“No,” she said.
“Why won’t you cooperate?”
She wanted to ask why he was cooperating. “I’m afraid of putting a weapon of absolute power into the hands of anyone serving an ideology. I think Monroe was right. Neither the Assassins nor the Templars should have it.”
Javier said nothing.
They soon arrived at the river, which appeared to run deep and probably freezing cold, though its current wasn’t in a hurry. Yanmei turned them north, and they followed the water up through the valley, looking for a sound place to ford it. Perhaps a quarter mile on they reached a spot where the river wrapped around a rocky point, and the water riffled wide and shallow. They crossed over the wobbly stone bed, and at its deepest, the icy water only reached Natalya’s knees.
The ox horn rock formation now lay slightly to the south of them, and Griffin redirected them toward it. Not long after that, they finished crossing the second half of the valley floor, and then ascended the opposite slope. When they reached the upper, western edge of the valley, the sound of engines rumbled faintly in the distance, and they turned to look south at the Templar camp.
Multiple sets of headlights came on and circled around, forming a train, and there seemed to be a lot of activity. The larger of the helicopters actually lifted off, its spotlights pressing down on the ground.
“Do you think that has anything to do with David?” Natalya asked.
“Most likely,” Griffin said.
“Are they coming for us?” Javier asked.
Griffin pulled out his binoculars. “They’re moving out, but not toward us.” He passed the binoculars to Yanmei. “They’re heading farther south. In a hurry.”
“Where are they going?” Natalya asked.
“You tell us,” Griffin said. “Do they know where the Piece of Eden is located?”
“How would I know that?” Natalya asked.
Javier turned a bit angry. “He wants to know if they’re headed in the right direction.”
Natalya hesitated, and then shook her head.
“Well, something has them on the move,” Yanmei said. “I wonder what it could be.”
“It doesn’t really matter,” Griffin said. “As long as they’re not headed this way, we’ll use the distraction to our advantage.”
So they turned and kept going, but Natalya periodically glanced back over her shoulder, watching the convoy of Abstergo vehicles moving down the valley, a string of twinkling lights. It seemed too coincidental that they should mobilize like that, in the middle of the night, shortly after David had fled. He had taken note of Natalya as she peered up at the ox horn rocks, which might have given him a clue as to where the Möngke Khan had been buried. She wondered if he had somehow sent the Templars in the opposite direction, to perhaps give her and the Assassins time. But time to do what?
She had to get away from Griffin and Yanmei, somehow, to find the Piece of Eden on her own. But that didn’t seem possible. At least not easy. She wished she had Javier on her side, but he seemed to have found something within the Brotherhood that appealed to him, the way Sean and Grace had both found things within the Order.
The slope upward rose unevenly, with dips and washes choked with brush and a few trees. The ox horn rocks were still some distance above them, but they were getting closer every moment that passed.
They had almost reached the point where Natalya had desynchronized when Griffin paused. “This is as near as I can get us.” He turned to Natalya. “I admire your will, but I’m almost out of patience. You need to step up.”
Natalya stood up straight, feeling the mood shift against her.
“Please,” Javier said. “It’s the Templars or the Assassins. It has to be one or the other.”
“Does it?” Natalya asked.
“Yes,” he said. “And I think you stand for free will.”
“My grandparents lived under Communist rule. Of course I stand for free will. And that’s exactly the reason I’m not giving my blind allegiance to the Assassins.”
“You are right,” Yanmei said. “But our Creed does not command us to be free. It commands us to be wise.”
“What does that mean?” Natalya asked.
Griffin shook his head. “We don’t have time for the Ironies, Yanmei.”
“What Ironies?” Natalya asked.
Yanmei offered a gentle smile. “They were written down by one of the wisest and greatest Assassins in history, Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad. Our Brotherhood seeks to promote peace, but we commit murder. We seek to open the minds of men, but require absolute obedience to the Creed. We seek to reveal the dangers of blind faith, but practice it ourselves. These are the Ironies.”
