Майкл Салливан - Deep Magic. Fourth Collection

Suddenly he charged, swinging the weapon at Kai as his companions swarmed toward them. Kai would have met his end right there, but Anna darted in, faster than any fighter Kai had ever seen. She deflected the hatchet with one of her blades, expertly flicking the weapon out of the man’s hand before slicing her second blade across his throat.

As the man crumpled to the ground, Kai finally found his feet, but it was too late. The men were advancing to surround them, and Anna was already fending off another attacker.

“Run!” she hissed again. “I’ll be right behind you!”

This time he was able to listen. He turned on his heel and ran, shutting out the image of the blood pouring from the man’s throat. Had he the time, he would have vomited, but he was now too intent on keeping himself alive as the men shouted after him.

He ran and ran into the dark woods. He wasn’t sure where Anna was. She said she’d be right behind him, but he couldn’t spare the time to look. Instead he charged onward into the night, forcing his legs to carry him faster, though his lungs and bruised ribs screamed out in agony.

He ran until his legs finally gave out, and he collapsed into the dirt. He rolled over, panting and dripping with sweat as he gazed up at the still moon. He could no longer hear the shouts of the men pursuing him, but cold fear still clutched his heart. Where in the blazes was Anna?

ANNA GROANED AND lifted a hand to her throbbing head. How had that blasted brute gotten the drop on her? The last thing she remembered was felling another one of the bandits, then something slammed into her skull and knocked her to the ground.

Though she couldn’t remember it, something must have hit her in the ribs too. There was a massive weight on her chest. She tried to move, but something rough was pressed against her back.

Her eyes snapped open as full awareness hit her. The weight she felt was a rope looped several times around her chest, pinning her to a tree. The light of dawn was slowly creeping in. She’d been unconscious all night.

She blinked rapidly as her sight went from blurry to clear, then groaned again. She was in a seated position, tied to a tree just a few paces away from where the captured women were tied. One of them was already awake, staring at her with sad blue eyes from beneath matted russet hair.

Her panic increasing, Anna groped at the ropes securing her chest, but could find no knots. It must have been secured on the other side of the tree, the trunk far too wide for her arms to flail anywhere near the knots.

She gritted her teeth and tried to come up with a plan. Kai was most likely dead, so he’d be of little help. There was no way she was getting out of the ropes. Her daggers had been taken away, and . . . she halted her racing thoughts as she shifted her right foot in her boot. Curses , they’d taken the dagger there too. The thought of the filthy men thoroughly searching her unconscious body for weapons sent a chill of revulsion down her spine.

She took deep, even breaths, willing herself not to vomit. Back to making a plan. She wasn’t getting out of the ropes, but they’d have to untie her when they moved on for the day. Else they’d leave her to either starve or be eaten by wild animals. She found both options preferable to whatever else the men might do to her.

If, however, the men decided to lump her in with the other women and take her with them, she should be able to find a way to escape. Even outnumbered, she could outwit these men with two hands tied behind her back…or shackled with heavy irons.

“Morning, princess,” a rough voice said from behind her. “Not so tough without your blades?”

She winced. She’d nearly forgotten about the men she’d killed. She might end up lumped in with the other women, but she’d surely be punished for her crimes along the way.

The man stepped into her line of sight. He was younger than he sounded, perhaps only just past his twentieth year, though the scars littering his bare, muscled arms told the story of a rough youth. He sneered from beneath grubby, dark bangs, showcasing his numerous missing teeth.

“Who was your friend?” he questioned. “Will he come back for you?”

So he wasn't dead? She smirked. “A casual acquaintance, nothing more.” Even if Kai was still alive, he wouldn't likely return for her, but she still saw no benefit to putting the men on their guards.

“You don't seem too sore that he abandoned you,” the man observed.

She glared up at him. If he thought she would pour her heart out to him, he was dead wrong. “What do you intend to do with me?” she asked evenly.

He smirked. “You think you’re any better than the rest of our fair damsels?” he gestured to the woman tied to the adjacent tree. “You’ll all be sold to new masters, though I might take the time to find you a particularly loving owner. Some of the men you killed were my friends.”

She took deep, even breaths. If she got her hands on a blade, she’d send this foul man right to the grave along with his other friends .

“No clever retort?” he asked, then spat in the dirt near her feet. “Fine,” he continued. “We’re just another day’s journey from the drop off point. You’ll change your attitude long before then.” He gazed lasciviously at the other women. “Isn’t that right, ladies?”

The redhead who’d met her gaze before flinched, but the others barely reacted. All Anna could think was broken, they’d all been broken. She’d avenge them, if it was the last thing she did.

She smiled sweetly at her captor. “My attitude will only change once I’ve just cut out your tongue, and you’re hanging from a tree by your entrails.”

The insult won her a kick in the ribs. Her vision blacked for several seconds.

When it returned, the man had walked away, and the red-haired woman was watching her with a smirk on her lips. Anna returned the smirk with a nod. She knew without asking that when the time came, at least this one girl would be there to help her.

THINK, THINK, THINK, Kai repeated in his mind as he trudged through the dense forest. His body was unbelievably tired, and he was starved, but Anna was surely faring far worse. He’d gotten close enough to the camp to see her tied to that tree. He’d been entirely ready to sneak in and save her before that oily, dark-haired man showed up. He’d noted the small axe at the man’s hip, and the dagger jutting from his boot, and had known he would stand no chance against him…especially not after the humiliating show he’d put on the night before, running for his life while Anna cut down their foes one by one.

He sighed, kicking his boot into the mucky soil in irritation. Something small and brown came loose from the ground and toppled out of the tall grass. He crouched down and picked up a small mushroom, then took a deep whiff of its porous flesh.

His nose wrinkled at the sweet scent. He’d encountered such mushrooms the previous year. They grew in sticky soil with a high clay content, usually beneath the shade of tall grass or other plants. Because of their tendency to hide, he hadn’t noticed the batch growing in their pasture until half of the sheep had eaten them. They’d gone utterly mad, stumbling all over the place and running into fences. Some had even died.

He made to drop the mushroom back into its hiding place, then stopped. He might not be able to disarm the men holding Anna captive, but hallucinations accompanied by violent stomach rumblings just might. The only problem was, how would he convince the men to eat the mushrooms?

Leaving that issue for later, he frantically began searching the grass for more growths, plucking them and piling them into the hem of his shirt as he went. He knew he was quite mad for even considering such a plan, but it was the only one he had.