I finally hear the unspoken words no one has dared to speak until now.

The boy is staring me down. His life could very well be ended by my hands, yet his eyes continue to defiantly glare at me with unwavering ferocity. Seconds pass uneventfully, and his expression changes to a growing smirk when he realizes that I have yet to do any harm to him.

Despite how much I dislike his mocking face, I loosen my grip and let him down.

He dusts his apron off without another word. Then, he moves to take his seat at the counter and tinkers with some pieces of scrap. 

Fuck him. I completed my objective, albeit in the most uncivilized manner. But, truthfully, it was beyond reparable, ever since I walked inside. 

--- --- ---

The city walls grow distant as I walk down on what appears to be a well-maintained path. It's surprising to see that someone is willing to put money into caring for the infrastructure that extends out to the middle of nowhere. I frown from the lack of stimulus necessary to keep myself distracted from the bubbling consciousness of self-hatred knocking in to say, "Hello." 

There's not much to pay attention to besides the rustling from the trees and the skitter of small, harmless animals; noises which I have long since filtered out.

What am I doing here? I ... I have to fetch some things for someone. Does that make me a replaceable cog in the wheel? That cannot be true. Besides, a greater being chose me! But for what purpose, I do not know. I amuse myself with delusions of my grand importance to the universe. However, the egoist in me is unable to continue daydreaming when the gentle breeze tickles my fingertips, bringing me back to the desolate dirt path. 

*Swish* A glint of metal flies past my head.

“-Tch,” a voice spits out from the trees.

A little girl and a man step into the clearing. They are wearing worn-out clothing, but their most interesting feature is that they are somewhat mangled. The girl is wearing an eye patch over what appears to be scorch marks plastered on the side of her face, while the man is missing an arm, with just the stump sticking out.

“How did you dodge that arrow?” the man grumbles. 

“Pardon?” I say.

“Don’t pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. I saw you turned your head just as the arrow was released. It was as if you knew it was coming,” the man speaks first.

“Maybe your aim is bad?” I shrug.

“The best marksman in the country never misses his mark," he boldly declares and smirks, "since you'll be dead, let me have a go with your body. It's the least I can do to help fulfill your purpose as a woman." 

“I’m a girl too,” his partner mutters. 

“Not with that blasted eye of yours,” he snickers. 

“It’s not my fault that the D-”

*Smack* Her head whips violently to her shoulder. 

“Shut up, and do your part,” he states bluntly. 

Upon drawing their swords, they move with practiced steps, keeping their distance from me, but evidently edging closer. 

I eye the man whose arm waves his sword slightly up and down. I stand on guard, ready for his first strike. Any second now. He teases some more, but I dare not to blink. "Are you going to do som-" I began. 

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Like a snake leaping up to strike, his blade swipes across my chest, and a light shower of my blood splatter on the ground. I clench my teeth in pain and stumble back to avoid further injury, however, an arrow swishes by and grazes my cheek. Another enemy? I scrutinize the swordsman in confusion. He isn't the one who shot both arrows? I study his profile for hidden weapons; my eyes eventually returning to the sword in his only hand. He's a cripple. 

The man performs the same sword swipe, the edge a centimeter away from my neck this time. 

I land onto the ground, but before I could get back up, the little girl pounces on me. She’s straddling me. The sun is shadowed by her lithe body, but the gleam of a short blade blinds me. It’s a knife, my knife. Since when did she take that?

With small hands, she raises it and drives the knife downwards to my throat.

Woah, she’s going for the kill. Before it's too late, I thrust my hand to grab her wrist. I forcibly push her arm upwards far away from me, while I sit up and lift my torso into an upright position until she’s face-to-face with me. “I think using a sword suits you more,” I nod at her. 

She doesn’t answer. Instead, she uses her other hand to beat against my chest. “Let go...!” she angrily gasps out.

As she fruitlessly fights against my hold, the man who had paused to let the girl do the work begins to move again once he notices that I am still alive and kicking. "You're fucking useless. You can't do a simple task of killing a random girl. Since the beginning, I took care of you when no one else did; until this very day where I now lay in ruin. And it's all your fault," he recites. He lifts the sword from its resting position as if it weighed no more than a feather. Cold steel shines as it swings towards my neck. His golden eyes glow with electricity, the intent to kill wired into his body. 

The little girl's body is the way of the trajectory of the swing, but I doubt her skin and bones can stop the sword from reaching my neck. She and I are going to get severed in half, yet she’s too busy yelling at me to realize that. 

*Splurt* The metallic tang of blood stinks the air. Red, viscous fluid drips slowly from the sword, and onto the ground.

The good news is that the girl is safe. The bad news is that I’m bleeding profusely. I grabbed onto the weapon without thinking, and now my hand hurts! It could have been worse, much worse. Still, this unfamiliar pain destroys the dam in my tear ducts, and yet, I am unable to still the thin edge of a grin. "Is that all?" I chuckle, closing my eyes to prevent the tears from escaping. 

The weapon shakes and digs deeper into my split palm. Then, a loud thud sounds, and the pressure against my palm vanishes. Is he still here? I open my eyes, letting it all overflow while I search for the menace. He is gone, but what about the archer? 

The fist pounding against my chest grows weak with each feeble attempt to push me away. I look at the girl who’s curled at my lap in alarm. I forgot she existed for maybe thirty seconds, and she's reduced to such a pitiable state. 

“L-L...” “...g...,” she cries softly.

Her wrist and hand are purple. I didn’t realize how tightly I’ve been squeezing her. I let go immediately. “I didn’t mean to hurt you,” I say honestly. 

She says nothing but has this defeated look shadowing her face.

Well, now I know how to beat assassins coming after my life into meek, submissive bunnies. I grimaced. That sounds wrong. I peer at her shrunken figure still on my lap. What to do now, Amber? She’s been abandoned, and despite how badly he treated her, at least she had someone taking care of her. My hand reaches out to hold her. She flinches at my touch but does not say anything. Ah, this is my bloodied hand. Her wispy, snow-white locks are dyed in generous droplets of red. She looks good with my color tainted on her body, beautiful even. “Will you come with me?” I ask. 

“Are you saying that you want to be my master?” she replies with a blank look on her face.

“No,” I furrow my brow in displeasure, unable to say anything else following my denial. 

"Then, you don't want me," she murmurs, eyes downcast.

“I want a partner who will share both my joys and hardships. I do not need slaves,” I say slowly. And someone who will not leave me to my thoughts. 

She shakes her head, but not so much as to escape from my hand, “You just want to use me, that’s why you want me to come with you,” she firmly speaks.

I sigh exasperatedly. “Is that so? Then, fine, I’ll be your master,” I announce. Words won’t be enough to convince her to change her mind. I can’t change the perfect slave. She’s been chained to the shackles inside a cave, only to see shadows of what lies from the outside, and nothing else. That is the life of talentless people. But who knows? Maybe she’ll discover that human relationships aren’t limited to a hierarchy of slave and master. And maybe then, she’ll leave the cave without ever looking back.

I push her off my lap and gaze at the direction of where my quest lies. “Let's exterminate some wolves.”