4 years ago

Lexi ran across the rooftop at a reckless pace, her feet all but sliding across the rain slicked shingles. Beneath her she heard a shout followed by the twang of a bowstring. Ducking low, she heard the arrow hiss by her, only inches from her head, before it disappeared into the night. Without pause she drew a knife from her waist and launched it towards the archer.

The blade slammed into his stomach and he doubled over, dropping his bow and sending a handful of arrows clattering to the ground. Launching from the rooftop, Lexi landed on him boots first. Crushing him into the ground with the grotesque sound of breaking bones, Lexi rolled forward, snagging the bow and one of the arrows he had dropped.

Aiming down the alleyway, she let loose the arrow. A scream of pain echoed back and Lexi let the bow drop back to the ground. Behind her, the archer let out a groan, but Lexi paid him no mind.

He was not her target.

Drawing Nightmare, she made her way slowly down the alley. The rain continued to fall, coming down in large sheets that slapped loudly against the ground and drenched her to the bone. A flash of lightning split the sky and he came into view.

The arrow had lodged in his leg, just above the knee, and sent him to the ground. He had managed to drag himself a few more feet, but it was clear he wasn’t going to run anywhere. There was a short sword gripped in his hand. Lexi eyed it warily as she came to a stop a few steps away.

“Drop the sword,” Lexi called out in a clear voice.

He pushed himself into a sitting position against the wall of the alley and rubbed some of the rain from his face. He stared up at Lexi with an almost exasperated expression. “Do you know what you’re doing? Do you know who I am?”

“Carver Stackhouse. Third son of Lord George Stackhouse.”

“That’s right!” He slapped his hand against the ground. “And what do you think is going to happen to you when they find out what you’ve done? Assaulting and robbing the son of a Lord? You must be the most idiotic thief to have ever been born. I could have the Queen behead you if I so wished it! That you’re even talking to me is a clear sign of your utter lack of understanding of the situation you are now in.”

Lexi drew a roll of paper from her coat jacket and tossed it towards Carver. “I am not a thief.”

Caver picked up the soaked paper. “What is this?”

“A bounty. Carver Stackhouse, you are wanted dead or alive, by order of the Queen for crimes including kidnapping, murder and...” Lexi’s voice died and her hand gripped Nightmare tighter. “You know exactly what you’ve done. You filth.”

Carver looked at the paper for a long time before letting out a soft scoff. He tossed it aside along with his weapon. “Very well, then. Go ahead and arrest me.”

Lexi stared at him for a long time. “No.”

“What?”

“No.” Lexi took a slow step towards him.

Carver’s eyes widened and he tried to shuffle away, but only managed to slide down onto his back. “Hey… What are you doing? I said arrest me!”

Lexi took another step towards him.

“Wait! Wait! My family. My family has money. Connections!”

“I know.” Lexi stopped directly in front of him. “That’s why I cannot allow you to contact them.”

Carver’s mouth opened and closed several times. His eyes searched around wildly for something, anything, before landing on his discarded sword. With a shout, he lunged for the weapon, but was swiftly met by Lexi’s boot to his face. Blood bubbled for his mouth as he rolled back over to his mouth. Trembling, he held out a hand towards Lexi. “No…"

“What you did to those children…” Lexi’s shoulder shook with barely restrained fury. “How dare you even think of mercy.”

“P-please… Please…”

“May whatever God you meet be more forgiving.” Lexi whispered as she plunged Nightmare into his chest. It was a swift death. A kindness that almost made Lexi want to vomit as she ripped Nightmare free with a spurt of blood that was quickly washed away by the rain.

Returning the weapon to her side, she grabbed Carver’s corpse by the ankle and began to walk. At the end of the alleyway she found the archer. He looked at her with fear-filled eyes, but she barely paid him a glance.

“H-hey…”

Lexi paused, turning to look over her shoulder. “What?”

“Is… is he dead.”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to kill me too?”

“No.”

“Oh.” The archer slumped down lower. “Could you… could you possibly send help for me, then?”

“I will alert the town guard of your location.” Lexi gave a short nod and continued walking, the trail of blood she left in her wake washing away almost as fast as it formed.

Despite the corpse she dragged, it only took her a short time to reach the guard barracks. She was almost all the way to the front gate before someone spotted her through the rain. A voice shouted down for her to stop and she complied, letting go of Carver’s leg and taking a step back.

The gates opened and a pair of guards marched out. Clearly annoyed by the late-night disturbance, the older of the two prepared to say something to Lexi when he finally noticed the body. He let out a shout of surprise before his hand dropped to his weapon, fumbling for a moment before he managed to draw the blade.

Lexi slowly lifted up her hands. “I am a Bounty Hunter with the Sleeping Dragon Guild. This man is Carver Stackhouse. I have the warrant for his capture in my jacket.”

“Stackhouse.” The guard glanced down at the dead body, his sword lowered until it was hanging by his side. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”

“The bounty went live this morning.” Lexi said as she slowly lowered her hands back down. After receiving a nod, she reached into her jacket and retrieved a copy of the warrant and handed it to him.

