“Bollocks, bollocks, bollocks!”

Valerie gasped between pained breaths with one hand clamped down on her gaping wound. Today was not going how she expected as she ran bleeding from the leg while being chased down by the deadliest woman in the capital, possibly the whole country. She desperately slammed into doors while trying to find the next set of stairs, her efforts bearing little fruit while her movements became sluggish. She had to keep going, had to find a way out. She didn’t know what Samantha’s plan was but right now she’d trust anything to get her away from that elven demon. The clack of an armoured boot some distance away from Valerie caused her blood to run cold.

“Bollocks!”

She yelled throwing herself at yet another door causing the latch to brake and swing open. She fell into a stairwell leading up and scrambled back onto her feet while trying to ignore the screaming pain in her leg.

“Come on Hunt, you’ve been through much worse than this!”

She said trying to pep herself up. The ghoul onslaught shredded her to ribbons, and she still fought on, the Spearahna were an unending wave of teeth and hunger, and she still fought on, even that infuriating monkey forced her to push her endurance and stamina farther than she had ever gone. She could do this; she could keep going. Hoisting the brown package up, she climbed ever higher unwilling to let their prize go this late into the game. A shatter of glass behind Valerie caused her to freeze for a second before she refocused her mind and pressed on. After climbing what felt like a hundred floors, she made it to the top of the stairs where another locked door stood in her way. Fear clouding her mind, she mindlessly slammed her shoulder into the door expecting it to resist but with a single shove it broke swinging open to reveal fresh air and the sky up above. Valerie rushed out to find she was somewhere atop the castle battlements; she could look down and see the whole of the Capital City sprawled out before her, an impossibly high drop from where she stood to the streets below. Before she had a chance to consider jumping, a sultry voice cut through the rushing winds and drew Valerie’s attention.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I come here when I need to think or simply want to take in the marvellous view from on high. It makes all my problems seem so small.”

Fandrial announced her presence leaning up against the brickwork as she gazed at the city below. If anyone was to look back up to her they wouldn’t be able to see the guard captain but they might notice a mysteriously shattered window several floors below her. Somewhere during the chase, the elf captain acquired and was now sporting a pair of quivers, one strapped at her side and another slung across her back filled to the brim with arrows. She dangled her bow on two fingers where the wood met string, the lazy display failing to disarm Valerie’s nerves. She knew at any moment an arrow could be knocked and fired straight into her heart ending the huntress before she had a chance to register the lethal blow.

“The game is up, you’ve lost. Return what you have stolen and face your crimes like a man.”

The elf woman snickered.

“Apologies, like a woman.”

Valerie’s heart sunk deeper than she thought was possible. She looked from the Royal captain to the city below unsure what to do next.

“You could jump.”

Fandrial suggested.

“I would not stop you. I would prefer you not however, your compatriot is still at large within the castle. He, or most likely she, may escape. She won’t come back for you, thieves never do. So do the smart thing and give up, I can be merciful, kind even, but only to those who work with me.”

The elven woman raised her hand out for Valerie to take.

“I will not ask twice, choose.”

Her threatening tone brooked no argument. For a brief soul shattering moment Valerie considered taking the offer. Slowly setting the package down, she instead ripped a knife out from her boot, not her personal weapon as she couldn’t risk losing it or having it traced back to her. Lowering her stance, she faked bravado she didn’t have.

“Bollocks to that, you’ll have to kill me Miss Pointy ears.”

Fandrial didn’t react to the jab, she sighed disappointed as she picked an arrow, set it in place and drew back. The quake in Valerie’s boots was imperceptible to most bar the captain, just another factor to consider when taking aim.

“I gave you a chance, don’t curse me for showing mercy.”

With her farewells taken care of Fandrial released, the arrow flying straight and true aimed for the heart of the thief whom she never learned the name of. Everything appeared to move at snail’s pace to the huntress, her sights focused entirely on the slim arrow that spell her end. How many times had Valerie been in this exact situation? Well maybe not this exact one but a near death experience against an opponent that outclassed, outnumbered or outmatched her in every way. It was starting to become a habit, yet it was in these moments she felt the most alive. Her mind stilled and the terror racking her nerves grew dull, it was honestly nothing compared to the persistent fear her friend gave off. It was strange, why had she ever felt afraid in the first place? She combatted death nearly every day and even if the elf before her was leagues above everything else she was still mortal and could be fought, beaten, hunted.

Without realising, Valerie began to move on instinct letting the power of her aspects influence her as they had so many times before. She was suddenly aware how she misused her knife, using it only for attacking while she blocked with her body or simply relied on more offense. A knife could also be used to defend, to parry, to set up counters and strikes that couldn’t be stopped. She had tried to use her weapon as a shield on numerous occasions but always resorted to more attacks and powering through. The aspect of the hunt was also woefully underutilized, she saw it as a boon to help her track and kill prey but that wasn’t all it was. It represented the art of a hunt and the truest form was not just being the hunter, it was being hunted. Fandrial was a predator unlike any she had ever encountered, and Valerie was forced to become the prey helplessly running before lashing out when cornered. The reality of a hunt, she realized, was turning the tables, finding a path when none existed and clawing out her own victory. She was prey and predator, the only difference being when she decided to strike. In a flash of movement, Valerie swiped her blade into the path of the arrow knocking it off course and away from a killing blow.

