation, Ilyas mused. They were just young boys after all and it wasn't surprising that they didn't take their task too seriously.

"You need to encourage them", Ilyas addressed Rauf, who was pacing back and forth.

"They are thirteen year old boys. How would one motivate them?" Ilyas laughed at the desperate tone in the Assassin's voice.

"I don't know, you're the instructor."

Rauf bit his lower lip which he did quite often as Ilyas had noticed. Every time the Assassin was in deep thought or concentrating hard on something he would suck his lower lip into his mouth.

"If you were their age, what would give you incentive?", he asked finally.

Ilyas shrugged his shoulders.

"How about a demonstration? I was told you were good with a sword. Would you like to show them what a good fight looks like?"

Ilyas wanted to decline that offer immediately, he didn't think it would be wise to show off his skills to the Assassins. He wasn't afraid of it backfiring but still …

Anyway, the thief was interrupted by one of the novices who seemed to have listened to their conversation.

"Yes, please! A demonstration!", he said loudly enough that everyone else could hear. The other Assassins-to-be dropped their practices and voiced their desires for a fight between the two adults. Ilyas sighed inwardly. There was no way he could say no even though he believed that the children weren't so very keen on seeing them in combat but rather in want of a break.

"Alright", he said finally and Rauf ordered the novices to be quiet and leave the fighting-ring so that none of them would get hurt.

Ilyas drew his sword, a perfectly balanced masterpiece that he had actually let crafted so that it fitted his stature and weight. He had actually paid for it. Well, he had stolen his money back afterwards, but that was the same thing, right?

Rauf recited the rules - no blows directed at head or centre of body, nor were any lethal strikes allowed. Whoever was in a hopeless position first would lose.

Ilyas nodded absently. He would practice fights like these quite often with some of his fellow thieves in the Vault where space was even more restricted than here. He mused with himself whether he would do everything to win or whether he would let Rauf beat him for the sake of not showing all of his moves.

He didn't have long to ponder on those thoughts as the fight was started.

They started circling each other. Rauf was right-handed as was Ilyas. His combat posture was impeccable, the thief noticed. Most people would somehow always make mistakes when it came to place their feet, especially when they are moving during a fight. Rauf's back was a little bent forward which would allow him quicker and more flexible sidesteps. It dawned on Ilyas that he might not even have a chance of defeating the Assassin. Not even the city guards were all professionally trained.

It was Ilyas who started the first attack. As expected, Rauf was quick to dodge. The thief anticipated a counter attack from Rauf, but the Assassin waited for him to launch another blow. Ilyas wasn't sure how long Rauf would make him - and their spectators who had grown in number as some other Assassins had joined the novices - wait for his own attack, but Ilyas wasn't patient enough to find that out. The thief attacked multiple times in hope of tiring the Assassin or let one false movement slip him. In vain, as it turned out.

Blocking one heavier blow from Ilyas, Rauf used the power of his opponent against him and tossed him a back few feet. Ilyas was already breathing heavily whereas the Assassin didn't look one bit exhausted. This is going to be embarrassing, Ilyas thought.

And embarrassing it was. Ilyas was only able to dodge Rauf's blows with great effort. The thief would never have thought the Assassin was capable of such heavy attacks.

The novices were encouraging their instructor by yells and cheers. At least they were finally paying attention, even though it would cost Ilyas his dignity. Maybe he didn't want to come back to Masyaf after all.

Soraya on the other hand, was still laying quietly under the tree and watched the fighting pair with curious eyes. However, she didn't look like she would move a muscle to aid Ilyas. Disloyal cat, he thought.

He gripped his sword tight and focused on being more passive, only blocking Rauf's blows without spending too much stamina. Ilyas was thinner and smaller than the Assassin, maybe he could outmaneuver him by using this to his advantage. Ilyas blocked the next few blows and then dodged the heaviest one by sidestepping under his opponents's blade. Standing next to Rauf now he used the Assassin's moment of thinking by kicking into the backside of his knees. Rauf was brought to his knees and Ilyas already began to point his sword at his throat but he was cut off in the middle of his movement. Rauf used his disadvantaged position for himself as he had changed the hand with which he was holding his sword and was using his now free hand to pull Ilyas from his feet. The thief landed heavily on his back and lost his sword in the process. He couldn't do much but see himself being defeated as Rauf was now towering over him with the tip of his sword directed at his throat. Teeth-gnashingly Ilyas admitted his defeat. Rauf helped him back to his feet with a smile and thanked him for partaking.

