The Half-Hearts Chronicles

by Kealohilani

  The rebels glanced at each other and then looked to Jaresh, who still had his crossbow raised and aimed at Asharen’s heart. His finger toyed with the trigger as he vacillated.

  He knew he could make the shot and rid Vranah’s army of one of its highest-ranking members. But at the same time, he knew they were outnumbered and the advantage was not theirs. Could he live with himself if his fellow rebels were killed because of his hasty action? Especially if that action caused the death of even one of the few women among them?

  “I’ll not ask you again,” Lord Asharen commanded with deliberate enunciation. Every syllable was treated as though it were more important than the last. “Drop your weapons to the ground.”

  Jaresh sighed and took his finger off the trigger. He threw his crossbow down, keeping his fierce eyes locked on Asharen. The weapons of the other rebels fell one at a time to the ground with the sad clanking thuds of surrender.

  “Wise decision,” Lord Asharen snarled.

  Lani did everything she could to avoid looking at Lord Asharen. Instead, she looked at the contrast of her silvery sword against the soft green grass. Her last means of defense was gone.

  Even running from the fire and the intense vision of Vranah had not been as terrifying as this moment was to her. She was a naturally brave person— and that bravery had sustained her to this point. But this was different. Jharate was not with her.

  And this man, whoever he was, was no gentleman— of that she was sure. She quietly tried to hide her face to keep from being noticed, by staying closely behind the others— grabbing on to Kendra’s arm and pulling her into the middle of the group to try to conceal and protect her as well— as they were all shuffled off toward a makeshift holding cell that was hidden only a little way into the trees on the left of the meadow.

  As Lord Asharen watched the rebels being herded away, he caught sight of a slender young woman among them in strange attire with braided hair falling well past her waist. As she disappeared with the others he raised an eyebrow and the right corner of his mouth twisted ever so slightly.

  Drastic Times Call For…

  Chapter Sixteen

  The holding yard was stark and simple, but it did the job. It stood in a man-made clearing just a few yards in from the meadow. Once inside the structure, Lani and the others had to be careful not to trip over the tree stumps Asharen’s men hadn’t bothered to remove.

  It was large enough to accommodate one hundred or more— but currently the close-to-forty members of the rebel group were the only occupants. Four walls formed a perfect square and were made of wooden logs of exactly equal height and exactly equal width— which had been sharpened into perfectly-symmetrical points at the top. It was obvious who the designer had been.

  Lani shuddered at the thought of Lord Asharen. His aura reeked of some foul-spirited danger. She jumped as she heard the huge gate close behind her.

  She turned and saw that they were trapped. However, there was something comforting about that gate being closed. As long as that gate was closed it meant that she was in here and Lord Asharen was out there. That was nearly enough to make her wish that it would never open again.

  Lani turned her back on the gate and scanned the pen. Kendra and the rest of her friends were already sitting together on a few of the stumps, talking in hushed but clearly resentful tones.

  “What a git!” Justin exclaimed quietly. “He full-on ditched us without a word!”

  “I know!” Kendra replied angrily. “That guy! He’s supposed to be this great warrior! But does he stay to help get us out of this mess? No! One bad guy and he rabbits! He’s been acting like he’s really into Lani— so where is he now?”

  “I can’t believe Arante could just leave like that,” Erik let slip out.

  “Well you better believe it! Because do you see her anywhere? NO! She’s lucky these walls are holding me back and that I don’t know where she is! When I see her again I am going to beat her down until her curly hair falls straight!” Kendra yelled.

  “Wait,” Raoul stated in a panic. “Calm down, guys. There’s no use fighting.”

  “Just shut up, Raoul!” Kendra barked back bitterly. “No one asked you for an opinion.”

  Raoul started doing his pinky/thumb trick again— but this time, right in front of Kendra’s face.

  “Raoul is right. We need to be nice,” Lani said, stepping forward and putting her hand on Raoul’s shoulder. Raoul slowly lowered his hands away from Kendra.

