Hiding in the Shadows - Old Version (Other one is new one)

Chapter 1: A bump in the night

The night was cold. But I remained still, refusing to shiver. Any movement would be heard by the prey I stalked. Even my breathing was slow and regulated ―though my heart wanted to hammer its way out of my chest. My body wanted to move, every instinct telling me to go, to do something, preferably to turn in for the night, but I waited. Listening. Watching.

Voices echoed through the woods, proving to me that I had struck the proverbial gold. My muscles tensed, ready to bring the blades of my daggers in an arch, and bring an end to my nightly hunt.

Or so I thought.

A bright light flared, only a hundred or so meters to my right; someone had lit a torch. And I looked right at it. Stupid girl, stupid Kaitlyn. I hounded myself, my night vision gone. The two men were talking now. Their chattering audible through the entire forest.

My arm was already half way through its deadly arc before my head was able to register the animal sitting on the branch next to me. The blade sung as it hit home, slicing through skin and bone alike. By the time I had drawn my blade from the corpse I realized that it was merely a tengmalm's owl, its yellow eyes glazing over as it let out its final breath before tumbling down to the drifts of snow below.

My hiding place obviously ruined, I sheathed my knives, bolted into the open, and drew my bow off my back, seeking out the poor men I was hunting. The crashing by the light continued, then cut off abruptly with a startled yell and a triumphant cackle. As I walked up to the clearing I could see the figure of one of the men with their arms wrapped around another, the pinned one wearing the same black hardened leather gear as I was.

There was nothing I could do. I leveled my bow with the head of the man, as the black clad figure reached up, trying to pry him off. I couldn't see his face, but I knew he didn't have long without air. It would be over soon, the poor bastard. The best I could do was avenge him and finish the target. It served him right, though, trying to light fires while on the hunt. Anyone who lived in these parts either knew this or died with their first mistake. The swan feathers brushed my fore-arm as I sent the arrow flying, it whistled through the air before coming to an abrupt stop; lodged in the skull of the man holding my partner down. As the man fell, so did the body of the figure he was holding, both slumped to the ground creating a wave of snow upon impact.

His friend immediately dropped the torch he was holding and drew his sword, a simple and crude piece of rusted steel honed to a deadly point. He crouched down, slowly spinning around in a circle looking for the source of the arrow that had recently brought an end to his friend. Without taking my eyes off the man, I slid another arrow out of the quiver secured by my thigh, notching it on the taut bowstring. I stood from my shadowy vantage point, my pulse rising in anticipation of the action to come.

"What was it this time? Get on the bad side of some fat lazy noble? Steal candy from the wrong baby?" I said as I came into the fringes of the torches wavering light. The man's face lit up in pure horror as he saw me approach. I watched as his stance changed; knees bent and weight back on his rear foot.

"I... I sw..." He started saying, but he was cut short. The thin wooden shaft of an arrow protruded from the top of his left knee, the tip visible coming out of the back. His sword began to sway and eventually dropped out of his hand, followed soon after by him; a hollow thump sounded through the woods as he fell to his knees.

"Whatever it was you took the life of another recruit. And now you'll have the joy of a nice cold night with the wolves," I muttered walking up to him. I used the ball of my foot to push him fully to the ground before I leaned over him, continuing my impromptu speech. His eyes were as wide as the moon, and his face was pale as he looked up to me.

"You see, that arrow in your knee had some good 'ol Nightshade on it." By now he would have lost control to his body, leaving him paralyzed in the woods. "So you'll be spending the night here. And I guess you won't need your gold to pay for a tavern anymore?" I finished with a grin as I my hands made quick work of the knot holding his purse to his belt. Once the purse was fully secured on my belt I broke the head of the arrow in his leg off and stored it in one of the pockets on the side of my quiver. It sealed shut with a soft click as I slid the strap back onto my shoulder, the quiver settling between my shoulder blades.

The walk back was as boring and uneventful as the past days I had spent hunting the two men who lay dead and paralyzed in the clearing I had left behind. The thick canopy of the forest leaving for little light to be able to reach the floor, and allowing what moonlight did to set a entrancing pattern of light across the untouched snow drifts that lay before me.

It felt as if years had passed before I finally made it to my destination, the only evidence of my passing along the ground left in the form of craters in the snow.

To anyone else the surrounding section of forest would have seemed as boring and empty as any over, but to those with the know how were able to access the full potential of the area. I rolled my shoulder as I clenched my hand into a fist, trying to shake out the cold before I came to knock on the trunk on the think mahogany tree that stood before me.

The caws of birds could be heard of the howl of the occasional gusts of wind as a faint but constant clacking noise could be heard, slowly getting louder as a ladder made of rope and wooden planks unraveled along the gnarled trunk of the tree.

I quickly gave the surroundings one more look before checking over the straps of my gear and begging my accent. As I climbed the breeze that made its way through the woods slowly became more prominent, each breath leaving my mouth letting a cloud of white slowly float off into the early morning air, glistening as the beams of morning light made contact with each.

The slow climb came to a stop, ending with a heavyset metal framed trapdoor blocking my path.

"Pray in the light for in the night we reap," a voice says, loud enough to hear yet quiet enough for any one below to mistake for a mere whistle of the wind.

"We the killers never sleep," comes my reply; finishing the motto that I had come to know as second nature.

"Welcome home," the voice says in answer as the trapdoor that once blocked my path swings open to reveal a hooded figure standing above.

The hooded figure is guarding a small rounded platform, on which the entrance stands which is one of four, posted to the north, south, east, and west around the homes and lives of the guild. After a quick acknowledgement of the guard I took off across the nearest rope bridge wanting to reach the citadel before the rest of the guild woke up.

There where breathtaking views of The forest below with the forest floor covered in untouched drifts of snow to either side of the bridge as I crossed. Weaving my way in and around the maze of bridges and ladders I made quick progress to the citadel, the peak of the central towers wooden frame visible over the tops of houses and trees alike. Unlike many of the other buildings I past the tower was free standing, not resting against a tree trunk like other homes and shops, it's wooden frame strong and made from the ironwood of the forest it resided in.

By the time I had gotten to the front door of the citadel the sun had begun to rise, slowly igniting the sky with hues of reds and orange.
The doors before me towered above me, and where made of two single pieces of the same ironwood that the tower was made up of, with large steel hinges mounting it to the walls.

THIS IS the rest of the chapter I had posted before, and I hope you like it! I'm on a volunteer trip in Malaysia at the moment so I don't have much time to edit so I apologize for any problems in my spelling and grammar. As Well as the normal commenting feel free to fix any problems and also help with finding a replacement for that motto, it sucks to be honest at the moment. :3 DON'T FORGET TO LIKE AND SHARE THE CHAPTERS WITH FRIENDS AND COMMENT ANY QUESTIONS/COMMENTS YOU HAVE!