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Chapter
10
Ambushed
The view from the ridge was
spectacular. Far below her gleamed
the thin ribbon of a rushing mountain
stream. Evergreen colours mixed
with the yellows and reds of fall.
The sun shone brightly, warming
the autumn air. Kara twisted
the reins of her mount. It
wasnt a bird, but it wasnt exactly a horse
either. It was more like a horse
with claws and teeth. Rezar called
it a
jarah, and it proved
aptly suited to the rocky and steep
terrain. After riding a mohr,
however, the jarah wasnt that difficult to ride and Rezar had been
most impressed with the way she was able to hold a
saddle. Valessa rode less well
and that had kept them to a fairly sedate
pace.
There were only five of
them. Rezar had brought along
only two escorts, having little fear of attack in his own
land. They conversed as they
rode, Rezar pointing out various features of the wooded landscape and at
the same time attempting to learn more abut Kara in a less formal
setting. They had engaged in
conversation before, but always surrounded by numerous members of the
court. Rezar was able to pull
his mount alongside Karas and speak privately with
her.
Kara found him an engaging conversationalist,
very knowledgeable and entertaining.
There was one aspect of their discourse, however, that bothered Kara
somewhat. Rezar was very interested
in who she was and where she had come
from. It was an area that she
answered only vaguely, not sure of how much to tell
him. Would he after all believe
that she was a superheroine who had been captured and sent to his world where
due to the effect of the red sun she was rendered
powerless?
Are there others like you? asked
Rezar. I have never seen
anyone with such hair and skin. You
are beautiful beyond compare.
Kara found herself blushing at that
remark. Fortunately she was no
longer semi-nude, but instead dressed in sensible riding breeches and a shirt,
jacket and cloak that afforded her
privacy. The clothes were well
cut, however, and could not hide her bodys abundant
charms. My lord,
she answered. You flatter
me. Surely there must be many
women in your kingdom more attractive than
I. Her eyes turned in
Valessas direction.
Rezar caught her
meaning. The girl is indeed
beautiful. But she is like the
shade compared to the sun when measured against your
beauty.
Karas intended reply was cut off by
a shout from one of the escorts.
My lord, bandits!
Save yourself; we are under
attack!
Karas head jerked in the direction of
the escort. Riding toward them
were several dozen heavily armed men.
Rezar seemed to hesitate, then looking at Kara shouted, Ride,
my lady. I will try to hold them
off.
Hold them off? Kara
shouted. Rezar had only his
sword. Neither she nor Valessa
had any weapons at all. He was
committing suicide.
Desperately Kara looked for something she
could fight with. She was after
all a heroine or at least
she used to be. Riding toward
Valessa she repeated Rezars order.
Ride. Try and find
help. Then she galloped
over to a stand of trees that resembled the evergreens she was familiar with
on Earth and found what she was looking
for. Several trees, overwhelmed
by the harsh mountain weather stood dead but still attached by their
roots. Hoping that one of them
might serve her purpose she grabbed the top of one of them and exerting all
her strength managed to break it off at the
roots.
It was a crude weapon, but better than
nothing. She didnt have
time to strip off the dead branches.
Placing it under her arm she rode to the
attack. Already Rezar and the
two escorts were engaged in desperate battle with the
attackers.
The trail she and Rezar had been riding on
led between thick forest and overlooked a steep drop into a picturesque mountain
valley. It was only this fact
that enabled the three men to have any chance of holding off the more than
a score of attackers that were trying to overwhelm
them. But they were hard
pressed. Through sheer weight
of numbers their attackers were forcing them back, and already a number of
the attackers were moving through the trees, seeking to outflank
them.
Kara charged straight forward, holding her
makeshift lance the way Theran had shown her when she had ridden a mohr into
battle. The jarah was much bigger
and more powerful than a mohr, and helped by the
fact that Kara was charging down a slight incline her impact as she struck
the enemy was formidable. It
also helped that her arrival on the scene was totally
unexpected.
