Sami stumbled through the bandits' warpath, a line of trodden-down grass and leaves sliced short. The bridge of her nose hammered with pain; that man had hit hard.
Ahead, she saw something promising. Torches glowed around a pond, and a bonfire roared over a freshly dug pit a few meters wide. A mixture of Mauves and Sabers gathered around the fire, beating leather drums, strumming crude instruments or dancing, looking like they were having the time of their lives.
Sami skulked around the pond. Past the bonfire and the drummers, she found two women fighting over a sack of something while five others feverishly dug a hole for some unclear purpose. She passed directly beneath a pair of warriors who perched in the tree, taking turns with a cigarette. Past them, she saw her most unexpected sight yet. A pair of Saber boys lounged against a ruined table, each with an easygoing smile. Off to the side, a third one sat against a tree, preoccupied with the Mauve sarge who straddled his lap, running her hands over his chest. Clearly, these boys weren't warriors, but they looked just as comfortable here on the battlefield.
Finally, Sami found what she was looking for. Under a hastily built wooden cage, unarmed women huddled together while a burly, heavily face-painted Saber beside them sharpened her ax meaningfully. Besides the axwoman, another Saber, probably in her thirties, leaned on a long-handled battle hammer.
Loud voices gabbed across the pond, and drumbeats battered the air. No one was watching the two warriors and the cage. Sami would never get a better chance to intervene. Taking a deep breath, she drew her gun and went through the three steps of firing. Almost on its own, her pistol lined up on the ax warrior's throat, then snapped out a bullet. The warrior gave a jump and opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She tottered, clutching her bleeding throat, clawed at the air and finally pitched onto her face.
Instantly, the hammer warrior was on her feet. Without looking at her fallen friend, she grabbed up her weapon and lunged, screaming. Sami stepped back and ducked, feeling breeze as the hammer's head whooshed through the air above her. As soon as it passed, Sami ran past the warrior and flattened herself against the cage. Turning, the hammer warrior raised her weapon for an overhead swing.
At the last minute, Sami sidestepped and let the hammer do the rest. Steel crashed through wood, and the prisoners yelped as their cage smashed open. Then Sami put a bullet through the Saber's stomach. When the Saber didn't fall, Sami drew her knife, leapt in and forced her steel into the warrior's chest. Finally, the Saber let go of her hammer and fell, body thumping stiffly into the mud. Before she could think better of it, Sami wasted her last bullet on the tough Saber's heart.
One of the prisoners, a strong-looking woman with skin so dark she was difficult to make out, stood up. "You saved us," she said heavily. "What... what do you want from us?"
"I'm not one of the bandits, I promise," said Sami. "This is just a disguise. Follow me, and I can get you someplace safe."
She began south, and the prisoners followed, one by one. They totaled fewer than ten, but to Sami's relief, all were able-bodied. The dark one had the presence of mind to pick up the Saber's hammer.
"Hey," said Sami, when they were far enough from the pond. "Are any of you married to..." Crap, what's his name? "A man who lives a few hundred meters west of the pond?"
"Gurihruta?" said the woman with the hammer. "Was it him?"
"Could be. He was polygamous, I know that much. And he said more than one of his wives was here."
"Does he have a widow's peak? And no facial hair?"
Sami thought for a moment. "Yeah."
She gasped. "That's him! Is he alright?"
