Hunter to Hunted

[Black Shadow]

(Guess I am starting the Autumn Festival off now!)

Black Shadow was used to people hiring him for mercenary work. Most of his jobs involved killing someone and getting away as fast as possible. Some wanted it done stealthy, other wanted it done in public. Some needed it to be blamed on someone, others just wanted them dead. Whatever reasons people had behind them, Black Shadow did not care. This job was no different.

He had been sent by an anonymous buyer under the instructions to eliminate a small group of traders. Black Shadow did not question the hit, just went along with it. He waited along the usual route the trade caravan took, through a small path in the forest. It was sundown and that meant good news for Black Shadow as he could be stealthy. The dim light from the fading sun was almost completely obscured by the thick branches of the trees towering above him. When darkness hit there would be little to no visibility, and Black Shadow loved no visibility.

With his eyesight being as enhanced as it was Black Shadow could see clearly in this dark area. This mixed with his dark clothing, enhanced hearing, and stealth abilities and Black Shadow could not even be detected. No one would know he is there and the job would be done before anyone could even react.

Black Shadow took a deep breath in through his nose, the sweet smell of the night filled his nostrils and gave him goosebumps. This was the perfect night for a kill. There was no light, a slight breeze kept the warm air around him for being too hot, and gave him a way to judge arrow trajectory. The smells from the nature were not strong in this area and allowed him to pull in the scents of his target earlier than normal. A perfect night.

He watched his prey linger in the forest, watching and turning, they were expecting someone to ambush them. It was obvious that they did something wrong to someone, ripped someone off, were threatened by someone… The man who hired Black Shadow maybe. He shook his head, this would be too easy.

Black Shadow closed his eyes and attempted a new skill he was learning, he was trying to listen and find targets simply through his ears. In his mind, he took mental notes of sounds, the rustling of leaves, the howling of the ever-slight breeze, the shuffling of feet. In his mind, Black Shadow made a mental note of his surrounding, then opened them to see if he was correct… He was. He smiled as he waited for the perfect moment.

The men, there were three, and their donkey stopped, they could not see a thing. Black Shadow knew that this would be his time, and he did not hesitate. Removing three arrows from their quiver, Black Shadow was trying a new form of archery he began to teach himself. If it worked as planned, any archer could fire three arrows in less than one second. If Black Shadow was correct, he could fire ten.

[Black Shadow]

Holding his three arrows in his right hand, his draw hand, allowed Black Shadow to quickly fire the next without having to move his hand back to the quiver to grab the next arrow. This meant he could fire more arrows much quicker, and with good accuracy could kill three targets in less than a second. These three men would be his test subjects.

Black Shadow went through his normal assassination routine. He took a deep breath in through his nose, closed his eyes, and breathed out slowly, thinking about what it was he had to do. Upon the breath being fully let out Black Shadow would snap his eyes open and unleash his barrage of arrows. Three arrows were sent flying through the air, all aimed at a different target. It sounded like one thud, and not three, as each arrow was imbedded into the chest of two of the men and the neck of the third.

Not one word was heard from any of them as Black Shadow watched each man stand staring into each other’s eyes, the life slowly diminishing from them. Then one by one they fell to their knees and then forward onto the ground. The deed was done. Black Shadow smiled, all the practice from the past month in this style of archery was beginning to pay off.

The donkey that Black Shadow left alive began to panic, pulling at its rope trying to escape. Black Shadow slowly walked up to it, holding his hand out trying to calm it down. His dark clothing and weapons frightened the donkey and it became frantic, pulling and making noise. Black Shadow tried to quiet and calm it but nothing would help. He even removed his mask, but upon the sight of his pale skin, almost vampirelike appearance the donkey would not calm down. His only option was to kill it. He hated doing this part, when an animal who was but a faithful servant to their masters is to be killed. They did not deserve to die.

Black Shadow readied an arrow and fired it, sending it through the donkey’s heart, killing it instantly. Such a pity it was, the donkey was strong, and could carry more than others. Black Shadow began to search, seeing what goods the traders had. A couple swords, knives, nothing special.

Then he came across a bow and quiver of arrows, Black Shadow is always looking for new ones for his collection. This bow was white, almost had a glow around it, and the arrows, ten of them were the exact same way. Black Shadow picked it up, smiled and took it, he loved doing this job.

He held the bow up for a few minutes, looking at the intricate details to it, the hand done engraving written in a language he could not tell, the beautiful curve in the shaft, and the comfortable grips. This was a bow that was obviously important to someone… And now it was his.

