Chapter 28: A Secret Cave
Year: 1238
Alamut
I quickly dodged his attack. I gave him a slight grin before I went to attack him. He blocked my attack but I spun around and got out my dagger as quickly as I could and gently tapped him on the back with it, hitting his armor. He turned around and had his sword up and ready to attack me again. He gave me a side grin and attacked. I blocked his attack with my sword and dagger. Once he stepped back, I punched him in the stomach lightly, causing him to groan and almost go down on his knees.
“Looks like I win brother.”
I put my dagger back in the holder on my back. I put my sword away and held out a hand to help him up. He looked up and took my hand. I helped him up and he put his sword away. I looked at him a bit to make sure I did no damage to him. I had almost hurt him pretty bad last training session. He smiled at me and I smiled back. We started walking away when we heard somebody call for help.
“Help! Someone please! I did not do these crimes!”
I looked over to Darim and then in the direction the voice came from. Another citizen being harassed by the Templars. I ran up the walls of a house as Darim ran on the streets to go and find the citizen. I ran towards the voices of the guards yelling nonsense to the woman. I looked down to the streets and saw that Darim was close to me. I continued to run on the roof tops for another moment before I spotted the woman surrounded by guards. There were five guards to take out. I could take out two from the roof tops with my hidden blades and Darim can also take out two. That leaves one more to kill. It should not be a problem.
I was getting ready to strike when I did not see Darim anywhere. I looked around and then looked from side to side. I shook my head when I noticed he had climb the roofs at the last bit. I looked down at the guards. If we did not make a move soon, the citizen would be dead before he could do anything to help her. I looked over to Darim and then pointed to two guards. They were my targets. Darim pointed to another two –his targets. I nodded once and then jumped. Extending my hidden blades to strike both guards in the chest.
I jumped on top of both guards and struck them in the chest. Darim was closely behind and struck the other two. I looked over to the one last guard standing there. He looked shocked as he was thinking of running. I ran to one side of him and Darim ran to the other. He could not get away now and was forced to fight. He knew it was going to be his last breath and his last day. He brought up his sword as we both put our hidden blades back in the vambrace holder and got out our daggers. We knew we did not need much to take him down.
“Please, have mercy on me.” the guard begged
“No man that accuses an innocent of crimes she did not do deserves mercy.” Darim spoke
Darim made a move but the guard blocked it, like we were hoping for. His side was wide open and I took my dagger and quickly took one step forward and stabbed my dagger in his side. He screamed out in pain and fell to the ground. I pulled my dagger out from his side as Darim finished him off by stabbing him in the heart. I walked over to the citizen and she was in shock. I put my dagger away.
“We do not mean to hurt you.”
She looked over to me and then the shock went away.
“Thank you Assassins. I will head home and stay there for a while. I think it would be best.”
“I think so too.” Darim said as he came up towards us
She turned around and headed home. We walked forwards and then started to run. We knew more guards would be there in a few minutes trying to figure out whom had killed the guards. When we got home, father was in his study and the kids where outside playing while Sef's wife was in the kitchen making dinner. Darim went to go talk to father while I went into the kitchen and started to help out with dinner. Father came out of his study with Darim. They went and sat down at the table. I knew what Darim was going to talk about with father and I had to be there. I finished washing the vegetables and walked over to the table and sat down in the chair between Darim and father, showing, I am not on either side. I am my opinion and my own ideas.
“What is it Darim?” father asked
“Father, it is the Mongol Empire.”
“What about it?”
“I heard that they plan on making an attack sometime soon. I must go and warn the people.”
“And where will this take you?”
“I will head to France and then to England.”
Father shook his head. Since Maria had died, father mourns of her death every day. To get rid of the thoughts, he has made the Apple his work now. He is in his study day in and day out. He has found new hidden blade designs and new medicine that could help us. It was great but we needed our father and with him wrapped around the Apple, it was hard to tell him anything, let alone get his attention.
“I wanted to bring Harees with me. She could help me communicate with the Assassins in France.”
Father looked over to me and I nodded my head saying that yes, I wanted to go with Darim. We knew we had to go shortly or we may never get there in time to warn them. I looked over to Darim and then to father.
“Baaba, I plan on going to France with Darim and then staying there or exploring. I need to get out of all this mess that I had gotten into. I need a vocation.”
Father looked to me and then to Darim.
“Why are you telling me this? You do not need my permission anymore to leave.”
“But we do father. If we left, we need to know that you would be fine.”
Sef's wife had heard our conversation the entire time and walked over from the kitchen to sit down with us. She sat down in the seat across from me. She sighed and then continued.
“Altaïr, I had planned on taking the children to Alexandria. That is where Darim and Harees are planning on going. I too, need a break.”
He looked at all of us. I can now see his true age showing. The years have not been good to father as he had been in his study for way too long. He looked down to the table for a moment before looking at us.
“If you really want to, then go. The Apple has given me much to think about, but before you leave. I need to ask you a favor.”
“What is it baaba?” Darim asked
“The Apple has shown me that the fortress of Alamut was built on First Civilization temple. I want to explore but because of my old age, I am going to need help.”
“I will do it.” I said
Darim nodded his head in agreement and then father smiled at us. Sef's wife got up to finish dinner while Darim and I headed into fathers study. I had built up my strength once again and was now back to my normal self I was before I was put into prison. I still had the scars to prove I was there, but it is in my past now. Not my future. We walked in and father sat down at his desk. We sat down in the chairs in front of his desk. He got out a map and then set it on the desk. Darim and I moved up in our chairs to get a better look.
