Man From The Shadows

Man From The Shadows

Part III: Friend-enemy

“Bastard set the place on fire…,” The man standing in front of Raleek started looking up at the smoke pouring in through the hatch. He was distracted it; was the perfect time for Raleek to attack once Olive was safely behind him. She was smart and took advantage of it herself, so she was safely out of the way in a matter of seconds.

He palmed his hidden daggers and was about to strike when a small child around four years old raced out and grabbed his hand. His gaze instantly shot to Raleek, and he gently guided the girl behind him. He boldly held his smoldering gaze for a moment, and Raleek could not; bring himself to strike the man down in front of the child, who clung to him for safety.

<I wanted to kill him for what he had done to Olive. But, I did not have it in me to kill the father of another child; Raleek Stronenburg.>

“We should go.” He whispered to Olive as he slid his weapons back into their proper places. With one last threatening look at the man, he guided Olive deeper into the tunnels, swooping up their bags in passing. The faster he got away from this man, the safer this man was.

“You're, a softie aren’t you?” Olive whispered once they were a fair distance away. “You couldn’t kill him in front of those kids.”

“Kids?” He questioned he had only seen one child. “I could have killed him without hesitation, kids or not. I just; did not want to be saddled with more children. It’s going to be hard enough to protect our kids, let alone…. How many were there?”

“Four.” Olive smoothly answered, hiding her smile, when he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Three were; huddled in the shadows, and they were maybe a little older than the girl, but all still fairly young.” She slyly informed him. She was not about to tell him that they all seemed to be from different backgrounds. Not one of them looked alike, nor did they look like the man who was protecting them. The best thing she could figure was that the guy was in the same line of work that her family had been in for generations (Saving children).

“Run! They’ve found the door!” The man shouted as he followed three racing children out of the shadows behind them, with the fourth in his arms. “Go, Go, Go, kids!”

Raleek had never seen children run so fast and swiftly guided Olive to the side to get out of their path, to avoid; being plowed over. It was only a matter of seconds before the guy faded into the shadows ahead. Confused by what the man was saying, he looked back in the direction they had come. Narrowing his eyes, he silently watched the shadows.

“I think the man has gone mad.” He softly said not seeing, anything giving chase. “Should have just killed him to put him out of his misery.”

“They looked pretty scared.” Olive breathed, still looking in the direction that the others had run.

“Yeah, but ……,” He was about to say, he didn’t see anyone following them, but some Dark Elves suddenly rounded the bend. “Never mind. run!” He immediately started taking one of the babies from her arms, making it easier for her to run with the other one better. “Keep going.” He instructed as he slid to a stop and quickly scanned the integrity of the tunnel walls. Thankfully, she did as he told her to. Shifting; the now fussy baby into one arm he, grabbed a handful of throwing stars out of one of his many hidden pockets. There wasn't time to make sure his aim was true, but he could delay the pursuers for a short time.

“It is now or never.” He breathed and used all his strength to throw the stars at some of the rotting support beams' he had caught a glimpse of seconds earlier. This tunnel was; man-made. It was also poorly made. The handful of stars, struck true causing a cave in a few feet in front of the enemy troops. Not wasting time he, spun on his heels and bolted after Olive. He would have stayed there to make sure that they were; stopped, but he had Oli nestled in his arm and had to make sure he was safe first.

He quietly cursed as he turned a bend at full speed to find everyone else forced to stop due to a chasm in the floor. He knew that he was the only one that had a chance of making it to the other side, and there was no time to come up with a better plan or find another route. The enemy would catch up before too long, and time was short. So without slowing down. He used his free hand to grab the straps of the two bags he carried and pulled them off his shoulder.

“Watch out!” He shouted just seconds before he used his momentum to spin in a complete circle and flung the bags across the chasm before continuing to run forward as fast as he could. At the last minute, he veered off to the right and shifted to running along the wall, tucking Oli securely against his chest. A couple of feet from the other side, he pushed off the wall at an angle and used his free arm to send himself into a safe tuck and roll that would prevent harm coming to the baby. Coming out of a roll in a crouch, he shot toward where the bags had landed. Adjusting them slightly, he laid Oli down on them and darted back towards the edge of the chasm.

