The Heart of an Assassin

Chapter One

 I stood at the top of the tallest tree in the forest; looking out at the sparkling sea ahead of me. It was vast. Nothing could be seen beyond it. The warm summer breeze whipped my hair out of my ponytail and into my face, but I didn't care. I loved to watch the diamonds scatter out onto the water as the sun reflected off of it. A massive cloud moved in front of the sun and the sea turned back into the dark water that held dangers no one dared to find.

The sun wouldn't shine for a while now. With a sigh I made my way back down the tree. Jumping from massive branch to branch. As I descended I got closer and closer to the ground that held me prisoner.

At the bottom Eli waited for me, leaning against my tree watching the forest entrance. He was my most trusted designated lookout. My only look out. No one else would put their food rations in danger to let me bath in the sun and dream about freedom. He pushed himself off of the tree's trunk once my feet hit the ground with a thud. "You done now? You were up there for hours. The commander will have noticed our absence by now."

"We'll just say we were picking berries."

"We don't have any berries to prove that."

"We were looking for berries. How's that?"

"Listen Bella, I don't think I can be your look out anymore."

"What? Why?"

"It's just that last time.." he trailed off and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Last time was under control."

"I'm pretty sure falling out of a tree, breaking a leg, and freaking out at camp about how much you hate the place when bed ridden was not under control. You even threw a knife at the commander. You're lucky he has good reflexes."

"Well I--"

"Why do you think we are here in the first place?"

"Because we have exceptional skills in killing blah blah blah."

"Exactly. Look Bella, we are in the forest like you've always wanted."

"This isn't the same Eli. I want to live in the forest. I want to live off of the forest. Not forced to live in the forest in tents because I am one of the best hunteress in the world and need to be cut off from said world in order to be safe." I swung my arms in a wide arc and took in my surroundings. "I want this to be my life Eli. I want to live here by my own will. I want to see this pure world everyday when I wake up and not see the commander staring at me disapprovingly. I want to be free."

"Wow Bella. I can't believe you are only thinking about yourself right now." I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off, "Don't you think I want that too? Well I can't because I need to think about the future of my world, our world. We need to protect the people from the monsters that are scattered across the globe."

"I didn't mean it like that." I put my hand on his shoulder. "You can come too you know, if you wanted to." Then I had an idea of how to get his spirits up,"Race you to camp!" I sprinted towards the camp without much warning.

"Hey that's not fair! I wasn't ready!"

We ran past the trees with silent speed. Eli caught up to be quickly. I tossed pinecones at him behind me to knock him off course. Of course they didn't do anything. "Last one to camp gives up half their rations!"

He ran faster with the promise of a bigger dinner. He was beginning to catch up, his feet almost hitting my heels "Oh you bet I'm winning this. A man needs his fill!"

"You aren't a man." A stick hit my ankles and tripped me. I tucked into a roll and regained my footing. "Hey! No fair!"

"Yes fair. You cheated first!" Eli was a good two feet in front of me now, but I had a plan. I picked the tree and jumped towards it quickly. Careful not to waste any precious time. I scaled it quickly and threw myself onto the closet branch. Once I had a good grip. I swung to the next branch. It was just big enough to hold walk on, so I used it as my starting point. I did all of this in the matter of seconds. When I looked back to Eli he had only gained one whole foot. The camp was in sight now. Only a feet meters away.