[Black Shadow]

Black Shadow made it home safely, with no problems, not even the usual raider gangs that guard the slim forest paths. There were no other predators in sight, nothing that would cause harm to Black Shadow, which was unusual. There would always be something that arose to cause troubles, but this time there was nothing.

Black Shadow made it home very quickly this time, the target was not too far from his home. Black Shadow never liked when the target was so close to home. He always let Espoir go out and play during the day. Some days she would go far from the house, others shed stay in eyesight. She was training hard with Gavner, Maverick, and Black Shadow, and on a few occasions outsmarted the three. She could handle herself.

“Dad!” Espoir screeched when Black Shadow opened the door. His daughter Espoir was ten years old now. She had bright blonde hair and bright blue eyes that seemed to shine in the sunlight and sparkle in the moonlight. Black Shadow smiled and gave her a hug, running his fingers through her hair. He reached up to the top of his mask, wrapping his finger around the slick fabric.

“Wait!” Espoir said grabbing his hand. “I want to do it!” She said happily. Black Shadow smiled and allowed Espoir to pull his mask off of his head. This was the only place that he would let anyone see him unmasked, and only two people has seen him without it.

Espoir pulled and pulled with all her might, and slowly but surely the mask came off. “There’s my handsome man!” She said laughing and tapping the tip of his nose with her finger. Black Shadow just laughed internally and tapped Espoir’s nose too.

“Do you want to see what I found today?” Black Shadow signed to Espoir, who then got a huge smile and excited face.

“Yes!!” She screamed, “Show me, show me, show me, show me, show me!” She said quickly before Black Shadow could even respond. He held out his hand, the maid up sign between the two meaning “wait”. She did not like this sign.

Black Shadow reached to his back and grabbed the bow and arrow which he wrapped in cloth from the caravan to hide it as a secret. “It’s so big!” Espoir said in amazement, “What is it?” Black Shadow walked over to their table and placed the bow upon the hard wood. “Can I open it?” She asked. Black Shadow nodded and watched as his daughter unwrapped the cloth and revealed the bow.

“Woah!” She said in amazement. “you got a new bow? I thought you loved uncle Gavner’s bow?” Espoir asked confused. Black Shadow laughed and signed back, “I do, this one is just to add to my collection.”
“Oooooooooh! Okay!” She said smiling. “I love you dad!” Black Shadow smiled as he watched her run out of the room.

[Black Shadow]

Black Shadow was woken by a loud crash and a screaming Espoir. He snapped out of bed and grabbed his bow in the matter of seconds. His baby was scared, hurt, something, he did not know, but he cry for help was a sound he learned all too well.

Black Shadow burst through his door, tripping on the coffee table in the living room on the way to Espoir’s room in a frantic run. The door was cracked, which was not what usual for her. A quick kick snapped the door from the hinges and onto the floor, a loud thud following. Black Shadow ripped an arrow from his quiver and notched it, ready to fire if needed.

“Not so fast.” A deep voice said, holding a knife to Espoir’s throat. “You try it, she dies, are we understood?” the man asked; Black Shadow did not answer. “I said, are we clear?” The man said again, pressing the knife against Espoir’s neck.

“Daddy, help me, I’m scared.” Espoir said, a tear in her eye. Black Shadow could not risk the life of his daughter, that’s one thing he could never do. He looked again at the man, and realizing there’s nothing he could do, put the bow down.

“Good.” The man said. “Now, you are one tough man to track. But good thing for me I am one hard man to escape.” The man was mocking Black Shadow. “You were sent to kill 3 men, and yes you did that, but that was it. You were not supposed to take anything, and yet when i searched the wreckage for my master something was missing. You know what it is don’t you?”

Black Shadow began to tense up. He might have caused all of this by taking the bow? What is so important about this bow?

“Here is my proposition. I am supposed to kill you for your treachery, but instead I will offer you this: You give me the bow, I walk away, master doesn’t need to know. But if you refuse… well” The man pressed the knife to Espoir’s neck again, her again squealing. “You get the picture?”

Black Shadow hesitated. He could not trust this guy, he did not even know him. And yet he could not allow this man to harm his daughter. Black Shadow hesitated, then knowing all too well that this man would kill her if he had to Black Shadow signed to Espoir “I am going to give this man what he wants.”

“What did he say?” The man asked Espoir, pressing the knife to her neck, insisting she answers him.

“He’s going to get the bow.” She said through her sobs.

