The Last Illusion

CHAPTER THREE

"Oomph!" The figure gasped, coughing, "Whew, it's just you; you scared me." came the familiar male voice. Drake?! she thought whiningly.

She climbed off and sat back down where she had been sleeping earlier. "I thought you'd get the hint and go home. I could have killed you just now. You know that, right?" she said coldly.

"Nah you wouldn't, besides, I'm determined to fulfill Drammle's wishes. Why did you let me sleep... I could have been killed!" he asked.

"I don't care, that's your problem." she replied in the same tone.

"Now you're not being fair, I'd risk my life for you; you could have at least woke me up!"

"Why would I do that? I supposed you could take care of yourself. You can bet that's the last time I let you take watch." she muttered.

Drake grunted and sat down next to her. "Whose horse?" he asked curiously.

"Mine."

"Get it today?"

"Yes."

You buy it?"

"Yes."

"Does it have a name?"

"No.... what's with all the questions, huh? Leave me alone. That's the least you can do." There was a pause...

"What about Silver?" Drake asked thoughtfully.

"WHAT?!" Melly asked slightly annoyed.

"For the horse, what about Silver? Or Diamond?" he went on.

Shut up! Melly didn't say it out loud but Drake took the hint when she didn't answer. After a minute Melly spoke. "You name it."

"Diamond then, it's a nice horse."

"It should be, it was the best one they had, got it for ten gold coins."

Drake whistled, "That was a deal."

"Uh-huh."

The sun rose over the thin strip of horizon behind the two travelers and Melly awoke with a stir. She stretched and opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was Drake staring at her. She paused, "Am I entertaining you or something? Or do you just like creeping me out?" she asked her voice dripping with contempt.

Drake took the hint, sort of... "You look innocent when you sleep." he stood and stretched.

"Ah great, you're being sappy... wait...You were watching me sleep? What are you some sort of stalker?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah and so are you. Don't look at me like that, you weren't drooling or snoring or anything."

"Oh thank you, I feel so much better now." Melly rolled her eyes and mounted her horse, recently named Diamond. "Come on!" she said kicking the horse into a walk.

"What about me?" Drake asked slinging on his shoulder bag.

"What about you?" Melly asked nonchalantly, with a hint of a playful smirk on an otherwise even face.

"You're not going to let me ride too?" he ran to catch up.

"Do we look like a carriage service to you?" She said patting the horse and looking down at him from her high position.

"Well, yeah..... you're not going to let me walk the whole way.... right?!"

"I don't see anything wrong with your legs." Melly said leaning off the horse slightly and gesturing.

"Yeah, I know, lovely aren't they?" Drake laughed and Melly popped him over the head.

They entered the dark and dreary forest more than a little apprehensively, Drake especially since he was closer to the ground. It seemed to get darker and darker though both were certain it was not nighttime yet. The trees got closer together as well, as if closing in upon them to tangle them into a web of roots, to slowly cover them with leaves and mosses and mushrooms until they were no more. The canopy of leaves overhead shielded the sun but made it drafty and the slightest breeze chilling. The dank, musty smell of rotting leaves and trees permeated the entire forest with air that seemed to have been there since the beginning of time until it seemed as though they would die if they didn't come in contact with fresh air.

Tiny lights, twinkling and weaving through the trees, hovered all around them. They were the wood nymphs. They cast the shadows of the entire forest into an eerie glow to lure travelers away from the path. Some of those evanescent lights might also have been specters, floating around in the misty haze of the nymph’s illusion of light and warmth.

Melly was still grieving for her lost brother. She cursed herself for not taking that job herself; then it would have been she who risked being killed. No, instead it was Aaron, the younger brother who paid for his way of life, his living, the only way he knew. She wondered what kind of torture he endured or if he suffered little. Was he happy when he died? Melly would be close to tears on these occasions. That was entirely not like her.

Melly never cried, well, she had not cried in a long time before the news of her brother. Now she seemed like a nervous wreck, anger and hate sustaining her. Oh, she went through the motions of living, eating, sleeping, but she felt the only way she could be happy again, or at least content and at peace with his death, was if someone paid for it. In her mind he was entirely innocent when he, in reality, had many men's blood staining his rough hands.

