by Rae Brooks
The sight also reminded her that she had not killed her own target. Leif seemed to take his immobility as enough of an opportunity, and the dark haired spy leapt forward and stabbed the fallen man in the chest. “Aela! Let’s go! There are seven more of them!” he called.
Aela did a quick kick at Patea, one of the other men that was staying in their tent. He was up in an instant, and the last man—one that she didn’t know the name of, was as well. They pulled themselves out of the tent quickly, and she glanced across with horror at one of the other tents, which was lying cut and broken on the ground. She didn’t see the others for a moment, until her eyes found the other guards.
The third tent had been attacked too, and the guards were fighting the men inside of it. One man specifically. The fight between this spy and guard was one-sided, as the guard was wearing full armor and had much larger weapons than the man he fought. With a thrust, Teral was impaled on the man’s sword and flung to the ground. “Traders shouldn’t be so heavily armed,” the man who’d just killed Teral said. “They must be spies!”
Leif pounced forward, striking the man across the shoulder with one of his short swords and then plunging his second through the man’s abdomen. The armor was strong against regular hits, but it could not protect entirely from direct assaults like the ones Leif was producing. That meant Aela had to make sure that her arrows hit directly.
With the thought, she pulled the first arrow into her bow. She couldn’t think about the death, or else she would soon be joining the ones who were already dead. Leif engaged another man, who had just killed another of their group. Aela didn’t know whom it was, and she felt a pang of anguish at not having gotten to know the other men better. Maybe she would be able to help them once the fight was over, she promised herself. Turning to find Patea fighting another man, she narrowed her eyes and then released the arrow.
The arrow caught the man in the shoulder, and she let out a curse. Her aim was not as good when she was panicking over seeing her friends die. Rather than dwelling on it, she pulled another arrow. Before she could shoot this one, though, another of the guards grabbed her by the hair and flung her to the ground.
The man hoisted his sword up into the air, and she quickly rolled out of the way. The blade impacted the mud where she had just been lying, and she scrambled backwards. At last, the wetness of her body alerted her to the fact that it was raining. It was raining, and the moon was in its middle shift.
The man pursued her with a haughty grin on his face. She could just make it out behind his red and black helmet. He drove his sword towards her again, and she deflected it with her bow. Then, though, the man raised a foot and caught her in the face. She whimpered and gasped as the man drew his sword back another time.
Her mind told her to try and get her bow ready again, but the pain in her face was making it hard to focus. Just as the man prepared to plummet the sword into her body, which would certainly not have the speed to get away this time, another clash of metal sounded, and the man was forced to face another opponent. Leif.
To her horror, though, she could see a jagged cut running along Leif’s eye. He wasn’t going to be able to defeat many more if things kept going at this rate. She wondered where the others were and glanced across to see the man who had shared a tent with her lying dead on the ground. Not Patea, but the other man, and then she frantically began readying her bow.
The soldier hit Leif across the face, procuring a shocked cry, then with a slash of his sword, there was a bloody gash just below Leif’s shoulder and neck. Sending a knee into Leif’s abdomen, the man caught the boy by the hair and moved the tip of his sword to Leif’s throat. “Not him, you bastard!” Aela snarled, and this time when she shot the arrow, her aim was perfect.
The arrow slid between the slits in the man’s helmet and chest piece, and he crumpled as the arrow in his throat caused him to gurgle. His sword dropped, and Aela felt relief in her chest when Leif fell away from the sword. She wondered how many men were left, and she found herself getting back to her feet despite the pain that the blow to her face had caused. “Leif!” she cried. He pulled himself up and grabbed the sword that he’d dropped.
Without pausing to glance at Aela, Leif moved towards the remaining few soldiers. There only seemed to be a few left, but now Leif, Aela and Patea were the only three members of the troupe that were alive—or well enough to move, Aela told herself. She readied another arrow, aiming at one of the men that was fighting Patea again. Patea drew his sword across the throat of one of the other men, which meant only four guards remained.
Aela had to reconstruct her shot, as the man she’d been about to shoot fell to the ground without as much as a groan. Then, though, Aela fired at a man behind Patea, who had moved the blade so that it would slice directly through the back of the Cathalari’s head. The man staggered, clawing at the arrow in the side of his throat. Patea grabbed the arrow and forced it from the man’s throat, ending the kill. Aela changed her aim to one of the last men, still standing near Patea, but an impact to her right forced her to the ground. A sword cut along her collarbone, and she threw her bow into the man’s face before he could strike again.
Aela kicked into the man’s crotch, and he choked. She used the momentary lapse to force him to the ground, and she grabbed his own dagger from his belt and slammed it into his neck. Nausea twisted at her as blood soaked her hands. She closed her eyes, and then glanced across to see another soldier stab through the back of Patea’s chest. Patea fell without sound, and Aela felt tears blurring her own vision.
Leif was there in an instant, and the man who had killed Patea gasped in shock as Leif’s short swords both dug into the man’s heart. Leif let out a low growl, sounding more than a little pained. One of the remaining two grabbed Leif from behind, yanking him back so that the second man could land a punch squarely across his jaw. “Bloody spies,” the man snarled. Leif aimed a kick at the man’s stomach, but it did little with the padding of the armor.
