Graynin heard a struggle coming from further down the hall. He had no choice, he couldn't risk helping whoever was being attacked, he had to get Ryder out of the house. They were on their own.

Turning away from the conflict he rushed for the stairs, Ryder still clinging to him. Relief washed over him as he entered the dark kitchen, only one more door before they were outside. A sudden squeak of hinges stopped Graynin in his tracks. A man clad in black entered through the door Graynin had intended as their exit.

The man lunged for them, dagger already in hand.

Graynin managed to toss Ryder behind the kitchen island before the assailant reached them. Unfortunately, he had no time left to pull his sword, instead it clattered to the ground next to the disheveled heap that was Ryder. Graynin used the only weapon he had, his body, catching the arms of the dark assassin as his dagger wielding hands bore down to meet Graynin's exposed chest.

Their arms shook in a stalemate. The attacker whipped his knee around and up into Graynin's thigh. Pain erupted in Graynin's leg and it threatened to give out, but his years of brutal training served its purpose, and he forced his leg to stand. But Graynin was stuck, if he went for a kick he would go down, and if he risked a strike there was a very high possibility he would be stabbed.

Before he could decide which bad choice he would make, the man's grease smeared eyes went wide. Without questioning it, Graynin embraced the stunned moment, wrenched the man's knife from his hands, and slammed it into the artery on the side of his neck.

Graynin released his fistful of the assassin's robes and he crumpled to the floor. Revealing Ryder standing there with a large kitchen knife, the blade covered up to its hilt in bright red blood. Ryder's white knuckled hands shaking around it.

Graynin stole a look at the man lying face down, there it was, blood trickling from his back, right where one of his kidneys resided. A masterful strike. Graynin looked back to Ryder, she was still quite pale, but she had lost the distant ghost-like expression, her eyes raged with purpose.

As if the knife might explode if she moved to fast she gently placed it on the counter. "I couldn't let him hurt you." She whispered looking down at the counter. If Graynin hadn't been hyper alert he might not have even heard her quiet confession.

He reached up and gently cupped her face, making her look at him, and not at the bloody knife. "You did the right thing Ryder."

Her large amber eyes seemed to be searching his soul. His heart was raging, her look awakening so many dormant parts of him. Then, without a word, she turned and walked through the open side door, her bare feet not making a sound on the cold tile floor.

She asked peaking back around the door frame. "Are you coming?"

Graynin had to collect himself, he was still in shock of the woman in front of him. She had been like a frightened lamb not two minutes ago, and now she was a shaky, but focused warrior doing what she needed to stay alive. He was impressed, and slightly in awe. He couldn't hold back the smile that pulled at his lips. He grabbed his shirt and sword from the floor and followed her out the door.

He swung his shirt over his shoulders, and the baldric followed over his head, the weight of it grounding him to a focused purpose. Survive.

Graynin gently forced Ryder to the wall so that she was hidden by the shadows of the large house. There was still so much he had to teach her. He paused at the edge before stepping into the open backyard. It appeared clear.

"Stay close to me and try and stay low." He whispered. Ryder nodded her understanding.

Since the day Ryder had arrived at the estate Graynin, Pierce, and now Jade, and Eva, had agreed that in an emergency, they would all meet at the stables. It appeared this would be the proper time to put that plan into action. He just hoped the others would already be there.

They sprinted fast across the manicured lawn, straight for the stables, ignoring the ceremonial paths. When a sound whistled past Graynin's ear, his instincts threw him to the ground, pulling Ryder by the wrist along with him. He cursed under his breath at how exposed they were on the obscene lawn. Ryder wriggled in close to his body, she had seen the arrow too.

Another thump sounded a few feet away from them, an arrow stood erect in the grass. Relief washed over him, the fact that the arrow was so far away with them as exposed as they were, meant that the archer wasn't very skilled. If it had been Eva up there, they would both already be pinned to the lawn, dead, and it probably would have taken her only one arrow with the way they were laying.

They had get to the tree line. Graynin leapt to his feet pulling Ryder along with him. She squeaked in surprise.

"Run." Graynin commanded, as he pulled his Tekana sword from over his shoulder. Her big amber eyes showing fear, but clear understanding, she ran. Graynin fell in stride behind her, making sure he was between her and the house. The angle of the arrow betrayed its archer, giving away their location on the roof.

His fist tightened around the leather-wrapped hilt of his Tekana sword as his ears strained for the telltale whistle of an arrow. A whistle closing-in pulled him to the challenge, in one smooth motion he spun, his Tekana sword arching through the cool night air. He felt a moment of resistance as the bronze blade made contact with the wooden shaft of the well-placed arrow, the wood flexed then gave way to the razor edge of his sword. The pieces of the broken arrow flew past him as they fell harmlessly to the earth.

A breath of relief escaped his lips as he turned to see Ryder disappear through the wispy branches of the willow trees. But relief was short live as he realized with a jolt that he hadn't been paying attention. Warnings sounded in his conscious as the whistle of an arrow grew dangerously loud. He grasped his sword with both hands, but knew his motion was too late, he wouldn't have time to turn and place the sword between him and the arrow, and there was even less time for an air shield. He braced himself for the slicing pain of an arrow entering the taut flesh of his upper arm.

A silver glint cut through the night. Grazing the notch of the arrow, just enough to push it off course. The edge of the arrowhead grazed Graynin's bicep as he ducked away.

Graynin stole a glance at the opposite tree line, Jade was standing just behind a thin layer of willow wisps, in all her aggressive beauty. She looked like a fiery angel behind a sheet of mist. They locked eyes for a moment, then she disappeared. He couldn't believe she had made the effort to protect him. What more surprise could this night hold for him.

