Assassin's Creed: Highwaymen

This is an fan-made story made by me, PokeFan10025 and tells the tale of English highwayman, Alexander Thompson as he goes from an infamous killer to a hero, with some help from his pals (both real and made up!). ENJOY! (and please don't copy).

P.S: Head over to my profile to see thoughts, ideas and more about the present and future of Assassin's Creed: Highwaymen! -------->http://acwfanon.wikia.com/wiki/User:PokeFan10025

Chapter 1: Stand and Deliver!

January 1st, 1718

Alexander rode into the winds as he flees from the quick English authority. Alexander, whom is riding his horse at intense speed looked behind him quickly to see just how quick the English is coming. He saw a officer, who looked like he were about to grab an pistol out of his pocket. Not today, Alexander thought as he grabbed an pistol quickly and, with excellent accuracy, shot the officer directly in the forehead. His body flew out of the horse as the horse took an right right into the bushes on the side of the path. One down, how many left? Alexander thought. He looked directly forward again, which were perfect timing considering the fact that if he should not look in time he'll crash (and probably die) onto the tree ahead. Alexander did a quick choice; which way? the path to the left or right?. Alexander then quickly made his choice; right. Alexander looked back and saw that the stupid English went left. Alexander made his horse go slower up to the point that an turtle can beat it at an race. FInally, when it has stopped Alexander parked it near the forest on the side of the path and got off the horse. "Good job, Glordia!" Alexander exclaimed as he brushed his hand onto the great horse skin. Alexander then got an knife out of his pocket and went into the forest to poach. Before he went into the darkness of the forest, he turned and looked at Glordia, and said "Stay where you are". 

Around three hours later, Alexander returned with four dead rabbits and one dead deer. He made an campfire on the side of the path by doing the great old way of smacking those two stones together and making the wood below turn into fire. Once it finally worked, Alexander cooked and ate all of his poached pals; the four rabbits and the deer. After he finished, he got up and looked in the sky. Still time to highway rob some people, Alexander thought. He went and sat onto the saddle of great old Glordia. "Alright, Glorida. Ride like the wind!" as he swiftly used the rein that was around his neck. It took Alexander literally four minutes before he found an traveller. He got off quickly and got his pistol out quickly and pointed it at the traveller. The traveller dropped the map that he was holding quickly and put his hands up. "Stand and Deliver, your money or your life!" Alexander declared. The traveller stuttered "I-I only ha-have 10 penc-pence only, s-s-sir!" he said with a clear sight of fear in it. "Just give me your most valuable item!" Alexander declared. The traveller looked down to his body, moving his arm in check of anything valuable. "I-I have nothing sir!" he said. Alexander knew this trick; he wasn't stupid. As his highwayman mentor said, "If your victim has a coat, check it.". Alexander grinned. "Please let me see your pockets in your very lovely coat" he said. The traveller went pale. "U-umm, sorry sir. I-It's private. My umm.. Mother's ashes is in my coat pocket; I'm sure you don't want too see ashes... Right?". Alexander continued to grin. "Yes actually. I'm in the mood to look at ashes..." his grin disappeared and his eyes shot fierce daggers. "Open it now". The traveller sighed and trembled at the same time as he opened his coat and opened his arms to reveal two pockets inside his coat. "You look like a bird" Alexander commented as he checked his pockets. Alexander found a golden watch and eighteen pounds, to which he quickly put into his pocket. "Alright, well this robbery is finished. You are free to go!" he said as he put his pistol into his pocket. "U-umm.. Thanks?". Alexander grinned, "It's a pleasure. By the way, get acting lessons. You're terrible at lying" as the great highwayman got onto Glordia and rode away, leaving the robbed traveller alone on the road. 

Chapter 2: Captured

January 7th, 1718

Alexander woke up extra early than he thought he would... But it isn't because he turned on alarm, it was because he was captured. As Alexander stood up, his arms like jelly, around the necks of two guards that looked as if they were an teenager. The guards then threw Alexander onto the ground and then an much more stronger person picked Alexander up and threw him into an cart. "I'll pay you later" Alexander heard a voice before an quiet voice responded "Alright. You better" before he heard footsteps going away. "Alright lads, let's bring this little hooligan to be hanged at the gallows!" Alexander heard before laughing between three people. Then the cart began to move. As Alexander lays weak on the cart, many questions comes up in his mind. How did I get caught? How long did I sleep? What happened? Who've done it?, Alexander couldn't think. Then he realized that he could easily escape by going out of the cart. But to be sure, Alexander shouted out "Are we there yet?" to which an answered responded; but it wasn't from the one riding; it was from the two guards that carried him earlier. He crawled and soon realized that they were sitting on the edge of the carts, with their legs swinging about in the open. "Great" Alexander mumbled. Around fourty minutes later, Alexander were carried and was taken into an building, what seems to appear to be an police station. Inside, there was an policeman with the best mustache he ever saw, who was watching the newspaper before he got up. "Hmm, another highwayman, eh?. Bring him into prison. After the three little buggers gets hanged, one hour sharp this lad will get hanged. Got it?". "Yes sir" to voices responded. Then Alexander were carried until he was thrown into prison - exactly two mintues later. He then lifted his head up off the ground and saw the gates getting slammed, sealed shut. He got up and realized that it was the type of jail with the bars. 

Alexander sighed, he knew that this was his end. Two hours later, the doors flung open. An man with an mask that covered his entire face appeared. He had slave-like clothing and is wielding an home-made axe. "Get up. Now" the man demanded. "And who do you think you are?" Alexander asked, standing up and staring at him. "I'm the grim reaper; the executioner" he said. Although he couldn't see, Alexander could tell he was grinning. "Now come along, unless you wanna die now". Alexander walked quickly towards the executioner. Once he were within reach, Alexander were tightly grabbed and taken to an long hallway. As he were going down the hallway, he looked left and right and saw pictures of an timeline of executioners, the earliest as far as 1066 and the latest is 1700, which Alexander guessed is the executioner he is getting grabbed by at the very moment. Alexander then reached to two wooden doors. Alexander was let down; although not softely. The exetuoner then said "Open it". Alexander opened the doors by turning the knobs, to which as soon as it flung opened hundreds of eyes turned his way. "You never said it was public!" Alexander cried. "Well you shoulda. Now come along!". Alexander walked slowly and silently as he passed the crowd, which were following every move. Alexander had to tilt his head down, just to avoid eye contact with anybody. Alexander then heard an voice behind him, "Heads up". Alexander looked up and saw an staircase which lead to the gallows, standing there is an judge holding an rope. He realized that the rope was designed to choke; not to break the neck. Alexander went up the stairs and towards the judge, following behind him was the executioner. "Alright, Alexander... Are you ready?" he grinned. Alexander was silent. "Put him in place" the judge said, his grinning still remaining. The executioner turned Alexander to make him face the crowd, then he looked down and said "ah, mate... Go one step forward". Alexander did what he said. "Good boy" he said and put an rope around his neck and put it onto the roof. Alexander looked up and realized the note went over an hook, which made it stay at it's place. "Hey, eyes to the crowd!" he heard, to which he quickly made contact with the crowd. "Now, what is it... Ah, Alexnader Thompson. You are here because you are an highwayman, is that correct?" the judge asked. Alexander looked at the judge "I didn't even get to prove that I'm inoccent; I had no trial!" the judge shrugged. "I don't know, I'm not the boss. So hmm, anyway..." The judge briefly look at the crowd with an grin before he l looked back at Alexander, his grin wiped off. "Any last words?". Alexander sighed. "Yeah. I'll see everyone here in hell". The judge laughed. "Ahahaha, so funny" he then continued with an deep and serious voice "Hang him". Alexander braced himself to be hanged. However, unexpectedly he heard gunfire. He looked around and saw the judge with his hands over his stomach". "Ass-assassin" he mumbled before he fell to the ground, his arm now laying on the ground allowing the blood to spread across the wood. Alexander realized that the executioner hesistated, before he went to hang Alexander. But too bad; he was too late. He was shot in the head, Alexander felt blood dripping down onto the back of his neck. 

Already, there was screaming and panic among the crowd. Within seconds, there was no crowd - it was an ghost town (or gallows). Alexander looked around, and saw nobody. Well, for a second. Then out of nowhere, an hooded man appeared. "Hello" he said with an sly look on his face. "Who are you?!" Alexander asked with fear. The hooded man look at the eyes of Alexander. "I'll explain later. I need you to get outta here, before the rest of those guys come back". "At least tell me your name!" Alexander pleaded "My name is Tirus" he responded as he got his axe and sliced off the rope.

Chapter 3: Wanted

January 7th, 1718

As soon as Alexander was free, Tirus told him to follow him. He then ran down the gallows and towards the prison itself. Alexander ran behind him. When Tirus opened the doors, Alexander were treated for a surprise; he saw dead bodies scattered across, both officers and prisoners. "What happened here..." Alexander froze but Tirus wasn't ready to chat. He simply got Alexander from the collar and began to drag him upon the dead bodies, which actually kind of hurt as Tirus were running at high-speed. Alexander were sliding onto the ground until Tirus helped him to get onto his feet. "Quick, go onto that cart!" Tirus said. Alexander quickly did as he said. Few seconds later, Tirus went into the cart with him. "Alright Toby, hit it!" he said with an smile as the cart began to move. 

Alexander thought he was safe until he heard an gunshot, shortly after the cart tumbling. Soon enough, he was wounded on the ground, with Tirus already getting up. "Wha-what happened?" Alexander asked. "I'm not certain. I must get out. Hang on" he said and he claimed out of the cart. Alexander crawled out of the cart, although it took him at least twenty minutes before he could get up. Once he was up, he went to Tirus. What he saw was an dead black horse with another hooded man. Tirus, who were on his knees, tilt his head down. Alexander went behind him. "Umm, so uh, wha-what happened?" Alexander asked full of curosity. "He was shot in the throat. He instantly died" Tirus responded with an harsh tone. Alexander went over to the body and saw blood flowing out of his neck, as if it was an waterfall; an zero percent water-fall. Alexander looked at Tirus. "Well, why not we find a place to stay? Here is a nice place" he offered. "Very well. You gather all of the supplies that you think we need; I'll keep guard of the body" Tirus responded. Normally, Alexander would've protested but since Tirus have an dead friend right in front of him, he decided to get on and get supplies. Two hours later, Alexander had enough wood and sticks to make a fire and poached eighteen rabbits and around twelve fish. Alexander then got some of the spare sticks and pierced the stick through the fish and rabbit, putting it over the fire as if he was roasting marshmallows. "Wanna eat?" Alexander offered. Full of silence, Tirus responded by shaking his head silently before he mumbled "I think I might sleep" before laying down next to his dead friend's body and fall asleep. While Alexander ate, the weather became cold. Alexander, who is now full and are freezing, went and got an stick that he ate with and lit the top part on fire. He then brang the now-torch and placed it next to him, gathering four nearby stones to keep it where it is. And like that, he layed on the other side of Tirus's dead body and fall asleep.

January 8th, 1718

Alexander woke up after he heard an loud scream. He got up quickly and saw an terrified woman with an incrediably big green dress being defended by Tirus himself. Tirus were holding an axe, as well as an pistol on his other. Tirus seems to be defending the woman from what appears to be three highwaymen, they were all wearing black bandanas and were holding an pistol, with the barrel facing Tirus. "This is your last chance, fool!" one of the highwaymen said. "Your money, or your life". Alexander saw Tirus grin before he threw the axe onto one of the highwaymen, before he used his pistol to quickly shoot both of the remaining highwaymen. All three highwaymen fell onto the ground, dead. Tirus turned around and said "Everything is fine now. Run along, and once you find another highwayman... Be sure to kill him". "Th-thank you!" the woman cried. "Now run along" Tirus repeated. The woman ran down the path, lifting her dress to avoid her tripping. Alexander went upon his feet. "Well done, Tirus" he teased, clapping. "Yeah, whatever" Tirus said with no humour. Tirus went down the steep-ish hill and towards me. "We need to gather supplies and get on moving again. I had to pretend that I was an grave digger in order to avoid the police" he said "hence the dirt". Alexander then looked down and saw dirt stains on his highwayman shirt. "Ah, never mind. It always gets dirty from all of the travellers I kill in the past" Alexander said. Tirus went past Alexander to gather the now not-on-fire piece of stick that Alexander left last night. "So, tell me about your past... If you won't mind" "Oh no, of course not. We can talk about it while we gather the supplies" Alexander answered. Tirus, who seemed to be about to get up, froze in position of squatting. "You know what? Let's do a small bit of story time, to tell each other's story. You first. Come, sit on the ground". Tirus turned to face Alexander and sat onto the grass. Alexander sat facing Tirus, crossing his legs and - to be sure of any emergencies - put ammo into his pocket. "So, I guess I'll start. I was born in March 8th, 1693 in Yorkshire, England. As an young lad, I regularly poached and get into fights against other people. When I was eighteen, I left my family in order to chase my dream of being in life of crime... And here I am now, at the age of 24 - caught while getting my beauty sleep and almost hanged." Alexander took a deep breathe. "So, that is basically my life in two minutes. I'll... I'll explain my full story later on. What I am more intrested about is your life story. Go on, I won't bite" Alexander said with an playful grin. Tirus sighed like an wise boring adult. "Well, I'll leave my age a secret and move on to the more... 'Epic' time of my life, you can say. I became an assassin when I was twenty seven years old. I was a good one, I can tell that my mentors and peers was impressed. Now, we had something against an particular group... They are called the 'Templars'; we had war upon them for centuries, heck I guess it is back in the stone age... Alright, maybe that's too far. So yeah, ever since we Assassins declare and continue to go to war upon the Templars." "Wait, so how do you become an assassin?" Alexander asked "Well, back in the 1500's the Italian assassins used to recruit townspeople to become assassins. Nowadays, we ask people with certain special abilities to join our creed. If they agree, they are in; if they disagree we let them continue on with their lives. But those whom agreed; their lives changed forever..." Tirus took a deep breathe. "Well, I think it is best to get on going. We can say our full stories later on" and like that, he got up and went past Alexander. Alexander got up and went to help Tirus. And for the rest of the day, they gathered supplies and put it in two sacks. One held one sack and the other held another and like that, they were ready to leave. But before so, Tirus put down his sack and went towards the dead body. "Rest in peace, Toby Mygawar' Tirus whispered before he closed the eyes of the one-day year old body. Tirus picked up his sack and went shoulder to shoulder next to Alexander. "Well, should we head off?" he asked "Let's do this" Alexander answered.

January 9th, 1718 

Author's Note: If you think it is boring so far, read on. This is where the story gets interesting...

