the-secret-crusade-oliver-bowden

beside him, and when he gazed at it he felt a confused mix of emotions:
anger that it had corrupted the one he had thought of as father, who had
been a great Assassin and an even greater man; fear of it, for he had
experienced its power to give and to take; and awe.
‘ “If there is good to be found in this artefact, I will discover it,” ’ he
wrote, quill scratching. ‘ “But if it is only capable of inspiring evil and
despair, I hope I possess the strength to destroy it.” ’
Yes, he told his journal, he would destroy the Piece of Eden if it held no
good for mankind. Those were the words he wrote. Nevertheless, Altaïr
wondered how he would find the strength to destroy the Apple if and
when the time came.
The fact was that whoever owned it wielded enormous power, and
the Templars would want that power to belong to them. What was more,
he wondered, were the Templars hunting for other artefacts? Did they
even possess them? After the death of Robert de Sable they had
consolidated at Acre port, he knew. Should he attack them there? He
was determined that no one else should ever possess the Apple, or any
others like it.
Nobody but him.
He mulled over this in his quarters, for too long perhaps, until he
became concerned that he was allowing the enemy time to regroup. He
called Malik and Jabal to him, placing Malik in temporary command of
the Order and informing Jabal that they were to lead a squad riding for
Acre port at once, to mount an offensive on the Templar stronghold, kill
the plant at the root.
They left shortly afterwards, and as they did so, Altaïr noticed Abbas