Aela managed to fire an arrow at the man holding Leif, and though he was forced to let go, Leif was soon locked into a fight with the man across from him. As a result, the soldier that Aela had shot started towards her. She pulled another arrow from her quiver and fired, but the shot flew past the man and stuck into the ground nearby. “Damn,” she cursed softly. She kept moving backwards, not wanting to have to fight another man at close range.
Unfortunately, the man seemed to know that she needed range, so he started moving forward much more briskly. His sword caught her arm, and she stumbled back and into one of the destroyed tents. The body of one of the men that she’d been traveling with lay against her, and an unwilling choke pulled itself from her mouth.
Working with another arrow, she tried to pull it onto the string. She didn’t think she was going to get it there in time until a sword was suddenly protruding from her enemy’s chest. The man slumped as Leif delivered a final slice to end the man’s life. Naturally, the other soldier, who’d been left unattended as Leif tried to save Aela, caught Leif by the shoulder and spun him around. A slash cut along Leif’s stomach, then stabbed through his shoulder as the man forced the weakened spy to the ground.
Leif collapsed, groaning, as he worked to try and move himself into a position so that he could defend. The man yanked both swords from Leif’s hands, though, and flung him to the ground, planting a foot onto the weakened fighter’s chest with a twisted grin on his face. The soldier raised his leg, clearly to slam his foot into Leif’s face, and Aela let her arrow fly so that it hit the man squarely in the chest.
This seemed to make the soldier realize that he was not alone. Her next arrow caught him in the side. She pulled angrily at the third, readying it as the man began frantically retreating. For a moment, she considered letting him go—but no, they’d be compromised. She let the arrow fly and it hit the man in the back of the head, as he no longer had his helmet. He collapsed at once.
Not thinking about the other men, Aela darted to kneel besid
e Leif Firenz. The stab wound in his shoulder was by far the most serious injury he’d sustained. “Leif, Leif, answer me! Leif!” When he looked at her, her body began to relax. “Don’t move too much, are you alright?”
“Aela,” he said weakly. Blood appeared on his lips, and he writhed against the ground momentarily with a soft whimper. “That was impressive. Thank you.”
“You saved my life first,” she said gently. “And it’s Aelic,” she pointed out worriedly.
With a pained expression, Leif shook his head, spitting some of the blood that bubbled into his mouth to the side. “There’s no point. No one is around to hear it anymore…”
She realized he was right. When she did, nausea slammed into her so thoroughly that she nearly fell in the mud next to Leif. How could they all be dead? They were alive before she went to bed. No, Leif could not be right—one of them had to be alive. Unfortunately, she didn’t want to leave Leif lying on the ground to go check. “Are you alright? Can you stand?” Her voice sounded more hollow than she would have liked for it to.
With a groan, Leif pushed himself up onto the arm that wasn’t attached to his bleeding shoulder. “Go check the wagon,” he said purposefully. “Even if some of the men are still alive, we’ll need bandages to help them. Keep your eyes open—take your bow.”
Aela nodded at once and headed towards the wagon. She notched another arrow as she walked. Her feet were careful, trying to adapt Taeru’s way of walking. She had thought back in the city that she understood how he did it so profoundly, but now that she didn’t know the terrain—she found that she didn’t come close.
With careful observation, she moved herself into view of the wagon. There didn’t seem to be any people surrounding it. They had parked the wagon near a small oasis of water so that the horses could drink. The soldiers had gotten there first, it appeared, as the wagon was in disarray. One of the wheels had been torn from the wagon and floated in the water from which the horses drank.
Easing herself into the clearing, she kept her bow ready, pointing it at every sound that she knew didn’t come from the pelting of the rain. Her body was soaked, but she was glad of it, as the heat that the panic had caused in her may have been uncomfortable otherwise. Not to mention, the rainwater was doing a fair job of washing away the blood on her. Taking a few more steps, she eased through the mud and to the wagon.
The covering of the wagon was torn, as if the soldiers hadn’t been able to figure out where the entrance was so they’d just ripped the thing open. Aela felt anger well up within her. She didn’t understand—why were they so destructive? They had no reason to suspect that she and the others were from Cathalar, and yet they had still caused so much damage.
Father was entirely right about Telandus. And Taeru—poor Taeru—he really is so naïve. Does he really believe that people who create soldiers so destructive and mindless deserve to live? No, he does think that. That is one of the many reasons I love him so dearly.
Though the situation certainly didn’t merit it, a small smile made its way onto her face. She tried not to consider that Taeru’s overly trusting nature may have been what killed him on his trip out into the wilderness. No, Taeru was kind—not stupid—and he was well aware that others were not that interested in helping him.
Aela made her way into the lopsided wagon and used her foot to ease back the covering so she could ensure that there weren’t any soldiers within, waiting with an ambush. When she found no one, she entered the wagon. There had not been a need to unpack everything, but the soldiers had been sure to tear through every belonging that they had. In fact, next to nothing was left in the wagon—only a few scraps of cloth of which Aela couldn’t hope to know the source.