Alexander and Tirus must have walked for fourteen hours straight, but they were still ready to keep on going. Well, not until Alexander yawned, which in Tirus mind was an signal to sleep. The next day (the 9th), Alexander Tirus carried the sack and kept on going. When they saw an sign, saying "Welcome to Bristol!" they knew where they were before. "Bath" Tirus told Alexander when the great highwayman asked him. "We are now going into Bristol, or what I call Pirate Paradise." "Did you only call Bristol that 'cause Blackbeard was born here?" asked Alexander "No... Totally not" Tirus answered with an grin saying 'Of course, you fool!'. When Alexander and Tirus arrived in Bristol, they saw people everywhere. Most of them were shopping or fishing at the edge of wooden planks. Alexander and Tirus went to the first motel they could find, which seems to be an hotel called 'Blue Shephard Hotel'. When they walked in, there were drunken fools scattered across the hotel. Men with eyepatches - uh, pirates with eyepatches fought with a great ruthless attitude, while a crowd crowds around them, cheering them on. On the other side of the hotel was an place where people, who is most likely prostitues, stripping and dancing with perverts - people who looked like 50 years old. Alexander and Tirus was then greeted by an fat and bulky woman who had an dirty shirt and rotten teeth. "Hello, lads. You wanna stay in?" she asked "Uh yeah, I guess" Alexander said "10 pounds per day" she said and waited. "Oh wait, yeah... Here" Alexander said and gave the woman ten pounds. "Alright, your room is room 476" she said and gave Alexander the keys. Surprisingly, there wasn't any grime or anything relatively messy on the key. "Now getta out here!" she said and walked away. "Strange lady" Tirus noted. The two went past the crowd before, at the back right of the room was an flight of stairs leading to the second floor of the hotel. The two went up onto the stairs. Ahead was a extremely long hallway, which had doors in every one space inbetween the others. And every room, the one facing it is the second one (for an example, the door facing opposite the first door is the second door). Alexander and Tirus had to go upon four flights of stairs before they reached to their room. It appears that each floor is one hundred rooms. Once they reached to their room, they unpacked and made the hotel as home. There was two beds (luckily) and a toilet as well as an stunning view, which both views the ground as well as the hills and mountains that can be seen if you have good eyevision. "Let's find a place to eat" Alexander offered "Good idea. Let's go" and the two went downstairs to eat. After they ate, they came upstairs to see their door; 476 opened wide. "Uh, it could be a cleaner lady" Alexander said. Tirus looked unsure. "I don't have any weapons on me; if  it was invaders then we're toast" Tirus said. "Well, let's just go and see". The two creeped into their room and saw four thieves, men wearing pure black clothing and an hood (similar to what Tirus wore) covering their hair and their backside of their skull. There was also the woman that the two met earlier, she were holding an shotgun and seemed to be keeping guard. "Hey lads! They are back! Quick, run; I'll give you time!". The four thieves looked back and in fear, they began to escape by going out of the window. Alexander ran inside and hid behind an bed, while they were running the lady shot a couple of bullets, all missing Alexander. Alexander then got an alarm clock from the desk nearby the bed and threw it at the woman. The woman dropped her weapon, which Alexander guessed was an mistake. Seeing the chance, Tirus ran and tackled the lady. "Quick get the shotgun - and blow her brains out!". Alexander ran from his hiding spot and grabbed the shotgun and shot her twice in the head. Her brains splat across the ground. "Nice work, now to get the thieves..." Tirus then looked at his desk. "Ah, damn it. They took my weapons. Our only hope is to use the shotgun to hunt them down. Let's go!". The two went out of the window.

Alexander and Tirus saw an ladder which led directly to the rooftops. "Quick, climb!" and the two climbed on quickly. After fifty seconds, they were on the ground and saw the thieves playing Rock'Paper'Scissors. "You jump first!" one thief said "No you!" the other replied quickly. "Ah! Thieves! SHOOT THEM!" Tirus said. Alexander then shot two bullets, which missed the thieves completely. "AH! The assassins! Guys we're toast!" "But don't we have their weapons and supplies..." The thieves froze. Then, they faced Alexander and Tirus with an grin. They all then were handed axes and spears which was Tirus's. "Now gentlemen... ATTACK!" and the four thieves charged towards Alexander and Tirus. "Quick! Shoot them dead!" Tirus said with a giant grin in his face. But before he could shoot, one of the thieves threw their axes which didn't hit Alexander' but it hit the shotgun off his hand. "Ah shit!" Tirus said "Well, let's do classic hand-to-hand combat!"  and Tirus ran towards one of the thieves. The thief tried to slit Tirus's throat but Tirus dodged, to which he then punched the thief's privates. The thief dropped the axe. Seeing his chance, Tirus got up, grabbed the axe and killed the thief by smashing him on the back of the head. Meanwhile, Alexander went and punched the thief that threw the axe on the head and then uppercutted him. The thief actually got a decent flip before he fell onto the ground, wounded before Tirus came along and finished him off. With two left, one of the thief tried to slash Alexander but Alexander moved his head down, dodging the axe Matrix-style. Afterwards, he got his head back on and kicked the axe out of the thief's hand. After, with his hands he twisted the thief's neck. Alexander looked and saw the thief stabbing Tirus in the leg. With great bravery, Alexander ran towards Tirus and screeched "DIE, INVADER!" before he punched the remaining thief twice in the head, and then once in the stomach and then one karate chop in the back of his neck. Afterwards, he carried the very wounded thief's body and threw it off the building. Alexander looked over the building, and saw the thief's body splat onto the ground, with horrified citizens first going away from the body before going and gathering around the body, trying to figure out how in the world it got there. Alexander turned his attention to Tirus and his leg. With great strength, Alexander took the axe quickly and stabbed it onto the ground. "Come on, Tirus, it's alright" Alexander said. Tirus, who is screaming in pain, responded with no words but screams. Then Alexander put Tirus's left arm around Alexander's neck and guided him down into their room. Once in their room, Alexander put Tirus onto the ground and got bandages and placed it around Tirus's wound. After Alexander slammed and locked the doors.

"What a day, eh?" Alexander said. "N-night" mumbled Tirus. Alexander frowned. "It's still day. It's evening" Alexander said "Ah, gotcha!" Tirus laughed. "Oh.... OH!" Alexander said, finally getting the joke. "Well, whatever. Get some sleep. Tomorrow, we need to get out of this town".

January 10th, 1718

Tirus woke up with an severe pain in his leg. Alexander woke up fine. Alexander put Tirus's arm around his neck and guided him to get his supplies in the sack before they headed out. When they arrived to the groundfloor, everybody was silent, until one of them looked up and shot daggers at Alexander. "Go outside, we don't want you here no more" one said with a dark tone. Alexander said nothing, instead ignored him and went outside. Once outside, Alexander was greeted by three guards, all holding an rifle that had an spear on the bottom of the barrel. Oh great, Alexander thought. The guards quickly pointed their little spears towards Alexander, threatning to stab and probably kill him. Alexander thought of an rapid plan - if it should work he is safe. If it should not work he and Tirus will die. But it worth the try anyway and Alexander quickly went into the sack and grabbed an axe. Just as an guard attacked, Alexander threw an axe at the guard head, falling onto the ground. With rapid speed, Alexander took the guards' rifle and, with the spear stabbed the other guard before he could do the same. With one remaining guard, he got his rifle and shot the fool in the head. Alexander grabbed Tirus's arm, around his neck and guided him to the entrance of Bristol. While they were doing this, the crowd standed back in fear. Just as he was about to leave, Alexander saw two guards on horses. Quickly, Alexander shot the two guards, to which the guards fell onto the ground. Alexander got Tirus again and placed him on the back of an horse, then Alexander sat on the front seat. Tirus then put his arms onto Alexander's shoulders. "Alright Tirus, let's go!" he saiid as he reached down, grabbed both sacks and placed the handle around his boots. "See ya later Bristol!" Alexander announced as he rode out of Bristol.

TWELVE HOURS LATER...

Alexander and Tirus continued to ride until they went into another town. Stonehenge. When he went into it, he saw wanted posters showing his and Tirus's face with the words "WANTED, DEAD OR ALIVE - Bounty: 1,500 pounds. Wanted for Murder and Highway Robbery'. Alexander rode sneakly into the crowd, before he saw an good lonely road. He went into it and parked. Alexander got off and Tiru came down, and walked with an limp. "Did you see the---" "Yeah, I saw it. We need disguise names" Tirus said "before we could continue on with anything". "Well, we'll stay here for three days and then we'll head off" "Got it" Tirus answered. "Now... A name to disguise ourselves"... 

Chapter 4: The Great Town Battle

January 11th, 1718

The next day, Tirus woke up to see Alexander already awake. "How... How long have you stayed up?" Tirus said, his eyes barely opening. "Fourteen hours. Woke up to see you snoring" which then Alexander looked at Tirus and said "please stop that" "Well, I can't magically not snore, can I?" Tirus protested "Well, let's get to that conversation later on. For now; about the names. I thought of an disguise name for both of us, I will be called Jason Stone and you will be called Nikolas Bybrigian. I am originally from America but migrated to England while you are from Austria and came here for research on whatever you feel like. So, how do you feel?" "Tired, but yeah - I guess it'd work" Tirus responded, slowly going onto his feet to stand up. "Get out; I need to change" "I'll just have a shower" Alexander responded as he went into the showers. Twenty five minutes later, Alexander came out of the shower to see Tirus, who has changed, his body on the wall and peaking his head out to the right. "Hey, what's up?" Alexander asked "The entire town of Stonehenge have gathered around" "to do what?" Tirus looked at Alexander "Grab your weapons. 'Cause this town is going to war". "Wait, what's happening?" Alexander quickly asked, running to get his pistols. "Invaders are rushing here with horses and rifles. The town of Stonehedge made an barrier; similar to the Phalanx formation, and with spears and swords and home-made iron armor are preparing to war. We have to help them, or else we need to go to another town - and I'm sure we don't wanna ride hours upon end on our horses, with no view but desert or forests or boring houses again, do we?" "Good point" Alexander said. "Let me get my pistol" Alexander said. Once he had his pistol in his hand and an tool-belt like belt around his waist to store extra ammo as well as an tomahawk. Once both Tirus and Alexander were ready, they went to face the empty road (or what appears to be an empty road). "Are you ready?" Alexander asked, "Born ready" Tirus responded. The two began to run, turning to the right to face the gathered crowd. "THIS IS STONEHEDGE!!!!" Alexander screamed as he and Tirus ran towards the crowd, Alexander's tomahawk and rifle in the air while Tirus was swinging his axe in the air. 

Author's Note: Get ready for the action part. I tried my best to make it epic; enjoy! 

The crowd departered into two groups on both left and right, leaving a great path to face the invaders. Alexander and Tirus ignored the surprised faces among the crowd. After the crowd were behind them, Alexander and Tirus proceeded to clash against the invaders. Much to Alexander's surprise, the crowd stopped standing like statues with their jaws opened, they actually went and aided Tirus and Alexander behind them. "LETS GO TO WAR!!!!!" Alexander screamed and he, Tirus and the crowd ran to clash against the invaders. The invaders were all wearing highwayman costumes, although they were dyed white and red. It was clear that they had armor under their outfit, as it is more thicker than Alexander's. They all wielded an combination of axes and spears and all had viking-like helmets. Soon, within seconds the two sides clashed. Alexander got his axe and brutally decapicated one invader, while Tirus killed three invaders by two axes, just by one simple slice in the throat. Tirus then used his axe to kill an furthermore of four troops, two of them being violently decapicated. Alexander then used the chance to use his guns once again, he pointed his guns and shot twice, hitting two invaders in the head. All the two heard were screams, weapons clashing and bodies dropping as they kill one invader by another, one invader falling to another. Alexander's hearing blurred; all he heard were his axe swiftly going through the air as it slices/decapicates his victim, with their throat being slit or their head falling off as their lifeless body drop onto the ground. Within around six hours, the battle ended. While Tirus and Alexander didn't get injured, many among the crowd died from the blade of the invaders. Alexander and Tirus looked around, looking at both the dead bodies of the invaders and the townspeople. "May our allies whom have fallen have an quick death; for they have fought for the prevention of invasion. May they be remembered for their heroic death" Tirus said honorably. "Aye! Aye!" the townspeople responded, all at the exact same time while they raise their weapons in the air. "It-It was so close" a voice said. Tirus looked down. It was an wounded soldier. Tirus went onto his knees. "You, who sent you? Who is your master? Respond and you'll die quickly" Tirus demanded. "A quic-quick death is all I wish for. Our general, Master Joseph Niros told us to in-invade... As you can see here, we were... Unsucc-unsuccesful." "Thank you for the information. Now, about your death" and like that, Tirus got an axe and smashed the wounded soldier in the skull, killing him instantly. "Wait, so uh - who are they?" Alexander asked. "I'll tell you tomorrow. It's getting dark, we need to sleep. Tomorrow, we will have to depose the bodies and use all the still good condition supplies to store up for any more invasions. After that, I will tell you" Tirus announced. "Aye, aye Captain" Alexander responded with a laugh. Then, the townspeople and the legendary Tirus and Alexander went back to Stonehedge to get a good's night sleep.

January 12th, 1718

Alexander and Tirus was granted an place to stay after their heroic victory against the invaders. In fact, they became the town heroes! While Tirus was originally meant to tell Alexander whom those invaders were, now he is telling the remaining of the city. Both Alexander and Tirus were lead to the gallows; not to be hanged but to do a speech. Once everyone were there, Tirus began to speak. "So, I'm sure that you are confused and bothered on whom those invasders were. Well, today I'll reveal them to you. They are called the Templars, an evil group of ruthless killers. They have fought against my group - the assasins - for centuries. In fact, it is said that the Assassins and Templars was established back when the dinosaurs was walking on earth! If that is true or not isn't known, but what is known; the Templars are seeking for something I only know as the 'Apple of Ian'... No wait, sorry - the 'Apple of Eden'. It is an sphere that is full of mystery; it is said to grant those who wield it ultimate power - probably enough to start armageddon! So we Assassins need to stop them, before the Tempalrs get their hands on the Apple. If they do have their hands on the apple, they will be the next gods, the next kings of England, the next president of America. And trust me, they will corrupt those two great countries - particularly England - if we should not stop the templars. So, from what I know those invaders are led by one Templar general, who will be killed within next month. However, we can't stop him without help. So, Stonehedge - what will you say? Will you assist us and be free from invaders or ignore us and be ruled by an 18th century Emperor Nero?" and in response, the crowd cheered in agree. "Well, looks like we got our military and food supplies sorted" laughed Alexander. "Tommorow, we must use our time wisely to train on our skills in conflict. Then a day after that, we'll head off to find the son-of-a-bitch Joseph Niros. Now, I am hungry - where shall we eat?". 

Chapter 5: Invading the Invaders

January 14th, 1718

"So, what was the information we got?" Alexander asked while putting his clothing in the sack. "Well, from one townsperson he said that he saw an cart going to the East, and it seemed that the cart's cargo isn't normal supplies like fruit - but military weapons. He also mentions that there was men that looked exactly like the invaders. So, I guess we're heading East" Tirus responded. "Aye, aye" Alexander answered. After the two finished, they went outside and onto their horses. Before they ride away, Alexander told the townspeople "We'll be back, people of Stonehenge - and that's a promise" before cheers came from the crowd. "Goodbye, Stonehenge!" Tirus said and as both Tirus and Alexander rode down the dusty path, the people of Stonehenge waved goodbye. 

While Alexander and Tirus rode down the path that seemed to never end, Alexander asked an question that he was storing for an long time. "Hey, Tirus - how did the Templars find us?" . Tirus were silent for a few minutes before he made a sound; which is a sigh. "Do you know when we were telling each other's stories back when we first met?" Tirus asked. Alexander nodded slowly. "Well then, the Templars must have heard us and followed us from Bristol to Stonehenge. Well, that's what I think..." Tirus became silent again. "So, I guess next time we should of talked in an private zone, huh?" "Next to a road or in an alleyway isn't the best place to tell each other stories" Tirus mumbled back. Tirus looked down onto the brown skin of his horse, and said to himself "Alexander needs to know, he has too". Before he could carry on his conversation with himself, he heard Alexander whisper "Hey, Tirus! Check that out!" Tirus looked up and saw an giant wall, that stretches across the land. Ahead was too giant wooden doors, with what seems to be an entire army of Templar troops guarding the area, all holding either swords, rifles or pistols. To add to this, two guards with rifles stood upon the walls. "We for sure, can't take on the army. It is literally suicide" Tirus mumbled "Hmm... Unless..." Tirus looked at Alexander "Wait! Stop!". Alexander stopped quickly. "What?" he asked. "I need to... Say something". Tirus got off his horse and took out an horn from his pocket and blew into it. A loud booming sound spread across the fields, and Alexander saw birds fly out of the trees in fear. "Hey dude, uh - I think that's an unwise choice. Those troops down there know that we are here..." but Tirus simply replied with two words; "Don't worry". 