The outside world was not so ignorant, however. Of course they knew of assassins and had heard several reports of cases where they had been the cause of death. That only proved the assassin had been sloppy enough to lead them to think that. The people in the "above" world always feared them yet had a respect for them. Without going through the motions of a proper duel, hire an assassin, quick, easy, and for a decent amount of money no one would be the wiser. Normally it was not hard to find and hire an assassin. Someone who knew someone who knew someone and so on could make the connection. Usually the assassin never knew who they were even working for. They just did their job, received the pay and it was a done deal. No second thoughts, no last minute regrets, nothing.

It took a certain kind of person to make a good assassin. Those kinds of people, first off, had to realize the emotion fear and channel it into their job for a positive effect. It was plainly stupid not to be afraid. To have no fear, meant one was not cut out for the job; arrogance could prove to be fatal.

Second, it had to be a person who seemed "normal" to everyone else's standards, nothing about them could really make them stand out. Nothing for any victims to identify, no silly clues left behind, no unique parting shots. Ambiguity was always the word of the day.

Lastly, they had to be able to tell a bold faced lie and make it sound like they could stake their life on it. (And be able to recall the lie for future circumstances.) On the other hand, they had to have a certain honesty as well, there is always a fine line between those you can lie to and those who you cannot lie to. A quick thinking mind that is always four or five steps ahead of the rest, calculating every detail with a set but flexible plan that could be changed at any moment also is a requirement.

Of course, not even Melly could hope to fulfill each of these standards. She did her best though, and was the best. It was understood that an assassin would not try to model themselves after her, but the qualities that she possessed.

Similar musings ran through her head until she was abruptly interrupted by Drake, "I'm tired, you sure you don't wanna walk a bit? Or let me on with you?" he asked as nicely as he could.

"You made me loose my train of thought." she grumbled.

"Can we stop, just for a few minutes even, I'm hungry also."

"I'm kinda hungry too, yes. We will stop." Melly slid off the horse and rubbed the inside of her thighs, "Next town, I'm buying a saddle."

Drake laughed, "Right, at least you have a horse to saddle!"

Melly shrugged, "Impulse buy, you could get one too." she suggested in an attempt to be amiable to her forced traveling companion. Melly helped herself to a few bites of food and a little water.

"You know I never carry money!" he said as though it were common knowledge.

"Neither do I-" ...Drake cut her off,

"Then how'd you get the horse?!" he asked accusingly.

"What are you implying?!" Melly asked, ready to jump up and slap him across the face.

"Well, I don't think you stole it-"

"You'd be right, I didn't," Melly interrupted, "I bought it, I leave my money in the care of people I know in the underground."

"How do you know they won't take it for themselves?"

"I don't.... but trust me, nobody would." Melly's eyes had a certain ferocity about them just then. "I could lend you some money for a horse, as long as you could pay me back." she added, figuring it might put a clamp on his complaining.

Drake sat thoughtfully chewing his own food, "Alright, thanks!" his face brightened.

"You're not going to hug me are you?" Melly asked disgustedly.

"I would if I wasn't so scared you'd kill me for it."

"I would not! You know it, take that back!" Melly cried indignantly.

"So you want me to hug you?" Drake asked almost too hopefully.

"Don't get any ideas, all I said is that I wouldn't kill you, I didn't say I wouldn't maim you." she said smiling wryly.

"Right then, I'll log that away." he said tapping his head.

Melly mounted her horse, "Come on!" she said waving towards the dingy forest path, barely visible through brambles and other various obstacles.

"You're going to make me walk, huh? Not even giving me a decent rest?" he said pathetically.

"No, I guess I was hoping you'd loose heart and go back." she replied half jokingly; really, there was no way she would want to be in this forest alone, despite the fact she couldn't care less about Drake.

"I'd never lose heart, for you."

"Write me a sonnet." Melly replied sarcastically.

"I would." he offered thoughtfully.

