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Description
November 8, 1811; Prophetstown, Indiana Territory

The newcomer rushed over to the edge of the cliff and looked in horror at the sight of Prophetstown going up in flames. He seemed on the verge of tears, but his expression shifted to one of pure fury. He turned on his heals towards Tenskwatawa, completely ignoring the presence of Aveza and Arnold. He sauntered toward the Prophet, who by that point was sweating nervously, his eyes wide and his lip shaking.

“Tecumseh… I…” he tried to say, but he was interrupted when the furious man grabbed him by the collar of his cloak and shook him hard.

“What has happened?” he shouted in the Prophet's face. “By the Great Spirit, what did you do?” Aveza tried to step in, but Arnold indicated that she should stay back.

“I… I… Brother…!” the Prophet frantically stuttered.

Tecumseh shook him again. “Don't you dare ‘brother’ me you moronic dog!” he shouted. “You don't get to call me that when you let our entire base of operations get burnt to the ground! Now tell me: What! Did! You! Do?”

“The Templars… They… We…”

Tecumseh’s jaw dropped and his face turned redder. “You attacked the Templars, didn't you?” he yelled. The Prophet stayed quiet out of fear. Tecumseh threw him to the ground.

“I told you not to attack!” he yelled at his quivering brother. “I told you to wait until I returned! Then we would deal with the Templars! You had one job! And you couldn't even do that! And look what has happened because of it! You arrogant, useless, drunken-!”

“Alright! That's enough!” called Aveza, who stepped between Tecumseh and the Prophet before the former could swing a punch at the latter. She held her arms out to separate them.

“We've got enough problems with fighting the Templars. Let's not waste our energy fighting each other.”

Aveza stared straight into Tecumseh’s furious eyes, and he stared back. He was breathing heavily. He looked down at his brother, then back to Aveza. He hung his head.

“Go,” he said harshly to Tenskwatawa. “Get out of my sight before I kill you myself.”

The Prophet didn't hesitate. He scrambled to his feet and took off in the direction of the evacuating citizens. Aveza, Arnold, and Tecumseh were left alone. Tecumseh went back over to the cliff edge, and he looked back at the burning settlement. His anger was now replaced by sadness. He hung his head.

“I told him to wait…” he said in a half-whisper.

Aveza walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “You'll rebuild,” she said calmly. “Whatever the Templars tear down, we can always build right back up.”

Tecumseh gave a half-smile. “Yes… I suppose you're right…” he said.

He pulled himself together and then turned to face Aveza and Arnold.

“I am sorry for my outrage,” he said. “No doubt it gave a bad first impression...”

“No kidding,” said Arnold. Aveza elbowed him.

“It's quite alright,” she said. “I feel like you were right to be angry… just not that angry.”

Tecumseh nodded. “Perhaps,” he said. “Well, I suppose I should properly introduce myself. I am Tecumseh, leader of the Assassins against the Templar conquest of the Native peoples of these western territories.” He gave a short bow. Aveza and Arnold did the same.

“Aveza Deryn,” she said. “From York.”

“Arnold Bellamy,” said Arnold. “From London. Aveza and I were sent here by Connor to aid you and your brother.”

“Ah. I see,” said Tecumseh, warming up to his new allies. “You're here to help with the Precursor temple.”

Aveza and Arnold looked confused. It seems like Tenskwatawa was also lying about what they were sent there to help with. Not the Templar camp, but a temple?

“Sorry, the what?” asked Aveza.

Tecumseh saw that they were confused, and so he motioned for them to follow him, which they did.

“Not long ago,” said Tecumseh as they walked through the forest, “we discovered a Precursor temple in an underground cave. We built Prophetstown nearby so that we could guard it against any Templars that came near. As you can see, that plan has not worked out as we had hoped...”

“Indeed…” said Aveza. “I'm sorry for your loss.”

“Do not be sorry to me. Be sorry to the poor people who have just been pushed out of their homes. The destruction of Prophetstown is a nasty blow to us Assassins, yes, but that's not what's important. The Native peoples, the ones whose freedoms and happiness were trying to defend, they are what's important. And they've just lost yet another home to conquest…”

Aveza took in what he was saying. She was starting to realize why Connor spoke so highly of this man. He really cared about the people he was fighting for. No wonder he was so angry at his brother's actions.

