chapter 52

Alica suddenly sat up in bed after shouting “No you can’t do that! Take me!” She looked around, slightly calming her heavy breathing recognizing her room. She rubbed her chest just over her heart, trying to slow down the thumping beating, ‘O.. ok. It was only a dream.’ She thought. Alica frowned, realizing she doesn't clearly remember what the dream was about;some blurred images. 

What she could remember was just her certain fear when she woke up. Alica took some deep breathing, relaxing her body. Afterward her eyes wandered out her window “Oh no! It’s already past breakfast!” She realized out loud, before quickly getting dressed in her festival attire. Alica rushed downstairs to only see her dad in the kitchen and no breakfast on the table.

While pouting, she whined in her head  ‘I.. I missed dad’s special rolls? I only get to eat those during important occasions. How could I miss these!’ She scolded herself. “Father, did I miss breakfast?” She asked with a ray of hope.

“Yes you did!” Gin said with a menacing smile.

“How come you didn't wake me!? You big Meanie!” She whined, stomping her foot on the ground. 

Through his laughs, Gin replied, “Of course, your uncle is getting stuff for your favorite rolls in the village right now. How could I, the great Gin, disappoint his daughter on this day!” He winked at her.

Completely forgetting about how upset she was a minute ago Alica ran up to Gin and gave him the biggest hug she could. “Thanks dad. I love you." She squealed, "And of course uncle too.” She added giggling, while holding on to her father.

“Your uncle should be back soon.” He smiles down at her. But his smile soon turned into a frown, “Looks like he is back faster then I thought he would be.” Gin said while looking at the horizon towards the village.

Alica strained her eyes to see anything but couldn't yet. Gin’s face slowly turned very serious. “Alica go get your stuff ready.” His voice slightly changed.

“I’m already dressed for the-” Alica started, but had Gin cut her off with his deep voice that meant business. She rarely hears him talk like this only when she tries to bring up what happened to mom, does she recall this voice.

“No get your armor on. We are going to the capital for a while. The road is not always safe!” Alica didn't think too much about it and was excited to go see the capital again. So raced upstairs to pack, ‘I wonder how grand the anniversary will be in the capital. I remember uncle telling me they celebrate for a whole week!’ She felt even more giddy just thinking about it. She gets to see the capital again after so long.

Gin ran up to Greycen as soon as he saw his figure in the distance. Greycen had blood all over him. Gin grabbed him by the shoulder checking over him in worry, “Don't worry brother, it’s not mine.” Greycen explained as he was being examined.

Gin sighed in relief, then seriously asked “What happened?” The sign of blood, be it his own or others, it was never good.

“It was a scouting party. Unmarked and masked. Have my suspicions but… Don't mind that we need to leave! You know that after the scouts the main force comes. If they had 10 scouts it has to be a force of at least 500!” Greycen exclaimed.

“Yes I know. But I can’t just abandon Emerast. You also know this!" Gin stressed.

“Brother please! We can’t fight them all. Even if we were in our heyday.” Greycen begged.

“All I need to do is stall long enough to let people get away. And most importantly remind them that Mirkwood isn't that easy to bully!” Gin replied.

“Sigh. Then I’ll fight with you and remind them of the fear of an archer!” Greycen sighed dramatically, shaking his head.

“No. Greycen you need to take Alica to the capital. I leave her to you. I can’t trust anyone else with her; my daughter.” Gin told him seriously.

“Ok brother.” Greycen sighed in defeat.

“Alica, Hurry Up!” Gin shouted, after seeing his brother nodded in agreement.

Alica came running downstairs, completely oblivious to the seriousness of the situation. Once out the door after hearing her father's yell. ‘Why does he seem so urgent? That’s weird.' She notices her uncle's face looking somber "Uncle why are you so glum. We are going to-" she sees blood on her uncle's clothes. Alica's eyes widen and she gulps fearing the unknown. "What's happening? Why is there blood? What-" Alica rambled out questions, scared and confused.

"Shut it Alica!" Gin almost snapped at her, "Just go with your uncle!" 

"But father, whatever is happening it's not good! I can help!" Alica stresses, "I am a warrior too, I want to fight! Every warrior deserves to fight!" She exclaimed. 

Gin let out an angry grunt, he was about to reply but he spotted something from the corner of his eye. He spun turning towards the town.

Smoke! Where there's smoke there's fire.

The black smoke seemed to come from the town. Greycen cursed under his breath "Those filthy bastard's."

"Alica we have no time for this!" Gin yelled in anger as he glared at his daughter. "Just grab her and go!" He spoke to Greycen. Greycen quickly grabs Alica wrist and tries to lead her away, but she struggles against his grip while yelling and thrashing around. 

