by Candy Crum
They rode in silence for quite a while, each of them wondering what they might find in the grand city. Bast found herself contemplating the culinary treats the city might have to offer, but she promptly felt bad for thinking of fancy food during such an important mission.
Still… A girl had to eat, right?
Cleo pulled back on the reins of her horse, the animal grunting in protest as it slowed to a stop. Bast was quick to stop her horse as well.
"What is it?" Bast asked.
Cleo's face was fraught with worry. "Do you hear that? Sounds like clashing metal."
Bast turned, her eyes narrowing a bit as she listened intently. As they were leaving Craigston, they had seen a group of rearick packing up to travel to Arcadia, but they couldn't possibly have been the source of the sound.
She had overheard them say they didn't plan to leave for a few hours. That would have put them miles behind her and Cleo.
Then she heard yelling and the sounds of battle. Her eyes locked onto her sister’s for a moment, and they urged their horses into a full gallop.
"I heard they had been having problems with bandits on the road for a few weeks now," Cleo shouted over the hoofbeats, "but I never thought we would run directly into them."
"Me neither!" Bast replied. "I think it's time we made ourselves useful."
Cleo smiled dangerously. "I couldn't agree more."
As they reached the bottom of the mountain, they saw a group of ten or so rearick taking on nearly twice their number of bandits. The smaller rearick men were armed with hammers and blunt weapons, but the larger men were armed with sharp knives and swords.
While Bast didn’t have extensive knowledge or experience with rearick, the mystics had spoken highly of them, and the ones they had met going through Craigston had been rough and sarcastic, but friendly.
Her kind of people.
She would be damned before she let hardworking, honest people be taken down by bastards like those, men who stole from folk who earned their way in life.
Bast couldn't wait to show them exactly why they shouldn’t pick on the little guy.
The girls brought their horses to a hard stop, dismounting and positioning themselves about ten feet from the main battle. By the time they reached the fight, the men had the rearick on their knees, blades to their throats.
The girls looked at one another and Cleo turned back to the fight. "Hey, fellas!"
A tall man on the edge of the battle had been about to bring a sword down on one of the rearick, but he stopped and turned to face them, immediately beginning to laugh.
"Get outta here, lasses!" one of the rearick said. "Save yerselves!"
Bast took a step forward when she saw one of the men punch the rearick who had warned her. "Oh, sweetheart. You shouldn’t've done that," she said coldly to the offender.
The man smiled, showing that one of his front teeth was missing—more than likely from that very battle, judging by the blood on his remaining teeth.
"Is that so?" He took a step toward her and smiled even bigger as he took another, exaggerating each movement. "Well, gorgeous, I'm right here. I'll even give you the first shot before I teach you a lesson in respect."
He laughed again as he tapped his jaw, turning his face just slightly as an invite. "Come on, little lady. First shot."
The other men surrounding the rearick laughed heartily, egging her on and making condescending remarks at her expense.
She saw the desperation on the rearick’s faces as they stared at the girls. She had heard they were a protective lot, and she could see it in the way they silently pleaded with her to run.
She took a few steps forward, leaving only an arm’s reach between them. The man in front of her towered over her five-foot frame, but that didn't matter to her.
Her fists clenched at her side and her mind wandered to the lives at stake back in her land. Innocent people going about their business and trying to do right, in danger from beasts that had no compassion.
This man may have been human, but he was no different.
And there was nothing Bast or her sister hated worse than assholes who had no respect for life.
She felt a familiar tingle travel through her arm and down into her hand, signaling she was ready. She gave a broad smile as she lightly shook her head, her eyes flashing bright blue as she did. "You're really gonna wish you hadn't told me to do this."
Bast’s fist hit him directly in the jaw, power exploding from her hand. She felt the bone in his face disintegrate under the blow and he was thrown several feet back. He screamed in pain as he hit the ground, but was unable to continue when the air was knocked out of him.
Her smile grew darker as she turned to the large group of men, arms rising out from her sides briefly as she said, "So, who's next?"
Another man ran directly for her, this one much broader and even a little taller than the other. He looked like he had been on a farm most of his life.
Her eyes grew bluer as she dropped to the ground, punching him directly in the knee with the same strength as before. The joint and epiphyses of the surrounding bones shattered, and she stood and drove her fist hard into his face, power once again exploding out of her hand. Just as his friend had before him, he flew several feet back and hit the ground.
His face was crushed in behind his broken nose, and his eyes were open and stared blankly. There was no doubt in her mind he was dead, but that didn't matter. She saw at least two dead rearick on the ground, so he had deserved it.
"Hey, fellas, don't let me keep you all to myself! I bet my sister would just love to get to know you better. Right, Sis?" Bast asked, glancing at the other girl.
As Cleo stepped forward, the rims of her irises started to turn blue and the darkness of the color began to slowly bleed into the natural green of her eyes. She gave the same dark smile her sister had as she stepped forward, balling her right hand into a fist and lightly punching it into her left palm.
"Oh, yes. There's plenty of us to go around, boys," she said with a wink.