Soon enough, when the Templars was near Tirus and Alexander, who was both sitting down, out of nowhere arrows flew from all around, hitting the troops in the stomach, head, legs and hips. Soon enough, an clear path lead to the kingdom. "Let's charge" Tirus said, getting up and grabbing his axe. Alexander did the same but got an tomahawk instead. "Alright, let's just hope that wood is soft enough to be cut by axes" Alexander said. After, the two charged down the small hill and towards the two giant wooden doors. The two guards saw Tirus and Alexander and screamed "Asssassins! Call the Grand Master! Assassins are invading!". Once Tirus and Alexander reached to the doors, they began to violently slash the doors. Although some wood came off, it was too thick. "How can we get into there?" Alexander asked. Then, out of nowhere hot boiling water splashed onto Tirus and Alexander - the two screamed in pain. Then, the doors opened; two soldiers went to and picked up Tirus and Alexander and began to drag them into the kingdom. The last thing Tirus and Alexander saw before they were knocked out from the heat was the path to freedom, being sealed by the two giant wooden doors which are closing.

January 15th, 1718

Alexander and Tirus woke up in an cell, their supplies and gear stripped off them, their own remaining thing they own was their highwayman and assassin clothing and their soul. With an note and two pounds on it, which said "Here's money to share between you two. Buy clothes and maybe a small breakfast and be back within 10. Our guards are watching you, so escape is hopeless. Once you two are back at your cell, you two shall be hanged at 12 sharp. Don't worry; you can say your last words. - Love, the Grand Master". Tirus looked at Alexander and grinned. He then ripped the note into two, and dropped it onto the ground. Alexander greedily took the money, as he was an highwayman after all. "You know what to do, right?" Tirus asked "Escape?" "Exactly" "But how?" "Let the assassin do the work. Now, here's the plan...".

January 16th, 1718 

It is one in the morning. Alexander and Tirus got the plan sorted out. "... now we'll sleep until the guards wake us up. After... Well, you know what to do" Tirus finished. "Yep, now..." Alexander did an loud yawn. "Let's get some sleep". The two woke up from shouting, and to their vision was an guard with an rifle. "Get up! You have to get dress and buy some breakfast. I'll be following you - so don't you dare think about escaping. Now, hurry up! The Grand Master doesn't have all day. In fact, he waited since 10 years ago to hang you - Tirus" the guard said. Tirus sneered at the guard after he passed him. "Now" Tirus said. Alexander, who is now out of the cell turned around and faced the guard and grinned. "What are you grinning about? Turn around and hurry up or I'll shoot you at the spot!" the guard threatened. Alexander, ignoring the guard tackled the guard and Tirus took his rifle. The guard tried to scream but Alexander firmly placed his hand onto the guard mouth while Tirus stabbed him once in the stomach with the knife, killing him. "We need to get out of here before a guard comes out of the corner" Alexander pointed out. "Then we need to go quick; I'll disguise as an guard - hang on". Tirus dragged the guard body into his cell and stripped him, his underwear and shirt the only thing wasn't taken. He then wore the dead guard Tirus's clothing. "It stinks in here" Tirus said, doing an face that you'll make if you eat a lemon. "So now, I'll act as if I am taking you to an cell. Then, when we pass the security we make the run." "Sounds like a plan" Alexander answered. Tirus then got Alexander's arm and put it both behind his back, his hands touching each other. "GO!" Tirus said with his best shouting voice. Alexander walked slowly and acted as if he was guility and accept his sentence to death. The two managed to pass the passing guards, who first took an firm look at Tirus before shrugging and moving on. The two then reached to the doors; but two guards guarded it. "Halt!" one guard said. "Why do you need to bring this prisoner out?" he asked with a booming voice. "Uh... Slavery purposes" he replied. The other guard took an firm inspection onto Alexander. "He sure doesn't look like a slave. He actually looks like an highwayman" Alexander hesitated but relaxed quickly after. "Well, umm... A witness told me that the slave killed his master and went on the run. He - uh -  was encountered by an highwayman - yeah and umm... After he was attacked by the highwayman he used his tricks to trip the highwayman over and uh - stomp on his head repeatedly, killing him - uh instantly. After he stripped the highwayman nude and dressed up as him." "And how did you capture him?" "I caught him poaching" Tirus quickly replied. "Sounds legit to me" one guard said "Very well, come through" another replied and the two opened the doors. "Thank you" Tirus answered and took Alexander out of the jail house. Now free, Tirus and Alexander waited until the doors shut then began to run. "Behind that tree!" Tirus said, which was on the run next to an blacksmiths. The two ran and hid behind the tree. "Let's hope nobody comes here from the North or the West... If we do, we will be suspicous. So need to be quick" Tirus pointed out, saying the words in a rush. "Well, what now?" Alexander asked. "Uh, I guess we try to find and assassinate the Grand Master and escape?" Tirus responded. "First we need a place to gather information. We can't guess - it's took risky" Tirus said. "How about we just follow two guards who are talking about the 'almighty' Grand Master?" Alexander answered. Tirus looked at Alexander, at first in a poker-face. Then he grinned. "Excellent idea! But I know how to make it even better!" "How?" "I'll talk to the other guards. It removes the risk of getting caught. Quick, climb up the tree and wait there until I come back" "But---" but Tirus already went North, dashing away. Alexander climbed the tree and stood onto an branch. "Hope you don't break" Alexander told the branch.

January 17th, 1718

After hearing the sound of sword clashing and screaming, Alexander woke up and got up quickly. He saw Tirus, his axe out fighting thre... Two guards, both wielding rifles. (Another is dead, hence the screaming). Alexander went to grab his tomahawk only to remember that it is missing. An guard attempted to stab him but Tirus moved to the right and kicked him onto the ankle before using his rifle's blade to stab the guard in the back of the neck, killing him also. Alexander, seeing his chance to help tackled the guard and Tirus simply killed him by shooting him in the head. After the battle, Tirus looked at Alexander and smiled. "Good to know you're awake" he said, panting. "Yeah, by the way how did you ---" but was interuppted by clapping. Alexander turned around while Tirus looked over his shoulder. Standing there clapping was an man with an three-cornered hat, coloured red and white. He had a scruffy beard and baby blue eyes, his face is perfect (excluding the pimple on the side of his nose). He were wearing red and white suit, with an golden flower in the suit's front pocket. His pants though, wasn't so luxury - it was baggy red and white pants, with an sword in an toolbelt he was wearing under the suit (you could see the sword as the point of the sword was sticking out). It reminded Alexander of an half pirate, half gentleman. "Very good' he said with a very thick British accent. "You amuse me a lot." "And who are you?" Tirus asked with an glare. "Oh, I am just the almighty great Grand Master; Richard Simons! The very best, I think you can agree!" the man said with a grin. "You make me sick" Tirus said, still glaring. "Oh, assassins - no fun! Why can't you be like King Charles II 70 years ago? Oh, great guy! My great-great grandfather met the bloke. Fine man, I think he'll say". "I'm gonna kill you here and now" Tirus said, pointing his rifle towards Richard. "Oh, goody! This is my favorite part - the part where you die" Richard said in a dark voice, killing his fun and very posh mood before. "Now, let's get this over with - one dead assassin and one dead highwayman coming up!".

Author's Note: ACTION AHEAD!!!

Tirus ran and tried to poke Richard with his rifle but Richard dodged it with lightning speed, not that Tirus was slow. Alexander then looked behind him and saw eight troops forming an small wall to charge. "Come and get me, folks!" Alexander laughed. The wall began to move quickly, each guard running at their own pace. Once they were close, Alexander ran and slide tackled one guard, dodging his rifle and tripping him over. Now that the wall is destroyed, Alexander got up quickly and began to choke the guard. Dropping his rifle, Alexander quickly twisted his neck and grabbed the rifle and shooting two guards in the head with great speed. After, Alexander quickly shot a guard that was about to stab him in the back like a Stalker back in the 1500's. Three more to go. Alexander quickly reloaded his rifle and shot another guard who was doing the same. The two remaining guards gave up with their rifles and took out a iron sword. Shootout and Guns? HELL YEAH! Swordfighting? HELL NO! Alexander pointed his gun at the guards. "I can kill you with my rifle so fast that you wouldn't even see it coming" he warned. One guard began to burst out laughing, dropping his sword and slapping his palms onto his knees, completely bending over. "I heard that one bef---" but he couldn't finish his sentence; he was interuppted by the rifle that went through his head. The guard dropped dead. The one remaining guard quickly looked from his deceased pal to Alexander, moving his head quickly and having an combination of scared and surprised. To end his miserable life, Alexander shot him in the head, his head splatted across the place. Alexander now changed his focus to Richard. He saw Richard push Tirus onto the ground and was about to stab him if a guard didn't go and tugged his shoulder in time. The guard whispered in Richard's ears.  "What?!... Huh? Ah, I see. Well, is the troops ready?... Excellent!. Well, it have been great Tirus but I got to bounce so... See ya!" and began to run. Tirus got up but was shoved again by the guard. "Goodbye" Alexander said. The guard looked at Alexander with an surprise emotion before Alexander shot the guard in the head. Tirus got up and began to run after Richard. "Quick come on! We have to hunt down Richard!" Alexander ran shortly behind him. While in the heat of running, Alexander was bored of using bullets from his rifle so he ripped off the blade off the rifle and threw it onto the ground. Now with an small, convinent, effective and sharp little blade that can be hidden in his palm or up his sleeve, Alexander looked and said "You'll be called Bladeback" and smiled before he forced to remove his smile and return to help Tirus run after Richard.

Chapter 6: I shall call this city Alexandria!

Tirus and Alexander continued to chase after Richard before he ended up in the front gates of his kingdom. Tirus forced to stop due to the large amount of troops around, all holding an weapon and around 100,000 of them on horses. "Alright lads, let's go!" and Richard got onto an horse and rode away, followed by the 100,000 on the horse, followed by the around 120,000 on foot followed by the 300,000 slaves carrying the supplies on horses. Now that the kingdom is literally empty, Alexander smiled and, with an very fake and sterotypical hero's voice said "I shall call this city Alexandria! the Kingdom of England!" he said. Tirus laughed. "Well, now that this kingdom is ours, how about we take a look - perhaps they might left some supplies. I bet they didn't take the bets, so we can crash here until the next day. Then we'll hunt after Richard" "Sounds like a plan" Alexander answered. "Now, where to start...".

The two then spent the rest of the days going up staircases, poking through chests and shelves, opening doors and looking in more chests, opening new rooms and investigating it until they evenutally found two beds on the fourth floor of Richard's little kingdom. "Let's sleep here. Tomorrow we'll find our stuff and then get out of here!".

January 18th, 1718

The next day, Tirus and Alexander went and found their weapons in an basement under the kingdom and went back up. "Now, let's go". Tirus and Alexander then found two horses in an saddle and soon tamed it. "Now, where to?" Alexander asked. Tirus took out an map from the pocket of the guard's suit and opened it. "Well, we're near New Forest; I mean it's just in the South. I doubt they'd be in London, it's too crowded and from what I remember, there is some assassins of my own there guarding it. From what I remember, all of the Templar bases in London have been destroyed. Hmm, although the last time I've checked was five years ago, in 1713... Hmm, I'm not sure." Alexander rode his horse next to Tirus and had his own look on the map. "Well, we can check New Forest out, perhaps destroy another Templar base there and use it as our little headquarters. We could hire civilians to become assassins and keep guard of the New Forest Assassin base. It would really suck to miss out an opportunity that great" Alexander said. "Very well" Tirus said, folding his map into a little square and putting it back into the guard suit's pocket. "We are going to New Forest. To south!". 

FOURTY FIVE MINUTES LATER...

"This place is quite quiet, and it's only - what - around 12?" Alexander said. "Yeah, normally there would be people buying supplies at the market to prepare their dinner" Tirus said. "I think something strange is going on" Alexander said "We have to investigate". Alexander and Tirus rode around around twelve corners before they saw some kind of building, with an large crowd looking at the hanging of two men. "Is that the whole town? New Forest doesn't seem to have a big population" Alexander whispered to Tirus. "Perhaps. Hmm, hang on" Tirus scannaed on the man that were announcing the execution of the two men. "... take it away, executioner!" he said with an loud voice and the sound of the floorboards activate and the rope choking the two men. An loud cheer came from the crowd, although it sounded very forced... "Wait, he is a Templar member! you're right, there must be a Templar base somewhere here. We must take over it, it will grow our assassin's creed and perhaps make an army to invade and destroy the son-of-a-bitch Richard" Tirus whispered with great exciement. "Well, we must wait until the crowd's excitement dies out. Around ten minutes later, the Templar member said "Alright everybody, back to your houses. The two highwaymen is now dead" he said and the crowd departered quickly. "Executioner, let these highwaymen swim with the fishes. I need to tell Norius something" and he went off the gallows and went forwards, to which two guards was there. "Keep guard, we don't want anybody to enter. You two are doing a great job" and the two guards bowed down and both went either left or right, leaving an gap for the member to go through. They then blocked the entrance quickly, their rifles pointing towards them. "Well, since I am wearing an suit exactly as them, I guess I'll have to do the trick again" Tirus said "Get off the horse". Alexander got off and Tirus followed behind. He then began to push Alexander towards the guards. "HALT! Why do you need to enter, my fair chap?" one of the guard asked. "I need to ask, uh, Norius something. This - uh man isn't a normal highwayman, he is also an... Assassin!" Tirus said. "OH! Great news! Quick enter!" and the two guards went left and right respectively again. "Thank you, truly" Tirus said and shoved Alexander into the entrance, followed by Tirus, Once the two guards went back to blocking the entrance, Alexander and Tirus ran into an alleyway. 'Great work" Alexander whispered "Although next time push a little softer" "But that will only kill our disguise" "But it hurts!" "Well... Who cares right now? All we need to do is find where that Templar member went..." Tirus whispered. Alexander yawned. "I think we should have a rest. We could hide into an building and rest there until tomorrow" Alexander suggested "But this is our golden chance!... You know what? I got a plan. You find an building to sleep in and I'll do it solo. The next day, I'll come to you with the results" Tirus suggested "Sounds like a plan" Alexander answered. The two shaked hands before both going to their own respective goals - finding the Templar Member and finding a place to sleep in.

Chapter 7: Betrayal 

January 19th, 1718

Alexander found an building on an hill that is quite far from the palace itself. Alexander had to go over multiple walls and avoided (sometimes killed) some Templar guards. But it took around forty five minutes before Alexander arrived to his destination. But meanwhile, Tirus were attempting to invade the main headquarters. There were two guards, both holding rifles standing on the roof of the headquarters. Tirus used the bushes to silently go close to the guards before he took a rock and threw it onto an window, smashing it. The two guards, alerted climbed down quickly and began to investigate. Perfect - everything going to plan. Once an guard passed Tirus and another guard went into another place, Tirus quickly and silently choked a guard and hid his body among the bushes. Tirus then quickly dove into the bushes. The other guard returned and noticed that his friend was missing... Tirus waited until the guard foolishly passed him. But Tirus felt violent on this guard; he took his tomahawk out and slit his throat from behind before piercing the blade of the axe into his heart. After, he carried and pushed his body into the bushes. Tirus then went and climbed onto the rooftops. The night were beautiful; the stars were clear in the sky. Tirus found an door, and in it was an staircase. Tirus went down the staircase rather quickly before he arrived in the headquarters. Where? Tirus couldn't tell. Tirus looked left and right. There were an hallway that was rather lengthy, but both ending with two wooden doors. Tirus decided to go right. He opened it and gasped. "You... Traitor!" he screeched. 