Greycen kept trying to reason with her "We need to go now. We will only burden your father's mission."

"No we can help!" She retorted.

"They have too many people. We can't beat thousands of men. We need to report this to the -'' He cut himself off when he spotted something in the distance. Gin frowned following his gaze. But only a growing dust cloud was seen.

Gin's eyes widened as he realized what was causing the dust cloud that was fastly approaching them "Doesn't seem very friendly... " He mumbled out. 

The sound of horses' hooves hitting hard against the ground resounding like thunder became more and more clear to hear, including some clattering of metals and faint battle cries of the riders that rode the angry horses. Greycen quickly grabbed his bow from his mount, before quickly shooting out a flurry of arrows towards the direction of the soldiers. The arrows plunged themselves deep into the necks of the riders causing them to fall off the backs of the horses and be trampled by the others into meat paste. Greycen fired as many volleys as he could making almost thirty of them met their end to his hands. Alica watching her uncle unleash his superb archery skills slowly calms down while seeing the 100 plus riders coming for her home. 

Gin grabbed his sword, he knew they were soon to be surrounded, "GO GREYCEN!" He shouted at his brother. 

Greycen hesitated before he sighed while putting his bow away and quickly grabbed Alica, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder. There was only so much he could do to help his brother. His main priority right now was to keep Alica safe from harm. Yes, she was a warrior, but she was still only a trainee and had much to learn before going into battle, especially this battle. Greycen looked at his brother one last time before he got on his most trusted mount.

Spurring it on he gave it a heavy kick while yelling “Yeah, Yeah!”,as they pulled away from the house Alica still over her uncle's shoulder was staring at her father.

Gin stood there ramrod straight. No hesitation in his posture. She sees the large group of riders slowing down as they approach her father. One rider came forward, it seemed they were conversing. Then,  she saw Gin slowly unsheathe his sword. “Father….” She whimpered in frustrated despair as she didn't know if he could survive this fight. All she could do was pray and hope for the best...

Gin was trying his hardest to focus on the enemies coming towards him. Desperately avoiding looking behind him at his brother and daughter who were fleeing.

Watching the rapid speed of the riders slowing down as they approached him he knew they were here for him.

The riders parted letting someone through. He was dressed in full red robes with shiny silver platemail on his chest and thighs. Gin could tell he was their leader based on the quality of his armor that he had examined.

‘Well this proves it. They came to my home and this armor isn't something bandits or rogues could have.’ Gin quietly confirmed his suspicions, they were here for him.

“Hello Hero of the Woods. I’d say it's a pleasure to finally meet you but that would just be rude since we both know what I am really here for.” The leader said in a calm collected tone like he was casually talking to a friend, though a cunning smirk was portrayed on his face.

“So whom do I owe this great honor too? Little old me has retired for many years. But to address me as Hero, mean’s I must have caused you quite the damage in a war.” Gin replied in the same calm tone.

“Indeed you have. Slaying my family head many years ago you plunged my entire household into chaos.” Smacking his lips once, “But enough of that. It’s about time.” Sighing a shallow breath then continuing “Where is it?” His voice suddenly changed as rage took over it; demanding.

“I don’t know what IT is, but I wouldn’t bet on me telling you even if I did” Gin laughed out between words taking great satisfaction that he can hear his brother clearly getting away off into the distance, knowing that this group of idiots were focused on him he was content knowing his daughter would be safe.

“Guess we will have to do this the hard way.” The leader said as he retreated behind his men. His subordinates then closed the encirclement once again.

Gin slowly unsheathes his sword fully and gets in his base stance. Looking straight at the eyes of the leader as he slowly shifts his feet.

Leading with his right foot knee slightly bent he lunges forward with lightning speed slicing off the unsuspecting head of one of them in less than half a second, quickly he pushes off with both feet he appears to float back to the center, returning to his base form again like nothing happened. “Indeed. You will have to pay the price the hard way...” Gin replies with a smirk. 

 All the riders were still staring at their comrades head, still bleeding on the ground in absolute shock. Their breathes hitched their throats, almost as if for a few seconds they forgot how to breathe from the utter shock.

They knew that this was going to be a hard mission when sent over 100 men to take care of just one person. But of course, they never imagined how fierce he could really be in reality.

‘This is what it truly means to have the title Hero added to your name in this world filled with war and chaos.’ The riders thought as they watched the blood running slowly towards the hooves of their horses. Gin’s earlier comment only seemed to cement their fear further. 

“You Idiots. Just use your bows!” The leader screamed at his men in horror. He was entrusted by the family to complete this seemingly simple mission.

