Dark Arrow Ch. 01-03

"Two." She murmured.

"Want to make a bet on it?" She furrowed her brow.

"What are the odds?" She asked cautiously.

"If I win you come with me until we're outside the wall, and then we have a long discussion about what each of us is doing next."

"And if you lose?" She asked when he fell silent.

"Then we go over the wall and you're free to do whatever you want once we're on the other side." She stared at him.

"How is this any different? You still have my weapons. I have to go with you so the bet changes nothing." She was a bit appalled by the near snarl in her voice as she spat that at him. She wasn't thrilled she'd just admitted that her bow was important enough for her to follow him to get it back either, but she figured he'd already guessed as much. He had to have worked out that it was difficult to get the parts, so he'd had a fairly good idea she'd be following him but she'd just erased any doubt. There was no more fatal mistake for an assassin than letting someone gain leverage on you, and she'd just handed him that leverage on a silver platter.

Only there was no triumph in his eyes. No gloating that he'd confirmed he had her right where he wanted her. Instead he bent down and removed two items from his pack. Standing up he held out her quiver and some form of bag. She stared at the quiver in disbelief before slowly reaching for the proffered items. She kept expecting him to jerk the items back at the last second, but he didn't. Her fingers closed around the quiver and the bag and she stared quizzically at him as he dropped his hands leaving her holding them. A quick glance over the quiver showed her that everything was as she'd left it.

"Go ahead and assemble the bow." He said quietly. She glanced at him confused, but with practiced motions she retrieved the pieces and quickly slotted the arms into place. Moving by muscle memory her fingers slid the blots into place as she stared at him in disbelief. He fished in his inner jacket for a second before coming up with a bowstring which he proffered to her. "This is titanium weave. It's as indestructible as your bow and if push comes to shove you can use it as a garret. It should improve the power of the shot just a bit as well since it imparts more of the force to the arrow. You'll have to practice the draw to adjust speed if you're going to keep doing what you're doing though."

She plucked the string from his fingers and looked it over with a critical eye. He smiled at her, and she turned back to the bow as she lovingly strung it. She plucked the string and smiled at the faint twang it sang back to her. Then with one swift motion she let the quiver drop, catching an arrow as she let it go she spun as she nocked and drew the shaft to the max, centering the head on Ren's chest in the space of a single breath. He dropped into a defensive stance and his hand twitched for his back where he had the pistol and knife. He fingers slipped a fraction of an inch, and she readied herself for what was coming. Ren stilled his hand though and stood there staring at her.

"Go on, draw them." She hissed. "Let's have this out here and now and save both of us a lot of trouble trying to burry a body out there." She jerked her head in the direction she figured the wall was. He stared at her for a long second, and then he crossed his arms.

"If you're going to shoot me would you get on with it? And don't aim for the midline. I know it's fatal but I'd prefer it if you took the heart shot rather than have me die struggling to breathe because you severed my bronchial trunk." He gestured to a site just right of midline. "Right about here and you should catch the ascending aorta and left atrium. I'd bleed out in about a minute."

"You're just going to stand there and let me kill you?" She snorted in disbelief.

"No." He said softly, catching her eyes with his and locking her gaze in a stare she couldn't look away from. "I'm going to stand here because I don't believe you're going to shoot me. If you do, well I was wrong about you and I'll have paid the price." She glared back at him and saw a slight smile curve his mouth.

"I'm not wrong though am I?" He said holding her gaze with his. "You know you shouldn't trust people, so despite everything you resist trusting me. You know that the only way to be safe is to kill me so there's no one out there that knows the one truth that is a death sentence to all assassins. You know that, and yet you can't bring yourself to do it. So you wait for me to draw because then you can rationalize killing me as being honorable. Like a dual or whatever you have in mind. I had a weapon therefore I was a threat and you HAD to act. You won't believe it, not really, but you will justify it to yourself over and over for the rest of your life."

"What truth?" She hissed through gritted teeth, slacking the bow to half draw on the chance that he had a shield.

