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Ezio watched the gondola pull away, making sure it was a safe distance from the edge of the canal before turning to deal with the onrushing guards. There were five of them. They formed a semicircle around him—it appeared that they hadn't expected him to attack. He feinted with the short sword to the right, then whirled swiftly left, drawing his dagger and sinking it deep into one guard's unprotected throat.
"A lucky strike," another guard said, chuckling in a way he seemed to think was menacing. "It will be your last."
But the words were the guard's last, because Ezio parried his thrust with his short sword and sank the dagger deep into the man's side. A swift blow to the elbow caused him to drop the sword. He slashed with the dagger at that guard, scoring holes in his glove but otherwise causing no damage. Suddenly he was grabbed from behind. He used his head, smashing back against the guard's face. The man cried out in pain and the arms around Ezio's chest dropped. He turned quickly and punched the guard in his already damaged nose. The man put his hands over his face, blood dripping between his fingers. He staggered away and then tripped over a crate and fell into the canal with a loud splash.
A strong hand closed over Ezio's wrist, twisting it until he dropped the dagger.
"Not so quick now, unarmed, are you, bastardo?"
Ezio pretended to be defeated, backing away and waiting for one of the two remaining guards to attack him. When it came, he grasped the man's arm, pulling him closer while activating the hidden blade in his left hand. He sank it into the man's stomach, whispering into his ear at the same time, "I am never unarmed, sciocco."
He let go, the man falling at his feet with blood blooming through his armor. The last guard had a sharp dagger out, and the two of them circled each other, dancing back and forth.
"Ezio!"
He spared a quick glance for the gondola. Rosa was huddled in the bottom, barely visible. Ugo, poling the craft, was ducking and twitching. He pointed in the air, and Ezio saw two guards stationed along the docks who were shooting arrows at the gondola and its passengers.
Ducking a blow from the guard he'd been circling, he reached out a leg, tripping the man, and then jumped on top of him, sinking a hidden blade into his throat. Ezio jumped back to avoid the blood spatter. Without a second glance at the scene, he took off running, leaping across the water to the dock. With a hard kick to the back, he knocked one of the archers into the water, then threw a knife at the other, watching it arc through the air and lodge itself in the man's side.
He leaped for the wall, climbing swiftly and running along the roofs, keeping the gondola in sight. Rosa's stillness worried him; she lay motionless in the bottom of the boat.
Suddenly he glanced back and saw the gondola turning into a narrow channel he hadn't even noticed. Without stopping to worry about the salt water on his weaponry, he dove headfirst into the water, surfacing to see the gondola slide into the channel. He struck out swimming after it, following along until it drew up at a low set of stone steps.