Reina dug her heels on the ground, lifting the bow with an arrow ready to be shot.

The elves were dangerous in close quarters: stronger, faster, wasting no movements. However, they bled red like she did, and they could be killed by an arrow. Or two. Sometimes three. Reina didn't take any chances.

And when the opportunity for an ambush presented itself? Neither Laceaga nor she could let it pass.

Archery training had been a nightmare, especially when taught by a scout: she was supposed to be patient and stealthy, to strike from the shadows and not lose her temper. She would have preferred fighting face to face, not controlling her fury, but letting it add to her strength. Nevertheless, although her pride was wounded, she wasn't stupid enough to believe she could outpower Gha'alian soldiers and assassins with might alone.

So, she accepted Laceaga as her teacher. He was infuriating and merciless, and belittled her continuously, but he was the only one who could teach her the way he did. Reina had seen it from the beginning: there was hidden rage in the way he moved, the way he talked, but he kept it in check. He was collected and cold in the field, only allowing himself to be controlled by anger when stealth or distance where no longer options.

And he was a damn good archer. She would never say it out loud, though. He didn't need a bigger head.

Laceaga made her a signal from his position behind the tree. They had the high ground: he would kill the three soldiers that led the division, and she would take care of the fourth, walking alone not too far behind.

Reina scowled at him but kept quiet. He could have made it equal: taking down two soldiers each. But no. He never gave her the chance to mess up with a job that would be flawless if he executed it himself.

Bullshit.

The soldiers kept walking, talking amongst themselves, oblivious to their imminent deaths. Laceaga and Reina looked at each other for a second, and the scout nodded. They let the arrows fly at the exact same time. Both were true: Laceaga's pierced the elf's eye, killing him instantly. Reina's stuck on the neck of the soldier at the rear.

Laceaga wasted no time and in a swift motion, grabbed another arrow from his quiver, and then another, and in a split second the two soldiers remaining were on the ground, unmoving.

They waited for a while in silence. Unexpected reinforcements could appear, and they wouldn't want to reveal their positions. But after a few minutes, the only sound in the forest was the rain against the leaves. They descended together to the clearing.

Laceaga led the way. He always did. And she followed his footsteps, making sure to step where he left his footprints, to touch only the branches he had touched. She was used to seeing him always one step ahead, with his back turned to her. Not out of contempt, she knew, but out of habit.

She hated it all the same.

"I could have handled two of them. It would have been easier."

Laceaga scoffed, never stopping walking.

"And test your aim twice in such a short time? No. That has the potential to be a mess."

"I had a pretty damn good aim today."

She wasn't seeing his face, but she could feel his sneer.

"Today."

"If you'd let me use poison, we wouldn't have to worry about my aim so much."

Laceaga let one of the branches hit her in the face. It wasn't painful, but Reina cursed under her breath all the same. She thought about pushing him down the road: they were almost in the clearing, anyway.

"We can't have you poisoning yourself with your own arrows, human. Or have you forgotten last time? You almost died because one grazed your shoulder. The smallest quantity of the venom, and you became the frailest thing I've ever seen."

They were both at the clearing already.

Reina, tired of walking behind him, ran to face him.

"I saved you from that arrow. And I'm not so useless as to poison myself with my own weapons."

Laceaga raised an eyebrow.

"I wouldn't be surprised."

"You're one ungrateful son of a bitch, you know that? You would have died if-"

"Please. As if my body couldn't reject that small quantity. I'm used to that poison, trained to treat it and with enough strength to deal with it without passing out, unlike some rabbits that-"

Reina pushed him on the chest, hard enough to make him take a step back.

"It's Reina. Not rabbit. Not human. You will call me by my name."

Laceaga closed the small distance that she had created between them. He had that look again: that irritating curiosity, like she was an animal whose reactions amused him to some degree.

"Or what?"

Reina grabbed him by the collar and brought his face to her level, forcing him to look at her eye to eye.

"You're all the same. Your airs of superiority, the patronizing shit... you all make me sick. I'm not your inferior, and you sure as hell are not my superior."

Laceaga released himself from her grasp with ease. She let him go.

"You're impatient, you want to take by storm this whole island just because you think you can. But you can't. You have a poison inside you working to destroy you, possess you or drive you mad; probably all at once. You're the weakest creature in Gha'alia and you're so full of arrogance that you refuse to see it. Tell me, again, how is it that you're not my inferior."

Reina was trembling with rage. She felt her eyes wet, tears contained but threatening to fall, and she hated herself for it.

"Fine, then." Her voice was hoarse, but strong, and she glared at him defiantly. "I understand. You don't ask for respect. You don't earn it. That's not the Gha'alian way, is it? Very well."

Laceaga seemed to have lost interest in her, and crouched down next to a corpse, inspecting it.

Reina's next words were full of hatred and ferocity.

"If neither you nor Gha'alia will accept me as an equal, I'll have to bring you both to your knees, until you're begging me, reduced to be lesser creatures, mere insects to be stomped on." The scout got up from the ground and looked at her, taking a step in her direction. "I wanted to be equals with Laceaga Darhal. But if that's not an option, believe me when I say that I will not settle for being an underling or a pet."

Laceaga walked towards her with an unreadable expression on his pale face. Reina stood her ground.

When she was at arm's reach, they stared at each other, and then Laceaga... kneeled.

He was still looking at her and he could see the surprise in Reina's eyes. That was the moment when he took her by the waist and forced her down on her knees with him.

"Get your hands off me!"

Laceaga ignored her struggling. One powerful arm surrounded her back and his right hand captured her nape.

"You said you would bring me and Gha'alia to our knees."

Reina stopped struggling, her own hands grabbing his shoulders in a way that could have been possessive or murderous. Laceaga simply said:

"To me, you are Gha'alia."

And then he kissed her.

Ruthlessly. Fervidly. Their mouths crushed each other and in a matter of seconds the kiss became an exchange of bites, moans and avid hands grasping skin in the most ferocious way.

They were surrounded by corpses. The rain was spreading red across the grass, the blood slowly making its way to their bodies. The only two bodies breathing, moving, pumping. Their knees and feet were tainted, and the smell of copper flooded their nostrils.

Reina and Laceaga were surrounded by death, and yet, they had never felt so alive.