Chapter 1: another day in the life

May fifth, 1500. Dawn penetrated the window of my little place in Florence. It wasn't bad, but I rarely stayed in one place for long. My face, or at least my human face, was all over the city. Many people have offered me shelter from the goodness of their hearts, and even offered me food before I had to leave. I always refused.

I finally got out of my bed and got dressed for the day. My outfit consisted of an ornate robe left open to expose my clothing. It was black as the night. It helped me blend in with the darkness. I had a black vest with a white shirt beneath and black trousers with boots and black leather greaves and black leather bracers on my forearms. I carried a bag full of silver coins in hopes of forging new weapons.

I got dressed, grabbed my bag of silver, and ran downstairs to say goodbye to the human family that kept me safe for the night. The wife gave me a quick hug and sent me on my way. Again, the guards here were always after me. This is why I resolved to leave Florence. I thought back to a previous offer of sanctuary.

The night before, I was on the run from the guards who saw me kill a lycan in their human state. They thought I was an assassin and chased me. On the rooftops, I chanced by a true, self-trained assassin by the name of Ezio Auditore. He said I could always stay with him in his family villa until the Florentine guard . I resolved for the Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni.

First, I had to get to a horse and carriage. After wandering past the blacksmith, I found one. I paid the man 200 florins to get me there and keep quiet about it. Fortunately, the man at the station was true to his word and there was no ambush waiting for me outside the city of Florence. It was late in the night when I finally arrived. There weren't many people there, a comforting sight to someone like me. I stepped out of the carriage with my bag of silver in tow. I walked toward the Villa. It was a quiet little town. I knew the Villa was the largest building in the town. When I stepped up to it, a man in a black hood and very light armor greeted me.

"Messer John Ledra? Glad you took up my offer." He said. I knew this was the Assassin I had met the night before. His voice was cocky as he said this. "What's in the bag?"

"Just some Silver. I need some weapons to deal with my targets and only the best will do." I said. I wasn't sure if I could tell him what I was or what I do. We met once and he offered me a place to stay. The way I dress was sometimes off-putting, but compared to what Ezio was wearing, my robes were totally normal. "I decided I'd like a more permanent residence. Formal training in assassinations would be a plus and of course to have something built."

At this point, I pulled out three scrolls with weapon sketches drawn up by Lucian when he was the coven's weapon smith. Ezio took the scrolls and looked over them. He rolled them back up and gave them to me.

"These call for silver and a lot of it. As for building these, we should wait until tomorrow." He said. Ezio had a calm demeanor rare for someone who's seen the difficulty of Lucians weapon designs. "Come. Let me give you the tour." He led me into the main hall. We turned left and walked towards the armory. When we walked in, there was all the armor and weapons he had collected over the years.

Odds are, the armor could fit me. "This is the armory. Here, you can take any armor you'd like before we leave for Venezia. I have a friend there who can build these weapons for you." We kept walking until we reached an art gallery and then on to the bedrooms. He found an empty room and decided I should take it.

"I had Mario set it up. This is your room. Tomorrow we head to Venice, so sleep well and visit the armory in the morning before we head out." Ezio was kind in this respect. I put my silver bag by the door on the inside and got into the room. My assignments, it's worth noting, come from Victor for the time being. His only condition is that I keep him updated on my progress. I took out a piece of paper and a quill. I sat at the desk that was there and started writing.

Thankfully, he thought I was just another vampire. I wrote on about how I was staying in Monteriggioni and how I would soon be better equipped to hunt down the Lycans here and I enclosed a feather coated in their blood. I ended my writing and proceeded to sleep after sending the letter off with a pigeon to Hungary. Lycans never sleep and Vampires do so during the day, but I sleep like any normal human. I went to the bed, closed my eyes and drifted into sleep.

When I woke up the next day, I found a belt next to my robe just like what Ezio wore. I put it on once I got dressed and made my way to the armory. I saw a strong metal armor with fancy designs as part of the metal. I put that on and looked over the weapons. I saw several swords and I decided to take the scimitar. I had a passion for unusual weapons. I had it in a sling attached to the Assassin belt I now wore.

The bracers, greaves, chest guard and shoulder guards fit like a glove and thank god they were held on by strings of fabric that could stretch as I turn and my wings would create holes in the back that could be shaven down on a repair job. Or sliced clean by my wings. Ezio came down and caught me. "Ready to leave?" he asked. I nodded and we walked around trying to get out of the villa. When we just got outside the villa, a man ran up holding a letter. He gave it to me and ran off. I opened it and saw it was from Viktor. I could tell from his seal on it in blood red wax. I remember the words perfectly and I must say that Viktor's handwriting is downright awful.

Messer John Ledra, I have reason to believe Venice will bring you more than just some new weapons. Two Death Dealers were murdered by a group of Lycan bastardi the night before. Be mindful of the night, my friend. And move quickly. There are also rumors that Lucian may be in Venice. His death will bring the war to a swift end. -Viktor.

Now, I had to get to Venice and get my weapons. If I can find Lucian, I can make my case to leave the coven and try to live a normal existence. I started running towards the carriage. Ezio followed suit and managed to keep up. We left the gates and got to the carriage. I loaded my bag of silver and the weapon scrolls inside and took seat with Ezio at the reins. "In a hurry?"