Black Shadow walked out of the room and into his, grabbing the bow. It gleamed with power, and Black Shadow knew it was a special bow. Grabbing the arrows that went along with it, Black Shadow walked back into Espoir’s bedroom.

When he entered the room, the man did not move, he did not even blink, and Espoir was frozen too. Black Shadow stared concerned and confused, then walked up to the man, still frozen. What was going on?

[Black Shadow]

Black Shadow looked around the room and picked up one of Espoir’s toys. He held it straight out and dropped it. It began to fall like normal, but after a few inches it slowed and stopped. He did this a few times before realizing that something froze everything around him, yet he was not frozen. Then he placed his hand upon Espoir’s arm, and she immediately unfroze.

“Daddy, please help me.” She said tears dripping from her eyes. Black Shadow noticed the bright blue of her eyes were even brighter, almost white.

Black Shadow took this opportunity to do when he thought was best. He took his hand and grabbed the knife, pulling it from the man’s hand. He then helped Espoir move from the grip of the man, and led her from the room to outside.

There was a squirrel jumping from their tree frozen in the air. A fox stood upon a fallen log just feet from his house. Leaves of all color, red, orange, yellow, and some even green, fell from the trees, all suspended in the air by some magical hands.

“Dad, what’s happening?” Espoir asked, the fear in her voice growing. Black Shadow did not answer, but grabbed Espoir and began to run.

It did not matter how far they ran, everything was frozen. A group of bandits fighting another caravan was frozen, one man’s sword imbedded within the chest of another, an arrow notched in the string of a simple oak bow. Not one thing moved.

Black Shadow’s full sprint, nearly 90 miles per hour, would be held strong for almost four hours, trees and animals, falling leaves and sticks, deer, foxes, wolves, and even bears would zip by motionless. When one thing appeared to move it was merely imagination, something made up in the frantic and panicking mind of Black Shadow.

Fear gripped his mind. Who was this man? How did he find him? What was so special about this bow? Why would he have to kill him? Why did his contractor not tell him to bring him the bow? Why did he hire this new man to do the job? So many questions, yet there were no answers. Without a way to communicate with him, there was also no way to get these answers.

Black Shadow would not stop moving, running for their lives, he had a target, the monastery that Koli now lived. There the monks would take care of Espoir. She loved Koli, he was the “cool uncle that everybody loves” to Espoir, and every time she went to stay with him there were many more stories to tell. When Black Shadow reached the monastery, he dropped Espoir off and told her to talk to Koli.

Black Shadow had one goal… he would kill this man, and find the anonymous sender.

[Black Shadow]

The moment Black Shadow left the monastery gate everything unfroze, and everything continued as normal, as if nothing was frozen before. A hawk that was frozen in the air continued its dive towards a mouse running across a field. A tree that was falling completed its plummet towards the ground.

Black Shadow was out of breath and needed to stop for a minute. Air filled his lungs with each breath, and with it a sharp pain from the previous lack of oxygen. The air around him was cool, but with the extreme distance he had just traveled the air felt hot. He traveled four hours, a total of three-hundred-thirty miles.

The sun began to rise shortly after, not the best time for Black Shadow to begin a hunt, but he could not wait. He thought back to what had happened. The man entered his home, the door was locked yet he entered with ease. He must have been a lockpick. He entered quiet enough to escape the ears of Black Shadow, so he was stealthy. He carried a knife yet no sword. He must have been an assassin of some sort.

Now what was so special about that bow? Black Shadow looked down at the instrument of death. It’s bright white glow just gleamed with power. Black Shadow pulled one of the arrows from his quiver and notched it. He pulled the string back and aimed at a nearby tree. Upon release the arrow burst into flames, flying on fire towards the tree.

In an instant, the entire tree exploded into flames, burning bright and hot. Black Shadow shielded his eyes, the fire burning bright as the sun. It was a magnificent sight, one that was not at all expected. Black Shadow looked down at the bow and realized now why the man wanted it. This weapon was dangerous, and in the wrong hands was dangerous to anyone.

Black Shadow looked at the tree after the fire died down, the arrow was still there, undamaged. He walked over to the tree and pulled the arrow from the now burnt trunk. Examining the arrow, he noticed that the shine that was there before was almost non-existent, yet still there. The designs that were etched into the shaft were now black, and slowly appearing to become white again.

Black Shadow wondered at this amazing sight, and pulled one of his own steel arrows from his quiver. Upon firing the arrow from the bow, nothing happened. Whatever happened could only happen when the two were used together.