“Don’t just stand there; throw me a rope!” He growled at the other man, who had a traveling bag of his own.

“I have a rope?” The guy dumbly asked, still in shock over what he had just witnessed. “Wait, yes, yes, I do have a rope.” He added as he remembered that he had one in his bag, but how did the other guy know that? If he had learned anything from his wife, it was never wise to question a direct order from a known killer. This guy was something most likely along that line.

The guy pulled his bag off his shoulder and knelt to rummage through it until he found the rope. Pulling it out, he closed the pack and put it back on. Then snatched up the rope and uncoiled the end to throw it over. Raleek reached out to catch it, but it wasn't far enough.

“Is that the best you can throw?” Raleek loudly growled as the timid man started pulling the rope back up to him by his end.

“I can do this….” The sheepishly stated and was about to attempt it again, but Raleek held up his hand.

“Let Olive do it.” He instructed, at this point, he was sure that she could throw better than the man.

“Oh, okay.” The man looked almost hurt by the comment. He handed the rope to Olive. She gave him an apologetic look and handed him the baby so she could take it.

“Anything happens to my son, and I swear I will skin you alive,” Raleek warned, pointing at the man, who now held his son.

“Raleek!” Olive scolded as she prepped the rope. “You already have him scared enough. You think?” She added, tying the bag of money that she had in her pocket onto the end of the rope for added weight.

“Not, hardly ...,” Raleek grumbled.

Without warning, Olive catapulted the rope; with a scowl on her face. He gave her a crooked smile, making her angry had done the trick, and he caught the money bag with ease. Removing the money bag, he stuck it in his pocket and wrapped the rope around his body, planting his feet.

“Wrap the rope around yourself and plant your feet, put your weight into holding the rope tight, while Olive gets the kids across,” Raleek ordered the man.

“Oh right… because I-I’m the biggest.” The guy said giving the baby back to Olive as he took the rope to mirror Raleek’s actions.

“Wow! You are a genius?” Raleek sarcastically said, rolling his eyes and then turning his gaze to Olive. “This is going to be a tight rope act of a lifetime. Do you think you can do it while carrying a child?” He asked her. He knew this plan was risky, but he also remembered watching Olive practice on the fence for the first couple of weeks he had been in her home.

“Just try to stop me.” She confidently narrowed her eyes at him squaring her shoulders shrugging her cloak off to make a sling. He held back the smile that twitched at the corner of his mouth and tried to keep a stern face.

“Well, show me what you can do.” He taunted, hoping to rile her up enough that she would have no choice but to show him up.

She shot a dirty look at him and secured Ra in the sling. She gave the guy a questioning look, and he nodded, using his weight to pull against Raleek’s to keep the rope tight. She took a deep breath and exhaled. Using the top of his head; to help her get onto the rope. She was able to use both her arms to balance herself as she began her wobbly walk. Each step was a slow balancing act that had both men straining to keep the rope tight enough. Halfway across the gap, she began to doubt herself, causing her balance to grow shaky. Raleek clenched his jaw tight with worry, and Ra reached up to tug on one of her curls. She glanced down at his chubby little face and grew calm. She had to make it if she hoped to save the children. That concept brought the incredible balance that allowed her to move at a more rapid pace.

“Come on, baby. You can do it.” Raleek muttered without realizing what he was saying, as the fear of her falling began to rise in him. He silently sighed in relief; when she used the top of his head to steady her descent. She was too focused to see the shift in him, though, as she rushed to put Ra, down by Oli; so she could go back after the other kids.

The man on the other side of the gap seemed to get worried that they would leave them, and sweat beaded on his brow as he licked his lips worriedly. However, he seemed to trust that his concerns were unfounded and held his ground. Olive quickly climbed back up onto the rope and started across once again. She repeated the process with every child until they were all across. By the time she was carrying the last child across both, men; began to feel slow, forming rope burns across their backs and hands.

She was halfway across the rope when the enemy came speeding around the bend in the tunnel quickly, closing in on them.

“Olive now would be a good time to try running across the rope.” Raleek gently advised, despite the tension in his words. Olive glanced over her shoulder to see why and increased her speed to the point of nearly falling to get across. Not using him to help her this time, she just leaped off the rope a few feet in front of him and hit the stone floor, using herself as a buffer for the landing, so the kid she held would not be hurt.

