Not That Far

Chapter 29-Tears

   

    I didn't think, I acted. Cradling Shay against my chest protectively, I whipped out my one of daggers and hurled it at the general direction of the shot. I felt a twinge of cruel satisfaction as the report of a fatal wound echoed back to my listening ears. Pulling out the next one, I brandished it over my head threateningly.

    "Shoot again and you die!" I snarled like a rabid animal, completely forgetting about the plan to be captured. I didn't recognize my own voice.

    Looking out into the gathering dusk, I could make out several shadowy figures scrambling for cover in the pathetic excuse for a forest. Sheathing my remaining dagger, I flicked out a few throwing stars from the leather pouch I kept tucked away in my right pocket and sent them into the nearest moving shadows.

     Their cries of alarm and pain didn't please me as much as it had the first time, but I gritted my teeth and turned in the saddle to defend my back as shots rang out behind me. Adrenaline pumped though my veins as I grabbed the loose reins from Shay's limp hands and tugged hard on the them, making Tartan rear and kick at the shadows rushing at us from all sides.

    Coming down on all fours again the kasega immediately arched his back and kicked someone behind us with his hind hooves, then rocketed off into the woods at maximum speed, seemingly laughing at our pursuers with a high pitched, hiccuping call of alarm. Letting him have his head, I tied the reins clumsily around the saddle horn and pulled Shay's shirt up to examine the wound.

    But it was easier said than done. His blood was already soaking through his shirt, turning it crimson and making it stick to his abdomen. Peeling it back with painstaking care (or as much as I could muster while riding on the back of a runaway kasega in the dark.), I peered at the hole in his chest in the dim light.

    Blood oozed out of a gaping wound in his right mid-ribcage at a less than deadly rate. I let out a pent up breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding in a ragged gasp of relief when I realized it wasn't a shot to the heart. He had a chance, if but a small one, to live. But he wouldn't be able to last very long without immediate medical attention.

    But where? I couldn't go back to Zaruu, he'd be furious and probably unable to do much for him anyhow. And I didn't trust the slave drivers, they would kill him if he didn't make a quick recovery. These thoughts whirled through my head and threatened to drive me mad as we flew amidst the twisted, gnarled trees that I now came to recognize as the trademark of the White.

    Unfortunately, too soon the decision was made for me. In the next instant a new volley of shots rang out, one catching Tartan in the leg and me on the outside of my arm, skinning me from shoulder to elbow. Valiantly, he stumbled another few meters before his left hind leg gave out.

    Angling my back to the he ground, I did my best to break Shay's fall with my own body as we tumbled from the saddle. Landing in a tangled heap on the ground, he cried out involuntarily, making me cringe both from the pain in his voice and the . But at least he was strong enough to cry out.

    Letting Shay slump against my heaving chest, I felt along my arm with trembling fingers. Finding that the bullet had only grazed me and hadn't embedded itself in me I let out a shaky breath and grinned like a lunatic. I was so relieved to still be alive that I actually laughed. But blood was pooling on the ground from our wounds at an alarming rate. My vision blurred a bit and I wasn't sure if the blood was mine or Shay's.

    Getting to my knees with Shay hanging completely limp from my uninjured arm, I crawled to Tartan who struggled to stand. Reaching out I touched his head the way Shay had earlier, I tried to quite him. In response, he turned his almond-shaped brown eyes to regard me with distrust and terror.