  “All we’ve got right now is each other. If we start fighting amongst ourselves we won’t stand a chance. Besides, I’m sure they’ll come back for us.” Lani realized that her last sentence was a mixture of hope and belief.

  She wondered how two people could possibly pull off a rescue with such impossible odds of success. But she wanted to— no, she had to believe it was at least possible.

  “Lani’s half right,” Justin said. “We do need to stick together now or we won’t stand a chance.”

  The friends all nodded in agreement. They sat there for a few moments— each lost in their own thoughts. Kendra was still furious at their abandonment. Raoul was wondering how they would ever get out of this one. Erik was feeling betrayed by Arante and feeling stupid for having ever thought she cared for him. And Justin was trying to come up with a plan for escape.

  Lani felt worried, confused, hopeful, and terrified, all at the same time. Where was Jharate?

  He had risked his own life back in the forest in order to save her and now— when she was facing death again, or worse— he was nowhere to be seen. She heard the monstrous gate opening behind her.

  The world seemed to freeze in that moment. She slowly turned her head to look over her left shoulder and her throat constricted as she saw Lord Asharen riding in on his horse through the horrid gaping maw— surrounded by his guards. Several of them sought out Jaresh and the other strongest warriors and restrained them. The remainder of the soldiers in the enclosure held the rest of the rebels back en masse.

  Lani wanted to run but there was nowhere to go. She breathed quick silent breaths and could feel her heart beating faster and faster. Everything pulled into sharp focus.

  She could hear the sound of Asharen’s horse breathing— taste the fear and adrenaline on the tip of her tongue— smell the sharp pine of the surrounding trees, and the wooden scent of the fresh-cut stumps and sharpened logs that imprisoned them. She remained still— hoping to become invisible.

  Lord Asharen slowly cast his eyes over the faces of the foreigners— starting with the ones closest to him and moving back until they fell upon the one he wanted. The right corner of his mouth warped up toward his high cheekbone, revealing some of his perfectly-straight teeth, like a snarling animal. He lifted his hand and extended his index finger directly forward as his eye twitched with a greedy glint.

  “Her.”

  He had spoken so clearly and calmly, and yet the word echoed through Lani’s head like a shotgun through a canyon. She felt all the blood rush away from her face.

  She felt cold and dead. Still, her lungs insisted on continuing to breathe. Her heart to beat. Her brain to be painfully aware of every second as if the scene were playing out in slow motion.

  The way his eyes had made their way up and down her body made her feel as if she needed a thousand showers to even begin to wash the dirt off of her. Her heart turned to ice and she was paralyzed with fear.

  The men reached Lani quickly and grabbed her roughly, pushing and pulling her toward the exit. She screamed! She kicked, she struggled, she stomped on the top of their feet, she dug her feet into the dirt, she pulled her arms hard underneath the grasp of the guards— but it was all in vain. There were too many of them— and each one of them alone was stronger than she was.

  Justin burst forward and attacked one of the guards from behind. He locked his arm around his throat and pulled back hard— causing the guard to fall backwards on top of him, as he began to choke and struggle to get Justin to release him.
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br />   Justin snapped the guard’s neck and wrenched his way out from beneath the body to rush the men holding Lani. One of the guards holding the other rebels back lunged at Justin from behind. He struck a savage blow to Justin’s head with a staff before forcefully kicking him back to his friends.

  Justin’s face skidded across the dirt and his body settled roughly against the ground as he fell completely still. His eyes were closed and a pool of blood was spreading out around his head. The guards were now more alert because of Justin’s attack and quickly shoved back anyone else who dared to make a move.

  “I will kill you for this,” Jaresh vowed, as he struggled against the four of Asharen’s men who held him back.

  “Doubtful,” Asharen replied, in a bored tone.

