The Rogue Huntress

Dark Nights, Dark Discussions

I leant against the wall, cold rain trickling down my back as I surveyed the area from under the dark barrier of my hair. I turned the collar of my coat up to avoid the chills now going down my neck. But I was quite sure that the prickling on my neck wasn't just due to the weather. Ahead of me, there were two men talking quietly in an ally, but thanks to my werewolf hearing I could hear what they were saying as clear as crystal.

I had been standing here for a while as they talked, hidden in the shadows. The distressed looks on their faces matched the drastic conversation they were currently discussing in hushed voices.

"...what are they going to do about the Huntress? I mean the new kings might be royal but they are just as vulnerable as us-" He was interrupted by the other man.

"You don't want to be caught talking badly about the new kings, not in a time like this." The other man warned.

"I think that they aren't the main problem right now. They might demand your money, even your lives as a soldier, but the Huntress could kill you." The other man said, scared.

"Yeah well our future kings are now the rulers, so our only hope is them. But I heard they're having their meeting a year early, it's private information I managed to get from my brother." The man whispered. I took a sharp intake of breath and turned around against the wall so my back was pressed against the damp stone.

The new Kings? The heirs are finally the rulers. Memories flashed back from when I had last seen them, the mix of terror, fear and hopelessness. Anger surged through me when I thought about Alina, my dragon. I had been forced to leave her there, after the first time the Royals and I collided, 4 years ago. Now I had a new plan, one I wasn't able to execute 4 years ago, and now an opportunity had resurfaced. I had to kidnap the princesses.

My brother was still held captive by someone, and I didn't know who. I had been travelling around the country these past years, torturing people to find out information, but the only thing I had was a number and a message. To get my brother back, I had to "Give the information on the Royalty".

I had information, yes, but apparently, it wasn't right. And no matter the number of times I had phoned and asked about my brother, the numerous times my fingers typed out that number the only words uttered on that line was the question for information.

I had no idea whether my brother was even alive. I thought back to the information I had collected over the years about the new Kings. I would be able to capture the princesses, hold them hostage, get the information I need and get out. Then there would be the issue of rescuing Alina, but I could get to that later.

I turned my attention back to the two men. I strode out from beside the wall, my heels clicking against the cold cobble. The men stopped talking as I approached, silently watching me. Their eyes were a mixture of lust and surprise, and a bit of cautiousness. I swayed my hips as I reached them, and watched their eyes roam over my body. I pulled my dagger from my waist slowly and with one swift movement shoved it deep into one of their sides.

I pulled it out and watched the blood seep out and onto the ground, mixing with the rain and painting the cobbles a deep red. I turned to the other man and fixed his now trembling face with an icy glare.

"Tell those Kings of yours that the huntress is back and that she's hungry for blood." I sent him a sultry smirk and then strode away, breaking into a run and then leapt up, grabbing the side of the building and swinging up to the roof. My last line was cheesy, but damn I knew how to make an exit.

I wiped my dagger clean on the side of my black coat, and then shoved it back in the waistline of my black jeans. I started running across the tops of the rooftops until I could reach the great stone wall that surrounded the village. I jumped to the top of the wall and then vaulted over to the forest below.

I shifted into my dark grey wolf and gathered my clothes into my mouth. Then I started into the forest, racing through the dark trees until I could reach the bottom of the mountain. I shifted back and started my climb to the top. The path had been worn smooth by now, evident holes where I put my hands and feet to haul myself up.

I reached the top and jumped through the hole that led to my base. Once in there I dumped all my stuff and jumped out again, shifting into my wolf.

I lay on the ground, head on my paws and if I looked to the left I could see the palace in the distance, where, currently, all the Kingdom leaders were. It was glowing with light right now, and I could hear the dragon's roars from where they waited for their owners. The kings joined together every 5 years for a month to discuss things during the balls, dinners and meetings just like the ones I disrupted four years ago. Apparently, they were holding in a year early, in fact, right now there would be the opening ball going on if my information was correct.

That palace is also where Alina was kept, and where so many memories were born.

If I looked back to behind me, the village I had just come from lay. It was a small but busy trading village, and people from all parts of the world came there.

In front of me was a vast forest, stretching out for miles, but I knew that behind it was my home village. I hadn't been back yet.

However, to the right just visible behind trees in the distance was Zantrax Academy. My old academy. It's why I loved this mountain so much, and why I made my base here. It shows my past and my future, two different directions.

Often I was torn between the two, but today I was looking in one direction, and one direction only. I faced the palace and raised my head to the moon. I let out a long soulful howl that sounded weak and alone in the empty silence. It was a promise to the stars to find my dragon. I wasn't sure if they would hear me at the palace, but just when I was about to jump back into sleep I heard a noise that raised all the hackles on my back as I froze where I stood.

The faint response of a howl was what had met my ears and stopped me in my tracks. And it wasn't just any howl, but the howl of a certain Alpha King I had longed many years ago to forget. A howl that brought back so many unwanted memories.

Knowing I wasn't going to get much sleep tonight, I curled up outside, and just watched the stars.