Prologue

The sound of feet slapping against the pavement of the road ruined the serene evening of the forest. The rugged panting of a person swiftly running, trying to evade the devil itself was followed by another set of footsteps: light and deadly, a seasoned predator stalking prey that would fill its hungry belly.

The sticky wet shirt of the man was soaked with a pungent smell of fresh blood mix with the forest earthly smell that tickled her sensitive nose. Crinkling her nose, she silently followed the man as he ran, trying to gain as much needed distance from her.

The thick foliage of the forest created a perfect disguised to hide a killing. She looked briefly at the sky. The moon's covered with dark clouds. It is going to rain?

She furrowed her forehead in contemplation. What a lonely death it will be. Her heart twinged imperceptibly of that thought, an unnecessary emotion. A relapsed. She hardens her heart and cleared the cloud out of her mind.

The night will not end without bloodshed.

She promised as she followed the man with her eyes.

Then she vanished silently as the darkness eagerly welcomed her.

*************

The rushed heavy footsteps disturbed the surrounding animals sleeping as he ran past the thick bushes ahead of him. The sight of tall pine trees greeted him for the tenth times, forcing a curse out of his mouth. He's been running in circles for hours or so since he escaped, but he always reached the same place where he started. No matter where the direction is, it always led to this place and it is so frustrating and he's becoming hopeless the longer this dragged on.

Heaving, he stopped suddenly and eyed his surroundings. He cannot hear any footsteps now. The forest was silent. Even the animals which roamed around at night was nowhere in sight. He released a sigh and slumped under a bent tree. He grasped his injured torso and inspected the damage inflicted on him.

Bloody hell. His attacker was toying him. He hesitated to slashed his head off, instead gave him a large cut across his stomach. It was so sudden that he failed to see the sharp glint of metal slashing through the air. The only thing that registered after was the ever-increasing feeling of wetness of his torso and the accompanied pain itself. He doubled over from the initial attack as the unpleasant sensation spread all over his body.

'Damn it all to hell. Is this all for him?' He harshly whispered as he wheezed a laboured breath from his battered lungs.

He's starting to feel the effects of blood loss. The dizziness started creeping to his head and his eyes were already closing from the strain. He shut his eyes and blinked rapidly and cursed more. He tore a strip of cloth from his shirt to use to bind his injury. He clenched his teeth so hard he fears they will crumble from too much pressure. His eyes are wild but stayed alert as he bound himself. If for one second he will lower his guard, it will be the last thing he can do. He sucked his breath when he pricked his wound.

'Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck it. As if I'll let him kill me. I haven't finished what I came here for. This is not the end. Not the end. Fu--ck. T-his is n-not the end.' He grunted as he righted himself up, checked the perimeter once again and continued running towards the elusive way out of the forest but his body started to slacken again propelling him to the dirty ground. He screamed of pain as his injury-hit a sharp point of the stone, worsening his wound. Breathing raspily, he crawled to safety near a boulder. He rested his bloodied body when he suddenly felt an unmistakable sensation of someone watching him. Eyes trained on him. The hair on the back of his neck stood attention from the heavy and murderous glare trained on him. He gulped.

He's back. He swivelled his neck left and right but the darkness prevented him to locate his location. So he stared and the darkness stared back. He stayed silent and the forest answered back with a deadly silence. He inconspicuously grappled the coiled parchment on his bent right boot slightly jutting outward. It's still there. I need to find a way to send these but he cannot find the exit to this accursed forest. He needs to hide them. Where to? Where t---.

A snapped of a dried twig broke his concentration and it drove him to disregard the state of his body and ran once more. Adrenalin kicked in urging him, zigzagging on the worn path he took moments ago even if it will lead him to his demise, he needs to distance himself.

Self-preservation.

One last ditched effort.

A plaintive one.

He reached the clearing where he once was. That ominous gaze still lingered. It's useless. It's so useless. He dropped to the ground as one thought scintillated across his mind. 'He will die' There's no use in skirting the idea of it. He uttered a long guttural cry of his bleak life. Then the heaven opened up as if mourning another loss. Soaking him. He looked up. The heavy downpour tried to suppress the deluged of emotions foreign to him.

Fear.

Disbelief.

And a load of why.

The bit of rain was like pinpricks of thousand needles trying to embed themselves unto his skin and he screamed and cried until the taste of blood was all he knew. But still, he clawed the dirty, wet ground with his bare fingers trying to anchor himself to the reality of it. Even if that reality was a nightmare. Because that was all he had left.

Maybe.

No.

Because it was.

Death. What a terrifying word. He laughed maniacally. Then he stopped. He started to talk.

'I know you are there", he shouted with all his might despite his pain. "Why don't you come out and show your damn face?" his voice was swallowed by the pouring rain. No answer. He knew his killer's near and watching him. It's only a matter of time before he kills him. He tried to hoist himself up but his legs gave way. He grasped the sharp edge of the rock and leaned heavily on it, panting from the effort it took on his body. His mind is now muddled, eyes blurry, then a shadowed figure stands at the end of his left peripheral view. A small lone figure with a sword. The howls of the wind and rain intermingled the deadly dance that was happening inside the forbidden forest.

Lightning flashed across the night sky as it continuously blessed the Earth's ground. He crawled haphazardly towards the mirage in front of him. He is so much in pain, lungs labouring every breath he takes, he will not last.

'Why?' he asked, beseeching. 'What did I do to deserve this?'

A voice spoke, chillingly close. ' You are a quisling Reiner.'