Meanwhile, Alexander was relaxing until he heard whispering. He got up quickly and climbed up to the window and out outside. He sneaked onto an corner and half of his face peaked out. He saw two guards, both Templars, discussing something. Then, finally he could hear them. "... and that if he should caught us, we'd be hanged from the neck!" a guard finished "Yikes... Man, he is really concerned on being assassinated ain't he?" another guard laughed "Well, he is the prime enemy of the Assassins. So it isn't any surprise, really." the guard answered. "I guess... Hey, have you heard - there was two intruders that attempted to invade around three days ago. They tried to kill Richard but failed miserably - and we escaped with the supplies. Stupid fools; they could of stolen our supplies - it was our baby. Instead, they went to the Grand Master instead. Aha, those intruders are the worst assassins ever" the guard laughed "how did you know that they were assassins?" the guard replied "'cause they tried to assassinate Richard. That's why he is so... Well, scared". Alexander heard an gunshot. Alexander placed his back firmly onto the wall so that he couldn't be seen. "Quick! We need to check it out!" and the two guards ran down the hill towards the gunfire. Alexander creeped behind them. What is happening? Then he remembered... Tirus.... Alexander got his tomahawk and began to run.

Alexander jumped and stabbed one of the guard in the back of the head, killing him. "Holy shi---" the other guard couldn't finish; he was slashed in the throat and died quickly. Alexander is now running at full speed down the hill. He couldn't bare what would have happened if the Templars have gotten their hands onto Tirus. Alexander jumped and landed onto an Templar guard, unexpectedly. "Wha... what happen--- INTRUDER! INTRUDER!" the guard screeched. Alexander punched him in the eye and got a tomahawk and stabbed him in the forehead. "That'd shut you..." but then, out of nowhere Alexander felt a soft laughter. Alexander turned around and saw the sonofabitch Richard. "Nice performance, I must admit. But your friend, what is it? Tirus, ah that's right. He is my control now, and he is right now being sent to his death... By burning at steak" he laughed. "If we can fight you the first time, we can sure fight you the second time!" Alexander replied "We? What do you mean?" Alexander then remembered that Tirus isn't next to him. "Well... Whatever!" and Alexander ran towards the Templar Grand Master, his tomahawk swinging furiously in the air as if it was a flag in a middle of a strong wind. Alexander went to slash but Richard kicked Alexander in the crotch and uppercut him. Alexander smashed onto the ground, groaning. "Pathetic, honestly. You are probably the worst 'assassin' ever" Richard laughed. Richard walked up to the scared Alexander and took out an rifle and pointed it at Alexander. "Rest in piece, mate" he laughed.

But out of nowhere, Tirus jumped and pinned Richard to the ground. "Ohh yeah, Tirus! MY MAN!" Alexander laughed. But Alexander saw something; Tirus is more silent now and his hood covered his face. "You... Ruined.. MY LIFE!" Tirus screeched. He took out an tomahawk and pointed it at Richard's throat. "Now you will suffer". "Wait, I need to tell you something---" but it was too late. Tirus slashed Richard's throat, and blood gushed everywhere. But laughter spread around. Tirus turned quickly, looking at where the laughing is coming from. Alexander turned also. Then, they saw another... Wait, is that Richard?. An figure - one that looks exactly like Richard - are clapping on the hill. "Man, that was fun. I love stunt doubles, don't you?". "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Tirus ran and began to run towards the real Richard. "Woah, dude wai---" but it was too late. Tirus ran towards Richard.

Richard continued to run hills after hills before finally going downhill, going to the Templar headquarters. Richard then screamed "OPEN THE GATES!". The gate flung open and two soldiers, armed with rifles aimed at Tirus. Richard ran past while Tirus ran behind him. Strangely, the two Templars didn't shoot... Then, he fell flat onto the ground. His vision fuzzy. "Nice hit, Magnus!" an Templar soldier laughed. "Thanks, Josh!" the other answered. "Now, let's see if that Tirus guy have went into our trap..." "Hang on, he's still awake!" one said. "You..." Alexander attempted but was greeted with an boot. Then darkness.

Chapter 8: Gone again

January 20th, 1718

Alexander woke up in a prison cell. His weapons gone. But the gate, it is opened... Why?. Alexander got up and proceeded to slowly go out of the cell. His head is still fuzzy, but it is good enough to guide him. He peeked his head out of the cell and looked left and right. Nobody. It also seemed that his cell was the only one opened... Is it a trap? He couldn't tell. Might as well go with the flow Alexander thought. Alexander sneaked out on his tippy toes, and proceeded to go up the stone staircase. Once at the entrance of the staircase, he proceeded to poke his head out left and right again. Nobody. Alexander looked on the floor. Dirt footsteps covered the before-lovely-red-carpet. On the walls are pure blood, as if a person got a paintbrush and splatted blood across the walls for fun. But it isn't for fun, because Alexander knows the truth... Tirus's blood alone cannot gather that much on the wall. That means that Tirus survived. But where is he?. Alexander went to the left, for he knew that going to the right would result him being out of wherever he is. On the doors were bloody fingerprints. Alexander scanned his surroundings as he walked down the long hallway. As he goes further, more blood appeared. Then, ahead is an room. The door is obviously kicked open. Alexander peaked in the room. Around was a mess. Destroyed chairs and tables, broken paintings and valuables, blood and mud splat onto the ground and the wallpaper around completely scratched and messy. Alexander got into the room and scanned around. Then, he heard voices. "Yes, he's gone! Now, let's bring this lad to his death!" a voice said. Alexander stuck onto the wall and peaked his head out. Out of the cell was two guards behind Tirus. Tirus had his hands behind his back and on his face was pure rage. In front of Tirus was an heavily armed soldier, with pure iron armor on his body, head and legs. He seemed to be holding an spear, although he couldn't tell. "Make sure he suffers, under Richard's rule" the Templar in the front said. "Wait, what do we do after this lad is executed?" the Templar behind replied. "Well, he told me that he galloped to London, under the name of 'James Smith'." "But isn't there a bunch of Assassins there?" "Of course. But Richard knows this, he is smarter than that. He told us that he will go up the hills of London and camp there. Around him will be an army of 15,000 Templar guards, all armored and all armed with swords, spears, maces and knives. Richard himself will have an long golden sword next to him. The chance for him to die is slim. Now, let's go!". The two Templar guards behind Tirus cheered and proceeded to take Tirus to his execution. For some reason, Tirus seemed to be very submissive. Perhaps he given up. Alexander shook his head. No. I will save you. Alexander proceeded to follow behind, getting out his tomahawk in case he has to... 'Change' his plan to save Tirus. Alexander followed the two unaware guards until they were at two doors. "Are you ready, Felix?" a guard asked "You betcha!" Felix - the guard - replied. And the two flung opened the doors. Inside was an semi-circle room, with two medieval-like windows on the walls. Ahead was an executioner all dressed in black, with an mask that covered the majority of his face; the only thing that can be seen is his small brown eyes. Quickly, Alexander ran and decapitated 'Felix' before stabbing the other guard in the chest and ripping his guts out. While the two guards died, Alexander ran up to the surprised executioner. Alexander tackled the executioner onto the ground and slashed his throat. "Quick!" Tirus screeched. Alexander ran and slashed the ropes that was around his wrists. "Nice! Now, gimme a weapon!" Alexander gave Tirus an knife. "Bit short but... Meh, good enough". Footsteps of Templars was heard from far. "Oh bonkas, they are coming and I won't be surprised if they are in large packs" Tirus said in a slight sprinkle of fear in it. "Well, we can't jump - that's literally suicide. So we have to fight to escape" Alexander grinned. "Well, I guess I can get another weapon for that. Let's wait until they come to us". Soon, Templar soldiers came marching towards the long hallway and towards Tirus and Alexander who is in the semi-circle room. As far as Alexander could see, there is around 50 soldiers altogether. "FOR SPARTA!" Tirus randomly shouted. Both Tirus and Alexander began to charge towards the Templar guards.

After was pure bloodshed. Alexander, using his impressive skills slashed his way by ripping guts out and occasionally organs. Meanwhile, Tirus killed the Templars more... Peacefully as he slit their throats or stab the back of their throat with the small but sharp knife. Soon enough, all the soldiers were lying dead on the ground. Both Tirus and Alexander was gasping for air, after the air was polluted with the blood and guts from the fallen Templar soldiers. Tirus put his knife in his pocket and took one of the dead Templar's sword. "Now, let's get that sonofabitch Richard!". The two ran to the entrance, stolen two horses and began their way to London to find and assassinate Richard. But halfway there, the two rested at an nearby forest, after Tirus complained off having 'neck pains'. "Night" Alexander mumbled, before the two slept. "Night" Tirus answered annoyingly.

Chapter 9: The Shadows of the Forest

January 21st, 1718

The next day, Tirus and Alexander woken up and continued their journey. Soon, they arrived at London. The streets of London was overrun by poor buggers begging, to salesmen selling fresh fruit and veggies to passing people. If an Templar soldier should be in the crowd, it'd be impossible to see them, so we must be cautious, Tirus thought. If we get caught for the third time in a row... Tirus shake his head. He looked at Alexander. "Come on, let's get this over with. Let's just go out of this crowd and towards the hills. From there, we find Richard and slaughter him" Tirus told the plan. "Sounds good" Alexander laughed. And off the went, the two men rode their horses through the crowd. "HEY! Watch it!" a man said "Uh, watch where you are going!" another complained. "Oh shut up" Tirus responded. Once they managed to escape the crowd, in front was an path up to an forest. The forest overall looked as if there would be monsters seeking out in there. To add to this, there was even signs saying 'DO NOT ENTER'. "This must be the path where Richard took. That's why the Assassins haven't found and well, assassinate him yet" Tirus whispered. "But won't the Assassins be smart enough to figure out that he'd be down this path?" Alexander responded. Tirus took a moment to sink that in. "Maybe some assassins lack the intelligence as some... Other assassin" Tirus responded. The two then began to ride towards the shadows of the forest.

HOURS LATER...

What felt like hours, it ended up that they weren't even half way there. "Jesus, this is a nightmare" Alexander groaned. Tirus turned. Dead trees was scattered as logs all around the dead soil, as if they were dead Templar soldiers after a war... Tirus then remembered something he wanted to escape. The dead logs became dead Templar soldiers. The soil now became fresh and new, but scattered with blood and guts and gore, as well as weapons scattered from the fallen soldiers that died in the war. The leaves that fell from the trees became decapitated limbs - heads, legs, foots, arms and sometimes even ears or noses. All around is pure blood and misery. He then remembered one of the Assassins in the aftermath's words... "All of those lives gone from this worthless war. What a waste of life, they had an entire future ahead of them. But they ended early... It's sad - but that's how the world is. Sad, miserable and worthless". Tirus took a final glimpse around at the dead corpses around before proceeded to continue. "WOAH, TIRUS WATCH OUT!" a voice said all of a sudden. Tirus shook and fell over and fell onto the ground. Tirus tried to get up but was pinned down once again. Tirus saw Alexander getting up quickly with his trusty weapon. Then, he ran out of Tirus's sight and all Tirus heard was the sound of sword clashing and a blade going into somebody's flesh. Alexander returned quickly. "Don't worry, it was just a Templar soldier who was guarding a messenger. I had to kill him too, since he tried to kill me. I searched his body and found this" Alexander then put his hand into his pocket and took out a letter. On it was fancy writing. "I read it and it seems that it is meant to be for some kind of Templar general in Scotland" Alexander continued. "What makes you think that he is from Scotland?" Tirus responded out of curiosity. "Well, it does say "... be sure to take the troops to Glasgow. Within January 30th, me and my soldiers should meet up. There, we would make plans. By the way, we have company too. Some highwayman looking bloke and an assassin. Survived a fight against them twice or so. They are dangerous, so we must think of a plan to terminate them. Anyway, I'm looking forward to your meet-up. From, Richard", and from what I remember, Glasgow is in Scotland" Alexander finished. "Yes... You're right. Well, we could either go to Scotland before Richard and kill this general and his army or go at it and attack Richard and his army right now" Tirus said "He said that he won't expected to be on the move again until the 30th. That is eight days. That is plenty of time to invade and assassinate Richard". Alexander looked unsure. "This Scottish Templar army sounds tough. If we take them down first, we'd probably have one of Richard's main reinforcement armies down." Alexander said. "Yeah, true. The Templars have been known for having neighboring countries join their little cause by having their entire army as reinforcement. I betcha that the 'Scottish army' is literally, the entire Scottish army." Tirus thought. "Scotland, then Ireland. I bet Ireland is apart of this too" Alexander said "and Wales. We can't forget the Welsh army" Tirus added. "Well, what should we do? Take down the reinforcements or take down the main one?" Alexander asked. Tirus thought about it. If we should take down Richard first, then the possible upcoming war might halt as the reinforcement armies are too scared to fight alone. However, if we take down the reinforcement army first, then the main English templars won't be such a hassle..." Tirus took a deep breathe. "This is a hard choice" Tirus said "Wrong move and millions of Assassin's would be killed" Tirus said. "Why's that?" Alexander asked. "I think they are preparing for a war. The Second English Assassin-Templar war.". Alexander looked worried. "Hmm, I think the reinforcement first. We can't risk attacking them and then having them flee again. That would make this trip a complete waste" Alexander said. "Well, how about this? We go to wherever this path ends and find a place to sleep. The next day, we'll decide?" Tirus responded. "Sound's good". The two went back onto their horses and rode off.

January 22nd, 1718

Alexander and Tirus found a nice camping place on a hill, that have a beautiful sight of wonderful, fresh and green trees and the pretty fields... And then there's the Templar headquarters, standing out of the beauty of nature. "I still stand by the whole 'Attacking the reinforcement' thing" Alexander said while Tirus was getting supplies for their journey ahead. "I'm thinking of attacking Richard here and now. Richard only have a few of the English's army, not the whole bloody thing. If we attack the reinforcement armies, we have at least 800,000 troops altogether to get through - and I don't have the energy to both kill and dodge" Tirus responded. "Fine, we'll do a direct attack. How much Templars do you think are in there?" Alexander asked. Tirus lookd at the great grey building. "Well, considering the size, it probably houses around 10,000 soldiers, not including Richard himself" Tirus responded. "Wait... How about Joseph?" Alexander asked. "Joseph? Who is that?" Tirus responded. "The general that had those highwaymen invade that town... What is it... Stonehenge! We had a mini war and won... Don't you remember?!" Alexander complained. "Ah yeah" Tirus gained his memory. "We'll locate him as soon as we invade this motherfucker, now get ready - you are going to experience the normal life of an assassin".