"You were a worthy opponent, Ilyas." The thief answered with a short laugh as they were shaking hands.

"Who are you kidding, I stood no chance against you."

"That's not what I said."

They were interrupted, however, by an Assassin coming towards them.

"Altaïr has come back", he said excitedly.

about two weeks earlier

Ranya was more or less dragging Malik with her. She had tried to stop the bleeding with one of her many belts but he was becoming weaker with every passing minute. She wanted to bring him into the Vault, to safety. Ranya knew Hannah would be able to help him more than she was capable of. Everything would be better if they would just reach the sanctum that was the Vault.

"Ranya wait, we have to get the artefact first." She stopped to let him get some breath as even these few words seemed to cost him a lot of effort. She let him lean against a wall. "You are seriously injured, Malik. And I cannot fight. The artefact is lost to us."

With his uninjured hand he grabbed her arm. "Don't let Kadar's death be in vain. We need to finish this mission." He was breathing heavily and it frightened Ranya. Stabilizing him was one thing, but she would never be able to carry him should he fall unconscious.

"This mission has finished us. There is no object that could be more valuable than a life."

"That's quite the lousy opinion for a thief." He grinned and tried to laugh which soon turned into a rattling in his throat.

Ranya knew she had lost this discussion. Malik had probably already won before he had started speaking. She could not refuse his wish.

It might be his last, she thought miserably.

"Alright, we'll find the artefact and then leave this temple for good."

He nodded solemnly. "Do you know of any rooms here where Robert might have gone to?", he asked.

"What does the artefact look like? Might it be in the Ark that we've seen earlier?"

Malik shook his head. "I don't know what it's supposed to be. I guess we'll know when we see it."

"No, you are going to hide here. If you want to get the artefact, then I'll do it alone." Malik tried to protest, but this time Ranya would not surrender to him. "You are too slow, you are barely standing, I'll be much quicker and more quiet."

He nodded slowly. "Do you know where to start looking?"

"I'll go back to the room and see what I can find."

Malik let himself be hidden by Ranya. She knew this part of the temple perfectly; it was close to the shut entrance to the Vault. There were many dead-ends and other tunnels that lead nowhere so she hoped he wouldn't be detected here.

"I'll be as quick as possible. Please stay awake, Malik." He nodded smiling weakly.

She ran back the way they had come from and had to avert her eyes at the bloody mess of bodies on the ground. She looked at the table that was close to the door that Robert had left through earlier. The maps showed parts of the temple, of its tunnels … well that was interesting. She quickly folded maps that were new to her and stored them in her pockets. The Templars had apparently made notes on how they had changed the tunnel systems. What she uncovered next however was confusing to her. Someone had made a quick sketch of what had been on top of the Ark of the Covenant. Between the wings of the seraphim was a sphere that could apparently be opened. That must be it, she thought. There was some text which she couldn't decipher. She had once tried to memorize the latin alphabet but since she never had to use it she quickly forgot most of the letters. However, even if she would recognize some of the letters, she wouldn't be able to translate the text anyway.

She turned the sheet and found another sketch. It was an orb that had some strange linings on it. It looked very symmetrical and she wondered who might have crafted something with such an odd design. She quickly folded that sheet as well and stashed it in one of her pockets as well.

She looked up to where the Ark of the Covenant was and sighed in relief. The winged box was still where it had been as she had first laid eyes on it.

Cautiously the thief peered out of the room to make sure no one would detect her. Maybe Altaïr had already found the artefact and she was risking her life - and Malik's - for nothing. As soon as the thought crossed her mind she pushed it away. Maybe the master Assassin had been crushed by the stones that had crumbled down after him. There was no guarantee that he had survived that fall.

