Chapter Five- My Old Ways

Everyday my heart breaks a little bit more. The more I see Kyra with Jearshon the more it hurts. I give him more tasks than usual so they spend as little time together as possible. I don't talk to Jearshon anymore. Its easier to not kill him that way. She loves him. I know she does. We don't talk much anymore either. Its too awkward. She knows I feel more than just friendship towards her. We have made it a fourth of the way to where the he lives. I'm getting anxious. I want to be on my own again. Its a race. Its of up most importance that we reach him before his messangers. Surprising him is paramount. We have been off Mount Sarton for a while now. Our journey is starting to get dangerous. He has a lot of loyal friends who are constantly trying to protect him. I kill everyday. Its so routine. I almost enjoy it. No one we come in contact with is close to my skill level in fighting. It numbs my emotions. I cry less when I kill. The other day we lost someone. I wasn't too fond of him but I took the responsibilty of burying him. Arrow through the temple. Instant death. Thats not how I want to go. I like physical pain. Each day is getting more dangerous. We are moving at a very fast pace. We sleep in houses. I threaten villagers to give up their houses for the night. They submit with little protest. I assign people to which house they sleep in. We use as few houses as possible. Kyra and Jearshon never sleep in the same house and one always sleeps in the same house as me. It annoys them but they can't do anything about it. They're scared of me. I get more and more angry everyday. Everyone is scared of me. I break things. I kill non threatening people. Its the only way to numb the pain. Tonight Kyra is sleeping in the same house as me. Jearshon is sleeping with a village family. Early in the morning we prepare to depart. Head counts are necessary multiple times a day. One is missing. I see Kyra looking around for someone. Jearshon is no where to be found. I send a group to go get him from the house he was sleeping in. He tries my patience every time he has a chance to. I could have expected him to be late. The group comes back. He's not there. I go to the house to interrogate the family of Jearshons where abouts. Kyra comes along. They act nervous in my presence. Thats natural. Most people do. They are more nervous and fidgety than usual. I get suspicious. I ask them where Jearshon is. They said he left in the middle of the night to meet the girl. Thats a lie. I slept in front of the door of the house Kyra and I were sleeping in. No one came in. No one went out. I tell them I know they killed him. I pull my sword from my sheath. I hear a few whimpers. I tell them if they don't admit to committing the murder I'll kill them. They tell me how they killed him. They poisened him so he'd sleep through anything. The minute his head hit the pillow they slit his throat. I am angry. Jearshon was a good friend and an even better fighter. I look at Kyra. She is distraught. I see the look on her face. She expects me to kill them. I look her in the eyes for a long minute. Neither of us blink. I shake my head and walk out of the house. I get on my horse and ride away leaving Kyra to cry alone.

Chapter Four- My Lost Love

Girls couldn't keep Kyra warm enough at night. As much as I hated the idea of her sleeping with another man, it was the only option. I chose who she would sleep with. Jearshon has been my best friend since Chaysin died. He knows I love her. He would only do what was absolutely necessary to keep her warm, safe, and alive. Nothing more. Or so i thought. We started our descent from the summit a couple of weaks back. Its not cold anymore. Its actually warm enough to sleep without bedding at night. Sleeping in couples is no longer needed. Most people have gone back to sleeping alone. Jearshon and Kyra are still sleeping together. The way he looks at her has changed. He plays games with her and teases her. I can't stand it. The worst part is the way she now looks at him. She teases him back and goes along with his games. I'm very observant and I'm not stupid. I can see whats going to happen if I don't stop it. Kyra can sense the tense feelings between me and Jearshon whenever shes around. She has seen me watching them with a look of disgust sweeping across my face. Her intuition senses whats going to happen soon. One night when were relaxing around the fire. She approaches me. She makes small conversion to make things less awkward. Then she starts on what she really came to talk to me about. She tells me she knows I don't like whats going on between her and Jearshon. She thinks I'm going to physically harm him. The old me would. I've changed. I told her I won't hurt him and I'm not planning to. Its his decision if hes going to get hurt or not. I let a couple of days pass so things can settle down a bit. One day when we are taking a water break I pull Jearshon away from everyone for a second. I see the look of horror on his face. He knew there would be a consequence. I start off telling him I'm not planning on hurting him. He calms down a bit. I ask him what he is doing. What his intentions with Kyra are. He tells me he has fallen in love with her and he is pretty sure she has fallen for him as well. I feel my heart tear a little. He says he only moved in because he thought that my feelings had changed towards her. He thought thay if I could physically hurt her there is no way I could feel the same way about her. I tell him about my dream. He gets a panicked look on his face. If I force him to tell her he can't be with her she will be crushed and my chances with her would be slim to none. If I leave it alone and let the fire between them get out of control I'll never have a chance. Then I would have nothing to fight for. This whole journey would have been a waste of time and a waste of lost lives. I know the only thing I can do is leave it. If she isn't happy I'm not happy. If I'm not happy I'll start with my old ways again. I tell him that if he breaks her heart I'll kill him. He looks at me with a look of relief and gratitude. I tell him to leave me. I think about crying. I want to but that won't get me anywhere. I gather my emotions and join the group again. We move on. Kyra joins Jearshon on his horse. A tear slips for my eye. I wipe it away. No one notices.