Chapter 10: Another Invasion

After both Tirus and Alexander were fully supplied, the two looked down at the Templar headquarters. "Let's do this" Alexander said with full of excitement. And so the two ran down the hill, both quietly yet fast. Within minutes, they are on the wall of the headquarters. "There are two guards waiting, I'll deal with them" Alexander said. He tip-toed around the corner and was missing for a few minutes, but then he returned with blood on his tomahawk. "It's all clear, let's move out". The two quickly went around the corner and towards the large wooden gates that guard the most important aspect; the headquarters containing all of the Templar's plans for the future; but most importantly, Richard. Tirus and Alexander then begin to climb over the gate as if they were rock-climbing; one tomahawk higher then they are currently are, push themself up. Rinse and repeat. Soon, they were literally on top of the gate. From what they could see, they saw Templar soldiers scattered across the 'front yard' of the headquarters. All of the Templar guards however, seems to be occupied by talking in either a group of two or as big as a group of six, having a big nice group conversation. "Time to be a party pooper" Alexander grinned. The two jumped off the gate (don't try this at home, kids) and soon, they were on the ground of the 'front yard' of the great headquarters. Alexander charged against the group of six while Tirus fought three groups of five; 15 soldiers altogether. Alexander skillfully sliced and diced through the weak Templar soldiers, soon no Templar that faced against Alexander was standing up. Meanwhile, Tirus have just killed the last soldier in the army of 15. Alexander and Tirus laughed. "That was way too easy" he said. "You... Will... Die..." A voice said. Alexander turned. "Whoops, you are meant to be dead" Alexander shrugged and went to smash his head with the butt of his tomahawk. However, he was stopped by Tirus. Tirus walked over to the wounded Templar. "Who is your master?" Tirus demanded. "And why should I.... Tell you?" the guard answered and spat blood at the face of Tirus. "Either show compassion or we'll leave you to die along with your.... Friends, here" Tirus responded. "I'm his master" a voice said. While Tirus turn his head around, Alexander quickly slit the throat of the guard and turned around, as if he done nothing. "And who should you be?" Tirus responded. This general seems to be dressed very fancy. He had an pirate's cap and a great, white and blue robe that went from his lower thigh to his chest. He seemed to be wearing peasant-like pants too. Hair-wise, he seemed to have slick black hair. "Me? Why I should be the great Joseph! Now, Richard have told me all about you. So this is going to be interesting" the general laughed. Both Tirus and Alexander was at first surprised to see Joseph. "What are you doing here?" Alexander demanded. "None of your business, boy" Joseph responded. Richard in the building?" Tirus asked. "Of course he is. But don't try. My gang of highwaymen will not be scared too shoot you two dead" Joseph laughed. Then, Alexander remembered something. "Tirus, beware" Alexander warned. "Why? Give me three reasons to not get up there and throw Joseph off the building?" Tirus responded. "Beware. Joseph is the Leader of all Highwaymen. I'm dead serious, he is like the idol of all highwaymen. The Alexander the Great of Highwaymen, you can say. In fact, I was quite a fan of him when I was a young lad" Alexander said. "He is highly regarded for his skills with both a sword and a revolver. You must handle him with care". "Whatever. I'll fight Joseph, you try to find Richard". Alexander looked unsure but nodded. "Sound's like a plan. Oh, and Tirus... Don't die". Then, Alexander left the scene and Tirus had an stare against the laughing Joseph. "That highwayman could've been assistance to our... Little fight" Joseph said. "Don't get my friend into this - and how did you know he's an highwayman?" "Oh, natural Highwayman instincts" Joseph responded with a sly grin. Tirus looked at Joseph with a demon's stare. "But I shouldn't worry; you'd be dead before you think about him again" Tirus warned, rage filling up his body as began to run and climb up up the wall of the great grey wall "Lads, deal with this pest. I'm going to find the highwayman" Tirus heard Joseph say before footsteps and the door opening and closing shortly afterwards. Tirus continued to climb up, until he was finally on the roof. Waiting for him was four highwaymen, iron axes tightly gripped in their hands. Without wasting a second, Tirus ran up to the four highwaymen and began to clash against them. Axes swung everywhere but Tirus managed to kill all four; one of them was pushed off the building, another had an axe in the heart and the last two had an nice cut in their head. "I'm coming for you" Tirus whispered angrily under his breathe as he searched for a door. Turns out; it isn't a door. It's a trapdoor, clearly placed on the top left corner of the rooftop. Tirus ran up to the trapdoor and quickly went inside it.

Meanwhile, Alexander was on the air vents of the headquarters. He managed to get in by pretending he was apart of Joseph's gang of highwaymen, which seemed to do the trick. Every time he heard a voice or footsteps, he would freeze like a statue in order to avoid them getting curious on the fact that every time Alexander moves in the air vent, a loud banging noise can be heard. Finally, looking through the iron-bars, he could see Richard. Richard seemed to be having a deep conversation with another Templar. The Templar looked French and seemed to be dressed as an navy general or captain or something. "... The ships would then attack the sides. While the assassins attack your ships, we will come from the main entrance and charge. Considering the fact that most of the skilled assassins would be fighting your navy, our most skilled troops would invade and kill all of the least-experience ones. Then, we would surround the skilled assassins and kill them. Sounds like a plan?" Richard finished. "Hmm, but what if they were separated into two groups, so there are still some skilled assassins guarding the main entrance?" the general replied. "I didn't think about that... Hmm, but thinking about it, would the assassins do that? Most of the time, they just have all of their skilled assassins attack the main threat, and then deal with the... Small ones, later" Richard said. "We will talk later on. We must have the supplies before the war. Remember that" the general said and walked off, with two Templar guards walking behind him. "Yes, yes, I know. I'll see you then" Richard answered and went the other way, like the general he had two guards walking behind him. "So, they are planning a war" Alexander whispered to himself. "Navy... Supplies..." then, Alexander had an idea. "I have to tell Tirus this!". Alexander then remembered he is stuck in an air vent. "Let me get out first" Alexander laughed at himself. Once he found an empty room, he got out of the air vent and now are standing in an room with literally no funiture. On the wall was just plain pale wallpaper and the ground is pure concrete. Alexander went to the door and peeked left and right. Nobody. Alexander sneaked out and begin to walk normally, as if he was an normal member of the Templar headquarters. While walking, trying to find the way out, many Templar guards past him but left him alone, not expecting the fact that he is helping an fellow assassin. Once he found the exit, Alexander went out quickly. "Tirus! Tirus!" Alexander called out, but with no reply. "Tirus?..." Alexander walked over to a dead Templar body. The Templar's head was smashed and bits of his brain can be found in the pool of blood. Alexander looked at the roof. Then he heard a voice. A thick, french voice. "Intruder! Intruder!" the voice said. Alexander turned and saw the general. Somehow, Alexander just realized that the general had a thick french accent. That seals in the fact that the French are apart of this little war. "Sir, don't worry, it's an ally" one of the Templar guards said. "No, he is isn't you fool!" the general screeched. "Look at his tomahawk; it has an Assassin Order symbol on it". Curses! Alexander knew he should of hid it. Quickly, the two guards got their rifle out and aimed it at Alexander. "Move and you die" they regarded. "I'll take the risk" Alexander grinned and ran up to the guards. This seemed to surprise the guards; they didn't move and drop their weapons quickly. Alexander jumped and stabbed one of the guards right in the face and the other had his throat slit. Alexander got up to deal with the general, who seemed to already have an sword out. "I am the most fine at swordfighting. You have no hope" the general regarded. "You sure? Well, time to prove you wrong" Alexander said and he charged against the general.

Tirus ended up in a storage room. Big crates with labels on it are scattered everywhere. Some says "Supplies", other says "Bombs" and some even says "Human Bits". Tirus couldn't roam freely either; around eight guards are also scattered among the room, some talking to each other and others casually walking around, doing their job of guarding. Tirus forced himself on an crate; he couldn't risk looking if there is no guards nearby, because if he gets caught then he is toast. Tirus then saw an guard walking past him, who are still pinned closely on the crate. Slowly, Tirus went up to the guard and smashed his skull with his tomahawk. Whoops, too loud. Quickly, guards came and aimed their rifle. Tirus tried to run but it was too late. The bullets fired and shot the crate that Tirus was hiding behind. Tirus wished he read the label before hiding behind it; this particular crate had the label 'Bomb'. Before he could run, the room exploded and all Tirus saw was black.

While battling the general, Alexander saw a massive explosion. This seemed to seal the end of the fight. "I have to go now. I'll kill you later" the general promised and ran off. Normally, Alexander would chase after the general but right now, Alexander was worried. What if Tirus was in that explosion?. Alexander quickly climbed up the building. On the roof, he searched for anyway in. He saw a trapdoor on the top left corner. He went into the trapdoor and found himself in an room. Scattered around was broken crates and it's content everywhere; either in bits or in huge chunks. Ahead was Templar guards who were too occupied on trying to save the life of one of their own, who seemed to have a large iron blade stuck in his kneecap. Using this to his advantage, Alexander searched for Tirus. He soon found Tirus, blood all over his face and lots of black. It was as if somebody scattered gunpowder or black dye on him. "Tirus, Tirus you there?" Alexander said. He put his hand onto Tirus's heart. It was still beating. "I'll get you out of here" Alexander promised and began to drag his body. Horrible idea. He soon realized he had to get up the ladder in order to get to the roof which is required in order to escape. So while he tried to get Tirus up the ladder, the guards saw him. "Lads! An intruder! Warn the boss, I'll deal with him". While two guards rush out of the room, one of the guard walked up to Alexander with a sword in one hand. Alexander took out his tomahawk and charged.

Chapter 11: 1 vs. 10,000

As soon as Alexander killed the foolish guard, he realized he made a fatal mistake. If the guards warn the others, that means that he have at least 10,000 Templar guards to deal with, while regularly checking up on Tirus, while trying to stop Richard from escaping. Alexander knew he had to let go one of his objectives. After a long think, he decide to left Richard go... For this time only. All he was thinking about was making sure he survives, making sure Tirus survive and ultimately make sure that all of the Templar guards are dead. Alexander waited patiently in the destroyed room of crates. Alexander then realized something; how come the walls aren't destroyed? Before he could find an answer, the door busted open and a ton of guards rushed in, all fully armed and ready to kill. Alexander knew he couldn't continue slashing for that long to kill every Templar. But Alexander decided to attack and begin to slash and slash. Dodge a blade attack, stab another in the heart, rinse and repeat. Alexander couldn't tell what was happening afterwards, all he thought about is the wonder if he would survive or not. Templar guards began to go behind Alexander. Alexander decided that perhaps fighting isn't the best idea. Alexander got up and ran to Tirus. Picking him up, Alexander ran to the wall and kicked it. As if it was made out of paper, bricks went overboard. The explosion must have somehow weakened the wall! Alexander thought. Alexander ran out, jumped off and made the run for it. Then he remembered the giant fence. Alexander looked everywhere. He saw a door that is on the over side of the wall. Alexander ran up to the door, kicked it open and found himself in a office-like room. Tables full of paperwork, a not-burning candle and a bunch of bookcases on the grey walls and wooden floor. Alexander then had an idea. Alexander quickly put Tirus onto the table and got out two wooden sticks and started to viciously scrap it onto each other. Soon, the sticks became on fire. Alexander then threw it onto the wooden floor, got Tirus and ran out of the door, kicking the door over and making the run for it. Soon, Alexander saw no sight of the Templars.

Tired, Alexander went onto his knees and gently put Tirus down. His eyes began to open. "Hey dude, you there?" Alexander whispered. "Wha... What happened?" Tirus asked slowly. "Oh boy, wait until I tell you!" Alexander said with a grin. "What happened?" Tirus softly asked. "I'll tell you later. For now, just get used to waking up. You are a lucky man to be alive right now".

"So you're telling me that you escaped with 10,000 Templars chasing after you?" Tirus said. "Yep, impressive huh?" Alexander grinned. "I guess that is impressive. Now that we have escaped, what now?" Tirus asked. "Well, I guess we'll make our way to Scotland. "How about Richard and his goons?" Tirus asked. "They must have ran by now. They probably left up the hills; where we were a couple of hours ago. Richard and his troops are on the way to Scotland" Alexander replied. "Then we can't go to Scotland, simply too many soldiers to deal with" Tirus said. "So then what should we do?" Alexander asked. "We'll go the Assassin headquarters at London. See what the Mentors say" Tirus said. "Mentors? What Mentors?" Alexander asked. "Oh don't worry, you'll see. Let's just pack up our supplies and we'll head off".

Chapter 12: The Mentors of England

Tirus led Alexander out of the spooky forest and back onto the streets of England. Since it was a long trip, the sky is dusty and in the late afternoon. Most people in the streets are making their dinner at the time and barely anybody could be seen on the street. Tirus walked into an dark alleyway and down to a door. He knocked onto it and whispered something to the door, as if the door was a human. Then all of a sudden, the door flung open. Tirus walked into the room without any hesitation. At first thoughts, Alexander thought it was a trap, but considering how calm and confident Tirus was walking into the room, Alexander followed slowly behind. Once in, Alexander saw that would of being paradise to steal back when he was still in his highwayman days. A long, red carpet was greeted that rolled all the way up the stairs and to the second floor. On the walls were shelves with valuables on it, golden cups and plates and long iron swords; "Alexander! Come on!" Tirus screeched. Alexander got out of his day dream and followed behind. Alexander then saw an mysterious man in a robe, on his arm was a hook-like blade, barely visible from his long sleeve from his robes. Alexander couldn't tell who it was either; the shadow the hood cast over his face covered it whole. Alexander walked up the stairs and found himself in an circle-shaped room. Around was four big thrones, and sitting on it was four robed men. They all wore their own color; one were red, one were blue, one were green and the last were yellow. Each mysterious man had a long, bushy grey beard and used the shadows of their hood to cover half of their face; only their mouth and long beard were visable. "Mentors, I bring my apprentice, Alexander." Tirus bowed down. "How can you tell he is no Templar?" one of the robed men asked. "Because I've seen him kill some before. Trust me, he is no threat" Tirus answered. "Alexander, introduce yourself. Tell them a summary of your life". Alexander coughed. "Uh, sorry. Um, my name is Alexander Thompson and I was an highwayman before I met Tirus somehow. Afterwards, I was tagged along his little journey. So far, we have encountered a dickhead named Richard, who seemed to be the Grand Master of some group that you guys really hated called the 'Templars'. In fact, a couple of hours before we were invading their headquarters but were discovered. We only barely survived" Alexander explained "Before we were forced to run off, I think I've gained some valuable information. To start off, the Scottish seems to be apart of them. I got a letter that was written by Richard and was meant to be sent to one of the generals over in Scotland" Alexander said, handing the letter to the robed men who had a nice, blood red robe. "Um, it seems that the Templars are seeking to start a war against the Assassins. Though the Scottish are confirmed to be helping the Templars. I'm guessing that Ireland is also assisting them, though I am not certain" Alexander finished. "Your apprentice have done a good job" the red-colored robe man said in deep and wise tone. "He should join the Assassin Order". "Are you sure sir?" Tirus asked "I am certain" he replied. Tirus looked at Alexander. "Very well. Where is everyone else?" Tirus asked. "They are all on scouting missions, to gain as many information as they can about the Templars. We do not expect them to return until the 25th at least". "Well, who will do the whole thing of him being introduced to the order?" Tirus asked "Ralph can. Ralph! Come over here!".

The man from the door came over. "Yes sir?" "I wish you to introduce this man to the Assassin Order" the man in the red robes said. "As you wish" the assassin said. The assassin went downstairs and was gone for a few minutes before returning. With metal that was quite red, the assassin wrapped the metal around Alexander's finger. "Argh! ARGH!" Alexander screeched. "It's over already, don't cry" the man from the doorway said. "Now, follow me". The man went down and Alexander followed. The man went out of the headquarters and began to climb up the ladder that was literally on the left from the door. How did Alexander miss that? "You except me to follow you up the ladder?" Alexander asked. "Hurry up" the man answered with frustration. "What's his problem?" Alexander thought and climbed up. Once on the roof, ahead was a rather thick piece of plank, that is hanging over the side of the roof. "I want you to jump off and land into the haystacks that is below" the man said. "You want me to kill myself?" Alexander asked "Just go" the man answered. Alexander tried to go back down the ladder but the man got the blade that was hiding in his sleeves and put it near his neck. "Now". Alexander walked over to the think plank. Looking down, he saw a small pile of hay. Ice ran down his back. "I think I might ski--- WOAH!" and before he knew it, Alexander was falling from the roof down into the haystacks. Alexander closed his eye to meet his doom, but surprisingly the hay was as if landing into a big pile of pillows or marshmallows. Alexander got off and touched himself on his arm. "I'm... I'm alive!" Alexander laughed. "WOOHO--" and then darkness.

