Chapter 3: Green Eyes of Familiarity

Talon finds his target in the Valor Forest and readies himself to kill her, but there is something about this woman's eyes that reminds Talon of an old acquaintance. Will he be able to finish the job?

In the dead of night, Talon made his way through a portion of Valor Forest to find the mercenary camp, just as his elderly client said it would be.  Talon moved through the shadows and used the wide variety of trees as hiding places from the wandering mercenaries who were part of the Unforgiving Sword.  The expert sniper had perfected the art of walking without his footsteps being heard, and he moved around the camp freely.

This was not the small pack of mercenaries that Talon envisioned.  There were many of them, at least twenty.  The camp was made up of three campfires, each with three or four warriors warming themselves by the fire, and numerous tents.  Talon could tell that the tents were not for lodging the fighters, but for various other functions.  He entered one tent to find many weapons and supplies.  Another had food and drink, enough to last three or four weeks.  Talon knew that if this girl was being held anywhere, it would have probably been in a tent.

Talon avoided three men patrolling the area, each carrying large swords, and found himself in front of a small tent with one mercenary guarding the entrance.  The mercenary was sprawled out on the ground, fast asleep, with an empty bottle next to him.  Talon moved quietly around the tent to the back, and gently used his dagger to cut a small hole in the cloth of the tent.  After making a hole about eye level to Talon, he softly and quietly made another hole near his left hand.  This second hole was small enough to be unnoticed to an untrained eye, but large enough for an arrow to easily fit through.

Using his eye hole, Talon looked into the tent.  Much to his surprise, the girl being held inside was facing him, with her arms tied to a large wooden plank.  The plank was balancing on her back, and the weight rendered without the ability to stand.  Her feet were chained down to iron boxes.  A little bird flew into the tent, and landed in front of the woman.  This little piece of nature seemed to give her a momentary sense of satisfaction, as she looked up and stared at the bird.

This allowed Talon to take a look at the physical features of the woman.  She had long blue hair and emerald green eyes.  She wore a velvet red cloak that covered up her body.  Her skin was soft and despite her obvious malnutrition, it radiated with beauty, her appearance seemed to radiate an aura of perfection.

Talon was stunned at the resemblance of this woman, and her.  His mind flashed back fifteen years, when he was still a youth, before his days as a Valor Mercenary.

He was remembering the orphanage he lived at.  To the outside, the institution appeared to be an orphanage, but in reality, it was a secret facility that worked to train assassins.  The owners would find small children without homes, take them in, and then train them in the arts of combat and stealth.  Talon didn’t stay at the institution long, as he hated how the owners treated him and the rest of the children.  One day he finally saw his chance to escape, and he did.  But while he was there, he did make one friend.

Of course, the archer would never consider her a friend, but more like an equal.  She had short blue hair, and emerald green eyes…It was the eyes, of this prisoner that reminded Talon of her…Dinah. 

Dinah and Talon would train together constantly.  She was always a little better at everything it seemed, and she never hesitated to rub it in Talon’s face.  The way she did it though was not out of arrogance…she had fun with Talon, and if he was honest…he had fun with her too.  Of course he would never actually admit that to Dinah, instead he always made promises to outmatch her…to one day be better than her.  Dinah was Talon’s first motivation to be the best, and since then, he’s never been satisfied being second best, ever.  Of course, once he left the pre-assassin orphanage, he never again saw her…but on days when Talon was especially reflective, he wondered where life had taken her.

Talon’s stroll down memory lane was interrupted by a soft but stern voice from inside the tent.  The woman being held prisoner looked directly to where Talon stood and spoke.

“Come now, assassin.  Shoot me if you wish, we don’t have all day.  Soon the sun will come up and you’ll be seen by my captors…you better make this quick!”

Talon was shocked that he was noticed by her, she couldn’t possibly have heard him cut the holes or move around.  It was as if the bird had told her where he was.  Talon stretched his arrow back and aimed.  But the prisoner’s face, it looked just like hers…

Reviews

[Shep]

Your so twisted leaving the chapter like that, that i loved every bit of it, No the girl you have left open to many questions that i can't wait to see answerd before my eyes. So I will move on. nicely done.


Grammar Idea

Her feet were chained down to iron boxes (that) delete.

[DarkCrono15]

You'll have many questions about this lady and most will be answered by the end of the story...some may not be though, she's kind of mysterious =)

Grammar Change noted, and I'm glad you're loving it...I love when people love my writing!