However, he is now realizing that he might have to sacrifice more than half his men to complete the task. These were his best soldiers, whom he had trained himself! How could he bear to see them lose their lives so easily.

At his order his men still on their horses took out their bows. Gin still stood in the center calmly keeping his stance in perfect form, carefully scanning the arrangement of the soldiers who would shoot.

The men, while fearful, still had years of training and quickly loaded their bows to await the order to fire.

Gin at seeing them finally start to load their arrows breathed a sigh of relief, ‘Thankfully, they are just longbows. If they all had crossbows even I would be in serious trouble.’ Gin’s right foot shifted slightly side to side getting a firm spot for his foot to push off on.

When the riders were all looking at their bows to knock their arrows, Gin finally made a move lunging to the left side of the encirclement he arrived in front of the wall of soldiers. Lowering his center of gravity during the lunge his chest was only inches off the ground as he appeared in front of the frontline he made four quick slashes in the blink of an eye. Quick slashes that were heard clearly and sharply as he cut through the air.

The two soldiers in front of him doubled over towards him. He used his momentum to jump onto their backs and shoved off powerfully with his right leg. Then soaring through the air he spun himself aiming for a rider, who was still on horseback. The rider was still knocking an arrow when he saw the drill like man coming right for him.

Before he could react Gin’s sword already pierced his helmet. Gin kicked the body off the horse and took the fallen soldier's bow already knocked with an arrow.

Quickly, he fired the arrow at another archer, wasting no time. The archers that were just finishing knocking their arrows started to fire at Gin in a panic. Gin however, stabbed the horse he was on then leaped off the horse towards another rider.

Mid air, he once again applied a blade technique and started to rotate horizontally. Slashing the rider with such force he flew into another soldier, knocking them both to the ground. As they groaned in agony, Gin stabbed the horse’s rear end to drive it into a frenzy. Jumping off the rampaging horse he landed into a crowd of ten foot soldiers.

“STOP SHOOTING ARROWS!” The leader yelled out in anger. The panicked archers had caused a dozen casualties already, if he didn't stop them now he might not have anyone left. “Idiots!” he cursed again.

​Gin simply smirked, "That's a shame, Thought you would continue your idiocy at least a little longer." He spoke as he stretched his neck and shoulder, freeing the tension in them.

“So are you done stalling for time Mr. Hero? What you think you can get enough time to let your daughter go free by keeping our attention and striking fear into my men. I must say, you are as formidable as the stories say. It’s a shame a different unit is tasked with your daughter and they are far more elite than this bunch of idiots. So while you are ‘Playing’ around with my men here, we will have your daughter very soon. And then we will see how tight lipped you can stay while we torture her” He started to laugh manically towards the end of his lecture.

“Heh, if you think a long winded speech is enough to break me you got another thing coming.” Gin retorted. ‘If they really did send a unit then I really have no chance to escape. I’ll make sure none of these men leave to hurt her. I already lost too much!’ He swore to himself. Gin screamed as he ran at the leader “Others may get to leave but you cocky bastard. You get to stay!”

*    *     *   *

“Alica get up and stop worrying about him. You know what he is capable of, he will be fine. And we have our own problems!” Greycen yelled while pushing his mount to go faster.

Alica, still laying on the back of the mount being held by one of Greycens arms, sniffled and sat up. She looked around in a daze still thinking only about that man’s back and how she will never get to see it again.

Tears started welling up in her eyes again “You DON'T have time to cry right now! Grab your bow already!” He yelled again. He could see dark blurs following them on both sides in the forest and he knew it was trouble. Rushing her to steady herself to finally get his arm back. He takes the reins with both hands, "Alright boy it's time we showed them who really lives in the woods.” He said as he pat’s his mount softly.

Heeding the words of his master, the black panther jumped up to the large branches over arching the path. It was only late morning and the sun was almost at its highest. But in the thick canopies of Mirkwood, how bright the sun is doesn’t really matter.

Riding toward the capital was the same as riding to the core of the forest. Trees getting taller and taller the undergrowth more and more untamed. Twist’s of branches forming a higher level of the woods. The canopies are where the natives truly thrive.

Using the massive branches on these amazingly large trees, Greycen and Alica started to ride through the canopies. Losing sight of their targets the black blurs had to come closer and finally exposed themselves to be humans in dark as night cloaks.

While they were approaching Greycen saw movement through the trees, quickly drawing a short sword from the sheath on his mount, he swung his sword three times in quick succession.  Hearing three loud pings and then seeing a black knife get stuck in a nearby tree Alica looked at her uncle in new respect. ‘I didn't know he could use a sword’ She shakingly thought.

