Apotheosis of the Immortal (12 page)

“Please get on with it. What is it you are offering me, exactly?” Elijah took a piece of fruit from the wooden bowl at his elbow.

“When rumors first started circling about the vampire-hunting Assassin who could not be killed, I immediately told William, and he told us about you. Now, what is it you want with William?” The Khan leaned back and took a gulp of wine before pushing the chalice across the table to Elijah, who swept it aside.

“What, precisely, did he tell you about me?” Elijah stared blank-faced at the Khan.

“He just said that he might have encountered the person I described a few years earlier, but he didn’t seem certain. He ordered us to kill you or bring you to him.” The Khan took a deep breath and reached across the table to retrieve his cup.

“A Khan taking orders from a vampire.” Elijah smiled.

“Just tell me what you want with him.” The Khan drummed his fingers on the table and took another sip.

“I’m going to kill him.” Elijah’s voice was monotone and his face was again expressionless. Wine spewed from the Khan’s lips, and he leaned forward to keep from choking as he cackled. He cleared his throat and sat in silence for a moment.

“I will give you that opportunity, if you help me first.” The man’s brow furrowed and he took another swallow of wine.

“How can I help you?” Elijah’s eyes narrowed.

“You can allow me to complete my charge.” The Khan pulled a jug of wine from beneath the table and filled his goblet again before maneuvering into a more comfortable position.

“Allow you to take this fortress, you mean.” Elijah spoke bluntly.

“Not just this one, but Alamut as well. There is a library there, correct?” Elijah didn’t speak. “Ever since William has taken his place at my brother’s right hand, he has set our forces to raid every library known to man. I don’t know what he is looking for, but I would have it finished.” The Khan grabbed the jug and began to drink directly from it.

“I would have you kill him… William, I mean. I would have you kill them all.” The Khan looked up at Elijah, who made sure he remained expressionless. “William has my brother’s ear, and he whispers into it, pulling his strings like a puppet master.” The Khan paused momentarily and wiped wine from the corner of his mouth. “Well, what do you say?”

Elijah rubbed the thick bristles on his chin as he considered the Khan’s offer. He thought about Hassan and all he had learned at Alamut… but then his thoughts turned to Sara and his family, and then to William and Solomon.
This might be his only chance to find the murderers.

“You will allow everyone who surrenders to leave unharmed, and you will take no prisoners.” Elijah watched the Khan as he shifted nervously in his seat; obviously he was not used to taking orders.

“Very well, I give you my word.” The Khan extended his hand to Elijah.

“If you don’t do as you say, I will cut down your entire army, your family, and I will burn everything you love to the ground.” The Khan’s eyes widened with shock as he raised his brow. Elijah rose from his table and walked towards the exit.

“And her, I want her.” Elijah turned around and pointed at Ayda just before he reached the opening.

“I am not a slave.” Ayda jump from her seat and looked at Elijah with disgust.

“I’m sorry Elijah, she is my best servant, and, as she made very clear, she is not a slave.” The Khan leaned his head to the side and scratched the right side of his head. Elijah looked at him and then at Ayda, who was staring back at him, the grin on her face a boast.

“Please, for the sake of you own men, take time tonight, as you are sitting with your generals and planning out your strategies, to consider one basic fact, one deadly certainty.” Elijah took a couple steps back towards the Khan.

“There is only one way to that fortress. You have to climb down that hillside. Just remember, whenever and however you decide to come down, nothing will change the fact that I will be waiting at the bottom, and I don’t sleep.” Elijah glanced over at Ayda and smiled before turning to leave.

“Wait.” The Khan’s voice sounded defeated. Elijah’s smile widened as he turned to face the Khan. “Take her; she’s yours.”

“What?” Ayda shouted in protest.

“I’m sorry, Ayda; I have no choice. Have we reached an agreement, then?” The Khan ran fingers through his dark hair as he looked up at Elijah.

“I will be back in the morning. Make sure there is a tent ready for me. I’ll need a bed, and a table with a bowl of fresh fruit. And make sure I have an extra room in the back as you have.” Elijah nodded toward the overlay in the cloth behind him.

“Is that all; are you sure there is nothing else?” Hulagu Khan rose from his chair and shrugged his shoulders.

“Just wine, a few jugs of that wine. Chain her in my tent until I get back.” Elijah watched as Ayda dropped her chin to her chest; her beautiful dark hair hung like a silk blanket over her face as she folded her arms.

“Leave someone there to tend to her needs, a woman. Make sure she gets whatever she requests, and make certain your men know, no matter what happens, they are not to touch her.” Elijah walked to the edge of the tent and disappeared into the camp.

Chapter 22

After leaving the
Khan’s tent, Elijah spent a few hours in solitude. He knew how much Hassan depended on him, how high Hassan’s hopes would be now that they had forced the Mongol horde to retreat, and how upset he would be when Elijah informed him of the new direction he must take.

Hassan was a proud and stubborn man. He believed in planning and preparation, numbers, thick walls, and in the art of intelligent warfare. But beyond that, once he had done all he could, Hassan slept peacefully, foolishly believing everything was and would always be as God willed it. This was exactly why Elijah believed neither Hassan nor any of his men would surrender; they would die in that fortress when the sun came up.

Elijah had never met a more intelligent man, which made it all the more confusing for him, how a thoughtful philosopher of sorts could find his peace in answers that only created larger and more complex questions. There was no reasoning with the man; he was too stubborn when it came to his convictions.

