The Marksman [The Talent of Three: Book 1]

11 ••• The Talent's City

Atheris taps her finger on her pocket as she walks through the city.

Though Flint ordered the students to return immediately after leaving their Quest groups, Atheris has other ideas. The city is calling, and Atheris is going to exercise her right as a Quester to do as she needs to prepare.

In this case, Atheris is taking a break.

She knows the dormitory will be loud and crowded. The other girls will want to know everything about the Assassin, Kayne Ledow.

But Atheris needs some peace and quiet. She needs to think.

Atheris veers into the park. She finds herself a solitary bench high on a hill, far removed from the public. She sits and pulls out the paper.

The charcoal did its work, outlining every stroke creating a letter that had been carved into the marble pedestal. However, Atheris is hesitant to read the words.

Everything I know could be wrong, she thinks. Everything Eryx has ever told me could be a lie, a hoax. Do I really want to know if it is?

Atheris's throat seems to close. She closes her eyes and folds the paper back up again. She slips it into her pocket and stands.

I'll walk the city, Atheris decides. I can look at the Tradition when I get back to the dormitory. Maybe it won't be as bad as I think it will be.

Atheris wanders through the park for a good twenty minutes. She walks through the city and eventually finds herself standing before the statue of the Archer, who Atheris has come to know as the Unknown Archer.

She stares at the statue. She's always wondered what the statue was firing at before the city rose up, towering tall over the people walking its streets.

Sighing, Atheris turns and walks through the city to the farthest underground tunnel that could possibly bring her back to the dormitory tower.

Atheris walks slowly through the tunnel, not wanting to get back as fast as she can like she normally would.

Her hand trails along the side if the wall. She breathes in the earthy air. She is leaving everything she has ever known, ever loved.

She is ready in body to leave. But in her heart, she does not want to go anywhere. She wants to stay with her friends and those that are her new family.

This is harder than leaving Amon was, she thinks.

Atheris reaches the dormitory tower and climbs up into the tower base. She starts up the long climb to her dormitory, which is two floors below the roof.

Atheris begins her nightly jog up the stairs.