Zilo runs with love as his motivation out of the Green Dragons guild and back to the Stumbly Giant Inn. Wanting to take off as soon as possible, he gets out a saddle from the cart and throws it onto a horse, not caring which was which. With a slapdash tightening and the horses getting a fair amount spooked from Zilo's state, the bard leaps onto the horse and cuts the barding connected to the cart.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, the horse he picked at random was Presto, who blasted out of the stable nearly throwing Zilo from the saddle as he did. The temperamental stallion wasn't as fast as his partner Vivace, but was also better at taking orders and was, according to Aria, much smarter than an average horse.
Sadly what Zilo needed now was speed, but it was too late to change now. So once he regained his grip he and Presto were out of Shadeville and onto the road. All the while the bard was speaking,
"Three days, was it? Yes, three days until the killer makes his move. Took us a week to get here, so if I don't stop and move fast I might make it before he can-" Zilo's ramblings were interrupted as Presto's gait was halted as the beast threw Zilo forward and collapsed on the ground.
Zilo scrambled over to the horse, and began to look him over. It looked like his back left leg had been hit by an arrow. As he looked at the wound, he rushed and ripped the arrow out, but he then heard another horse coming up from the town, followed by a slightly deep and hateful voice,
"I cannot believe it. Hello again."
Zilo looked up to see a dusk elf male in a light leather tunic with pulled back long black hair. His face showed angular features and some light red eyes that were opened wide in shock. He was holding an oddly shaped longbow that looked to be constructed of metal sharpened edges that connect into the bow's grip in the middle. Zilo raised an eyebrow at the man before speaking,
"Hello? Sorry, I'm not too good with faces."
"Understandable, last we met it was night and it was a fair number of months ago. My name is Carten Manos. I'm what you would call a mercenary, taking jobs all along the coast and isles in the east."
The man drew an arrow from his quiver with blinding speed and aimed it at Zilo, before continuing, " A little over half a year ago, I traveled to the tower elf kingdoms. I had heard their bow masters might help me refine my skills. I was wrong, but I did earn some gold guarding their fortress during the nights."
Zilo's mind clicked, he remembered the tower elf fort. He had broken Jin and Leo out when they got arrested. He had also had an all-night archery showdown with an elf, this elf. Zilo grit his teeth. Presto had, during this time, managed to stand up, but was sporting a horrible limp.
Carten had Zilo with his pants down, but then he lowered his aim and spoke, "I do hate unfair fights, So I'll tell you what. I'll let you fix your mount and we can make this a bit more sporting. You may take off, and I will follow, we will exchange shots and the may the best man win."
"Fix my mount?"
"Don't play dumb, I know you have magic of some sort. You healed when I shoot you off the fort wall."
Zilo cured Presto's wound with a cure moderate wounds as he remarked, "You have a better memory than I friend." Carten sneered and spoke back, "I am not your friend, you are my enemy. I marked you for death that night and failed, but today I have magic of my own."
Carten reaches into his bag of holding along his hip and spoke, "Arrow of slaying evil outsiders." And he retrieved an arrow, just like the kind he found that the murders of Shadeville had been done with. Zilo made the connection when he heard arrow of slaying, but his perception was delayed on the second thing Carten said.
"Evil outsider? Was it?"
"I remember that night very well. It may have been dark, but I made out some things. Your frame is elf-like despite human features, but the eyes are the giveaway. You lack pupils, and since then I have learned, that is the trait of those of the plane of shadows, the Fetchlings."
"Arrow of slaying too, you've killed with those often in the town."
Carten smiles and says, "It seems you've looked into me just as much. Yes, my line of work occasionally includes violence, and I have a connection in Shadeville that supplies me these arrows in exchange for the occasional contract killing. I'm no I' Sereg'wethrin, but the magic bridges the gap."
"Look, I don't want to fight. Someone very important to me is in danger of being killed. Please can we just settle this some other time?"
Carten spins the arrow of slaying in his fingers, chuckling and responds," You know what, I will do you a favor. I'll ensure you are waiting in the next life to greet them." Carten slips the arrow of slaying into his teeth. He then grips his bow again and flicks his chin toward Presto.
Zilo was not talking his way out of this. Carten was dead set on settling the score. The bard mounted up and he brushed Presto's side and told him, "I'm sorry I dragged you into this buddy. Just keep running as best you can, and I can make sure you stay in the race."
Presto neighs, but Zilo couldn't really tell if he understood. Either way, the two of them took off. After they galloped for a few seconds, Carten goes after them. Presto ran fast, trying to run like Vivace as best he could, but Carten's skill with a bow was incredible. He continued to nail Presto in critical points on his legs.
Luckily Zilo was quick on the draw with his healing and fixed any damage dealt as soon as he could in the split second before Presto would have collapsed. In addition, where Vivace would have just run like a devil, Presto began to get a feel for the rhythm and started to dodge the arrows on occasion, freeing up Zilo to take a shot of his own with his bow.
Firing backward at Carten proved fruitless, Zilo had to make too much of an adjustment to twist and fire, let alone aim. His shoots continued to veer a meter or so to the sides of Carten, and the elf and his horse could easily maneuver around the shots that might have hit with how telegraphed Zilo's attacks were.
The stalemate would be settled once Carten ran out of arrows, or Zilo ran out of spells. Unfortunately, Zilo knew that if he was an archer by trade with a bag of holding, the odds were good that he had possibly hundreds of arrows.
Eventually, Zilo was down to only a level 2 spell and a level 3 spell.
"This is bad, He can see everything I do and I only get glimpses, if only... Would that work?"
Zilo leaned down to Presto and cast Cat's Grace on him and said, "I have a crazy idea, Prest, but you need crazy coordination and will have to trust me. Get ready."
Zilo reigned him up, stopping him after a hoof slide in the dirt trail. As he reared back Zilo twisted the reins and made Presto face Carten. Presto at first thought to charge and make a counter-attack, but Zilo seemed to be pulling him back still, as though he should walk backward. This confused Presto, as every time he tried to turn, Zilo pulled him back to facing Carten's charge.
Once Zilo cast Haste on the horse, it clicked for the beast. Presto began to walk backward, but with the magic, his speed was just about equal to when he was running before the spell. Most importantly, now Zilo and Presto, could see the shots coming.
With his new viewpoint, the first thing Zilo saw was a shocked expression on Carten's face. Zilo smiled and notched another arrow and said, "Time to turn this fight around!"
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