“BOLLOCKS!”

She screamed out between gritted teeth as the arrow slammed into her stomach, the head embedding itself into her gut. Just because she came to a realization of how she was misusing her aspects didn’t mean she was immediately better at using them. Like any good weapon she needed to sharpen herself to truly become effective and there was no greater whetstone than her current opponent. Breaking the arrows shaft and tossing it aside, she stared into the perturbed elven woman’s eye.

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“Is that it?”

Valerie spat out, fighting off the pain in her leg and stomach while Fandrial stood disturbed one of her arrows was struck mid-flight. Knocking another one, the elven captain attempted to remedy her failing only to find Valerie rushing headlong towards her. In an instant a second arrow was fired, unerring as the first yet similarly knocked away to a glancing blow. The huntress charged, her blade a flurry of activity as she swept away arrows that came flying like locusts on the wind. She cut as many as she could midair but was hit all the same, the powerful arrow heads slicing at her as she ran through the onslaught. Slowly but surely, she was getting better as she approached entering a trance with nothing else capable of grabbing her attention. Her reactions improved and she was taking less hits that seemed to never end despite what surely must be a finite number of arrows. As she sliced an arrow in two and pivoted her weapon to block another, the huntress felt unstoppable, unfortunately she was up against the Gentle Sword. When Valerie was a foot away from Fandrial the elven captain flipped her bow and twisted around batting the insane huntress to the floor while shattering her knife against the wooden frame.

Crashing helplessly to the ground, Valerie lay unmoving but sporting a content bloody smile. She tried to get back up, but Fandrial stepped onto her dominant hand and pointed a drawn bow in her face. It was checkmate once more, no revelation would save the huntress now, she hadn’t even hit her opponent once and was now completely at her mercy. She began to laugh, a mirthless chuckle that caused the blood filling her mouth to spill and stain her mask. With her free hand she rolled the mask up slightly and continued to laugh like a maniac. Fandrial watched the lunatic giggle and guffaw at nothing, the blood coating her teeth disgusting to behold. She drew her bow back further and prepared to end it when her captive let out a whimpering plead between sobbing laughs.

“WAIT… wait hehehe wait there’s something I pfft have to tell you. Come closer please.”

Slackening her bow, Fandrial crouched low despite herself, this could be a trap but to what end she couldn’t say, the thief was caught and soon to be executed. She could at least hear her captive’s final words before she croaked, out of respect for fighting to the bitter end. Turning her head to listen, Fandrial heard the thief’s last whispered confession.

“This is it; this is the moment.”

“What moment?”

Valerie’s hand shot up and gripped the elf by the back of her head.

“This is when she swings in for the big finale.”

She hissed into Fandrial’s ear. A whistling sound drew the captain’s attention, but she couldn’t move from Valerie’s iron grip. Turning to the beaten woman she received a splash of bloody phlegm spat into her face. Letting go, Valerie watched in amusement as Samantha came sailing in from out of nowhere to drop kick the elven captain. Disorientated and tossed onto her back, Fandrial tried to wipe the blood from her eye and catch sight of her latest attacker. What she found was the two thieves standing atop the battlements and holding onto their stolen goods, the shorter one saluted her then both leapt off falling out of sight. Fandrial raced to her feet and peered over the edge to witness the thieves sliding down a zipline of black chains, her knife wielding opponent using her mask to grip the line while the other used the white hammer looking thing. Fandrial brought her bow up and tried to focus on the pair, but her eye was still covered in blood and she couldn’t focus on the line for some reason. She huffed and slammed her bow into the brickwork cracking the stones.

“A knife and a chain user hmmm?”

She said to no one, committing everything she gleamed about the duo to memory. She would remember this disgrace and when these two next popped up she would be there waiting to have a chat.

The next morning a bandaged Valerie and an unscathed Samantha sat in an office below a salon explaining the previous day’s events to a stoic Darrian. They had, no pun intended, royally screwed up. Not only had they been spotted but they revealed themselves to the Duke and Guard Captain even showing the latter some of their abilities. When their story concluded Darrian had only one thing to ask.

“And the package?”

Samantha hefted their prize off the floor and presented it to Darrian who tore off the brown wrapping to reveal the contents beneath. It was a painting of an immaculately dressed man holding a fruit up to his eyes. A tear ran down the kingpin’s cheek as he beheld the majesty of the artwork while Valerie and Samantha stared back, their mouths hanging open.

“That’s it? That’s what we risked our lives for?!”

Valerie shouted her anger overtaking the ache in her body. Everything they went through was for a painting of all things, and not a very good one at that.