  With a barely perceptible command to his animal, Asharen turned his horse around and exited the enclosure. Raoul hurried over to Justin and knelt by his side. He kept his hands to himself and waited as one by one the soldiers left.

  Raoul felt his stomach turn over and an overwhelming reflex inside of him threatened to eject its contents as Lani was shoved out of the door and the gate shut behind her. Only her screams of protest and panic now resonated through his ears.

  Now, his stomach started to burn as if it were on fire— scorching everything, including his heart. Then, all at once, everything went horrifyingly and disgustingly numb. Raoul blinked and looked down at Justin. He closed his eyes, took an agonized deep breath, and focused on healing him.

  Justin snapped back into instant awareness. He jumped to his feet and glared at the wooden barrier between him and his best friend. Justin was in half-rage, half-anguish, as he tried to push out the ghastly thought of the fate Lani was about to endure.

  He had not been strong enough to save her! He fell to his knees— head in his hands, ripping through his hair. He suddenly stopped. Looking up with hate filling his eyes, he roared.

  “JHARATE!”

  This was all his fault! Why hadn’t he at least taken Lani with him? Would it have been that hard to make three disappear rather than just two? If he ever saw that double-crossing weasel again he would make him pay!

  Kendra slowly sank onto a stump behind her— unable to look away from the gate. Erik stood in back of Kendra with his hands on her shoulders— also unable to avert his gaze. Raoul fell back against another stump— exhausted and shattered— and covered his eyes with his hands. The four defeated friends fell silent once again.

  First Kill

  Chapter Seventeen

  Lani was dragged inside another enclosure— built with more thick spikes, which were perfectly arranged in a rectangle. The grass inside the enclosure was so flawlessly cut that not even one blade of grass was longer than another. Not a single stump remained in the entire area.

  In front of a pristine tent stood several sturdy highly-polished posts. With a nonchalant wave of his hand, Lord Asharen directed his men to tie Lani’s hands behind her around one of these posts. Although the post was smooth so that no splinters protruded from it— it was so wide that her wrists barely met together on the other side and she grimaced in pain. Asharen dismounted his horse and handed the reins to one of his men.

  “Leave us.”

  The men led the horse out and shut the gate behind them. Lani was breathing fast, but her heart was beating even faster. Her brain seemed to have shut off and at the same time kicked into overdrive as she felt herself grappling for her sanity while simultaneously wanting to give in to the urge to lose it and succumb to a complete nervous breakdown.

  She had sensed the personality of this man from the first glance. Now that sense was magnified. Her heart beat harder and harder, to the point that she thought her ribs would break trying to contain it. Her eyes were wild with terror-stricken panic. Why hadn’t she died back in the forest? If Jharate was going to abandon her to a fate such as this, she wished he had never saved her life!

  “You are truly beautiful,” Lord Asharen marveled, crossing over to her, one slow step following another. “It is remarkable, really.”

  Lani’s stomach turned over. She was so revolted she couldn’t even manage to throw up. He touched her face slowly with the back of his hand and let it flow down, twisting his hand at her jawline so that his fingertips finished the trace down to her neck and rested on her clavicle. She shuddered and flinched and struggled to escape his touch. But the ropes held tight and her back was flat against the post.

  “I wish I were dead!”

  She cursed the day that she came to this world. She felt a burning rage within her against this planet. Why had Jharate left her? How could he? How could he?!

  Lord Asharen took a half step back with a short laugh as the right side of his mouth twisted into a toothy snarl.

  “Patience, patience. That can be arranged. But first…”

  He sharply unclasped the belt holding the empty sheath of her sword and threw it to the ground. He then methodically undid the French braid that held her hair— one strand after the other.

  He disappeared into his tent and quickly returned with a golden brush. Slowly brushing her hair with long strokes, he arranged the free and slightly wavy locks around her— letting them fall softly about her face and shoulders, all the way down past her hips. His eyes flashed with insatiable hunger as he saw the way her hair caught the light of the setting sun and its rays danced around her.