Now she only needed to find out how to climb up there. The ladders on the other side of the room weren't nearly tall enough to reach the plateau on which the Ark was. The Templars had started building framework towards the Ark but apparently had stopped in the middle of it as it didn't quite reach the plateau yet.

She climbed on top of the framework to get a better view. She wouldn't be able to get a hold on the stone pillars, but maybe she could jump high enough to grasp the edge of the platform. She took a deep breath and sprinted towards the end of the framework platform to get as much power into the jump as possible.

Her fingers stung as she gripped the cold stone of the plateau and her feet were desperately trying to get a hold on the pillars or anything so that she wouldn't fall down. Eventually she found her footing and pushed herself up onto the platform. She wasted no time and opened the sphere. She could have screamed out of joy as she found the strange orb still inside.

But it was glowing. There was actual light coming through the symmetrical cracks. She was afraid that she might break it if she carried it inside the seraphim box so she carefully grabbed the orb. She expected it to be hot or warm at least, but it felt surprisingly cold. What witchcraft made it glow if it wasn't illuminated by fire?

Ranya cradled it in her hands as if it was a fragile piece of pottery. The illumination grew and became all surrounding. She wondered if the light could go through the thick walls of the temple and illuminated Jerusalem as if the sun had come down to earth. The thief stared into the orb, maybe the cravings had some sort of meaning? Were the lines words of a language she had never seen the letters to?

If she concentrated hard enough she thought she could almost see some strange images before her eyes … or behind them? Were the pictures in her head? She couldn't describe what she was seeing. It was a blur of flesh, people … they were completely nude. Then there was a frame, or a device? It looked like a design for something, but Ranya couldn't identify what it represented.

Voices coming towards her could be heard. Ranya quickly put the orb back into its box and closed it.

The voices grew in volume, they must be close to the room in which she was in now. It was Robert with his men. She believed she heard him curse and quickly hid behind the Ark, the artefact hidden underneath her cloak and safe in her arms. She immediately cursed herself. If he were to look up for the artefact he would see that it was gone. She couldn't back away any more from where she was now. But maybe … maybe he would think that they had already gotten away and go to search for them. Then she hoped she could get down undetected to go and get Malik and leave through the secret tunnels.

Even though Ranya couldn't understand what they were talking about, she guessed that Robert was barking commands and orders to his fellow Templars. The hilt of the short sword pushed uncomfortably into her hip. She waited some agonizing long moments after she had heard the last command being shouted and then dared to peer down. Fortunately, they had all left the room. She guessed that she had heard about five men, but some could have been extremely quiet, so maybe there were a few more. It was difficult climbing down again with the unhandy artefact in her arm but she managed it faster than she had imagined.

Sneaking back to where she had left Malik was sheer torture. She had been a thief too long to be easily detected. She knew how to become one with her surroundings. But she had no idea how long it had been since she had dropped him. How long had she looked at the artefact? She didn't know but she found the Assassin still breathing and with his eyes opened. Alive.

"Malik, can you stand up?" He looked up to where she was standing and it took him some moments to focus on her face. He had lost so much blood.

"Do you have it?", he asked and he sounded weak but his words were clear and he didn't sound as bad as before. Maybe he'll live.

"Yes, I have it, but Robert knows that we have stolen it. He is searching the whole temple. Come, let me help you." She lifted him up to his feet and guided him through the network of tunnels. It didn't take her long to find the entrance to the Vault. They had shut it long ago and she hoped that she could open it without Malik's help. After all they hadn't shut it with the intention of having to open it ever again. She had to move a lot of stones and rubble to free the metal plate that covered the entrance. It took her some time to move everything out of the way but she had to admit that it hadn't taken her as long as it should have. She would need to tell her fellow thieves to shut that entrance more thoroughly. Or let this tunnel collapse for good.

She helped Malik down the slippery corridor and shut the entrance after her. If no one was particularly looking for that trapdoor they wouldn't find it easily, but she would have to immediately send some thieves there to make sure no one could come through. She was, however, relieved to find the tunnel system behind the trapdoor as confusing as she remembered it. Whoever came down here without knowledge of the tunnels might never find the exit and starve to death. It took them several minutes to reach the Vault where they were greeted with the tip of a sword at the fist door.

