Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.67 (99) (Patreon)

Rose was in her element. Even though the situation was dire, she had missed this. She had always loved the wilds, it was where she felt at home. The sounds of the forest wrapped around her like a blanket. Like a ghost, she moved along the forest floor in a crouch, alert for any threat.

She felt the ambiance change, and her surroundings seemed to quiet. Pausing, she quickly found a bush to hide under. Like a rabbit, she scurried to safety. Her heart was steady, and she waited patiently to see what had disturbed the forest.

Lumbering into view, a large bear-like monster shuffled through the trees. Its snout was in the air, seemingly searching for something. Rose realized that it must have caught her scent.

Delicately, she set down her pack. Her eyes never left the hulking monster. Skillfully, she drew an arrow, and prepared herself for combat. If the monster had her scent, than any chance of avoiding a fight was already gone.

Patiently, she watched the monster approach. Ensconced in a shrubbery, she waited. Her heart pumped steadily, and sweat pooled on her lower back. As a hunter, she knew how to pick her shots. She didn’t move a muscle, and her breath was so quiet that she could be confused for part of the landscape. Rose loved this feeling. Her enemy looked right at her, but couldn’t see her. She was the one in control of the situation.

Slowly, she raised her bow. Every movement was smooth. The sound of her bowstring stretching forced her to pause. The monster’s head whipped around, once again staring at her hiding spot. It’s snout bared in a silent snarl. Hungry eyes searched for its prey.

Calmly, she connected to the arrow like she had been taught. She felt the arrow, and became one with it. The process was familiar, and comforting.

‘Now!’ she thought, and released her arrow.

It flew true, and planted itself in the towering beast’s eye. The monster reeled back in pain, and its roar ripped through the forest. There was agony in its call, and Rose’s heart leapt at the successful strike. Rather than reposition, she just drew another arrow, and waited for the monster to offer its other eye.

Seconds passed, as the giant monster stumbled around. It used its front paws to break off the arrow, leaving a wrecked, and bleeding eye socket.

Rose’s smirk grew into a smile. Her eyes were sparkling with joy. She was the predator, and her prey was panicking. Seeing an opening, she fired another arrow. Once again, a roar of pain shook the forest, and her prey was blinded.

Springing to her feet, she clipped her bow to her baldric, then threw it over her shoulder. Feeling it rest comfortably next to her quiver, she drew her short-sword with her right, as her left pulled a knife from a scabbard on her chest. While becoming one with her blades, she moved quickly, and circled the monster.

She approached carefully, as the large beast was flailing around in pain. It was slamming into trees, destroying whatever it happened to run into. Blinded, and enraged, it was a terrifying sight. Yet, for Rose, it was a wounded animal that she would soon put out of its misery.

Like a viper, she struck out at its legs. The monsters shoulders were taller than her, and she had no issue finding its joints. Soon, the beast was hobbled. Its roars of pain had transitioned into guttural whines. Its flanks were covered in wounds, and it was unable to stand.

Rose didn’t hesitate, and with a running leap, she ascended the mountain of muscle. Perched on its back, she ran up to its neck. Her steps were so light, the monster didn’t even realize the danger it was in. Sheathing her knife, she took up a two-handed grip on her short-sword. She raised the sword high, then slammed it into the monsters neck, just below its head.

She held tight as the beast thrashed around in pain. Her blade sawed back and forth, and the blood poured over her hands. Seconds passed, and the hulking monster came to a stop. Rose was crouched on the beast, patiently waiting to see if the fight was really over. The silence of her surroundings made a sharp contrast to the previous cacophony.

Covered in blood, she stood up while wrenching her sword free. Standing on the beasts, she looked around carefully. Rose knew better than to let her guard down. Killing one monster didn’t make the forest any safer.

Her eyes snapped toward a sound in the distance. Something was coming, and it was moving fast. She looked around, and saw that she was high enough to reach the lower branches. Quickly sheathing her sword, she didn’t even have time to remove the blood. With a small jump, she took hold of the closest branch.

Like a squirrel, she climbed higher, trying to find a comfortable perch. When she found a suitable place, she unclipped her bow and got ready. She could hear feet stamping, along with the familiar sounds of armor. Whoever was coming, they were armed. Taking a deep breath, she drew an arrow and prepared. They would not find her easy prey… she was a hunter.

