Chapter 9

“Well, well, well. Jacob O’Brien Briton isn’t it.” Knife-girl’s voice echoed through the forest. The girl was hidden partly in shadow and the hood of her short cloak obscured her face.

Jack stared at his attacker with narrowed eyes. She was perfectly balanced on the branch that she was standing on. The chances were high that she was a Warrior type.

“I threw that name away a long time ago,” Jack spoke slowly, enunciating every word. The visions of Soja falling into the stampeding Bison was still fresh in his memory. If it hadn't been for Tanner his friend would be dead. His hand unconsciously reached for the purple hunting knife on his waist.

“Threw it away, huh?” The girl shrugged casually while playing with one of her many knives. She tossed it up and down with one hand with practiced ease.

‘Definitely a Warrior type.’ Jack confirmed. Refiners were a bad matchup against Warriors. There was a good chance that she was faster than him.

“I really don’t give a damn what you fallen nobles call themselves,” she said, sounding bored. Yawning, she stepped out of the shadows.

Jack’s eyelids twitched as the girl finally came into view. For some reason, he was getting more and more irritated by the second. Her casual disregard was grating on his nerves.

“However,” the girl continued. “There is something that I am interested in.”

She caught her knife she had been juggling with one swishing motion and pointed at Jack.

“Interested in that big, fat bounty on your head, Mister Noble. Bounty which I intend to collect.”

Jack subconsciously tilted his head to the side when he heard that. He wasn’t sure if he caught that right. Bounty?

With Knife-girl finally stepping out of the shadows Jack could finally see the girl in her entirety. She had a tight pair of pants and a simple loose shirt on. A short cloak was draped over her shoulders. Her hood was up and her dark face mask covered the bottom half of her face. Only her brilliant, hazel eyes peeked from under the shadow of her hood.

“Five hundred credits for your pretty little head. Someone out there must really hate you,” the girl laughed.

‘So, she wasn’t after Soja?’ Jack straightened his back as he looked at the laughing girl. His mind whirled as all the instances of his interactions with Knife-girl surfaced in his head. She was never after Soja. Every time he looked at her he had had Soja cowering behind him. She was looking at him, not Soja. It was the same look that he had seen at the start of the exam. The eyes of someone looking at a big, fat meal ticket.

Jack’s silver eyes flashed dangerously as he felt something clawing at his heart. His raging blood felt like it was on fire. He was a meal ticket? Someone out there wanted to eat him. Jack tried to keep a straight face and hide his boiling insides. This was a stupid, pointless fight. He didn’t have time to deal with something so inane. The girl was clearly delusional if she thought that she could take him on.

“So you gonna give up quietly, or am I gonna have to come there and make an art project out of you?” She said pointing at Jack with the knife.

Jack took in a slow, deep breath. He needed to be calm for this. The crisp, chilly air cooled down his heated blood as he analyzed the situation critically.

“Sure you are,” Jack deadpanned. “Honey, why don’t you drop the knife and take a walk. You have no idea what you are getting yourself into.”

“Big man. Big words,” she scoffed. “Let’s see if you can back it up.”

‘Alright, that backfired.’ Jack’s mind was whirling as he tried to talk his way out of trouble. Threats didn’t seem to work on Knife-girl.

“You try to help a gal out and this is what you get.” Jack shrugged. “Anyway, you are also going to tell me who hired you. I’ll need names.”

He kept the conversation going, trying to delay the fight. Knife-girl hadn’t displayed any signs of a weakness yet that could be exploited. The only way to find out was to keep poking until something revealed itself.

“I ain’t telling you shit,” she said, frowning. “You sure like to run your mouth, don't you noble boy?”

Jack immediately changed tact. If threats don’t work then would she be moved by promises for wealth?

“Well, if it’s money you are after then I’m sure that we can come to an arrangement. But, I would need to know who hired you for … this inconvenience.”

Fighting her was pointless. Time was quickly running out and he needed to get to Tanner and Soja as soon as possible. It would be better to bullshit his way out of this one. Find Tanner, then get to the waterfall and finally pass the exam. That was the itinerary and he had no intention of changing it.

“Oh!” The girl looked surprised at the offer but she quickly swung around to the new development. “Alright a thousand credits for me dropping the mission. Double that for the name of my client.”

“Consider it done.” Jack waved his arms magnanimously. Promising nonexistent money was easy. “You will be paid in full after the exam, where you can tell me the names.”

“What?” she laughed. “Nah! You are going to pay me now mate and then we’ll talk.”

“You can’t expect me to be carrying so much cash out here, do you?” Jack frowned.

The girl laughed harder. “You are just full of shit aren't you? That would be the first thing a noble would be carrying so that they can get out of tight spots.”

‘Shit! Me and my big mouth!’ Jack’s eyes widened.

“You really don’t have anything do you?” the girl continued.

‘Damn it!’ Jack quickly thought of a comeback to recover from the situation when the girl spoke again.

“So, no money, no prospects, and no style.”

The gears whirling in Jack’s head grounded to a sudden, screeching halt.

“I was worried about what backing you had but it looks like I was overthinking things. Perfect meat on the chopping block. Give up, little noble, and bump up my bank account!”

Jack was grinding his teeth. The genial mask he had been putting on slipped off.

“Alright. New plan!” Jack spat out through clenched teeth. Time to add something new to his to-do list. The previous strategy was to find Tanner, reach the waterfall, and finish the exam. Now things have changed. Right on top of his imaginary list something new got added that was big, bold, underlined and circled in red.

Teach a wench some manners.