16. The Duskrend #2
Felix turned and ran. For a heartbeat, he worried they had not taken the bait, but then he heard the satisfying sound of running footsteps in the underbrush behind him.
He sprinted headlong through the trees, trying to reach the choke point before they got too close.
He spotted it just ahead – a narrow space with large rocks on one side and the ridge on the other.
Luella perched atop it, her bow drawn. A crossbow bolt whistled right past his head.
“Crossbows!” Felix yelled in Luella’s direction before he reached the spot and spun around, axe in hand, dagger in the other. Leif was behind the rocks, spear poised to strike, his face pale but determined.
The first two mercenaries burst through the underbrush, both wielding swords.
Felix darted in between them, using their momentum to his advantage.
He hooked the blade of his axe around the ankle of one, causing him to stumble and fall.
The move forced the other to dodge, giving Felix an opening to stab him in the neck.
He pushed him off to the side, spun again, and hacked viciously into the chest of the man he had tackled.
He got up just in time to fend off a third, raising his weapon to block the downward swing of a longsword.
His attacker’s face was right in front of him – Alwin.
“Knew I’d find you in this stinking forest, you rat,” Alwin growled at him. “Where is the girl?”
Felix shoved him away. His former captain was bigger than him, but Felix didn’t remember him as a particularly brilliant swordsman.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Luella take out a crossbowman.
He could not see Leif, but he heard the clash of weapons behind him.
Felix lunged, swinging in a wide arc. Alwin sidestepped, parrying the wild blow with his longsword.
“Came to throw yourself at us, huh? I always knew you were stupid,” the mercenary taunted.
Felix blocked a strike with the haft of his axe, slashing at Alwin’s leg.
The man stumbled but recovered quickly, lunging forward with a stinging stab that caught Felix’s shoulder, making him grit his teeth.
He ducked under another swing and countered with a quick slash.
Alwin turned just in time, the blade carving a shallow gash along his ribs.
They circled each other, Alwin’s heavy breathing matching Felix’s own.
Blood trickled down his arm. He feinted, then darted in dagger first, swinging his axe toward Alwin’s head.
The larger man ducked, causing Felix to miss by inches and embedding his weapon in a tree. Alwin laughed, a low, guttural sound.
“All that running away has not made you any faster, I see.” He stepped forward, pressing the advantage while Felix struggled to wrench his weapon free. A quick swing of his sword forced Felix to duck, his knees hitting the dirt as Alwin loomed over him.
Alwin sneered, raising his arm for a finishing blow, but Felix changed tactics, let go of the axe and flipped the dagger to his other hand.
Alwin cursed as Felix’s blade scored a deep cut along his forearm, forcing him to drop the longsword.
Felix rammed his elbow into Alwin’s jaw, sending him staggering backward.
As Felix leapt to finish what he started, a scream tore through the chaos, and somehow he knew it was Leif.
He froze mid-strike, his heart lurching in his chest. His head whipped toward the sound, and time slowed down.
Leif lay sprawled in the dirt, his limbs twisted awkwardly beneath him.
Blood seeped from a wound in his side, staining the ground a deep, dark red.
A mercenary loomed over him, sword raised high, eyes alight with the cold certainty of a killing blow.
Time slowed down, and sound dimmed. There was nothing but fear on Leif’s face as he made a helpless, desperate attempt to crawl backward. If Felix didn’t move now, Leif was dead.
He turned away from Alwin and threw his dagger.
The blade struck the mercenary’s shoulder, and the man stumbled.
Felix charged, tackling him and driving him into the ground with a crunch.
He yanked the blade free and buried it in his adversary’s eye socket.
One of Luella’s arrows flew over his head, aimed at Alwin.
By the time Felix turned around, Alwin was in full retreat, rallying the remaining mercenaries. “Fall back!” The captain barked, clutching his injured arm, an arrow sticking out of his shoulder. The surviving men scrambled to obey, disappearing into the dense underbrush.
Felix wanted more than anything to chase after him. Alwin was hurt; finishing him would be easy. But Leif was on the ground, thrashing and bleeding, and he couldn’t abandon him. Luella jumped down from the ridge, her bow still drawn, scanning the trees where the mercenaries had disappeared.
Felix jogged over to Leif. He bent down next to the younger man and swore at the sight of the injury. It was a jagged cut, and it was deep. He started ripping pieces of fabric from his and Leif’s clothes, pushing them onto the wound. Leif whimpered in pain.
“Sorry,” Felix mumbled. Luella stood over them, her bow still at the ready. “We need to get him back fast,” Felix said.
Luella looked at Leif’s injury, and her eyes widened. “Shit. How long is the walk?”
“No clue. Trees all look the same to me.”
“I can show the way… I’ll be fine… Help me up,” Leif’s voice sounded, weak and hoarse.
“Shut up,” Felix said harshly. “Spare your energy.”
With Luella’s assistance, he tied a makeshift bandage of cloth strips across Leif’s abdomen.
They lifted him to his feet, and each of them slung one of his arms over their shoulders.
If the mercenaries came back now, they were done for, but they would worry about that if it happened.
Leif managed to tell them which direction to go, and they made their slow and painful way through the forest. Felix kept glancing down at Leif’s side, watching with dread as the bandaging and the rest of his clothes slowly darkened with blood.