Written By: Pillowyspu

Edited By: Epicstu Wyyvernwriter

Noah tracked the Woman with his scope as she burst out of the front door of the house and sprinted through the pouring rain across the lawn and into the forest. What the hell is she doing? He considered chasing after her but she disappeared into the shadowy overgrowth and out of sight before Noah had a chance to react. He focused his scope back on the homestead and noticed Nid still working on the portal device which had now been partially reassembled. He continued to watch the house for a while and as he planned his next move. The Woman was nowhere to be seen but she couldn’t have gotten far. This was his chance to ambush Nid, secure the portal device and save the child before going after his final prize. This was the fuck up I was waiting for.

            Noah stalked Nid, watching her with violent fervor; he could feel his mouth water at the thought of slitting her throat. He planned out every possibility with tactical precision – this time with every intention to go in and deliver as much pain and suffering as he can to the rogue Leon Aventis. He began to wonder if the child was still alive; he hadn’t seen the boy since the Woman carried him into the house earlier this evening. He figured that wretched Woman already murdered an innocent in her lifetime, what was stopping her from killing another?

            He fumbled through his backpack and grabbed his FLIR thermal scope attachment and clipped it onto the rifle’s accessory rail. He felt a bewildering concoction of relief and trepidation when he noticed two distinct heat signatures inside the front room of the house, one was clearly Nid; the other was child sized. The boy was still alive but Nid was clearly holding him hostage, as his multicolored silhouette appeared to be sitting motionless in a chair with his hands likely tied behind his back in the corner of the room.

            Noah took a few moments to assess the situation and scanned the hollow for any signs of an ambush. He wondered why the Woman had just ran into the forest and considered the possibility of a sneak attack but after a preliminary scan, Noah figured he was alone with Nid and the boy. This was the time to strike.

            He packed away his rifle and strapped it to his back before sliding down a muddy hill and landing in a flooded ditch near the front lawn of the property. Noah decided to get closer to the home so he could see what he was up against – he wanted to know exactly where the boy was in relation to Nid and whether or not he could take Nid out without her having the chance to harm the child. He knew it a long shot but it didn’t stop him.

The worst of the storm was far from over; earsplitting thunder still crackled above him as flickering lightning illuminated the hollow at a near constant rate. Even though his hunting jacket normally gave him ample protection from the elements, it was no match to the near hurricane force winds that seemed to pass through him a malevolent spirit. He dropped to a prone position and began crawling through the soggy lawn up to the front porch of the home. Using the darkness as cover, he hugged the side of the house and planted himself directly under the living room window.

Noah pulled out a small mirror from the front pocket of his jacket and lifted it above him, aiming it at Nid and allowing him to see the living room without the risk of Nid or the boy spotting him. It was worse than he expected; the child was sitting on a wooden chair in the corner of the room; his limbs were tied together and he was sobbing to himself. He had a black eye and a large gash on his forehead and it looked like Nid or the Woman had already abused the boy. Nid was maybe a meter or two from his position and she was hunched over the workbench, mumbling and cursing to herself like someone on the brink of losing her mind.

Ideas paced through Noah’s mind and he considered a myriad of options; most of which seemed impossible to carry out given his lack of resources. He considered creating a diversion and attracting Nid outside but figured Nid already knew that he was tailing her and probably wouldn’t be absent minded enough to fall for that kind of trap. He also figured entering the house through another angle and surprising Nid from behind but she had her back to the wall and Noah assumed entering the home unnoticed would prove to be a difficult task. He waited for a while, hoping Nid would leave the room for any reason but she remained virtually motionless as she tinkered with the portal gun which was nearly reassembled at this point. Noah was running out of time; his paranoia amplified with every passing second and he was now worried the Woman would show up at any moment and ruin the progress he’s made.

Noah flinched when the Leon Aventis slammed her fist down on the table and cursed to herself. His face lost color as he now watched the mad woman pace around the room, talking to herself and passing back and forth in front of the helpless boy, “I should have fucking killed you when I got the chance.” The child began to sob and Noah sensed timely intervention was becoming an urgent priority.

