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Title: Intercept Chapter XXI
Author: Shadowwright
Game: Assassin’s Creed
Characters|Setting: Malik al’Sayf, Altair ibn La’ahad, Maria Thorpe, your siblings, you|Somewhere East of Masyaf| Nearing end of Third Crusade
Disclaimer: I am not the creator of the characters listed above or the Assassin's Creed world. Any simularities between real life people and any characters are completely coincidental. This piece has not been written with the purpose of selling anything in order to make money, it is written only to entertain fans of Assassin's Creed. While everything is permitted, not everything is beneficial for underage readers and I write for a mature audience.

On your way back to the castle, you found yourself struck with a sudden feeling of trepidation. Your breath came in short gasps and you felt a tightness form in your chest. Stopping in the street, you placed your hands on either side of your head and just started weeping. You called out to no one, “What is happening to me!?”
No one answered.
You closed your eyes and when you opened them again, you saw the walls of the inside of a cistern and you felt water pouring down over you. You heard voices echoing in the space above the opening of the cistern. You screamed “No! No! This can not be happening…I cannot die in here…I can not die in here!” You spluttered as more water flowed down and filled your mouth. You felt someone shaking you and you saw the face of your friend from the Hammam. You could see her mouth moving but could not make out any of the words that she said to you. You shook your head and told her, “I need to get my sister and brother…I need to get my siblings and leave with Maria…something is wrong…” You broke free of your friend’s hold on you and ran back to Masyaf.castle.
Malik and Altair were waiting for you in your room. Altair said, “The murders in Jerusalem have stopped since you left. I received word of this today.”
Malik said, “Why have you done this thing, (your name)? Why did you butcher these men?”
You looked down at your hands and saw that they were covered in blood. In one of your hands you gripped a blood-drenched pair of shears. You saw yourself washing the blood off your hands in a bowl of water in a bedroom. You saw yourself washing blood off your hands in a fountain. You saw yourself washing blood off your hands in the bowl passed around at mealtime. Everywhere you washed your hands there were clouds of red in the water and always more blood to clean off. When you reached for your cup to drink, you found that your drink only tasted of blood. Everything you ate tasted like blood. You closed your eyes again and screamed, “Somebody make this stop!”
You found yourself lying on your back in the darkness and could feel the pallet beneath you. Then there was light as though someone had lit the lamp and placed it on the lamp stand. You heard breathing and grunting next to you. When you turned your head, you saw your mother on her back next to you. She said, “One day, a man will want to make love to you and you will want to make love to him back. This is not it, my love…this is not it.” Tears streamed down her face and you heard crying and screaming. You saw a Templar forcing your mother. Then you realized that you were the one crying and screaming. You were in such pain and you noticed that the Templar that invaded your home were also taking their turns on you. You screamed until your voice was hoarse and your throat hurt. Your body hurt everywhere.
You felt someone shaking you hard to wake you up and a familiar sounding woman’s voice. Maria said, “(Your name), wake up! You are screaming loud enough to wake the dead!”
Your little sister said, “Maria, what’s wrong with (your name)?”
Your brother said, “She is having a nightmare. Go back to sleep.”
You sat up in your bedroll and gasped for air. Your heart rate was racing and you felt Maria holding you tight. The soft embers of the fire glowed and provided more warmth than light. Maria said, “You were not kidding about those nightmares! Can you tell me what this one was about?”
You shook your head and said, “too horrible.”
You both turned in surprise when you heard a familiar male’s voice and the jingling of horses’ bridles. Altair said, “May we join you at your fire?” Malik did not wait for an answer. He came and sat down next to you and studied your face. By now, you knew what he looked like when he was hurt and now was one of those times.
Maria said, “by all means…just take a seat.”
Your little sister watched Altair sit down near the fire and use a stick to bring the flames back to life. Your brother nudged your sister and told her to go back to sleep. Your little sister said, “Why?”
Your little brother said, “because the grownups need to talk.”
Your little sister lay back down and rolled over. She murmured, “but I can not go back to sleep.”
Your little brother murmured, “then lay there and close your eyes and act like you are sleeping.”
Altair looked at both Maria and you before he said, “Why do you take the children and leave during the night?”
Maria said, “I thought I was a guest and free to leave whenever I chose. (Your name) chose to come with me.”