“So how do you reconcile those?” Natalya asked.
“By being wise.” Yanmei laid a palm against her chest. “I surrender some of my free will so that I might bring it to the world. As an Assassin, I stand apart.”
Natalya understood that, but she wasn’t ready to surrender any of her free will, and she didn’t think anyone should be asked to. Next to her, Javier had gone quiet. He looked at Yanmei and Griffin, and he seemed to be thinking about what Yanmei had just said. Natalya wondered if he agreed with her and was prepared to sign on. She hoped not.
“The Templars must not acquire the prong,” Yanmei said. “Please. Help us.”
Natalya knew she had to make a choice. It wouldn’t work to keep putting them off anymore. But Javier was wrong. It wasn’t just a choice between the Templars and the Assassins. Monroe had said from the beginning that there was a third choice.
“It’s this way,” Natalya said, and she turned back to the south, away from the ox horn formation. She walked toward a distant mound of earth near one of the stands of trees.
“Is that the tomb?” Griffin asked.
Natalya nodded, but she had begun to breathe harder, and struggled to maintain her outward calm. Her plan required more from her than a lie.
Javier came up beside her as they walked. “Thank you,” he said.
She glanced into his eyes. “Are you ready to give up your free will to be an Assassin? Is that really what you want?”
“I … don’t know,” he said. “But I can’t figure that out right now. The prong comes first.”
She nodded, and they closed the distance between them and the hillock. When they reached it, Griffin dropped his pack to the ground and pulled out a narrow, foldable shovel. He locked it open, and surveyed the mound.
“Where should I start digging?”
“I’m not sure.” Natalya pointed at a spot near the base of the hill. “I think the tomb opening might be somewhere near there.”
Griffin nodded and dropped to his knees, his back to Natalya, and Yanmei went to stand next to him. The rhythmic sound of the shovel scraping dirt filled the night, and she let Griffin dig for several minutes.
“This will take a while,” Natalya said to Javier. “What if Abstergo finds us?”
“I’ll be ready,” he said.
“With what?” she asked.
He pulled out his crossbow pistol. “With this. Sleep darts drop them in seconds.”
“Can I see it?”
Javier handed her the weapon, and it felt heavier than she was expecting, solid, the grip warm from Javier’s hand.
“How does it work?” she asked.
“Pull back here.” He pointed to the spring mechanism. “Pull the trigger. Reload with this lever, and then do it again.”
“And these are sleep darts?”
“Yeah.”
Natalya pulled back on the spring mechanism, raised the pistol, and shot Yanmei in the back. The scrape of the shovel stopped as Natalya reloaded and raised the weapon again. Griffin had almost reached her when she shot him in the chest. Javier had done nothing to stop her in the seconds it had taken, too stunned to move. Both Assassins now lay on the ground, unconscious.
She handed Javier back his pistol. “I don’t want to shoot you, too.”
His mouth hung open. �
��Why did—”
“Come on, we don’t have much time.”
She snatched up Griffin’s shovel and ran back the way they had just come before turning up the mountain toward the ox horn formation. Javier caught up with her, growling.
“Natalya! What the hell was that?”
“The third choice!” she shouted back. “I think David bought us some time, and I’m not going to waste it.”
The rock formation grew in size as they got closer, and by the time they reached it, Natalya almost couldn’t tell its shape anymore. But this was the place Bayan had seen. She knew it, and she knew the tomb entrance had to be somewhere nearby. The total darkness of night had passed, dawn just hours away.
“Okay,” Javier said. “Let’s say you find it. What then? How are you going to get it out of here on your own? What if Abstergo catches you?”
“I’ll deal with that problem next,” she said. She didn’t want to admit she hadn’t planned that far. “Help me look around.”
“What are we looking for?” he asked.
“Something that might indicate an opening.” She walked along the edge of the formation, scanning the ground where it met the stone, periodically glancing toward the south, hoping to see the others coming. But that would depend on David.
“What about this?” Javier said from several yards away.
