Falling Feathers Book I - Rogue Without Fear

Chapter XXV

>>> Autumn Rose <<<
    We were on our way to the lair, the stranger was walking next to me.
    "What am I going to say?" I asked in a panic. I had no idea what I would do. I had no idea what I would say!
    "What ever you do and whatever you say, you better sound confident or you won't stand a chance. Even if you beat Danny, you still have to prove your leadership to the rest of them," he replied grimly. I thought about his words for a little while, and asked,
    "Do I have to prove my leadership to you?" He was quiet for a few moments. By now we had reached the tree, and were moving the leaves out the way.
    "Not to me," he whispered. He heaved the trapdoor open, and gestured for me to go down.  Wordlessly, I climbed down the ladder.  He climbed down after me, and I ran through my head what I would do and say.  I wanted to do something that would make them respect me from the second I opened that door.  I stood at the ladder, and thought.  Well, I'm going to need a weapon, it's hard to fight with nothing but my hands...  I ran through a mental list of things I could fight with. Sword, gun, I could use a broken bottle for crying out loud!  I thought of my parents.  What would they want me to do?  Well how can I know, I barely remember them.  It's been years since I ran from the village.  I thought about what I knew.  Well my dad was a werewolf and my mom was a vampire, what more do I know?  I grumbled to myself.
    By now the stranger had made his way down the ladder, and in that moment I knew exactly what I was going to use.  I'll remind Danny of someone I hope he hasn't forgotten.  I'll remind him that the Rose bloodline isn't over.  I smirked.  I looked over to the stranger, and I could tell he knew I was plotting.  Right as I turned to go to the door, my heart froze as I thought of something that scared me.  This whole time, I had been counting on my winning.  But what if I lost?  Only one person comes out alive in this duel, and it might not be me.  I'm not anyone important in town, and I don't know anyone really.  I knew the stranger who had trained me and I knew Soren, but I was sure that Soren wouldn't miss me.  He hates me, I reminded myself.  And to the stranger, I'm probably just any old person.  He doesn't care about me.  I don't even know his name, I reminded myself.  I turned to him, and asked,
    "What if I die?"  He didn't reply immediately.
    "Danny stays leader."  He replied.  His voice wavered slightly.  I could tell he was trying to sound calm.  I could sense his nervousness in the air.
"And we can't let that happen," I muttered.
"Exactly."
"So what do we do?"  I asked.
"Don't die."  Those two words sent shivers down my spine.

    At that time, I wasn't thinking about the effects this would have on me. I thought I was going to walk in, kill Danny, and leave the same. I wish I could've seen what would've happened. I wish I could've stopped myself and done things differently. The stranger could've become leader instead. If I had've let him be leader, I could've saved myself.

    When we got to the door, Felix was standing there to greet us, with a frown on his face.  He's always frowning, I thought to myself. That kid never smiles. The stranger was walking to my left with the same pace as me. When we reached the door, Felix looked us both over with an unimpressed glance. He unlocked the door, and gently nudged it open. The stranger pushed it open enough for us to walk through, and began walking in himself. I waited a moment for him to begin. As he passed, he murmured,
    "Felix," and walked on. Felix didn't look or reply. He kept on staring in front of him. As I walked past, I could see his eyes darting to the side, watching me as I walked past. Likewise, I watched him out of the corner of my eye. I felt like he was reading my mind as I walked. I thought he was looking into my soul.
    Once we were inside, I stuck my hand out, and the stranger looked at it.
    "What do you want?"
    "I know you keep a throwing dagger with you, and I want it." I replied cooly, in one final attempt to calm my nerves before I fought Danny. He reached into his cloak, and gave it to me.
    "What ever you're planning, you better make it good," he warned. I chuckled to myself, finding a small bit of confidence. I took a deep breath, and thought to myself, it's either going to be a great failure, or a great win. But no matter what, it'll be great.