I've always wanted to be a bird. To fly without a direction, aimlessly, carried by the wind and having only my own strong wings. To feel the cold wind in my face and my eyes to look forward ... to the horizon and beyond. Only me, the wind and the vast space. Just me and that feeling in my chest at the same time we can barely sense the excitement of trembling and powerful calm. The feeling of being free.

I had forgotten what it felt like to not have walls pressed against you from everywhere and eyes to watch your every step. Caution had replaced every other feeling in me. It had even shackled my relentless urge for freedom, which at times its like a beast awakened in my chest  but his voice remained distant. And I wanted to give him freedom so much, to let him fly ... but this impulse could only lead me to a deadly path.

I clenched my jaws hard overwhelmed by the thoughts and feelings that were seeping into my head. I blinked quickly and came back to the present moment. I must not  let myself be distractedly my thoughts.

The wind was blowing from the northwest and glowing in my eyes focused in the distance. For four hours I had not moved from the cover between the high cliffs and the bushes of one of the mountain ranges. My legs were numb, but I didn't care. The only thing that mattered now was the hunt.

A pine forest was spreading beneath me at the base of which was a small clearing where my victim was currently. I have been chasing him for a week and this has been one of my longest pursuits. By now, the fugitive had covered his tracks well, but today he had decided to light a fire and spend the night in the middle of an empty clearing, rendering all his prudence meaningless.

"What a fool?" I thought with a smile on my face.

I waited another hour without moving until the sun went down and started to take away the light from the sky. The sky turned orange then passed to bloody red on the edge of the horizon. The same color as the blood I was going to shed tonight.

I got to my feet and grimaced when my stiff muscles called. I stretched and moved my body. Behind me, I heard a gasp before someone's large wet muzzle pushed my back. I turned and stroked my black mare. She whimpered softly and began to worry the ground with her hoof.

,,Calm down Rakasa "I  patted her neck gently.

But she kept looking at me with her pleading eyes, as if she wanted to warn me about something. I tapped her one more time and turn my back on her without paying attention to her gaze. Her saddle and bridle were not removed because at any moment I might have had to throw myself on her back and run.

My purse bag hung from the nearest branch. I opened it and took out some dry bread and cheese wrapped in a towel. I sat on the ground, removed a knife from my belt and cut the cheese with it. I ate fast. I almost didn't feel the taste of the food. When I was done I put the remaining cheese in my bag and hung it on Rakasa's saddle. She exhaled irritably that she had to wear it and started digging with her hoof.

"Enough cringing!" I scolded her. "You won't have to endanger yourself anyway."

She shook her head and her mane lightly touched my face. She stopped sewing and left me check her hooves and her ears. Sometimes I wondered how well we got along. It was as if I was reading her every move and she understood my every word. I smiled and stroked her neck.

Rakasa was presented to me for my twelfth birthday by my uncle Thorin, who by the way is the King of Mexiria. The country was relatively small in size but not inferior. I remember how happy I was in my purple ball gown and slippers. How I cried when I saw the little black horse and how it looked at me with his intelligent eyes. Since then we have been inseparable in our haunts like sisters with a common destiny.

I  tightened the last stirrup. I stood up and checked the weapons I carried with me. I had two daggers tucked into my belt, one hunting knife in each boot, at least a dozen throwing blades tucked away secretly in my sleeves, a large sword attached to a scabbard on my back, a cob with arrows and a bow that I threw over my shoulder. My hair was in a tight braid and I hid it under the crimson hood of my gown which I lowered so that my enemies couldn't see my face.

Rakasa walked slowly towards me and sniffed the air. I stroked her neck and felt her rush pulse. She was shaking. Her ears were spinning in all directions and her eyes were looking in the dark.

,,Relax. Everything will be fine"  I whispered  ,,Do you want me to sing to you?"

The mare turned her head to me, looking at me with her black, gentle eyes. I cleared my throat and whispered quietly her favorite song:

There, in the high mountain,

where there is no plane,

the glass kingdom was rising

and the earth covered with its glare.

There, a wise king ruled

and he gave his people riches.

His crown was made of cristal

and showed his power.

But with the weight of the crown,

the king did not find love

and in desperation to surrender,

the death of his hopes to carry.

But the king found an orphan,

hungry, begging boy.

He took it under his wing

and  took him to the palace.

He taught him how to fight with the sword

and how to defeat enemies with mind.

He taught him how to serve the crown

and one day to deserve it.

There, in the high mountain,

where there is no plane,

the glass kingdom rises

and the earth with its glare covers.

I rested my head in Rakasa's neck. I listened in the woods how the crickets gave their concert, how the leaves rustled, the wind blown and how the owls called nearby. I shook my head to recover, patted my mare encouragingly and jumpt smoothly on her back. She stood still while I settled in. I took the reins and took a deep breath.

,,Okay, Rakasa, are you ready for the hunt?"

The mare crouched and shook her head. I pushed her lightly with my heels and leaned forward. She galloped and we both sank into the shelter of thick trees.

I was calm despite what I had to do. My heart did not throb, nor did I feel doubt in my soul. I knew what was required of me, I knew why I was here and what my mission was. Therefore, without emotion, without feelings, I was completely immersed in the hunt. Because that was me now ... empty.

To our left, a group of partridges frightened by our gallop with Rakasa flew out. I watched the birds flutter their wings and ascend to the crowns of the trees to seek shelter. I looked away straight ahead. I had no wings to fly off and hide ... to escape. Because my wings have been torn off long ago and replaced with heavy metal wings who gave me the illusion that I had wings, but when I spread them, their weight was pulling me down.

I spurred the mare and drove every thought out of my head. Nothing needs to distract me. We both lost ourselves in the darkness of the trees as we approached my prey.

The only thing that mattered now was the hunt.