Silver Winds

Chapter 32

Astra had just finished setting away Volos' items when she heard a loud scream. She stiffened and her gaze shot over to Jun, who was leaning against the cave wall. He pushed himself from the wall, his arms still folded over his chest. The coat he was wearing stopped at the shoulder, showing off his arms. He trotted over to Astra.

"Are you well enough to come with me to see what that was?" Jun asked. He held his hand out toward her and she grabbed it. He pulled her up into an upright position, and she swept past him.

"Of course I am," she announced. "Ameqran, Drago, you stay here and guard the entrance. Ameqran, protect Drago."

"Got it." The simple sentence left Ameqran's mouth, and Astra hauled her bow over her shoulder. She attached her quiver to her hip, and slipped out of the mouth of the cave. The rumbling of the waterfall seemed like nothing compared to the magnitude of the scream she had just heard. Astra's lips stiffened in a grimace as she thought of Kay, the only one who would have a voice as high pitched as she had heard. Unless a random Mistport citizen was that deep in the woods, but that seemed highly unlikely.

"Jun, where do you think we should look first?" she questioned, rounding on the Kunese man. He stared into Astra's eyes for just a moment before answering.

"I'd guess east," he murmured. "That's where the other Munrskipans probably are. And Berg's no doubt out for blood."

"He really hates me, doesn't he?" Astra mused, hauling herself up the side of the ravine. Her quiver weighed heavy on her side, and she swung about a few times, but she did not fall. Soon, she landed on the rock above. She rested her hand on her lower abdomen for just a moment, as if urging the slight ache to fade into nothingness. Then she stood and jogged east, away from the sun. Jun followed behind her, his bow swinging with his arm. Both were strung, a precaution taken for the day after Astra had discovered that some of the Munrskipans were nearby.

Sounds of metal ringing on metal flooded her ears, along with curses and cries. Astra picked up her pace, and plucked an arrow from her quiver. She nocked the arrow, and motioned for Jun to circle around toward the other direction. Jun nodded in silence and melted away, as if he had never been there. Astra pulled her string back as the fight came into her view.

Red coated the snow, in viscous splatters that chilled Astra. Standing were three men. On one end, closest to Astra, was her brother, Volos. He held in his hand a small knife that was meant to be used for throwing. On the opposite end of the clearing was Berg and one of his lackeys, Lars Caisen. Each was armed with a seaxe and they were desperately trying to cut off a limb of Volos. None of them were making much noise, but the woman in the snow was. Astra recognized Kay as she flailed on the ground. Curses and screams flowed from her lips like vomit, and she writhed in the snow, trying to reach at her back. When she rolled over, Astra gasped. A huge red gash had been opened in her upper back, just where she couldn't reach. Astra could clearly see the outline of what made her female, and knew that her bindings must have been cut.

With the knowledge of that weighing on her mind, she pulled the string back. The three men were so engrossed in what they were doing that they didn't notice her wild and blatant movement. She drew the string back to her ear, her anchor point. She aimed first for Lars' heart, but after careful consideration shifted her aim to his leg. She took in a deep breath, released half of the air, then let her fingers slip from the tough cord. The vibrations shook the air around Astra, and her arrow took flight.

Because of Lars' rapid movement, the arrow just skimmed the back of his thigh, but that was enough to get his attention. He cried out and fell to the ground, grasping at the back of his leg. For minutes after, small whimpers left his mouth, showing the pain coursing through him.