Giving up the search inside the wagon, she hopped back out of it. She was a little less careful with her steps, and she didn’t worry so much with her bow. The area seemed deserted enough, but a voice in the back of her mind said that they might wait for he to drop her guard to spring. She was relieved to see the two horses stomping about restlessly. They had been tied to the one tree in the area, and the rope had held.
Aela was surprised that the soldiers hadn’t released the horses, or killed them, but then, she thought they might want to steal the creatures for themselves. That was the way of Telandus, as she’d been taught. Near the wagon, she saw one of the bags that had held their provisions. The first bag was mostly soggy bread and other food that they hadn’t gotten out. The area was littered with debris that had been flung from the wagon.
After some searching, she managed to locate a few of the bandages and medical herbs that they had packed for emergencies. Contented that this would be enough to help Leif, and hopefully a few of the others, she moved to the horses to try and soothe them. They were restless, and with good reason. Thankfully, after a few calming words, they began to relax, staring at her with eyes that seemed to ask what was the matter.
“We’ll be back, okay? You’re going to be okay,” she cooed. She stroked the brown and white horse’s nose gently and the horse snorted, as though it had been waiting for the touch for a long time. “Easy, now.”
Giving the black horse much the same treatment, she spent a few more moments with them both. They would need them, she thought, if they were going to continue. Once she was satisfied that they wouldn’t die of shock, she headed back towards Leif. He had already gotten up and was checking one of the men by the tent. His expression was desperate, though she couldn’t make out what he was saying. “Leif!” she called shortly.
He looked up, dark blue eyes relieved. She offered a smile and held up the medical supplies that she’d gathered. “Most of the food is ruined,” she informed him woefully. She tried not to look at the bodies that littered the area.
“We need to get out of here,” Leif replied circumspectly. If there were any other guards in the area, they might notice the carnage. She supposed Leif had a point, if they were able to get away—then anyone who came by might assume that everyone had been killed in the battle.
However, Aela wasn’t about to let Leif act without caring for his numerous injuries. “First, I’m going to patch you up,” she said instructionally. “Did you check the other men? Everyone?”
“I didn’t check the ones by the third tent, but Patea and the men over here are dead,” he said weakly. Despite the appearance that he was taking it well, Leif’s voice was hoarse, and the princess doubted that it was coming solely from his physical injuries. “There has been no movement over there, either.”
“Alright, then,” she said. There wasn’t any need to waste time when the odds that anyone would still be breathing over there were this small. Leif was very much alive, and he needed her attention immediately. “I’ll take care of you.”
There was a flash of uncertainty, and Aela wasn’t sure what Leif could possibly be considering, but then he nodded his head. “What about you?” he asked quietly.
“Just a few minor cuts and bruises. I’ll worry about them later. Now come on.”
She removed what was left of Leif’s sleeping shirt to assess the injuries. To her surprise, a feeling of excitement struck her as she lifted his shirt to see his exposed body. She wasn’t sure that she’d ever seen him without his shirt on, and the rain certainly wasn’t detracting from his muscular form.
What was she thinking? Leif was bleeding and injured, and here she was admiring his body. If she was going to prove that she was fit for this adventure, then she would have to stop behaving like such a silly little girl. “Like what you see?” Leif asked jauntily.
How had he noticed her expression? She was sure that she hadn’t blushed. She had simply been making an observation that Leif’s body was toned. Leif could easily have been taunting her, seeing if she would take the bait. Well, she didn’t intend to. “I don’t find bloody gashes very attractive, if that’s what you’re asking, Firenz.”
Leif laughed softly, and then shrugged his shoulders. “I was hoping you’d pet my ego since I’m hurt and all.”
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br /> “Not going to happen.” Leif was definitely hurt, though. There were two gashes intertwining along the front of his stomach, and then there was another along the length of his back. The stab wound in his shoulder was contained, though seeing the dark, bloody mess made Aela a little sick.
Still, she had to make sure that he didn’t bleed out and that meant that she had to touch and handle the blood. The gashes were relatively easy to treat. She ran the heal-leaf over them before she gently wrapped his abdomen. The laceration across his back was deep, and his skin peeled away from it in a rather grotesque fashion. The blood of that cut was much darker, and more of it spilled out when she attempted to get a better look at it.
The only issue she had with the cuts across the front of his body was the way they had tangled in one another. The meeting point was a mess, and more of Leif’s skin had been brought into the carnage. With a quick frown, she yanked some of the skin that hung on Leif’s body away from him. The injured man let out a weak yelp. “Why did you do that?” he asked, more accusingly than he should have.
“It was just going to get in the way when I tried to bandage it,” she answered pragmatically. With that, she finished wrapping Leif’s abdomen and moved to his shoulder. His shoulder had been pierced all the way through, but the cut was clean, and the stab wound didn’t extend very far. All she could think to do was to exhaust another heal-leaf over the wound, trying to soothe his pain, and then she wrapped that too.
When she was done, she nodded to him and felt a little dismayed at the fact that Leif had been right—there had not been a single movement from the other tent. Surely if anyone had survived, they would have called out by now, and Aela was not at all eager to go sort through dead bodies. “Do you feel better?” she asked.
