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But what really gives him away is how aware he is of other people and his surroundings. Most people just sort of stroll blindly forward, noticing a few things that interest them but letting almost all of the details go past. They’ll walk straight into someone if that person doesn’t say something first. But he doesn’t do that. He weaves elegantly through the crowd, planning the way he walks so he never has to make awkward, quick jumps to avoid any of them.
There’s no mistaking that kind of awareness. That’s not someone who’s strolling around casually. That’s a determined fighter, making sure that no one has a chance to surprise them. He was able to recognize me fighting in the round-up because he’s a fighter, too. And I wouldn’t be surprised if he were a deadly one at that.
Only, what is it that he fights for?
Could he be working for the King? Could he know something?
No, that doesn’t make sense. I haven’t made any moves yet. Whoever he is, he wants me for completely different reasons. Reasons I don’t know anything about.
I turn around quickly and fix my eye on him. I want him to know I see him following me now. I want to give him a warning that if he doesn’t let me go, I’ll make him sorry for it.
The next moment, I make my move. Now all the way at the edge of the street, I duck into the alley between two houses, stepping nearly sideways so that he has as little time to respond to me doing it as possible.
As soon as I’m in the alley, I take off running at full speed. The question is whether I can make it to the end of the alley before he makes it to the mouth. I think there’s a chance. After all, there is something of a crowd, he is towards the middle of the street, and maybe I am overestimating his skill.
Or maybe I’m not. As I near the end of the alley, I hear him run into it at full speed. That indicates impressive agility and some ability to improvise. I turn left at the end and keep running. Let’s see if he can keep up.
He runs into this alley just a few seconds before I reach its exit. He’s fast, but I’ve got an advantage. This next alley is shorter, and it leads into another crowded street. By the time he makes it to where I’m standing, I’ll be lost in the crowd.
A good chase. But not quite good enough. I make it down the alley and immediately slip into a large group of what appear to be farmers.
As I continue down the street, I keep my eyes peeled. The gate of the village and the treeline of the forest beyond it are in view now. Once I make it into the forest, then I’ll feel safe. This village is hostile to all humans, and especially to me. The forest is friendly. I know it like the back of my hand.
I could run into another alley or even enter a house. There’d be no way for him to track me down if I did that. But frankly, I want out of this village. And if he’s a good enough tracker to follow me to the treeline, then maybe I want him to. That’s certainly something interesting, and in this kingdom, I could use that.
I step through the gates and risk a glance behind me. There he is! I’m impressed. He must have used a track I left on the ground or some similar trick.
Either way, he won’t stop me now. Even a second or so of lead, which I’m guaranteed to have, will be enough in the woods. He may know how to track people in a forest, but I know how to not leave traces, and in a forest, the person hiding has the advantage. I push myself, running towards the trees as fast as I can. Maybe I also want to show off a little for him.
I have just enough time after I pass the tree line to set up an attack.
He runs into the forest. Then his body responds before he even knows what it’s responding to. I throw two daggers straight at him. They shine bright and spin straight towards him with deadly accuracy. One less naga.
But then, he leaps out of their way, just barely. I’m astonished by the sheer agility of it. I’ve never seen a naga move that way.
But it won’t be enough to help him. The daggers have got him off balance. That means, no matter how good he is at jumping, he won’t have enough time to get out of the way of my next attack. I pull the string of the bow back, aim it at his heart, and let the arrow slip.
He sees the arrow flying at him. He knows there won’t be time to jump out of the way, but he doesn’t despair. Instead, he grabs onto the nearest branch and uses his arms to pull himself out of the path of the arrow. It whizzes past him and lands in the trunk of that very same tree.
Now I’m really impressed. That’s the kind of trick I would have felt proud of thinking up myself. And he pulled it off well.
I’ve got another arrow out of my quiver and pointed at him, but I don’t hurry to shoot this one. I want to see what he does next. This male knows how dangerous I am now. He knows that I’m armed and that if he makes a wrong move, I’m more than willing to kill him. So what’s he going to do?
“Are you going to shoot me?” he asks as he drops back to the ground, his sunset-colored scales gleaming in the sunlight filtering through the forest’s trees.
“Depends,” I answer, keeping the string tightened. “Are you going to make me?”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he says.
“You’ll forgive me if I need a little more than your word to believe that.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have much more than that to give you. I’m a merchant. I’ve come here to sell health potions –”
“Oh, don’t give me that!” I snap. “You’re not some merchant anymore than I’m just some slave. What are you really here for? And what do you want from me?”
Something flashes in the naga’s sunshine eyes, something dangerous. His masculine features harden further, if possible, and an unwelcome wave of heat flows down my spine at the sight. It’s clear that he’s unhappy that I’ve seen through his facade. That makes two of us – I like having been discovered just as little as this mystery male.
The naga lunges at me almost faster than I can track, and I loose my arrow a second too late, the arrowhead burying harmlessly into the tree behind him as he tackles me. I scream furiously as he takes me to the ground, his weight crushing me against the forest floor.
