The Hunter

Before finally reaching the bustling city of Priya, the exhausted prince walked for hundreds of miles, passing through forests and rivers, away from the manor. Happily, he traversed through the unknown sceneries that he encountered in his journey. When he arrived, a new day was already starting. The roads were filled with people, carts, carriages and horses. Children were playing here and there, and the streets were busy with all the chatter. Tired and weary, the prince decided to stop for a bit.

As he reached a shelter, he noticed some posters on a wall. The posters were mostly people looking for help, while some were the faces of the wanted people that the palace is looking for. One poster caught his attention. On the poster was written: "WANTED: Cardinal Manor Leaders". Under the poster was a bunch of other posters with the faces of the wanted leaders. He picked the posters from the wall and checked each of them. "If you see or capture these entities, notify the authorities. Anarchi will reward you greatly." The prince reads. "Superior Leader: a tall armored being, wears a black iron mask with horns, other details unknown. If seen, immediately notify nearby authorities." Strangely enough, the poster depicted only the iron mask of the leader, the rest were vague details. The other leaders' faces were drawn without missing a single detail, unlike the Superior Leader's poster.

Even mother's agents couldn't get any information on them, even their face. Just how shrouded the Superior Leader is in mystery?

Moments later, an eerie shadow approached him, crawling slowly from his side, eating away the sunlight that once rested on his cloak. He immediately turned to his left and saw that a tall hunter stood beside him, gazing at the posters.

She wore a large black hat, a black mask covering her mouth, a long black cloak and robes that protected her skin from the harmful rays of the sun. The only trace of being one could find was her red eyes that shone in the shadow. Everything else was hidden in black cloth.

The hunter noticed that the bewildered prince was looking for too long, thus giving him a glance. Immediately, the prince looked away, or rather, looked back at the poster to pretend being busy. Her stare made him flinch, inciting fear in his body.

"Do you intend to find the Superior Leader this way? Running away from the manor shamelessly?" she spoke. Startled after hearing such, the prince looked at the hunter once more. Trying to pointlessly explain himself, he replied, "N... No, I was just curious if... If the queen had any information as to what they looked like... So... So..."

"I do not see the point in trying to hide yourself from me, you should've known that the leader's people would come after you." Said the hunter. Turns out she already knew who the prince was.

The prince clenched the poster he had been holding, dread had started to appear in his face, and he had already admitted defeat. He then said, "Are you going to take me back?"

As he looked into the eyes of the hunter, he saw the irritation with the way she looked as her brows crossed. But just as the hunter was about to speak, she sensed an impending doom for the prince. The hunter looked behind, then suddenly, a spiked black arrow almost penetrated through the prince's cloak. Carlos turned around to see the arrow pointed at his head, gripped tightly by the hunter. If it weren't for the hunter's gloves, she would've died immediately due to the poison dripping from it's thorns. She dropped the arrow, grabbed the prince's arm and ran as fast as they can together.

"Wait, what's happening?!" exclaimed the prince as he gasped for air while running.

"Asperities, the Queen sent them to get you." replied the hunter as she loaded her pistol. Without turning back, she aimed behind her and shot the walls and the ceilings of every building they passed by. Once the bullets hit the surfaces, black smoke scatters all over, forcing the hidden eavesdroppers to jump out of their hiding areas. After getting their cover blown, they leaped out and began chasing the prince and the hunter. However, just a few minutes after running, they fell to the ground paralyzed.

"They stopped, let's go find some place to hide in!" the prince insisted.

"Not yet, there are more of them following." says the hunter as she reloaded her pistol.

Emerging from behind the paralyzed spies, comes a group of masked figures carrying crossbows aimed at the hunter. Once more, the hunter aimed at the agent in the center, leading with a crossbow aimed back at her. She pulled the trigger, firing along with the release of the arrow. Bang! The bullet flew straight into the arrowhead, splitting the shaft into halves, then hitting the agent in the chest.

The other agents also raised their crossbows and tried shooting the prince, and while he tries to cover himself with his arms, to his surprise, a large purple barrier appeared before him, shielding him and the hunter from the enemy attacks. On the other hand, the hunter continued to shoot the remaining agents from behind the barrier, although it protected them from the arrows, the bullets from the hunter's pistol easily slid through the barrier with ease, allowing her to fire endlessly while not getting hit.

After a few rounds of bullets and arrows exchanging, the smoke finally cleared. The village became quiet after the commotion, all the villagers went to hiding the moment they heard gunshots, and were quick to evacuate upon sensing the slightest of dangers. All what's left now are the paralyzed agents, the prince, and the hunter.