The Glade and Its Glitch: Book 2 Allies or Enemies

Chapter 33

"No. That is not Soar." Huntress rolled off of Lloyd and pulled him up off the ground. "We have to run."

"Who is that then?" Llyod sputtered as Huntress started dragging him around again.

"I have no idea." Huntress ducked as another dart hit the tree. She shoved Lloyd forward in order to escape. Their pursuer was hot on their heels.

Huntress knew they didn't work for Glitch. Their uniform lacked the red and blue that all of Glitch's uniforms had. But because they were chasing her and Lloyd, Huntress assumed they and Glitch were on the same side.

Loading another dart in the gun, their pursuer shot at the pair again. Huntress' assumptions were right, though he didn't work directly for Glitch, they shared the same side. "Well, well, well, the hunter becomes the hunted." He taunted.

Lloyd looked back, the voice sounded familiar. But the red straw hat covered his face, leaving Lloyd clueless to the man's identity.

"You're hilarious," Huntress muttered. She was obviously not amused by the attacker's joke. Before she could even think of a retort, he shot the dart. It stuck in her shoulder but fell out after a few seconds because she was sprinting. However, her adrenaline was high and she didn't notice the pain.

The dart fell to the ground, Huntress' blood on its tip. A portion of the tranquilizer inside hit Huntress. But it wasn't so much as to knock her unconscious. For now.

Lloyd pulled a dagger out of his belt. He threw it at the attacker, but they knocked it to the side.

"Hello, Lloyd." Lloyd could just see the attacker's smile beneath his hat. It was terrifying, and at that moment Lloyd recognized the voice and knew who was chasing them.

"Ronin?!"

"Wait, do you know him?!" Huntress asked in surprise.

"Yeah, we're friends." Lloyd slowed down and turned to face Ronin.

Ronin just grinned creepily again and loaded the dart gun again.

"Yeah, you sure 'bout that?" Huntress grabbed Lloyd's arm and spun him around. Once again forcing him to move.

Wordlessly moving towards Lloyd and Huntress, Ronin fired the gun again.

Lloyd grabbed Huntress' shoulder and yanked her closer to him. The dart whizzed past her shoulder. "You're bleeding." Lloyd held up the hand he'd used to move her closer. Blood was smeared on his palm.

She looked up at Lloyd, "We have to keep going. Don't worry about me," she panted. But Lloyd saw the fear and surprise in her eyes. She didn't even know she'd been hit. Pulling on Lloyd's arm again, she tried to escape their attacker, who they now knew was Ronin.

After loading another dart, Ronin fired the gun again. This time, it hit Lloyd in the thigh.

The ninja grunted in pain and waved his hand at his leg dislodging the dart. But unlike Huntress, most of the tranquilizer had entered his system. This time it was enough to make the wounded feel woozy. Lloyd stumbled, causing Huntress to be dragged back.

As Lloyd pulled, Huntress turned on one foot. She pulled on her power, silver dust flowing off of one palm.

Lloyd gasped at the sight. He'd never seen anything like it. Actually, he had. It looked just like the dust coming from the trees in his dream.

Huntress clenched her fist and bent her knees shooting one leg out behind her. But before she could shift, Ronin pulled something out of a satchel by his side.

He threw it at her, and it only took her a moment to realize what it was. Vengestone chains wrapped around her outstretched arm, and she fell to her knees.

Lloyd tried to stop her fall. But the tranquilizer had made him too weak. Huntress just ended up taking him down with her.

Ronin fired another dart at Huntress, shooting her in the shoulder.

She hissed and bared her teeth. But she quickly glanced down at Lloyd in concern.

He looked up at Huntress, he was surprised she was this concerned for him. But then again, she was apparently on his side, and Soar was the one against him. And now Ronin was against him too.

Huntress shook her head, attempting to clear her head. But the tranquilizer-induced daze only worsened with the shaking.

Ronin walked closer, he had a slight skip in his step, taunting the two. He wrapped another vengestone chain around Lloyd's ankle. Not that it did much, Lloyd was too weak to pull on his power.

Huntress lunged forward in an attempt to bite Ronin. Lucky for him, he pulled away from her in time. Ronin then slapped Huntress' face. In doing so, he knocked the crown and hood off of her head. The silver circlet fell to the ground and rolled off to the side. It stopped beneath a cluster of bushes.

"Stop trying to fight. I've won. Obviously." Ronin laughed.

The pounding in Lloyd's head became too much. He laid back and rested his head on the ground. Lloyd tried to say something along the lines of: "We'll keep fighting. You won't win for long." but the tranquilizer caused his words to slur together. It came out more like: "We eep iting. Ooh ont in."

The dart in Huntress' shoulder was starting to make it throb. It was only made worse when Ronin leaned in closer. He was practically sitting on her now. Grabbing hold of the dart, Ronin ripped it out of Huntress' shoulder.

She let out a small yelp, failing to hold the noise in, yet succeeding in making as little as possible.

Without thinking about it, Lloyd's fingers twitched toward hers. He was used to doing the same for his brothers when they were hurting. But because he barely knew her, and didn't know if she was his ally or enemy, he held back. However, he did see how close Ronin was to her, and that he couldn't hold back about.

"Get away from her."

Ronin made a mock pouting face, "Aww, you wanna defend her? Look at that, he's gonna fight for you." He teased both of his captives.

She wanted to say 'I don't need anyone to fight for me'. But because of the situation, and the fact that Lloyd was already in low spirits, Huntress didn't say it.

"Well, Devin and Cassandra will have fun with you two."

"Who's Devin and Cassandra?" Lloyd asked. He blinked slowly. He doubted he could stay awake much longer.

Huntress glared at Ronin, she felt vulnerable without her hood covering her face. And like Lloyd, she had no idea who Devin or Cassandra was.

"Oh, you don't know?" Ronin shifted his weight so he was facing Lloyd. "Devin and Cassandra work for Glitch."

Huntress glanced over at Lloyd with pity in her eyes. She knew he had no idea what he'd gotten himself into when he welcomed Soar into the ninja's home.

"Who's Glitch?" Lloyd struggled to stay awake, the tranquilizer would fully take him out any minute now.

Ronin laughed again, "He's clueless ain't he?" He looked over at Huntress.

She moved off of sitting on her knees and laid her head on the ground, closing her eyes. Both she and Lloyd weren't going to be awake much longer. "Glitch. They work for Glitch."

"But who's Glitch?!"

"Ohh I'm sure you'll find out soon enough." Ronin leaned closer to Lloyd. "He's the one who told me to hunt down people like you."

As Lloyd's eyes drifted shut, he heard Ronin's last words. And they hit him harder than any of his other taunts. "I don't even care. I'm just capturing the two of you 'cause I'm gettin' paid. I just had to capture two elemental masters, I just happened to come by you two. Good luck kid," he chuckled, "you're gonna need it."