A brown feathered arrow drove itself into the ground in front of Alec, causing him to turn left. The sharp and sudden movement caused the second and third arrows to miss. Alec praised the Gods under his breath as a fourth arrow narrowly missed. Lucky for him it was dark and the archers on the wall only had a few torches of meager light to see him, and Alec was rapidly moving out of their sight and out of range of the deadly arrows.
A few more feet Alec thought, as he ran doggedly, another arrow zipped past his head and Alec felt a sudden stab in his left Stumbling forwards Alec had the foresight to tuck into a roll. Most of the shaft of the arrow snapping off as he rolled past a tree, coming out of the roll Alec rushed forwards on his hands and feet past a second tree and than another.
Alec pushed himself upright and slowed to a walk, dragging his left foot slightly Alec grimaced in pain. The arrow snapping off was more of a hindrance than it was a boon. It would have been hard enough to get the barbed tip out of his side as it was; now Alec was going to have to cut even further to get a grip on what was left of the wooden shaft. Above the trees the red and blue moons shone down on the thief, soon the moons would cross each others paths, an event that hadn't happened in more than three hundred years. Just to make sure Alec put his hand into the small pouch attached to his belt, the jewel was still there. Alec wasn't sure why but the man who wanted him to steal the jewel in his satchel wanted it before the moons crossed. Shaking his head Alec resigned himself to worrying about getting back to his small little campground so he could work on removing the arrow. He was on a deadline after all and he had three days to travel and he could ill afford to stop for too long. He'd have to steal a horse from one of the nearby farms, Alec didn't like stealing from the common folk but he didn't have very many options left to him. He'd leave some money behind for the farmer to replace the horse but Alec never felt goof about doing that.
As he made it to the small clearing hidden by bushes Alec smiled and quickly built a small campfire. He was far enough away from the city that he wouldn't have to worry about being followed. It was only the fact that one of the guards saw him climbing down the outside of the wall that they even raised the alarm.
As Alec waited for the water in the small pot he carried in his bag, he tore strips from his cleanest shirt. Alec always thought it paid to have a few with you just incase, it seemed now was a very good time to make use of one. A sharp bladed knife found its place next to the pile of rags and a flask of heavy wine he kept for those colder nights. Biting down on a stick Alec dug the blade of the knife into his side. A subdued scream escaped past Alec's clenched teeth, and with his other hand he reached into the wound and dug his fingers around the arrow head. A second scream escaped his lips as he wrenched the bloodied shaft from his side.
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