“We're here,” Tecumseh eventually said when the three reached a clearing in the forest. Aveza and Arnold looked around, confused. They saw nothing but nature.

“So… where is it?” asked Arnold. “There's nothing here.”

“To find this temple, you have to see it with your other eyes,” said Tecumseh.

“What does that mean?”

Tecumseh smiled a bit. He looked at Aveza.

“You seem more fit for the task,” he said.

“Oi!” said Arnold. Aveza giggled.

“Oh hush, Arnold,” she said. “When the man's right, he's right.”

“But I…” He stopped and sighed, knowing he would lose this argument like he lost every other one. He laughed a bit and smiled. “Very well then, my dear. Do whatever thing needs doing.”

Aveza nodded. She looked at Tecumseh.

“So…?” she asked. Tecumseh pointed upwards. Aveza followed his finger and she laid eyes on the highest branch in a nearby tree.

“Climb to that branch, then I'll let you know what to do,” said Tecumseh.

Aveza shrugged. “Well, alright then,” she said, and then she jogged over to the base of the tree and started her climb.

It didn't take long to reach the top. She soon found herself perched on the branch, overlooking the clearing below. Her view of the forest was a beautiful sight.

“So what now?” she called to Tecumseh below.

“Now you must use your other sight,” he called back.

“Meaning?”

“A sixth sense. It allows you to see things, know things, that you normally could not. Focus all of your senses into one spot, and it should hopefully be unlocked within you.”

Aveza was still a bit confused by what he meant, but she figured she'd give it a try.

She focused hard. She tried to do what Tecumseh said and focus her senses, but it didn't seem to be working.

“It doesn't come easy,” called Tecumseh. “Many never find this sense. For some it comes naturally. But most need a good amount of training to unlock it.”

Aveza was beginning to wonder if he was full of hot air, if he was playing around with her. Still, she kept trying. She closed her eyes tight. She focused hard on all her senses. She concentrated hard. And then, just as she was about to give up, something clicked in her brain.

Suddenly, she felt it: all her senses in one point in her head. She heard a low humming rattling through her mind, and when she opened her eyes, she saw that her vision had been tinted with a dark blue hue. Everything seemed to be bathed in some glowing halo. She looked at her hand and saw that it had a light blue glow. She looked down at her friends to see that they had the same glow around them.

“Woah!” was all she could think to say. “This is… amazing!”

“You mean it actually worked?” asked Arnold.

“It did! Everything looks so… bizarre.”

“Different colors have different meanings,” said Tecumseh. “Blue or white means what you're looking at is an ally or something good. Red means it's an enemy or some other bad thing. And gold means that that thing is important to the task at hand. This sense is an extremely important tool for one to have,” said Tecumseh. “Be sure to practice it so that it does not deteriorate.”

“Oh believe me, I will!”

“Do you see the entrance to the temple?”

Aveza looked around using her new sight. At first, she still saw nothing. But then, when she looked towards a giant slab of rock, she saw it. In the rock was a gaping hole that had not been there before. It's edges were surrounded in a golden hue.

“I see it!” she called.

“Come on down then!” Tecumseh called back.

Aveza nodded. She turned off her sixth sense, and everything looked normal again. She shook her head to clear it, and then looked for a route down. She saw a giant pile of forest debris below her, and she decided it would be enough to cushion a fall. She smiled and stood up straight. She spread her arms out and closed her eyes. An eagle cried somewhere in the distance as she leapt from the branch, flipped onto her back midair, and fell gracefully into the pile. She jumped out without a scratch and jogged back over to join her friends.

“So?” asked Arnold. Aveza pointed towards the giant rock slab and led her friends over to it. They climbed onto it and examined it.

“Um… Aveza dear,” Arnold started to say.

“Shush!” Aveza said. Arnold raised his hands in defeat again.

Aveza walked over to where she saw the entrance. She couldn't see it in her normal vision, and her head was a bit dizzy from using her sixth sense, so she couldn't use it to find it again. Still…

She bent down and patted around on the surface of the rock. Her hands kept hitting the solid, rough texture of the rock, until suddenly her hand went straight through it like it would through air. She pulled her hand back quickly and looked at her friends. Arnold looked with awe while Tecumseh had a look that said, “Go on.”

