Ru Emerson - Keep on the Borderlands

“I agree,” Eddis said. “If there’s nothing else we can seeout here, I say head back to camp, and decide who goes…”

She fell silent as Willow held up a hand. He was gazing back the way they’d come.

“Enemy. Men there,” he whispered sharply, and drew his sword.

Jerdren shook his head dubiously but drew his sword as a bowstring twanged loudly, and a man yelled in pain. Someone else swore.

M’Baddah and Willow were already running quietly and swiftlythrough the trees, Eddis and the others right behind them. The elf held up a hand as they neared the camp and gestured with his chin. A man lay dead a few paces ahead, between them and the camp. Three others were shooting arrows into the small clearing, and as they watched, one of the men fell. More yelling from the far side of the camp. Jerdren touched Eddis’ shoulder to get her attention.

“We’ll send M’Baddah and Willow around the north side. Keepthose for ourselves.” He grinned tightly as the elf vanished quietly into thetrees. “I’d say-” he was counting under his breath-“about now .”

There was more yelling north of them, all at once, and then M’Baddah’s voice: “Eddis, go!”

She threw herself at the nearest of the archers with a hawklike scream. The man yelped in surprise as he came around, the bow falling from his hands, but as she closed with him, he drew a dagger from his sleeve and brought it up in a slashing backhand, inside her down-swing. Pain flared hot and sharp across her cheek. Her earlobe stung, and blood ran down her neck. She fell back a pace, and the man came after her.

“Fool!” she snarled and lunged. The sword went deep into hisbelly, and the hilt was torn from her hand as he fell. She set one foot on his chest, fought the weapon free, and brought it down in a hard arc across his throat. He shuddered, went limp. Cursing steadily, she shifted the blade to her left hand and felt her face cautiously. A long cut ran from her jaw nearly to her nose. It stung, and her ear throbbed. Most of the blood came from a small nick at the base of the lobe. Messy, a little uncomfortable, but nothing more.

The clatter of fighting ceased, as suddenly as it had began. Jerdren had one of the men by his leather jerkin, a thick-bladed dagger held against the fellow’s throat. He looked at her in sudden concern.

“Much hurt, there, Eddis? You’re all bloody.”

She shook her head.

“Good. Hey, the camp! Coming in!” Another glance at Eddis.“Need my help?”

“You deal with him. He clipped my ear, that’s all.”

She checked the fallen men. The one who’d been wounded justas they came up was huddled in on himself, moaning pitifully. She shifted the sword back to her right again and tapped the back of his head with it. “You’renot dying. You’re making too much noise to be hurt badly,” she said harshly.“Get up. You wanted in our camp? Fine, let’s go.”

It took a little prodding, but he finally edged away from the tip of her blade and fumbled to his feet.

She gazed at him. Dirty, ragged. “You attacked us a couplenights ago, just inside the forest, didn’t you?”

Silence. He stared at her slack-jawed.

She nudged him with the flat of her blade. “Go on, move it.”

There were three other ragged, thin men already in the clearing. One lay on his side, eyes closed. His shirt was soaked with blood, and he seemed to be barely breathing. The one Jerdren had by the jerkin wasn’tinjured that she could tell. The other two bore cuts but weren’t much hurt. Twoof the Keep men took the man Eddis was guarding as Blorys came across the open ground, his eyes wide.

“You’re hurt!”

“It’s not bad, really,” Eddis said. She was suddenly verytired and wanted nothing more than to just collapse. “My ear,” she added with asmile. “You know how ears and scalp wounds bleed.”

“Your face-gods, Eddis!”

“It’s shallow, just a cut. M’Baddah can-”

Mead came up and took her arm. “I have a charm, Eddis. We’llheal it.”

“You might need that later,” she began, but Blorys and themage both shook their heads.

“It would be bad for morale,” the elf said, “to have our onlyswordswoman scarred. Besides, it is my charm, and therefore my decision.”

“All right,” she said, “but later. There’s some unfinishedbusiness first.”

One of their men lay facedown in the clearing, an arrow protruding from his back, and three others had been injured, though none badly.

Jerdren, M’Baddah and Willow had already begun questioningtheir prisoners, and the wounded man Eddis had brought in was stammering out answers, despite curses and threats from the man Jers had disarmed and dragged in. Two Keep men stood over him with drawn swords, which Eddis thought was all that kept him from throwing himself on the fellow.

“Yeah, we were with those guys that ambushed you the othernight. But how’d we know you were gonna be down here by the road? Couple fellasfollowed your tracks the next morning, and you were going north.”

“If you’d been smart,” Jerdren said evenly, “you’d all havekept going the way you were running when we were done with you. Why didn’t you?”

The fellow gave him a sullen look. “Because he said heknew where we could find these men.” He pointed to the loud man under guard.“And because we’re city men mostly, not hunters, and we haven’t had a decentmeal in days! We’d never make it back into the realm, so why try? What else wasthere-go up to the gates of the Keep and beg for bread?”

Jerdren was quiet for a long moment. The wounded man watched him warily. “Eddis,” Jers said finally. “All of you. You know what we have to dohere, right?”

Eddis nodded. “It was a mistake letting any of them go thefirst time. We do that now, and they’ll attack us again. Or-”

“Or they’ll get lucky, find the men they’re looking for, anduse the information about us to get into that camp,” Blorys finished.

The wounded man paled “You-you can’t just…!”

“Can’t just kill you?” Jerdren’s lips twitched. “Would yourather we tied you up and left you here? There’s a mountain lion out here, andthere’s orcs, and worse things. The castellan of the Keep’s given us a charge.We have the right to execute lawless men like you.” He turned and caught hold ofthe fellow he’d brought in, dragging him cursing and snarling to his feet. “Youfirst. At least it’ll shut you up.”

M’Baddah came across. “Two men to hold him for me. I havedone this before.” He glanced at Eddis. “Let us do this and be done, quickly,”he added. He turned and walked into the woods. Two Keep men came after with the ragged prisoner between them, and two others with drawn bows, in case he somehow broke free. The wounded man gazed after them, stunned, then buried his face in his hands and wept harshly.

Eddis took a deep breath, and Blorys wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

She nodded, not trusting her voice at the moment.

The sun was nearly down by the time the last of the bandits was taken away-the wounded man, still weeping, had to be carried because hislegs wouldn’t hold him. The other bodies were dragged off into the brush.M’Baddah was gone for some time after that, dealing in his own way withcoldblooded killing, Eddis thought. Mead had tended to her face, and she was grateful for the sudden lack of pain, though all the fuss seemed foolish.

Jerdren looked around the clearing finally and sighed. “Allthat for seven miserable coppers. It seems we keep piling up dead enemies around the campsites, doesn’t it? I say this time we leave ’em right here, and we moveon.”

“No argument,” Eddis said, when it became clear they were allwaiting for her. “And don’t fuss over me, please. I don’t ask it or need it. Itwasn’t cut that badly to begin with, and it’s healed.” The shoulder and sleeveof her shirt were stiff with blood. She’d have to change into her spare and washthe thing before she slept.