“Take my kids to their mother.” The man called out, seeing that there was no possible way that he could get across to their side.

“Oh, hell no! I am not taking on that responsibility!” Raleek argued as the guy tossed his end of the rope out away from the edge, preventing the enemy from getting a hold of it.

“Go! I will do what I can….” The man pleaded as he turned to face the enemy. With shaky hands, he clumsily pulled his fishing knife out of his boot and prepared to go down fighting. That would only take a second or two as far as Raleek was concerned.

“Fool.” he hissed, backing up several feet to get a running start as he tossed the rope to Olive.

“Raleek…” She gasped as he shot off into a run and crossed the wall once again. He paid her no attention as he pushed off the wall into a diving roll, palming his daggers in the process.

“Do what I just did and get your butt over there,” Raleek ordered, coming out of the roll, sending his daggers speeding toward the enemy, taking out two.

“ Are you crazy?” The guy asked, panicking.

“I must be,” Raleek muttered, grabbing ahold of his wrist to pull him into a rapid spin. When the momentum was at its peak, he released the guy using his weight to send him flying over the chasm. The guy managed to grab onto the opposite edge keeping himself from falling, and Olive immediately started to help pull him up.

Head spinning and winded, Raleek could only watch as they struggled to get him top side. The guy was a lot heavier than he looked.

He remembered the severity of what he now had to face when he heard the enemy shout. He quietly scolded himself for getting into these types of life or death situations. What was he thinking? There was no way he could take on an entire army alone. He was good, but he was not that good. Glancing from Olive and the others to the enemy, he resigned himself to his fate; if he did not survive this, at least he would not be married any longer. For some reason, that thought brought; little to no comfort. He glanced back at the others and noticed that they had finally got the guy up to safety.

“Keep them safe.” He told the man before reaching into his hidden pocket to see what he had left to use. Feeling a few exploding beads in the bottom of one, he pulled them out. Then bolted into the surrounding shadows, throwing them one at a time at key, points that would cause a cave in between him and his family. He did not expect; the cave to reveal a natural cavern shelf a good way up. Maybe those two were not as stupid as he thought they were. They had chosen a perfect way to escape a situation just like this. He doubted that it was the guy, so it had to have been his partner. Who, exactly, was this guy associated too?

Before the rubble and dust settled, Raleek was racing deeper; into the shadows that surrounded them. Stealthy, circling behind them, he pulled his blades out of their sheaths. His movements and strikes were fast and precise, sending them into chaos as he ended their lives one at a time. They frantically searched around the area, growing more paranoid by the moment. Needing to catch his breath, he crouched low behind a protruding boulder, pressing his back against it to avoid being; spotted.

They were closing in on his location when the chance he had been waiting for presented itself. One of the Dark Elves moved close enough to the far stone wall and had turned his back toward Raleek. Taking a deep breath and mustering up his courage, he shot out of the shadows racing up the soldiers, back and pushing off his shoulders in an attempt to catch the ledge above him. He almost missed it but, somehow, managed to curl his fingertips securely over it.

"Get him!" The commanding officer of the group ordered.

Raleek focused on trying to pull himself up as the enemy began knocking bolts into the crossbows. He heard several twangs as he pulled himself up onto the ledge, using every muscle he had to do it.

"Get up there!" The angry shouts echoed as he started along the narrow ledge in a rapid, crawling crouch.

Metal bolts pierced the stone around him, narrowly missing him, while he systematically dropped; what remained of his exploding beads in his wake. They would automatically go off in about ten seconds, and he had to increase his pace to stay ahead of the blast. He was still too slow to avoid the entire force of the explosions, and they sent him flying into the opposite wall of the tunnel. Fortunately, it was a portion of the wall still attached to the floor and well on the other side of the chasm that they had to cross earlier. Unfortunately, it hurt like hell when he hit it.

He groaned. Rolling onto his hands and knees, he held his ribs. Gasping for the air; that had been; forced out of his lungs. He was pretty sure that his ribs had to be; bruised, if not cracked, from the impact. Stumbling to his feet, he clumsily staggered down the tunnel toward the rest of his group.

