The Huntress

Chapter 9

"Dawn."

"Alpha." Dawn answered in the same tone, causing him to chuckle a little. He did his normal ritual of kissing her hand before falling serious again.

"How did you find us?" Alpha asked, his question caught the attention of all of the other warriors.

"What do you mean?" she asked, playing dumb.

"How did you find us, Dawn?" he pressed.

The night was silent. Completely silent.

Years earlier:

In the trees above a young woman sat patiently, staring into the dimly lit path in the middle of the forest. She was waiting, a bow in her hands with an arrow drawn, her arm was starting to ache painfully, yet she wouldn't lower it.

Finally, after what felt like days, she heard voices in the distance, the sound of chains rattling, and the hooves of Direshire. They slowly started to get closer and closer, yet she still didn't move.

A carriage-like cage being pulled by four Direshires passed right past her, she took a quick look inside and her eyes widened so much then nearly fell out of her skull. In the cage covered in chains was Alpha, Octavius, Rome, Lion, and Bear; they looked so weak, so tired and thin. Their eyes were void of life and all of the men were covered in scars, some fresh and some old.

That was all she needed, her original plan wouldn't work, normally she can carry the weak prisoner, but she couldn't carry five men who were, even though quite thin, twice her size. She had to get the carriage further away so the buyer couldn't call for help.

So she let the carriage go. Still keeping her bow drawn, she traversed along tree branches, keeping low and keeping quiet, just like Myth taught her. Once she deemed them far enough away from any kind of help, she let out her call. An onymous, bird-like call, a sound which echoes through the forest, causing everything to fall silent. The buyer had been warned of this, the strange person who would let out a piercing call into the night then free the newly brought slaves. Of course he didn't believe the rumours, that was his downfall.

The sound was heard again, this time Bear raised his head. He recognised that call. That was the call his sister would give when she was lost in the forest back on Nialow. But that was impossible, she was dead, he watched her get shot and fall off of that cliff, he must have been imagining it. Yet he was so sure he heard it. So he gave off his own chirp. Like a game of Marco Polo. His call was once again answered.

So he called again, this time the attention of the other four men were caught, all of them listening, their attention caught. The carriage had now come to a complete stop, the Direshires were restless and spooked. The call came again.

In the trees above, Huntress was still perched with her arrow drawn, aiming straight for guard at the front of the carriage, the feathers of the arrow resting on her cheek, the breath was even and steady, yet her eyes were locked on her brother who was desperately looking into the forest for her.

Giving off one last call, this time making it louder, her eyes flew to the guard as she released the arrow, the harness holding the Direshires had been burnt off. Just as the arrow pierced the eye of the guard, the Direshires bolted, leaving the carriage and cage stranded in the middle of the forest.

Everything once again stood still. It seemed as if the forest itself was folding its breath, waiting for the next move. Eventually the rich idiot opened the curtain of his carriage, giving Huntress a perfect view for a perfect shot. That simple mistake was all she needed. The arrow was in the man's head before he could even comprehend the danger he was in. She stayed where she was for just a couple seconds longer, waiting to see if anyone else emerged.

When she deemed all was clear, Huntress slowly made her way down the trees and towards the carriage, sticking to the shadows, keeping her bow drawn. She looked inside of the carriage. After confirming that it was empty, she made her way towards the back of the cage, only she went across the top.

She wasn't stupid, she knew that they always travelled with more than one guard. She had only confirmed that there was no one else in the carriage, not under it. Once she made her way to the cage, she locked eyes with Bear.

"Shhhh." She placed her finger to her lips as she told the men to be quiet. Huntress perched herself on top of the cage, waiting for the guard to crawl from under the carriage. She didn't have to wait for too long. The guard wiggled out from underneath and locked eyes with Huntress, he was only a child 17 at the most, he was covered in bruises and cuts. It was obvious he was a 'promoted' slave (slaves who had been chosen to travel and protect buyers from Huntress), she had encountered many before.

Immediately she dropped her weapons and put her hands up, showing she wasn't a threat. She jumped down from the cage and landed in a crouch, keeping small, and held her hand out, urging the teen towards her. He was hesitant, so Huntress gestured to the lock on the cage before slowly backing away, leaving her weapons where they were.

It took a small amount of time before the kid pulled the key out of his pocket and slowly walked towards the cage. He was still highly hesitant, so Huntress reached up to remove her mask.

"Hey kid, my name is Dawn, can you tell me yours?"

"Champion."

"Champion? Hello Champion, can you help me release my friends?" She asked with a soft voice. That small interaction was all that was needed, that simple show of kindness meant everything to Champion. He helped free the men, and she brought all six of them to a camp, full of food, water, blankets and beds to sleep in. Other freed slaves stood guard, whilst others were huddled around a fire. That was the start of a new AutumnMill, and a new Terrasen.

"I never knew you were in that cage." Dawn said with an unbothered tone. It was obvious she didn't like talking about what she did those four years. "It just so happened that you were in that cage. Just luck I suppose."

"Well how did the Direshires get away?" Rome asked.

"Blu burnt their harnesses. To be honest, I was hoping for more of a fight, it just seemed that that specific buyer was very cocky which ended up being his downfall." That was the end of the conversation. That whole job she did with freeing the slaves was all completely luck. She was lucky that she freed most of the slaves before buyers started to see just how dangerous she was, she was able to exploit their cockiness.

Nobody really questioned her. Nobody who was freed from slave traders thought it was luck. They saw the precision in her shots, how she stuck to the shadows, how quiet she kept, and the fear she would strike into her enemies, yet hope would strike the captives. There was a reason as to why the people followed her.

She gained their trust, and she fought with honour.