Assassin's Creed: Brothers Unite (#Wattys2016) |Assassin's Creed Fanfiction|

Chapter 29 Edward

   Edward! Connor's voice inside my head was weak, even though he was "shouting".

   Coming, I said. I pinpointed exactly where Connor was. I didn't know what he had messed up this time, but I was going to find out. "This way," I said, turning to the road that led to Boston.

   "But didn't you say Nikolai was this way?" James asked. "I thought we needed to find 'im."

   "Yes he is that way, and yes we do need him. But Connor is this way," I started walking quickly down the road.

   I could tell Arno, Aveline, and James were confused but that was fine. If Connor had messed things up badly enough, they didn't need to know yet. We met a group of people leading a dozen or so horses.

   "Mind if we borrow four of your horses?" Aveline asked sweetly.

   "Uh..." the man leading the group frowned. "I don't know..."

   "Pleeeeaaaase?" Aveline smiled. "We'll take good care of them."

   "Hmmm," the man still didn't looked convinced.

   Aveline was doing something with magic, but I couldn't tell what it was. "It's terribly important, monsieur."

   The man smiled back at her. "Go ahead," he said. "You can have my four best horses."

   "Merci, monsieur," Aveline said, taking the reins of the horses. "Have a nice day."
   Thank you, sir.

   The man nodded pleasantly and the group continued on their way. Arno, James, and I stared at Aveline.

   "How did you do that?" James asked.

   Aveline grinned and handed each of us a horse. "No time to explain. Let's get moving before that man realizes what he did and comes back."

   I frowned but took the reins and mounted the horse. We set off at a gallop towards Boston. The horses, I had to admit, were much nicer than we would ever normally use. But since this was an exception, I wanted to make sure we didn't loose any of them. We needed a fast way back to the Homestead.

   The horses clattered down the streets of Boston. Many of the buildings were on fire, crumbling, or exploding. Some of them had collapsed completely. I focused my senses and everything turned to shades of gray. There were a couple of haystacks, blindingly white against the gray and black, and a couple of red dots farther away. I looked around and pulled my horse to a stop when I saw a gold form sitting on the ground. I let go of Eagle Vision and dismounted, leading my horse quickly over to the faintly glowing shape. Connor. I dropped the reins and knelt on the ground.

   Aveline, James, and Arno trotted up behind me and dismounted.

   "Connor," Aveline said quietly. She knelt next to me. "Is he alive?"

   I studied him carefully. His chest was moving, barely. "Yes," I said. "Get him up onto my horse. In front of the saddle."

   Arno and James heaved Connor up onto my black horse. The horse snorted. It seemed to be amused about something. I studied it carefully. There wasn't anything special- the bridle. There was a name etched into a metal strip on the side. Altaïr. Huh. I climbed into the saddle and took the reins, reaching around either side of Connor to hold him in place.

   Aveline mounted the gray horse and trotted to my side. She looked worried. "Back to the Homestead I assume?"

   "Yes," I replied. "Let's go. Archer is our healer."

   Arno smirked. "He's going to complain the whole time."

   "As long as he heals Connor, I don't care if he complains my ear off."

   "I thought you liked the idea of killing him and me," Arno said with a smile as he mounted his horse.

   "I do," I said. "Let's go before I do kill you."

   I turned and led the way through the streets. James kept weaving through the buildings, he would usually disappear for a long time before coming into view again. I noticed Arno watching him.

   "You can go with him if you want," I said.

   Arno grinned like he was keeping something from me. "I think I will, at that." He galloped away.

   I looked at Aveline. She grinned and shrugged, as if to say 'what do you want from me?'. I got the feeling, yet again, that they were keeping something from me. I sighed and my horse turned it's head to look at me. Just as I was thinking about picking up the pace, the horse snorted and started into a smooth gallop.

   "Wait up!" Aveline shouted.

   I realized that I was moving much faster than her. The horse stopped and pounded the ground impatiently. Why does the bridle say Altaïr? I wondered. Is this his horse? Or is that the horse's name?

   Aveline caught up and pulled to a stop next to me. "That was some tricky magic," she accused, narrowing her eyes at me.

   I frowned. "What?"

   "You made that horse go about a thousand miles an hour!"

   "I did what?!"

   Aveline started to say something, then stopped. "The bridle says Altaïr."

   "I know."

   Altaïr! Aveline's voice said in my head.

   What? Altaïr replied.

   Horse.

   Blade?! Altaïr sounded surprised. Then, in the tongue of the assassins, he said, Let her go fast if you need the speed. You sound a little tense so I'll assume you do. She knows the way, let her take you there fast.

   That makes no sense, I said in the tongue of the assassins.

   Also, she can talk.

   What? But Altaïr didn't respond.

   Aveline looked at the horse, who I assumed was Blade. "Go to the Homestead... fast."

   Blade snorted and dipped her head to Aveline. "It will by my pleasure, My Lady."

   I stopped. Altaïr was right Blade could talk. It wasn't natural. Before I could ponder any more Blade leaped into a smooth gallop. Dust flew up behind us. Blade whinnied happily, and lowered her head. She seemed to be pushing herself, like she could sense my urgency. Within seconds, she skidded to a stop in front of the Homestead. "I will stay here." Blade lowered herself to the ground after I got off. She seemed to know that Connor was inured too badly to move.

   "Thank you, Blade," I said. I pulled Connor off of her back and carried him inside. Still pondering the talking horse.