Rusty Quivers

Vincent Alistair The Defiance was an organization of rebels. Their hideout was in a glade covered all around by a forest. This choice of location for a base was pretty commendable. Because Ambrosia is engulfed in forestation. The Defiance not only resisted against the authorities. The charges of hunting forbidden animals, intoxicants' and narcotics' trading ties with Fehdidia were also on them. And of course, murder and assault went along with these charges. One outcome the Defiance didn't think through while choosing this base was that while they do import from Fehdidiah, the products will have to be sold in the richest cities of Ambrosia. Because these drugs were a luxury. But we couldn't find out who exactly they were sold to. What me and my squad consisting of Alfinn, Lisa and Dubrov were, however, able to find out was the trade route leading back to a network, crossing of routes in the heart of the forest. But even if we follow any of the roads leading to the cities, we'd be unable to determine which route in the heart of the forest lead to their exact hideout. A battalion of troops and scouts were once sent out, they had to split up when they reached the network of crossroads. According to the accounts of the only survivor, Defiance had posts all throughout the forest, and they finished off all the troops, even the scouts. The Defiants, they were dishonorable people. I suppose that's what makes them so scary. Not to me though. Well, there's a reason I know exactly how they work. So what we did was. . .Me and my squad, we guised ourselves as the buyers. That was one hectic mission. And man. In the moment I couldn't take a peek but I was enthusiastic to find out who that archer that attacked us had been. 2 days ago, on that day of the undercover mission where we guised ourselves as wealthy buyers of narcotics, We wore clothes provided by the royal wardrobe. I was dressed in green and gold, the traditional colors of Ambrosia. It's because green symbolized freshness, hope, springtime and often rebirth, immortality. Alfinn, the blonde chick magnet was the reconnoiter. He sucked all the attention towards himself. Holding a flute, he played a tune that resembled a sweet farewell, that induced the idea of your lover's flirtatious giggle. Not that I had a lover. Not yet, anyway. But Alfinn's trick served its purpose. Alfinn had this trick of his, he'll gain everyone's attention in such a way that he could read just from the people's expression if they were up to something skeptical, underlying intentions. They would ignore the tune and mind their own damn business. That'll narrow down the sellers of Defiance. He could also work as a reconnoiter all throughout. Once the tune was intense and rushed, it meant transition of our mission, approaching the next stage. Once all people gathered around, the tune grew a little faster, louder, almost ugly for a moment before transitioning back to harmony. That was Dubrov and Lisa's cue, dressed as my guards, all green, they approached the suspects one by one. It was a huge public square, there were stalls circling the cobble floor in the square, and right in the middle small staircases curved to give way to a wooden platform upon which Alfinn stood with his flute. I was waiting behind North of the square, leaning against a tree, with bricks of gold in the trunk. My gaze roaming all the dully blue cobbles that gave off a mild, gloomy feeling. As a soldier, I was well, used to the feeling. Seeing people die almost every day, being the reason for death, often. Making choices that lead to death, and avoidance of death that leads to those choices. Death to keep our casualties minimum, death to keep the opposition's casualties maximum. Death of my father. The rhythm of my heart became uneven and I gulped. Just like Sufa had taught me, regulate my breathing and clear my mind. I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath. As soon as I opened my eyes I could see Dubrov and Lisa guiding two traders towards me. They had loaded two mules with crates, of narcotics probably. Which begs the question. . .why weren't they checked? Most likely because they didn't use any of the official gates. . .or the routes. . .A tunnel perhaps? I keep forgetting basic information because of these bad memories. I scrunched my eyebrow and wondered if a trunk of gold bricks was too much and this would make us suspicious. It was fake anyway. Not that they knew that. All they saw was a trunk of gold that was unaffordable. Unless of course, we were royalties close to the king of Ambrosia, Ambrose VI. I'd have to introduce myself in such a way then, although that way they'd be caught off guard, wouldn't want a direct contact with any of the king's associates. That would prove to be quite the danger for them. They had to be separated from other people and then approached, and thanks to Lisa, Dubrov and especially Alfinn, we did just that. As for how we found out the location of their business. Well, Lisa knows a guy, or every guy in her vicinity, for that. And in ways too intimate for them to qualify as acquaintances or friends, customers, rather. Yes, she was that type of girl, exactly why she was useful. She was pretty, really pretty. The hot kind of pretty. Ember hair, almost perfect eyebrows and fiery red, full lips. A sharp jaw and the curves of a f*****g goddess. Not that she believed in religion. Yet her eyes made everyone believe otherwise, like damn, there must be a creator, to create such a