The boy escalated; he went from a quiet sob to unleashing a vehement high-pitched scream that rattled the windowpane above Noah. Nid charged towards the boy and delivered a closed fist directly into the child’s stomach. He choked on the pain and continued to act hysterical; his face turned bright red and he struggled to breath. Nid delivered another excruciating blow to the child’s torso and then open handed slaps to his face with each word, “Shut – the fuck – up!” Noah froze as he watched Nid pulled out the hunting knife and held it to the boy’s throat. “You’re going to shut your fucking mouth before I open up a second one.” He was out of time and careful planning was no longer an option. His instincts took over and he found himself standing at the front door, holding the tactical knife in front of him and preparing to enter. After he took a deep breath, he kicked the door and it split in half and caved inwards.

He entered the house in slow motion. Nid immediately noticed him and froze for a split second before her own reflexes kicked in. She grabbed the boy, wrapped her bicep around his throat and rested the sharp blade of the knife on his temple. Noah didn’t dare take another step forward as he looked into Nid’s eyes; he saw the look of a woman that was willing to do anything to survive, even if it meant murdering the boy. A painful silence rested between them and the energy in the room was oddly static as they both realized they were at an absolute standstill. Noah wanted to kill her the first chance he had but he knew it would only take a flick of Nid’s wrist to end the boy’s life. Nid, on the other hand, knew she was already dead at this point and had nothing to lose. The child continued to whimper as Nid pressed down harder on the blade, drawing a drop of the boy’s blood onto the iron blade.

“Nice place you got here.” Noah said, shattering the silence. Nid’s gaze only intensified, “Yeah, I like what you’ve done to it. Is that a real wood burning stove?”

“Just leave us alone, Noah. You can turn around now and forget about all of this.”

“Yeah but I’m actually in the market for a little two-bedroom home like this one.” Noah casually looked around the room and ran his index finger down the wooden doorframe, wiping a thin layer of dust away, “Yeah – with granite countertops in the kitchen, a little bit of the old world charm. Maybe in a good school district; you know, for me and my daughter.” Noah smiled and released a wrathful chuckle, “Oh wait. She’s dead.”

“Come on, pal. You and I both know I had nothing to do with that. It’s the Redhead you’re after.”

“Redhead. You know, that’s kind of a derogatory term, don’t you think? After all, there’s a little red in my hair too.”

“You know, fun fact. Red hair color is a recessive genetic trait…” Nid interrupted.

Noah offered her a frigid glare, “Yeah? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m just saying – there’s a lot you don’t know about the Woman you’re after.” Nid said as she delivered a pompous smirk. Noah was baffled by her insinuation, although granted, he knew Nid was infamous for getting into the heads of her enemies and using emotion to play with her prey like some kind of bored house-cat. He didn’t want to let her in Noah’s already troubled psyche – he wasn’t here for a therapy session. But he figured playing her games would buy him enough time to figure something else out so he invited her into his twisted world for just a moment so she could catch a glimpse of Noah’s troubled soul.

“She killed Maggie. She’s going to die because of it. That’s all I know about her – that’s all I care to know about her.” Noah was firm.

“You really should have done your homework.”

“Yeah – well that’s a funny story actually. Turns out the dog ate it.” Noah said; he now copied Nid’s arrogant smile. He could sense Nid’s patience grew thin; this humored Noah but he knew stalling Nid accomplished nothing.

“I always relished your sense of humor, Noah. And we can play these little games if you’d like but if you ask me, you’re an cocky imbecile and you have no fucking clue what you’re getting yourself into and to me… it’s really – adorable.”

“Hmm. Well I guess it’s a good thing I don’t give a shit about your opinion otherwise that might have really hurt my feelings… and uh…  you don’t want to know what I do to people who hurt my fucking feelings.” Nid didn’t have a comeback for Noah. Instead, she offered him a blank stare and let that suffocating silence take over once more. Noah continued, “Let the child go and we can work this out,” Noah began to steer away from their spirited banter and started to talk business, “If you let him go, you can walk out of here and we never have to see each other again.”