Natalya hurried over to him and saw what he’d found. A carving of the Templar cross in the stone, small enough you’d have to be looking for it to find it.
“This is it.” She dropped to the ground and plunged the shovel into the ground beneath the symbol, prying up chunks of cold, hard turf and dirt. Javier knelt down next to her, helping to scoop it out and away with his hands. They’d managed to dig about a foot down when Javier suddenly jumped to his feet.
“Someone’s coming.” He already had his crossbow pistol in his hand.
Natalya turned to look, hoping it was who she thought it was.
Four figures approached, distant and vague, but as they drew closer, Natalya smiled. “It’s them.”
“Who?” Javier asked.
But that question was answered a moment later when the party arrived. Owen, Grace, David, and Monroe. But no Sean.
“I knew it,” David said.
Grace laughed. “My brother swore he knew the location of the tomb.”
“He was right,” Natalya said.
“He’s been right about a lot of things.” Grace smiled at her brother in a way Natalya hadn’t noticed before. There was a new pride in it, and respect.
Natalya turned back to the hole. “The tomb entrance is here. We just have to uncover it. I put Griffin to sleep, but he’ll only be out for a couple of hours.”
“Then we better get started,” Monroe said.
So they all took turns digging and scooping, pushing hard until their shoulders and arms ached before turning it over to the next in line. While they dug, they caught one another up on what had happened to them. Natalya felt disappointed and sad that Sean had chosen to stay at the Aerie, but Grace and David seemed to have come back together with a new understanding of each other. It had something to do with one of Grace’s simulations, the memories of a man named Masireh and his brother.
Owen then told what he’d learned about his father and the Assassins, mostly aiming the explanation at Javier.
“I have to say I agree with Monroe,” Javier said after his friend had finished. “I think Isaiah tricked you.”
“What?” Owen took a step away from his friend. “Do you realize what you’re saying? If Isaiah faked it—”
“That still doesn’t mean your dad did it,” Javier said.
“It means he might have done it,” Owen said. “Is that what you think?”
Javier scowled. “Of course not. How can you say that? Why do you think I broke into that warehouse for you?”
“I got something,” Monroe said, his arms deep in the hole.
“What is it?” Natalya asked.
“A stone slab. It could be a door.”
“Let’s dig it out,” Owen said.
They all crowded around the opening, trying to help, trying to get a look. Dawn was closer now, the light around them pale and blue, and Natalya felt a thrill that in spite of everything, they had all come back together to pull this off.
But then a low thumping reached her ears, and she pulled away from the opening, looking up into the sky. “It’s the Templars,” she said.
The others all glanced up.
“Run,” Monroe said.
“Run where?” Owen asked.
In the next moment, the helicopter charged over the hill above them, blinding spotlights pinning them against the slope. Black uniformed figures leapt from the aircraft, sliding down ropes to the ground, weapons drawn. Owen, Grace, and Javier charged them, but it was clear they were outnumbered, and a machine gun soon fired from above, tearing up the ground around them.
“Cease your opposition!” Isaiah’s voice assailed them from a loudspeaker. “It is pointless, and it might regrettably get you killed!”
A second wave of agents stormed over the same hill on foot, and there no longer seemed to be any way out. They couldn’t run, they couldn’t hide, they couldn’t fight. Natalya looked up into the spotlight, raging inside, but powerless.
“Put your hands up, everyone,” Monroe said. “I want you all to make it out of this alive.”
Agents had already subdued Owen, Grace, and Javier. Natalya put her hands up, along with David and Monroe, and soon they were completely surrounded.
Isaiah descended from the helicopter then, zipping down a line to the ground. The helicopter pulled away, taking with it the roaring storm of wind it churned, and the hillside grew quiet. The director strode over toward David, hands clasped behind his back.
“A very clever attempt to throw us off,” he said. “But of course, I knew what you were up to. It was simply more efficient to allow you the freedom to lead me to the location of the tomb, which you have done, saving me weeks if not months of labor.”