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Nero was getting annoyed. Their group was moving quickly through the forest. Rose had a few hours lead, and Cathleen was determined to close the distance quickly. Everyone seemed to share Nick’s opinion of how terribly ‘screwed’ they were. A great deal of Nero’s irritation was due to the fact that the man wouldn’t shut-up about it.

When they’d first left to find Rose, Nero had contacted Nick over a private connection. When Nero had told Nick his plan, the man had been skeptical. But after some convincing, he agreed to play along. Nero couldn’t help but regret the fact that Nick was such a surprisingly good actor. He really played the victim well.

As they moved through the forest, Nick hissed, “All I’m saying is that you’re not thinking this through. If there are really mages tracking us, there isn’t anything we can do. I’m not skilled enough in essence diffusion to hide us. There could be multiple teams hunting us as we speak! And if Captain Angelton is invo-”

From the front of the group, Sergeant Wesker nearly shouted, “The Captain is a good man! He wouldn’t be involved in something like this. I’d recommend you watch your mouth, mage.”

Nero sighed, but didn’t get involved. He needed the sergeant to be preoccupied. So Nick had made sure to continually needle the man. The two of them had been repeating this fight for the last hour. Nick would slowly complain, working himself into a lather, then the sergeant would lose it. As expected, Nick’s apology quickly followed.

Nick held up his hands and said, “I’m not saying that the captain is involved. I’m just stating a hypothetical. I’m sure you’re right. The captain is a professional. His service record is impeccable, and I didn’t mean to imply anything.”

The group proceeded forward, following Rose’s trail. Occasionally, Nick would direct them to alter course. He was the only one who could follow Rose’s essence trail. Nero had tried, but he didn’t have anything with her signature to use as a reference. Nick had tried to explain, but they hadn’t gotten far, and Nero was in no mood for a lecture.

Nero tried to ignore Nick’s grumbling. While keeping watch on his side of the forest, Nero’s mind tried to piece together what he knew. He hated this. There were too many possibilities. All he knew for sure, was that someone with connections had hired a group of people to kill him. Everything else was just conjecture. He couldn’t trust the assassin. And the worst part was that he could be under surveillance right now, so he couldn’t even think out loud.

As Nero’s anger at the situation grew, he heard Cathleen say, “Halt. Nick, shut-up for a second.”

The group came to a stop. Nero was breathing hard, but he tried to listen for what had spooked Cathleen.

Like a meerkat looking around, she rose to her full height from a crouch. Nero watched her, trying to figure out what she was thinking. Her eyes were furrowed in concentration as her gaze panned around the forest. When she froze in place, Nero felt his breath catch. ‘What is she hearing?’ he wondered.

Crouching back down, she whispered, “There is a fight in the distance. I think someone is fighting one of those monsters we’ve been seeing.” She pointed off into the forest with her spear, and said, “Its coming from over there.”

Sergeant Wesker replied, “All right. Let’s see who’s out there.”

Nero looked over at Mike, and was happy to see the man looking nervously into the distance. It didn’t seem like the man was expecting reinforcements. In fact, the man was perfectly happy being ignored. Nero had kept a psychic eye on Mike, and he had been getting better at recognizing the man’s emotions. It was a lot like when he was using the link.

Nero had found that if he let his psychic field mingle into someone’s essence field, he could get a sense of what they were feeling. It was very muted, but still useful. He couldn’t affect the essence within their ‘bubble’, but he could feel what they were doing with it, and how their psyche affected it. Nero likened it to reading someone’s expressions, but psychically.

Nero’s center had almost recovered, and he was ready to see what he and his companions were capable of when they were PREPARED for combat. If there were enemies ahead, they were about to have a surprise.

While the group moved quickly, Nero spread out his senses. He felt the animals running away from the conflict, and the sense of growing danger gave him goosebumps.

Ten minutes later, they found the aftermath of the fight Cathleen had heard. Nero looked around, and marveled at the destroyed landscape. Trees were destroyed, and the ground was torn up. He tightened his field, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

The group spread out, Cathleen taking the middle as always. Wesker approached a large dead monster. It looked like it had died to a thousand cuts. There were slashes all over its sides, and it was covered in blood.

The sergeant looked over the corpse and said quietly, “It looks like someone shot out its eyes. Then they spent a good long time bleeding it to death. This wasn’t a quick kill.”