Aveza slowly put her hand back through the fake surface of the rock. Then, she stood up, and walked straight through it, and suddenly found herself on a bizarre staircase. The other two followed her through the hidden passage.

“How the devil…?” gasped Arnold as he entered.

“Precursor technology, my boy,” said Tecumseh. “Truly, it is a magic beyond our understanding.”

The three took in their surroundings. It just seemed so otherworldly. The walls and stairs were made of some sort of perfectly smooth material. Bizarre engravings stretched across the walls were lit up by an eerie blue light that pulsed like blood through veins and shined from some unknown force. It left them in awe.

Aveza had heard a bit about these “Precursors”, mostly from the other Assassins. Story goes that they were an ancient race of beings, older than humanity itself, with technologies that hold powers beyond human comprehension. Golden Apples, magic Staves, most of the old artifacts from legends and myths seemed to be tied to these so called “Pieces of Eden” in one way or another. They'd become weapons of mass destruction in the wrong hands…

The three began their descent down the ancient stairs. As they walked, Aveza waved her hand near one of the walls. The engravings’ light shined brighter the closer she got, and dimmer the more she pulled away. She pulled her hand back. Today was a weird day.

Eventually, they reached the bottom of the staircase. They found themselves in an enormous room with a gigantic domed ceiling and a seemingly bottomless pit where the floor should be.

“Great,” said Arnold. “What now?”

Tecumseh pointed towards a small platform on one of the walls high above the pit. A small pedestal sat on top if it. “There,” said Tecumseh. “One of us must climb up there and reach that pedestal.”

Arnold looked down into the abyss and instinctively backed away from the edge a bit. He grabbed Aveza and gently pulled her in front of him.

“Oh, Aveza, my dear!” he said sarcastically. “How kind of you to volunteer!”

Aveza rolled her eyes. “Oh, are you certain you wouldn't like to do it, Arnold?” she joked back. “I'm sure it's a lovely view.”

“Oh, I'm quite alright. You go right ahead.”

Aveza rolled her eyes again. She noticed Tecumseh chuckling a bit.

“Well, if you insist,” she said. She walked over to the nearest wall. She hooked her fingers into the little nooks and crannies of the wall and its engravings. And then she started climbing. She managed to get pretty far with ease, but once she was above the pit, she felt something bad in her stomach. She gulped a bit.

“Whatever you do, don't look down!” called Arnold.

“Yeah, up yours too!” Aveza joked back.

She focused all her efforts on climbing, trying not to loose her footing. And eventually, she made it to the platform. She took a moment to catch her breath, trying desperately to resist the urge to look down. Once she collected herself, she walked over to the pedestal.

“Alright,” she called to Tecumseh. “What do I do now?”

“Just place your hand on the glowing square on top,” he called back.

Aveza turned to the pedestal and saw the square in question. She was a bit hesitant, but she put her hand on it nonetheless. The square shined twice as bright when she touched it. There was a low humming that started reverberating through the room. Suddenly, on the other side of the room, a massive bridge began to extend from the floor. It stretched across the pit and connected with the other side of the room where Aveza's friends were. Aveza stared as she pulled her hand off.

“You did it!” called Arnold. “Come on back down.”

“On my way!” Aveza called. With that, she made her descent and jogged over to her friends. They started walking across the bridge. On the other side was the entrance to another hallway, which Tecumseh led them through. Aveza and Arnold stared at the glowing hieroglyphics on the walls. They displayed people (or something similar to people) in various scenes. One displayed a woman taking some sort of ball from a winged man with a snake-like helmet. And another displayed a heavily armored winged man wielding a scythe against the winged snake-man. And yet another displayed a hooded man with similar wings playing some sort of horn. Something about them seemed familiar to Aveza, but she couldn't put her finger on it...

“The Archangels,” Arnold suddenly said.

“What?” said Aveza.

“Those scenes. They look like the archangels don't they? Lucifer the serpent. Michael the warrior, and Gabriel the messenger?”

Aveza looked at the engravings a bit longer and nodded. “Huh,” she said. “You're right. They kind of do, don't they?”

