Fateful Encounters

Kyle gave the hooded stranger a puzzled look. If he had been in the stranger's place he would not have let his attacker know that he knew he was there until the attacker had made their move. With his cover blown, he considered for a moment launching his attack anyways, but hesitated. The man's actions just didn't make sense.

Finally, he decided to trust the stranger. Kyle lowered his sword's point and relaxed tho posture.

"Good, you're not as stupid as I thought you were" the hooded man replied. "While you're at it, get over here. The thieves in that cave may be somewhat on the dull side, they're not blind. Your profile is sticking out like a sore thumb. They'll see you if you don't get down."

Although he was annoyed by the stranger's remarks, Kyle did comply. Though he did keep one hand on his dagger to be safe.

"Who are you?" were the first words he spoke to the hooded man.

"Call me Ash," the stranger said, "that's what everyone else does."

"Alright, Ash, so what are you doing here? are you after those bandits too?" Kyle was still cautious to keep enough distance between him and the man in case he needed to defend himself.

"Was about to ask you that myself, kid. The Red Adders are not to be trifled. What's a child like you doing staking out their headquarters?"

Kyle blinked in surprise. When he started off after the letters he had just though he was tailing a lone thief. The Red Adders were much more than your average thief though. the group was renowned throughout the Kingdom as the most ruthless and well connected group of thieves in Cervine.

It was said that a man could walk into a town with a single Red Adder thief in it and be liberated of his money, possessions and life before lunchtime. Of course the last bit was only if you disrespected them or attempted to lie about how much money you had.

Of course, as one might expect of such a high level crime syndicate the law was no barrier to who they stole from or what they took. The Red Adders feared no lawman because they had pilfered many secrets as well as coin from those high up in the government. if anyone attempted to put real pressure on the group it would be them not the group that would feel the flames.

If, by some miracle the person in question had no weaknesses, the group would simply make them disappear and then use their influence to make the case go unsolved.

"The Red Adders? Seriously?"

"You didn't even know this was their base?" Ash remarked with a sigh of frustration. "Listen, if you know what's good for you, you'll turn right around and act like this never happened. Go back home and marry some nice girl, have lots of kids. Somethings just aren't worth it. Trust me."

Ash's words shook him out of his stupor. Retreat was not an option. If for no other reason, he had to make sure that the missing letters were never discovered. To allow such a tragedy to occur would mean the end of hos family's honor.

"I'm afraid I can't to that" he replied. "Red Adders or not I need to get in there."

"Won't be deterred, will you? Heh, sounds like I've got myself some company." Ash sounded impressed by his determination. "Course, you realize you're signing your death warrant, right?"

"I'd rather die before dishonoring my family" Kyle said.

"Wow, you really went and said that, didn't you? Huh, I guess young people will spout of any sort of nonsense they think will make them sound cool."

"They aren't just words" he countered.

Ash just sighed. "That's sort of the point, kid. The problem with that sort of mentality is that it gets a lot of good people killed. Bloody hell. Getting kids to believe they can run out into this world with a stick and play 'chosen one' is just a waste. The world is a lot different from a fairy tale. There are no happy endings, just delayed suffering."

"Well aren't we full of sunshine this morning" a voice spoke from behind them.

The sudden appearance of another person caused Kyle to flinch and grab for his dagger. He hadn't heard anyone approach, yet crouched to his right was a slim figure dressed in a black cloak.

Ash on the other hand didn't react at all. "Kitt, nice to see you made it. How was your recon job?"

"Boring as usual. Adders didn't even know I was there. Say, Ash, who's the kid? If I didn't know any better I'd say you were getting soft. Bring you son to work day was today or something?"

"Some suicidal, glory hound, idiot who decided to stick his nose where it doesn't belong" Ash replied taking the ribbing in style.

"My name is Kyle and I am not a suicidal idiot!" he protested. "I have my reasons for being here, not that you care."

"Lad's got of a bit of a chip on this shoulder, doesn't he?' Kitt said.

"I'm surprised he hasn't told me his life's story by now. Probably wants to be the very best knight ever seen in Cervine." The throaty laugh coming from Ash showed he was incredibly amused by his quip.

"Whatever, poke fun all you want. I don't care what you think of me. If you're just going to poke fun at me all day, I'll just go deal with the Adders myself."

Kyle was fuming mad. He hadn't expected to be bullied by a pair of hooded rouges when he set off to get his letters back. I need to stay focused. I can't allow myself to become distracted.

Ash grew very serious all of a sudden. "Kid, don't try it. Playing the hero only leads to suffering. Even Kitt and I wouldn't face them alone. Hell, we're just here to observe the Adders. King Horace wants keep abreast of their comings and goings until something can be done to be rid of them."

Unfortunately, Kyle was too far gone at this point. Having grown up in a household that emphasized doing your duty above all else; how you never make excuses when you failed, all he heard was his father's words about honor and duty. He could no less burn his family's estate to the ground in that moment than allow for those letters to be discovered.

Before either Ash or Kitt knew what he was about to do, he bolted from their hiding place and rushed the cave's entrance. Blood boiling, he could barely hear their hushed protests. in that moment all that mattered was getting his scrolls back.