“This is not surrounded by Templar but we can never be too sure. I want you two to be on the roofs while I look around for an entrance. We will all enter through the entrance and look around.”
“Is that all you want to do baaba? Is look around?” Darim asked
“Na’am. Until the Apple shows me more, I only want to look. I am curious about what may lie in this temple.”
We both nodded our heads. The temple was not too far from here. I could probably run from here and back in about five minutes. Father got up and folded the map back up and put it away. Darim and I both got up and walked out of the study. We walked to the living room and sat down on the sofa. After a few minutes of talking, dinner was ready. We sat down and ate and then got on our armor and got ready to head to the temple.
I wiped my blades clean of blood and then looked over to Darim. He was ready. We were only waiting for father now. Darim, Sef's wife, children and I had planned on leaving soon. The Mongol attack was not going to wait for us to deliver our message. We had to leave as soon as we could. Darim had told his wife that he was heading out there and that she should too. She had already headed up there after what happened ten years ago at Masyaf. I heard the door open and looked over to see father ready to go. We walked over to father and then we started to walk.
When we got close to the temple, Darim and I got up on the roofs and started to walk around. I did not see any guards in my way and neither did Darim. We hopped down and headed towards father. He had found the entrance and was heading in when we reached him. We walked in and it was cold and muggy in here. It was dark too. I looked around and saw a torch lit up just down the hall a bit. I ran towards it and grabbed it from its holder and headed back to Darim and father.
They started to walk around. There was not much to the temple. It was just a temple. Nothing more and nothing less. We continued to walk down a hallway when Darim stepped on a tile. It clicked and the a door to his side opened. We looked at each other and then walked in. Once we were in, the door closed behind us. We walked down the hall way a bit before there was a small light. We walked to the light and looked around. If we jumped down, we could be hurt or dead and if we did not jump on the plat from ahead of us, we were stuck here.
“We need to jump that to continue. Will you be fine to do it father?” Darim asked
“Na’am. Let us go.”
Darim jumped first. I was next and then father. I landed on the plat form on both of my feet. Darim walked to the other side of the plat form and then jump to the other side. He grabbed the ledge and pulled himself up. I walked over as well and chucked the torch at him. He caught it and I jumped over. Once I was on solid ground, father jump on the plat form. His old age was getting to him. He was not as good of a fighter as he used to be or climber. He had even lost some of his endurance. He got up and then jumped towards us. He grabbed the ledge and I pulled him up. We continued to walk down the hall.
The path ended again, but this time there was a ladder. We all climbed down. We looked around. It was such a big room. It was also dark in here. It was hard to see anything. I blinked my eyes and turned on Eagle Vision. I looked around and there were about ten doors. I examined each door, almost every time, getting nothing. I looked around once more and saw a door straight ahead from me. I examined the door and I got something. I blinked and turned Eagle Vision off and headed straight for the door. Father and Darim followed me. Once I got to the door I looked around and saw an Assassins symbol. I traced my hand over the symbol. I noticed lines and pushed on the stone.
Once I did so, the door slid down and let us in. I looked around the room. It was still dark but there was some light. We looked around a bit and then found circles that were glowing. Ten of them. They looked like the Apple and had the same type of look to them as the Apple. They looked as if they were disk of some sort. I walked over to them but father stopped me. I took a step back as he examined the disk. I looked around the room and found some chest. I looked in them and found some fortune in them. I took what I could and walked back over to father. He was picking them up and then putting them in his pouch.
He took six of them. We looked around and found a ladder that would lead us up to the surface. We climbed up and moved the stone that was in our way. We got out from below and put the stone back where it was. We walked home. I was wondering what we had found. It had to do with the Apple, I knew that, but, what were they? We walked home and never said a word. I was tired from a long day of working and training. I headed to get to my bedroom. I closed the door and got changed into some night ware. Once I was left with my white tunic and pants, I left them on and jumped into bed, knowing that tomorrow was going to be the day we packed up.
I heard a knock at the door and the door opened shortly after. Darim walked in and closed the door behind him. I sat up and looked at him. He walked over to me but did not sit down on the bed beside me. I looked at him as he paced back and forth.
“What do you think those were?”
“I do not know Darim, but they looked very similar to the Apple. They looked like disk of some sort. Perhaps seals?”
“Possibly, I do not know myself. Father has not mentioned anything like this to me. Has he to you?”
“Non Darim, he has not.”
He stopped and nodded his head. I looked at him closely. He started to pace again and I got up and stopped him. I set my hands on his shoulders and looked at him.
“Tomorrow, we will ask him of these. There has to be something about these that must be important or else he would have never taken any in the first place.”
“True.”
I smiled at him and he smiled back. I took my hands down from his shoulders and kept looking at him. He turned away and walked out from my room. He shut the door behind him and I could hear his footsteps heading towards his room. I heard his door shut. I sighed and then fell back on the bed. My eyes started to get heavy. I tried to keep them open but nothing was working. I was too tired and needed all my rest for tomorrow. As I started to fall asleep, I saw visions of a nightmare happening.
I tried to open my eyes but since I already saw the beginning of the nightmare, there was no stopping it now.
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It's hard to see this book coming to an end. :(
There is only two weeks left of updates.
I also wanted to mention that if you have ANY questions about the book after it ends, I will have a Q&A chapter at the end of the book if I get enough questions. If not, I'll directly answer your questions either through comment or message. Whatever you send me. Sounds good? Cool.
Well, see you guys in the next chapter!
-hey895