"That you're human." His deep voice seemed to reverberate through her, shaking her to her core. "You are human, and you crave companionship, interaction, trust, love, sex, friendship. Others don't operate on the same wavelength as you. They couldn't understand you if they tried, and because of that they pity you or fear you. For the first time though you've met someone who can understand you, and now you don't know what to do. Your instinct and your head are telling you to kill me. To eliminate the threat. Your heart though is telling you to take a chance, and I'd have to take a stab and say that there's a few other parts of you wanting to keep me around as well." She glared at him, seething as she tried to find something to say.

"How could you possibly have a hope in hell of knowing what I'm feeling," She bit out, almost shaking with anger. Somehow this man stripped her defenses away not just in combat but emotionally as well. Her hands shook as she struggled to keep her focus on him and deal with the thunderstorm of emotions crashing through her. He smiled and stepped towards her despite her arrow remaining trained on his chest. She took a step back each time he moved forward until she felt the wall at her back, and still he moved towards her. Her hear pounded madly and her brain screamed at her to loose the arrow and be done with it, but he was right. Her heart screamed at her to hold the shot, or at least to turn it so it was only an injury and not death. She considered that for a second but dismissed it just as quick. If she injured him she might as well kill him. Either they were over the wall and gone in the next few hours, or the police would catch them eventually and then they were dead either way. The nano's would heal them, since the long acting ones would still be active, but those took time to heal things. Hours to days sometimes for even minor strains and cuts. Still he advanced until his chest pressed into the arrow. "Shoot, or stay your hand little one," He murmured softly. "The choice is yours." With a choked sob she let the string go slack slowly. The endearment disarming her even if she didn't believe he meant it that way.

"How," She sobbed. Looking pleadingly into his eyes she took a deep breath. "How do you do that? How do you know what I'm thinking? How do you get in my head like that? And why..." She trailed off for a second then looked away and gathered what was left of her courage and pride. "Why the bloody hell do you call me little one?" He stepped forward and stroked his finger down her cheek, and she shuddered at the contact. To her horror though she leaned into the touch slightly as he continued to stroke her face.

"We don't have time for a full answer to those questions, but I'll give you the short versions." He paused for a second and smiled at her as she rested her cheek against his hand. "First of all. I know those things because that's the same turmoil I went through when I had you unconscious in that warehouse. All my training told me to turn you in, but I couldn't do that. It's not in my nature to stand by and be the cause of someone's torture just for the sake of revenge. So that left me with the option of letting you live, and try to help you escape, or of killing you. You were out cold. It would have been simple and painless, but I just couldn't do it." She sobbed as she heard him elaborate the struggle he'd gone through deciding to let her live. Choosing to take a risk on her rather than listen to logic and end her life to save his own. He stroked her cheek again, and this time she leaned into the touch unashamedly. He had seen her at her lowest and most vulnerable, there was no point denying herself some comfort and strength now. He cleared his throat, and took a deep breath. "As for the other question. I called you little one at first because I had no idea what your real name is. You seemed to enjoy me calling you that so it's just kind of stuck." She started back and stared at him, regretting the fact that her move had broken the contact between her hand and her cheek. She immediately moved into self-recriminations over the fact that she wanted him to touch her at all.

"Erillia," She whispered in a broken voice as she blushed realizing he'd read her reaction to the name he called her. Was she really that transparent? Her eyes fell to the floor as she struggled to find some semblance of equilibrium.

"Hmm?" He murmured. She cleared her throat and took a quick breath.

"My name is Erillia." She was irrationally proud that her voice was clear, and didn't give away her inner turmoil. At least she hopped it didn't, but with Ren she wasn't so sure. Her eyes came up and met his and for the first time she didn't feel as intimidated by his stare. "And you're right. We don't have time for this. What's the bag for?" His eyes registered shock for a second but he quickly recovered.