“Your young doll, you don’t understand the majesty. This is the famous ‘Boy with Pear’ it is older than this building and worth a pretty penny on the market. Speaking of.”

Darrian set the painting down delicately like a newborn and brought out a moderately sized chest from under his desk. Lifting the lid, he revealed a host of glittering gold coins filling the boxes confines to bursting. Valerie and Samantha stared at the shimmering display intoxicated by its allure. The things they could buy with that treasure trove, the gear they could acquire, the meals it would cover. The spell was broken when Darrian slammed the lid shut and dropped a small coin pouch on top.

“This was gonna be your pay then you got caught, then you made a ruckus, then you nearly got capped by the scariest and most attractive woman I have ever seen.”

Darrian listed off growing more agitated and angrier as he went on.

“Then you have the audacity to show up HERE at my door step the next day like nothing happened and expect to be paid in FULL?”

He swiped through his hair and let out a long breath before tapping the bag.

“This right here? This is your pay. Take it and get out. I don’t wanna see neither of your faces here ever again.”

Leaning back in his chair, the mob boss lifted the painting once again to marvel at it leaving his former employees shocked. Sensing the coming storm, Samantha scooched off and hid behind her seat while plugging her ears for what was about to come. Instead of the violent rage she expected, her friend rose on her shaky feet, stumbled over to the desk and set her hands on the intricate woodwork.

“We risked ourselves for that painting, we put our lives on the line to get you that. No one said anything about the palace or the guards or the most dangerous cow on the planet being there. Here’s what actually going to happen, we are walking out with our due payment. How many of us walk out of this room is another thing.”

Valerie declared her voice stoney and promising violent retribution. The kingpin met her gaze and the two stared one another down. In the end, Darrian relented with a warm fatherly smile.

“Good, that’s the kind of attitude I like kid. Don’t accept what others think your owed, take what you know your owed. Go on take the chest, it was all yours anyway, just wanted to see how much you’d fight for it.”

Valerie was surprised how easy it was to convince the kingpin or maybe he didn’t need convincing at all. She reached forward resting her hands on the chest only to be stopped again by Darrian.

“One last thing, you are all kinds of banged up and as a businessman I can’t let an opportunity slip by.”

He grabbed a bottle filled with a pink liquid from a drawer in his desk.

“A long-lasting potion, it won’t fix you up immediately, but it will get you back to form after a good night’s rest. If you two wanna keep adventuring or doing jobs, I recommend you buy a few. This one? I’ll give it to ya for one coin.”

Valerie looked at the unlabelled bottle, fished a coin from the pouch on the chest and tossed it to Darrian who deftly caught the gold. Sliding the potion over, he sat back a winning smile across his face.

“Good choice, fight for want you deserve but be willing to compromise. That’s how you do business.”

Nodding at the words of wisdom, Valerie hefted the chest under an arm and strode towards the door with Samantha following behind. The pair were just about to leave, when Darrian piped up yet again.

“It has been a pleasure working with you two and if you ever need some high risk, high reward jobs. You know who to reach out to.”

With a flourish the kingpin produced a business card from out of nowhere and tossed it to the pair. With her hands free, Samantha tried to catch it, fumbled, then picked it up off the floor. The card had no details other than a magic sigil that when pressed would alert a sister card in Darrian’s care after which the kingpin would be able to set up a meeting once again. He handed out similar cards to all his favourite contacts with the added benefit if anyone other than the owners tried to activate the sigil both cards would erupt into flame. He paid a substantial price for security like that, but it was worth it in his opinion. Waving the pair of girls off, Darrian sat back and stared at the painting once again. It truly was an ugly piece of trash, but it was highly priced and with the added benefit of being a one-of-a-kind stolen piece taken right from out of the Duke’s grubby mitts the kingpin was sure he could sell it off before the week was over. Not only the painting, but he also got some nice dirt on the palace, info on a secret tunnel, a set of keys Valerie forgot she had, and firsthand news the Gentle Sword was back in town. She hadn’t been seen in years on some spiritual quest or other nonsense but if she was back, it meant something was coming. The best was this tidbit on the doll the two had found, what exactly was it? What was the duke hiding? Why was ‘Boy with Pear’ stowed with it? He had a lot of questions and not a lot of answers but if there’s one this kingpin loved it was a good mystery.

Meanwhile, while walking out of the secret underground base Valerie was coughing and hacking up her lungs.

“I told you not to drink it one go.”

Samantha admonished having actually encouraged her friend to chug the potion. Valerie could feel the mystical brew work its magic, her wounds weren’t closing immediately but the pain subsided, and she found she wasn’t limping around as much. It was truly a wonder of a drink, if only it didn’t taste so heinous.

“What are you going to buy?”

She said in a hoarse voice trying to get off the topic of her mistake. Samantha cupped her chin while she thought and walked. She snapped her fingers, once again annoyed at the lack of sound, and voiced her decision.

“I wanna get a painting done!”

Valerie looked at her friend and asked the obvious question.

“Of what?”

She beamed, answering with the grimmest possible answer.

“My death, duh.”