Chapter 4: Hidden

Chapter 4: Hidden

‘Stay here’ I say, ‘You’ll be safe’.

‘And what about you?’ she asks, more angry than concerned.

‘Elizabeth, this is my job. I’ll make it out alive, I’ll fight better if I know you’re safe’ I lie.

She hugs me and whispers in my ear, ‘How do you know you can trust this man? If he tells anyone I’m hiding in this house…’

‘That won’t happen’ I tell her confidently, ‘I’ve known this man for a long time, he’s a trader, he buys pelts from me, you’ll be safe with him’.

I grab a knife from my pocket and put it into her hand. She lets go of me and looks down at the shimmering piece of metal in her hands, then looks up at me confused. I nod at her.

‘You know how to use it’ I whisper, then give her a goodbye kiss.

I look at the man standing in the back of the house, I’ve known him for a long time and he’s my best friend, and yet I’m afraid. Afraid that he’ll betray me, afraid that Elizabeth will be a hostage, or worse. I do my best to ignore the feeling, but it’s impossible.

‘A new king has been chosen! A new king has been chosen!’ the town crier yells joyfully. My fear turns into reality. The king wants me dead. His normal guards won’t be enough to stop me, he knows that. The price on my head will skyrocket soon enough, causing everyone in the entire town to hunt me down.

‘100 golden coins for the head of Shane Alvey, the infamous assassin!’.

100 coins? Not a bad start. Some hunters might try hunting me down, but not many. A crowd forms around my wanted poster, people mumble about legends, things people think I did to deserve this punishment.

‘I’ll hunt this man down!’ One of them says, ‘And then I’ll burn his wife like the witch she is!’.

My blood begins to boil, my hand tightens around the handle of my sword, the need to snap that man’s neck increases. I jump down onto the street, emitting a loud thud as I hit the ground. They turn around to face me, their eyes are wide open when they see me. I can see the warmth leaving their body as they realize who I am. I toss a knife at him, when he catches it I draw my own.

‘If you want to kill me, then go ahead’ I say, taking my fighting stance.

I child walks towards the man, holding a pitchfork. He hands it to him, then leaves. The man looks at the pitchfork and grins at me.

‘It’d be my pleasure’ he laughs.

I dodge his attack, yet he’s still smirking. He looks down and realizes his shirt is red. A dagger is stuck in his chest. He grabs it with his right hand, then drops to his knees. He looks up at me, and I kick him in the face.

‘Is there anyone else?!’ I yell, my voice echoes through the street.

Nobody makes even a single noise. Worried mothers hold their children close to them, men look away, children whimper. Guards come running after me. Like a cat I climb back onto the houses and disappear into the night.

Toric breathes uneasily underneath me. The sound of his gallop is the only thing breaking through the silence. One creature, all I need is one creature. Something which can be a distraction, like a small dragon. If I can lead it towards the king’s castle, then maybe I can finish that b*****d off. Toric’s ears go up, his body comes to a grinding halt as he senses something nearby. My sword rests in my hand, ready to strike. A boar comes running through some bushes, then I hear yelling. Could it be a hunting party? I pass the bushes, some trees, and then I find it. The king’s hunting party comes charging towards me, probably hunting the boar. They end their charge when they see me. The king smiles, the opposite of what I’d expected. His companions draw their crossbows and fire. One of the bolts enters my side, the rest luckily miss me.

I fall off of Toric and hit the cold ground. Dried up leaves crackle underneath me. With a groan I get up again and prepare to fight. Suddenly, a very large man appears, seemingly out of nowhere. He’s got a red shirt, stained with other people’s blood. There are bear claws strapped to his hands.

‘They call me Santa Claws!’ he roars, his short, white beard flops up and down as he laughs.

‘Meet my new bodyguard!’ the king yells, ‘He can break a horse’s ribs with a single punch!’.

I whistle, signalling Toric to run. He neighs a bit, then disappears behind the foliage. I hear the king galloping away as well. The large man swipes at me, barely hitting the bolt that’s stuck in my side. The pain it causes is excruciating, yet I keep going. I sprint away, clumsily climbing a tree as I look for higher ground. Pulling out the bolt would make me bleed out, so I break off the tip instead.

A squirrel is chewing on a nut next to me. I take the nut and throw it onto the man’s head, hoping the squirrel will attack him. He looks down onto the man, then hops away.

‘Stupid rodent’ I whisper angrily.

He starts punching the tree, in about three hits the tree begins to collapse. I jump to another tree, almost falling to my death. During the chaos he loses track of me. I reach for a throwing knife, but realize I’m out. I should still have one knife left, but it has fallen to the ground. I look around, and find it glimmering on the ground by a tree. Time for more climbing. Alarmed birds fly away in a haze of sound as I throw a pine cone at a nearby tree. The man begins to punch that tree, assuming I’m in there.

‘Come out, little man!’ he rumbles.

His noise is the perfect cover for me to climb down and grab the knife. Just as my fingers touch the handle he turns around, his eyes meet mine, and his mouth forms an evil grin.