Nero felt a disturbance in his field. There was a hazy spot up in the trees. Turning his head, he looked up. There didn’t seem to be anything up there, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was there. Narrowing his eyes, he asked, “How many people were involved?”

Sergeant Wesker responded, “How in the hells am I supposed to know? All I can tell you is that there was an archer and a swordsman. I don’t see any signs of casting, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there were no mages here.”

Nero put the pieces together, then huffed in annoyance. He put his hands on his hips and stared at the hazy spot in the trees. He couldn’t see anything, but he was pretty sure who was up there.

He shouted, “Rose! Get your ass down here. The sergeant needs his magic eight ball, and we have to get back to Dorchester. Stop being so dramatic.”

The entire group was startled at Nero’s outburst. But, before they could say anything, they heard an angry shout from above. “I’m not being dramatic! How do I know that you are really you? The assassin’s had an illusion mage, and I’m staring at their swordsman as we speak,” said Rose, while still hiding in the upper branches.

Nero snorted in amusement. Looking over, he saw Cathleen standing comfortably with her spear planted in the ground. Sergeant Wesker was hiding behind his shield, nervously looking around. Nick was crouched, his eyes wide in panic. And Nero nearly started laughing when he saw Mike standing with his arms up. The man apparently realized that an archer was targeting him.

Nero replied, “Look. I’m me. No one has the balls to try and impersonate me.” He gestured to the assassin dismissively, “And that’s just Mike. He and his friends were hired to kill me. His friends are dead, and he has agreed to testify against his employer. We need to get him back to Dorchester. So get your ass down here, and let’s go.”

Nick whispered, “Are you sure that we can trust her?”

Rose’s voice replied from a different tree. Somehow she had moved without anyone having seen her. “What do mean by that? They tried to kill me too? And how in the hells are you all alive? I SAW you die. I’m not going anywhere with you until you prove to me that you are who you say you are,” she said, her voice tight with anxiety.

Nero rubbed his head in annoyance, and replied, “I took care of the assassins and then resuscitated everyone. We came after you to save you… and we need that direction-finder you took. But mostly it was because of the ‘saving’ thing. I don’t know how to prove anything to you.” Looking around at his companions, Nero asked, “Any of you got any ideas?”

Cathleen’s voice was cold as ice. “If you don’t get down here in the next 2 minutes, I’m coming up there,” she said.

Rose immediately responded, “Oh, thank the gods. Hi Cathleen, I’m so glad you’re OK.” She emerged from the branches, hopping and sliding among the canopy. In less than thirty seconds, she was on the ground again.

She rushed up to Cathleen and was all smiles. She looked at the woman, and said, “Thank you for coming for me. I really am glad that you’re all right.”

Cathleen offered the young woman a small smile and replied, “It will take a lot more than that to kill me. Now let’s get back to Dorchester and get this assassin to the Tower of Law.”

Nero angrily walked up and said, “It did NOT take more than that to kill you. Why is no one acknowledging the fact that I saved everybody. This is starting to feel like a conspiracy.” He turned to look at Rose and said, “And why did you just believe her? Why didn’t you believe me?”

Rose and Cathleen exchanged a look, and Cathleen shrugged as if nothing Nero said mattered. Rose looked down at Nero and said, “I believed her because I know her. And anything that comes out of your mouth should be treated as a lie until corroborating evidence is presented.”

Nick burst out in laughter, while Nero’s face turned red in anger.

Nearly hissing, Nero said, “Let’s just get moving. And for the record, I’m the only one who believed you weren’t an assassin. Just because you’re still a spy for the general, doesn’t mean you had anything to do with this.” Nero stomped off, apparently done talking about this.

While Nick and Cathleen frowned, Rose looked shocked. Mike seemed completely ambivalent, while Sergeant Wesker said dumbly, “Wait? She’s a what now?”

Nero shouted over his shoulder, “I’ve already got a bearing on Dorchester. Everyone shut-up and let’s get moving. We’re losing the light.”

Dutifully, everyone took their places, with Mike trailing behind the group. Rose kept her head down, pretending to be embarrassed. They left the dead monster where it was, and headed off toward the city.

Nero kept his senses wide, now paying attention to both Mike and Rose in equal measure. ‘I shouldn’t have said anything. Come on Nero, lock it down. Don’t get emotional, and focus on the angles. If you can’t handle wordplay, then you’re going to get eaten alive by the nobles,’ he admonished himself.