The Resistance

Chapter 2

   The three men surround me. Two identical broad men with sandy hair and pale blue eyes laugh at their rat in a trap. The other stares at me with interest. Curiosity fills his green eyes as his dark brown hair falls into them. This face I recognize immediately. A boy from my not-too-distant past.

  The twins' laughter dies as they take notice of the others' silence. The boy examines me as I dangle, and I do the same to him. Searching for any sign, any weakness he might reveal. The boy scans me from head to toe, well, in reverse, I guess, all the way down to my belongings on the ground. The twins have finally seemed to notice them and dig. Pocketing the food and searching the furs. I glare in silence, but it's difficult to be threatening when you're swinging by your foot. Once they're done scavenging, the silent one speaks.

 "Boys, cut her loose," a small trace of humor was in his words. 

 The others stare at him with surprise. 

 "Why should we let HER go? What if she works for the duke?" said the twin on the left.

 "Yeah, she could of took off at the first sign of trouble. We can't trust her, best to end her now," said the one on the right. 

 "Better listen to your friend there," I reply. "Cut me loose, or it'll get ugly."                                                This quickly set a fire in their eyes. Temper, that's their weakness. They have an ugly case of pride. The twins reach for their weapons, but I move quicker. Inside my boot is a dagger, in one big swinging action I cut myself free. Landing on my feet with the grace of a dancer. I glare back at them, sword in hand, ready for anything. The quiet one has stood in front of the hot heads as a block. They all stare back. Their faces blank, expect the quiet one. His face cannot hide his enjoyment of the situation. I move to a fighting stance.

 "Now if you don't mind, I would like to leave with my belongings returned to me," anger starts to surface. 

 The twins laugh harder, "Or what?"

"Or I'll have to kill you. Wouldn't that be a shame." I grin beneath the mask. My favorite thing, getting under people's skin. They themselves, smirk to each other than to their leader. 

"Alrighty then. If you best Jared here with a sword," one twin says gesturing to the quiet one, "we'll let you live with your belongings."

"Jus' a warning, he's the best swordsmen in the Resistance," says the other. "Choose wisely."

With a calm voice I reply, "Deal. Just don't be upset when your friend's dead."

  I throw my mask and cloak to the ground. Revealing myself, my amber hair is braided back but falling out. My blue eyes are ablaze. My pale skin red from anger and blood. I loosen my muscles preparing for the fight ahead. He must be good with a sword as he survived the fight. But he must be worn from the battle and from chasing me through the forest. I have the advantage. The one called Jared prepares. He moves his shoulders and swings his weapon round. Jared steps closer to me.

 "It's not too late to change your mind, I'd hate to beat you," a smirk moves across his lips and humor floods his face.

   I say with spite, "Hopefully, you put up a better fight than that General Bennington. He was all too easy. Now that one guard did give me some trouble but was taken care of. But then you and your Resistance took all my fun away."

 Jared was taken aback by my words. Shock shows on the twins' faces. Jared freezes for a second and I take the opportunity. I swing my sword forward, but he dodges. He makes his move but is too late and our blades collide. More blows were exchanged. My blade swung past grazing his side. Blood begins to show. As he reached for his bleeding side, I come at him with a slice at his arm. Then something in Jared switched. He came at me with speed and agility. He was everywhere at once. Our swords continued to block one another's blows. The sounds echo through the woods. He strikes and I barely dodge. With his miss he leans too far, and I hit him cross the back. Jared stumbles but catches himself. He flings himself toward me, our blades cross and we push against each other. Our faces inches apart. I feel my knees weaken, and I know he will soon overpower me. I move like light and kick his feet out from under him. Jared falls, he twists to his back, in attempt to get to his feet. But it's too late. I hold him to the ground with a knife pressed to throat. The cool metal makes his skin red with blood. Jared's face is filled fear. His heart pounds and his breaths quicken.  

He whispers, "Who do you work for?"

 "I work for no one," my voice is steady, as if this never happened. I get up and jerk the blade from his throat. I march to the twins who hoard my goods.

"I believe we had a deal. I should have it even more sense I speared the life of your best swordsmen. I gave your resistance a chance." 

 They step out of my way on silence. I look back at them and Jared who still lays on the ground. Confusion shows across his face. The twins go to help him up and I make my escape. I run with all my remaining strength. I hear them yell after me. Fear gets me to faster. What I need right now is distance. Distance and a good pint.