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

Chapter 30 Arno

   The sound of pounding hooves echoed through the dark streets where James and I were watching for danger. I pulled the reins of my horse and turned it around. The pounding was much faster than it should have been.

   "Did you hear that?" James asked, quietly.

   I nodded and nudged my horse into a slow walk. "Do you think we missed something?"

   James frowned and followed me. "I don't think so."

   We emerged onto the wide main street. There was the steady clack of hooves as Aveline made her way down the street on her gray gelding. James and I trotted up to her. I looked around. Edward was nowhere in sight. "Where's Edward?" I heard something tip over down the road to our left. I quickly turned my head to see what it was, but it was only a short wall collapsing.

   "He took Connor to Homestead. He should be there about now," Aveline said.

   I blinked. "But its a twenty minute ride from here to Homestead."

   "Not on Altaïr's horse."

   I sighed. I got the feeling she wouldn't say any more. I could tell she was worried about Connor. I glanced at James and she shrugged, as if to say 'I'm as confused as you are.' "Could we go faster? I'm worried about Connor too and I would like to speed up our ride, just a bit."

   Aveline nodded and we galloped through the deserted streets. Why haven't we seen anyone yet? I wondered. Did Connor get them all out? I looked around, there seemed to be people moving around in the shadows, but it was too dark to tell.

   We skidded to a stop in front of Homestead. Someone opened the door as we dismounted, leaving the horses in the middle of the lawn. Light poured out of the open doorway as Shadiya poked her head out. "Try not to make so much noise next time."

   "Does it matter?" Aveline asked, jumping over all of the steps leading to the door.

   "No, but it hurts my ears this late at night."

   James and I also skipped all of the stairs and walked quickly inside. Shadiya closed the door quietly behind us. "Connor's in the living room."

   I pushed the door open and stepped inside. It was about a thousand times hotter than the hallway. The fire blazed and crackled happily in the fireplace. Connor was laying on the couch with a bandage around his left arm. A bloody bracer with a long hole next to where the hidden blade was, was sitting on a table. He also had several small cuts on his face and his boots were covered with little blackened holes. Edward was sitting in a chair far from the fire. He looked like he was going to collapse. Archer was sitting in a chair by the fire, fast asleep.

   "How is he?" James asked, settling down on the floor and leaning against a wall.

   Edward looked up and sighed. "Which one? Archer? Or Connor?"

   I froze. "Is something wrong with Archer?"

   Edward shrugged helplessly. "He hasn't woken up since he bandaged Connor up. I tried to wake him up, but he didn't respond to anything. I don't know if he's in a coma or if he's just so exhausted that he couldn't stay awake."

   I walked over to Archer. Even though he was sleeping I could tell he wasn't resting. I felt a subtle touch in the back of my mind. I touched it carefully and Archer shot bolt upright with a gasp. I stepped back. "Sorry," I said. "Are you okay?"

   Archer stared at me blankly for a moment before he shook his head and blinked. "Why on earth are you sorry?" He grinned. "I should be thanking you!"

   "Um..." I crouched next to him. "Are you okay?"

   "I wasn't, but I am now," Archer looked at me carefully. He suddenly started laughing.

   "He's feeling fine alright," James said. "Laughing for no apparent reason."

   "Archer, would you care to elaborate on why you're laughing?" I asked.

   Archer took a deep breath. "I suppose you want to know why I wasn't fine."

   I smiled slightly. "I was going to ask that, yes. Is that why you were laughing."

   "Partly." Archer stared into the fire with a vacant gaze. I waited, knowing that Archer would start talking when he felt like it. "I reached too far," he said simply.

   "Reached to far?" Edward asked. "What do you mean by that?"

   Shadiya waved a hand and the room suddenly wasn't as hot. Archer continued to stare at the fire. Suddenly, without any warning, one of the logs exploded and the fire curled into the shape of an anchor with a rope wrapped around it. Just like the anchor pendents that we were wearing. My anchor suddenly glowed with heat. I hissed and leaned forward so the anchor wasn't touching my skin.

   "Most assassins don't realize that you can only reach so far with the anchors," Archer explained. The anchor in the fire spun slowly. "You can only reach as far as you can feel through the anchor, no farther. If you try to extend further then that, your consciousness leaves your body. You start floating in space until someone touches your consciousness. Then you snap back into your body. In theory you could live forever just by leaving your mind and wandering the world. Nobody could say anything to you though, because then you would 'come back' to earth."

   "And you just did that?" I asked.

   Archer nodded and the anchor in the fire dissipated into sparks. "That is exactly what I did. It's really hard to sense the barrier of where you need to stop. I was so focused on finding Shay that I crossed it by accident, just a little step over, but I guess it was enough."

   "But Shay is still around New York isn't he?" Shadiya asked.

   Archer nodded. "Yes, he is. But I can't reach all the way to New York without crossing the barrier."

   "But," James paused. She looked confused. "I was able to contact you when I was in Nassau and you where in London, and Arno was able to contact Edward from London when Edward was in Florence."

   "Firenze," Edward corrected absently.

   James rolled her eyes. "They're the same place, mate."

   Archer smiled slightly. He didn't seem to be in his usual amused state of mind. "That's because we've all contacted each other from within the barrier. If you do that once, you can communicate with that person as many times as you want, from any distance."

   "But you've done that to Shay haven't you?" I asked. "I mean he is your..." I trailed off.

   Archer's eyes grew hard with anger and he glared at the floor. "You're more of a brother than Shay ever was," he whispered, just loud enough for me to hear. Then in a normal volume he said, "Only the Inner Brotherhood has the anchors. I wasn't accepted into the Inner Brotherhood until after the earthquake that Shay accidentally set off. When I was accepted I..." Archer's anger suddenly vanished and was replaced by sadness. He took a shaky breath before continuing. "I had to make Shay think I had died. I used an illusion to make it look like I had been killed by redcoats. I watched Shay bury the illusion. You have no idea how strange it is to see someone bury you, and to stand in front of your own gravestone."

   Aveline put a hand on Archers shoulder. "You don't have to tell us everything," she reminded him.

   "Yes I do," Archer shrugged her hand off. "That was when Shay turned to the Templars. He was so close to joining me in the Inner Brotherhood. So close  to getting an anchor. But because he became a Templar he didn't get one, so I was never able to communicate with him. I can't find him outside of the barrier."

   "So we need to get you closer to New York?" Edward asked.

   "Nope," Archer looked up and grinned. "I was able to get far enough before Arno brought me back. I found him." Archer looked determined. "And I can do it again."