“Several religions and myths tend to have at least some connections to the First Civilization and their stories,” said Tecumseh. “I would not be surprised if your religion does as well.”

Aveza thought about that. She looked at the angels again. Definitely a weird day.

“We're here,” Tecumseh said as he stopped them. Aveza and Arnold just stared. In front of them was a big, glowing…

...dead end. They had reached a dead end. All that was in front of them was a big wall with a giant picture of the winged man with the hood and horn. A tiny hole sat in the middle of the picture.

“Um…” said Aveza. “Tecumseh? Are you certain we're in the right place?”

“Indeed,” said Tecumseh.

“But it's a dead end,” said Arnold.

“Exactly.”

Aveza and Arnold looked at each other in confusion, then back to Tecumseh. “What?” they said.

“This is a dead end,” said Tecumseh. “For now. You see, this wall here is actually a door.”

“A door?” said Aveza.

“Yes. One that has been closed for millennia. And the only thing that can open it is the key that fits in that slot.” He pointed to the hole in the wall.

“So... where's the key?” asked Arnold.

“We don't know exactly. We believe it's somewhere in the region, but even that information is just from rumor and guesswork. All we know is that we have to find it before the Templars do. That's why I've called you here. Connor has spoken highly of you two, and I believe that you both are the ones for the job.”

“We'd be happy too!” said Aveza with a smile. She always loved a new adventure.

“We would?” said Arnold. Aveza elbowed him again.

“Ow! Alright, I guess we would.”

Tecumseh smiled. “Excellent,” he said. “Thank you both.”

“No problem,” said Aveza. “So, what's behind that door anyway?”

“That we also don't know. But whatever it is can't be allowed in Templar hands. They'd use whatever is in there for their own ambition and power. We can't let that happen.”

“You can count on us, Tecumseh,” said Aveza.

“Indeed,” said Arnold.

Tecumseh smiled again. “I know I can,” he said. “I'm sure you two will do great. Now come, we should head back to the surface.”

The other two nodded and followed Tecumseh as he led them out of the temple. They decided to go meet up with the citizens of Prophetstown to make sure they made it to safety. The Assassins had a lot of work to do.

Description
November 8, 1811; Prophetstown, Indiana Territory

The newcomer rushed over to the edge of the cliff and looked in horror at the sight of Prophetstown going up in flames. He seemed on the verge of tears, but his expression shifted to one of pure fury. He turned on his heals towards Tenskwatawa, completely ignoring the presence of Aveza and Arnold. He sauntered toward the Prophet, who by that point was sweating nervously, his eyes wide and his lip shaking.

“Tecumseh… I…” he tried to say, but he was interrupted when the furious man grabbed him by the collar of his cloak and shook him hard.

“What has happened?” he shouted in the Prophet's face. “By the Great Spirit, what did you do?” Aveza tried to step in, but Arnold indicated that she should stay back.

“I… I… Brother…!” the Prophet frantically stuttered.

Tecumseh shook him again. “Don't you dare ‘brother’ me you moronic dog!” he shouted. “You don't get to call me that when you let our entire base of operations get burnt to the ground! Now tell me: What! Did! You! Do?”

“The Templars… They… We…”

Tecumseh’s jaw dropped and his face turned redder. “You attacked the Templars, didn't you?” he yelled. The Prophet stayed quiet out of fear. Tecumseh threw him to the ground.

“I told you not to attack!” he yelled at his quivering brother. “I told you to wait until I returned! Then we would deal with the Templars! You had one job! And you couldn't even do that! And look what has happened because of it! You arrogant, useless, drunken-!”

“Alright! That's enough!” called Aveza, who stepped between Tecumseh and the Prophet before the former could swing a punch at the latter. She held her arms out to separate them.

“We've got enough problems with fighting the Templars. Let's not waste our energy fighting each other.”

Aveza stared straight into Tecumseh’s furious eyes, and he stared back. He was breathing heavily. He looked down at his brother, then back to Aveza. He hung his head.

“Go,” he said harshly to Tenskwatawa. “Get out of my sight before I kill you myself.”

The Prophet didn't hesitate. He scrambled to his feet and took off in the direction of the evacuating citizens. Aveza, Arnold, and Tecumseh were left alone. Tecumseh went back over to the cliff edge, and he looked back at the burning settlement. His anger was now replaced by sadness. He hung his head.

