CHAPTER 10: The Hunter

He's looking at me the way one of the sisters in the convent would stare, if I was eating with my hands. It's not just the stories about Dorn that scare me, there's something in the air, or in his eyes, or maybe even in the way he's standing. Somehow, I know that he's much stronger than me, even though I have the system. He's got that bow drawn and an arrow pointed right at me. I know that I can even out the playing field. I can shorten the difference in our abilities and gain the ability to fight him more evenly, but I NEED MORE TIME. The way he's holding himself is relaxed, but as if he senses my motives, or thinks I'm going to run, he speaks up.

No funny business, I said! You will not attempt to resist arrest by a duly appointed officer of the law. Now face away from me and kneel on the ground."

"I know how this works", I say with false confidence. "You're supposed to read what I'm being charged for. My crimes and all of that. It's part of the whole thing!"

"Fine. Right you are." He says. "And you listen well."

"Oh, I'll wait right here", I think. No matter what, I have to keep him talking. I open the system interface directly into what I'm looking for. "One Bree Runesinger of Mirtulfield is hereby charged with the following…" His voice begins to drone as I read.

CLASS

Ranger. (Favored Enemy: Beasts. Natural Explorer: Forest.)

You are now skilled in

Weapons; Martial weapons

Skills; Choose three from Animal Handling, Athletics, Investigation, Nature, Perception, Stealth, and Survival.

I wish I had more time to consider, but I need to hurry this along if I'm going to live through this. 'SURVIVAL', I tell the system mentally. It's a bit on the nose, but it's what I need. 'NATURE' follows next. Maybe it will help me use my surroundings? Who knows? If I make it out of this, maybe it'll help me out here in the wilderness. As Dorn talks, my eyes fall on the Mastiff by his side. 'ANIMAL HANDLING', I think, making the third choice. Still Dorn goes on.

"…You did then, by the witness of an anonymous source, travel along the King's Road in a lude and practically naked fashion in torn garments, a fact which the conspirator, Solomon Bluegrass denies…" Let him ramble just a little longer. Here come the materials.

You gain:

a mace,

(a) scale mail OR (b) leather armor

(a) two shortswords OR (b) two simple melee weapons

(a) a dungeoneer's pack or (b) an explorer's pack

A longbow and a quiver of 20 arrows

"System," I say in my head, "just do whatever you can to help me prepare to fight him. Please!"

*ting* "Items have a one-time ability to be immediately equipped without using an action when given as REWARDS."

"…As well as fleeing from the scene of the crime! What say you to these charges?" he concludes. His eyes bear into me as he awaits my next words.

"ACID SPLASH!"

Before the bubble of acid even hits both mastiff and bounty hunter, the scale mail appears on my body and one of the new shortswords in my hands. "ENEMY" appears above the heads of the two, and the fight begins in earnest. The arrow flies from the nocked bow as the dog charges forward. The arrow makes a *ping* sound as it ricochets harmlessly from my newly donned armor, but I'm half a step behind the dog. I'm not ready to defend when its massive jaws launch at my relatively unguarded left side. Suddenly, a thought strikes me, and I react. "System! The reward for 'Guard'! Accept and equip it now!" The snub muzzle of the giant dog can't find a hold on the broad, flat Shield of Expression that has appeared in my hands. My shortsword is raised high into the air. My next words come with a downward swing.

"My turn."

The blade arcs through the air and slashes at Oak. It strikes true past the shoulder of the mastiff, but so does the arrow of the bounty hunter into me. The arrow is piercing my shoulder above the shield. It hurts, but my shield arm doesn't even droop. I wince as the ranger nocks another bow. I have to move. He's going to fill me with those arrows, if I don't. ]I have a crossbow', I think to myself. But there's no way I'm as good with it as he is with the bow. My thoughts las only a second before I'm charging at him. I raise the shortsword over my shoulder, gripped in the right hand of the scale mail gauntlet. I swing my arm forward in an arc, and the sword flies from my grasp. It's soaring toward the ranger and for a shining moment, it looks like it might connect. I never would have made it all the way up to him – close enough to hack at him with the sword – without him putting another arrow in me. But the blade could have done its work.

It didn't.

Or rather, it did hit him, sort of...

At the last dozen feet, the sword is less twirling at his face and more wobbling in his general direction. The handle of the shortsword strikes him in the thigh, but he doesn't even flinch.

"I hope that gave you a charley-horse!" I cry out. Maybe it sounded tougher in my head, because his only response is to launch another arrow at me. My body is turned so that the shield is facing him, but his arrow slips around it. I can feel the pressure of the scale mail around my breast tighten, as the arrowhead drives past the armor and into me. My empty right hand lobs another acid splash at him, and I can tell it's a serious hit. When he returns fire, though, another arrow sinks into my left shoulder, and I stagger behind a tree. I'm breathing heavily, smelling my own sweat, and my ears feel tunes to the forest. Before he can circle around, I need to be ready, so I find myself playing for time again. As the warmth spreads across my body, I can feel 'Cure Wounds' taking effect. The bounty hunter's arrows come out of my skin a little smoother than I thought I would. Did I mention the pain, though? Because even with the spell healing my body, pulling the arrows out to let it do so hurt. A LOT.

In an effort to stall, I shout, "Okay! Okay! I'll come out! Just give me a second!" I poke my head out a little, when I hear his steps coming closer. *thunk!* An arrow glances off of the tree so close to my face that I can feel little bits of chipped bark hit my face. That's when I reach into my inventory. The second I feel the familiar weight of the axe in my hand, I can feel that this toss can do better than the last. There's no time for second guessing, though, because another arrow is whistling my way. The tree gives plenty of cover, though – for now. His arrow drives directly into the tree this time, and while he reloads, I make my move. I hurl my handaxe almost exactly like I did the shortsword – but the handaxe was made for this. It glides through the air, spinning end over end, and a half second after it leaves my fingertips, I'm running at him. He roars in agony as it slices past his right shoulder, the one holding the bow. Other than his cry of pain and anger, though, he's still standing! Next comes something that I never would have known a bounty hunter can do – as the bow droops a little, still in his grasp, he grabs an arrow. …and something else happens. His eyes glow a pale yellow, like a cat's eye's do in the firelight. I feel something, like the hair on the back of my neck standing up. It feels like someone must have walked over my grave. I have a little magic of my own, though. At less than 20 feet, I'm close enough, if I can just time this right… FLASH! Just as he looses an arrow I strike out with a warding flare. He's blinded for long enough that I'm close enough to grab him, then, but the first time I reach, he's too fast. He tries to fire another arrow, but it's no good. I'm too close! My fist connects with his jaw and we start trading blows. He's bigger, he's stronger, but I'm at full health after healing while I was behind the tree.

We're pummeling each other for a long enough time, trading blows. We wrestle ang change positions, and for a minute, I'm straddling him, raining down punches and strikes. I'm not sure just how long we traded blows, but I suddenly realize that I've been hitting him a few times and he hasn't been hitting me back. The 'ENEMY' sign is gone from above his head, and I feel for a pulse. There isn't one. I try to use one of my Cleric cantrips, 'Spare the Dying'. It will normally keep someone alive, even if they're on death's doorstep, but he's gone. It's over.

I roll from him, heaving my chest, and breathing hard. I'm laying right next to him, and our two sets of eyes are both staring up unblinking.

*ting!*