By some miracle, the assassin’s aim was off. A hair’s breadth the difference between a certain kill shot and an extremity wound. My shoulder exploded in a ball of fire as I gasped for air and felt the warm, scarlet blood flow down my arm. Had the sniper meant to miss or had fate saved from the grasp of death itself? I had no time to figure it out this as the figure in black stood watching me from across the building. Its form silhouetted by the blinking neon lights, he stood for a moment, the smoke of the sniper rifle trailing away into the night air.
“Come Adelmar!” I shouted and ripped a piece of material off my jacket before binding it tightly around my shoulder in the run. We burst through the shattered remnants of the sliding glass door, leaping across the railing to the building adjacent to us. Landing with a thud on a roof top garden and winching at the pain that shot through my shoulder, I looked behind me and saw that Adelmar had safely made the leap as well. Through the ornately organized trees, I could see that the assassin still hadn’t moved from his vantage point. It was like he was calling me closer, mocking me with each step as I ran to the edge. A second shot rang out, sending leaves and fragments of paving flying into the air before my feet. Undaunted, I reached the ledge and took a deep breath as I flung myself forward through the air. Fortunately, the metal fire escape was within jumping distance and I slammed into the metal structure, gasping for air as drops of bright red blood splashed on the rusted iron steps. My faithful companion was mere seconds behind me, the fire escape rattling violently as the wolf thundered into it.
“Up there! Come on!” There was no time to catch my breath or stem the flow of blood as I took the steps two at a time. Finally, we made it to the top of the building; just in time to see the assassin looking over his shoulder at us before he turned and ran.
“You are not getting away from me.” I thought grimly to myself as I charged forward, ducking and diving over steaming rooftop pipes and a forest of television aerials. Just as I thought I had lost him, the bouncing figure ahead of me would appear again, weaving his way like a wraith through the obstacles in his way. Whoever it was, he was quick; damn quick. I fought for air but resolutely Adelmar and I stayed on his trail. The hunter had become the hunted. With practiced grace, the figure dove from the building and landed on the next rooftop, right in the middle where someone had left their laundry out to dry. As I landed behind him, I instantly knew something was wrong. The sounds of running had died away, it was clear even with the din of the city breathing around it.
“Stay close to me.” I whispered to the wolf as I summoned a Berretta to my side. Even the gauntlet knew that something was amiss, the usual high pitched beeping replaced with a low static noise like hiss. Step by step, we made our way forward through the rows of linen. It rustled treacherously in the low moaning of the night’s wind. An alley cat quickly scurried away into the darkness, clearly upset that someone dared upset its nocturnal slumber. The shadow struck like a lightning bolt, a wicked knife flashing inches away from my chest as I quickly stepped backwards. The assassin was all over me, hacking and slashing away with the hunting knife. Adelmar tried taking him down but he moved with the grace of a prima ballerina, easily avoiding the snapping jaws of the wolf before kicking him hard in the ribs. The wolf went down with a low guttural moan of pain as the assassin flashed a set of throwing knives at me. One left a thin trail of blood behind on my cheek and the other one fluttered away into the darkness. He came at me again but this time I was ready for him, dropping my good shoulder into his midriff and driving him back with force. The assassin grunted in pain, clutching his ribs but quickly recovered, somersaulting behind a line of curtain and again the viper was on the run.
“Stay here, I’ll be right back for you.” I checked up on Adelmar but he was okay, the wind was temporally knocked out of him. He tried to get up but it was no use, the assailant knew what he was doing and had struck the nerve point of the wolf’s ribs perfectly.
