Chapter 40
Vander rushed out from behind the tree67Please respect copyright.PENANAL8wMLFCF4b
and immediately rolled to the ground as two arrows embedded themselves in the67Please respect copyright.PENANAj4MyWIWIgY
dirt right where he had been standing. Despite being assassins and spies, it67Please respect copyright.PENANAQVqTfVxC2U
seemed as though the Green Serpents were crack shots with the bow, but he67Please respect copyright.PENANASgFlWz2C5U
decided to see what would happen when they faced someone who was expecting67Please respect copyright.PENANASzApARbUUO
them. He scooped up a couple of rocks from off the ground and palmed them as he67Please respect copyright.PENANATaK1yM7JXV
charged his enemies.
More67Please respect copyright.PENANAB89GP50Syj
arrows were thrown at him, but it seemed as though they were drawn quickly67Please respect copyright.PENANAB0ju3sZtOp
without much aim. Some whizzed over his head while others got stuck in the67Please respect copyright.PENANA9se8fosLY2
ground a few feet in front of him. One came dangerously close to him, but he67Please respect copyright.PENANAC7JTBeMbTT
smacked it away with his sword. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted some67Please respect copyright.PENANAfwu6NqFNRZ
movement. Taking quick aim, he threw a rock hitting a Serpent’s shooting hand.67Please respect copyright.PENANAAEEKYHpVOO
With a cry of pain, he dropped the bow, but drew a knife instead.
“I’ll67Please respect copyright.PENANA7TUQRS8J7w
gut you.” He snarled and rushed him with the dagger poised low. Vander stepped67Please respect copyright.PENANABOSg5tECjx
back as the dagger was thrusted forward. He grabbed the serpent’s arm and67Please respect copyright.PENANAwFjDw0htpL
yanked the poor man off his feet before slamming his palm into the guy’s nose.67Please respect copyright.PENANA5u2e85hOY3
Blood spurted as his nose broke and embedded itself into the brain, killing him67Please respect copyright.PENANA9fss8HSLfa
instantly. He quickly lifted the body up as two arrows hit him in the back. He67Please respect copyright.PENANAonOW0HzIjO
rushed forward using the freshly made corpse as protection until he could see67Please respect copyright.PENANA2LsSTJEH1p
who he was looking for: three Serpents standing in front of him.
Unlike67Please respect copyright.PENANAb0aVO5v0sT
the one he had just killed, these three looked like veterans. They had deep67Please respect copyright.PENANAHA7SQZq5Ni
green face paint and wore outfits that helped them blend into their67Please respect copyright.PENANA9W7fLPRmZD
surroundings. There was a hardened look in their eyes as they stared at him.67Please respect copyright.PENANAZadbcKfkN2
Knowing their bows would be useless if close combat, they lowered them to the67Please respect copyright.PENANArfwmVQoExk
ground then removed their quivers. Each one removed a large knife from the67Please respect copyright.PENANA3CF8cbGpS3
sheathe strapped to their backs.
“You67Please respect copyright.PENANAa3X4vAeJOt
might be a Blade, but you aren’t a match for all three of us.” One of them67Please respect copyright.PENANAX4BnN44XEE
growled. As if practiced, they spread out keeping Vander between them. From67Please respect copyright.PENANAayRWfwoOnU
here he could tell that the knives were poisoned, one wayward scratch would67Please respect copyright.PENANAo1fK8UKGfI
send him to the afterlife, but he couldn’t stay here as he was. That was just67Please respect copyright.PENANA4T4nSzPolQ
asking to be killed.
Vander67Please respect copyright.PENANA9NDmsR0vSe
threw the dead serpent at the one in front of him. As he fell scream in a67Please respect copyright.PENANAAm5OLNsZ6P
tangle of bodies, Vander went to the left to handle the one there. He slashed67Please respect copyright.PENANAWmek0h0JEq
with his sword, but the serpent was nimble. He rolled over the sword strike,67Please respect copyright.PENANAQOHeep5vW2
landing on his feet. He stabbed with the daggers, but Vander grabbed the wrist,67Please respect copyright.PENANAXLx60DY3Es
guiding it away from him. He kicked out the back of the leg sending the Serpent67Please respect copyright.PENANA5KdpQkFzM5
to the ground. As he fell, he brought his boot up catching Vander in the67Please respect copyright.PENANAltBx9sacgd
stomach and sending him flying onto his back. He rolled and brought his sword67Please respect copyright.PENANApUOnGwwocF
up in time to block the second serpent’s daggers. He pushed him stumbling67Please respect copyright.PENANA70LP4jnLMz
sideways then scrambled to his feet. Before the serpent could adjust, Vander67Please respect copyright.PENANA3fwehtSJYe
slashed his back open with his sword.