Charging between Rezar and the soldier on
his left, her twenty-foot tree trunk struck the closest attacker full in
the chest. Had it been a proper
lance she would have skewered the man she struck, but the top of the tree
simply snapped off, fragments of wood splintering in all
directions. The bandit it struck,
however, had little time to appreciate his good
fortune. The impact lifted him
from the saddle like a doll and tossed him back into the other bandits, knocking
two more of them from their saddles and throwing the others into
confusion.
Kara was now surrounded by bandits on all
sides. Her lance was useless
at such close quarters. Dropping
it she attacked the nearest bandit with her bare hands, driving her fingers
into his eyes and then as the man screamed in pain, yanking his sheath knife
from his belt. She acted without
thinking, every action almost instinctive, and yet guided by her
training. Raising the blade she
stabbed the outlaw through the side of his
neck. Almost overwhelmed by
excitement, she hardly noticed the blood that shot like a fountain from his
severed jugular. Instead her
eyes sought his sword as it fell from his
fingers.
She caught the blade, not noticing as the
blade cut the fingers of her left hand.
Grasping the hilt with her right hand she swung the blade at the bandit
nearest to her completely unconscious of the danger as she hacked and slashed
at the attackers.
Rezar and the two escorts followed her, adding
to the utter chaos that ensued as a complete melee
erupted. The bandits wavered
under the onslaught. They had
expected an easy victory. After
all, two dozen men against three and two helpless women seemed like good
odds. Karas sudden attack
left them confused and demoralized.
Several rode off to a safe distance others backed away from the slashing
blades of those they had sought to
overwhelm.
Rezar gave a cry of triumph and shouted his
battle cry. But he was a bit
premature. Behind them the bandits
who had circled through the trees now joined the attack, coming at them from
behind. And these men were armed
not just with swords and knives.
Two of them carried bows.
An arrow alerted Kara to the danger, its razor
edge almost slicing her cheek.
Hauling on the reins of her jarah she whirled it around in the direction
in the direction of the bowmen, at the same time shouting a
warning.
Another arrow was loosed; this time at Rezar
who still had his back turned. Kara
acted automatically. For most
of her life she had been invulnerable to minor
hurts. An arrow would normally
have posed no threat. She spurred
the jarah between the bowman and Rezar.
The pain as the arrow penetrated her shoulder
was so sudden and intense that she couldnt even
scream. For an instant she gazed
dumbly at the feathered shaft that had entered just above her right breast,
and then with a cry she tumbled from the
saddle.
Rezar saw what had
happened. Leaping from the saddle
he dashed to her side. Kara saw
him through a haze of pain. She
also saw the bandits close about the two
escorts. Surrounded and heavily
outnumbered the two men who had fought so bravely threw down their
swords. Bandits jumped from their
jarahs as Rezar knelt by Karas
side. She tried to get up, but
a wave of pain swept over her.
Looking at the place where the arrow jutted from her shoulders she
could see her blood welling up, staining her shirt bright red, and then she
fainted.
She awoke to a heavily bearded
face. She was lying face up on
a bed of leaves and all around her trees stretched toward the
sky. Her shoulder hurt more than
she cared to think about.
Chraga
Suhm, the bearded face
muttered. So
beautiful. Too bad you took that
arrow. We will have to see that
it is removed before we enjoy you.
The bearded mans matter-of-fact statement
sent a thrill of fear through her.
If Kara had not been so weak and in so much pain she would have
shuddered. The bearded face
smiled. Your female servant
escaped, but we will find her. I
have sent three men after her. They
have a strong incentive to succeed.
When they catch her they have permission to use her anyway they like
before bringing her here.
The mans words filled Kara with
rage. She tried to sit up, but
her strength failed her and a wave of pain almost sent her back into
unconsciousness.
You
bastards. Take me but let her
and the servant go. Kara
turned her head in the direction of Rezars
voice. He and the two escorts
were tied to trees. A rope was
wound so tightly around Rezars throat he could barely speak, but he
had managed to gasp out the words.
The bearded man left Kara and strode over
to Rezar. He menaced him with
a vicious-looking saw-toothed
knife. You speak
bravely, my prince. I would gut
you where you stand, but the Littan has ordered me to bring you in
alive. Since I cannot kill
you
.
With a quick lunge he thrust the blade of
his knife into the stomach of one of the
escorts. He held it there for
a second while the man screamed in agony and then ripped it up through his
body until the blade reached his heart.