beauty. They thought. Not me. Hehe. It's just she had purply orbs like resembling that of a magical creature. I did believe in religion, I was in fact, very religious. And it were not her curves I worshipped, for clarification. And Dubrov, ah, my man, Dubrov my good man. Dark olive skin and the ripped frame of an absolute brute. He could down multiple bottles of whiskey and then take down five wrestlers like it's a child's play. And it was. For him. He was a Fehdidian refugee after all. And then there was Alfinn, the blondie, the charming fuckboy. Enough said. I think. When my 'guards' brought the traders of Defiance, I clenched my jaw and commenced the act. There were two traders walking right between Lisa and Dubrov. It was hilarious seeing them carry those axes rather than weapons of choice. And the traders, they. . . .wore rugged clothes. Tugging at the leash of a mule loaded with crates. When I was about to speak, I realized it had to be a thick, elegant accent. As elegant as the axe driven through my father's heart. . .the thought made adrenaline rush through my veins, I kept it controlled. Just like Sufa told me. "Drive unbreakable will from your agony." Sufa's words spoken in a stern tone reverberated in my head. The twigs and dried leaves crunched beneath their feet as the traders broke their stride in front of me, Lisa and Dubrov ambling forward. "Sakan, my lord." Dubrov enunciated the last two words like poison on his tongue. He was never one for acting. I clenched my jaw and arched an eyebrow at Dubrov, demanding further elaboration just when Lisa's words broke the silence. "Sakan, lord, the drug," She elaborated. Of course, sakan, the drug, goddamnit. Where did my mind wander off to? My gaze fell on the traders. They looked like bathing was a foreign concept to them. Don't even get me started on the smell. I stifled the urge to gag. "Is it. . .mandatory for you to appear homeless or is that a mere result of your circumstances?" I asked, in a 'royal' tone. Whatever the hell that meant. I lifted my chin and gestured for them to bring in the crates. It gave me relief to see how they were easily intimidated. They fumbled with the crates, placing them in front of me one by one. I noticed they might not have been the ones to do the dirty work for Defiance. They were mere workers. They were clearly no threat. "Lisa." I said, meeting her gaze, demanding her to test the drug, had to make this transaction or exchange as believable as possible. Besides Lisa here had been an expert when it came to drugs, medicine, toxicants and intoxicants. She bowed, and it almost gave me a hard-on, almost. Had to keep desire in check while on a mission. She ripped open one of the crates. There were many pouches, sakan was a powdery substance. But there was something off about these pouches, they were, almost jelly-like, rather like balloons. One of the traders smirked asboth of them drewcurved knives from seemingly nowhere and began to flee. Lisa glanced at me and rasped; "Poison gas, duck!" Shock registered into every cell of my body and I lunged backwards turning the front of my body the other way as Dubrov went after the traders, they were running away while an arrow came slicing through the air and right into the crates. A purplish gas escaped into the atmosphere and the mule whined in agony. Wheezing and rasping as the gas entered his nose instead of air. Covering your nose had been enough to protect yourself from this gas, that went by the name cirkal. The mule fell to the floor in a heap of poison gas as more crates crashed against the ground and more of the pouches popped. They used the poison quite smartly. And it had been important to locate the archer. I myself had been one, so I could obviously tell from where he would shoot, but I had no idea where he would run off to or his escape routes, now all i could do was get Lisa and then go off to help Dubrov, hoping he catches them. I clamped my left hand against my nose and mouth and quickly darted towards Lisa, grabbing her by the collar than dashing off to the northeast of the public square, as we had been conducting the exchange in the north but our stuff lied in a tree hollow in the northeast. I ran uphill, carrying Lisa in my arms. And this time I couldn't help my hard-on. He would probably stick around from wherever he shot, cause he probably couldn't see whether or not all of us died. But how on God's earth did he know we were undercover men?What mattered now was that his aim was locked on me and Lisa. I used the trees, changing my lane now and again all the whil e using my speed. I chuckled underneath my breath as the arrows flew time and time again into the trees we were leaving behind. When my eyes fell down on her face, I saw her lips had went drier, blueish grooves formed under her eyes. She had been affected by the poison gas in the process of warning us. I quickly settled her down against the tree. Curling my fingers around the back of her neck as I rubbed her jawline. If it weren't for less than decent timing I would've even kissed her. I never really thought of her as a love interest but she was too damn doable. We were safe now, the archer couldn't shoot us here. I pushed my hand inside the tree hollow, felt smooth edges and feathers against my fingertips, ah, the feel, readers. The feel of a fish that was thrown in water after what seemingly felt like an eternity, the feeling of pressing your hands into your woman's breasts after coming back home from decades of