  “You know, you should always leave your hair down. It is much more… attractive.”

  The way he was taking his time and the relish with which he said the last word pierced Lani and generated an ever-deepening loathing for this man with each syllable he uttered. Hate surged through every vein in her body. She hated him with every fiber of her being.

  She had never before hated anyone in her life in this way. He raised his hand again, gently caressing her lips with his fingers. She sank her teeth into them as hard as she could.

  He yanked his hand away and looked as the blood appeared on his fingers. His lips receded from his teeth with a devilish smile that looked more like a wild animal bearing its fangs than a man. He laughed. Lani stared in disbelief, her mouth slightly open in horror.

  “Such spirit!”

  Lani spat, trying to get the taste of his horrid hand out of her mouth. He unsheathed a dagger from his side and held it in his right hand as he approached her— leaning in extremely close— his left hand above her on the pole she was tied to, until they were face to face.

  She turned her head as far to her left as she could and pressed her lips together to keep from crying out as she felt his hot sticky breath on her neck. Again, she deeply wished that he would just kill her.

  The bright blue V-neck t-shirt she had on was the same one she had been wearing when they were on the Tower of Terror. It had a black tank over it with lacing down the middle in the front, like an old-fashioned peasant-style corset. Asharen stepped back from her a little and slowly cut a stitch from the top of the tank with his dagger, as he talked to her, exposing a little more of her blue shirt.

  “You ought to feel honored,” he said, cutting another strand.

  Lani was going numb inside. She could feel herself shutting down. Fear and desperation were taking over and she was running away somewhere deep inside to try to hide from this moment, half-hoping never to return.

  “I am the lord of all this land, and there are not many women whom I deem worthy of myself.”

  He cut yet another strand of the stitching. Lani had never imagined it would happen like this. Not even in her worst nightmares.

  She had always been so careful, sometimes even paranoid, about potential danger— and so she had thought that she would always be safe. Whenever she was alone, she had always walked with her car keys between her fingers, so that she could slash the throat and eyeballs of any man who tried anything.

  Furthermore, she never went anywhere alone at night in the first place— if she could help it— and she always took care to watch the area around her car, and to ask people to
walk her to it whenever possible. She was careful about what she wore, because her mother told her that her clothing could either keep her safer or invite trouble— depending on what message it was sending.

  She always had her date pick her up at her house and introduced him to her mom and dad— so he would know there was someone waiting for her to come home. She always went on group and double dates in high school. And, in college, almost always went on double dates— so that she wouldn’t be alone with a man— especially one she didn’t know very well and especially on the first date.

  Doing all these things had made it so she pretty much didn’t have to worry about anything. And now here she was, completely defenseless. There was nothing she could have done— nothing she could do. Nothing.

  He smiled as he reached for the last connected string of her tank. She did not want to imagine how he planned to go about the rest.

  “You really are spectacularly gorgeous,” he said slowly. “I think I am going to enjoy this more than usual.”

  Lani closed her eyes and tried to picture herself anywhere but here. She tried to escape— at least in her mind— since her body could not.

  He ran his fingers through her hair and looked her up and down as he chuckled to himself. His knife was lifting the last strand when his smile faded. His face twisted into a grimace and he gasped for air. Hearing this, Lani opened her eyes in uncertainty.

  Asharen looked at her with a confused expression. His hand moved away from Lani and down to his stomach. He brought his hand up slowly before his eyes to see the glistening cherry-red liquid now dripping from it. His brow knit in bewilderment and— still staring at Lani to the very last, as his life force left his body— he fell to the ground to the left of her.

  Lani wanted to look up from the lifeless form at her feet, in order to see who had just run the sword through her attacker. But what if it was one of Asharen’s men making a power play? What if she had just been saved, only to face the same scenario again? She didn’t think she could survive that. Finally, she forced herself to look up.