Anton Anderson - The Seekers - Soul Ties

«Be silent, or it’ll be a very slow and painful death for you. Nod twice if you’ll be quiet,» Shai whispered.

The igni’s face, twisted in a grimace of hatred, didn’t show a hint of fear or pain. Even when Shai pressed her blade harder in her neck, shedding more blood. Finally, their prisoner nodded twice. Sabiri took a gag and shoved it into the igni’s mouth, then secured it with a piece of jute. Only then did Shai release the igni’s throat, but Greta never stopped aiming right at the igni’s face. Sabiri checked her limbs and torso for any damage, but those were only bruises. She grabbed the rope, tying their prisoner’s hands, and pushed her forward.

They followed Shai back to their spot. The scouts looked very pleased to see a prisoner. Now they needed to do something about the rest of the trespassers.

«What shall we do? Shout out for them? Should we try to hit them in the legs before that?» Sabiri whispered as quietly as she could right into Shai’s ear.

Shai did the same to Greta. After a few seconds Greta answered in kind.

«I wouldn’t risk it. It’s quite a distance, and they are wearing greaves. If we miss, they would run.»

«Call them out, then.»

They found a good place to hide from potential arrows, made sure their hostage was neatly hidden behind the trees. Then Shai started yelling.

«Hey, you two! We got your friend. Drop your weapons far away, stay where you are and she’ll be unharmed!»

Sabiri couldn’t see what was going on. A second passed without any noise, then anoth – Two scouts let their arrows loose!

«Keep an eye on her!» Sabiri left the igni to the scouts.

Shai and Greta were already in pursuit, yet their targets were smart enough to split up. Sabiri decided to follow Greta, while one of the scouts joined Shai.

Rushing through spiked branches and dense leaves, Sabiri tried to catch up with Greta. She leapt across a thin stream, almost fell down tripping over some branch, climbed up a hill just to run down from it a few seconds later. The forest was getting less and less dense now, so Sabiri could finally see her target. At times Greta seemed to be catching up to the igni, but then she’d veer onto a different trajectory time and again! It was hard to guess if she really knew where she was running, but she never looked around, and never second guessed her next move.

They were running along the edge of a river now. Sabiri was sure that sooner or later the igni would return to the forest, so she needed to get there first. She re-entered the woods just deep enough to be able to watch Greta chase the igni. Would the igni run towards her after all? Or did Sabiri just fool herself? Greta quickly turned her head to spot Sabiri but she couldn’t see her anymore. Sabiri was sure that Greta understood what was going on.

There! The igni made a hard turn left towards the forest. Sabiri changed her course to get even deeper into the woods. It looked like the igni still hadn’t noticed her as she made yet another turn out of Greta’s reach. Now she was running right into Sabiri’s claws!

The igni realized too late. She tried to react, made another turn, which Sabiri mirrored… Bam! Greta pushed herself into the igni’s back and they both crashed to the ground. Before the igni’s body could stop tumbling, Sabiri jumped on her. The enemy tried to push her off, to reach for her sword, but Greta was already there to help. They seized the igni’s arms, but she did not surrender. Her legs kept pummeling anywhere she could reach, as many times as she could manage. Roaring like crazy, she kept twisting and jerking her body, trying to get free. Her head kept moving, trying to get the enemy with those long, sharp horns. Her tail was whipping them with a berserk persistency and speed.

Sabiri and Greta clung tight, keeping themselves away from the igni’s sharp teeth, claws, and horns the best they could, ignoring the hits she was managing to land. By the time the strength finally left their target, both of them were covered with blood, cuts, and bruises. But the igni could be faking. With extreme care, they locked her arms and legs, and pressed a blade to her throat. Only then were they able to tie her up and catch their breath.

«Fuck! Why did they have to be the igni?» Greta struggled to catch her breath. «Why couldn’t they have been the viri, or the ros?»

Sabiri wiped sweat streaming from her forehead, but it immediately got wet again, so she gave up.

«Say thanks that we’re igni as well. Would we ever be able to catch her otherwise?»

«If we weren’t, would they run? They’d rip us apart right there, in that opening.»

Still breathing heavily, Sabiri looked around. «Speaking of „there,“ where are we?»

Greta stood up and checked their prisoner’s ties one more time. «I don’t care. We’ll figure it out. Just need to rest first.»

Sabiri felt lucky for not having lost her bag in the chase. She dug out a few pieces of dried meat and gave one to Greta. Her whole body ached; deep cuts and bruises on her arms and legs wouldn’t let her move easily. But seeing their prisoner tied up and secured made the whole thing worth it.

After finishing their meal, Greta and Sabiri untied their prisoner from the tree and returned to the river. Even though their prize could barely move, she kept making it as hard for them as possible. She was constantly «tripping over» and «falling down,» pushing Greta to the side, trying to yell through her gag. When she got tired of yelling, she decided to just keep constantly humming something loud and irritating. To screw with her captors even further, she crapped and peed herself. But Sabiri and Greta didn’t show any indication of how they were feeling, didn’t give her any information as to what was effective and what wasn’t, as to what could get on their nerves and what was useless. They just kept dragging her in silence.

Near the riverbank, Sabiri climbed one of the tall trees on the hilltop and looked around. There it was – the Big Market. Although it was so very far away, the mere scale of that thing made it an excellent landmark. So, the Lake should be… There it was! If they could walk there in a straight line, then it shouldn’t take too long.

Yet because of their prisoner’s resistance, it was almost lunch time when they finally reached the Lake. They emerged from the forest near Poinistan; their red banners, depicting a fish pierced by a harpoon, were noticeable from afar. Good thing Sabiri had Greta with her. The guards near the gates and on the wall clearly didn’t expect to see such a group but recognizing their war mistress resolved the situation immediately.

Upon arrival at Poinistan, the procession was led straight to the prison where Shai and the others were awaiting them. Located in a basement of the barracks, the dungeon was small, but the igni were never known for having many prisoners. There was some food and water on a table. Both prisoners were sitting in a cell, drilling their captors with eyes full of hatred. And now the third one joined them. It was good to see that no one was able to escape. All the other cells were empty, though Sabiri didn’t know how common that was.

«Glad everyone’s alive, including our prisoners.» Sabiri smirked.

Shai offered her a mug of water. «You look a bit beaten.»

«And you look like you’ve been swimming in a river of mud,» Greta said, already chewing on a piece of meat.

«Because that’s what happened…» Shai started to explain.

After sharing their tales and finishing their snacks, the company finally turned their attention to other matters.

«So, we need to talk to them.» Shai walked towards the cell.

The guards let them in, locking the door behind them. There was barely enough room for this many people, but everyone managed to find a place to stand.