You coward, Rezar
gasped.
Enough, the bearded man
said. Do not try my
patience. You and this golden
witch killed seven of my men and wounded five
others. I will punish her as
she deserves as soon as she is healed enough for me to enjoy
her. Fortunately, the Littan
said nothing about her. She is
mine to do with as I wish. Since
you seem to value her and your bodyguard I will use them to obtain your
obedience. If you annoy me I
will kill your other escort and rape the women without attempting to heal
her.
Rezar closed his mouth, but his eyes glowed
with hatred. The bearded man
laughed. It is so fulfilling
to have the mighty prince of Gorgos at my
mercy. I wish I could be in the
Littans dungeons when he tortures that look off your
face.
Kara felt
sick. She and Rezar had been
ambushed by bandits sent by the Littan.
No doubt sending her to Rezar's court as payment had been nothing
more than a ploy to get Rezar to relax his guard in order that he could be
taken prisoner and brought back to the Twarg capital for the Littans
amusement. If what the Littan
did to women was any indication, the bandit chiefs assessment of what
he would do to Rezar was probably quite accurate.
The bandit chief returned to
Kara. Well, it is time
to dig that arrow out of you. It
promises to be painful. I hope
you are as strong as you are beautiful.
Kara
whitened. She was terrified of
what was going to happen to her.
The pain of the arrow shaft protruding from her shoulder seemed to
be increasing every second.
Her blood pounded in the afflicted area, sending spears of agony through
her with every heartbeat.
A second man joined the bandit
chief. He was a much smaller
man and delicately built. He
knelt by her side.
Lets have a look at this, he
murmured. Taking a small knife
from his belt he neatly slit through the material of Karas shirt, and
peeled the bloody material away from the wound, exposing the shaft of the
arrow and all of her right breast.
Exquisite, said the thin man running
his fingers of over her breast.
Beautifully formed.
Like ripe succulent fruit.
Forget about her tit, you bastard,
the bandit chief said.
Remove the arrow.
The thin man nodded and studied the
wound. A thin trickle of blood
still pulsed from it, although Karas flesh had closed about the shaft
somewhat reducing the flow.
It appears that she drove the arrowhead deeper and splintered
the shaft when she fell from her jarah, the
thin man said. I may have
difficulty in removing all of it.
Just get on with it, the bandit
chief ordered. I dont
care how much you have to cut her, just get it out and stitch the
wound. I want her healed as soon
as possible.
If the bindings around the arrowhead
are intact it should come out, the thin man
replied. Hold
her. She may
squirm.
The bearded man gripped Karas wrists,
pinning her arms over her head and ignoring the scream of pain the action
caused. The thin man shifted
his weight so that he could straddle Karas waist and use his weight
to hold her down. Then he took
the arrow shaft in his fingers and began to ease it
out.
Kara gritted her teeth and held herself as
still as possible, but she still struggled as the shaft was slowly worked
out of the bloody hole in her shoulder.
Got it! the thin man cried
triumphantly, holding up the dripping
arrowhead.
All of it? the bandit chief
asked.
The thin man nodded.
Good.
Stitch her and do whatever else is
necessary. Were moving
out of here tomorrow.
Ill just bandage the wound for
now, the thin man said.
It might require some cleaning, but it is bleeding freely now
and that should help carry out any poisons.
Just so long as she doesnt bleed
to death. Ill looking forward
to lying between those sweet thighs and I want her
alive.
As you wish, Pern, the thin man
replied, using the bandit chiefs name for the first
time.
Just see that you do it, Pern
replied. He got up and walked
away.
As soon as he was gone, the thin man cradled
Karas right breast.
Pern thinks he is going to be the first to enjoy you, but I
have other plans. I will know
before him when you are ready.
He squeezed her breast.
The danger of cheating him will make taking you that much more
enjoyable.
Kara went
limp. She was completely exhausted
and in a great deal of pain. In
addition, she was threatened with rape as soon as she was well enough to
survive the ordeal. She closed
her eyes as a feeling of complete helplessness swept over
her. It seemed she went from
one hideous ordeal to another.
Would her trials never end?
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