Poisoned Warrior
I am Aran Noden, author of this story and many others similar. My other AR story, Shadow Bringer, was quite frankly crap, and this one is better. I hope. Please review it if you like it. If you hate it, tell me and I will discontinue it immediately. I hope it will never come to that! So, try to have as much fun reading it as I do writing it.
Prologue
He was about seven feet tall, and Japanese. The Serpent, they called him. Not only did he bear striking resemblance to a snake, but he was invisible until he wanted to be seen. And at the moment, he did not want to be seen.
He kept low to the ground, creeping through the bushes of the Australian Outback. He had not seen a house for four miles. He had not seen a living person for at least 10. And still he prowled. He was looking for something in particular. He hadn't found it, and so continued his search. His eyes gazed around. Night was falling, the sky almost as black as the man's dark glasses. Almost as black as his silenced Colt M-16 Assault Rifle. It was 37 inches long and weighed almost nine pounds when loaded. It fired 800 rounds per minute.
He heard a noise, and his body went into freeze frame. You could almost see it go rigid, in pause mode. You could almost see his ears prick up, like a fox or a wolf. He heard something else – a twig snapping – and suddenly, a play button was pressed in his head, and he ran forwards, quietly as ever.
There were two people in front of him, both wearing backpacks. They were sat on a rock, enjoying the sunset together. Two lovers on a backpacking holiday. This, of course was not true. The Serpent had found has target. He was a computer software developer from Bristol, England. He had made a very big enemy. The other was not his concern. He waited a couple of seconds, and then put 100 rounds into each of them. Silently as ever. His work was perfect. The silent attack always worked. He was like a wolf on the prowl. Like a bird of prey.
Like a serpent.