Chapter Eight

Her brow twitched with each heavy step of his plated armor, the clinking of metal on metal scraped against her eardrums. Beyond the noise of his attempted stealth, the birds sang their morning song, small wildlife scampered about only to be scared off by Gideon's abrupt presence.

"Is this absolutely necessary?" she asked, putting her back to a tree. She could see the large barn in the distance, and something moving in front of the doors. Gideon slid up behind another tree, but his build kept him from being remotely covered.

"I'm not discarding my armor, it makes me who I am." he argued, his eyes narrowingly fixed on the barn doors, "Looks like one of his men is guarding the entrance." he stated, and Rayne brought around her bow from her shoulder, crouching down as she drew an arrow. Gideon stared down at her doubtfully, "don't let what I said earlier get to your head. That goblin yesterday was probably twenty feet from you. This man appears to be about a hundred to a hundred and twenty feet out." he said as he returned his gaze back to the guard at the entrance.

"I didn't get my reputation from doubts, Ryder." she said, and while remaining crouched, knocked her arrow and drew back until the feather brushed her cheek. He swallowed his next words and moved away from her side, the sound of the armor slowly fading from her ears. Now only the sounds of nature greeted her, and her shoulders relaxed. She slowed her breathing, letting her heartbeat match the tempo of the bird's music. The wind gently shook the trees around her, loosening some leaves and gracefully swaying down around her.

Fifty feet to her left, and closing the distance to the barn, Gideon noisily stepped about, twigs snapping in his wake. Glancing over to where he had left Rayne, he couldn't spot her anymore. Until a shift in the wind blew against her hood slightly and he caught sight of her face. She was motionless with her bow drawn, her brows knotted close together in concentration. He continued forward until the treeline came to a stop just twenty feet from the entrance. Upon closer inspection, he was able to spot the guard at the door being the same highwayman that greeted them yesterday. His arm was in a sling, a look of discomfort on his face each time he turned in his pace. Behind him he could see two five feet tall haystacks, and a man leaning up against one of them, a shortsword at his hip. It was an unfamiliar face.

Gideon reached into his pouch and took out the metal ball, rolling it against his palm with his thumb. When the highwayman turned his back angled toward him, he reached as far back as he could before throwing his hand forward and releasing the ball. Sunlight glistened off the surface as it sailed through the sky and land with a soft thud and roll right beside the guard. The sound caused the man to jump in surprise, clutching his arm defensively before looking down and seeing the metal ball.

"What the? Ignaar, come take a look at this." he called out, lifting the ball and examining it. Gideon stared in defeat for the smoke wasn't released on impact. Ignaar, along with the thief that had been leaning against the haystack approached him as he held up the metal ball.

"Where did you get that?" Ignaar asked as he took it from him, bringing it up to his face as he looked it over curiously. A sound of a high pitched whistle zipped through the air, the metal ball erupting suddenly, grey smoke blinding Ignaar and his comrades.

Gideon looked back toward Rayne's position, seeing her bow string quivering slightly from the release. He smirked, his hand on the hilt of his sword as he charged through the brush. Ignaar stepped away from the smoke, coughing heavily with painful tears streaking his face. The sound of armor drew his attention and as he forced himself to open his eyes, through his blurry and teary gaze, he could vaguely make out a figure charging toward him.

"Dammit, Beau!" Ignaar called out, moving back into the smoke and using his hands as guidance, made his way back into the barn for safety. All around him was panic, "Beau!" he yelled out angrily, taking out a handkerchief and desperately wiped at his eyes. After a few moments, his vision was clearer and he was able to see the chaos before him. His men that had remained in the barn had their weapons drawn, an archer was positioned in the loft above, his narrowed knocked and ready at the entrance. His eyes darted around until they widened as they landed on Beau's corpse, an arrow buried deep into his chest.

"Ignaar! Beau was our only spellcaster!" one of his men peaked around the haystack, holding both if his hand axes. Ignaar looked back at Beau's body, gritting his teeth as he unsheathed his weapon.

"Then we use brute strength! We outnumber them, use that to our advantage!" he said, making his way toward the back of the barn, "Jerome! The moment someone steps through the entrance, fire!" he called to the man above in the loft. The archer grunted, his hands shaking slightly from the tension in his shoulders. A shadow appeared in the smoke, seeming lost as it strayed in and out of view. Jerome released the arrow into the smoke, a thud and cry following right after. Ignaar chuckled, feeling a sense of relief until the person stumbled through the smoke and collapsed in front of them. The men stared wide eyed as they discovered the other thief that was guarding the entrance with an arrow in his chest. Ignaar clenched his knuckles.

"You idiot! You killed Micah!" he yelled to the loft, Jerome peering over, waving his bow at him.