“Isaiah, don’t hurt them,” Monroe said.
Isaiah turned toward him. “Why would I do that? I might still need them, just as I may still need you.” Then he stalked over to Javier. “Where are the Assassins?”
“I have no idea,” Javier said. “We left them behind.”
“So it seems,” Isaiah said. He turned to one of the agents. “Get to work! I want that tomb open! And stay sharp!”
“Yes, sir!”
The Templars set to work digging and clearing, and Natalya could only watch as the hole she’d started grew wider and wider, revealing more of the stone door. It didn’t seem real to her that this could be happening. Her plan had failed, they had lost, and she had to wonder now if Javier had been right all along. Perhaps it really had only been a choice between the Assassins and the Templars, and in fighting that decision, Natalya had let the Piece of Eden go to the worse of the two.
When the Templars uncovered the edges of the stone slab, they brought forward two large crowbars and pried them against the door, several agents throwing their weight against each side. Slowly, the door shifted, and then tipped forward until it fell outward, slamming into the hillside.
The opening was small and narrow, perhaps four feet tall and two feet wide. Isaiah stood for a moment with a smile, and then stepped toward it.
Two agents had Javier’s arms restrained, with Owen and Grace similarly immobilized, as Isaiah strode calmly toward the tomb. But before he reached the opening, men shouted and gunshots cracked. Javier turned toward the commotion and saw Griffin and Yanmei charging in, hoods over their heads, electric hidden blades crackling.
Javier seized the moment of distraction and threw off his captors. Then he pulled out a smoke grenade and smashed it against the ground, giving him the chance to bolt away. He glanced back and saw that Owen and Grace had done the same.
The Templar agents near the two Assassins had regrouped, but Javier fired off his cro
ssbow pistol into the thick of them until he ran out of darts. Then he tossed the weapon aside and reached into his coat for his throwing knives.
At the appearance of the Assassins, Isaiah had bolted for the tomb, and he’d almost made it inside. Javier charged after him.
“Owen!”
“I see it!”
The two of them barreled ahead. Javier did what he could along the way, throwing grenades and knives to help Griffin and Yanmei. Grace had recovered and stood near her brother, defending him.
Isaiah made it through the doorway first, and Javier ducked through the narrow opening, into a low tunnel. Owen came in right behind him, and they heard Isaiah’s footsteps racing off into the darkness, his flashlight shaking off shadows around his silhouette.
Owen and Javier darted after him. The tunnel appeared to be made of brick and earth, and smelled of clay. Ahead of them, it opened into a chamber that Isaiah had already reached, and when they entered it, Owen and Javier both held knives, ready to throw them.
Isaiah arched over a stone sarcophagus, bent under the low dome ceiling. Near him, on the ground, lay piles of artifacts and the tarnished remains of several suits of armor, and in his hand, he gripped a dagger. Javier recognized it immediately. He had held one like it in the memories of Cudgel Cormac.
Isaiah now possessed the Piece of Eden.
Javier was about to throw his knife, but before he could, Isaiah looked into his eyes, and a wave broke over his mind. He had only ever felt a sensation like it once before, in the presence of Cortés in his first experience with the Animus.
On the back of the wave came an unstoppable torrent of thought. Javier imagined his parents, as if they were there in front of him. His mamá sobbed and told him she wished he’d never been born. His papá told him it would have been better if Javier had murdered someone. And then his brother appeared, screaming at him, calling him a faggot, and then he started beating him.
Javier fell to the ground under the blows, crying at the pain, only vaguely aware that he was still in the tomb. Owen crouched nearby, rocking, holding the sides of his head. Beyond Javier’s brother and his parents, he saw Isaiah calmly walking by, out of the chamber.
After he’d gone, Javier’s parents and brother slowly retreated into the shadows of the tomb, their eyes and their hatred fixed on him until they’d vanished completely. Javier choked and rubbed his eyes before staggering to his feet in the darkness.
Tomb of the Khan Page 26