On his hands and knees, Reiner froze, turning his head slowly. Only ten feet away, outside the mouth of the forest opening, the small silhouette of his attacker stand vigil as the lightning brighten the dark sky again. A lithe, slender figure of an unmistakable woman was illuminated: she, not him, with her ghost-pale skin and straight ebony hair. A honeycomb eye glowed amber with a green accent around her pupils. A familiar eyes. He stilled and curled his fists tightly. Oh, he should have known they would send her. A sardonic smile graced his bloodied lips. Bloody bastards, the lot of them. The raven-haired girl pointed her sword directly at him. 'You should have not run .' It was a voice he would recognise even in death. 'Now tell me who you are working for?'

'I told you already,' his voice came out stronger than he anticipated while kneeling defenceless on the wet floor. ' I have no idea what you're talking about!'

'You are lying.' She stared at him, perfectly immobile except for the sharpness in her amber eyes. ' You have been hounding information for you and your brethren by stealing the codes from us.'

He felt a spike of dread when he heard it. How? When?

'Tonight you will deliver the codes to them, won't you? Tell me where it is hidden and who'll receive it and you will live.' Then she levelled the sword to his neck. 'Or is it a secret you will die for?'

Reiner could not begin to think what will happen if he will be captured alive. They'll torture him alive and extract information from him for sure. He looked at her, trying to decipher any emotion on her face. He can take her on the one-on-one fair fight but he's injured. He weaponless to boot. Even if there is a chance it is still slim. No. He should try. Fuck it. This is suicide but the only option for him is to fight now. The odds are not on his side. He will die in here. A strategy. He needs to create a distraction.

She tilted her head, looking at him straight in the eyes, contemplation evident as she sauntered towards him. She is few paces away from him when the cold sensation of metal against his neck cut him off of his wandering thoughts. Damn it. He cannot let his guard down. One wrong move and he sure is dead.

There is no choice but this. He held his bloodied hands in defence. 'Wait,' he stalled. 'I will tell what I only know.' Reiner chose his words carefully, retelling the lie they hammered onto them that he used many times during this mission, each time praying she would never be caught up.

The dangerous gleam in her eyes never wavered as she smiled, full teeth. 'Yes. This is exactly what the others told me before they die.'

He faltered. 'What do you mean by others?'

'I found them, too,' she sneered. 'All the spies inside was uprooted. They confirmed what you just said.'

Impossible. The plan was failsafe. How did they identify them so easily? Reiner now realized that his allies were dead. But one thought rest above the confusion: they died without telling anything to them thus securing their mission. A smirk threatened to appear on his lips but his attacker pressed the blade more, tearing into his skin. He hissed from the pain. Ah, what a fool. He thought she is smart. A chance is this.

She ignored him. 'When you're gone, they will know of your lies and to whom you are working for.'

The truth. What truth? What the hell is she talking about? The mission is still salvageable. Nothing leaked. Or is there? Instinctively, he tried to scramble for loopholes. 'You said that, but you do not possess such truth, do you?' he mocked her.

'Who knows. Maybe one of you tried to preserve his life by sharing what he knows,' she jeered back. 'Surely they are not trustworthy.' Then she thrust her sword, piercing his stomach to the hilt.

'Ugh.' He clutched the embedded sword trying to take it out of his body but she held on, digging and destroying his insides. Blood spewed out of his mouth, he fell forward, dragging it downward, as he struggled against the added pain. Slowly, Reiner grunted and sagged against her frame. She stumbled slightly but corrected her stance and knelt, chin on his shoulder, she said softly, ' Whether you tell me or not, I do not care.' A pained look adorned her face. She was having a hard time gathering her thoughts now that her mission is almost complete. 'Your life was forfeited the minute you told me your lies, Reiner.' It was a long time ago that they were sharing meals at one table, promising to defeat each other, while grinning.

Regret. It is what she's feeling right at this moment. She promised herself to finish this without a second thought but as she looked down on him, slowly wasting away, she cannot help but feel something inside.

He was fading. He tried to move his arm, trying to embrace her, yet it refused to budge even an inch. He tried and failed. What an ending. Eyes glued to the ground, he pondered, if things were different, will they have the chance to live normally like others? Maybe.

Freya, he whispered reverently. A deep longing settled on his heart. The sound of rain begun to fade in the background, giving them a moment of their own. This will be the last time. Moments forgotten resurfaced, moving in great speed inside his head and he realised no matter what he does, his heart still does remember.

He wanted her to know his feelings but refused to burden her with it anymore. They were enemies from the start and his death was the only result of his hesitation to kill her first.

'You are always like this. Why are we always on the opposite side of everything? Why it has to be you?' voice only a whisper. She drew back her sword and stepped away from him. Blood seeped to the ground mixing with rainwater. The noise came back, a thud, a silence, and nothing followed.

Her eyes dulled as she cut his head off in one single clean strike.

It was an appropriate death to a traitor.

A mercy killing.

'I knew what you were from the beginning, Reiner. I could smell blood from you. You are born to shed blood. You and I. Only that I was the one destined to spilt yours.'

Reiner. A bitter taste remained on her mouth from that name. It was enough. She sheathed her sword back to the scabbard and offered a short silent prayer for the departed soul. She quickly looks for the parchment and found it hidden in his right boot, folded. Her mission is done. Collecting the head, she slipped back to the darkness of the forest and disappeared perhaps forever.

The steady rainshower never stops, trying to wash away the evidence of the bloodshed. Only a headless body on the ground remained in the clearing as the rain pours.

It pours and pours.

Author's Note:

Hello there! I am so happy to share my first ever story here and I hope you enjoy the first taste of adventure. Please tune in and support this novel until the very end.

If you can spot any spelling errors and other critiques please feel free to post them in the comment section or message me privately. Any of the two will do.

Please bear in mind that this is my first official story. English is not my first language so mistakes will always be present but I will try my best to correct them.

Comments are welcome bad or good. Just be gentle. I am a novice writer. I can improve through your help.

Thank you and please do not forget to vote too.

Lots of love

Azrik