Chapter Thirteen

Immediately, Ludwig freezes as he hears two voices talking. He guesses the female's voice, which is noticeably strained and soft is Targel, while the louder and gradually more aggressive voice belongs to Fidel.

"Targel, you have faith in your own bloodline, don't you? Just a small group of your best fighters is all Aviva needs to settle the dispute between the Rosenrough and Moreen feud over territory," Fidel's voice is low and convincing, but Ludwig sees right through his persuasion.

Is he, perhaps, the one behind Rosenrough's gain of Moreen territory? Why does he want the Wynrett bloodline to help with what should be between just Aviva and Mylah?

"Fidel, I've already refused to give you any help. This does not concern me and my bloodline, and it should never. Please, just leave."

The pain and weakness in Targel's voice breaks Ludwig's heart. He remembers a voice in his past filled with a similar degree of emotion.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help both of you. It's one or the other. Do know that I wish to help both of you, but they won't accept two orphans."

Ludwig squeezes his eyes shut and shakes his head. No. Those memories shouldn't surface. He abandoned them long ago just to make her happy. Or so he thought. Why was she so shaken over him leaving them? Didn't she fear for his safety every waking moment of her life?

"Please, Targel. I'm just asking for three of your best fighters. They'll be back by tomorrow at sunrise, I promise," Fidel's voice has an edge of impatience to it, and he can hear Targel struggling to form a reply.

"Fidel, I... Ah... I've already said..."

"Just say yes, and I'll leave you in peace."

Ludwig narrows his eyes and ventures deeper into the hut which dips under the ground.

Meeting his eyes in the small, well-lit area he finds himself in is Targel, her long blonde hair reaching the middle of her back, and blue eyes moving to focus on Ludwig, complementing her light skin tone. Fidel, with his black hair and amber eyes, has a bow that Ludwig suspects to be Aviva's, on the back of his brown and green outfit.

He meets Ludwig's eyes with both surprise and hostility.

"Do you mind? We were just in the middle of a conversation," Fidel hisses, but Ludwig doesn't even flinch.

"She already told you no, so shut up and leave," Ludwig counters, his cheerful demeanor vanishing like smoke in the sun.

"Oh? And what are you going to do if I don't leave? Challenge me to duel?" Fidel's expression mocks the spy, who replies with a nod.

"If that's what it takes, I'll gladly beat you up for disrespecting a woman."

Fidel's eyes blaze with both excitement and hostility, and he pushes past Ludwig as he ascends to the camp's main ground. Targel stares at Ludwig with no particular emotion prominent in her eyes.

"Th-thank you, sir. But you do know-"

"That Fidel's bow makes arrows that are like homing missiles? Yeah, I've heard. And you don't need to thank me. I'm just following the honor code all of us spies from Chidora have! Ooo, Mykel is gonna get a kick out of this!"

Ludwig smiles at Targel before he bounds back up to the ground of the camp, seeing Fidel already have his bow drawn and an arrow pointing at Ludwig.

The spy waves at his opponent and offers a short bow, to which Fidel just growls and barks out a sentence.

"You better have a death wish for challenging me, boy."

Ludwig adjusts his cloak and looks around at the Wynrett Keiju who surround the two. He looks over his shoulder and sees Targel watching him with hope in her eyes. Hope for Ludwig's triumph.

He will not fail her.

"Well, unfortunately for you, I don't have a death wish because I fully intend to come out of this alive. Ready when you are, Mister Unrespectful of Women," Ludwig smiles once again at the fury that is conveyed in Fidel's expression.

Almost catching him unprepared, three arrows fly towards Ludwig from Fidel's bow. The spy decides to play around and see if they really are homing arrows.

He leaps and backflips, landing on top of the stone wall surrounding the camp, to the amazement of the Keiju below, who offer sounds of amazement. But, as he expected, the arrows fly towards Ludwig, and he jumps above them to avoid being hit, landing on the ground behind Fidel.

