Foliage whipped at her face as she dashed through the dense cluster of trees, the sound of her heartbeat pounding in her ears. It drowned out even the clamor of the men and women who chased after her, despite the brutes who barreled through anything in their path. Her long brown hair flowed behind her as she ran, her right hand pushing up the slim spectacles she wore as she cast a backwards glance over her shoulder at the ones in pursuit.

Peacekeepers.

They were bloodthirsty bandits hired on by the White Mantle to deal with the troublesome freedom fighters that were the Shining Blade. However, they were anything but peaceful, harassing innocent villagers and threatening her fellow Ascalonians who had created a refugee settlement not far from Lion's Arch. Too many times had she overheard reports of the brigands inspecting wagons of goods and taking valuable goods as "tithes for passage", sometimes robbing others of everything but the clothes on their back. It was when she had found the beaten, bloodied body of a woman who had apparently lacked any sort of payment for the bandits that she had been set off.

It was a foolish choice to try and hand out justice on her own, she knew that before she even began and especially now when they had her on the run. She had underestimated their strength and numbers, the hunter quickly becoming the hunted. As she sprinted with as much speed that she could manage, she reached behind her to her quiver with her right hand, pulling out an arrow. In one fluid move she had notched it on her steel Deldrimor longbow and spun, letting it fly before turning and continuing her escape. She didn't see the impact but heard the gurgling shout of one of the brigands as the arrowhead pierced the flesh of his throat. An arrow whizzed by her face in retaliation, drawing blood and causing her heart to race even faster. Apparently their marksmen were better than she anticipated.

She vaulted over a fallen log, tearing through more branches just in front of her and finally breaking out of the dense copse of trees… only to find herself staring at the rough stone of a cliff directly in front of her, towering over her by a few feet. She didn't slow down in her run, leaping up and trying to grab hold of the top only to fall short. She had hit a dead end, her blue eyes flickering to either side to try and figure out an alternate path. At the rustling of bushes behind her she turned and drew several arrows at once, letting loose a barrage that tore into the chests and heads of two short but stout Peacekeeper goons and one of their female casters. As she went to draw another arrow while the bodies hit the ground with dull thuds, she caught sight of the marksman that had grazed her face with his own attack, just as a piercing white-hot pain tore through the palm of her right-hand. Eyes wide in shock and surprise, she saw the arrow pierced through her hand moments before the pain finally registered, a rough cry escaping her lips. Before she could even drop her longbow to try and remove the arrow, a massive fist latched onto her neck and slammed her up against the cliff face, one of the brutish enforcers glaring up at her as it growled savagely behind its mask.

"Hey, easy, easy… we don't want to kill her just yet," the marksman spoke up as he walked forward, a smug smirk on his gaunt face. "This is the one Inquisitor Toriimo told us about, that Ascalonian scum who took down the inner council with her little band of allies. I bet if we bring her back alive, we'll get a nice little payment in platinum… since she's one of the reasons those Shining Blade idiots weren't wiped out a few years back."

Grunting and squirming futilely against the enforcer's steel grip, she gasped in pain as she was slammed back against the rocky wall again and again until she was too dazed to struggle. That was when the enforcer dropped her to the ground, grumbling something behind his mask before stepping back for the gang's leader to get a good view of her. "You're… treacherous cowards," she grunted with a deadly glare, trying to catch her breath and get her bearings straight. "A blight upon these lands… you'll pay for your crimes against the innocent."

"Oh really? And who's going to make us pay, you?" He notched another arrow, although didn't immediately aim or let it loose. "Maybe we should teach you a little lesson like we did with that peasant woman back there… after all, we don't have to bring you back completely unharmed."

"Lay one hand on me and I'll rip it off!" she spat defiantly, causing a savage grin to cross the marksman's face.

"Even when outnumbered, you still act all cocky. I wonder how long that'll last." He licked his lips now as he aimed with his bow, preparing to send the arrow into her leg. That was when the sickening sound of ripping flesh filled the air, a sound she had long grown accustomed to due to her time with necromancer allies. She saw the flesh golem that towered over the Peacekeeper before he did, the smug expression on his face vanishing in an instant. Before he could even turn to look over his shoulder, the flesh golem brought down the wicked cleaver of bone that was its right arm, tearing into the Peacekeeper.

She sat there in a bit of a daze, watching as smaller bone minions were created two at a time from the remaining Peacekeeper corpses she had created with her last attack. Now the tables had turned, with the hunters being hunted by the undead minions. But who was it who had created the creatures?

"You know, I thought you'd be a bit more careful when dealing with these bandits. It's not like you to make beginner's mistakes… Danielle Roivas."

Her gaze darted to the side as she noticed a person jump down from the cliff she had failed to scale up, a woman with the tanned skin of a Krytan and whose dark red hair matched her rather revealing outfit. "Livia?"

"As nice as catching up will be… perhaps it'd be best to deal with these common thieves first?" The Shining Blade necromancer turned her gaze to the Peacekeepers, who had recovered and dealt with the undead minions. "Can you use your hand?"

Danielle grunted, releasing her bow to work on removing the arrow. The pain wasn't as severe as it could be; she knew that from experience when dealing with elementalists who enjoyed setting their opponents on fire very often. It would just be better if there was a healer around. "Not as best as I could, but I'll make do."

Livia nodded, turning her cold gaze towards the Peacekeepers as she raised another flesh golem from one of the fallen. "Just hold on long enough."

"Please tell me you have your usual trick up your sleeve. I'd rather not die to my own stupidity." A slight flex of the injured hand brought a spike of pain, her teeth clenching immediately. She could barely move it, but it was possible she could still fight even with the handicap. Fighting for too long with such a handicap wasn't something she really wanted to do, and the ranger had even forgotten to take along her healing unguent that was an absolute necessity when venturing alone. Quickly glancing to the side to her ally and savior, she noticed a slight smirk on the Krytan's face.

"I'm never unprepared… unlike you."

Owch. Should have seen that one coming…

Drawing an arrow from her quiver on her back, her experience kicked in as she tried to push aside the pain and notch the projectile. The time for chatter was over, and even though two or three Peacekeepers remained, they wouldn't be so easy to take down. Of course, she was used to overwhelming odds. With an even breath, she raised her bow horizontally and took aim, eyes narrowing as she locked onto her target, a charging enforcer whose eyes carried a gaze of pure, undiluted rage.

Balthazar bless my strength, teach my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.