January 23rd, 1718

Alexander woke up in a bed. Looking over him was Tirus and the red-coloured robe man. "Sorry for that" Tirus laughed "You screaming 'WOOHOO' will alert the Templars. We basically saved your life". Alexander shrugged "Seems legit". "So you're an Assassin now... Are you sure you wish to be one?" Tirus asked "What kind of question is that? Hell yeah!" Alexander laughed. "Your life is at risk as soon as the Templars gain knowledge about you. You can die at any moment, you can..." "Yeah, yeah I know! I'm used to it. Have you not forgot my past occupation?" Alexander said "And what was that?" the red-coloured robe man asked. "A highwayman!" Alexander burst out laughing. Tirus sighed and shook his head. "Well, I'm going to have you train stealth and the greatest part about being an assassin..." "The robes?" Alexander asked "That's the second greatest part. The first is assassinations. The weapons. Once you past training, the amount of weapons and the amount of targets you get is insane. However, it is also a big risk as well. Our targets range from minor threats to the biggest threats mankind have ever known. It doesn't really matter whenever if you're an novice or a master assassin. Or they care about this destroying the Order" Tirus explained. "Well, will I be getting one of those hidden blades thing in the training ground?" Alexander asked "Yes, indeed you will. You'll get to keep it forever once you complete the training. Now follow me to the training ground." the two began walking until Alexander noticed that the red-robed man was gone. "Hey, where did that red-coloured robe man go?" Alexander asked "He disappeared into the thin air with a blink in the eye. It's typical for Mentor Assassins to do this. Them disappearing as quick as light and as quiet as silence is as easy as us walking or talking. Now, we shouldn't waste anytime, we must go to the training ground now. Come on - and don't ask any questions along the way!" Tirus warned. "Yeah yeah" Alexander said and the two began to walk towards the training ground.

Chapter 13: Hardcore Training... and killing.

It didn't take long to reach to the training ground, and once they did Alexander was quite surprised. The training ground looked as if it was apart of a small town in the countryside. Three houses made by straw, one of which have an giant pit of hay next to it. The ground was made out of dirt and are surprisingly realistic, with some little weeds growing from the dirt that Alexander presumed was fake. Littered across the small piece of town was dummies dressed up in Alexander guess are Templar outfits. They all seemed to be holding rifles and pistols, very much like the authority that Alexander faced back when he was still a highwayman. Alexander looked around for a final time, embracing the amount of time it took to build this small set. "Very good indeed. How long did it took to be made?" Alexander asked "That I'm not sure. I'm guessing at least a month or two, keeping in mind that all of those houses were built from scratch from supplies provided by our allies. Lots of dedication and hard work went to this find piece of training ground. But enough about that!" Alexander turned to Tirus. "I'll provide you with the hidden blade. Go wild and kill those dummies in a way you'd typically do it. Afterwards, I'll show you how I do it". Tirus handed over his hidden blade and placed it nice and tightly in Alexander's long shirt. "Go wild" Tirus grinned. Alexander nodded and ran towards the dummies. As if they were shooting, Alexander rolled and dodged, slid and jumped until he reached to one of the dummies and slit it's throat with the blade. He then ran to a dummy that is on the top of one of the straw houses. Alexander quickly climbed the ladder and stabbed the dummy in the back of the throat, before fully decapitating the dummy and kicking the dummy far as if it was a football/soccer ball. As Alexander swiftly but loudly went towards his next dummy-victim, Tirus learnt Alexander's skills. Though he is good at killing and dodging, he is terrible at stealth Tirus regarded. Alexander jumped and stabbed the last dummy in the left eye, before jumping to the ground and slitting it's throat. Alexander turnedto Tirus and took a bow. "Now, show me your ways" Alexander laughed, as he detached the hidden blade from his wrist and throw it to Tirus. Tirus attached it to his arm and laughed. "I'll show you how a professional assassin do it" Tirus grinned as he faced the first dummy.

Like a ninja, only not a ninja but an assassin Tirus ran up to the roof and tackled the dummy onto the straw of the roof before sounds of a blade going into it's throat several times could be heard. After, Tirus jumped into the haystacks. After a few seconds flew by, Tirus jumped out and, from behind slit the throat of the other dummy. Tirus quickly killed the remaining dummies so quickly, that Alexander couldn't recall what he exactly did. It was that quick. Soon, Tirus is standing in front of Alexander. "Here, I bought you an souvenir" Tirus grinned as he throw one of the dummies' head towards Alexander. Alexander laughed "I'm touched". Then, the red-colored robe man appeared. "Templars" he said as the red-coloured robe man suddenly fall to the ground, which exposed a sword, stuck on his back. "Oh shit, how did they find us?!" Alexander said, getting out his tomahawk "I'm not sure, but we are about to find out" as the two began to run out of the training arena and towards the main hall.

Scattered around the main hall was Templars and Assassins clashing about. Already, there was bodies of Templars on the red carpet, who finally lived up to it's name. "How did this happen?!" Tirus shouted. An assassin ran up to Tirus, gasping for air. Blood was scattered all over his face; unlike the other assassins he wasn't wearing his hood. "The Templars... They somehow found us... Richard... Slaying... Assassins... Dead... To much... At least.... 800..." He mumbled. He struggled to say full sentences, as if he had an disorder. Tirus looked worried. "Where are they? How come they aren't here now?" the assassin turned around and saw about to point before he was stabbed by an Templar in the throat. With his sword in his hand, Alexander stabbed Templar in the throat too. Both the assassin and the Templar fell onto the ground, obviously they were dead. "Let's go and face Richard" Alexander suggested. "No... We... I honestly don't know what to do". Tirus looked at the doors. Two wooden planks were nailed, making the door being unable to be open. Finally, all of the Templars were dead and the assassins ran up to Tirus. "At last, an experienced Assassin. We are struggling to clash back against the Templars" "Where are they?" the assassin turned and pointed at the wall. "Yo Tirus, I think this dude is crazy" Alexander laughed "No, you fool it's a secret wall! Go, activate it" the assassin ran up to the wall and tapped onto it twice. All of a sudden, both slowly and loudly the wall began to open. "You two go in first. I'll make sure the door doesn't bust open!". Alexander and Tirus ran up to the moving wall and ran into the slowly opening gap of the secret wall. Inside was as if it was a cave. Both Alexander and Tirus could hear the echoes of screaming and swords clashing. Once they arrived in a rather short amount of time, they saw blood all over the ground. For every blood puddle is around two assassin bodies. A group of assassin bodies was in the middle of the room, and on top was Richard, who seemed to be laughing with his sword swinging in the air. Around Richard was the Templar soldiers, who colored their red and white suit into a fully red suit. "The Order will fall!" Richard laughed. Richard saw Tirus and Alexander and grinned. "Lads, get him". Within seconds, at least 15 Templars began running for Tirus and Alexander. "Let's fight them!" Alexander said bravely but Tirus grabbed Alexander and began running. "Dude, why are you scared?" Alexander complained "Fifteen Templar soldiers may be easy, but with Richard we will be overrun. We might as well get out of here. And fast". Alexander and Tirus got out of the now fully opened door, exposing the now not-so-secret-secret-door. Alexander and Tirus ran to the door which magically had the wooden planks off the door. Tirus and Alexander smashed through the door and ran to a couple who was riding a horse. "Stand and Deliver, get off or die!" Alexander threatened. Quickly, the couple got off quickly and Tirus and Alexander hopped onto the horse and began to ride away. Alexander turned and saw the Templar soldiers complaining and swearing, before releasing their rage by stabbing the couple in the heart. "Those maniacs just killed two civilians!" Alexander gasped. "That is the Templars for you. We'll get our vengeance soon..." Tirus sighed. "Where are we going now?" "Scotland" Tirus responded. "London to Scotland?! That will take a century!" Alexander complained. "We must gain as much information as possible. There is another Assassin headquarters there. Hopefully that one hasn't been raided yet" Tirus said. "Wait... What happened to the other colored robe dudes back there?" Alexander asked "Probably killed. If their leader, the red-colored robe 'dude' is dead then the rest is probably dead too. But the fact that we didn't see their bodies is strange..." Tirus shook his head "We are over thinking this. Let's just focus on getting as far as we can without getting detected. Then we'll find camp and call it an night" Tirus suggested "Sound's like a plan" Alexander responded.

Chapter 14: The Path to Scotland

After a few hours have past by, Alexander and Tirus decided to call it a night. They found a nice camping area which are quite close near the road, yet not close enough to be seen. However, when they got off their horses they realized they have company...

"I think there's wolves nearby" Alexander said with a hint of fear. "It's alright. As soon as they are dead we can cook it, eat it and then set up camp" Tirus said, taking out a small yet still sharp dagger. "Well, you'll deal with the wolves. I'll make sure the horses didn't do anywhere" Alexander responded. Tirus looked at Alexander. "But they are right ther---" "You never know!" Alexander interrupted. Tirus laughed. "Whatever" he said before going back to focusing on killing the wolves. Glaring back at both Tirus and Alexander was five wild wolves. They are dark brown, and are quite camouflaged in the darkness of the forest. The only thing that are visible are their golden eyes and their clean white teeth. Slowly, Tirus crept up to the wolves, who were growling louder and louder as Tirus crept closer and closer towards the wolves. Finally, Tirus was a few cm's from the wolves. "Time for you to become our dinner!" Tirus said as he jumped to stab the first wolf. The wolf howled as it fell to it's chest and died. The other wolves surrounded Tirus and began to growl. "Alexander, I might need some help here" Tirus shouted out. But no reply. Great, he must be hiding on the other side of the path, Tirus thought. Then, out of nowhere the wolf attacked. Quickly but silently, the wolves tackled onto Tirus and began to furiously swipe and bite Tirus. Tirus knew that his outfit's material is tough enough to stand the biting and swiping, but for how long?. Tirus thought of a quick plan. Either rampage or strategy. Tirus settled on strategy. With his Hidden Blade, he sliced the throat of the wolf that was on top of him, but in order to fool the other wolves, Tirus pretended that he was dead and that the wolf on top of him killed him. The wolf slowly made a circle around Tirus, sniffing his body and growling. But soon, they thought that he was dead and left. Tirus pushed the wolf off his body and got a cloth from his coat's pocket and started to clean the blood stain that was on his coat. Tirus checked his sleeves. Despite badly bitten, it was still in grand condition. Tirus scanned his surroundings. "Alexander, the wolves are gone! I swear! Alexander!" Tirus shouted out. But no response. Then I'll go to you, Tirus thought. Tirus ran right through the path and went onto the other side of the forest. But Alexander was no where to be seen. Tirus scanned his surroundings again. Tirus saw blood stains on the ground, still quite fresh. Alexander got his finger and took a part of the blood and sniffed it. Still fresh, no longer than three minutes. If there is blood, then that means that their had to be a fight. But how come he didn't hear the fight go on? Tirus looked around, worried. Then Tirus saw a note. He bent over to get it and read it. "I don't have much time to write, so excuse my messy handwriting. So while I was watching you fight the wolves, I saw a coach come riding in the distance. But instead of having grand gentleman on it, it was a gang of bandits. Despite being quite a distance, they still caught my eye. They are coming right now. I saw the bandit that was controlling the horses, and in his pocket was a poem. As they came quickly towards me, I noticed a poem about William Wallace. I would write it's title, but that isn't important right now. They, they are here now. I have to go. Alright, I can confirm that they are Scottish. They told me I can finish writing my message, because I told them that this message was towards my 'dying mother'. Fools. Anyway, I asked them where they would take me and they answered "A place in Scotland you don't need to worry about", and it automatically equaled to the Templar Headquarters in Scotland. They are asking me to hurry up, so I should end the message now. Never mind my horse, leave it. Just come to Scotland as soon as possible. Tirus quickly put the note into his coat's pocket and ran to his horse before riding away under the moon's glowing light. I'm coming, Alexander. Tirus thought.

Chapter 15: New Friends & New Enemies

January 24th, 1718

Tirus rode through almost the entire night. He arrived at Scotland, just at the time when the peasants nearby were waking up. The rich weren't awake yet, which was clear since Tirus heard loud snores at the much posh and pretty houses, compared the peasants' mud and straw houses. Tirus could hardly open his eyes, so getting off and walking was right off the list. Tirus wanted to sleep, but he kept on worrying about Alexander. Is he okay? Tirus slowly rode in some kind of town in Scotland. Tirus saw salesmen and women setting up stands to presumably sell goods, such as bread and fruit. Tirus then felt some kind of pain. Alexander fell off his horse, his head smacking onto the ground. Tirus searched and saw gasping salesmen and women, before seeing them get shot and falling onto the ground, either seriously wounded or dead. Tirus was then dragged, where he must have hit a rock. He blacked out shortly after.

Tirus woke up in a prison cell... For the third time. He expected to be in the same cell as Alexander, but once his vision cleared he was the only one there. On the walls were writings, made from ink or... Blood. Messages like "Save Me" and "Get me out of here" are written everywhere. On the ground was stained drops of blood. The one most uncomfortable bed ever had rips all across it's material, and there was blood there too. Tirus went towards the bars. It was extremely worn out but are still tough. Tirus knew it was still the same day; the 24th of January. The sounds of people walking, buying, chatting, eating and laughing could be heard. It must be nearly dinner, considering that normally dinner time were the most busiest times during market days. Tirus sat onto the ground, and waited until somebody came. Finally, a guard came. He had a red bandanna over his mouth and had messy black hair that reached up to the back of his ears. He wore typical highwaymen-like clothing, very much as Alexander's outfit when they first met. In the hand of the guard was a revolver, and Tirus knew that it was loaded. The guard went up to Tirus, and with a strong Scottish accent he demanded "Get up. Somebody is waiting for you". Tirus decided to be submissive instead of violent, and so he got up and followed the guard. The walk took around ten minutes and soon enough, Tirus was face to face in a room to a strange man wearing a mask of Guy Fawkes. He had a very bright red tuxedo on with a rose in the breast pocket. "I've been awaiting you, Tirus" the man said with an English accent, which was unusual to Tirus considering he hired a full army of Scottish bandits. "What do you want?" Tirus asked "Straight to the point, hmm?. I guess that what I should expect from an assassin... Such as you" the man laughed. "Anyway, I do believe that you have the desires of stopping the Templars over at Scotland, huh? No chance. You see, Joseph gave me a deal; this entire army of skilled bandits for his alliance. I didn't waste a second and agreed! Ho ho, I still remember that time. But yes... Those were the good old days. Wait, do you even know who I am?" the man got up quickly. Tirus remained silent. "Well, I take that as a no. Very well then. I'll tell you. It's..." but then, out of nowhere the door busted open and men wearing blue tuxedos and blue bandannas came running in with spears and swords. "Oh crap, guards take care of them!". Quickly, two guards who were next to the door and two guards who were guarding behind the masked man ran to clash against the blue-tuxedo men. With great speed, Tirus ran and tackled the masked men while he was guard less. "Who the hell are you?" Tirus demanded. "Why would I tell you, huh? You're an assassin, my enemy. If it weren't for those idiots, I would've sent you to your death!" the masked men raged. "So why didn't you do it before, huh? Why did you just talked shit?" Tirus asked. "Because that's how I torment people. People are scared off me because I'm sadistic. I love watching public hangings, I love death. Of course, you wouldn't know." "Well, it's a shame that those lads interrupted our meeting" Tirus said, quickly putting his hand into the man's pocket and grabbing a dagger. "But I think it's time I'll go" before he stabbed the masked men in the back of the neck once and ran to the four guards, who were still fighting. Quickly, Tirus stabbed each and one of the guard in the back of the neck. The blue-tuxedo men looked at Tirus for a second. "Are you apart of the Assassin Order?" they asked "Yes, yes I am" Tirus answered. "Then here" they said, and threw Tirus his hidden blade. "Cheers, lads" Tirus answered as he placed the hidden blade to it's place. "Now, should we get out of here?" the guard asked "That would be wise" Tirus answered. Within minutes, they were out of the prison. "Who are you, and who were them" Tirus asked at the entrance of the jail, which turned out to have an appearance of an abandoned 6 story apartment. "We are apart of an army of assassins. Not particularly the Assassin Order, more like an independent Assassin Order. Our leader, Bartholomew De Millis were captured at that prison block before, and so sneaking into there and taking out the guards silently were beyond easy." the man explained "and where is this Bartholomew" "You are talking to him right now" the man said, smiling. Tirus looked surprise. "You look quite young to be leading an independent Assassin Order" Tirus said. "Yes, I know. But my skills are beyond many who have trained for years. Trust me. Anyway, enough about me; may I ask you a question?" Bartholomew asked 'Hit me" Tirus answered "Do you still need our service?". Tirus grinned "Yes. Yes I do".