"You ordered me to shoot, so I shot!" he barked back, another high pitched whistle sang through the air and planted itself in Jerome's throat. Blood squirted from the wound as he fell back into the hay. Ignaar dashed behind one of the haystacks, rummaging through his thoughts when Gideon appeared through the smoke.

"Attack him!" Ignaar ordered, two men stepping forward, one of dark skin and studded leather armor, raising a battle axe and charged at Gideon. Gideon sidestepped the swing, bringing his sword across and sliced through the man's stomach. Blood splat across the grass as the man collapsed in front of him. The man from this morning roared out, his eyes taking on a shade of red as he brought his sword down on the knight. Gideon brought up his sword, parrying the blow, but the weight pushed him back slightly. The man took a step forward, his sword coming down again, the force heavier than before causing Gideon to go on the defensive. His back was to the smoke when the sword came down once more, clashing with his own, but it pushed it down until the man's sword hit his shoulder, cutting into the armor. Gideon winced, glaring at the guard when soft footsteps caught his ears behind him. He smirked, dropping low when Rayne jumped through the smoke, pushing off of Gideon's back, twisting her hands and slams her boot into the man's face. The thief yelled out, lowering his sword and clutching his face with his free hand. Rayne lands in front of Gideon, unsheathing her shortsword and brings it up in an upward slice along the man's stomach and chest. He collapses, and Ignaar stares at the woman and her knight.

"Dammit, don't stop now! Kill them already!" he yelled out, a tall, lizard-like being stepped from behind a haystack, a javelin in his hands. Dark green scales covered his body, along with a white stained shirt and torn tan pants, rope holding his pants up. Gideon stared at him, unsure of who this being was when Rayne stepped forward, swinging her sword down on the staff. The lizard man flipped his grip on the javelin, shifting his footing to where her sword made contact with the bladed edge of the weapon. She narrowed her eyes as he pushed against her. She used his momentum and duck below the staff, rising up with her sword and pierced it through his jaw. Blood streamed down the blade, coating her hands as she pulled the blade out, the lizard crumpling to the ground.

Gideon charged the two guards that stood near Ignaar, their handaxes drawn as he towered over them. One of the guards caught the blade by crisscrossing his axes, while the other slinked behind him and started cutting into his back. He yelled out in pain, barely making a turn when the man in front of him released his sword and ducked to the right, striking his axes into Gideon's armor, blood oozing out lightly. He grunted, but he didn't falter in his stance.

Rayne stepped up behind the assailant and stabbed through his back, blood splashing onto Gideon's armor. He slumped against her blade, and she eased him to the ground, finally catching a glimpse of Gideon. His eyes were dilated, his breathing was rough, but his lips were lifted in almost a smile. He appeared to be enjoying himself. His eyes met hers for only a second before he focused his attention back to the person in front of him.

Ignaar watched as Gideon crashed down upon his last guard, the sound of his screams filling his ears and his eyes searched for a way out. With only walls to his sides, the only way out was around the knight in front of him. He scoffed, digging through his pouch until he pulled out a tinderbox, striking it until a small flame came to life and dropped it in the small bit of hay in front of him. It was a small bit of smoke until the heat caught on and a fire came forth in front of Gideon. He hesitated, taking a step back as the flames licked at his boots. Ignaar smirked, going up toward the haystack on Gideon's right side and pushed it over onto him. Gideon yelled out in confusion, hay blinding his line of sight, the fire burning through the hay and grass, growing larger by the second until it reached the wooden floor of the loft. Rayne gasped, covering her nose and mouth as the smoke began to thicken, but notices Ignaar making a dash toward the exit. She dropped her shortsword and swung around her bow, knocking an arrow.

"Ignaar!" she called out to him, but his back remained toward her. The smoke started to edge around her vision as she released the arrow. A loud crack from above her took her attention away from her kill as she noticed the loft above them giving way, one of the large planks dropped from its secured spot. Rayne shut her eyes, feeling a heavy presence surrounding her, but there was no heat on her back, but something smooth. When she opened her eyes, she found Gideon with his arms around her and the plank of wood sitting across his back. When he met her gaze, he quickly released her and shoved her ahead as he shrugged off the wood. She stumbled from the push, but quickly regained her footing and made a run for the exit, Gideon following close behind.

Fresh air greeted them as they glanced back at the burning barn, smoke rising into the sky.

"We did it." she said, breathing deeply when something flashed past her eyes and sliced across the side of Gideon's neck. He winced, grasping the wound as they both looked over to see Ignaar on his knees, the arrow penetrated into his upper abdomen. He breathed in once before falling onto his side. "His last dying breath and he wasted it on a miss." she said, a loud thud sounding beside her. Gideon had collapsed to the ground, blood soaking through the gaps of his fingers. She knelt beside him, carefully removing his hand from his neck when a dark purple ooze bubbled within his blood.

"No way... He poisoned you..."