Book Two: The Legends

Chapter Six - Hunt

Dedicated to her for the AMAZING cover she made me for the first book in this series! Go fan her and give her love!

"Sorry, but I can't let you go," Walter said, leaning back in his chair.

"You aren't my leader," I hissed angrily, standing up in a fluid motion, "They are my family, and I am going after them!"

Walter sighed. "I suppose I can agree with that but, if you want to stay here, it's under my rules."

"I guess I'm leaving here then. Thanks for your kindness," I said sarcastically.

"I'm going too," Oliver chimed in, "I owe it to Alex."

Walter gritted his teeth and glared at us. "If you leave, don't bother coming back."

I opened my mouth to spit out another angry comment when Oliver cut me off.

"Sorry, Walter. We'll stay."

I turned around to stare at him in disbelief and he winked at me.

"Good. I'd hate to lose you, Oliver," Walter said with a smile, and then with a wave of his hand, sent us out of his office.

Oliver calmly shut the door behind him and I immediately pushed him against a wall.

"What the hell?!" I cried, "Why would you say that?!"

Oliver rolled his eyes at me and casually grabbed my hand and started to drag me away from Walter's office. I tried to claw his hand away, but his grip remained strong. When we reached the top of the staircase that led back down to the first floor, he stopped and let go of me.

"Alright, we're going to find Alex," Oliver said.

"And Ava and Zoey," I confirmed.

He gave a short nod and then we both descended quickly down the stairs.

***

After Oliver had sweet talked the female on watch to let us outside the walls, we quickly jogged out of the town to the surrounding woods I had been living in for the last few months. Oliver explained how the bandits constantly moved around, though remained solely in the woods.

"We've been monitoring them for a while and they do have a pattern, so we can almost always guess where they are," Oliver said as we walked, using his hands to empathise his words.

I gave him a slight nod. "How far are we?" I asked, keeping my voice no louder than a whisper.

"Not far," Oliver murmured in the same tone.

We walked in silence for a few more minutes until Oliver stopped, cocking his head to the side as if hearing something close. I paused to listen as well and heard voices, echoing out through the trees.

"What's the plan exactly?" I muttered, slowly drawing my gun from my back.

Oliver reached out and stopped me from fully drawing out my gun and shook his head. "They're really careless. We can sneak in," Oliver said with a sigh, "And if we get attacked, silent weapons only. Use your knife."

I rolled my eyes childishly and unsheathed my knife. Oliver raised his loaded crossbow and we both crouched down low and crept closer to the loud voices of the bandits.

***

On the edge of a small clearing, filled with tents and large crates, Oliver and I were hidden behind the thick foliage of large bush, calmly watching as the bandits milled about their camp. I was almost about to impatiently take one hostage and demand to know where Ava and Zoey was until Alex stepped out of one of the tents.

"They're in there," Oliver confirmed, not taking his eyes off Alex. I decided not to question it. "Good, they put the tent near the edge."

Oliver and I both rounded the edge of the clearing, keeping out of sight until we were directly behind the tent we suspected Ava and Zoey were in. I started to creep towards the tent until Oliver held me back.

"What?!" I hissed at him.

"We need to wait for Alex," Oliver said simply, tightening his grip to make sure I couldn't get to the tent.

We waited for a few more minutes in complete silence, listening to the bandits stroll around without a care in the world until one ran in and started screaming profanities at the others. They all started running out of the clearing, Alex included. Oliver swore under his breath and released my arm. The blood rushed back in and I rubbed it weakly, trying to get the feeling back.

Both Oliver and I clambered out of the bush, still keeping low to the ground in case of any surrounding bandits. Carefully, Oliver aimed his crossbow at the front of the tent and I ripped it open. Ava and Zoey were both lying on the floor of the tent, completely still.

I rushed to Ava, who was the closest to me and my fingers gravitated immediately to feel for her pulse. I gave a sigh of relief when I found it beating strong and quickly performed the same procedure on Zoey and got the same results.

Oliver was practically pouting as he picked up Ava's still body and I picked up Zoey's. Quietly, we exited the tent and ran quickly into the cover of the trees.

***

As we jogged back holding the still unconscious bodies of my companions, I glanced up at Oliver's hardened, emotionless face.

"Oliver?" I questioned.

"Yes?" He answered, not looking at me.

"How do you know Alex?"

Oliver's face fell, until he throw his stony face back up. "I knew him a long time ago."

"Knew?"

Oliver gave me a sideways look and sighed. "I knew him. Not anymore. He changed."

I opened my mouth to ask another question until something in Oliver's face made me stop. I then realised there was a lot I didn't know about the boy with the voice.

---

Ah, sorry it took so long to get this chapter out! I suck. ): And it's a little shorter too. It's more a filler chapter. THE NEXT CHAPTER IS NOT TO BE MISSED. Hehe!

Much love,

Lucie

xo