Blood67Please respect copyright.PENANAjauH5vaAca
sprayed as the man stumbled and fell to the ground. There was no time to check67Please respect copyright.PENANAMERD9NZGoz
to make sure he was dead as another was on him. The man was a whirlwind with67Please respect copyright.PENANAVww0QRCdEG
his daggers, spinning, slashing, and stabbing. The dagger cut his pants,67Please respect copyright.PENANAv3iYWfZLDq
jacket, and shirt, but luckily it wasn’t deep enough to draw blood, but soon67Please respect copyright.PENANA9auimXe5xv
enough he could get past his guard. He wanted to keep one alive for67Please respect copyright.PENANAlwxVoFNmO9
interrogation, but that didn’t seem like it would be likely. So, he waited for67Please respect copyright.PENANAVLiUofg7uf
a brief opening before cutting down with the sword. With a scream, one of the67Please respect copyright.PENANA6uESye6SC9
serpents’ hands hit the ground in a bloody heap. Before he could scream more,67Please respect copyright.PENANA24hn2fDCOh
Vander cut his throat.
“Die!” The serpent who had been67Please respect copyright.PENANA3NAILypPAE
tangled up jumped from behind him. Panic raced in Vander’s chest. He had67Please respect copyright.PENANANoJXdLJABT
forgotten about him and now it was too late for him to protect himself as the67Please respect copyright.PENANAsMAPztMIzG
daggers raced towards his throat. Acting on instinct, he lunged underneath the67Please respect copyright.PENANAZhtDAXSAUQ
daggers grabbing the serpent around the waist bringing them both to the ground.67Please respect copyright.PENANABkGL03Bpj5
Vander’s fingers turned to claws as he tore out the man’s throat.
He could feel the demon clawing67Please respect copyright.PENANA7FASkwzgoV
closer to the surface. It wanted out, a way to release its aggressions, but now67Please respect copyright.PENANAjKeM2oVLBP
was not the time. Vander bit down on the impulse shoving the beast back into67Please respect copyright.PENANAG33kcX769N
the recesses of his soul. Soon, but not now. He had to get Kiara and Eliza back67Please respect copyright.PENANAigxwZxexIB
first then all hell could break loose.
Vander spent some time going67Please respect copyright.PENANAZlT9CYsy88
through the pockets of the dead serpents to see if they had left behind any67Please respect copyright.PENANAnzcitWHVCE
tools for him to use. He found several poisoned knives and needles, but the67Please respect copyright.PENANAYZ6ZtUJ0Y5
rest were weapons that would be too much for him to carry so he discarded them.
Before leaving67Please respect copyright.PENANA2kIh23ep1N
the area, he dragged Briar and Forest’s bodies back towards the road. He never67Please respect copyright.PENANAW8zkZVAhx2
should have brought them here. This was his penance and his alone. Now they67Please respect copyright.PENANAlWhsdGIDCS
were dead. He would have to carry that burden, but he swore he would make the67Please respect copyright.PENANAvysXZYAo5E
Serpents, and Eve, pay for what they had done.
He remembered the67Please respect copyright.PENANAOk9SrWbkS2
village from his travels across the country. He knew that it would be heavily67Please respect copyright.PENANA7fjVArYy8B
fortified, especially now that the challenge had been issues towards him to get67Please respect copyright.PENANAFDR4WWd3Zn
the queen back. He would have to come prepared. So, he scooped up a bow along with67Please respect copyright.PENANANU2mA88AY4
a quiver of arrows. They would know he was there, but only after some of them67Please respect copyright.PENANAMF5nbKUq7w
had died.
The sun was67Please respect copyright.PENANAjFJ1p6xWbh
beginning to rise when he spotted the walls through the forest. The village was67Please respect copyright.PENANAFKM3g1FuvS
aptly named because it bordered the forest. This was a hunting village, taking67Please respect copyright.PENANAxOhpJkM3U8
out small game and deer to feed everyone. He wasn’t quite sure when the67Please respect copyright.PENANAld87oJPQYN
Serpents moved in, but it must have been recently as they have had no reports67Please respect copyright.PENANAuxi8b8XY5P
of the village being under attack.