“Dead or alive…” He finished reading through the order before handing it off to his subordinate. He took a step closer to the body and leaned over, looking down at the face. “Never through I’d see a Stackhouse like this.”

“Carver Stackhouse is dead, and as per the terms of the warrant, this bounty is now complete. Please remit payment to the Sleep Dragon Guild at your earliest convenience.” With her work complete, Lexi turned on her heel, and paused. “Oh, there is a man very badly injured about half a mile from here, in the alleyway behind the Morshed Tavern. He has requested assistance. If he is still alive, he will need a stretcher.”

xXx

Furious, Lexi threw her gear to the floor, letting it thump down loudly as she ripped the still damp scarf from her face. White-hot anger burned through her veins as she paced back and forth across her room, the lights flickering in time with her every rigid step. What should have been a moment of triumph had been completely ruined by the very long and very stern lecture she had just endured from the Mistress.

She didn’t understand. She had done exactly as she had been told. She had completed the mission. The bounty had been collected, exactly as she had been ordered to do. So why has she been scolded? Why was she not praised?

With a scream of frustration, she threw herself backwards and landed on the welcoming cushioning of her bed. She draped an arm across her eyes and allowed the darkness to comfort her until she heard a soft knock at her door.

She didn't move.

There was another knock.

She remained silent.

A heavy sigh emanated from outside the door and she heard Cross's voice.

“I know you’re not asleep. Open the door.”

Lexi let out a sigh of her own, loud enough so Cross could hear.

"Right, then. I'm coming in Princess. Don't stab me."

Cross's tone was light, but the threat of being stabbed for entering Lexi's room was very real. To do so without an invitation was tantamount to signing one's own death sentence.

Lexi sat up as her door cracked opened and Cross slipped in before quickly closing the door behind himself. She gave him a halfhearted glare, grabbing a pillow and tossing it towards him. It hit him weakly in the face and fell down into his waiting hands.

"You know you're supposed to wait for an answer before coming into someone's room.”

"You weren't answering," Cross said with a shrug as he tossed the pillow back at her.

"I could have been sleeping." Lexi said as she hugged the pillow tight against her chest.

"You would have locked your door."

"I could have forgotten."

"Then I would have locked your door for you."

In spite of her mood Lexi felt a small smile form on her face. "What if I hadn't been dressed?"

That question succeeded in giving Cross a moment of pause and Lexi's smile grew, at least for a moment before Cross recovered and tipped his head back and leaned against the wall. "You got into another fight with the Mistress."

"I didn't do anything wrong," Lexi snapped. "I completed the objective."

Cross sighed before pushing off the wall. He bent over and picked up one of Lexi's knives that she had dropped down to the floor. He spun it around in his hand. "You killed him."

"The bounty requested dead or alive."

"Was your life in danger?"

"He was armed."

"Could you have done it without killing him?"

"It was more efficient to kill him."

"That's not what I asked.” Lexi went silent and Cross stared down at her equipment. “You didn’t bring them.”

“What?”

“You didn’t bring any cuffs. You never even thought about taking him in alive, did you?” Cross looked up from the floor and met Lexi's defiant eye. "The Guild avoids killing unless it is deemed necessary. This was not a necessary killing. Lex."

"He deserved it. You know what he did.”

"I know what he did.”

“Then you have to understand! The world is better without him.”

"It doesn’t matter if I understand. Your reasoning doesn’t matter either. You know the rules. We defend ourselves, the guild, and the innocent. We don't kill people if we don't have to. We're not an Assassin's guild. That's how this guild has always functioned. It's what the Master decided when he founded the guild. That has not changed and will not change."

"I know that. I understand!" Lexi had already heard the same speech from the Mistress and had it echoed by Servilia. Hearing it from Cross did not make it any more enjoyable.

"No, you don't!" Cross rubbed harshly at his temple. "I know why you take these requests and I don't think your wrong, Lex. No one is upset that he is dead. The issue is that you were the one who killed him, just like you did the last one, and the one before that. You need to see that there are more ways to solve a problem than just eliminating it."

"It works," Lexi protested.

"For now," Cross dropped the knife and moved closer to her, his voice lowering. "But what are you going to do when that doesn't work?"

"But-" Lexi's voice cracked and Cross raised his hand and cut her off.

"If you want to lead a team, you're going to have to take on more than Hunting requests. How are you going to lead your own team when all you know how to do is kill whatever gets in your way? Who will follow you knowing that? It's not that you're bad at what you do Lex, you're not. You might be the best Hunter that Sleeping Dragon has ever had. It's that you're showing that it's all you can be."

Lexi stared at Cross before finally breaking eye contact and dropping her eyes down to her lap. She did not speak for a long time before, in a very soft voice, she asked a single question.

"Would you follow me?"

"Of course." Cross dropped down on the bed beside her and Lexi looked up. Cross smiled. "We both know you're better than this."

Lexi let out a choked laugh. She quickly wiped the back of her hand across her misting eyes. "When did you get so serious and mature?"

Cross rubbed at his temple and sighed, falling onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. "Guess I’m getting tired of waiting for you to do it. Hurry up and take charge already. It's exhausting doing all this work."

Lexi fell down beside him. She reached up one hand and closed it into a fist.

"I will. I promise."