Travellers

New Strategies

Amber could feel their sneering faces, even with her eyes closed.  Everything had happened so fast that her head was still spinning from the sudden change of circumstances.  One minute she was sitting by a fire trying to come to grips with the cold rage on Alex's face, and the next she had on the back of a horse galloping away from the village.  She had only managed to get out a single scream before her face was suddenly stinging from a rough slap to her cheek.

Bastards! she thought viciously.  Slapping women must make them feel so brave, when, in reality, they are nothing but cowardly bullies!

Squeezing her eyes shut tighter, she tried to concentrate on using her power.  She had tried many times before since her capture to try and escape, but each time she failed.  She realized that when her stress levels were high, the concentration that she needed was down.  Even with the training she had had, it was still an obstacle she was going to have to learn to overcome.  If she survived.  Opening her eyes, she looked straight down, refusing to look her captors in the eye, unwilling to have their gloating faces embedded in her memory.

I'm not getting out of this, she thought, as the darkness around her seemed to close in.  Alex probably doesn't even know I'm missing - not that he'd even care.  Just as these thoughts were passing through her defeated mind, her attention was suddenly caught by the loud thud of something falling on the ground.  Looking up, she saw one of her captors on the ground, a dagger in his back, and the remaining three men were in an uproar.  Pulling out their swords, they stood back to back, looking wildly around for where the attack had come from, and for the first time since her capture, she began to feel the slightest ray of hope.  Alex.  He had come!

"Did you see where it came from?" one of the hunters asked frantically, his voice rough with fear.

"Shut up!" another voice spoke out angrily, but the tremors in his voice gave him away.  The third man remained silent, his eyes combing the darkness for any sign of attack.  They continued to search, and Amber found herself doing the same, but there was nothing she could see beyond the darkness of the trees.

"Maybe whoever it is has had their fun," the third man finally said, dropping his guard.  But just as the words were out of his mouth, he suddenly let out a choked cry and wiped at his mouth.  Pulling it away, he realized there was blood dripping from it.

Amber's head swivelled round to the man and her eyes grew wide at the sight of Alex standing behind him, his sword squarely in between the man's shoulders, running him through completely.  Swiftly pulling it out, the man fell to the ground, and Alex looked up at the remaining two men, his eyes glinting dangerously.  With a cry of rage, the men began to engage in a ferocious battle.  Usually, Amber would have thought that two against one would have been an unfair fight, but watching Alex's deadly moves, she quickly decided that it was more than even.  His skill as a warrior clearly shone through, and the two hunters were quick to realize that they were outmatched by this single man.  Deciding that a retreat was in order, they began to try and back away, but Alex was having none of that.  With a single powerful thrust, he drove his sword into the heart of one of the men, leaving the one Amber knew to be the leader standing, his knees shaking as he realized that Alex was not going to let him get away.  Pointing his bloody sword at him, Alex spoke quietly, somehow making the words sound more deadly than usual.

"How did you know she was here?"

"I-I don't know w-what you're t-talking about," the man stammered.

Walking closer, Alex held the sword at the man's throat, and he swallowed nervously as he eyed the sharp blade that was more than capable of ending his life.

"You would be wise to answer the question."

Flicking a glance at Amber, the man's face suddenly seemed to close up, and Amber had to give him points considering the precarious predicament he now found himself in.  "And why should I t-tell you?" he quavered, the nerves still making him stutter.  "Y-you're j-just going to k-kill me anyway."