He came around a bend in the tunnel and slowed to a stop, leaning against the stone wall, while he listened to Olive arguing with the man. He had trusted the guy to get them to safety but, She insisted that there was no way she was moving another inch without Raleek. The man was begging her to reconsider. She, however, was not hearing any of it.

"Stubborn woman," Raleek said, pushing off the wall, still cradling his ribs. "Why, must you always argue?"

"Raleek!" She called out, handing the babies to the unsuspecting man. Before he could respond to his, name; she was throwing her arms around his neck and nearly squeezing the life out of him. Grunting in pain from the force of her body hitting against him, he grimaced and rested his hands on her waist to gently push her back away from him. Suddenly she hit him, causing his face to turn to the side. Narrowing his eyes, he clenched his jaw and glared back at her.

"You are always going out there and taking on too many. Getting yourself all sliced and diced and nearly killed. When are you going to stop and realize that there is nothing worth dying for?!" She screamed at him, her eyes pooling up with tears and her lips quivering.

He wanted to be angry at her but was unable to; with how she looked at him at the moment. So he remained silent, and his expression softened as he waited for her to stop ranting. A moment or two, later she was quiet and covering her mouth, attempting to keep herself from crying.

"Are you done?" He softly asked her, and she nodded.

He reached up, and ran his fingertip, the length of the scabbed over, cut, on her throat, allowing his eyes to shift to it instead of her face.

"Somethings are worth dying for." He quietly relented and quickly walked around her to retrieve the twins from their new allies. He hoped that she did not see the flush that threatened to stain his cheeks as he took the lead.

The rest of his group fell into step behind him, remaining silent. Raleek was grateful for that, at least for a while. Unfortunately, that short measure of peace came to an abrupt halt; when he sensed somebody outside the tunnel exit. The energy that he felt was that of a killer, not much different from himself, and he now faced the problem of keeping multiple people safe.

He came to a stop and handed the children over to Olive; so he could proceed alone. With a nod of his head, he motioned for them to do what they could to hide for the time being.

"No..." Olive whispered, shaking her head when she realized what he was planning to do.

"I have too." He mouthed to her before heading for the exit. She reluctantly accepted his decision and quickly did the best that she could to hide herself and the infants. Their companion carefully pulled his children into hiding too.

Raleek took a deep breath and steadily walked forward, preparing to fight if he had to. The sun; was already low in the sky when he stepped out of the darkened tunnels. He had to squint his eyes slightly to make out the warrior standing poised to fight a short distance away. A look of deadly intent intensely filled her lethal gaze. They were both willing to die in this fight, slowly circling each other like predatorial cats fighting over; territory as they held each other's gaze.

"What did you do with them?" The woman asked, blood lust heavy in her accent. Raleek wasn't sure who she was talking about, but if he had to guess, he; would say the Dark Elves that he had killed.

He did not answer; instead, he remained silent and masked his features; she most likely had her reasons for fighting, and he had his. From what he could see, neither one of them was about to surrender to the other.

"Do you want to die?!" She shouted, growing frustrated in the face of his calmness.

"Death; comes to us all eventually." He finally said something back to her, but it only infuriated her more. That could either be a good thing or a bad thing. One thing was for sure there was no doubt in his mind that she was an expert, well trained, and matched his skill. He knew he was right when she shot forward with swift, precise attacks. That, he was hard-pressed to match, parry or dodge.

He could hear the whistle of the blades flying over him when he leaned back narrowly avoiding, the blades; of her short swords.

"STOP!" Both Olive and the man shouted as they rushed out of the tunnel. The two fighters froze amid battle to look at them in surprise.

"Darling, why do you always attack before getting answers?" The man sighed, walking towards the woman with a gentle smile on his face.

"What happened, Wolfme? Who are they?" The woman demanded, lowering her blade and the gentle behest of her husband's hands.

"Allies, for now. They are running from the same enemy as we are." Wolfme answered, casting a nervous glance at Raleek out of the corner of his eye. "If it wasn't for them, we would not be here right now," he assured her.

"Then I guess I will let them live for now." She hissed, shooting a glare at the still tense Raleek before she walked around her husband and lovingly greeted the children that rushed out to be embraced by her.

"She is a little intense, but man, is she great?" Wolfme, practically purred as he watched his wife with their children.