I knew my face was bright red. I tried to focus on something else. That something turned out to be my bowl, which spun off the table and clattered to the floor. Altaïr was laughing like I'd never seen him laugh before. I got the feeling that he understood exactly how I had almost killed myself.

   I picked up my bowl and threw it onto the counter before stomping out the door. I walked outside and took a deep breath. It was nice to finally be outside. I walked across the training grounds and into the forest. Pine needles cracked beneath my feet. I stretched and resisted the urge to climb into the nearest tree. I stopped at a stream, where I pulled off my boots and dangled my feet in the water.

   Something cracked behind me. I tensed, but didn't turn around. I could hear someone walking closer, I turned my head just enough to see the angled hem of Altaïr's robe. I sighed and looked back at the water.Altaïr stopped paused several feet away from me. I could tell he was looking my way. After a moment he jumped across the stream and sat cross-legged across from me.

   "Did you really..." he didn't finish his question as he dipped his hand in the water.

   "Did I really what?" I asked, flipping little drops of water into the air with one foot.

   "Mess up the Leap of Faith and almost kill yourself."

   I winced. "Yeah. I wasn't up very high, but I still misjudged how far away the haystack was. I hit my head on the edge of the cart."

   Altaïr whistled. "I haven't done that before, but I've come extremely close."

    Another assassin ran out of the woods. Altaïr looked at them in shock. The assassin looked like Altaïr without all of the weapons. "Altaïr! Thank goodness I found you!"

   "Ilak?" Altaïr shook his head and blinked. "What are you doing here?"

   "Al Mualim ordered you to come back. He said you don't need to kill Shay," the assassin, Ilak, said. He was breathing hard.

   Altaïr frowned. "But Shay is putting all of the assassins in danger. He needs to be taken care of."

   Ilak looked like he was going to explode at Altaïr but knew better. "Al Mualim didn't suggest, Altaïr, he ordered."

   Altaïr stood and faced Ilak. He stood about two feet taller than Ilak. "I understand that Ilak," he said quietly. "But there are some things that I won't do for him. Such as leaving an assassin killer on the loose. A very, very skilled assassin killer. I don't think you fully understand the weight of this. He could be here right now. As far as I'm concerned he can order all he wants!" Altaïr looked pointedly into the forest to the right then glanced at me, as if to make sure I'd seen which way he had looked.

   I stood slowly and moved into the woods. I didn't put my boots on, and was glad for the times when I had done this sort of thing barefoot. By the stream Ilak seemed to have gotten over his nervousness about telling Altaïr he was wrong. "I'll go back and tell him that you won't listen," Ilak threatened, casting nervous glances into the forest.

   "That's fine," Altaïr said. "It'll take you a month to get a ship and another two to cross the ocean. By the time you got back, Shay would be dead and I would be on my way."

   I walked as quietly as I could to the place that Altaïr had looked to. I didn't see any sign of Shay. I looked up into the trees and in the bushes. He wasn't anywhere around, but it was clear that someone had been here.

   "You still need to listen to Al Mualim!" Ilak screeched. "You can't just ignore his orders!"

   "I'll still listen," Altaïr said. "You could get back to him and say that I disobeyed him, but when I arrive a month after you, I could say that I couldn't find anyone going across the ocean that had room for me. That's a perfectly reasonable thing for me to say."

   I walked out of the bushes and Ilak yelped. Altaïr didn't turn around. "Anything, Connor?"

   "Nope," I said jumping over the stream to where my boots were sitting. I bushed off my feet and shoved them into my boots. "It's fairly obvious that someone was there though."

   I could see Altaïr's mind working. He seemed to be connecting dots that I couldn't see. "You can go now Ilak," he said.

   "Altaïr-" Ilak started.

   Altaïr glared at him. "I said, you can go," he growled.

   Ilak hesitated before running off. Altaïr collapsed and sighed. "And here I thought Masyaf was safe."

   "What do you mean?" I asked jumping across and sitting next to him.

   Altaïr glanced at me. "I discovered my power," he said rubbing the stump of his left ring finger, which I had never noticed was missing. "I can tell what pains people and what they're thinking about. Ilak had recent memories of assassins going to see Al Mualim and never coming back out. He's terrified of going anywhere near where Al Mualim is."

   "I see," I looked down at the silvery shapes in the stream. "So you think Al Mualim is killing them."

   "I don't think, Connor... I know. There have been signs of it everywhere, I've just never been able to see!" Altaïr looked at me. "Al Mualim is a Templar. I've seen assassins go in too see him, I just never thought about it before." He looked at me suddenly. "Why do you fight?"

   His question startled me. I thought for a moment. "Because no one else will. Everyone flinches the instant I tell them something that I'm going to do that could limit the Templars."

   Altaïr nodded. "When everything is settled here, Ezio wants to show me Villa de Auditore. After that... I'm going to stop Al Mualim once and for all."