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

Chapter 39 Edward

   Ezio, Arno, Archer, and Altaïr were acting oddly. Altaïr was limping and his left shoulder was bandaged, Ezio was moving stiffly, and Archer and Arno kept talking like something was wrong but they would stop as soon as I got close enough to hear.

   Altaïr had followed Connor into the woods. I decided that I was going to go to New York. I found Ezio outside standing by gold horse, he was polishing a thin saddle. A bridle hung from the corner of the table he was working on. "Hey, Ezio!" I called as I walked in his direction. "Want to go to New York?"

   Ezio's head shot up in surprise when I asked that. "Uh, sure." Ezio set aside the cloth he was using to clean the saddle and swung the saddle onto the horse's back. As he was adjusting the saddle and putting on the bridle, I walked into the stable and took the reins of the copper horse that I had decided was mine.

   Ezio was waiting for me on his gold horse. He smiled as I swung myself into the saddle. "Is your horse as fast as Altaïr's?"

   I sighed. "I don't think so. I wish it was though. Let's go."

   "Does everyone else know where we're going?"

   "Nope, but I'm guessing they will soon. That's assuming you're telling them right now."

   Ezio didn't look at me as he turned his horse down the road to New York. I wasn't surprised when I heard a sound like mallets in the dirt and turned around to see Aveline, Archer, James, and Arno following us on their horses. When I looked beyond them I could see Altaïr pulling himself into the saddle of his black horse with Connor sitting in the saddle of his brown charger. I smiled. Ezio was getting better with the anchor. He'd managed to tell everyone where we were going without activating mine.

   After about five minutes, not only were we almost to New York, but we were in a tight group Archer was laughing as usual. He always seemed to find something to laugh about on the way to a mission. Altaïr was ahead of us with Ezio at his side. I was at the back with James, keeping an eye out for trouble.

   I was looking up at the sun, which was now high in the sky, when James elbowed me in the ribs. His eyes warned me to stay quiet. "Don't be too obvious about it," he hissed. "But look into the woods to the right."

   Without turning my head I looked into the woods. Once and a while there was a flicker of white in between the trees. "I'm going to go up and tell Altaïr and Etz," I said. "Could you, ah, hold the fort back here?"

   James grinned. "Aye, I've held my share of forts. Most weren't quite this easy."

   I smiled and trotted up by Altaïr. "There's someone in the woods to the right," I said. "Don't be too obvious about looking though."

   Altaïr sighed in exasperation. "I didn't think he would actually leave."

   "Who?" Ezio asked. "Friend of yours?"

   Altaïr grit his teeth. "Under normal circumstances yes, right now, no. He brought a message from my Master in Masyaf ordering me to return without killing Shay."

   "Talk about suspicious," I said. "Seems like you've got yourself a Templar master."

   "I know," Altaïr said. "I've been kicking myself for not realizing it sooner. It seems fairly obvious to me now but..." he shook his head. "I never thought about it before."

   "There's New York!" Connor called. "We should leave the horses here. They can take care of themselves."

   We all got off and walked the rest of the way to New York. Everyone was tense. I was half convinced that Shay was going to leap out at us and kill us all before we even entered the city. Thankfully that didn't happen.

   The streets were almost as crowded as in Nassau when the pirates announced that everyone should have a good time, which usually involved a large amount of rum. I glanced at James and grinned. He grinned back a little impishly before disappearing into the crowds. A moment later a group of people drew back to for a circle around a redcoat who was laying on the ground. Several of them screamed. James never missed the opportunity to use the crowds to his advantage.

   We pushed through the crowded streets with some difficulty. It was hard to stay in our group with so many people around. When we reached the town square Archer hissed and pointed to a street that was darker than the rest. At first I didn't see anything, but when I looked closer I could see the dim outline of a black figure leaning against a wall. At the same time I noticed the person in the street I noticed a figure that looked like Altaïr standing around the corner from the figure I assumed was Shay.

  Altaïr took a sharp breath in. "Ilak, watch your back," he said quietly. Shay shifted closer to the corner. "ILAK! WATCH YOUR BACK!"

   The assassin that looked like Altaïr whipped around as Shay moved out from the cover of the corner and leaped at him. Archer and Altaïr shot forward at the same time. Archer moved faster than Altaïr, since Altaïr had an injured leg, and slammed into Shay sending them both tumbling to the ground. Altaïr yanked the other assassin to their feet before turning to where Archer and Shay were at a standstill. Archer was in a position to kill Shay, and Shay was in a position to kill Archer.

   Connor and I moved through the crowds slowly, trying to move in a way that Shay wouldn't see us coming to Archer's rescue. I walked behind a group of people who were taller than me. I tried to move around them faster, but the crowd slowed me down a large amount. When I did finally get around the taller people, I could see Archer and Shay laying on the cobblestone street. People screamed. I only had eyes for Archer. He was conscious, but that was all I could tell. 

   Altaïr was next to Archer long before I was. The other assassin was standing a short distance away looking shocked. "Archer are you alright?" I heard Altaïr ask.

   Archer closed his eyes. "I will be," his voice was shaky and quiet. "Tomorrow."

   I looked from Shay to Archer, and realized why the other assassin was so surprised. Archer's gray robes were turning red on the right side of his chest, it was clear it wasn't fatal, but Shay's robes were wet on the left side of his chest. Archer's faster than I give him credit for, I was impressed. That quickly turned to surprise as I realized that Archer was also holding an anchor pendent in his hand. I looked from his hand to Shay's neck. The anchor was gone. Archer had somehow managed to pull Shay's anchor off as he pulled away. Now I was thoroughly impressed. I shook my head and made my way over.