It was obvious Nid still wanted to play, “No,” Nid kissed the child’s forehead, “I might just slaughter the child like I slaughtered his weakling parents. Just like the Woman you’re after supposedly slaughtered that little cunt of a daughter you had.”

Noah suddenly felt a surge of heat radiate from the depths of his soul. He took a step closer and postured at Nid; her knuckles turn stark white as she squeezed the handle of the knife even tighter. Noah fantasized the thought of ripping apart this Leon Aventis and sending each disembodied scrap to a different circle of Hell, “Call my daughter a cunt again – I dare you.”

Nid’s smile didn’t fade, “I guess ‘cunt’ is kind of a derogatory term, isn’t it?”

“Nid, what are you doing? This isn’t you.” Noah tried to reason with her, realizing this conversation was going nowhere and he was running out of time. He always viewed Nid as a reasonable being – she may inflict merciless pain to her enemies but he never knew her to harm an innocent person.

“Yeah well things change when this much is at stake.” Nid said.

“What do you care – you don’t even know what she’s after. You protect that Woman from Drak. She’s as good as dead and you know it – you might as well just walk away with your own life while you still can. I’m giving you that chance – just take it.”

Nid didn’t say a word. This wasn’t getting anywhere and it infuriated Noah. He decided to gamble – he looked down at Nid’s tattered shoes, which he noticed looked uncomfortably tight on her, and pulled his final card, “You know, those shoes don’t really suit you. They don’t look very comfortable either. Maybe you should take them off?” Noah said; this befuddled Nid at first but after a while, she knew exactly what he was getting at.

“Trust me, you’re not going to like the truth.”

“I already know the truth.” Noah casually leaned against the doorframe, folded his arms and smiled, “You’re not a Leon Aventis.”

Nid glared at Noah and Noah watched her as she proceeded to remove the tattered pair of loafers and kick them across the living room. Her four toed feet stretched across the floor and Noah gawked at them in dismay. He was right; this ‘thing’ wasn’t Nid. That four-toed footprint wasn’t elven; it obviously belonged to a shapeshifter and Noah was kicking himself for not figuring this out earlier.

Suddenly, Noah was facing his daughter. The Shapeshifter took on Maggie’s form at a noxious attempt to mess with his emotions. She looked just like her moments before she died; her golden blonde hair streamed down the back of her neck like cascading rays of sunlight, her piercing cobalt eyes brightened the room and she even had the same row of darkened freckles below resting just above her cheekbones. Seeing Maggie’s image sickened Noah but he did everything he could to resist the Shape-shifter’s attempt to toy with his vulnerable inner-self.

            “You’re wrong, my friend. I am a Leon Aventis. I’m just not the good-natured spider-loving elf you’re after.”

            “Who sent you?”

“The same one who hired you. He hired me to find out what that Redheaded bitch was after. Unfortunately, she has some kind of moral code that’s making things – difficult.”

“Well then – what is she after?”

“Even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you.”

“Good – then you’re useless to me and I can kill you.”

“You can kill me here and now but Drak will send another. And another – ”

Noah interrupted with a lighthearted cackle, “Well I definitely plan on killing you here and now. You can count on that. And it doesn’t matter what she’s after anymore. After I’m done killing you, I might make a pot of tea and – maybe a sandwich. Sit by that nice fireplace over there and wait for the Woman to return so I can slit her fucking throat and piss on any plans she has for the future. And you can hand-deliver those words to Drak on a silver platter if you’d like.”

“Wrong again.” A shit-eating grin stretched across her face, “Maybe you haven’t realized this yet – I suppose I don’t blame you – but you’re at a stalemate with the Woman. Haven’t you noticed that no matter how hard you try, her and the Leon Aventis always seem to outfox you – which is a shocker to me because I’ve always heard you’re really good at what you do, Mr. Miller.”

“She got lucky a few times.” Noah blushed.

 “Or she’s just as good as you – if not better – and you don’t want to admit that.”

