A Wicca's Tale Book One: Beautiful Magic

Bandits

Chapter Nine: Bandits

The bandits led us on through the rest of the night and a little past dawn. Guessing by the stars, we were traveling north of the direction Luna and I had been headed, and I could tell she was distressed by this. If we ever got out of this situation, I had no idea how we would find our way back. Though how she could be upset about anything other than the bandits I had no idea.

At last, around seven in the morning, we stopped. Or rather, the bandits stopped, and we were forced to stop as well.

“All right lads, time to rest,” said Nate leaning against a tree, closing his eyes, and getting comfortable. “Harold, Issam, you’re on watch.” The two biggest men nodded and started moving towards the trees to stand guard. I didn’t know whether Nate was trying to ward away unfriendly parties, or if he was preventing us from escaping.

Luna and I sat down against another tree and tried to get as comfortable as we could with all the people watching us. “I’m so tired Gabriel,” she whispered, “I can’t stay awake much longer.” She put her head on my shoulder and snuggled in slightly. “Can I use your shoulder as a pillow?” she asked looking up at me.

I yawned and muttered, “Go ahead, I’ll stay awake and watch.”

The bandits were boring. At least as boring bandits can be while holding onto sharp swords. I had been on watch for about three hours since Luna had fallen asleep and been trying to keep myself awake. I had nearly nodded off a few times, but luckily the sounds in the woods were keeping me awake. I was counting the leaves on the trees above us for the second time when I felt Luna move around and wake up.

She blinked blearily and looked around. “Oh, right, the bandits,” she said taking it all in. She sounded half-awake and she looked back at me. “I should be scared but I’m not,” she murmured leaning her head against my shoulder again. “I feel safe here with you.”

I swallowed and tried not to make much of what she just said. “Thanks,” I whispered back, “I feel safe with you too.” I could feel her smile against my shoulder and move a bit closer. I put my arm around her and squeezed. We both were silent for a minute until at last a voice interrupted our more pleasant thoughts.

“Well now, this is unusual.” I looked toward the sound and saw that Bloody Nate had awoken and was now staring at us. “This is certainly a sight,” he said looking at my arm around Luna’s shoulder. I dropped it quickly and tried to not give anything away with my panicked eyes. Luna too sat up off my shoulder and moved away from me. Nate started walking at a leisurely pace toward us.

“I suspected something in the clearing last night,” he said, “It was odd finding two boys sleeping against each other instead of on different sides of a tree.” He kept advancing, we slid up the tree and tensed in case we needed to run very quickly. I only hoped that Luna might have a spell to get us out of this. “And I thought that your voice sounded a little high,” he was looking at Luna. “I brushed it off an’ thought it was a coincidence, but this proves it.” He lunged forward suddenly and pulled the cap off of Luna’s head.

Her head, uncovered by the hat was immediately transformed. She no longer looked like a boy, but was shown as a girl. Once her face was revealed, other features became prominent like the fact she wasn’t very broad shouldered, or that she had a chest and hips under the baggy clothing I’d given her. She gasped and tried to hide her face while Nate grinned ghoulishly. “Well boys,” he said turning and calling over the men that weren’t guarding, “it looks like our little frog here is actually a princess.”

I moved in front of her, pushing her behind me. “Leave her alone,” I growled braver than I felt. Nate cackled and punched me in the side of my face. The force of the blow made me loose my balance and I crashed to the ground. “Protective aren’t we?” I heard him say wickedly. I spat blood out of my mouth and tried to stand back up. One of the bandit’s feet came out of nowhere and kicked me in my stomach. I heard a crack and felt a fiery pain in my chest. One of my ribs was broken, I was sure of it. Two of the men came at me and began to pummel me all over my body with their fists and feet. The only thing I could do was curl up and try to keep the tugging sensation in my stomach down, the tugging that meant I was going to do something I would regret.