Valeria's Arc

Chapter 5 of 7

Valeria followed the inked streets on the map for half a day, her boots quiet on the packed dirt of the road. The third name burned in her mind, still unread, still unknown. She kept to the tree line where she could. Then a shape stepped out from behind a leaning trunk and blocked her path. The lean hunter. Wet hair, a bruise along his jaw, one arm held tight against his ribs. His curved blade was already in his hand. "The third name," he said. "It's mine." His shirt was soaked dark red down one side, the cloth clinging where the fall had torn him open. He swayed a little on his feet. Valeria saw the parchment edge poking from his belt. She saw something else too — a second blade at his hip, slim and bright, the letters IM cut clean into the steel. He had not just learned the name. He had taken something from her already. Valeria did not draw. She watched his bad arm, the way it pinned the parchment against his side. She feinted left. He slashed wide, slow. She caught his wrist, twisted, and the blade fell. The parchment fell with it. She snatched the page before he could kneel. Two names crossed out. One name waiting. Illisa Mira. Her hands shook once, then stilled. She backed onto the road, page folded tight in her fist. The hunter spat blood and watched her go. "I'll be behind you," he said. She believed him. But now she had the name. And he had nothing but the road and his hate. She walked until the trees thinned. She unfolded the parchment again. Illisa Mira. A woman, then. A merchant with an etched blade the lean hunter had already touched. Valeria's hand closed tight on the page. She had a name now. She also had a question she did not want — whether this woman was the one who had sold her family, or only the next door she would have to open. She set her boots toward the city and walked faster.