The Sprinter

Chapter 2

Eloise gasped for breath as she hurtled down the grimy alleyway. The cobbles blurred together as she thundered past, her pace a constant roar in her head as her feet pounded again and again into the cobbled road.

She couldn't make it. She knew that. The slums of Cestrada had been designed especially to cause disarray. She wouldn't last long until she hit a dead-end, and then - well, she'd be cornered.

But she'd done this before. She knew the drill. She was their prey - and she would have to act like it. Then, when they were close enough, she could slip her dagger into his gut, then run. Run past him, back through the slums and try to reach The Curved Swords. Maybe she could grab her savings before she disappeared.

Eloise skidded to a halt, staring at the brick wall that blocked her escape. She whirled around as her pursuers turned the corner, earlier than she'd anticipated. Eternals there were three of them. Three men chasing her. They must have been following her for days. She froze, staring at them. Three of them - and none of them him, the man who'd come for her in the pub. Where was he?

Eloise stepped back, getting as far away as she could before she felt the slime of the wall flatten against the back of her shirt. She watched as a pair of her pursuers held back, staying at the end to guard the end of the alleyway as the final one began advancing on her.

She couldn't run. They were blocking the exit - she couldn't run. There was nothing she could do. Nothing to escape the man advancing on her, a hungry gleam in his deep, viridescent eyes. This was it.

Then, a woman lept out of the shadows from over the wall behind her. Cloaked all in black leather, she landed lightly in front of her, separating her from her pursuers. The stranger took down her hood, revealing faded, blonde hair. She prowled towards Eloise's attackers. They cocked their heads at her, daring her to fight them. The stranger copied them, daring them - feinting. Eloise watched them taunt each other incredulously, frozen in fear. Then, sooner than she'd expected and without warning, the woman attacked.

As she watched the stranger throw herself at those three men, she was reminded of a dark, winter storm - the kind that raged through, without care or effort, regardless of what stood in its way. She whirled and parried and dodged and thrusted with unbelievable skill. She fought until she had two of Eloise's attackers disarmed and unconscious, and the leader on the ground in a choke hold.

She spoke to him, but the man only laughed, his voice dark and thick with blood. He retched, and his dark eyes glassed over as he went limp. Dead. Eloise's stomach heaved.

The woman turned to her.

Her eyes were a stormy blue, weathered and cold, as if they had already seen too much. She was young, much younger than Eloise had expected, maybe only in her early twenties. Her pale, hollow face was flushed from the heat of the fight and the sting of the cold, night air. Even though she had just taken down three trained men almost twice her size, she displayed no sign of being out of breath, or tired in any way.

When she spoke, she spoke quickly and with an accent.

"Come."

Eloise froze. She owed the woman a debt, she knew that. But this stranger, this assassin, was evidently skilled. And skill was usually paired with ambition. If Eloise came, would it be only to serve someone else's agenda?

The woman took a step closer. Eloise watched, tense and ready, as the stranger extended her hand and edged towards her. She reached forward to take hold of Eloise, but Eloise brought her elbow up hard into the woman's stomach. The stranger doubled over as Eloise put her head down and ran, legs pounding as the adrenaline kicked in to assist her flight.

As she neared the end of the alleyway, she looked quickly over her shoulder, to find that she wasn't being chased. The assassin hadn't moved. She just stood there, watching her with such unnatural grace and stillness. Eloise turned back and doubled her pace.

However, it made her wonder just who her midnight assassin was, and what it was she really wanted.

**