Priestess

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Her body went rigid with terror. “Coen!”

Instantly alert, Coen followed her gaze to the smoke. The town’s warning bell sang toward them, echoing off the mountain faces. Closing her eyes, she counted off the clangs. But they just kept going. The codes stopped after six. That many pulls meant only one thing. They were under attack.

Ara’s gaze darted to her home. She reached out with her soul and encountered her mother’s familiar presence. I have to hurry home. The moment the decision was made, the warning came, Danger.

Danger? Coming from home? That could only mean one thing. She dug her heels into Lodan’s sides. He shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. It was all she could do to hang on.

Just before her home came into view, she sat back hard. Lodan slid to a stop. Swinging her leg over his withers, she slipped down. “Stay out of sight,” she said as Coen slid in beside her. Hunching down, she hurried up the rise. Near the top, she and Coen dropped to their bellies and crawled the last few paces.

Ara peeked over the rippling grasses. Men milled about, tearing things apart. They wore strangely cut clothes in muted colors of brown and green. Her mother stood tall in the midst of them, her hands bound. Blood fanned out from below her nose to the front of her shirt.

“Assassins?” Ara forced her mouth to form the word.

“Only one is an Assassin. The rest are Kanovian scouts,” Coen corrected her. “I’d say at least 30 of them.”

She didn’t know whether to be relieved or more afraid, but as she watched, one of the Kanovians struck her mother in the face. Ara settled on cold fury. Gripping Qessa’s shoulder, the man shoved her inside the house.

“They’re beating her.” It wasn’t a question. She could feel it. Her throat ached with the tears that wouldn’t come.

 “Where are Tenan and Kendrake?” Coen asked. He must have seen that Ara’s face had turned the color of ash. His voice fell into that of an officer leading his men into battle, “Use your bow and keep your distance. They will retreat into the buildings for cover. I’ll draw them out. You keep firing. Don’t get off Lodan. Keep your cap on, and if I can’t . . .”

He clamped his mouth shut and looked at the ground as if to gather himself, “If something happens, run and keep running. No horse can outrun Lodan.”

Every part of her body started to shake. “Run where?”

He gripped her arms and shook her. “Ara, I need you! You’re a better archer than I—you can do this.”

She shut her eyes. It had to be done. She took a deep breath and held it before blowing out hard. Without a word, she hurried back to Lodan and swung onto his back. She desperately wished for her saddle, but it couldn’t be helped. Grateful at least that she never left home unarmed, she fitted an arrow and set her face.

Nodding from atop Gyniv, Coen jammed his heels into her side.

Even with the head start, Lodan outpaced Gyniv. As soon as Ara was within range, she took aim at a random Kanovian. The twang of her bow sounded in her ear as her arrow streaked free.

She knew it would hit its mark the moment she released it. She saw the Kanovian stagger, her arrow in his side. The realization that she’d killed a man exploded inside her. Pushing her despair aside, she had another arrow nocked before her first kill crumpled to the ground.

From behind her, Coen fired his bow, downing three Kanovian’s. Ara only managed a couple more before her targets all scrambled for cover. Lodan eased from a gallop to a walk.