Freya panted as she ran through the next village.
How could they have caught up with her so quickly, Freya wondered.
Droos must have sugar coated the word skillful.
These guys were more than skillful, she had barely gotten rid of one and the next was already on her tail.
Freya was lucky to have lost her pursuer in amidst the throng of people gathered in the market she had just passed.
After she had taken care of the first member of the crew, Freya had passed two villages without any hitch.
At the third, she had decided to take a break and rest a little, as she had barely slept for two days.
It took only that moment of relaxation for the Emperor's soldiers to catch up to her.
Freya had stopped at a market to get some food for her journey, then she saw a man staring at her from the other end of the market.
He had a muscular build, his hawk like gaze was fixated at her.
Without the muscular build she could still easily tell who he was, there was something about his gaze and a certain feel about him.
It was like he was trying to ascertain it was she he was after, Freya tried not to stare directly at him.
To avoid letting him know she was aware of his presence, but his gaze was too intimidating.
Freya quickly stuck some apples into her bag and began walking away briskly.
She looked from the corner of her eye and she could see that he had also started moving.
There were a lot of people in the market, so it was hard for her to move as fast as she wished.
But she could only console herself that her pursuer must be facing the same problems, especially with his large build.
But she dared not look back still, she couldn't give away the fact that she had noticed him.
Drifting as briskly as the crowd would allow through the market, Freya made her way through.
Immediately she left the crowd, she began running, the only thought on her mind was putting enough space between her and her pursuer.
It wasn't like she felt she would lose in a fight, but she was trying to avoid one at all costs, as it would slow her down.
And she didn't know how many more were coming for her, Droos had failed to emphasize on how skillful they were.
If they were this skillful, then he must have also misused the word few.
For all she knew, there could be ten people coming after her and she would not jeopardize her chances of escaping by stopping to fight one of them when it could clearly ne avoided.
She ran through the streets and corners of houses, turning at almost every bend but making sure to stick to the west.
Freya had been running for almost ten minutes non stop, but suddenly a thought came to her and she stopped.
There was a house to her left, with an open stairway and a decking on the top of the building.
She entered the house and quickly climbed to the decking.
She knelt there, making sure to keep her head out of view, quickly digging her bag she came up with her binoculars.
Freya was glad it wasn't one of the things she had decided to abandon at the inn.
She scanned the area around, she could see the market she had just left, far away in the distance.
She looked around, but there was no sign of her pursuer, she scanned around once again.
Moving her face slowly from the left to the right, there. He just came out of a corner and turned into another street.
"You have to be kidding me, how could he have gone this far so quickly" Freya asked herself.
These guys were like hounds, they never lost their trail until they got to whatever was at the other end of it.
Freya moved her binoculars to where he was meant to appear next.
And in a few seconds he was there. She didn't need the binoculars anymore.
He was close enough for what she had planned.
Freya unfolded her bow and nocked an arrow in it. Stretching it as far as she could, she aimed at the next wide space where he was going to be exposed.
Giving her enough time to shoot him. In a few seconds, he came out in sight once again.
Freya closed one eye, and released her arrow, the arrow sailed ever so silently.
As he turned round the corner, just before he went out of sight, the arrow impaled the area behind his knee.
"Arrrgh" She heard him shout as she fled the building.
That was sure to slow him down, Freya exited the building and ran off through the back.
Freya moved on without stopping, she was not interested in seeing her pursuer writhe and curse in pain.
She knew where she had hit, she had torn his hamstring on purpose making movement painful and extremely difficult.
Even if he knew the direction the arrow came from, it will take him time to get there.
Even if he did get there she would be long gone.
After extra few minutes of running and walking, Freya found herself in an alleyway.
There were only a few houses there, and it was real quiet.
She was almost at the end of the alley when someone came out in front of her.
Freya froze in her tracks, the person her front was not as muscular as the other pursuers she had seen but there was something about him.
He exuded a certain aura that kept one on edge.
It was a battle of scrutiny, Freya wasn't so sure if he was a member of the few that were after her.
She turned her back to him and started to return the way she had come.
She had barely completed her turn when the knife came flying at her face.
She dodged just in time to avoid a complete makeover on her face. But she hadn't seen him throw the knife.
That must have been why she had a bad feeling about him, then she ran.
Through the way she came, as the got to the end of the alley, a limping figure blocked her path.
"Oh shit" Freya exclaimed. This square face she could easily recognize even in her sleep.
She could see the red stain around his knees where she put an arrow.
She smiled charmingly at him, there was no way to avoid a fight now, so surely she was going all out.
If there was a way out, it was through the injured guy
"I will kill you" square face swore at her.
"Like your filthy hands could touch me" Freya whispered and smiled.
Before her bag could drop to the floor she was already in his front, with a knife flashing in her hands.