While Tirus and his new alliance, who Bartholomew explained are called the 'Justice Order', sneaked in the farmlands of Scotland in order to reach to where Bartholomew believed Alexander are. "By the way, you didn't answer my question of who those red tuxedo men were" Tirus said. "Ah yes, apologizes. Well, they are major alliances of the Templars. They provide them supplies and equipment, from ammunition to food to even new weapon inventions. They are a real threat, and have spread like wildfire across Europe, but their main headquarters are in England. Where it is exactly, isn't known but we are right now hunting the location down. You see, when I founded this Order I had in mind of taking down these red-tuxedo thugs, who called themselves 'The Blaze Clan'. The Blaze Clan were originally founded sometime during the 1680's, and were a gang of pirates led by a man named James Wood. When James was killed by navy officers in 1715, his son whose name is yet to be known took over, but changed their focus from privacy to smuggling, murdering, kidnapping and executing. Right now, as we speak our two groups are basically at war at each other. Many of our members were killed in this still ongoing war, one of which were one of our best knights, a man from Italy named Ezio Frantello. He was killed late last year by one of the Blaze Clan's commanders, some bloke named Rufus McLachlan. Fucker decapitated Ezio and used his head as a trophy. Only ten days ago we managed to hunt him down and kill him while he was hunting with his thugs. Anyway, there is at least ten commanders, two of which are dead now. The 'Head Commander' is the child of James, who are currently in the main headquarters in England. They are still providing supplies to the Templars worldwide, from Italy to India. It's madness" Bartholomew said. "With you at our side" Bartholomew continued, "we will have a big step towards hunting them down. Aren't you at war with the whole Templar group?" "Yes. For centuries now. I read a book a few years ago about a man named Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, an Syrian assassin during the 13th century. Legendary man, he is. Died from natural causes in August 12th, 1257 aged 92. He is also the highest ranking assassin, as a Mentor. The guy is incredible, I base all of my works against the Templars to him. He is basically my idol" Tirus confessed. "Yes, interesting. We have a similar figure to him. A man named Ezio Auditore da Firenze, an Italian man who were active during the 15th and 16th century. He was quite good, being a Mentor too. He also..." but Bartholomew was interrupted by the cry of one of the Justice Order's members. "Sir, they are charging!". Bartholomew took out his sword and Tirus activated his hidden blade, as an army of Templar soldiers armed with swords and spears charged. "TO THE MEMBERS OF THE ORDER, CHARGE!" Bartholomew screamed as Bartholomew, Tirus and the whole Justice Order charged to clash against the Templar army.

It happened to quickly. One second Tirus was charging, the other he was killing. Without a second thought, Tirus dodged and stabbed his way through one Templar guard to another with only his trusty Hidden Blade. Next to him is Bartholomew, who was heading down the easy route of just decapitating their heads and moving on, instead of stabbing each one of them in the stomach and pushing them off the blade of the sword. The battle was normal to Tirus, considering that he was in a war many years ago, prior to meeting Alexander. Those times were rough, since Tirus was still a young lad who were just recently introduced to the Assassin Order through his cousin, Henry. "You'll be fine, considering your talent" Henry told young Tirus "You'll be a great assassin, trust me on that". Tirus shook off the memories and focused on killing. Somehow, while thinking back he still managed to dodge and kill. Perhaps that's how much he evolved. It did not take long until the entire Templar army was dead, though the Justice Order did lose quite a few men. "Soldiers, you alright?" Bartholomew asked. All of the soldiers saluted and answered back "Yes sir, we are". Bartholomew looked at Tirus. "You alright?" Tirus grinned "I'm better than ever". "Very good, now where were we?" Bartholomew thought for a second. "Ah yes, your friend. Oh, and about Ezio. Very good. So, let's continue with our conversation" Bartholomew smiled as the two continued their way towards Alexander. "Now, Ezio is quite a figure. He saved many cities and towns of Italy from being under Templar rule. He assassinated most of the members of the Borgia family, and even went to another country completely - Turkey!. I wish I could be him. It's sad though, he didn't live as long as you. In fact, he died on November 30th, 1524 aged 65. From an heart attack, very tragic" Bartholomew sighed. Then Tirus noticed something. How come none of the Templar soldiers had weapons?... Tirus decided to ask Bartholomew. "Well, they are a special group of guards" Bartholomew explained. "I've discovered this quite recently, in fact. The Templars have two groups; one who wields rifles and pistols and one who wields spears and swords. Prior to becoming a Templar, they must go through a challenge. Depending on how they went, they would be taken to one of the two groups. That's how it works, I've saw it all when I was disguised as an Templar soldier a few years back, around 1716. It was quite impressive, I have to admit" Bartholomew said. "Which group were you taken too?" Tirus asked "The one who wields spears and swords, of course. My group exclusively uses those. Gunpowder is too expensive, since I have to give it to each and one of my soldiers. Spears are slightly cheaper than swords, and so we just give them those and let them go wild during battles. It's obviously not the best idea in the world, but hey, I still have my Order!". Tirus looked ahead and saw a horse cart with... Alexander in it! Tirus turned to Bartholomew "My friend is on that horse cart over there. Bartholomew stood still and focused. "Yes, I do believe that is him! They are quite ahead of us, so we have to get something to go faster" Bartholomew said. "Never mind that, let's just run!" Tirus said. "Are we fast enough to catch up?" "Time to find out" Tirus responded as he began running, shortly behind Bartholomew and his entire army.

It didn't take long to reach to the horse cart. Riding the horse was another Templar soldier, and in the carts was a furthermore three Templar soldiers, but they were quickly killed by either Tirus or Bartholomew. On the top right corner was a tied up Alexander. With his hidden blade, Tirus cut off the ropes that was around his mouth and arms. "Thanks man, I thought it would've taken me longer for you to get me. We are barely half way to the prison that I was meant to go too" Alexander said. "I would of eavesdropped some juicy information. But never mind that, I've received enough information for you to be proud of me. And hey, who are those blue-tuxedo blokes behind you? Tirus explained everything that happened, how he was captured, how he was saved and how they talked about past assassins and mentors. "Interesting, nice to meet you Bartholomew" Alexander shook hands with Bartholomew. "So what information have you gained?" Tirus asked. "I think this isn't the best place to reveal vital information. We should go now." "Where too?" Tirus asked "We have a small headquarters not far from here. We can go there, it just fits all of us, if my calculations is correct" Bartholomew suggested. "Sounds like a plan" Tirus answered as Alexander, Tirus and Bartholomew got off the cart and made their way towards the Justice Order HQ.

Once they arrived, Tirus had to admit it was a pretty nice headquarters. It basically looked like a living room; two coaches facing each other, a large dresser with a candle and a couple of framed pictures on it. Hanging on top of the couches was a chandelier, coated in silver-like material. On the walls was pictures of roses and animals but also weapons and dead bodies. The ground was soft brown carpet and the walls looked as if it they were rich royals. Overall, the living room looks like a place Tirus would love to have. Once Tirus, Bartholomew and Alexander sat on the coach together and the rest of the Justice Order either got some sleep or things to eat, the three began to talk. "So, I've discovered that the invading Scottish army isn't in any of the main cities, but instead is on the coast; Wick too be specific. At Wick is an army of approximately 600,000 soldiers, including four commanders and one boss who are nicknamed 'The Iron Knight'. They are going to come to England via ships, and are planning to arrive to an hidden Templar base in Durham. There, they would sneak across England to London, where they would launch their first attack. I have also heard about invasions coming from Spain and Portugal, but I'm not sure how many soldiers there are and when they are coming. Overall, we are going to need help from the Assassin Order internationally. I was thinking about contacting the French Assassin Order, as they are the only country that I know have assassins other than England. But you tell me that there are an Order in Syria and Italy too, so I'll try to contact them too." "How about we tell the French Order to spy on the Spanish and Portuguese Templars? That way, if they should invade they'll cancel their invasion by attacking before they even past the coast of Portugal or Spain" Tirus suggested. "There are also pirates they have to deal with. It might be a good plan" Bartholomew said. "Well, how about this; Alexander is in charge of writing and sending the mail. Bartholomew, I think you should train your army. Perhaps new equipment and swords. Here's 500 pounds to get you started." Bartholomew took the cash and placed it into his pocket "I might as well do it now, not waste any time" Bartholomew announced as he left to tell the news to his army. "I'll try to get more information from the army in Wick" Tirus said. "Alone? Are you sure, that seems a bit risky" Alexander said. "Well, we will be needing as much information as possible" Tirus said. "I don't think that would be wise. How about you just assist me with what I should say to those Orders in those other countries" Tirus thought about it. "I guess it would be a pain for me to be captured and you have to get me again" Tirus said. "Alright, I'll purchase the letters. You stay put" Tirus announced as he got off and went to walk towards the closest market. The journey took at least half an hour, and once he arrived he saw a entire crowd purchasing food or trying to escape the maze of people. However, a bullet can be heard. Within seconds, the crowd began to run past Tirus, leaving Tirus facing off with an masked highwayman, at least that was what Tirus thought. Next to the masked highwaymen was four more highwaymen, standing at both sides of him. "Stand and Deliver, boy. Your money or your life!" the masked highwayman demanded. Tirus secretly activated his hidden blade as he dug into his pocket with his other hand and grabbed out four pounds and walked up to the masked highwayman to give it to him. "Is that all you have?" the masked highwayman screeched, with a very strong Scottish accent. "Aye sir" Tirus lied. "I don't believe ya. Open your coat, let me search" the masked highwayman said. "Very well" Tirus said as, instead of opening his coat he ran and stabbed the masked highwayman in the throat. Almost straight away, the other four highwaymen attacked Tirus. Tirus fell onto the ground, and knew that it was his end. However, somebody fired a bullet at the highwayman that was about to shoot Tirus. Then the other three highwaymen was also shot. Though Tirus thought it was the authority, it turned out to be Alexander. "You knew I couldn't leave you alone" Alexander said as he gave Tirus a hand. "Do you know who those thugs were?" Tirus asked" "Yep. They are apart of, basically an army of highwaymen, bandits, poachers, and house breakers. They call themselves 'Sacred Eagles'. Stupid name, but extremely dangerous. The one who demanded you money is one of their many commanders. Though I'm not sure how many commanders they have, this commander's death is nothing. But I'll explain later, do you have the letters?" Alexander asked. Tirus shook his head, before he saw a stand selling mail behind Alexander. "But now I do" Tirus said as he past Alexander and took the letters. "Let's head back" Alexander said as the two walked down the path back to the headquarters, under the falling sun.

Once they arrived, they saw the entire Justice Order asleep in their many beds, which also includes Bartholomew. Alexander and Tirus went down a long hallway, past the sleeping beauties to their room. "How come we have to sleep in the same room?" Alexander complained "Better than same bed" Tirus responded. Alexander chuckled "True". For the rest of the night, the two brainstormed ideas on how to explain to receive the other Order's help. Once they finished, the two decided to deliver it the next day, called it a night and then instantly fell asleep upon the feeling of the warmth and comfort of their respective beds.

Chapter 16: The Trip to Wick

Both Tirus and Alexander was awoken by the shouting of Bartholomew. "Lads! Lads! It's time to go!" he shouted. Tired but ready, both Tirus and Alexander got out of their beds, gathered their equipment and followed Bartholomew downstairs. "We've purchased new equipment, as well as enough horses for all of us. That's good enough for us to quickly go to Wick" Bartholomew said. "Very good, Bartholomew" Tirus said shortly before yawning. "Well, should we start?" Alexander asked. The three leaders as they, and the Justice Order went onto the horses and made their way towards Wick.

Hours past, but the crew haven't even passed half way. When the crew decide to give their horses a rest, they saw something that will make their journey much more easier...

"There!" Bartholomew whispered, pointing at one of the Templars who was on horseback. "Where do you think are heading?" Alexander whispered back "Must be Wick ,where we are heading. From my knowledge, there isn't any Templar headquarters near here" Tirus answered "So they will basically lead us directly to the Scottish army?" Alexander whispered "Most likely. We'll take the risk, it's our only way" Bartholomew said. Tirus and Alexander exchanged worried looks but agreed nevertheless. Silently yet quickly, the crew followed the two Templar soldiers on horseback, who are riding quite slowly. "This is sooo boring!" Alexander complained "Oh, don't be a baby" Tirus answered "Can't we just take them as hostage?" Alexander suggested "That could be an idea. They could easily turn around and see us and zoom off" Bartholomew said. Tirus sighed "Fine, whatever. Let's go". And so Bartholomew, Alexander and Tirus got off their horses and ran to the two Templar soldiers on horseback. Alexander and Bartholomew pulled one of the soldiers off and began kicking and punching him, while Tirus stabbed and killed the other. "Why did you kill him?" Alexander asked harshly as Tirus went to join the others. "We have one captured, we don't need another" Tirus protested. Bartholomew sighed before turning his attention to the captured soldier. "Tell us where the Scottish Templar Base is!" Bartholomew demanded. "What makes you think I'll tell you?" the Templar soldier asked with a very strong Scottish accent. "Oh, I don't know, so I don't blow your brains out" Bartholomew threatened. "I've seen plenty of my lads get their brain blown out, mate. And guess who those killer is? Yeah, that's right; you and your shite 'Assassin Order'!" the Templar soldier screeched. "That's it!" and Bartholomew was about to stab the soldier in the neck before Tirus and Alexander pulled him back. "He's our only way to stopping the soon to be big threat of the Scottish army. We cannot kill him" Tirus said. Tirus then went onto his right knee, as if he was about to propose. "Lad, if you don't tell us where it is we'll make sure your life will be hell..." the Templar soldier laughed and spit at the face of Tirus. "I've heard that too much" he laughed. Tirus wiped off the spit from his face. "Well you have some attitude" Tirus mumbled. "That's what everybody say, hah. I'm known for my this" the soldier laughed. "Put him on the horse, any one of your horse it won't matter. We'll continue our path towards our destination, only now we have an hostage..." Tirus faced and grinned at the soldier. "Been through this once already" the soldier sighed "only this time it isn't a practice". Tirus grabbed and wrapped around the soldier's wrists thick rope, the ones that are used to hang criminals - much like Alexander. Also tying his feet, Tirus laid him on his back on his horse and wrapped him onto his entire horse, which left him only being able to look directly up towards the sky. "Beauty work" Alexander chuckled "Let's just go" Tirus said as the three began to ride off once again.