"Ranya! What in hell's name …?" She didn't wait for the thief to finish.

"No time! Help me stabilizing him! Where is Hannah?"

They quickly dragged him through the main room where they collected Hannah. "Abdul!", Ranya greeted the thief. "I need you to gather some others and check the entrance to the temple. We have used that tunnel and I couldn't shut the trapdoor sufficiently." Abdul wasted no time and called out for others that were currently in the main room.

They brought Malik to the library where they laid him on a table. Hannah was quick with ordering some younger thieves to collect everything she needed from her room. The old woman began cutting off the fabric of the Assassin's sleeves as Ranya was sitting down next to his head and tried to gain his attention.

"So this is were you live?", he started with a smile.

She nodded. "Welcome to the Vault. You can count yourself lucky. You're the first Assassin to have come here."

"I have always wondered where you hide. Some think that you just appear and disappear. But that might be just the case, right?" She smiled in answer.

"Rani! I heard the tumult but … what happened?"

She jumped up at her uncle's voice. She hugged him close and he was reassuringly stroking her back. "You're hurt", he said and looked at her throat.

"It's nothing … compared to him." Ismail nodded.

"That's Malik, he is one of the three Assassins that accompanied me. He and his brother saved my life. Malik, this is my uncle, Ismail."

Ismail nodded respectfully at the the Assassin who repeated the gesture. "You will always be a welcome guest here."

He took one of Hannah's rags and carefully cleaned the wound on Ranya's throat while she explained what had lead to this disaster.

"Is that the artefact?", her uncle asked and pointed at the winged box that she had laid on the ground next to the table. She nodded as he bandaged her neck. Ismail looked searchingly into her eyes and she let a tear slip her eye but was quick to wipe it away. Now was not the time to cry, she told herself.

Hannah had cleaned the wound and was now stitching it up. Malik's pained gaze made Ranya unbuckle one of her belts and put it between his teeth. He thanked her silently and bit down on it hard.

"The master Assassin, do you know where he is?", Ismail asked.

Ranya shook her head. "I don't know whether he is alive."

Behind her, Malik spoke up. He had taken her belt from his mouth with his uninjured hand. "Knowing him he probably wasted no time leaving the city. He is most likely on his way back now." He groaned in pain and put the leather back between his teeth.

"I am going to send word to Masyaf that the artefact is safe. Malik should stay here." The addressed protested. "As soon as we are ready we will go. I will be fine."

"We'll see about that", Hannah interjected and he had to muffle a cry as she continued stitching his wound.

Ranya lead Ismail to his bureau. "The artefact, it is some kind of strange orb. I have opened the box, this is what's inside." She pulled out the sketch of it and gave it to him. "You won't believe me, but it's illuminated. There is light coming from those cracks but it is not fire, it's quite cool when you touch it. And I have seen strange things in my head. People and other kind of things."

Ismail tried to calm his niece down. "Maybe there is some kind of drug in there that had made you see strange things. There is an explanation to everything, Rani. But I suggest you don't ask the Assassins' mentor about it." He gave her the sheet and she put it back into her pocket.

"I'm not stupid. I know I shouldn't have opened it. But I wasn't sure whether it was inside or not. Uncle, there were Templars inside the temple. Templars! How could they even get inside the city?"

"Calm down, Rani, I will investigate this. You only have to focus on getting back to Masyaf. You sent Abdul to close the entrance, right?" She nodded. "Good. Everything will be good soon, Rani. We will talk about everything when this mission is finished, okay?" She nodded again and he gave her a gentle squeeze and kissed her head.

"Let's see how your friend is doing."

Ismail was helping Malik undress to give him some of his own clothing that wasn't torn open and bloodied. Meanwhile Ranya was in her own room that she shared with her brother and two other thieves, one of which was currently with her in the room. Ranya was discarding her clothes to dress in some clean ones as well.