"It's a hazmat proof bag. It should hold your bow and arrows. The strap should serve to carry it as you would the quiver. The bet my dear was because I determined earlier that if you came down that ladder and didn't attack me that I would return the trust you'd given me, albeit not exactly without outside influences, by giving your weapons back. However I'd dearly love to have a conversation with you about a great many things. I won't force you, and even if I win the bet you are bound only by your word. Only the two of us will ever know if you choose simply to walk away. It also leaves the outcome up to chance, even if you would stick to your word there's an even chance I won't win." Her head spinning she searched frantically for something to say that wouldn't sound as dim witted as she felt while she tried to sort out what he just told her.

"What if the time falls between the two? Two minutes and Three minutes are almost negligibly different." It wasn't a Mensa level question, but at least it was coherent and she clung to that as she processed what was happening.

"Two and a half minutes or above and I win. Over Three point five and we both lose." She nodded numbly. "Good, then stow your weapons and let's get going." She blinked at him for a second before realizing he had taken her nod as acceptance. By the time this registered she was already kneeling down and placing the bow and quiver into the bag. She quickly zipped it and stood. As much as it rankled her to admit someone else was thinking more clearly than she was it was clear Ren had the better head for planning at the moment. She readjusted her mask, as he did the same, then both shouldered their bags and headed for the exit. He held the door like and old fashioned gentleman would have for his lady and they stepped into the airlock. Quickly tapping his watch to activate the timer function as the protocols kicked in and scanned them, he quirked and eyebrow at her and then had the audacity to waggle both of them. The chime sounded and he held his watch out to her. 2.78 minutes. Damn. She stormed through the door and back to the latter with him scrambling behind her. She'd been going to go have a conversation with him if they got over the wall anyway. There were too many unanswered questions for her not to, but now she didn't feel she had a choice. He might not know it for sure, but she'd rather die than go back on her word of honor, even in this situation. She almost missed the exit tunnel in her anger, but stopped just in front of it.

She knew he'd probably want to be the first to go up, and indeed he tapped her on the shoulder, but she was capable in her own right. He was going to have to learn that if he wanted to avoid having her at his throat before this was over. So rather than acknowledge the hand she stepped forward and quickly hauled herself up the ladder. About a meter below the hatch she stopped and listened intently. There was a distant sound of sirens, but that was normal at night and could have been miles away given how still the nights in terra tended to be. Otherwise there was no sound. No thud of boot falls. No horse whispers as police ringed the access hole waiting for them to emerge. She took a deep breath, and steeled herself, in case she needed to take instant action, before she put her hand to the bottom of the hatch.

Quietly she shoved it up, climbing quickly behind and stepping out without losing her grip she slowly lowered it to the ground softly. She'd barely put it down when Ren came shooting out of the hole. Quick but quiet as a mouse he knelt next to her and silently returned the cover to its normal position.

She reached to take off her mask, but he caught her wrist and shook his head. She frowned, but decided to trust him on this one. So she nodded, then jerked her thumb towards the wall. His turn to nod, and as one they rose and sprinted for the wall. He reached it milliseconds behind her, and both started to free climb the ascent. The wall was a good fifteen meters high, and at one time no doubt had been relatively smooth. Time and wear however had left plenty of handholds for experienced climbers, and a few minutes later she and Ren hauled themselves over the top at almost precisely the same time.

They lay flat for a second while Ren fished in his pack quickly. He produced a timed hydroshock static belay mount which he swiftly threaded with rope. Setting those to the side he handed her a set of hand grip breaks and one end of the line. Her eyes widened a bit as she caught on. Rather than one person standing by as belay up top while the other went down and then that person standing by at bottom they were going to go down simultaneously. They would have to coordinate their movements on the descent or he'd end up pulling her back up to the top with his heavier build. He shook the rope to get her attention and she swallowed hard as she nodded. He scooted to the side and hung over the edge for a second to attach the mount and set the timer.

