Can
Will Must
Sandra stared hard at the
thief's hand edging toward his knife as he stared towards where his
thieving comrades had disappeared into the thick, green habitat
surrounding him.
She wondered if Kendra's plan
would work as she moved slowly to a poised position at the edge of
the clearing.
“How will I get rid of him
now that she's left him behind?”she pondered. Her mind flitted to
possibilities and managed to get distracted. She thought of how much
easier it would be if she had the power to bring down lightning. She
could get rid of the threat with one smashing strike. However then
there would be the potential damage to the injured merchant to
consider, as well as herself and anyone else in the forest. Would it
be possible for the lighting to cause a fire? If so how long would it
take for it to spread? Would she have time to put it out or would she
have to peg it? Possibly grabbing the merchant and dragging him
along. Could she bear to leave a living, innocent man to face the
raging inferno she had created?
The sharp hiss of steel
brought her mind back to the present. How long had she lost focus?
The thief held the knife over the merchant, a sneer on his lips.
“Too bad you won't tell us
where to go, it was a simple question.”
“The north! The north! There
are tons of cities in the north! Just keep heading that way and
you'll be able to find someone who knows better.”
“Too vague... too... vague,
we might as well kill you on sight for such useless information.”
Sandra was breathing harder,
she couldn't believe she'd lost concentration! As her confidence
flickered she forced herself to strengthen her resolve. She can do
this. She will. She must.
The stone arced through the
air and fizzed behind the thief's head only to crash into the bracken
on the far side of the open area. The thief was alert at once and
turning towards the sound, knife warily waving out in front of him.
Sandra was off as soon as she threw the stone, bare feet skipping
across the ground, breath shallow in her ears.
Inside her mind she was
praying that he wouldn't turn round. It was such a simple trick but
it could work as long as she was quick, silent and unrelenting. Her
foot snagged a thorn and lip tightened a the thief yelled
“Who goes there?! Come and
face me!” Raw power and aggression evident in his voice, with arm
open as if in welcome to an attack. The merchant on the ground gasped
as the thief was struck hard against his skull. Sandra felt the
juddering, crunching blow through her arm at the impact of her blunt
weapon. The thief saw white and staggered but managed to whip round
the knife sawing at the air. The stick cracked and broke once again
against the thief's head. Sandra had managed to anticipate and circle
around the knife's path as she moved in for her attack. As the thief
fell sprawling onto the floor Sandra went to her pack to remove her
irons and lock him up. She hurried, having no idea how successful
Kendra had been. Once done she grabbed the merchant and left the
clearing leaving the thief locked up in the centre. She had no time
to escort the villain to Batesmoor but if Kendra did come back they
could take the thieves, the wine and the merchant together. However,
if Kendra had failed and potentially had been killed Sandra was
losing potential running time by waiting. The merchant was wheezing
next to her, occasionally questioning why they weren't running.
Sandra waited and listened to the sounds of the forest. A bird
calling to it's mate among the treetops and a rustle to her left as a
small mammal moved through the debris from a fallen tree. There was
no sound of a return by Kendra or the thieves yet. She stopped and
waited to see the consequences of her decision. She could only wait a
few minutes.
Kendra sprinted through the
undergrowth, wine under her arm. She didn't need the thieves to
follow her far, just a few hundred yards to seal their demise.
Unfortunately, they were proving better sprinters than she would have
guessed and were hurtling after her down the path. The closest had a
knife drawn with a look part of hunger, part of fury on his face. His
long gangly legs producing heavy footfalls that resounded around
Kendra's head as she ran. The second was just a step behind him as
far as she could tell, his pace more considered more measured. As she
glanced back however she saw the look of fury on him too.
“Good,” thought Kendra as
the gap between them closed further and further. Their heavy
breathing just behind spurred her on as they scrabbled and jumped
down the cluttered and unpredictable forest path. She jumped over a
particularly hazardous root and landed well, only to hear a pursuer
come jumping over a second later. They were almost upon her! She
zig-zagged as the nearest made a lurch for her feeling the knife
whistle past dangerously close to her back. She twisted away and
stumbled against a solid rock or root hidden under the carpet of
leaves. She fell backwards watching as a look of triumph emerged
across the thief's face. She gasped aloud as the thief made a second
lunge. At that moment her foot kicked out catapulting her to the side
of the path. The thief's momentum carried him forward, past the point
where she fell to launch head first forward through the blanket of
leaves that covered the trap below. The second thief was a moment
behind cartwheeling his arms as the depth of the trap was revealed to
him. Kendra had quickly bounced back from her fake fall to pivot
round with arms planted on the edge of the trap and feet spiralling
round to kick the remaining thief in the backside and send him
sprawling into his comrade below.
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