Valeria's Arc

Chapter 4 of 7

Valeria moved fast through the trees, the stolen mirror cold against her ribs. Branches whipped at her face. Behind her, boots cracked twigs. The lean hunter was closer than she had thought. She ducked between two trunks and turned to run, but he was already there, blocking her path. A knife glinted in his hand. "Give it back," he said. His voice was low and even. "Or I take it off your body." Valeria stepped back. Her boot slid on wet stone. Behind her, the trees opened onto a roaring waterfall that crashed into a still lake. There was no path down. The hunter grinned and stepped closer. The curved blade in his hand caught the light, its hilt wound with painted flowers that did not match the threat in his eyes. He angled it toward her throat. Valeria's hand shook for one breath, then steadied. She drew the mirror from her coat and held it out. He reached. She threw it past his ear instead. He flinched, turned, lunged for it. Valeria drove her shoulder into his ribs and shoved him off the ledge. He hit the water hard. The mirror struck a rock and cracked clean in half. Valeria stood at the edge, breathing in shudders. She had kept her life. She had lost her prize. Below, the hunter thrashed toward the shore, his flowered blade still bright in his fist. He looked up. He saw her face. Valeria turned from the falls and ran back into the trees, lighter by one mirror and heavier by one enemy who would not forget. She stopped at a fallen log to catch her breath. Something crinkled under her boot. A folded square of parchment, dropped in the chase. She picked it up and opened it. A city map. Streets inked in careful lines, an X marked over a single building near the center. Beside the X, three names. The top name had been crossed out. The second name had been crossed out. The third name waited, untouched. Her hands began to shake. She did not know the merchant's name yet. But she knew now the lean hunter did. And he had a head start.