“I told him to wait…” he said in a half-whisper.

Aveza walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “You'll rebuild,” she said calmly. “Whatever the Templars tear down, we can always build right back up.”

Tecumseh gave a half-smile. “Yes… I suppose you're right…” he said.

He pulled himself together and then turned to face Aveza and Arnold.

“I am sorry for my outrage,” he said. “No doubt it gave a bad first impression...”

“No kidding,” said Arnold. Aveza elbowed him.

“It's quite alright,” she said. “I feel like you were right to be angry… just not that angry.”

Tecumseh nodded. “Perhaps,” he said. “Well, I suppose I should properly introduce myself. I am Tecumseh, leader of the Assassins against the Templar conquest of the Native peoples of these western territories.” He gave a short bow. Aveza and Arnold did the same.

“Aveza Deryn,” she said. “From York.”

“Arnold Bellamy,” said Arnold. “From London. Aveza and I were sent here by Connor to aid you and your brother.”

“Ah. I see,” said Tecumseh, warming up to his new allies. “You're here to help with the Precursor temple.”

Aveza and Arnold looked confused. It seems like Tenskwatawa was also lying about what they were sent there to help with. Not the Templar camp, but a temple?

“Sorry, the what?” asked Aveza.

Tecumseh saw that they were confused, and so he motioned for them to follow him, which they did.

“Not long ago,” said Tecumseh as they walked through the forest, “we discovered a Precursor temple in an underground cave. We built Prophetstown nearby so that we could guard it against any Templars that came near. As you can see, that plan has not worked out as we had hoped...”

“Indeed…” said Aveza. “I'm sorry for your loss.”

“Do not be sorry to me. Be sorry to the poor people who have just been pushed out of their homes. The destruction of Prophetstown is a nasty blow to us Assassins, yes, but that's not what's important. The Native peoples, the ones whose freedoms and happiness were trying to defend, they are what's important. And they've just lost yet another home to conquest…”

Aveza took in what he was saying. She was starting to realize why Connor spoke so highly of this man. He really cared about the people he was fighting for. No wonder he was so angry at his brother's actions.

“We're here,” Tecumseh eventually said when the three reached a clearing in the forest. Aveza and Arnold looked around, confused. They saw nothing but nature.

“So… where is it?” asked Arnold. “There's nothing here.”

“To find this temple, you have to see it with your other eyes,” said Tecumseh.

“What does that mean?”

Tecumseh smiled a bit. He looked at Aveza.

“You seem more fit for the task,” he said.

“Oi!” said Arnold. Aveza giggled.

“Oh hush, Arnold,” she said. “When the man's right, he's right.”

“But I…” He stopped and sighed, knowing he would lose this argument like he lost every other one. He laughed a bit and smiled. “Very well then, my dear. Do whatever thing needs doing.”

Aveza nodded. She looked at Tecumseh.

“So…?” she asked. Tecumseh pointed upwards. Aveza followed his finger and she laid eyes on the highest branch in a nearby tree.

“Climb to that branch, then I'll let you know what to do,” said Tecumseh.

Aveza shrugged. “Well, alright then,” she said, and then she jogged over to the base of the tree and started her climb.

It didn't take long to reach the top. She soon found herself perched on the branch, overlooking the clearing below. Her view of the forest was a beautiful sight.

“So what now?” she called to Tecumseh below.

“Now you must use your other sight,” he called back.

“Meaning?”

“A sixth sense. It allows you to see things, know things, that you normally could not. Focus all of your senses into one spot, and it should hopefully be unlocked within you.”

Aveza was still a bit confused by what he meant, but she figured she'd give it a try.

She focused hard. She tried to do what Tecumseh said and focus her senses, but it didn't seem to be working.

“It doesn't come easy,” called Tecumseh. “Many never find this sense. For some it comes naturally. But most need a good amount of training to unlock it.”

Aveza was beginning to wonder if he was full of hot air, if he was playing around with her. Still, she kept trying. She closed her eyes tight. She focused hard on all her senses. She concentrated hard. And then, just as she was about to give up, something clicked in her brain.

