Oliver Bowden - Assassin's Creed - Renaissance

And there then began for Ezio the last long hard quest of his life before the final confrontation he knew was inevitable. With Machiavelli at his side, he organized his fellows of the Order of the Assassins from Florence and Venice to roam throughout the Italian peninsula, travelling far and wide, armed with copies of Girolamo's map, painstakingly gathering the remaining missing pages of the Great Codex; scouring the provinces of Piedmont, of Trent, of Liguria, Umbria, Veneto, Friuli, Lombardy; of Emilia-Romagna, the Marche, Tuscany, Lazio, Abruzzo; of Molise, Apulia, Campania and Basilicata; and of dangerous Calabria. They spent perhaps too much time in Capri, and crossed the Tyrrhenian Sea to the land of kidnappers, Sardinia, and wicked, gangsterized Sicily. They visited kings and courted dukes, they battled those Templars they encountered on the same mission; but in the end they triumphed.

They reassembled at Monteriggioni. It had taken five long years, and Alexander VI, Rodrigo Borgia, old now, but still strong, remained Pope in Rome. The power of the Templars, though diminished, still posed a grave threat.

Much remained to be done.

One morning early in August 1503, Ezio, a man now of forty-four, his temples streaked with grey but his beard still dark chestnut, was bidden by his uncle to join him and the rest of the Company of Assassins there assembled, in his study at his castle of Monteriggioni. Paola, Machiavelli and La Volpe had been joined by Teodora, Antonio and Bartolomeo.

'It is time, Ezio,' said Mario solemnly. 'We hold the Apple and now all the missing Codex pages are collected here together. Let us now finish what you and my brother, your father, started so long ago. Perhaps we can at long last make sense of the prophecy buried within the Codex, and finally break the inexorable power of the Templars for ever.'

'Then, Uncle, we should begin by locating the Vault. The Codex pages you have reassembled should lead us to it.'

Mario swung back the bookcase to reveal the wall on which the Codex - now in its entirety - hung. Near it, on a pedestal, stood the Apple.

'This is how the pages relate to one another,' said Mario as they all took in the complex design. 'It appears to show a map of the world, but a world bigger than we know, with continents to the west and south which we are unaware of. Yet I am convinced they exist.'

'There are other elements,' said Machiavelli. 'Here, on the left, you can see the traced outline of what can only be a crozier, indeed what may be a Papal staff. On the right is clearly a depiction of the Apple. In the middle of the pages we can now see a dozen dots marked in a pattern whose significance is as yet mysterious.'

As he spoke, the Apple began to glow of its own accord, and finally flashed blindingly, illuminating the Codex pages and seeming to embrace them. Then it resumed its dull, neutral state.

'Why did it do that - at that precise moment?' asked Ezio, wishing Leonardo had been there to explain, or at least deduce. He was trying to remember what his friend had said about the singular properties of this curious machine, though Ezio didn't know what it was - it seemed to be as much living thing as mechanism. But some instinct told him to trust in it.

'Another mystery to unravel,' said La Volpe.

'How can this map be possible?' asked Paola. 'Undiscovered continents.!'

'Perhaps continents waiting to be rediscovered,' suggested Ezio, but his tone was one of awe.

'How can this be?' said Teodora.

Machiavelli replied, 'Perhaps the Vault holds the answer.'

'Can we see where it is located, now?' asked the ever-practical Antonio.

'Let's look.' said Ezio, examining the Codex. 'If we trace lines between these dots.' He did so. 'They converge, see! On a single location.' He stepped back. 'No! It cannot be! The Vault! It looks as if the Vault is in Rome!' He looked round the assembled company, and they read his next thought.

'It explains why Rodrigo was so anxious to become Pope,' said Mario. 'Eleven years he's ruled the Holy See, but he still lacks the means to crack its darkest secret, though he clearly must know he's at the spot itself.'

'Of course!' said Machiavelli. 'In a sense you have to admire him. He's not only managed to locate the Vault, but by becoming Pope he has control of the Staff!'

'The Staff?' said Teodora.

Mario spoke: 'The Codex always mentioned two "Pieces of Eden" - that is, two keys - it can mean nothing else. One -' he turned his eyes to it, '- is the Apple.'

'And the other is the Papal staff!' cried Ezio, in realization. 'The Papal staff is the second "Piece of Eden"!'

'Precisely,' said Machiavelli.

'My God, you are right!' Uncle Mario barked. He suddenly became grave. 'For years, for decades, we have sought these answers.'

'And now we have them,' added Paola.

'But so, too, might the Spaniard,' put in Antonio. 'We don't know that there aren't copies of the Codex - we don't know that, even if his own collection is incomplete, he nevertheless has enough information to.' He broke off. 'And if he does, if he finds a way into the Vault.' He dropped his voice. 'Its contents will make the Apple seem a trifling thing.'

'Two keys,' Mario reminded them. 'The Vault needs two keys to open it.'

'But we can't take any risks,' said Ezio urgently. 'I must ride now to Rome and find the Vault!' No one disagreed. Ezio looked at each of their faces in turn. 'And what of the rest of you?'

Bartolomeo, who had hitherto remained silent, now spoke, with less than his usual bluffness: 'I'll do what I do best - cause some trouble in the Eternal City, some uproar - cause a diversion so you can get on undisturbed.'

'We'll all help make the way as clear as possible for you, friend,' said Machiavelli.

'Just let me know when you're ready, nipote, and we'll all be behind you,' said Mario. 'Tutti per uno e uno per tutti!'

'Grazie, amici,' said Ezio. 'I know you'll be there when I need you. But let me carry the burden of this last quest - a lone fish can slip through a net that catches a shoal, and the Templars will be on their guard.'

They made their preparations fast, and soon after halfway through the month, Ezio, the precious Apple in his custody, arrived by boat on the Tiber at the wharfs near the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome. He had taken every precaution, but by some devilry or the astuteness of Rodrigo's ubiquitous spies, his arrival did not pass unnoticed, and he was challenged by a squad of Borgia guards at the gates to the wharfs. He would have to fight his way to the Passetto di Borgo, the half-mile-long elevated passage that linked the Castel with the Vatican. Knowing that time was against them, now that Rodrigo must know of his arrival, Ezio decided that a quick, precise attack was his only option. He sprang like a lynx on to the mantle of an ox-drawn cart that was taking barrels from the docks, and skipping on to the higher-most barrel he leapt up to an overhanging gantry. The guards watched open-mouthed as the Assassin launched himself from the gantry - cloak billowing out behind him. Dagger drawn, he slew the Borgia sergeant atop his horse, and relieved him of his mount. The whole manoeuvre had unfolded in less time than it had taken for the remaining guards to draw their swords. Ezio, without looking back, rode off down the Passetto far faster than the Borgia uniforms could pursue him.

As he arrived at his destination, Ezio found that the gate through which he had to enter was too low and narrow for a horseman, so he dismounted and continued through it on foot, dispatching the two men who guarded it with a single deft

movement of his blades. Despite his gathering years, Ezio had intensified his training, and was now at the peak of his powers - the pinnacle of his Order, the supreme Assassin.