It took only a moment to reach the cave entrance. By the time he reached it the sentry had been alerted to his presence and was in the process of drawing his sword. However, Kyle didn't give him any time to react. A quick flick of his wrist was all that was necessary to plant his dagger in the man's throat.

As the man's body thudded to the ground, Kyle reached for the dagger and removed it with the precision that was brought only by years of practice. While most swordsmen and close combat specialists would balk at throwing away their weapon, primary or otherwise, Kyle had learned years ago that unpredictability in a fight was a good tool to have.

A quick flick to remove the man's blood before sheathing was all that was required. He didn't even need to check to see if the man was dead. Such a wound was always fatal.

Heading into the cave, Kyle found that the rest of the Red Adders had heard the commotion. The thieves nearest the entrance had already drawn their weapons and were approaching him rather quickly. As an arrow flew by his head, missing him by only a centimeter at most, Kyle realized that he had just run full tilt into an angry hornets' nest with no back up.

Well, there's no turning back now, he told himself. Leveling his sword to defend himself against the nearest Adder, Kyle moved to the bottleneck his opponents so that they had to face him one on one. he estimated that in the cave's first chamber there couldn't be more than six thieves and with at least a couple more rooms there odds weren't looking good.

While he hadn't been thinking much when he went charging into the cave, there wasn't much he could do about it at the moment. All that he could was power through it and hope that he survived. Despite how desperate things may have appeared though it was suddenly clear that his surpirse attack had caught the Adders off guard. Before the guards in the room knew what was happening the first of their number was down.

Even with superior numbers, they kept tripping over each other in their attempts to expel their lone invader. Thieves by nature do not work well with others. In their line of work stealth and agility were priced much higher than that of unity and teamwork. Often times, even among professional organizations, thieves would at most work in groups of two or three.

Faced with a warrior who had trained for years at warfare, the Red Adders were at a distinct disadvantage. While this wasn't to say that Kyle was in the free and clear, it was evident that things weren't as hopeless as they were originally though to be.

A few sword strokes later and he managed to dispatch his second opponent. Hey this isn't so bad. I guess these guys were just really hyped up. They're not so tough. In that moment, tragedy struck. After eliminating the second of the guards, an opening appeared between himself and his opponents.

While the distance wasn't very great, only about a foot's difference, it was enough for the archer at the back to fore a missile through. Preoccupied by stepping clear of the falling body, Kyle didn't notice the arrow until it buried itself deep into his side.

"Damn it all!" he cursed. The searing pain in his side was just enough to take the wind out of his sails. However, as much he wanted to pause to revel in the agony, there was no time. With one hand applying pressure to avoid bleeding out, he continued to defend himself from the next thief.

At this point there were just three of the Red Adders in the chamber, two melee fighters amd that blasted archer. All he had to do was defeat them all and he could bandage himself up. Of course, this was easier said than done.

Already he could feel himself growing more tired and his reaction speed was starting to slow. he had to hurry or he would be as dead as Ash warned him he'd be.

Adding insult to injury, it seemed that as time went on and the element of surprise faded that the thieves were getting better at their teamwork. The two melee fighters shifted around so that they could work in concert to face him and leave open the necessary window of opportunity for the archer to help out.

Soon the first arrow wound was joined by several cuts and bruises where his armor took the blow instead of his skin. In a three-on-one fight it was virtually impossible for him to regain the initiative and Kyle found himself struggling just to keep his head.

After what felt like forever, he realized that he had been forced back to the mouth of the cave. With his strength failing, Kyle decided that he could no longer afford to be conservative in his fighting style. He didn't have much more time left before he passed out from blood loss and that would be certain death.

With a quick flash of inspiration, he released his wounded side and withdrew his knife. duel wielding it and his sword, Kyle launched into a desperate counter attack.

Now it didn't matter if he sustained superficial cuts or scrapes. Instead of fiercely defending against any injury, he willingly let them land as long as they didn't impend him. Gaining a long, shallow gash on his left arm, he was able open up the artery located on the thief who cut him.

What most people didn't understand about the human body is that it contains more arteries than just the ones near a person's neck. Striking just one is enough to cause a person to bleed out just as quickly as if you slit their throat.

The moment that the knife punctured his artery, the thief fell to the ground and dropped his weapon in ths futile attempt to stop the bleeding. However, it was pointless. He was dead and he didn't realize it yet.

"How dare you!" the other thief hissed in rage. "You'll pay for that!"

Sure I will, he though with a rather morbid tone. Won't be long till I join your companion on the ground. He could feel himself weakening. At this point, he barely had the strength to lift his sword.

As the world started to grow dark, Kyle decided it was now or never. Trusting all of his training on one last throw, he hurled his dagger at the archer in the back of the cave.

With his legs giving out and his eyes closing it was a glorious sight to behold when the blade landed smack dab in the middle of the surprised archer's chest. While a bit lower than he had aimed, it was still a fatal blow.

The cry of alarm caused the remaining thief to swear and turn away from him to check on their comrade-in-arms. This was just enough of an opening for Kyle to lung forward With the last of his strength. His sword went hilt deep into the startled bandit.

The fight was over. Having defeated the last of the Red Adders and exhausted his strength, Kyle could only lay on his side looking up at the dark cave's ceiling and wonder if in the end he had accomplished anything with his short life.

"Guess he was right after all" he said with a weak chuckle. "Got myself killed over something foolish"