"You're too nice to be an assassin." Melly commented, wrinkling her nose. She imitated his voice, "Yes, I'm going to kill you now, if you please, hold still."

"I know, I know." he replied dejectedly, "That's the reason they picked you over me."

Melly was silent. She was not exactly sure if he was still upset about that or not, it sure sounded like it though. "You wanna ride too?" she asked yanking on a shock of light brown hair on his head.

He looked up hopefully, "Yeah?"

"Climb on." Melly said, exasperated. Drake mounted the horse from behind and sat just behind Melly. He was hesitant to place his hands about her waist, wondering what she would think. He didn't have much choice though, it was either hang on or fall off the side. When Melly made no attempt to move his hands, he relaxed as much as he could.

A foul mood settled over both of them, maybe it had something to do with the fact that it had begun to rain. It was a cold, merciless rain pouring through the leafy canopy from an angry black sky. Soaked through to the skin in a matter of minutes, Melly's auburn hair hung limp around her shoulders. She squinted her eyes but it was hard to see her hand in front of her face much less whether or not they were going in circles. A forceful wind tore at the treetops, thin branches dipped and bowed, leaves swirling everywhere. The misty glow of the wood nymphs had long since extinguished. Neither complained outwardly but both longed to be dry again, at least.

Melly ran her arm across her face and called over her shoulder, we've passed that same hollow tree at least seven times now, what say we stop?"

"Hollow? Is it big enough to crawl into?" Drake asked hopefully.

The tree was massive, like the father of all trees in the forest. It marked a halfway point between the woods. They had been going at a decent rate and might have made it out by late the next evening.

Melly felt sorry for the poor horse, having to stay outside but the tree had a lot of branches so it wasn't nearly as wet as on the path. Diamond obediently stayed and endured the rain placidly. Melly squeezed through the opening at the base of the tree finally popping inside. Melly stood, hunching in the center of the hollowed tree. Drake tried to squeeze in as well.

Melly laughed, "Not working too well huh? Well, that's ok, there's not enough room for you anyways." she said jokingly.

"Yeah, right, lemme see one of your sharper daggers." he said holding his hand out for it.

"What are you thinking you are going to do with it?" she asked quizzically, drawing it from its sheath inside her dripping cloaks.

"Make the opening bigger, what do you think?" he said hacking away at the tree with her best dagger.

"You're going to ruin it." Melly said blandly.

"Nah, the tree's probably already dead."

"I was talking about the dagger." Melly said rolling her eyes and sliding down the inside of the tree to the floor. She drew her knees up to her chest and laid her head down trying not to shiver. Drake finally made it inside and sat on the opposite side, not two feet away from the side where Melly was leaning. It was cramped and uncomfortable but at least it was out of the rain. Melly had taken off her cape and outer cloak leaving her in her regular short pants and a tight fitting, yet comfortable, deerskin shirt. Water dripped from her hair and down her face, she pawed it away angrily, it HAD to rain?!

Lightning flashed several times, illuminating the forest for split seconds at a time. Melly sighed and shivered involuntarily. With nothing else to do she closed her eyes and tried to sleep, needless to say, she could not. She shifted her weight and pulled out her dagger, twirling it through her fingers.

"Will you quit that? I think any second you could drop that..." Drake said nervously.

"I'm not going to drop it you big baby."

"Why are you so mean to me all the time, huh? What did I ever do to you?"

Melly sighed and put away her dagger, she couldn't very well tell him the reason she disliked him was because she could not stand him. Or because he liked her.... "What kind of question is that?" she finally retorted, angry at not being able to find a decent answer.

"Just a question, sheesh." he said.

"You love me?" she asked wryly, playing at his own game.

His head snapped up, "Huh?"

"Huh?!" Melly imitated him sarcastically, "Just a question."

A thunderous crash startled both of them; Melly went rigid. Then she heard the voices... quite a few, three maybe only two though.

"Wait here I'll go see." She said starting to get up.

"Uh-uh." Drake protested, "I'll go."

"My hero!" Melly said in an exaggeratedly breathy voice as his arm swung back to push her back down.