The Wild Hunt (Part One)

Stowaway

"What are palace guards doing all the way out here?"

I felt my heart sink all the way to the bottom of the ocean. Kona turned to look at me with concern in his eyes.

"There here for you, aren't they?"

I gulped and nodded. "I-I didn't think he would find me so fast."

"The king?"

"Yes."

Kona looked down and I saw his eyes moving back and forth as he formulated a plan. We stood out in the coral reef, fifteen yards from the beach. There were at least four palace guards on the shore staring at us. One of them was dressed in slightly different apparel. He wasn't fully clad in armor like his counterparts, but wore a breast plate and shields on his thigh. From our distance I saw something twinkling at his hip but couldn't make out what it was from here.

"We need to make it back to the beach. Our supplies are up there." Kona said, surveying the stretch of sand.

The guards looked like golden spires jutting from the sand and their armor dazzled in the bright, sunny light. It looked like they were glowing.

I nodded. "How? If we move, surely they would move as well."

Kona chewed the inside of his cheek. He looked anxious and I felt the guilt pile up inside my chest. I didn't want him to die. Those guards were highly trained to kill without mercy. And the man that stood in the middle of them had to be a higher ranking officer from his attire. No telling what he was capable of.

"Maybe we don't run. Maybe we surrender." Kona whispered.

"What?" I breathed, my heart hammering away. No. No. I can't go back. I won't go back. I can't become that porcelain doll again.

I felt like I couldn't breathe. There was so much water around me. Was I drowning? I clutched at my chest, stumbling backwards.

"Sae. Sae!" Kona grabbed my arm and pulled me against him. "I'm not gonna let them take you away."

I sucked in deep breathes of air before my heart started to calm. I looked up at Kona and his eyes looked like the sun. I felt there warmth pour into my soul and I knew his words were honest.

"Then what do we do?"

He grimaced. "We surrender. We allow them to get close. Close enough for me to disarm them and for you to run."

"No! Kona. Those are palace guards. There trained to kill and kill swiftly. You wouldn't... you would... no. Please, no." I gripped at his arms.

"Sae." Konas stern voice snapped me to attention. "I can handle myself. You forget I was trained to fight as a Tewase. Quite frankly, the guards should be scared of me."

I searched his eyes. I couldn't tell if he was being humorous or serious. Perhaps he really could stand a chance against them. At least against one. There were still three others he had to deal with and that was too many for one man. But I knew I had to trust him. I had to believe he would escape from them somehow.

"Okay," I breathed, leaning my head against his chest. I breathed him in one last time. "I trust you."

Kona gave my arms a tight squeeze before leading us back towards the beach. Every step felt heavy and impossible, but I kept my breathing steady. I focused on the drops of water that clung to the ends of Konas hair. He moved slowly, his hand around my wrist, he pulled me through the water behind him. I couldn't see past his broad shoulders but I felt the water around my legs get shallower and shallower, until we stood in damp, wet sand.

"What are palace guards doing way out here in Murdock?" Kona asked, slightly amused.

I heard the shifting of armor before one of them spoke.