This bow could not be taken by this man, he must keep it hidden and safe. Black Shadow began to run, he knew of a place, a dark cave to hopefully hide, and if his enemy found him there, he would end everything, Black Shadow would kill him.

Trees zipped by on his run, the time seeming to slow down, everything feeling slow, he was angry, he was tired, and he was on a mission now.

[Black Shadow]

The cave was dark, little to no light entered the tiny entrance within the mountain. Black Shadow in his smaller size had to send his bow and arrows through the tiny entrance before he could wiggle his way in himself. It was a tight fit, and anyone larger than him would not be likely to make it. He prayed to the gods that the man who was hunting him would be too big to fit, if he could find this place at all.

He looked around the dark hold in the mountain. It was nearly twice the size of his own home, and in the back a small waterfall trickled down the wall into a small pool of water. The perfect place for him to live. There were plenty of fish in the small pool that were all large enough for one person to eat one per day and be full.

Unlike other places caves, Black Shadow would be able to start a fire here, as there was a hole at the top of the cave leading out to the world, but overtop this hole was plenty of trees and a bush that hid the hole from the world above. Any smoke from a fire would not appear in sight above the hole.

Black Shadow also has been here before, and used this exact place to hide from people before. He once spent over one-hundred days in this cave, not once leaving, until Gavner came for him with news that it was safe. If this man found Black Shadow here he would be impressed, and if he found him here, Black Shadow would surely kill him.

Black Shadow took a few steps into the cave and remembered his memories here. Black Shadow had a tendency to get himself into trouble with his missions, often times endangering his own life and being forced into hiding. Upon another occasion, Black Shadow was wanted for the murder of a dark elven princess. When escaping, Black Shadow was spotted and hunted by the royal guards for two weeks. He stayed in this exact cave for three days while the guards searched with their dogs outside the entrance, unable to find he exact location of the dark Archer. Finally, Black Shadow would exit the cave when they gave up searching, and Black Shadow had never returned to the city since. It was a shame, that city had his favorite restaurant to take Espoir.

Black Shadow took a few more steps and rearranged the sleeping bag and other essentials he had stashed away here. There was a sleeping bag, pillow, fire wood, arrows, a sword, a knife, a few traps he made to catch the rats that would come down in the cave, dried food, and a small stash of coins.

Black Shadow organized everything the way he needed and went about his usual routine. He waited and watched a small crack for rats, and watched them go to the trap, being ensnared and them killed instantly. He laughed for a second… This was going to be a long wait.

[Black Shadow]

Black Shadow created a game one of the other days he spent hiding in his secret cave. Regarding the mice, he would set the trap and wait. Watching a mouse slowly creep towards the trap, Black Shadow would notch an arrow. His goal, to wait for the mouse to trip the trap, and shoot it out of the way before it would be killed by the trap. Sometimes he would remove to arrow tip from the arrows and replace them with a dull or blunt makeshift head. If he did this, the mouse would not die, and he could reset the trap to try it again.

It was quite often that Black Shadow would miscalculate the timing and hit an already dead body, but usually he would shoot it out of the way before even tripping the trap. This was a game for fun, but also for training. Firing too early could lead to missing your target, or lead to murdering an innocent. Firing too late could lead to your own death.

This game was Black Shadow’s favorite. Though he would fire too late often, he would fire at a mouse or Rat every two minutes. This game he would play for hours at a time, firing nearly one thousand times a day. Among these shots, more than half would be fired on time. This game was very amusing to Black Shadow, watching the creature fly into the wall beside it harmlessly beside a possible bruise, then for it to get up and try again only a few minutes later. It shows how idiotic and stupid these tiny creatures are.

This cave had another thing about it that was secret and helped him remain hidden. The shape of the cave was almost like a megaphone in the idea that any noise from outside the cave would be much louder inside. Footsteps could be heard nearly ten feet farther away than normal, voices were magnified three times. This would give Black Shadow time to react in case he needed to, and to prepare for any possible incoming attacks, even though he has never in his over one year spent inside the cave had to defend himself.

He was comfortable here too. Espoir would give Gavner pictures and have him deliver them to Black Shadow, and now the walls were littered with pictures, paintings, and letters that were barely legible. Clay pots were on the ground to collect drinking water, while other objects were just decorations. Black Shadow truly loved his daughter, and would do anything, absolutely anything for her.

He picked up a clay “fox” that Espoir made for him, studying it. He smiled and laughed to himself, it looked nothing like a fox. But he loved his daughter, and no matter what he would love everything she made.

“I will come back to you my little sparkle.” Black Shadow said to himself, grasping the clay fox in his hand.