Ismail had sent word to Masyaf earlier and she hoped that the pigeon would reach the Assassins and not be stopped somehow. She couldn't imagine what her brother might do if he found out that the master Assassin had returned alone.

"His arm looks very bad. Hannah didn't tell him, but it looked like his bones were shattered." The older thief, a thirty-five year old woman that Ismail had brought in from one of the many brothels as she had been twenty, had been helping Hannah as she had tended to Malik.

Samira was sitting on Ranya's cot which was completely unnecessary as her own was not even 5 feet away.

"Do you think he will survive?", Ranya asked anxiously. Samira had a lot more knowledge of the human body as she was more often helping Hannah than any other thief when it came to tending to wounds.

"I am sure of it. Both Hannah and I were quite surprised that he was back on his feet so quickly after being bandaged. About his arm … I don't think he will be able to use it as before, if at all. But he looks like a man that's full of wonders. He told me of Masyaf. Rani, have you seen the garden? He said they were full of all kinds of exotic plants."

She shook her head as she was putting on her belts. She sadly didn't have any spare ones so she had to wear the one Malik had bitten on. A reminder of this day, she mused. The one she had used to stop the bleeding must be still in the library or already thrown away. She could afford to lose one, then.

"However, I don't think it's best to leave so soon. He should rest and you look quite exhausted as well. Here, let me help you with your hair."

Samira brushed the younger thief's hair with her hands and braided it the way Ranya and she herself wore it most often. With skilled fingers she separated her hair and braided one strand around the top of Ranya's head. After some experimenting they had found this way of braiding the most comfortable one for if they just pinned the hair up at the back of their head the weight of the hair was too heavy to wear it for a long time. The scalp would soon start to hurt that way. Samira repeated the process with the rest of Ranya's hair and pinned everything securely to Ranya's head.

The younger thief thanked her friend. "I know we shouldn't but … we can't risk leaving the artefact here." Ranya thought about how it had illuminated the room and fogged her mind. She would be more relaxed when she knew it was no threat to the guild. Of course she didn't want to rush Malik, but she had offered to him to stay here and recover while she brought the artefact back to Masyaf. He would have none of it, however.

"So you will risk his life?", Samira persisted.

"Samira, look, I cannot tell you about it. I shouldn't even know about it myself but alas, I do and I wish I didn't."

They were interrupted by a knock and Ismail came to them. "Samira, could you leave me and my niece alone?"

With a questioning look at the master she elegantly swung herself from Ranya's bed and left her room.

"I have talked with the Assassin, you will leave shortly. I have put the artefact along with some spare bandages and food into a bag. The artefact that you have retrieved, I have laid my eyes on it and I think it is best not to have it here any longer. I wanted to send some of us with you, but Malik heavily protested so I will give you a bow and a quiver. He seems strong enough for now, but you better have something to defend yourself."

It was then that her uncle noticed the unfamiliar sword at her side. "Since when do you have a short sword?"

She shook her head. "The master Assassin gave it to me to not leave me unprotected."

Ismail huffed. "You should have rammed it between his ribs."

She didn't respond so the guild master continued. "There is something I have meant to give you for a long time. I have pondered on it for too long, but I think since you are the first born, even if only by a few minutes, you should have it." He pulled out a necklace that he had been wearing underneath his clothes and unclasped it from his neck to hand it to her. There was a ring dangling from it. It was a strange ring, Ranya noticed with what looked like numbers carved into it in straight and symmetrical lines. It reminded her of something …

She looked questioningly up into her uncle's eyes. "I noticed it as soon as you showed me the sketch of the artefact. I have carried it long enough. Your mother used to wear it and when she died I couldn't bury it with her. Our mother gave it to her." Ranya frowned. Her uncle rarely spoke of his parents and Ranya and her brother almost knew nothing of their grandparents. Or origins, for that matter.

Ranya clasped the necklace around her neck and tucked it underneath her armour. "Your mother would be so proud of what you and your brother have grown up to become. As am I." For the second time that day he kissed her head hugged her. "But you have to leave now, the Assassin is already waiting for you."