Khai Lun had been trudging through the snow for the past hour in pursuit of his prey and was tiring. He knelt next to the bloody tracks of quarry to gain insight into their situation. His reptilian tongue flicked to smell the blood and grinned.
"What is it, fin head," questioned a squat, sickly excuse of a Bizzannite. "Are we catching up to the rabbit?"
"The prey is slowing in speed, Rionne. He is perhaps no more than half a kilometer ahead of us and is slowing from my poison." Khai Lun traced his hands along the inside of a footprint. "Your arrow has pierced his left thigh and the limp is causing problems moving in this terrain. His path thus far is steady to the north."
"Thats great!"exclaimed Rionne "He's heading right where we need him." He shuddered as a cold wind passed. "If we can force him into the plains then our job will be so much easier and we can get out of damnable cold." Khai Lun was slow to stand; his Killian metabolism was slowing. He thought to himself that it would be good to end the hunt as quickly as possible before the weather has taken it's toll on his body. His pensive was interrupted by the soft crunch of snow nearby. With lightning speed and wicked quick reflexes he drew a small dagger and flung it into the shadows. A pale hand caught the blade with effortless grace and it's possessor emerged to greet the two.
"Simon, how many time have we told you not to sneak around like that?" Rionne seemed very upset at the pale goth garbed in charcoal robes. "What have you to report?" Simon lit a clove cigarette and took a long drag before responding.
"The Killian is mostly correct in his analysis of the situation. The boy is running injured and is slowing. He currently is heading north towards the plains but he is more like a full kilometer ahead of us. I also found his pack stashed in a tree up ahead which gives me the impression that he plans on doubling back." Simon produces a back pack from under his robes and tosses it to Khai Lun who catches it and slings it over his shoulder.
"Then why the hell are we standing here?" questioned Rionne. "Let get our asses into gear and catch this "rabbit" so we can get paid." Khai Lun flexed a bit to crack the ice crystals that have begun to form between his scales then began to trudge along the tracks once more.
"I'll go on ahead and engage the target to slow him down. You two make sure you're no too far behind." Simon disappeared into the shadows once more and Rionne trotted after Khai Lun to keep pace.
"I still don't understand why we need that phantom here with us. It's bad enough that I have to work with a fin head, but a limp-wrist ed, creepy goth is a whole different story. We really need to keep an eye on him" Khai Lun shot Rionne a shot glance as he kept his pace.
"I'm fairly certain you lack the skills to be in contrary of his stealth. Now please be silent so I'm no tempted to snap your spine and leave you here in the snow." Rionne fell silent as the continued on.
The sun had set in the hour that followed as their pursuit dragged on. The night was a blanket of black for a few moments before Juno and Luna showed their full faces in the sky. Khai Lun's muscles ached and his breathing was labored as he pressed onward towards their target. Ahead the two could hear sounds of battle and they rushed towards it. They had reached the edge of the forest where it met the plains to the south of the Elven mountains. In the full moons light they could see two black robed figures fighting. The two combatant looked sluggish and clumsy in their attacks and looked almost as if they were leaning against each other to keep standing. Obviously the fatigue was getting to the both of them. Khai Lun charged the two while Rionne held back with a readied bow. The powerful Killian tackled Simon's assailant and in the process had knocked him over as well. He drew back the strike but paused when her realized it was nothing but a robe which was tied to a dead Simon whose throat had been slit ear to ear. Khai Lun turned to Rionne to find his partner dangling from a tree by a rope. His head was cocked to one side to give evidence that his neck had been snapped. A lone figure emerged from the forest with incredible speed toward the tired Khai Lun. He was assaulted with a flurry of kicks, punches and everything in between and had it not been for the cold weather Khai Lun would more than likely had been on top of the fight. Just when he thought that his defenses were going to break his attacker fell face first into the snow. The Bushi Killian huffed to catch his breath and tested the boy with is foot for signs of life. Apparently he had passed out from fatigue which is what Khai Lun wished he could do but instead he flung the boy over his shoulder and head north towards the mountains.
On to vol. 6 The mines of Fulton part 1