[Black Shadow]

Black Shadow was awoken by the sound of footsteps, very soft footsteps, and then something crawling. He grabbed his bow and snapped up, waiting for whatever it was that was entering the cave. He aimed his bow at the entrance ready for anything. Whatever it was was not going to stop.

A few seconds went by but to Black Shadow it felt like days. He held his breath, until he saw the glimpse of something peak out of the entrance. He fired his arrow, not taking chances. Then a screeching sound came, and it was in that moment clear that what he shot was not in fact another human, but a wild fox, hoping to find shelter in the night.

Then a man came from the sky in the matter of seconds, dropping from the hole in the roof. It was the man whom attempted to murder Espor and Black Shadow.

“You are a very good at hiding, almost had me for a minute there. Lucky for me I am the best tracker in the world… and you,” He said, “You’re nowhere near the best at hiding I’ve dealt with.” The man pointed his knife at Black Shadow. “Now, I gave you a choice, and you didn’t take the smart one. So, this mean I have to kill you, and as a safety precaution I now have to gather a group and kill all those monks to get to your daughter too, so you just doomed a couple hundred people, and have to die with that conscious.”

In that second the man threw his knife at Black Shadow. Shadow attempted to dodge the knife, moving his left shoulder down and pulling an arrow from his quiver. He fired, hitting the man in the shoulder. The man did not even flinch, but instead looked down at the fresh wound and laughed.

“Oh, you think a silly arrow will do anything to me? Ha! You make me laugh just thinking about you.” He boomed, mocking Black Shadow. Just then he reached his hand out, and Black Shadow felt a sting in his back as the knife was imbedded into his shoulder. “Too easy.” The man said.

Black Shadow reached back and grabbed another arrow, accidentally grabbing one of the silver arrows he found in the wreckage. He did not even look when he fired his next shot, but the look of show on the man’s face told Black Shadow that he did exactly what he needed to without even knowing.

In that instant, the man burst into flames just as the tree did, yet the flames were not orange and yellow as they were before. Now they were almost black, purple, and blue, as if the night changed what they were like. The man screamed and fell to the ground, the arrow being ejected into the air and onto the ground unharmed in front of him.

Black Shadow walked up to the body, waiting for it to stop burning. When the fire was out it was clear that the body was now burnt to a crisp, only bones remaining, and the bones so burnt that they would break from being picked up.

Now he was safe, and now he could return to Espoir, who was probably scared for her father’s life.

“I’m on my way my little angel.”

[Black Shadow]

“Daddy!” Espoir screamed when she saw Black Shadow run up to the gate. She ran to him not stopping and gave him a hug. Tears were filling her eyes, she was scared, terrified for Black Shadow. “I missed you so much! Did you get the bad bad man?” She asked. She was always his biggest fan, and even if he could not tell her what he was doing she always supported and agreed with him.

Black Shadow smiled and bent down, holding Espoir in his arms tightly. It felt so nice to him to hold onto her so tightly after the week of hiding. He then backed up and signed “I sure did, he’s as good as gone.”

“That’s my handsome man!” She said smiling. Black Shadow looked at her confused. Espoir always seemed to find a way to tell his expressions through his mask. “What? Uncle Gavner always says that!”

Black Shadow laughed then signed to her, “He does, he does indeed. Now let’s go home.”

Black Shadow took Espoir by the hand and walked with her back home. On trips like this they would walk until Espoir got tired, usually a few minutes in, before Black Shadow would pick her up and walk her the rest of the way. They were beginning to develop their own way of communicating without speaking, and every now and then on the walk Espoir would ask a question and with only his head movements he would answer her. He loved his little girl and needed a way to talk.

The form was not quite mastered and would often mix up, and with Espoir being so young trips like this were filled with a million questions, most of which Black Shadow did not mind answering, but sometimes she asked the weirdest questions.

“Daddy, where do the deer go at night? I never see any outside at night.”

“To the pine trees.” Black Shadow tried to answer.

“To the rine? What’s the rine?”

“No, to the pine trees.”

“The dime pees?”

Black Shadow shook his head, they were almost there. “He set her down for a second and signed to her “This mean pine trees.”

“oooooooooooh! They go to the pine trees? Why do they go there daddy?”

Black Shadow thought for a second, trying to give an honest answer, but when no one came he just shook his head, “I don’t know.”

“Oh okay… Well why aren’t the owls out during the day? I know you said they’re notural but what does that have to do with anything?”

Black Shadow shookl his head, this was going to be a long journey home.