"I'll explain when we meet this friend of yours. We should get going." With that remark, Ezio started the horses and we made our way to Venice. The ride was uneventful. I could have flown there myself, but the silver was heavy. Nearly halfway into our journey, I caught something out of the corner of my eye. Lycans, but not of Lucians breed. These were feral first-generation lycans, never able to take human form again. They were gaining from behind. I had to take great care to keep Ezio in the dark until I could explain. I told him to drive from the inside.

I stayed up top and shifted into my hybrid form, the only way I could expect me and Ezio to survive. My normally clean fingernails lengthened and sharpened into wicked black claws that could cut through the rough bark of Italy's native trees with worrisome ease. Great pain erupted in my mouth as my teeth sharpened. The sound of bones cracking and shifting came next. My face elongated into a muzzle much like my pursuers.

My ears became like those of a lycan, but larger and more like the sonar tuned ears of a bit. An unholy mix of bat and wolf. Fur covered my body and I grew a wolven tail from the base of my spine. Explosions of pain at my shoulders indicated my least favorite part of the transformation. Great thin, but strong leathery wings grew out from my back. Thankfully, the excess metal was cut away.

My feet elongated to allow a more lupine stance, shredding my boots in the process, the cloth flew in all directions, scattering as the carriage moved. My greaves remained attached to my calves, refusing to give. I was fortunate in that respect. The change took about one minute, but in my mind, it always eemed longer.

Two Lycans were coming around the carriage. They both leapt on the top. I tripped one up with my legs and impaled its head with my wings. It shifted back to human form (first generations only did this when they died) and I let it fall off. The other one jumped at me, so I quickly took out the scimitar and sliced at its neck, sending the head farther than the body. I heard two more coming around.

They both leapt up at the same time. I stabbed my scimitar into one's head and grabbed the other and snapped its neck. Both died and became humans once more. I never did get that scimitar back, not that I regret it. I saw we were almost in Venice. I shifted back to human form. This process was much faster than when I shifted to my hybrid form. I jumped back inside with Ezio. "What happened up there?" he asked.

"Bandits. Got pretty ugly." I answered. The headless one was still hanging off the side. Ezio noticed it. I quickly shoved it off. But he still saw it.

"Naked bandits?" he asked. "what is Italy coming to?" Thankfully, we were just about there. I grabbed my bag and replaced my boots. I took the scrolls in hand and walked out. Venice was quite a contrast to Monteriggioni. It was crowded and difficult to get around in. I had Ezio handle Lucian's scrolls and my bag of silver coins. We walked for ten minutes before someone followed us. He was playing a lute and would not leave us alone.

Under most circumstances, I would have bitten him and let both the Vampirism and Lycanthropy viruses work against each other, killing him. However, I did not want this guy's memories. Ezio threw out a handful of florins and the loot player went running. "I always carry a lot of florins with me just in case." He explained. We walked further on, until we reached a building with what looked like a pair of wings on the roof. I had heard rumors of something like this even in Florence. This friend was clearly a brilliant inventor.

He would be able to build these weapons, but the scrolls contained accounts of Lucians life as the covens weapons crafter. I suppose Ezio would have found out sooner or later. He knocked on the door three times. "Leonardo! Leonardo!" he shouted. The door opened and a man in blue and a red hat and cape stepped out.

"Ezio? So good to see you, my friend." said the man.

"Leonardo da Vinci, I'd like for you to meet john Ledra." Ezio said. "He seems to be very gifted, perhaps even an assassin order hopeful."

"Actually," I said, "I have to explain that. But first, you should look at these." I took out the scrolls that Lucian had written 88 years ago. Leonardo motioned for us to come inside. He had a metal forge and many drawings and paintings. Ezio laid my bag of silver on his table next to the scrolls. Leonardo took them up. He noticed some things automatically.

"This is not of the codex. It's not even encrypted." He said. He read through it quickly. "So this was written by a weapons crafter? But why is he so oppressed by…" he read the line again just to be sure "vampires?" He looked shocked. He picked up the weapon designs. "Finally something easy. It's just a sword version of the hidden blade, but it seems to be mounted ABOVE the hand. This Lucian fellow seems quite clear on the use of silver."

Leonardo got right to work he molded the parts from the molten silver coins from my bag. Building the weapon was quick and the bracers were finished and he gave them to me. I put them on quickly, put on my gloves and put the rings on my thumbs. The bracers had an ornate silver plate covering the mechanism perfectly. Leonardo approached me.

"hold your thumb against your palm." He told me. I did as he asked and the blade extended fast, catching Ezio off guard. It was collapsible, but the sides and tip were very sharp. The blade itself was about 18 inches in length and 1.2 inches in width. Moved my thumb to it's normal position and the blade went back in. "Lucian calls it the Dead Man's hand. I just call it a hidden sword. Now as for this war that Lucian mentioned in his writings, I believe you should tell me."

Under the decision that there was no way around it, I decided to explain what I learned from Viktor's writings to me. Since I was born outside the halls of the Ordoghaz coven (the reason I'm still alive) I knew only scattered details.