Chapter Three- My biggest Regret

The mountain peak seems like it goes on forever. Its freezing cold. We make camp every night before the sun goes down so that we have a fire and blankets ready. With out fire we would all be dead. There is no such thing as a hot meal. As soon as it leaves the fire it gets cold. During the day everyone is frozen from head to toe. The only thing that keeps us from freezing is walking. We killed the horses a long time ago. Their meat will stay good in this extreme cold. Everyone has a partner they have to hug all night to keep warm. I chose Kyra. Not just because I love her but I need to keep her safe. With out her there is no point. We are in our sleeping bundles three hours after sunset. Tonight has to be the coldest night yet. Kyra falls asleep quickly in my arms. This journey is taking a large toll on her. It kills me to see her struggle. It takes me longer to fall asleep. I have so much to think about. I finally fall asleep. I dream I'm there. In front of Him. Sword drawn. He is unarmed but that doesn't last long. He reaches behind the wall and pulls out a large sword. We fight evenly matched for hours. Finally we've both lost our swords. I've wounded his leg. He falls to floor and I jump on him unsheathing my dagger in the process. This is it. The moment I have been waiting for. I slide my dagger across his throat. Not deep enough to kill him. I want to see him suffer in pain. I awake to her scream. I'm on top of Kyra. She has a small gash in her throat. How could I do this? How could I hurt her? I love her. She is forgiving. She awoke from my yelling and screaming. She knew I was dreaming. She didn't dare leave me for fear of freezing. I will never forgive myself. I won't sleep the rest of the journey. The whole camp is awake. Everyone is looking at me in unbelief. They see how much I care for and protect her. They can't believe I was capable of hurting her. I'm a threat to everyone I'm around. Kyra will need to sleep with someone else. A girl of course. I will sleep alone and away from the group. I can't put anyone in danger. I can't put Kyra in any danger.

Chapter Two- My First Tear

We have been traveling for a few days now. We are ahead of schedule because of the fast horses we bought. Or took. I'm kind of intimidating. We're riding these horses hard. Maybe in another week we'll kill 'em for their meat and take fresh ones from the next towns market. The journey eastward is about to get dangerous. We are coming upon the formidable Mount Sarton. Half the men that climb it come down on the other side. I'm willing to take the risk to save time. Kyra is scared. She rides on my saddle with me. She refuses to ride alone or with any one else. I won't complain.
We have reached Mount Sarton and are beginning to climb over it. The mountain isn't particularly dangerous itself. Mainly forest except the summit which is covered with snow in the winter months. It's the people who live on the mountain we worry about. The Sarton Killers. They don't like visitors and welcome men with an arrow through the temple or eye socket. We keep moving and stay safe. One of my men starts to fall behind. Chaysin goes back to get him. Chaysin doesn't come back. I ride back and find both men with an arrow stuck into their hearts. Chaysin was my right hand man. He was the first one I told about my plans to beak free and has been with me since the beggining. I shed my first tear. I ride back to tell everyone the news. An arrow tears through my ear. I saw it coming at the last possible moment. I was lucky. I ride fast. A lot faster than my horse should be pushed. Kyra is getting scared. I forgot she was with me. I ride even faster to protect her. I catch up to the group. I tell them the news. We move on. I have no time to grieve. The terrain gets a little more ruff. We walk pulling the horses behind us. We will be safe from the Sarton killers till we start heading down from the summit. Night falls before we reach the top. Though its still summer tonight is a cold night. I keep Kyra rapped in my arms the whole night. I live for her.

My Last Murder- Chapter One- My Final Decision.

Things aren't the same as they used to be. I used to be able to walk down the street and no one would recognize me. I could walk into a shop and no one would notice. I could go to a party and meet new people, people who didn't know my abilities. That was all before I started working for him. Ever since i started to kill for him things have never been the same. I have a reputation. People know me. They fear me. At first i enjoyed it. I got whatever i wanted when i wanted it. Then, as time wore on, people just avoided me. Almost ignored me. The only reason they listen is because they know of the time when my anger got the best of me. He wouldn't sell me the bow and arrows. He knew what i intended to use them for. I got angry and cut off his head. Now i make all my own weapons. Or have them custom made for me by reliable Friends. Not friends. Servents. They fear me most of all. Cuz they actually see what i do to people. I won't do it any more. He needs me. With out me he has no power. I've talked to the people I'm closest with. People I've been working with for a while now. They're on my side. We believe we can break away. Keep each other safe. The only people in my group are ones who can provide to my safety. Except her. Kyra. I love her. She doesn't know. She thinks we're just friends. She thinks that's the reason I've made one exception. No one else is bringing the ones they love. Married men leaving their families. Sons leaving their sick parents. They have to listen to my rules because none of them can kill me. There are of course some people in the world that could kill me by themselves but that's why i have my group. To protect me. We have one mission. Kill him. He dies I'm free.Its that simple. The hard part is that he lives on the other side of the world. All we have are horses and wagons. It will take months to reach him. Months I'm willing to spend hunting him down. The only way to end this is to to kill him or kill myself. I pick option A.