Nightingale's Fury

1 Week Later

I sat there, knitting. Paying no attention to the others training around me.

Well, under me, actually. I sat in the fork of a tree, couple metres up, the others unaware of my presence.

I finished the end of my knitting. I had made a scarf. I waited, aimed, and dropped it onto the head of Joel, who glanced up at me. He grinned and dropped his bow to the ground. He threw out his arms and gestured for me to jump.

I shrugged. Eso si que es. I jumped from the tree, which still held my knitting, and landed in the arms of Joel, who I half-expected to fall over.

Instead of putting me down, he carried me back up to the base. He pushed open the door and kissed me. "Holy sh*t, you're amazing. And because of that, I have a present for you." He placed me on the lounge and sat in front of me.

I was excited, but it felt wrong to be in such a good mood after losing Estella. "Rubes, close your eyes!" I obeyed and felt something warm and smooth in my hands.

I opened my eyes and saw a bow. A proper bow. He looked at me, "Do you see what it says, right near the little Nightingale?"

It was true, there was a nightingale engraved into the the wood, and beside it, in cursive, it wrote, "My Nightingale. I don't think anyone was, or ever will be, ready for Nightingale's Fury. Now let's kick some @ss together."

I looked up into his beautiful eyes. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him hard. "Thank you, for everything."

He smiled at me. "I really like the scarves you keep dropping on my head, by the way. I think everyone does."

I giggle at the thought of everyone wandering around with the umpteen amount of scarves I had made in the last week hanging from their necks.

And then that happy thought ceased. An image of a cold, deceased Estella flew into my mind, worrying for the safety of someone I wasn't sure had lasted the night in Shadow King's care.

I felt a tear trickle down my face. Joel wiped it away. I forced a laugh and wiped my tears, my face red. Thea was handling this ordeal better than I was, or, that's what I assumed.

She was hurting, but on the inside. A talent she learned when no one cared.

I sighed and got up. "Let's train for a bit."

-------------------------

And train, we did. My bow worked perfectly, the wood bent nicely, and I finally had a proper bow, unlike my crossbow, it was lighter and it made me feel free.

As the sun went down, Joel tapped my shoulder as I was widdling a hunk of wood I had found with my knife. "Rubes, come back up to the base when your ready, I know you need your space." And he walked off, leaving me leaning against a tree.

I heard a crack, and then the stamp of feet. I saw a flash of blonde, and threw my knife. There was a scrape and a gurgle. I ran over to see a person hunched over another.

There was a knife sticking out of his neck. The hunched figure looked up at me. It was Dante. He was scrawny, he no longer had the same aura of a strong, confident man. He was a shell.

"Ruby. You killed him."

I blinked as I fell to my knees. I pulled the knife out of his neck, which spat out blood. The thick blood coated my hands as it dawned on me what I had done. "Dante. Who was he?"

Dante averted his gaze, "He was one of Shadow King's men who was trying to kill me." I scowled, "Why did he want you?" I got to my feet, brandishing the bloody knife like a sword, "Are you in league with him?!"

Dante got to his feet too, "Ruby," he said, gesturing me to lower the knife, which I would never do. "I was in league with him. He was my master. But he found out that I had been speaking to his, well, to his granddaughter. You. He banished me from his court. That's why I was outside your base weeks ago."

Rage filled my body. I swore viciously at him, "Tell me, Dante, why shouldn't I just kill you too? I have been through enough pain as it is!"

Dante's eyes flicked sideways, as though glancing at something. I fell for this trick as he tackled me and removed the knife. He threw it aside, "Ruby, don't do this. This isn't you and you know it. That," pointing at the body, "was an accident."

I looked at the body, it was a mistake that cost the remaining part of my innocence. I grabbed the knife and glared at Dante, "If I ever see you again, you will wish that he," pointing to the body again, "had finished you off."

I stalked off out of the woods. I looked at my hands as I gasped, dropping the knife. The blood had dried onto my hands.

I had made my way to the door as it opened to Biowolf, who looked at me with wide eyes. I looked at him, equally as wide eyed. He knew who I was becoming, what I had done.

I had killed a man, just because I could. I was becoming my worst nightmare.

Tristan whispered, "What have you done, Ruby?" I looked at my hands. And I cried.

I was a killer.

End of Book 1.