Wings of Fire: Nighthawk

Chapter 22: Assasin

Nighthawk awoke the next morning. He rubbed his eyes a little and sat up in his bed. He felt groggy, either from the alcohol or something else. He shrugged it off and got out of bed to put his cloak on. He heard talons land at the entrance of his cave, so he turned his head.

"Good morning." It was Piranha. "Sleep well?" She asked as she walked over. Unannounced and entering without permission. He certainly didn't expect that, considering he was always the one to do that to others.

"Slept fine. Something you want?" Nighthawk asked and tilted his head a little bit. "Because I've got a busy schedule today."

"Well I was just wondering if you'd like to spar later on, maybe get some drinks afterwards, see where that leads.." She started. Nighthawk's eyes went a little wide, for he was not expecting that. He knew what she wanted, but it was something he needed to decline.

"No, I'm fine." Nighthawk grumbled and crossed his arms. "I'll pass. Got things to do today." He huffed while looking over a weapon rack. Everything looked shiny and perfect, as he preferred.

"What could be more exciting than that?"

"Training. Alone. On a remote island." Nighthawk snorted and picked up his weapons, putting them on his personnel before walking to the exit. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm not interested." He huffed and started to spread his wings.

"Hmph, guess you're as stubborn as they come. And I thought I was bad." She crossed her arms, he just sat and stared at her.

"You're embarrassing yourself. Stick to fighting." Nighthawk huffed. He started to fly back. He saw Piranha shoot down towards one of the platforms. He just sighed and shook his head. It was going to be a long busy day. Before leaving the palace he stopped to grab something to eat. Afterwards, he left to find an island where he could train alone. The secret entrance was not his favorite, but he would do what was necessary.

The ocean water was cold and salty, as it always were. Thankfully there were three air pockets in the tunnel he could use so he wouldn't drown. Once he surfaced back into open waters he took a deep breath and shot into the sky. "Shite.. fuckin cold.." He grumbled and shook some of the water off. Now to find an island for himself for a few hours.

"Bloody warm today.. that's nice at least." Nighthawk mumbled as he flew, heading back towards the Harbor. Dozens of islands dotted the sea below him as he flew, which made it both easy and difficult to pick the right one. Some were inhabited by seawings it seemed, while others remained vacant. "Hm.." He sighed. After almost an hour he found an isolated island.

"Perfect." He shot down towards it, soon nearly landing on the beach. Before him lie a vast jungle, quiet and calm. Perhaps a little too quiet. He got an eerie feeling and he could feel the spikes on his back trying to stick up as he slowly walked up the beach. He used a small hatchet he had to cut a few dead trees into several wooden targets that he was able to fixate into a group of trees. It made a perfect little shooting range to practice his crossbow aim.

His weapon was unique. Nobody else in Pyrrhia had anything like it. The arms folded in on the side when not in use to keep it nice and compact. It was long and sturdy as well, the body and stock made of oak. As for the bolts, they slender and sharp. Incredibly accurate and deadly. It was a beautiful weapon, created by himself. He sat and admired it for a few long seconds before unfolding and loading it up.

Unlike previous models from his former life as a human, this one had an experimental internal magazine which allowed for three bolts to be loaded from the bottom to allow a faster rechambering speed. He raised it and focused the sights on the first target. His claw pulled back on the trigger and he felt the bolt launch itself forward towards the center of the first target.

"Bam! Haha. Right in the center. That's how ya do it." He said with a cheerful growl. He pulled a small ring on the side to rechamber the next bolt, which he fired at the second target. Missing the center by a hair. He rumbled and loaded it before shooting again. The third hit the center as well.

"There we go.. That's more like it." He went to go retrieve his bolts, which is when he thought he heard footsteps behind him. He paused and turned his head, swiftly looking around all directions. There was definitely something going on, which made him stop in his tracks and swiftly reload the weapon. He pointed his weapon in the direction of the noise, which was when a spear whistled through the air towards his chest. He jumped back and nearly dropped his crossbow as the spear bounced off the hidden chest plate in his cloak, only tearing a small gap in the fabric.

"Fuckin hell!" He yelled and backed up. He examined the spear and growled before firing a bolt in the exact spot the spear came from. All he heard was a loud hiss and a crash. He wasn't sure if he hit his target, so he slowly and cautiously made his way over to the noise. His hatchet cleared the brush and he looked down to see a female Nightwing, laying on the ground. He had hit her neck. "Ah, another Nightwing."

"Get away from me!" She yelled and tried to back up. "I didn't want this!"

"Then ya shouldn't have come after me." He hissed a bit. He was tense and he could feel himself shaking a slight bit. There was definitely no preparing for an assasin, let alone a Nightwing assasin. "Who are you?" He growled, pointing his bow at her.

"I'm not allowed to reveal that." She hissed and tried to get up.

"Then I'll make you talk." He stamped his foot and lit the end of his bolt on fire before shooting it into the sky to let the seawings know he was there. Surely someone would come, and once they did he was going to get answers from this mystery dragon.