Along the way, Tirus forgot to wrap around the Templar soldier's mouth, and so they nearly got caught on several occasions. They also had to get through the soldier's terrible singing skills, which finally made Tirus snap. And so, he tied the rope around his mouth and continued their way towards Wick...

"Seems like forever, this journey to Wick" Alexander groaned. "It's getting dark. We should sleep" Bartholomew suggested. "Might as well" Tirus mumbled as he parked his horse on the side of the dirt path, and onto the grass plains. "We'll camp at an empty peasant home. It's better than camping, considering enemies could see the campsite and attack" Tirus said. "I don't think there IS any empty peasant homes here." Alexander chuckled "Alexander is right. I can hear snoring from many of the homes, as well as a few people still making sure their crops are alright" Bartholomew answered. "I thought the rich got rid of the peasants" Tirus said "No, never in a quadrillion years. As far as I know, the Duke of Wick, Sir Jonathon Dove made the peasants as his source of food. All of the crops here are mostly for him and his rich friends. The ones that they find disgusting are fed to the peasants. Those are potatoes, and so potatoes are highly valuable around here. The best potato grower is the richest among the peasants, sort of being the leader of the peasants. But it's quite bad to become one though; once Jonathon hears the news and tracks down the one that have been selling all of these potatoes for profit, they'll be publicly tortured and hanged. It's a hard life, I'll tell you that" Bartholomew said. "That explains why there are so many potatoes grown here" Alexander said. "Well, how are we suppose to find a place to stay?" Tirus yawned, looking around. "We should probably continue our way until we reach to at least the forest. That way, we get the most security" Bartholomew said. "Sounds good" Tirus said as they got onto their horses. An hours past, and at last they found a forest. Exhausted and worn out, they all parked their horses in hidden places throughout the forest, but not too far. Together, they made tents where, some soldiers even slept in as soon as they built their tent. Soon enough, everybody BUT the three were asleep; even the tied up Templar soldier hostage. Sitting on logs, hunched up around the campfire the three discussed ways to get rid off the invading Scottish army. "Pirates could be an option; though their only big flaw is their trust. No matter how important you are, the person that offers the pirates more money will always get the pirates. There even have been reports of armies of pirates changing their sides to the navy only because the navy offered the army a large salary in reward. They basically betray their captain and kill those who are loyal. Of course, the navy doesn't keep their promise and instead execute every single one of the changed-sides pirates, but that's besides the point" Bartholomew said "I don't know anything else to stop them. We can always count that the international Orders answered by now, though we can't get them until we have arrived to Wick" Tirus said. "Maybe we should do that. Just ride to Wick, find a place to stay and gather the mail and figure a way out. There is no point on wasting countless amount of time finding a way to find a short-cut, might as well get it over and done with" Alexander said. "It is still quite far, but I am quite certain that we have passed the half way point. Maybe another five to eight hours, and we should be set" Tirus said. "Now, let's get some sleep lads. I think we really deserve it".

January 25th, 1718

A loud bang was the alarm clock to wake up everybody. Rushing out, the realized they were right in a middle of a shootout. It seems the people that were in the shootout didn't really see the tents and horses. "Just give up already!" a thick-accented voice demanded. Neither one of the soldiers nor Tirus, Alexander and Bartholomew could figure out where that accent was from. "In your dreams, lad!" a thick-accented Scottish answered back. Alexander instantly knew what this was. "This is a shootout between two highwaymen clans" Alexander whispered to everybody. "Though I'm not sure about the other, the Scottish accented one is probably apart of Sacred Eagles" Alexander said. "I'm sorry, but what is Sacred Eagles, exactly?" Bartholomew asked "I'll explain later. What matters is that we do not disturb their little shootout here. Trust me, as a highwayman I know that the second anybody gets in the way o fa shootout, the person and everybody with them are dead turkey. It is particularly dangerous if it is between two rival clans. So while this whole thing is happening, it's best to just gear up and prepare for our trip ahead" Alexander finished. Everyone exchanged looks and nodded to one another, before going to their separate tents to get their unique yet crucial items. Once prepared, they all mounted onto their horses. Even then, the shootout was still going. "They must be rotten at shooting if a shootout is lasting for this long" Bartholomew laughed. "This long is hardly anything. We highwayman are quite skilled at shooting and hiding, and so a shootout would normally take around an hour to complete, that of course unless an authority officer stood in and arrested you. Some of the most infamous highwaymen was arrested and hanged during shootouts. It's quite a shame, really" Alexander said, as he got onto his horse. "Anyway, I'll talk more later. We have to get out of here!". The crew rode through the forest, galloping further and further away from the shootout. Soon enough, they have officially escaped and rode onto the stone roads. "I'm quite shocked they didn't hear the loud galloping noises from our horses" Alexander said. "I'd be damned if they did" Tirus said. "Should we continue our way?" Bartholomew asked "It'd be best" Tirus answered.

Hours past and finally, they've arrived to Wick...

Once they arrived at Wick, Tirus realized he still had the soldier stuck on the butt of his horse, and so he got out a sword and slit the soldier's throat, before throwing their bodies to be torn apart by wolves in the forest. Alexander sighed. "Finally here... Hopefully we aren't too late". Tirus scanned the landing zone in which the ships goes too. "Nope. I see the cleverly disguised Templar ship from here. Regular people wouldn't see through the disguise, but I can for sure" Tirus said. "There are already soldiers on there, as well as what appears to be hostages disguised as workmen putting crates of what I presume are weapons into the ship in large crates." "What makes you think that they are hostages?" Bartholomew whispered "Once they are in, they don't come back" Tirus answered slowly. "See look?" Tirus pointed and Bartholomew squinted. "Ah, yes I see. They are all going in one direction; nobody is going OUT of the ship to get more crates but everybody seems to be going IN. Interesting indeed" Bartholomew said. "Well, how should we do this?" Alexander asked. Before anybody could answer, a man appeared. "Hello lads. May I ask why there are so many of you hunched in this little hill here?" the man asked. Tirus knew instantly that it was a disguised Templar soldier. "Quick, lads! Weapons out!" Tirus tried to say, but it was too late. By the time Tirus said "Lads", the soldier quickly screeched out "ATTACK!" and before they knew it, all they saw was pure black...

January 26th, 1718

Tirus couldn't figure out why they allowed everybody to be in one cell. Perhaps they thought that we'd heat to death or something. Fools, Tirus thought. Tirus got up and carefully stepped in the free spaces inbetween the various fainted bodies of Justice Order soldiers. Finally, Tirus reached to the iron bars and looked left and right. It seemed that they are in a barn, since there was layers after layers of hay on the ground. The walls was wooden and the roof was made out of straw. Heck, even their jail cell's walls are made out of very hard hay. It may sound easy to break through, but Tirus knew by a fact through Assassin training that hard hay are able to withstand swords, axes, maces, bullets, daggers and even bombs. They are a indestructible wall in disguise. Tirus knocked on the wall to be sure. Yep, for sure hard hay. Then, all of a sudden a guard appeared. "Right, wake up sleepy birds, it's time to do some work!" the guard demanded. Tirus thought that it was quite strange for only a guard to evacuate more than at least 10,000 men to do hard labor. Something wasn't right. "Well, open the door. Then I'll wake them up" Tirus said. The guard laughed. "I am no fool. I won't do such a stupid request from you lot - we've seen your bothersome lot quite a few times lately, haven't we?" the guard spat. Tirus sighed and kicked one what he thought was Alexander's body to wake him up. It was actually Bartholomew. Bartholomew rolled onto his back. "What?" he barely spoke. "We are going to have to do some hard labor today, I'm afraid" Tirus said. The guard coughed and Tirus turned around. "What? I was just coughing. Get a move on!" he screeched. Then Tirus saw a sharp rock. If he managed to throw it directly at one of his eyes, then he'll be distracted... For a short while. Tirus need to find something to grab onto and kill the guard. But what? Tirus looked around sharply. A spear which was ripped in half was seated on the top left corner of the cell, next to one of Bartholomew's many guards. Tirus looked at the guard "Excuse me, lad. I need to get something quickly". Tirus walked over all of the bodies and grabbed the spear swiftly. Tirus then snapped it in half as quietly as he could and hid the other half of the spear under one of the sleeping bodies. Tirus got up and walked towards the cell. "I might as well grab a souvenir" Tirus said and bent over to grab a rock. While all of this was happening, the guard stood there like an idiot, as each second past his patience start to erupt. Tirus then quickly rehearsed the plan in his head. Once he think he got it settled, he decided that now is the right time. With great speed, Tirus threw the rock. Though it didn't hit his eye, it did get his eyelid. Quickly, he fell onto his knees in pain. Tirus then grabbed the other half of the spear and threw it at the scalp of his head. After a few minutes, the guard fell onto the ground, blood began to fall down the front of his head and down onto the ground. Now all they need to do is escape. Tirus kicked the iron bars. It didn't budge. Bartholomew then whispered "Hey... I still have my sword. Strange, how did they miss that?". Tirus snatched the sword off Bartholomew's hand and sliced open the iron bars. Surprisingly, with a sword the bars are quite soft. Once freed, Tirus turned around. They are beginning to wake up, finally. "Lads, get ready. We are going to get out of this barn".

Chapter 17: Under the Sea

Once all have finally awoke, Tirus and the crew stepped out. "Uh, why is there a dead body on the floor?" Alexander asked "I killed him by throwing a rock at his eyelid and then throwing a spear I've found at his head. It seemed to do the trick" Tirus answered. The crew opened the door massive doors ever so slightly and peeked out. Tirus couldn't believe his eyes. It was literally a farm; only that is what it tried to pretend to be. Scattered around was haystacks stacked onto each other, wheelbarrows placed at random areas; this is probably so they can hide weapons behind the wheelbarrow in case somebody try to attack. The whole thing reminded Tirus of a play, where the audience see what the production wanted them to see; but behind the scenes were wooden props, some more props and wait, did I mention props?. Laid across the fresh green patches of grass was a road. The Templars must have made this so that anybody who are walking past just look at this place and think "Ah, what a charming farm. I'll just make my way then". Well, Tirus decided that he is going to ruin the little play. But beforehand, he need to make sure that the coast is clear. Tirus closed the door and told the crew "We need a plan before leaving this barn. Have any ideas?" Tirus asked. There was a few seconds of awkward silence before Alexander finally broke it. "I got one, but it's quite risky..."

Everybody knew the plan. It was either now or never. Tirus started off by throwing the badly hand-made firecracker as far as he can. As soon as it landed near a bush, it began to crack and crack and it quickly gathered four armed guards. "NOW!" Alexander said and they all ran towards the distracted guards. With great speed, the crew knocked out the guards and looted their supplies. Bartholomew, Tirus and Alexander took the weapons that was on the guards while the rest took the equipment. "Hey! They're getting away!" a guard from afar noticed. "Shit, we have to get out of here. Quick" Alexander said. They all began running into the woods, past the still bursting firecracker and the bush. From behind, bullets flew by, and some were even shot - however, they manage to continue running. Then finally, one guards screamed and the sound of a body falling onto the ground was heard. "We have to ignore them" Tirus told Bartholomew, after he saw him about to turn around. "We are very limited in equipment. They have more supplies than us. We have to get out of here". Bartholomew very silently continued running, ignoring his fallen comrade to lay there to be killed under the hands of the Templar guards behind. Finally, they lost track of the chasing guards and took camp in the middle of nowhere. "I can't believe we lost one of our soldiers" Bartholomew finally said. "It's just one, Barth. No biggie" Alexander answered "Well, if the Scottish really have 600,000 soldiers - probably more by now, we need as many soldiers as we can to battle back." "Well, here's the thing. The ships prior, from what I know, is around the thousands. There is no way in hell that they could store up crates that quickly into all of the ships. The ship deck is completely quiet right now, as it's too early..." "And how do you know that?" Tirus interrupted. Alexander sighed "Back when I was a highwayman, I used to steal and break crates from the ship decks around Bristol to get my hands onto supplies, so I can sell it to other people for a larger profit. I know that the ship deck becomes full out busy around 11:00. Judging from the sky and all, it's approximately 8:30. That gives us two to three hours or so to get ourselves to the ship decks. Than we can perhaps hijack one and... Well, we'll think of a plan then" Alexander finally finished. "Well, I guess we could gear up from one of those ships. But will those really be enough to battle back the 600,000 and probably more army of Scottish templar soldiers?" Bartholomew asked. "It must have. Why would they gear up crates full of weak junk? They want to gear up tough, rare and reliable equipment to battle back the Assassin Order. That's very typical of them" Tirus said. "Well, we can't simply go onto the ships in full view. We need to get there with stealth" Bartholomew said. "Ah, and that's when I come in" Tirus grinned.

"... So you expect us to SWIM into the water all the way to the ships, get up and then hijack it?" Bartholomew said. "Yes. It's very simple. As far as I remember, there is a local fish shop quite nearby the ship deck. We can head over there with stealth, swim underwater towards the ships, pop our little heads out, climb abroad and embrace the crates of gold" Tirus said. "And what if we can't swim?" Bartholomew said. "Well, you can stay here with your troops. Me and Alexander can go then" Tirus answered. Bartholomew thought about ti for a few seconds. "Hmm. Very well, it sure darn sounds like a plan" Bartholomew said. "Right, Alexander let's get going" Tirus said. "Wait, before you go" Bartholomew said, stopping both Tirus and Alexander dead on their tracks. "Good luck". The three friends exchanged good handshakes before Alexander and Tirus left.

It was dark that night. The only noise was Alexander's heavy breathing and Tirus's heart rapidly beating. The two knew what the Templars could do to them if they should be captured. Being captured isn't an option, they have to get out of there alive and free. The two made it to the shop, which is called 'Seaside Snacks'. Ahead of them was eight or more large battleships. "Wait, Alexander" Tirus said all of a sudden. "What?" "I see guards" he said. "Look closely". Alexander did what he was told and saw a few Templar guards walking up and down the ship, in their hand their weapon and in the other a torch. "They must've changed" Alexander said "Back then, the ships would be deserted during this time". "Well, we still need to equipment. We have to get as much equipment as we can; even if that means we have to fight all of the guards on one of those ships" Tirus said. "How long can you swim for?" Tirus asked "Long enough to reach to one of those ships" Alexander answered. "Right, that's good enough. Let's go". The three dove as quietly as possible into the water and swam underwater towards one of the ships. Once they bumped or touched into the wood of one of the ships, they poked their heads out of the water. "I... Nearly... Drowned" Alexander panted. "You won't going to like getting out of here then" Tirus said "But it's too late now. Come on, let's get going". The two climbed onto a very slim piece of wood, that was poking out of the ship very so slightly. A net was attached onto the ship's wall, which provides a way to get up and down. "What's the point of this? Just some piece of wood hanging out of the ship with a net to get up and down" Alexander laughed "They are stupid". "There is a reason for it; but I'll explain later. Oh, and don't laugh - we could've been caught". Tirus climbed up the net, and poked his head out before quickly ducking down. "There is four soldiers altogether. Two is on the deck and another two is just walking all over the place" Tirus whispered. "Psh, easy" Alexander spat. "One thing; we have to kill them without anybody on the other ships noticing" Tirus said "That means as quietly and quickly as possible". Alexander turned around and sighed in relief. "Good thing there isn't a ship behind us".