Altair smiled at Maria and said, “It is true that you are a guest and no one was forcing you to stay. Why did you not tell anyone?”
Maria said, “(Your name) thought that someone might stop her from leaving and taking her siblings with her.”
Malik took your hand in his and said, “Is this true, (your name)? Do you think that you are a prisoner?”
You shook your head, “Malik, I…”
Altair said, “(Your name), what of the oath that you took when you joined the brotherhood?”
You looked at Altair and said, “Malik has made me an Assassin in name only. I have never been assigned to actually take a life. Also, I overheard Malik and you in the library…you think I probably butchered those men back in Jerusalem…” You shook your head and continued, “I do not even know who I am any more…I just know that I am suspected of murder here. If I cannot be an Assassin, then I want to be free to do something with my life that I know I can. Maria told me that we could both work as mercenaries as we travel.”
Malik squeezed your hand.
Altair said, “and what of the children? Do you intend to drag them along while you do your soldiering?”
You lowered your eyes.
Altair sighed and said, “I understand more than most the urge to leave this all behind in order to answer the call of wanderlust…to see the world and learn all that you can about it through experience. I do not have young family members in my care, (your name). Your first thoughts should be for them and their safety.”
Malik said, “(Your name), I thought that you loved me…”
Altair said, “Not right now, Malik…”
Malik stood up and stomped off towards the horses and the wagon you had purchased in town. You looked at Malik’s silhouette in the moonlight and saw that his shoulders slumped and his head hung low. You felt guilt like bile rising up in your throat from you stomach.
Maria said, “How are her siblings suppose to be so much safer living in Masyaf with a couple of men who like to snatch women?”
Altair gave Maria a look and then a wicked smile crossed his face. Altair said, “You will not complain so much the next time I decide to snatch you, Maria Thorpe.”
Maria crossed her arms and said, “You just try it, Assassin.”
You could not help but smile. Then you said, “Maria is right though. Is this really what Assassins do when they find a woman they like?”
Altair opened his mouth and then closed it.
Maria said, “Speechless, Altair? For all your talk about defending others freedom…you bound my hands and stuck me in a cage.”
Altair said, “Maria, I took you captive when you were allied with the Templar. I stuck you in that cage because you kept escaping. I seem to remember that when I did untie your hands, you kicked me in the face and ran…leaving me to fight a mob by myself.”
Maria said, “You lived.”
Altair said, “have I treated you like my captive since?”
Maria said, “You keep following me.”
Altair said, “Is that part of the reason you left in the dark without telling anyone?”
Neither Maria nor you answered.
Altair sighed.
Altair looked at you and said, “Come let us reason (your name), we have nothing that says that you were the one butchering Templar in Jerusalem. However, you have a memory that allows you to recall almost everything that you have seen. Because we believed that you were a fellow Brother…we trusted you with our maps…our books…you know the locations of our Bureaus. If you were captured and broken under torture, then the brotherhood would be compromised. Even if you were to travel with Maria, then both of you would find it difficult to find the same liberties that you have experienced while living among the Brotherhood out in the rest of the world.”
Maria snorted.
Altair looked at Maria and said, “Maria, I would travel with you. I want to expand the Brotherhood into the East and there would be fewer problems on the road if we were to travel together instead of alone.”
Maria said, “You mean that you want to keep an eye on me.”
Altair smiled and said, “Maria, if I want to keep an eye on you, then I will do it by following behind you.”
Maria picked up a piece of kindling and threw it at Altair’s head. Altair deflected the stick with his hand. You could not help but laugh. Maria said, “Malik and you…a couple of women snatching Bedouin!”
Altair said, “I am not Bedouin, I am of the Levant.”
Maria said, “So you admit to the part about being women snatchers?”
Altair said, “Enough.”
Malik returned with your bags and handed them to Altair. Recognizing her bag, Maria said, “Now wait just a minute…” When Maria moved to retrieve her bag, Malik stood in front of her. Altair dumped out each bag’s contents on the ground. Among your things, Altair found codex pages. A search of Maria’s things revealed the Apple.
Maria and you spoke at the same time, “Altair, we did not take those things…we have no idea how those got in our bags…”
Altair looked at you both and clenched his jaw. Gone was the good humor from moments ago. Altair put the items away in his robes and when he spoke, his voice was quiet and the tone suggested hurt and betrayal. Altair said, “Malik, wake the children and put them in the wagon. All of us are returning to Masyaf tonight. One way or another, we will get to the bottom of this.”