As he looked at67Please respect copyright.PENANAJhV8cFaTdT
the front gate, he noticed several men wearing green cloaks and talking amongst67Please respect copyright.PENANAyDuNoiZs8O
themselves. Without caring about who they were, Vander notched an arrow to his67Please respect copyright.PENANAp7tNcqhWUN
bow, took aim, then fired. The arrow took a guard in the throat and before the67Please respect copyright.PENANA1W5xElYUei
others could react, several more arrows flew into parts of their body. One took67Please respect copyright.PENANApaB00csbpn
an arrow in the shoulder, while the third took one through the knee. Both went67Please respect copyright.PENANAK5uTDIp7Q7
down screaming, but they weren’t killing shots. It was enough to bring more67Please respect copyright.PENANA8gDcT4z3nB
Serpents out for him to kill.
They were pouring out of the village67Please respect copyright.PENANAqFChmN19na
now to get vengeance for their fallen comrades. He only had time to take down67Please respect copyright.PENANAYW7SjFT2HD
two more before the rest were on him. He tossed aside the bow and quiver and67Please respect copyright.PENANAGyzmJmgd7H
drew his sword to strike against his attackers.
The first one went down with barely67Please respect copyright.PENANAEVj3ajAsPT
any effort. He sidestepped out of the way and ran him through. He blocked a67Please respect copyright.PENANAYZTZGFRf97
strike from the next one then pushed him aside, but soon he was overpowered by67Please respect copyright.PENANAdWqYrRAqjE
the sheer volume of people. As he raised his sword, one kicked his wrist67Please respect copyright.PENANAiqvDUEiLxB
sending it spiraling out of his hand. He was punched in the jaw and knocked to67Please respect copyright.PENANAcklTT0VFxA
the ground. He tried to fight back, but several pinned his arms and pointed a67Please respect copyright.PENANA8pm8ACbpy0
sword right at his neck.
“Stop!” Vander heard Eve shout. She67Please respect copyright.PENANAZsmqvYatvW
pushed her way through the group and if he held out any hope that she hadn’t67Please respect copyright.PENANAzSvtBP86yM
betrayed them the look in her eyes combined with what she was wearing sealed67Please respect copyright.PENANANw1W5aInEn
her betrayal in stone.
She wore a sleeveless green shirt67Please respect copyright.PENANAVnk7I565G9
showing off lean muscles and a massive snake tattoo going down her left arm.67Please respect copyright.PENANAGp8Ntxfkkq
Her hair was pulled back but covered with a green hood. She wore two daggers on67Please respect copyright.PENANAgX14nBE9fw
her belt.
“So, you did betray us.” Vander spat.
“Betray you?” she laughed. “I was67Please respect copyright.PENANAkG3ipePx6G
never apart of you.” Now that he got a good look at her, he realized that she67Please respect copyright.PENANAe5W4jbJemQ
had been messing with him from the beginning. She was broader than she looked67Please respect copyright.PENANAKLTt7eF2VY
before, more heavily muscled. She wasn’t sixteen, she was likely someone older67Please respect copyright.PENANA9CrLNUAAEI
than he was. It also explained the gaps in the recruits’ skills. She had been67Please respect copyright.PENANAoWxnJwvbkE
playing them for fools since the very beginning.
“They trusted you,” Vander struggled.67Please respect copyright.PENANAPbdYUAPSOq
“I trusted you.”67Please respect copyright.PENANAfyL4qnpzuE
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“I’ll have to make a visit to67Please respect copyright.PENANASkZNgOUxiz
whoever your informant is.” She grinned. “He almost ruined everything, but67Please respect copyright.PENANAN2jWJ0abMQ
luckily you were so easy to fool. Get him up.” Vander was hauled to his feet by67Please respect copyright.PENANAvfUUbqpnpt
several strong hands. “We will take what we need from you then I will spend a67Please respect copyright.PENANA2P4hLgN2sO
lot more time cutting you to pieces. I’ve always wanted to hear you scream.”
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Maybe, just maybe, Peyton will come67Please respect copyright.PENANAbUtIAY6tZd
here himself that way he could show everyone that he was innocent. He would67Please respect copyright.PENANA2DZVTOfbdD
have to bide his time and wait, however. Hopefully his reinforcements would67Please respect copyright.PENANAMFFZTtV9QS
arrive to save them, but he shouldn’t count on it. If Peyton knew they were67Please respect copyright.PENANAByXJAcY0S7
mobilizing the army he would make it quick. For now, he willed his body to67Please respect copyright.PENANAi08luJo6E0
relax. However, he wasn’t going to let them get away with it. He and the demon67Please respect copyright.PENANAMN0HXVgCGT
were going to have a lot of fun before they were killed.