Chapter One

It was the darkest part of the night as the rain poured down on the roof creating a haze which hid the woman in dark clothing. She was crouched on the roof, wrapped in her dark cloak, the hood over her face, making it impossible to see her face in the light of the night's Moons. There were no lights on in the streets below and it was dark and quiet in the small Village. It seemed to the woman; no one was up, although it was around midnight. 

    The woman in the dark clothing moved to the edge of the roof. She looked down in the street below seeing no one below or near her. On the wall below her was an open window. The woman dropped down from the edge of the roof catching the edge of the roof with her hands and entered through the window feet first. She cast her eyes around the room seeing no one. She then headed towards the shut door across from her. She slowly turned the knob on the door hearing the turbines turn in it, opening. It was unlocked. 

She slowly pushed the door open, wincing when the door made a soft creak but she continued onwards. She glanced into the hall beyond the door then, slowly entered the small hallway of the house. It was quiet and empty as she looked around. She headed for one of the doors on the right side of the hallway. She turned the knob but the door was locked. 

      The woman reached into her pouch at her hip and grabbed her lock picking tools and started to work on the lock. The lock soon gave in and she quietly turned the knob as she put her tools back into the pouch on her hip.

     The woman slowly opened the door, relieved that it made no sound. She looked into the room and saw her sleeping target. She already had the layout of the house from her client. She slowly entered the room and stalked across the floor softly making no noise. There was a glint of light and the soft sound of a blade leaving its scabbard as the woman took out a simple yet beautifully handcrafted dagger. 

      The blade was made out of a silver like glass and curved at the tip. The blade had never seen blood before. The handle was made out of some kind of brass and it was wrapped in a soft, tanned leather. It was well made, it being from one of the best blacksmiths in the land of huskarian. 

    The woman went to the edge of the bed and her arm with the dagger moved swiftly as she slit the man's uncovered throat. The man woke instantly, his eyes wide but he soon died unable to do anything but gasped for a few flickering moments. The woman then skillfully left the man's home from the same window she had entered from and was now going from roof to roof headed back to the inn she was staying at. 

    The sunlight streaming into the inn was what woke Leanunya, she sighed sitting up in her bed. She scratched her cheek yawning. She was a light sleeper but, as it was, it often came in handy to her. She was the best in her job and with the highest bounty on her head. So, she often had unwanted visitors at night trying to kill her but so far all of them had failed. She got up and got dressed. 

      Leanunya was a cattagon. She had soft silky silver fur which was rare by the cattagon standards. She had large tufted black cat ears that added to her catlike appearance. Her nose was pink while her muzzle was silver and black. Her eyes were a beautiful blue and silver adding to her beauty and rare appearance. Her tail was almost twice as long as any normal tail and it was tipped black with some spotting on it. She had black spotting all along her arms and her claws were long and black. She had mostly fur and little to no scales which was rare for a cattagon. She had large silver dragon wings rimmed black. 

      Leanunya pulled her clothes on then slipped her fingerless black gloves on. She had no shoes on, that was normal for a cattagon and cattrina. Good for her as she was posing as a cattrina. She then threw her black cloak over her silver dragon wings hiding them from view. 

     Leanunya gathered her stuff up and walked out of the inn's room. The woman at the counter of the large inn's main room smiled at her saying “good morning Nuluna want some breakfast?” Leanunya smiled walking over “yes I would love some before I leave” she had given the woman her fake name Nuluna. The woman smiled as she gave Leanunya her breakfast. 

    “Thanks” Leanunya smiled as she finished the food. She stood up and headed out saying farewell to the woman. Leanunya was now headed out of the town. She was headed for Rynion, the town of thieves, crooks and cutthroats. But there was also another reason she was leaving the town she was currently in. She was being hunted. 

     Leanunya walked out of the town using their gate to leave. It was safer this way to keep her cover as a traveler. She walked along the road, her tail swaying from side to side as she walked. She walked fast but not fast enough to rouse suspicion that she could be running from the town. 

     After a few hours, as she walked Leanunya noticed some wolves were starting to follow her. She didn’t react to them at first but when they neared her; she turned to face them hissing at them with her brand new blade out. It was clear the wolves were lean and desperate. She scared them off and then she continued on her way now unbothered. 

    Leanunya walked for several miles and barely even stopped the whole day. She finally stopped for the night and made a quick camp. No fire. She never lit one mostly because she could see just fine in the dark and so not to give her location away. She yawned and laid down next to a tree for the night before falling asleep. 

      As dawn rose Leanunya woke and gathered her stuff before making her way back on the road and continuing on her way. Up ahead she spotted a town and headed for it she knew it was the town lynotin. It was a town between her and Rynion. As she entered the town she spotted someone watching her from the shadows for a while before disappearing. She ignored the person thinking nothing of it. 