The men looked at one another with fear in their expressions, their gazes darting to the much smaller but still terrifying teenage girls as they debated hard about what they should do.
Cleo turned to Bast, poking her bottom lip out as if she were pouting. "Aw, Bast, I don't think they like me."
Bast's jaw dropped open in feigned horror. "That's just rude. Maybe we should just make the first move."
Cleo laughed. "Yeah. Karma’s a bitch, boys. I think it’s time you met her."
The bandits turned and ran, but that only made things easier for the girls. They now had clear shots, because the men were no longer holding blades to the rearick’s throats.
They were free to attack.
Both Cleo and Bast charged after them, channeling their power through their feet as they sprinted. Their magic propelled them forward, making their strides several times longer than their much taller opponents and allowed them to move faster than any other human they had ever met.
Cleo jumped, landing on the back of one of the men and taking him to the ground, where they rolled several times before coming to a stop. She leapt up to her feet, diving forward and punching him hard in the stomach with her normal strength, though it was enough to do the job.
He stumbled back several feet before falling, curling up in a ball as he struggled to breathe.
She turned and ran for another, but was confronted with a sword. She jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the brunt of the hit, but it still slashed across her chest. She cried out in pain, but her anger at being injured only drove her harder.
Charging forward, she ducked another swing, coming up to hit her attacker hard in the ribs as she channeled a blast of power through her fist and directly into him.
He dropped the sword and clutched his side as he gasped for air. She had no doubt she had punctured his lung with one of his broken ribs, but she also knew he wasn't going to have to worry about it much longer. She snatched the
sword and swung, slicing clean through his neck.
At that point, the rearick were back in the fight again, swinging hammers and kicking asses again.
Bast shoved one of her opponents away to allow her to deal with the other, kneeing him in the groin before delivering a power-packed punch to the side of his head, which dropped him.
As the first one recovered from the shove, he charged at her, but she was prepared. She caught him completely off-guard when she did a front handspring, wrapping her legs around his head before folding up and punching him hard in the face.
As he fell backward, she slid down his body and rolled to her feet. The last two men were being taken down by the rearick. As soon as they were out of commission, she and her sister went over to the rearick.
"The rest of you guys okay? I know you lost a couple, but how are the rest of you?" Bast asked.
Cleo clutched her chest, the blood from the wound not really showing up against her black shirt.
One of the rearick pointed. "We got some bumps and bruises, but yer sis there is the one ta worry ‘bout."
Bast’s eyes went wide when the gap in her sister’s shirt revealed a long gash. "Cleo, are you okay?" she asked as she rushed to her side.
An older rearick broke through the others and walked over, both old and new battle scars covering his face and down his arms.
"I don't mean ta look at yer goods, young lass, but I've seen me fair share o’ battles an’ battle wounds. Let me take a gander. I ain't no healer, but I can sure patch ye up good enough ta get ya back ta a med bed in Craigston. Maybe even ta Arcadia if it ain’t too bad.”
Cleo dropped to her knees, exhausted from the magic use and weak from blood loss. She turned her back to the others while the older rearick pulled her shirt back to examine her. He was careful to keep her breasts covered as he looked at the places that were bleeding the worst.
"It needs stitches, lass, but ye'll be fine. I've done ‘em enough times. I can do it for ye, or I can tell yer sis how ta do it. I understand if ye're more comfortable with her."
Bast knelt next to the rearick and across from her sister. "I've put stitches in my own wounds by myself, but I've never put any in someone else. Let him do it. I don't want to make things worse."
Cleo nodded, not really having the energy to argue with anyone at the moment. "Thank you…"
"The name's Sven," the rearick replied.
"Well, thank you, Sven. I appreciate you helping me," Cleo said weakly.
The rearick was standing now, and he smiled and shook his head. "Lass, if not fer ye and yer sis here, we'd all be dead. A stitch or two is the least I can do."
Sven went back to his group and gave them orders to separate their own dead from the rest and get them in the carts. He grabbed an emergency pack and carried it back before kneeling in front of Cleo again. He handed her a large jug before opening the pack.
"What's that?" Cleo asked as she took it. She had to use both hands to hold it.
He smiled as he dug through his bag. "That's whiskey," he replied with a bit of amusement in his voice. "Ye'll wanna take a few drinks o’ that. Big ‘uns. This ain’t gonna be pleasant, ‘specially when I dump some o’ that across yer chest ta clean the wound. It appears I left me antiseptic back in town."
The sisters looked at one another, wide-eyed, and Bast shrugged. "The mystics did tell us the rearick made good booze."
Sven laughed. "It might taste like a bucket o’ goat’s piss that’s had rusty nails soakin’ in it fer a week in the hot sun, but it’s sure as hell effective."
Cleo glanced at him in disgust.
Bast smiled. "And they said they were interesting people."
Cleo shook her head as she lifted the jug to her mouth, pausing before taking a sip. "Is this shit strong enough to kill the pain?"
He shook his head and smiled as he threaded the needle. "Lass, that’s strong enough ta make ye forget it tastes like shite. Now, start drinkin’, ‘cuz I'm ‘bout ta start stitchin’ ye from shoulder ta rib."