Suddenly, she felt it: all her senses in one point in her head. She heard a low humming rattling through her mind, and when she opened her eyes, she saw that her vision had been tinted with a dark blue hue. Everything seemed to be bathed in some glowing halo. She looked at her hand and saw that it had a light blue glow. She looked down at her friends to see that they had the same glow around them.

“Woah!” was all she could think to say. “This is… amazing!”

“You mean it actually worked?” asked Arnold.

“It did! Everything looks so… bizarre.”

“Different colors have different meanings,” said Tecumseh. “Blue or white means what you're looking at is an ally or something good. Red means it's an enemy or some other bad thing. And gold means that that thing is important to the task at hand. This sense is an extremely important tool for one to have,” said Tecumseh. “Be sure to practice it so that it does not deteriorate.”

“Oh believe me, I will!”

“Do you see the entrance to the temple?”

Aveza looked around using her new sight. At first, she still saw nothing. But then, when she looked towards a giant slab of rock, she saw it. In the rock was a gaping hole that had not been there before. It's edges were surrounded in a golden hue.

“I see it!” she called.

“Come on down then!” Tecumseh called back.

Aveza nodded. She turned off her sixth sense, and everything looked normal again. She shook her head to clear it, and then looked for a route down. She saw a giant pile of forest debris below her, and she decided it would be enough to cushion a fall. She smiled and stood up straight. She spread her arms out and closed her eyes. An eagle cried somewhere in the distance as she leapt from the branch, flipped onto her back midair, and fell gracefully into the pile. She jumped out without a scratch and jogged back over to join her friends.

“So?” asked Arnold. Aveza pointed towards the giant rock slab and led her friends over to it. They climbed onto it and examined it.

“Um… Aveza dear,” Arnold started to say.

“Shush!” Aveza said. Arnold raised his hands in defeat again.

Aveza walked over to where she saw the entrance. She couldn't see it in her normal vision, and her head was a bit dizzy from using her sixth sense, so she couldn't use it to find it again. Still…

She bent down and patted around on the surface of the rock. Her hands kept hitting the solid, rough texture of the rock, until suddenly her hand went straight through it like it would through air. She pulled her hand back quickly and looked at her friends. Arnold looked with awe while Tecumseh had a look that said, “Go on.”

Aveza slowly put her hand back through the fake surface of the rock. Then, she stood up, and walked straight through it, and suddenly found herself on a bizarre staircase. The other two followed her through the hidden passage.

“How the devil…?” gasped Arnold as he entered.

“Precursor technology, my boy,” said Tecumseh. “Truly, it is a magic beyond our understanding.”

The three took in their surroundings. It just seemed so otherworldly. The walls and stairs were made of some sort of perfectly smooth material. Bizarre engravings stretched across the walls were lit up by an eerie blue light that pulsed like blood through veins and shined from some unknown force. It left them in awe.

Aveza had heard a bit about these “Precursors”, mostly from the other Assassins. Story goes that they were an ancient race of beings, older than humanity itself, with technologies that hold powers beyond human comprehension. Golden Apples, magic Staves, most of the old artifacts from legends and myths seemed to be tied to these so called “Pieces of Eden” in one way or another. They'd become weapons of mass destruction in the wrong hands…

The three began their descent down the ancient stairs. As they walked, Aveza waved her hand near one of the walls. The engravings’ light shined brighter the closer she got, and dimmer the more she pulled away. She pulled her hand back. Today was a weird day.

Eventually, they reached the bottom of the staircase. They found themselves in an enormous room with a gigantic domed ceiling and a seemingly bottomless pit where the floor should be.

“Great,” said Arnold. “What now?”

Tecumseh pointed towards a small platform on one of the walls high above the pit. A small pedestal sat on top if it. “There,” said Tecumseh. “One of us must climb up there and reach that pedestal.”

Arnold looked down into the abyss and instinctively backed away from the edge a bit. He grabbed Aveza and gently pulled her in front of him.

“Oh, Aveza, my dear!” he said sarcastically. “How kind of you to volunteer!”

Aveza rolled her eyes. “Oh, are you certain you wouldn't like to do it, Arnold?” she joked back. “I'm sure it's a lovely view.”

“Oh, I'm quite alright. You go right ahead.”