Rolling back he held up his hand for attention then tapped his watch and held up four fingers. Her eyes bulged. Four minutes for a near fifty foot rappel was he crazy? But he had shaken out his rope and attached his break already and was staring at her. Frantically she shook out the rope watching it snake down the face of the wall then swiftly snapped her break onto the line and looped the rope behind her. He gave her a nod and dropped over the edge. She felt the rope jerk as he dropped and then the pressure eased as he came to a stop a few feet down. Not stopping to give herself time to think she dropped over the edge. Dropping about a meter before touching down and setting her break. She looked up to see him watching her, and gave a nod.

Immediately he let his break lose and dropped again. Touching down near her he bounced again and dropped down before setting his break. Looking up he nodded and she kicked off, releasing the brake as she went. Two hops took her about a third of the way down the face, and she set her brake again before nodding to him. He started to kick off but then froze and looked up. She heard it too. The police had seen them go over the wall. She heard the wail of the sirens headed towards them and saw search lights kicking on along the wall on either side. He kicked off so strongly it nearly pulled her loose anyway, and he blazed passed her at a shocking rate. He nodded before he even touched down, setting the break to stop his descent and crashing into the wall with bone jarring force.

She nodded grimly and kicked for all she was worth. The break kicked lose as she swung out, and then her stomach did a flip flop as she arched down the wall. Landing two meters above him she kicked again, dropping fast and hard before she too set the break and gave him a nod. Her feet had barely touched the wall when she felt the jerk, and she actually had to give up a couple steps to keep from being pulled off completely. He rocketed passed, dropping below her and then hopping again, covering the last seven meters to the ground and landing with what looked like far too much force to her. He nodded though, and instantly she kicked and released the break.

It took her three hops, because she wasn't going to slam into the ground so hard she was unable to run afterwards. He simply glanced at the wall as the lights came on and then at his watch. Seconds ticked by then he grabbed her break and locked it on the end of the rope, quickly doing the same with his before standing on the two breaks.

She stared at him for a second but a sudden whirring sound preceded the timed mounts arrival as it retracted the rope he'd threaded. Suddenly it clicked. By standing on the ends he'd anchored them causing the mount to reel itself right to them as it tried to retract the rope. The second it hit the ground he grabbed it and stuffed it back in his pack then jerked a thumb in the rough direction of the lake and grabbing the bag took off sprinting with Erillia hard on his heels. She pounded the ground behind him, constantly scanning ahead of them to see where the search lights were sweeping the grounds. Miraculously it seemed there were only four that were operational, and those were spread out so the coverage wasn't the greatest.

Dodging around the lights they hauled ass for the trees around the lake. He out stripped her by a tad, and by the time they were reaching cover he was a full six paces ahead of her rather than the two he'd started with. She saw him reach the trees, and chanced a look back to see if they had physical pursuit or if the police had even determined which direction they went in. All was quiet with the exception of the distant sirens and the roving searchlights, but the glance back cost her dearly. She failed to see the roots ahead of her, and one caught her toe.

She fell headlong, sprawling at an odd angle and wrenching her left ankle to a degree she'd never experienced before. She cried out in pain, but muffled it as best she could to prevent detection. The root had trapped her toe in her fall, and her foot lay at an oblique angle to the rest of her leg. She struggled to free her foot, but couldn't move enough as near paralyzing pain shot through her. Perfect timing she thought acidly. On the very edge of escaping and she was caught by the very woods that were meant to save her life.

Chapter 3:

She gasped and braced herself when Ren suddenly burst out of the trees with his Kbar in hand. Despite everything he'd done she took one look at his face and was certain he was coming to end her life. She was wounded, and now she was a liability beyond acceptable risk. Were she in his position she'd make the same decision. So she closed her eyes and waited for the strike that would end this for her. Only it didn't come. Instead she felt a tug at her foot. Her eyes snapped open in time to see him slash the knife through the roots again. Jerking her foot free he hauled her to her feet, throwing her left arm over his shoulder they limped into the trees. She tried to shrug him off. To get him to leave her there, but he had a death grip on her arm.