You watched Malik move out of Maria’s way and towards your brother and sister. You felt your voice catch in your throat when you said, “Malik, wait!” Behind you, you heard Maria cry out, “Altair, no!” You whirled around in time to see Altair disarm Maria and pin her to the desert floor. As Altair began to bind Maria’s wrists, Maria yelled, “Stop it!” You looked back towards Malik to see that he was already getting your siblings settled in the cart. The world started to feel like it was spinning. You felt torn between drawing a weapon to help your friend and preventing your brother and sister from being taken from you in the night. You felt like such a traitor when you chose your siblings over helping Maria.

Malik stood with his back to you, feet apart and his hand balled into a fist. You saw that Malik had hitched the horses to the wagon and tied Altair’s mount to the back. When you touched Malik’s back you had a moment to feel how stiff he was before he whirled around and grabbed you around the waist. Malik said, “(Your name), do you love me or not?”
Your breath caught in your throat. “Malik, that’s too tight!”
Malik would not lessen his hold on you. Malik rasped, “How can you do this to me?”
You squirmed but Malik only tightened his hold.
Malik said, “You will not do this to me again! I will make certain of that!”
You said, “Malik, let me go!”
Malik said, “No, I will not. You are mine!”
You slapped Malik.
Malik let go of you and looked shocked. Placing his hand over his stinging cheek, he said, “You do not slap your Rafiq!”
You heard your siblings moan in their sleep in the cart.
You tried to lower your voice when you said, “Being my Rafiq does not make me your property, Malik al-Sayf! I am not even your wife!”
Malik clenched his jaw then said, “That can be easily remedied, my pretty orphaned Jewess!”
Malik tried to grab you again but you dodged and ran. Malik chased you and tackled you in the sand. You rolled over one another until he round up on top, straddling you. Malik grabbed one of your wrists and pinned it under his knee. Then he grabbed your other wrist and pinned it under his other knee. He gripped your chin in his hand and said, “I seem to remember us in a similar position in the past.”
When you found you could not free yourself, you opened your mouth to scream. Malik leaned forward and covered your mouth with his before you could get more than a whimper out. Because his kiss was so rough and possessive, you started to cry. When he noticed your muffled sobs, Malik broke off the kiss. Once your mouth was free, you called out, “Stop! Stop!”
Malik winced and said, “(Your name), I am sorry.”
Malik moved off of you so that you were no longer pinned and you scrambled to your feet. Malik got to his feet and tried to approach you slowly, saying. “(Your name), I did not mean to frighten or hurt you. Understand that because of what you have done, I must take you prisoner…and as such you will be my property.” You drew a dagger and noticed how hard that you were trembling. Your voice sounded small and shook when you said, “No…Stay away.”
Malik said, “(Your name), surrender your blade…you know that I am not going to harm you.”
You said, “I said stay away!”
Malik said, “Drop the knife, (your name).”
You saw Altair walking up on both of you with more rope in his hands. He dashed past Malik, grabbed your wrist and threw you onto your stomach. You felt a knee pressed into your back and the knife pried out of your hand. You heard your knife hit the sand with a thud and could see the moonlight reflecting off the blade. Altair took hold of your other wrist and gripped both your wrists in one hand behind your back. As you felt him wrap the rope around your wrists, you struggled and said, “No!”
Malik’s boots entered your field of vision and you heard the soft rustle of the fabric of his robes when he knelt. When you felt Altair grab your ankles, you rolled over on your back and tried to pull free of his grip. You said, “Malik…Altair…we did not take those things…I swear! Please, stop this!” You saw Malik looking down at you and he reached out and started to stroke your hair. Altair did not stop binding your ankles and said, “We will discover what happened once we reach Masyaf.” You struggled against your restraints when Altair picked you up and put you over his shoulder. Malik and Altair walked toward Malik’s mount in silence. Once you reached Malik’s horse, Malik mounted and Altair slung you over Malik’s saddle. When Malik rode up alongside the wagon, you could hear Maria protesting haven been trussed up and dumped into a wagon. Altair took up the reins and bid the horse drawing the wagon to turn in the direction of Masyaf.