Priestess

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Firelight danced with the night, creating unnaturally deep shadows behind the trees—shadows that Ara rushed for whenever Reper looked the other way. She was as silent as falling snow, and twice as cold.

These men deserved to be called men no more. After tonight, they’d be wraiths. Rejected by the warmth and light and forced to wander naked through the cold snows for eternity. She meant to see to it.

She thought she saw a flicker of movement to her right. It had to be Bomin. Even at their quietest, Miners made as much racket as a bull through brush. An owl sounded from somewhere to her left. Jarrer. Not the best imitation she’d ever heard, but only an experienced woodsman would notice.

At the signal, she rose up slightly, her arrowhead gleaming in the dim light. She counted to five before releasing. But just as the feathers streaked from her fingers, Reper turned.

He hissed as the arrow sliced through his arm instead of his heart. His gaze darted to hers. He gave a warning shout as he drew his blade. His companion bolted from his bedroll only to be met by Jarrer’s arrow. Within moments, Bomin’s axe came down with a solid thwack.

            His companion dead, Reper bolted. Ara dashed after him. She kept her arrow knocked as she followed the broad expanse of his back. The perfect place to sink her arrow. But he darted and dashed. She didn’t have a clear shot.

            The ground beneath her sloped sharply. Tiring, she struggled to keep her bow up. It really isn’t that much different from hunting a deer. She tried to tell herself. Except the deer wouldn’t turn and try to kill her.

            He made a hard right. Moment’s behind him, she turned. But he was gone. The vegetation was thicker here. A good place for an ambush.

She immediately went into a crouch, her eyes scanning. She saw nothing. Heard nothing. Sweat began collecting on her skin. In the silence, even her pounding heart sounded abnormally loud.

Concentrating on keeping her breaths even and low, she studied Reper’s tracks. Was he waiting for her? Should she hide and wait for him to reveal himself? But what if he was still running? She might lose him. Where were Bomin and Jarrer? Did she dare lower her Shield to Fragment?

Risk, risk, risk, her mind tisked. We all have to take them occasionally. Still, it was hard to let go of her Shield’s safety, like lowering the drawbridge to her soul.

Fragmenting to the second, she searched the area. She couldn’t find him. He must have Shielded. With her back to a tree, she closed her eyes and Fragmented to the Seventh. Her soul searched for voids. Several minutes passed before she found him heading west.

But as she pulled it back, she saw someone coming toward her. In fact, he was nearly upon her. Ara sprang to her feet, her sword halfway out of its sheath.

“You should never Fragment to such a degree unless someone is protecting you.” Jarrer frowned severely at her. She lowered her sword to her side and concentrated on the empty mountaintop so that he wouldn’t see her shame.

Jarrer withdrew his Fragment and whispered, “How long will you live if you insist on learning everything the hard way?”

“I had to find him,” she said.

“No. What you had to do was stay alive. Remember that Ara. Live first, worry about the rest later.”

She started at the sound like a bulky, out of breath animal thrashing through the forest. Tensing, she raised her sword.