“What are you waiting for, shoot back!” He admonished her again. The panther continued to leap through the canopy; their only advantage in speed seemed to be their familiarity of the woods. ‘These assassins are way too well trained compared to that group I saw earlier. Must be an elite force from somewhere else, but why are they after us?’ Greycen thought as they breezed through the leaves. 

Alica finally stopped thinking about her father, her newfound awe of Greycen, and the situation at hand. Trying to calm herself, she focused on her bow. In the dark shadows of the canopy everyone was moving very fast. Practically flying through the trees the panther used its powerful legs to leap tree to tree.

Tracking her targets in these shadows was way harder than anything she's done before. This high speed chase with unknown assailants was the scariest thing she’s ever had to face in her entire life.t

Aiming her bow steadily she tried to lead a shot in front of one of the dark figures, she fired an arrow nervously, hitting nothing but a tree. “You can do better than that. But even if you can't hit them the pressure of arrows should at least slow them down a bit. We only need to make it to Fort Raylest. Shouldn't be long now.” Greycen said in an attempt to both comfort her and calm her down.

Alica hearing her uncle's words straightened herself once again aiming her bow ‘All I have to do is slow them down. I don't have to kill. I.. dont.. Have to kill…’ She repeated in her mind like a mantra. She lost sight of the dark figures. ‘They must have moved into the trees’, Alica looked around with a hard thumping heart,  “I can't find them!” She exclaimed, slowly getting frustrated too.

Just mere seconds after her yell, nine more black knives came flying out of the canopies coming from in front of them. The panther sensed danger before anyone else and abruptly dropped from the canopy to the undergrowth.

Hearing the zip in the wind of the knives narrowly missing them racing past just inches above their heads Alica once more trembled. “Good boy Zetus!” Greycen once more patted his partner and friend. Seeing some cracks in the canopy ahead Greycen knew they made it to one of the main roads used for shipping.

Alica was just happy to have light again, she let out a sigh of relief she didn't know she was holding. Aiming was too hard for her in the dim undergrowth of the forest.

“Only a little farther-” But Greycen was interrupted due to the black figures that all leaped at him dual wielding blades. “Zetus!” Zetus who was running full speed towards the highway leaped to the side and pushed off a large tree trunk avoiding the ambush by the three assassins. ‘How can they keep up with our speed and even get ahead of us. Are they even human?’ Greycen thought in a mumble, he could feel panic rising within him, but he kept it together for Alica's sake.

They finally arrived on the road. The pursuers still haven't given up, even though the road is a disadvantageous one to them.

The main road had half covered in roots and vines with a skyrail system between the tree branches and the forest floor. The other side was a mostly clear path with only a few roots here and there still not perfect for horses but excellent for the mounts of the forest.

The three black cloaked figures now revealed in the sunlight were not wearing any armor; only the glints of many throwing knives could be seen under their cloaks.

Zeus started to run full speed now that the path was easier to navigate; they didn't have to worry about Alica falling off. Knowing that the road was such a disadvantage the assassins sped up their pursuit again. Unleashing dozens of knives in effort to slow the panther down.

Zetus let out a low growl alerting Greycen. “Reinforcements!” Greycen informed Alica after seeing the Elk riders come down the road. The assassins in one last desperate attack threw out 50 knives in total all aiming for Alica. Greycen knew they couldn't dodge them all. He grew more panicked realising they wanted Alica, to be more accurate, they wanted her dead. Balling his fists he commanded his panther, “Zetus take her to the fort.”

“NO! Not you too” Alica screamed hysterically.

But it was too late Greycen already jumped off and was starting to rotate in the air after pulling out his short sword and his dagger. Alica watched her uncle block many of the blades but some struck through, but didn't even let a groan of pain, he simply moved ahead with the adrenaline that was coursing through his veins.

But to Alica, she couldn't tell where they struck through, because of his fast rotation but she knew it wouldn't be good, no matter where he was hit.

Assassins in the stories that her father reads her always use poison! How could she be calm?! Poison could be drawn to the ends of those blades, resulting in harming her uncle.

Luckily Zetus knew she wouldn't be able to keep her mind straight and used his back muscles to move her towards the reins. They speeded past the Elk Riders.

Fortunately, the riders knew who Zetus was and let him through quickly and seeing the crying girl on his back they knew trouble had arrived. It was only a moment but the riders all knew if Greycen let someone ride Zetus without him it was a very dangerous situation. They sped up towards the figure in the middle of the road.

Alica looked back again for what felt like the thousandth time that today seeing just the backs of figures of whom she loved, and treasured in her heart, ‘Why am I so useless’, she wept...