The archer lets four more arrows fly towards the spy, for a total of seven currently aiming to kill him. Ludwig ducks and leaps past Fidel, wondering what his next move should be. Lost in his thoughts, he steps to the side to avoid being pierced by seven arrows to his face, and one just scratches his cheek, reopening the scar that a branch caused a day earlier.

Ludwig reaches into his cloak and draws out a silver-bladed, black-handled dagger, and turns to face the arrows. With pinpoint accuracy, he moves the blade to meet with each of the arrows, and they all freeze in their tracks. The spy gives out a sigh before he is blown back and hits the stone wall on the other side of camp giving out a grunt of pain as he falls to the ground, but rebounds and darts away as three more arrows head for his face yet again.

No one told him they would self-destruct! What kind of bow was this? Did Aviva travel to Zador to get this kind of weapon? Maybe, after Ludwig defeated Fidel, he could-

Three arrows pierce Ludwig's skin. The spy lets out a cry of pain and falls to his knees. Two arrows are lodged into his back, and one is in his right arm. Thank goodness that wasn't his dominant arm, or he would need to resort to using-

A fourth arrow, shot from the bow of a laughing Fidel, renders Ludwig's left arm useless.

"Looks like you've finally run out of tricks! You do know I've gone undefeated in the many spars and fights I've been in, right? I'm the best archer Rosenrough has, and that just makes me Aviva's favorite child, far more than that Edgar she won't stop talking about lately," Fidel stops once he is just a few steps from Ludwig's trembling body.

Ludwig stares at the ground, his head lowered. His arms shake trying to keep him up despite the intense pain that courses through them. His back burns like a wildfire, and he gasps for breath between bouts of pain.

"Just kill me if you're going to ramble on about family." Ludwig closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

"If that's what you desire, I have no reason to refuse. Goodbye."

Ludwig's eyes snap open and he yells out two words.

"Osu! Uchikudaku!"

He raises his head just in time to see Fidel stumble backward, fall onto his back, and let out a scream of agonizing pain as blood erupts from his mouth and pools around his body. Ludwig stands up and pulls out the arrows that are in his arms. A Keiju runs forward and looks over his wounds while the other Keiju slowly congregate around the body in the middle of the camp.

"I'm fine. Can you just get rid of the arrows in my back? And maybe patch me up so I don't bleed to death on the way to the Kuu bloodline's camp?" Ludwig whispers and the Keiju nods before leading him over to a hut decorated with a number of different medical herbs.

Several minutes later, Ludwig emerges back into the camp, and is met by the wide eyes of the Wynrett Keiju. The spy just smiles and lets out a sigh of relief as the pain that plagued him has disappeared.

Targel walks forward and bows in front of Ludwig.

"I can never thank you enough for what you have done for me and my bloodline, sir. If you ever need assistance from us for any reason other than finding Crown Prince Veles, please do not hesitate to use this," Targel holds out a small harp, and Ludwig hastily takes it and puts it in his cloak before vigorously nodding.

"Um, thanks, miss. But uh, isn't Fidel one of Aviva's sons? Won't I like, I don't know, be killed if any members of the Rosenrough bloodline find him?" Ludwig wishes he could spend more time with Targel, but based on what he did to Fidel, it would be best if he kept moving, and fast.

"Three scouts of the Rosenrough bloodline are in a fifty feet vicinity of the main arch!"

Ludwig recognizes the voice as Hina, one of the guards who met him and the two other Keiju earlier before he ventured into camp.

Targel's eyes widen, and she directs three Keiju to prepare the body to be retrieved by his bloodline for burial, then turns to Ludwig.

"Could you point me in the direction of getting to the Kuu bloodline's camp the fastest. Just to save time?" Ludwig watches as Targel points to his right, and the spy smiles at her once more before running towards the stone wall that blocks his way and jumping on top of it, snatching up the bow on the way, before turning to face the entire bloodline that look up at him.

"If Fidel rises from the dead and terrorizes you, I don't mind serving him up another death! But maybe without a side of homing arrows that self-destruct. Yeah, I could go without those. Farwell!"

Ludwig jumps down from the wall, and sprints in the direction of the next camp, storing the bow underneath his cloak.