Aveza rolled her eyes again. She noticed Tecumseh chuckling a bit.

“Well, if you insist,” she said. She walked over to the nearest wall. She hooked her fingers into the little nooks and crannies of the wall and its engravings. And then she started climbing. She managed to get pretty far with ease, but once she was above the pit, she felt something bad in her stomach. She gulped a bit.

“Whatever you do, don't look down!” called Arnold.

“Yeah, up yours too!” Aveza joked back.

She focused all her efforts on climbing, trying not to loose her footing. And eventually, she made it to the platform. She took a moment to catch her breath, trying desperately to resist the urge to look down. Once she collected herself, she walked over to the pedestal.

“Alright,” she called to Tecumseh. “What do I do now?”

“Just place your hand on the glowing square on top,” he called back.

Aveza turned to the pedestal and saw the square in question. She was a bit hesitant, but she put her hand on it nonetheless. The square shined twice as bright when she touched it. There was a low humming that started reverberating through the room. Suddenly, on the other side of the room, a massive bridge began to extend from the floor. It stretched across the pit and connected with the other side of the room where Aveza's friends were. Aveza stared as she pulled her hand off.

“You did it!” called Arnold. “Come on back down.”

“On my way!” Aveza called. With that, she made her descent and jogged over to her friends. They started walking across the bridge. On the other side was the entrance to another hallway, which Tecumseh led them through. Aveza and Arnold stared at the glowing hieroglyphics on the walls. They displayed people (or something similar to people) in various scenes. One displayed a woman taking some sort of ball from a winged man with a snake-like helmet. And another displayed a heavily armored winged man wielding a scythe against the winged snake-man. And yet another displayed a hooded man with similar wings playing some sort of horn. Something about them seemed familiar to Aveza, but she couldn't put her finger on it...

“The Archangels,” Arnold suddenly said.

“What?” said Aveza.

“Those scenes. They look like the archangels don't they? Lucifer the serpent. Michael the warrior, and Gabriel the messenger?”

Aveza looked at the engravings a bit longer and nodded. “Huh,” she said. “You're right. They kind of do, don't they?”

“Several religions and myths tend to have at least some connections to the First Civilization and their stories,” said Tecumseh. “I would not be surprised if your religion does as well.”

Aveza thought about that. She looked at the angels again. Definitely a weird day.

“We're here,” Tecumseh said as he stopped them. Aveza and Arnold just stared. In front of them was a big, glowing…

...dead end. They had reached a dead end. All that was in front of them was a big wall with a giant picture of the winged man with the hood and horn. A tiny hole sat in the middle of the picture.

“Um…” said Aveza. “Tecumseh? Are you certain we're in the right place?”

“Indeed,” said Tecumseh.

“But it's a dead end,” said Arnold.

“Exactly.”

Aveza and Arnold looked at each other in confusion, then back to Tecumseh. “What?” they said.

“This is a dead end,” said Tecumseh. “For now. You see, this wall here is actually a door.”

“A door?” said Aveza.

“Yes. One that has been closed for millennia. And the only thing that can open it is the key that fits in that slot.” He pointed to the hole in the wall.

“So... where's the key?” asked Arnold.

“We don't know exactly. We believe it's somewhere in the region, but even that information is just from rumor and guesswork. All we know is that we have to find it before the Templars do. That's why I've called you here. Connor has spoken highly of you two, and I believe that you both are the ones for the job.”

“We'd be happy too!” said Aveza with a smile. She always loved a new adventure.

“We would?” said Arnold. Aveza elbowed him again.

“Ow! Alright, I guess we would.”

Tecumseh smiled. “Excellent,” he said. “Thank you both.”

“No problem,” said Aveza. “So, what's behind that door anyway?”

“That we also don't know. But whatever it is can't be allowed in Templar hands. They'd use whatever is in there for their own ambition and power. We can't let that happen.”

“You can count on us, Tecumseh,” said Aveza.

“Indeed,” said Arnold.

Tecumseh smiled again. “I know I can,” he said. “I'm sure you two will do great. Now come, we should head back to the surface.”

The other two nodded and followed Tecumseh as he led them out of the temple. They decided to go meet up with the citizens of Prophetstown to make sure they made it to safety. The Assassins had a lot of work to do.