war. Indescribably salvational. I gripped my bow right from the handle, pulling out an arrow from my quiver with which I tied a rope, tightening the grip of my finger and thumb around the arrow nock. I pressed the nock against the string, stretching it enough, Then I took aim, pointing it into the uppermost parts of the a building that surrounded the public square. It was like a wall. Like Colosseum. Feck, I forgot something. The other end of the rope had been a simple rappelling device. It were 3 long, curved ends that would tighten around a body when the rope goes tightly rigid. I pressed it against a strong branch that could take my weight. I regained my stance and pulled the arrow nock against the string again. My fingers began humming and strumming with heat of adrenaline and comfort, that's when I let the arrow go, it spiraled through the air like an absolute beauty as my eyes were locked on its flight. It pierced the cobblestone wall and my face broke into a smile, i squeezed the rope between my hands and made sure it was perfectly rigid. I put my bow above the rope and hung from it, I felt like an absolute eagle as i glided down the rope right towards the window of the building, the same window the archer shot from. My medium long hair was rippling through the air. Oh and about my hair? Probably the only thing I loved about myself other than my archery skills. My hair was somewhat wavy and made up for the lack of outstanding looks of mine I wasn't ugly, but kinda average and even that took work. Beauty wasn't important to a soldier, but me? I was more insecure than a naked bride. Pretty poor example but that's actually true according to some rumors about the tribes up north. The tribal elders saw to it that when two people desired a love marriage rather than a political one where you don't necessarily love the person, you'd have to get married naked in front of the entire village. With political marriages, they occurred to strenghthen ties. Sometimes with other tribes, sometimes they even married off their people to the royalties. The benefit royalties got from this was that this way, they would have more influence in the forests of Ambrosia as now they would be on good terms with the tribes, and the benefits for the tribe were that of resources. Yeah, pretty messed up. T'was most likely a rumour anyway. Unless I stop thinking about it, I probably won't live to find out its authenticity as the window grew nearer and nearer. I joined my feet together and pulled them upwards, straightening them and just when I was in front of the window, I let go of the rope and plunged myself in the window. My heart got caught in my lung when I realized that if it weren't for luck and the archer who shot the poison gas was still here, I would be bleeding to death by the arrows he would shoot at me while I was gliding down the rope. Would've made meat jerky out of me. I rolled over on the ground and my head hit right into the farthest wall As I grunted. "Bloody hell." I cursed, rubbing my palm against the side that hit the wall, I quickly got up and composed myself. I dashed through the open door, it was like a wooden foyer, an incredibly large and vast one. The archer stood on the top of the uppermost stairs. His arrow pointed at the door in the far against wall. That meant the traders are going through enter through the door, and so will Dubrov trailing the traders. He's waiting for the moment to shoot them. I quickly pulled out an arrow and pressed it against the string, took aim at the archer's head. Truth was. Truth definitely was that our plan went south. Because originally it was to follow and trail the traders back to the Defiance's base. But what we could still do was capture these three, and use them to reach Defiance hideout. But we could easily be misguided. We could at least solve one matter. Why were those crates filled with poison gas and why was there an archer? It meant they knew the buyers would be undercover soldiers. How'd they know? Was there a rat among us? Whoever it was, it was probably this archer over here. "Drop the bow and turn around." I ordered as I broke a sweat. Trying to keep my tone as stern as possible. The archer stood up. Refusing to turn around, but it did turn around. "Turn around." Her mouth and nose were covered. But the eyes, they were awfully familiar. Purply and beautiful. And I could tell there was dread in her eyes. Like she hadn't expected to see me here. Before I could utter another word she brought her hands up and clamped one beneth her jaw, the other against the back of her head. I lunged forward. "No!" But it was too late. She snapped her neck and fell to the floor. My heart lunged. My heart lunged like that time I was 10 and dad refused to give me a horse ride cause he had some important affairs to take care of. My heart leaped like that time I wanted to press my head against my mother's laps cause I was bullied by fellow kids but she snapped at me because she was mad at my father. My heart leaped like that time when my first comfort woman that I used to confide in suddenly left me. When I had plans to marry her. My heart lunged like that time I saw my comfort woman marrying another guy. A better, stronger, neater guy. My heart leaped like that time my father was murdered. Like the time an arrow was driven through my mom's chest. When the king's guard told me that my nanny now takes care of another baby. My heart leaped and leaped cause that was all it could do as I witnessed another death.