Cleo hissed in pain as she sat up a little straighter. "Sounds like this is gonna be a fun day." She tilted the jug back with both hands, taking several big gulps while trying not to throw up.
8
During Arryn's downtimes, she had been working with Corrine on her healing skills. It took patience, but between her lessons with Arryn and being in the Chieftain’s healing class with the other children, she was picking it up fast.
Today, however, Arryn decided she wanted to take a little time for herself. Every day, she dedicated all her time to everyone else from the moment she woke to the time she went to sleep.
Although she trained in combat techniques with Nika, Elysia, and Cathillian, today she wanted to work on her magic, some of which couldn't be taught by the others. She had to teach herself.
Midday, while Arryn was supposed to be relaxing and enjoying her hour to herself, she went to the river. She loved the water, and the river had always been a beautiful spot—but today wouldn’t be for rest.
Arryn wore nothing but a pair of leather shorts and a tight-fitting shirt, clothing that was suitable for swimming if her practice went badly. She stepped to the water, her toes sinking into the little bit of sand along its edge.
She took a deep breath and held it for a moment before slowly blowing it out, her eyes closing as she focused. When she opened them, they had turned black, and her power encircled her.
Carefully, she touched her toe to the surface of the water, freezing it solid as she slowly put weight on it. As her foot pressed down, the ice dipped under the surface, and the current immediately carried it away.
She sighed as she realized she was going to have to put a bit more effort into it. Taking another deep breath, she once again touched her toes to the surface, the water again freezing under her foot.
She pushed harder, the ice growing downward until it meshed with the bed of the river.
Arryn cautiously placed her weight on the ice again, but this time its wide base was buried deep in the dirt and rock beneath the water and it held her steady. She moved her other foot forward, daring to take another step onto the surface and repeating the process.
By the time she reached the center of the river, she was heavily regretting not having worn shoes. She looked at the edge, just where the grass began, and saw her warrior clothing lying there.
Stretching out her hand, she levitated her pants over to her, and quickly folded them and placed them on the ice beneath her feet.
She didn't feel quite as connected to the water as she had before, but she took that as a challenge. Focusing hard on the ice below her, she imagined it as a steady pillar below her feet, digging deeply into the river bed.
The trouble was that the water was warm and rushing quickly. If she didn't focus, the river would dissolve her steady pillar in a matter of seconds.
Once she had held it for a minute or two, she decided to challenge herself.
"What are you doing?" Celine asked.
Arryn almost slipped from the distraction. She had been focusing so hard on what she was doing that she had completely forgotten to pay attention to her surroundings.
"Nearly shitting my pants, that's what. You scared the hell out of me."
Celine laughed. "Sorry about that. I heard you headed off in this direction, and I wanted to check on you and make sure you were okay. You don't usually blow everyone off."
Arryn took a couple of deep breaths, centering herself again as she added more ice to the platform. It had already begun to melt with her distraction.
"That's very true, but today I just felt like I needed to train myself. I don't have a physical magic teacher, so the only way I'm going to learn is by practicing. When I came to the Dark Forest, I tried to learn by myself, but it never worked. I could do a couple of things, but that was it. I feel much more open to magic now."
"Well, you have certainly learned a lot since then, especially in the last few months. So, I guess we are focusing on water
today?" Celine asked. "You want me to leave you alone?"
Arryn shook her head. "No, actually I can use the distraction. It's good for training, so you’re more than welcome to hang out and talk to me if you want. And yes, I'm working with ice. I remember seeing Mom practice when I was little. She was always best with fire and ice."
"Yeah, you have no idea. When we were younger, I used to pick on her all the time. I was the typical bratty sister. I'd steal her hair clips and hide them in the horse stalls. When she found them, they’d be covered in horse shit."
Arryn started laughing. "You seriously did that to her? That's terrible! Actually, that sounds like something I would do to Cathillian."
"Hey, she deserved it! She ruined my favorite dress. She flicked ink all over it from my father's inkwell, and I had nothing to wear to the big dinner that night. One night she got so mad at me that she set my bed on fire."
Arryn's eyes widened as she looked at her aunt. She felt a wobble in her ice platform and realized she had lost concentration completely on hearing that her mother had nearly killed Celine in a fit of rage.
"Whoa," Arryn said, focusing again. "She must've been pretty pissed off."
She took a deep breath and slowly blew it out, lifting her hands from her sides and keeping her palms flat and facing the water.
"Well, I might have destroyed a few things of Dad's and then told him it was her. She got in so much trouble for that. She had been out with your father that night. It was the first night they’d really spent any time together, and Dad said she was not allowed to see him again for a month. Boy oh boy, was she ever pissed at me."
Arryn smiled as she listened to the story. It made her happy to hear about any of her family, but especially about her mother and father when they were young.
Keeping her focus on the rushing water as well as the ice below her, Arryn lifted her hands slowly, bringing ribbons of water up to her palms. She threw out her right hand, attempting to sling the water like a whip, but instead she completely lost her balance.
