Lineage of Brotherhood

Chapter 13

Altaïr and Esther rode to Masyaf as fast as their steeds would carry them. They entered through the stables undetected and used the rooftops to survey the town. They found the town silent.

He decided to drop back down into the stables and found the stable owner. The man seemed to be under some form of sorcery.

Upon questioning him of what had happened, the man only responded with strange ramblings about being led to "see the light".

Altair looked to Esther, giving her a knowing look that their next destination was the Brotherhood fortress and confronting their mentor, Mualim.

. . .

Esther put a hand on Altair's shoulder as he tried to get information out of the man. He was wasting his time, they were too late. Mualim had already started using the Apple. It hard to look at the man. Was that what she'd been like in Solomon's Tomb?

The two Assassins moved through the streets of Masyaf without opposition. Without seeing any signs of life for that matter. The place was deserted. There were a few places that showed signs of struggle here and there, but for the most part, the city seemed to have been taken without a fight. It wasn't until they reached the outskirts of town that they saw their first signs of trouble. Their brothers.

As Altair and Esther approached, the group kept their heads bowed as they stood motionless. They could have been statues. The pair slowed to a halt, leaving a short distance between the two parties. Esther remained silent, knowing that there was nothing that could be said to keep their brothers from enacting Mualim's will. She was considering the likelihood of the two of them taking them all on without having to take their lives when the group began to stir. In unison, the assassins drew their swords.

Given what had just come to light about her allegiance, she decided against raising her blade against their brothers until Altair gave the go ahead. The moment that she looked to him for to get a read on what his plan of action was, there was movement in her periphery. The brothers started at them, weaving around each other and coming in at different angles.

As one of them swiped at her, she eased back a step and leaned just outside of the blade's path. The attacker stayed on her, swinging the blade back at her as another came around on the outside in an attempt to create an opening of his own. They moved deliberately and without hesitation. Whatever she and Altair were going to do, they had to commit.

She sidestepped the second attack, this one missed by much narrower margin than the first, as she moved away from her attackers to keep herself from getting flanked. Her hand went to the hilt of her sword, but she didn't draw it. She looked to her companion a final time to see if he was using lethal means to defend himself.

. . .

The stable keeper truly had no will of his own. There was no sense to his ramblings or way to reason with him. Esther silently signaled with a touch of her hand on his shoulder that it was futile effort to further questioning him.

They walked through the streets of Masyaf until they came to an adversary he had dread to face. His fellow brethren. The two Master Assassins stopped a short distance away to observe.

Their brethren stood still, heads bowed as if saying a prayer. A moment later the group began to stir, without hesitation Altair withdrew his sword and he heard Esther do the same.

The brothers closest to them attacked first. Altair did his best to perry and deflect, trying not to cause much harm to  his brothers. Even with their skills, they couldn't take on the fair amount of brotherhood members without their own lives at risk.

After the third attack came with a singular hidden blade that grazed Altair's cheek he knew he needed to do something to be rid of his brothers capabilities. "If possible, cut at the back or break a leg of the knee. That will leave them immobile to further fight without taking their lives, unless we absolutely have to." He told her, giving permission to harm or kill. Everything was permitted if it meant they stayed alive. He prayed in his heart that the control over them wouldn't push their bodies to move once they had recieved a normally incapacitating wound.