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            Rain beat down upon my face, dripping down my nose, falling again to hit the ground.  Nevermind that, I’d hunted in the rain many times before and had learned to not let it break my concentration.

            Sighting my target, I soundlessly drew my bowstring and inhaled, then exhaled halfway and held my breath.  Release.

            There was no need to check if I had hit my mark, I never missed.

            “That’s my girl!” my father’s voice said in my head.  He’d always said that when I did something pleasing.  I pushed the memories away though, no time for that.

            Swinging nimbly down from my tree branch I hit the ground and went to retrieve my supper.  The rabbit-like animal was pinned neatly through the neck into the ground.  It was dead before it even knew what hit it.  I pulled the arrow out and bent to inspect the skin under the soft fur.  No blood red marks, no sallow yellow skin, it was clean.  My forest was a blessing really.  Most of the animals were clean; it was only once in a while that I killed a Bane, which is what an unclean animal is called.  The water springs and rivers were safe, there was no trace of poison, and there were plenty of edible plants, roots and berries.

            After a quick word of thanks, I trotted back towards home, home being a cave-dwelling I found a few months ago, by luck really.  The entrance was small, but I was a slight girl and had slid through easily, even with my pack.

            Something was wrong…

            I saw movement and dropped to the ground behind some brush.  Through the rain I could see two figures hovering near the entrance of my cave; whether they had discovered it, I could not tell.

            Bloody raiders, I thought.  They’ll have ransacked my things if they’ve found the door.

            I tried to inch forward with as much stealth as possible to better observe.  Other humans were rare in these woods, and most were not friendly to say the least.

            Quicker than I could blink, I found myself being unceremoniously hauled into the air and onto my feet.

            “Looks like we got ourselves a spy boys!” bellowed my captor to the two I’d been observing.  I cursed my thoughtlessness for not looking for a third member.

            “Let me go!” I yelled.  “Get your bloody hands off me!”

            The downpour made it difficult for him to grip me, but nevertheless, struggling was pointless.  He was at least three times my size.

            “Let her go, Blade,” said one of the men, who was the tallest of the three.  “I believe she’s smart enough to know she can’t run.”

            I was practically dumped in a heap at the man’s feet, hair plastered to my face, but my hurt pride was not the foremost priority at the moment.

            “What are you doing out here girl?”

            My pride further wounded by being compared to a child, I held my tongue and stared back at him, attempting formidability.

            “Perhaps you’d be more agreeable out of the rain?  Blade, bring her inside.”  So they had discovered my home.  A pox on them!  Now I’d have to move again, providing I lived long enough to do so.

            Once inside, I was surprised to see everything was in order.  Nothing had been touched save my wood, which had been used to make a fire.  If they weren’t raiders, who were these men?

            “Sit down,” ordered the tall one.  He was obviously the leader.  The skinny, black-haired one seemed perpetually silent.  I sat.  The one called Blade roughly relieved me of my pack and my supper.

            “Now,” said the leader, who took a seat opposite me on the other side of the fire, “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

            Gathering all the courage I could muster, I looked him in the eye.

            “You invade my home, manhandle me, and then demand an explanation?  If anyone is entitled, I believe it is me.”   The skinny one made a sound like a growl, but was silenced by a look from my interrogator.

            “You have spirit.  Admirable.  My apologies for the manhandling, Blade does not realize his own strength at times.  However, we do not make a habit of treating spies and assassins like ladies, no matter their gender.”

            “Spy?  Assassin?  What on earth are you talking about?” I asked, stunned, my hurt pride momentarily forgotten.

            “You choose to feign ignorance?” he responded cooly.

            “Feign?  I assure you, I’m quite serious!  What are you playing at?  Who are you?”

            “Why are you here?” he countered.

            “This is my home!  Why wouldn’t I be here?!” I almost yelled, quite rudely.  His game-like questions annoyed me.

            “A young girl, living alone in the wood, jumping in puddles and picking flowers?  A charming idea, but not very likely from where I sit.”

            My cheeks were on fire.

            “Then change your seat if you don’t like the view.  As for puddles, why don’t you find a deep one and drown in it and leave me be!”  Fury made me bold, perhaps too bold, but I was past caring.  He studied my face for a few moments, searching.  Then he gave a small, mirthless smile.

            “Well you’re no assassin, that’s for sure.  You’d have picked us off by now, we gave you a perfect chance.  And you’re no spy, your temper makes that very plain.”

            I could almost feel the other two relax.

            “I’m Talon,” he introduced himself.  “You’ve met Blade, and the silent one is Fang.”

            “Pleasure,” I replied, more sarcastically than I mean to.  “Now that you’re satisfied, will you please go and leave me in peace?”

            His expression changed, and I thought I detected a genuine feeling of regret behind those ice blue eyes.

            “Forgive me, but that is not possible now.  Spy or no, you’ve seen us and for your own safety, and ours, we cannot simply leave.”

            His words chilled me.

            “What exactly do you plan to do then?” I asked as calmly as I could.

            “Well we can’t stay here, we have our own business to attend.  We can’t leave you by yourself, so it seems the only option left is to bring you with us.”

            “What?!  Absolutely not!  I simply refuse to be dragged about because you made the mistake of coming here!  This is…this is insane!” I sputtered.

            “I am sorry for the inconvenience.  Please be ready to leave in the morning.  The entrance will be guarded so any attempts at escape would be ill-advised.  Goodnight.”  And with that, Talon lay down on a blanket and rolled over.

            I couldn’t believe it.  Without so much as a by-your-leave I’d been overrun and ordered about as though I were no longer in charge of my own life anymore.  Now I was to be dragged through the countryside like some dog on a leash.  The very thought of it!  I knew I should never have stayed so long in one place.

            “Always keep moving,” Father had said.  “You must always keep ahead of the bad things Danny.”

            “But why da?” I’d asked when I was younger.  “What bad things?”

            He would smile sadly and reply, “Someday you’ll know what things.  And when you recognize them, you must stay ahead of them.”

            One thing was for sure: one of those bad things was asleep across from me.  There was nothing else to do but try to rest.  Goodness knows where we were headed.

Author's Note

hope you enjoy!

Reviews

[Barb]

There is definitely potential in this story. A bit rough around the edges, but I can sense a creativity behind the roughness.

[She With Eyes Like Unsh..]

Very interesting! I really liked this!