Still, Elijah had to try.

On his way back to the fortress, Elijah was still wrestling with what he had just done to Hassan and his men. He told himself he didn’t have a choice. He had to find his father and avenge his family, and this was the only glimmer of hope he had found since he last saw his father.

This was his life. Besides, Hassan and his men had already forced him out. He was under no obligation to them, and he wasn’t a fool; he had no illusions about who he was. He knew he wasn’t a good man, not anymore.

So why couldn’t he rid himself of this miserable feeling? Why did he feel guilty about betraying a man who had just betrayed him? Perhaps it was because he knew if he couldn’t convince the big man to leave, then Elijah would be consigning him to death. Perhaps it was because Hassan had been Elijah’s only friend since he had lost Sara. Perhaps it was because Hassan had probably saved his life earlier that day.

Elijah didn’t know… perhaps it was because he understood the reasons for Hassan’s betrayal. Elijah knew Hassan had done everything he could to help him, not just with weapons, but also with his soul. He had tried to help Elijah find peace, and when that didn’t work, he had tried hard to make the brotherhood find a place for him, to allow him to stay.

It was only after Elijah had burned down every bridge Hassan had built for him that Hassan was forced to deceive him, to bring him here, perhaps still hoping Elijah might prove himself indispensable to the leaders and be allowed to stay. It seemed Hassan was still looking out for him, as he had since the beginning.

But Elijah had to find his father; he couldn’t renege on his deal with the Khan, not now that hope lingered just beyond the horizon.

He would have to find a way to force Hassan to surrender. Elijah swallowed hard and took a deep breath before entering the fortress.

Chapter 23

Hassan and Elijah
argued for hours. “We have their backs against a wall. If you would just continue with us, we can win.” Hassan pleaded.

“This is the only chance I’ve had, after so many years of searching, to confront the man who killed everyone I loved, nearly everyone I knew.” Elijah slammed his hands down on the table where Hassan was sitting. “If I don’t take this chance, there might never be another; I cannot risk that.” Elijah rocked back onto his feet and continued pacing back and forth across the stone floor. “If you surrender, he has promised me that no harm will come to any of you; you can all go free.” Elijah stopped pacing and turned to face Hassan.

“We will not surrender.” The imam shouted from his seat at Hassan’s side.

“I am speaking to my friend!” Elijah was growing more and more frustrated. “Hassan! Look at me!” Hassan raised his head from his hands and looked Elijah in the eye. “Please don’t listen to this old fool.” Elijah motioned to the imam.

“That is quite enough Elijah.” Hassan rose from his chair and stared down into Elijah’s eyes. “You are speaking out of turn, my friend.” Hassan held his stare for a few moments more before turning around and walking to the front window of the high tower. For a moment he just stood, gazing out at the huge force resting below him on a rise in the valley floor.

“Have you ever seen such an army, Elijah?” Hassan seemed mesmerized by the sheer size of the force. “I want you to know that I do not blame you for this. This is not one man’s fight, and I apologize for the way I brought you here.” Hassan didn’t give Elijah time to speak. “Your path is away from here, and our path together seems to have come to an end. Go now, Brother and find the answers you seek.” Hassan closed the shutters and stepped away from the window. He took a deep breath and sighed before turning towards Elijah.

His strong body had aged since he and Elijah had first met. He wondered why he hadn’t noticed it before; it seemed so obvious now. Shades of silver and white streaked just above Hassan’s temples and threaded through his beard. The skin around his eyes looked thin and sagged gently; wrinkles spread from the outer corners of his eyes like rivers flowing into the sea. He looked weary.

As he raised his eyes from the floor, Elijah saw something in them he had never before seen there; still, he recognized it. In that instant it seemed as if all the labors of Hassan’s body had finally caught up with his mind and he was tired. It seemed he was now longing for death, the way Elijah had longed for it for as long as he could remember. And it was not longing in the way a religious man joyfully embraces death in greedy anticipation of receiving all he has been promised. It was the simple desire to close one’s eyes in hopes that it would be for the last time. Elijah finally saw what Hassan had become; despite his speed and strength on the battlefield, he was an old man.

“Hassan, don’t stop fighting yet, not yet!” Elijah begged urgently.

“I will not stop fighting, not until they break through those walls and put me down. That I promise you.” Hassan walked back to the table and took his seat once more.

“No, Hassan! You are stopping, giving up, quitting. Men like you and I have nothing. We know nothing but war and death; we love nothing, except the way the iron feels in our hands and the perfect balance and curve of a well-forged sword.” Elijah walked over and knelt beside the big man. “This comes easy to us, as does dying,” he whispered.

“What would you have of me?” Hassan spoke in a low voice; his fingers began wrenching the edge of the table as he turned to Elijah.

“I would have you survive, to fight the real fight, the painful one; fight to live. Save your people; save them for a better death, at least.” Elijah stood and walked away from the table.

“We will not surrender!” The imam stared intently at Elijah, but his eyes were full of fear. Elijah understood the conflict between the man’s words and what he saw in the man’s eyes. Elijah had known fear each time he stood before his father, but his soul wouldn’t allow him an escape.

“Then you will surely die.” Elijah walked through the archway leading to the gate.

“Elijah.” Hassan shouted.

Elijah turned to face him.

“I truly hope you find what you are looking for, and much more.”

Elijah nodded and was gone.