Prologue Three

Shadows danced against the firelight hidden deep within the forest. A lone man sat silently before it, his loyal, four-legged companion lay beside him. He grunted, looking at his full quiver. No luck today. Not even Sin's nose could sniff them out on this hunt. Those beasts were becoming more skilled and clever, but not enough to stop The Hunter. He would find those filthy beasts soon enough—and destroy them for good.

Deep within the brush a pair of eyes cautiously watched the old (well, what he saw as old) man and his dog. He could smell the rabbit roasting over the fire. It smelled so good.

'Man, I am so hungry…. I bet that rabbit's gonna taste so good.'

His stomach growled. 'I hope they didn't hear that.'

He sighed. Catching his own dinner had ended only in rotten luck. Man, he really wanted some of that rabbit, but he couldn't just saunter right into the man's camp. That dog would definitely take a nice bite out of him. Speaking of which, he wondered why the mutt hadn't sniffed him out yet. Maybe it was his change of clothes. Or possibly the rabbit?

'Or maybe he's just dumb.'

"Who's out there?"

'Uh-oh.' He looked at the ground. 'Stupid crunchy leaves.' He sighed again. 'Oh, well. Here goes nothin'.'

The man held his bow at the ready as the brush rustled. His companion had alerted him to a presence outside his camp. He slowly lowered his bow as a young man stepped into the firelight.

"What're you doin' here, boy?" the man said.

"Uh…hunting," the young man replied, grinning and rubbing the back of his head. "No luck, though."

His stomach growled again.

The man grinned. "Have a seat, kid."

They had been sitting by the fire for nearly an hour, the man sharing the rabbit, when the dog started to growl. At first, the young man didn't know at what. But then….

He felt something sharp at his back. Frozen in place, he gasped as the man spoke.

"I know what you are, boy," he said in a slow, gravely voice. "You're one of them."

The young man swallowed hard. 'Oh, no. A hunter.'

"Since I like the thrill of the chase, I'll give you the chance to get a head start." A malicious smile crept over the hunter's face. "Run, boy. Run, you filthy beast!"

He shot up off the log and bolted into the wood. The Hunter's laughter followed him as he ran. Seconds later, he heard the dog howl. He ran as fast as he could through brush, over fallen trees and through the stream. The hound let out another howl. They were on him. He took a quick look behind him. The Hunter was still out of sight. As he turned his eyes back to his path, he plowed right into a fallen tree, tumbling to the ground.

He growled at himself. "That was a dumb move."

Pushing himself up to his feet, he caught the fluttering of wings out of the corner of his eye. He looked up into the tree next to him.

"A hawk. Haven't seen one of you in a while."

His ear twitched. Silence. 'Where's that hunter and his mutt?'

He stilled his breath, waiting for any movement. The wood around him was deathly still. He looked back up at the hawk. The bird was staring at him. They blinked at each other, then the creature let out a soft cry and took flight.

The young man looked around and then slowly began to back away from the tree. As he turned to run again, his ears twitched at a whistling sound.

"An arrow."

He dropped to the ground seconds before the wooden missile went flying over him, lodging itself in a tree. His heart pounding, he turned onto his back to face The Hunter, now hovering over him, and an arrow pointed at his chest.

"Say good-night, you filthy—"

His eyes shot open, darting around the room. Recognizing his surroundings, he slowly sat up, taking a deep breath to calm himself.

That dream again.

He pushed the covers back and swung his legs over the side of the bed. The dream. It had been occurring every other night for the past two weeks, repeating itself, moment for moment.

"Looks like we finally found out what can make the King of Assassins sweat."

Jett looked up, wiping the sweat from his brow. He growled at the guard as the man laughed and walked away. Throttling the man sounded very pleasant, but if what he believed was about to happen, strangling the meat sack would not be the brightest idea.

Better to not leave a trail.

He stood and walked up to the cell door. Silence. Everyone was still asleep; the guards had moved on to the next cell block. His eyes searched lazily up and down the corridor. Of course, he had to be here when it happened.

Oh, well. It won't be long now.

Xena: Warrior Princess

The final prologue. Hope it was enjoyable.