Behind the willows himself and safe from the archer, Graynin jogged to a stop. Looking for any sign of Ryder. She emerged from behind a tree, concern on her uncharacteristically pale face. Her amber eyes went wide seeing the blood drenched sleeve of his white shirt.

"Are you ok?" She asked, gently grabbed his arm to try and stop the bleeding without a second thought.

"It's nothing, just a flesh wound." He said, privately smiling down at her. Her concern was appreciated, but he knew there was no real damage. Unfortunately they were not safe yet, he respectfully pulled his arm from her investigation, and got them moving again.

"What hit the arrow?" Ryder asked as she fell in next to him.

"It was Jade. She threw a knife and knocked it off course."

When no response came he looked at Ryder. Catching a glimpse of a flushed jealous face, before she looked away pretending to focus on running. The surprise of a smile inched across his face. What the hell was happening tonight? He hated to admit he was enjoying it.

"What?" Ryder said with embarrassed hostility, glaring at him from the corner of her eye.

Graynin struggled to erase the smile from his face, her tone just adding to his enjoyment. He decided not to answer her, feeling the question was more rhetorical than anything.

They broke through the willows to a gravel drive that ran against the property line. He pushed her to the right, not wanting to stop until they were hidden in the stables and he could see what state their group was in. They slowed as they approached the sliding barn doors left slightly open. He pulled his dagger out with his free hand, sword still in the other.

Jade emerged from the small opening and silently motioned them in. Graynin had Ryder slip in before himself, taking one last calculated scan of their surroundings. Feeling no one close by, he too slipped into the dark stable.

Everyone was already there. Tairin was sitting against a stall door, looking very pale, with a good amount of blood on his ripped shirt. Eva was working on him, wiping away the blood, revealing several slash wounds, and a semi-serious gouge on his shoulder cap. Nothing that Eva couldn't handle, she was the best healer in their group.

Without hesitation, or a backwards glance, Ryder went to Tairin. Despite the abandonment Graynin was grateful to see her alert, even if the stimulant was an annoying Shadow.

"About time you two got here."

Graynin turned to Pierce's voice, he was in the middle of saddling one of Athos' prize grey dapple mares.

"We had some obstacles." Graynin answered, and moved to grab a bridle. "There's still at least one out there."

"That's what Jade said." Pierce said, without looking away from the saddle. As if it was no big deal, which in their world it really wasn't.

"Who else dealt with our visitors?" Graynin asked, easily moving into the formality of their military roles.

"Eva and Tairin were attacked. Both the men had a sedative on them as well." Pierce said seriously, taking a moment from his work to shoot Graynin a meaningful glance.

This was actually a relief to Graynin, it meant that the attackers didn't know specifically who their target was. They had cast a broad net in hopes of finding what they wanted. Graynin tried to lie to himself that they might not have been looking for Ryder, and the attack was meant to capture someone else. Their group had an endless list of enemies, but deep down he knew better.

"What happened to him?" Graynin asked, nodding towards Tairin.

"One of the assassins broke into his room through his balcony door. Luckily Tairin was lying in bed awake, or he probably would have been sedated. Our rooms share a wall and their struggle woke me. By the time I got to his room everything had gone silent. I was expecting to find him dead, but instead I found the assailant dead." Pierce finished with the saddle, glancing at Graynin unable to hide how impressed he was with Tairin.

The news was impressive, a novice Shadow able to take down an assassin was something to be noted. Even if all the attackers weren't on the same skill level as the one that had been in Ryder's room, they would still have decades of training. The constant hum of annoyance Graynin felt towards the boy clashed with the impressiveness of his feat.

"I thought that one would surprise you." Pierce said with a challenging grin, taking the bridal Graynin still held.

Jade moved into their circle, "Are you boys done gossiping?" She asked harshly, her kelly green eyes flickering with a challenge. Both men remained silent, "That's what I thought. We need to keep moving, Athos said you'd provide the plan Graynin." She looked to him expectantly.

Graynin cleared his throat. "Where is Athos?" He asked.

Jade just waved a hand dismissively, "He's fine, he said he wanted to stay at the house and sort everything out. You know him, he's more than capable of taking care of himself."

Athos may look frail, but his gift of healing could be used in darker ways.

"We are to go to Cattail. Are you familiar with the town?" Graynin asked.

Both nodded.

"I remember it quite well." Pierce said, shifting in a mockingly thoughtful way. "I have a few unfound memories, and a few scars from a wild night at the Daisy. I also recall you swearing you'd never set foot in that town again after your encounter with the witch woman." Pierce's eyes flashed a challenge.

"Well we are all doing things we swore we'd never do again." Graynin retorted, but his eyes were fixed on Jade. Jade answered his point with a narrowing of hers.

Graynin broke their eye contact and looked to the barn door, picturing their plan. "We are to ride hard, and reach the town using the back passage. I know it will take longer, but it will be harder for anyone to track us." Both Pierce and Jade nodded their agreement. "Jade, I need you to go out and see where the intruders are. I have a feeling they've already left, or we would have been graced with their presence by now but check anyways."

"I'll see what I can figure out about these bold idiots." Jade said looking like a leopard gearing up for a hunt.

"Oh, and Jade." Graynin called. "If you find anyone, bring them alive. We need to try and get some answers as to what they thought they were looking for tonight. This whole situation is unclear to even us. I want to know what type of intel is being shared out there."

He watched her shoulders tighten, she rolled her neck, forcing her muscles to relax, "very well." She said without looking back at him and marched out of the barn.

He knew she hated it when he treated her like a soldier, even when they were together she had hated it, because it took away her ability to argue with him. Her training was too complete for her to feel comfortable arguing with a commanding officer. She loathed it even more now. But this was not the time for Jade to feel like she could do whatever her lethal heart desired. Even though it hadn't been discussed they were all falling back into their military roles, because now their enemy was hunting them.