Noah didn’t have a comeback this time. Instead, his eyes fell to the floor and he fell into a somber trance; he realized she was right. This Woman has been one of the most difficult foes he’s ever had the displeasure of hunting and he couldn’t figure out why. Still, Noah adjusted his focus back on the welfare of the child. He may not be able to bring his daughter back, but he couldn’t bare the thought of witnessing the unjust death of another guiltless child. He was realizing now he had to compromise with the Shapeshifter if he wanted that child to live.

“What will it take for you to spare the child?” Noah offered her an inch and he knew damn well sure she was ready to take a mile.

“Leave this realm. Forget about all of this petty revenge and leave me and the Redhead to our work.”

Noah considered it for a moment, “You know I can’t do that.”

“Fine. That leaves me no choice then.” The Shapeshifter raised the knife; the blade glinted and Noah felt a part of him die as she pointed the blade at the boy’s throat and prepared to slaughter him like an animal. Noah lunged forward and tried to stop her but he already knew there wasn’t much of a chance at this point.

Warm blood splattered in Noah’s eyes as he reached for the child. The boy screamed in blood curdling anguish as Noah wrapped his arms around him and pulled him from Nid’s grasp. Noah blanketed him and tumbled onto the floor; the Shapeshifter collapsed only a few inches from him and her eyes rolled back into her skull. Blood gushed from a fresh arrow wound driven directly through her frontal lobe and seeped into the cracks of the pinewood floor. He looked down the child; he was unscathed.

Noah held the boy; he held him tighter than he held his own daughter the night she died. As he sat up and looked around the room, his vision fixed on the sight of a redheaded woman standing in the doorway – a bow at her waste as she donned a look of utter terror.

Everything turned to stone; time seemed to stop on its heel. He looked at the grand prize with a sickening sense of gluttony in his eyes. There she was in her final form; he wanted to kill her so bad. He wanted to turn her inside out; make her suffer a thousand times for every second of sorrow she caused him since the death of Maggie. Rage flowed through his veins and became his lifeblood; it was feeding him sweet poisonous revenge and he lost sight of everything else as he dabbled in his vices. There she was – she was standing right there and that was her last arrow. He had dreamed of this moment every night since the death of his daughter but for some reason, it wasn’t living up to its glory. This Woman looked pathetic; her body was bruised and maimed, what was left of her soiled burlap dress was falling apart at the seams; her mane of orange curls was matted and caked with mud and filth and she was quivering in fear and exhaustion.  

            Suddenly, a realization struck Noah and stole his breath. She just saved the boy. He looked down at the child; he still couldn’t believe he was alive. Not only that; she just literally killed her only ally to save this child. Noah was confused; he couldn’t begin to fathom what was actually going on. As he stood up and held his knife in his shuddering hand, he studied the woman. She was hyperventilating; her bare feet were bleeding, and her malnourished frame looked bony and unassuming. This wasn’t the villain Noah was imagining this Woman to be. He was beginning to realize maybe Nid was right – he needed to do his homework.

            Before he had a chance to speak to her, she lunged for the portal gun, stuffed it in a small backpack and sprinted towards the child. Noah sprang to his feet and dived towards her, tackled her and pinned her to the floor. She tried to reach for Nid’s knife but Noah grabbed it and tossed it to the side. He placed the palm of his hand on her chest and raised his knife and prepared to drive it directly into her breastbone. However, she gained a surge of strength and squirmed away from Noah’s grasp, forcing him backwards and sending him halfway across the room.

            The Woman crawled towards the child and slung him over her shoulder. Without wasting a single moment, she got back up on her feet and dashed towards the door. Noah got back on his feet and aimed his tactical knife at the Woman in one final attempt to end this. Noah threw his knife at her but without turning around, she raised her right hand and caught the blade midflight and tossed it into the fireplace on her way out the door. Noah was stunned by what he had just seen; he has never once missed a throwing knife kill and witnessing his enemy literally catch his blade mid-air was mind-boggling. He rose to his feet one last time and ran towards her but she was faster than him. By the time he made it to the front door, she had already disappeared into the night.

            Noah was good at his job; she was better.