     She then continued on her way and bought a few bread rolls before sitting down to eat one. As she sat she noticed a few town guards heading her way. She quickly looked around and cursed. She had been surrounded because she let her guard down. She knew what it meant to be surrounded. She had been found out. 

     She quickly tucked the roll she had been eating away and stood. She was about to start walking away as if she didn’t notice what the guards were doing; when she saw him. It was Wolferan, the best of the best bounty hunters. She cursed her bad luck. She knew she could only get away by going up then down to try and avoid him. 

     Wolferan was a dracion and Leanunya knew he had been tracking her for years. He never gave up even though she had outsmarted him every time they had crossed paths. He was very stubborn, more so than a mule. Once he picked a target he would either catch them or they would die; he never gave up on a target he had chosen. He was a black and gold scaled dracion with black dragon wings and it was rumored he was immortal. 

      Leanunya turned and swiftly scaled the wall of the building behind her before she was on the roof and running away. Leanunya heard the sound of beating wings behind her and she knew wolferan was after her. She jumped down from the roof and ran through the maze-like alleys of the town ducking and weaving till she found what she was looking for; an entrance to the sewers. Leanunya quickly darted into it and continued to run, moving swiftly through the sewer system. 

     As she ran, she could hear the sound of followers; most likely wolferan and the city guards. She ran along avoiding traps and others in the sewers. She stopped and listened, her large ears great for detecting the smallest of sounds. She could hear nothing except the sound of her own quickened breathing. She glanced around and saw no one. Leanunya sighed in relief she now just had to make it out of the sewers and the town and she would be safe for another long while before wolferan tracked her down again, if she was lucky. 

      Leanunya started to move off, her tail flicking in irritance as she walked. She avoided the people in the sewers till she ran Into a man in black clothing. She stopped and watched the man who was close to an exit of the sewers. She could tell it was an exit because of the fresh air and light coming from it. She was unsure if the man was friend or foe. She waited watching the man, until the man swayed slightly on his feet as he turned and then walked off. He seemed to be drunk but with the stench of the sewers she couldn’t tell.  

     Leanunya waited for a while after the man left before she went to the exit and looked out. It was an exit she had been looking for, one that led outside of the town and into a forest. And it had no guards near it; it was her lucky break. She cautiously crept out of the sewers, slipping between the metal bars, tail flicking in nervousness. She heaved a sigh and left the sewer and entered the forest. She was safe for now. 

   Leanunya made her way through the forest. She had been traveling nonstop since she left that town behind her. It was starting to get dark but she didn’t even pause in her steps. Leanunya would be traveling the whole night tonight. She wanted to get as far from the town as she could. She was in a large forest and that suited her just fine. She could easily hide in it for months or even longer, if need be. 

       Leanunya walked in silence, her eyes adjusted to the already dark forest. She flicked her silver tail remembering the day she earned her bounty. She had a bounty of five-hundred thousand gold coins . The highest bounty any man or creature had ever seen before. And on her bounty paper it said “Wanted; only dead” she was the silver eyed demon. The king wished for her death ever since that night. 

     Leanunya was young; she was only ten at the time. But she knew everyone would try to kill her if she took her cloak off. She was an outlaw, her people the Cattagon had been banned. The king had given the order to kill any and all hybrids. Leanunya was a hybrid; she was a Cattagon. Her people were a mix of Cattrina and dracion. She was wanted dead already at the age of ten just because of what she was born as. But she was going to do something that would make her the most wanted criminal in the land of Huskarian. 

     Leanunya snuck past the guards of the castle and sneaked around looking for the man she wanted to kill. She found him, “the king”. She snuck closer to him drawing a black dagger out of its scabbard. When she was close enough she lunged at the man who was talking with another man from their sides. The king didn’t see or do anything until she had already stabbed him in the back. Leanunya cursed silently as she realized she had just barely missed his vital point but smirked in satisfaction as she heard him cry out in pain. 

      Leanunya pulled her dagger out and was about to stab him again when she was yanked back by the hood of her cloak. She turned to the man who the king had been talking to; the one who yanked her back, her face showing. She darted at the man with her dagger but before she could reach him she saw him pull a sword so quickly and skillfully that she could barely see it. Before she could even react he had slashed downward cutting her cleanly across the chest. 

      Leanunya half gasped and screamed as a wave of pain hit her. She stumbled backwards putting her free hand to her wounded chest. But she kept her dagger up even though it was shaking. She was backing up; she knew she had to leave now. She glanced at the king who was scrambling in pain on the ground now yelling for his guards. The man saw her look and stepped between her and the king, his sword in front of him. Leanunya growled, then turned and ran, escaping the guards and castle. She was now a wanted criminal.