Battlefields: Veil Walkers Book Three

Chapter Five

Denmark, 1387 CE - Nobility Camp - Sumiko

The elderly woman didn't release Sumiko's wrist until they arrived at the scene. Thirty people gawked in a ring around the chaos. Within, a man in clothing that matched hers relentlessly beat three young boys with a switch. They had cut the branch green, and it still whistled through the air as it moved after the smallest child.

Sumiko cringed at the children's cry and forced her way forward. Weakened though she was, she couldn't let this continue. She didn't see how any mother could just stand here watching. Blood streaked from where the lash had connected, and the children's screams echoed across the camp.

Onlookers tried to stop her with words and physical restraint, but their attempts only gave her more courage. She turned her shoulder into the men nearest the incident and forced her way through, stopping several steps into the clearing.

Two sets of hands grabbed her from behind, one around her waist and the other pulling on her left arm.

"Are you mad?" came a voice from further afield.

"Possibly," Sumiko answered. She extended her arm and brought a short scythe into existence, glowing orchid purple in the night.

It had the intended effect. The hands that restrained her retreated, the crowd stepped further away, and noises of surprise encircled her.

Before her, the possessed tutor stopped his assault. He lowered the switch and turned toward her with a smirk. "Oh, they sent the dancer?" he laughed. "My master has taken such an interest in you, girl. You'll have a special place among his personal servants on the other side."

Sumiko twisted the scythe around to a ready position and used her free hand to press the button on her bracelet. It was supposed to be used to mark her location during a disabling migraine, but right now she would settle for backup. Others might hear it, if they were in range. Whether they could respond was beyond her control. It was her only chance at obtaining help, and, if all else failed, the others could at least find her body.

"He'll have to catch me first." Sumiko smirked. "You know who I am, and you know how this ends."

"Oh, spare me the rhetoric," the demon growled, glancing down at the children.

Two of the boys found their feet and fled, while a bold servant ducked in and lifted the third to safety.

"If you insist," Sumiko grinned. This was all an act, but one she played well. The energy that formed her weapon was little more than an illusion. What she could pull from the local node trickled back almost as soon as it arrived, and the aches from the earlier fall nagged at her mental state. She took two steps forward and raised her weapon, then rushed in to swing, hoping only to protect additional victims until others could arrive.

The scythe sliced only air, and Sumiko spun to face the attacker that she should have struck to find two of him staring back at her. Each man brought an energy sword to bear and raised them in opposite salutes. Left and Right. Okay, she could handle this.

Sumiko dismissed the scythe in favor of her battle fans, one in each hand, and took a long breath. If this was to be her last dance, it would be her best. She shifted her weight, let go of her worries, and threw herself into motion. She scored a prompt hit on the left-handed man and gasped as the weapon struck true.

How in the...?

Keegan's sutras.

She blinked as she remembered them in her pocket. As she spun and lowered her leading arm into an enticing feint, she felt the power flow from them. He had lent her his energy in the most literal fashion, and, in doing so, he had given her a chance to survive.