the Forerunners are the ways of death...
Father just shrugs sheepishly at his own hypocrisy. "Sometimes rules must be broken for the greater good," he replies.
I shake my head as we stop at the end of the main hall. Altair urges us to keep back from the window even as he approaches it. He unlatches it and lets it swing wide. Instantly, there's a hue and cry from outside. Altair's hands move in a blur and the cries are silenced. "Come on," he says, leaping through the opening, landing in the yard. I push Traylor through first then quickly follow. We're in the east garden. On the ground are two men I recognize as former Deacons, both lying face up in pools of their own blood. Altair reaches down to them, pulling a pair of sharp, silvery objects from each of their throats.
Throwing stars.
The weapons of an Assassin!
Just who had my Father fallen in with here?
There are no other men around, but shouts are beginning to issue from nearby. The garden is thick, all sculpted shrubs, flowering trees, and vines, shrouding our presence for the moment.
"Come with us!" I hear Traylor plead, turning to see him standing at the open window, looking up at our Father still inside. "Please!"
"You know I can't, Traylor," Father argues. "Now go, we don't have time to–" Father breaks off and raises his shooting iron, aiming at a man who has just appeared between two hedges. He pulls the trigger and the roar is deafening in our proximity. The unwary man drops, clutching the gaping hole now frothing blood from his chest. "GO!" Father orders. "I'll hold them off!"
Altair grabs Traylor and me by the shoulders and quickly marches us away from the house and into the thick of the garden, coming to the east wall moments later. Altair boosts Traylor over the stone edifice into the woods on the other side. I follow, wondering how Altair will follow us without someone to boost him. As I clamber over the wall's apex, I hazard a last look at my Father: he's leaning out the window, firing shots at a group of six men advancing toward him. The men are firing back with their own irons. I realize then that it’s hopeless.
My Father is going to die.
I can't let it be in vain.
I let myself drop into the woods next to Traylor, safe.
Ten seconds later, Altair is with us, seeming to have crawled up the eight foot wall like a spider and leaping to the ground.
Without a word, we turn our backs on Krakelyn and disappear into the forest.
9.
One Week Later.
"Oh! Thank. The. Gods!" I raise my arms to the heavens triumphantly. "I never thought I'd see the open sky again!"
The sun hits my face full on and I bask in its glow. We'd been traveling under the dense canopy of the Sentinel Forest for the past seven days, and the shade was getting to me.
It's dep ressing being in the dark for too long.
A wide, flat road extends through yellowing grasslands below us, s naking a course that follows a meandering river next to it. On the horizon, a wall of snow capped, blunted spires extends as far as the eye can see. Mountains. Real mountains. I'd never seen anything bigger than a hill previously.
"Is that the Spine of the World?" I ask with excitement, turning to Altair. The man simply nods, saying nothing. "You know, could try showing some enthusiasm once in a while," I say, but Altair ignores me, slipping his pack off his shoulder.
"We break here for lunch," he says, "then we make our way to the road."
"Cool!" Traylor bellows with glee. He's nearly forgotten how much he misses Father already, and now this whole thing seems a very fine adventure to him.
"We must use caution while on the road," Altair continues, biting into a sandwich previously prepared by one of our servants. The last of our rations. "We will be more easily spotted, but it is the most direct course."
I sigh. We've been almost incessantly on the move this past week, and now the monotony is getting to me. At first, I found Traylor's adventuresome attitude
Father just shrugs sheepishly at his own hypocrisy. "Sometimes rules must be broken for the greater good," he replies.
I shake my head as we stop at the end of the main hall. Altair urges us to keep back from the window even as he approaches it. He unlatches it and lets it swing wide. Instantly, there's a hue and cry from outside. Altair's hands move in a blur and the cries are silenced. "Come on," he says, leaping through the opening, landing in the yard. I push Traylor through first then quickly follow. We're in the east garden. On the ground are two men I recognize as former Deacons, both lying face up in pools of their own blood. Altair reaches down to them, pulling a pair of sharp, silvery objects from each of their throats.
Throwing stars.
The weapons of an Assassin!
Just who had my Father fallen in with here?
There are no other men around, but shouts are beginning to issue from nearby. The garden is thick, all sculpted shrubs, flowering trees, and vines, shrouding our presence for the moment.
"Come with us!" I hear Traylor plead, turning to see him standing at the open window, looking up at our Father still inside. "Please!"
"You know I can't, Traylor," Father argues. "Now go, we don't have time to–" Father breaks off and raises his shooting iron, aiming at a man who has just appeared between two hedges. He pulls the trigger and the roar is deafening in our proximity. The unwary man drops, clutching the gaping hole now frothing blood from his chest. "GO!" Father orders. "I'll hold them off!"
Altair grabs Traylor and me by the shoulders and quickly marches us away from the house and into the thick of the garden, coming to the east wall moments later. Altair boosts Traylor over the stone edifice into the woods on the other side. I follow, wondering how Altair will follow us without someone to boost him. As I clamber over the wall's apex, I hazard a last look at my Father: he's leaning out the window, firing shots at a group of six men advancing toward him. The men are firing back with their own irons. I realize then that it’s hopeless.
My Father is going to die.
I can't let it be in vain.
I let myself drop into the woods next to Traylor, safe.
Ten seconds later, Altair is with us, seeming to have crawled up the eight foot wall like a spider and leaping to the ground.
Without a word, we turn our backs on Krakelyn and disappear into the forest.
9.
One Week Later.
"Oh! Thank. The. Gods!" I raise my arms to the heavens triumphantly. "I never thought I'd see the open sky again!"
The sun hits my face full on and I bask in its glow. We'd been traveling under the dense canopy of the Sentinel Forest for the past seven days, and the shade was getting to me.
It's dep ressing being in the dark for too long.
A wide, flat road extends through yellowing grasslands below us, s naking a course that follows a meandering river next to it. On the horizon, a wall of snow capped, blunted spires extends as far as the eye can see. Mountains. Real mountains. I'd never seen anything bigger than a hill previously.
"Is that the Spine of the World?" I ask with excitement, turning to Altair. The man simply nods, saying nothing. "You know, could try showing some enthusiasm once in a while," I say, but Altair ignores me, slipping his pack off his shoulder.
"We break here for lunch," he says, "then we make our way to the road."
"Cool!" Traylor bellows with glee. He's nearly forgotten how much he misses Father already, and now this whole thing seems a very fine adventure to him.
"We must use caution while on the road," Altair continues, biting into a sandwich previously prepared by one of our servants. The last of our rations. "We will be more easily spotted, but it is the most direct course."
I sigh. We've been almost incessantly on the move this past week, and now the monotony is getting to me. At first, I found Traylor's adventuresome attitude
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