8. Bounty hunters
Bounty hunters
S ound returned to her first. The crackling of a fire, birdsong, rustling fabric and leather.
Then smells – wood smoke, damp earth, crushed herbs.
Her eyes cracked open to see gently swaying branches in the late afternoon sunlight above.
She was on her bedroll, covered in a blanket.
The forest. The flower. Isolde tried to sit up, but her vision swam, and she sank down heavily.
“Careful.” Luella’s voice, somewhere to the right. “Here,” she said, and slipped an arm behind Isolde’s shoulders while holding a waterskin to her lips. “Drink. Slowly.”
Once she had drunk her fill, Isolde sagged back, breathing hard. “Where are we?”
“The same clearing as before,” Luella replied patiently, as if speaking to a child. “You’ve been out for a few hours.”
Isolde nodded, regretting it immediately as the pounding in her head increased. She laid down to close her eyes again when Luella straightened suddenly, her attention snapping toward the tree line.
“What is it?” Garren asked quietly .
Luella didn’t answer right away. Her head was slightly tilted, as if she were listening for something. “Just a feeling,” she muttered. “I’ll scout the perimeter.”
“You just did,” Felix said, squinting up at her. “Ten minutes ago.”
“I’ll do it again.” She grabbed her bow and disappeared into the woods with a grim expression that made Isolde’s skin prickle. She watched Felix and Garren exchange a look, rise, and draw their weapons. It wasn’t long before Luella returned, confirming their suspicions.
“We’re being followed!”
“What?!” Garren blurted out. “Who? How many? Where?”
“Five or six. To the south, coming this way,” she answered.
It was such a jarring revelation Isolde’s mind went completely blank for a moment. Followed? Who would follow them?
“What did they look like?” Felix asked. “Soldiers? Mercenaries? Did they have any badges?”
Luella shook her head. “Thugs, by my guess. No badges, simple gear. Arguing among themselves.”
To Isolde’s shock, Felix’s face split into a wide grin. “Right,” he said, “Lu, hide in the trees with Isolde. Garren and I will wait for them here. This should be fun.”
Fun? He thought being followed by a group of thugs was fun? Isolde opened her mouth to say something, to protest, but Luella beat her to it.
“Fun?” Luella echoed. “Are you out of your mind? They outnumber us. We should try to outrun them.”
Garren shook his head. “No, best to deal with this here and now.” He gave Felix an appraising look. “We should be able to handle it. Take Lady Isolde into the trees and cover us with your bow.”
Luella narrowed her eyes and looked back and forth between the two men, but finally threw up her hands. “Fine. What do I care? We’ll move faster if you both die.” She turned to Isolde. “Can you stand, my –”
“Wait,” Isolde interrupted her. “They can’t… I mean… this all sounds very… dangerous?” She pushed herself into a sitting position, giving the others bewildered looks .
“Don’t worry, my lady,” Garren said. “Please go with Luella. We will keep you safe.” He spoke kindly, but his tone left no room for argument. When Isolde finally looked to Felix to see if he’d come to his senses, he merely winked at her.
Isolde hated feeling helpless. Hated being told what to do.
It was far too familiar. A lady does not lead, Isolde; she follows.
So she staggered to her feet, and allowed Luella to guide her into the trees, away from the clearing.
They moved through the underbrush until they reached a thick tree, and Luella gestured for Isolde to hide behind it.
She positioned herself nearby, bow drawn.
When Isolde craned her head around the side of the trunk, she could spot Felix and Garren through the foliage.
They stood in plain sight, arms crossed casually, as if they didn’t care at all that they were about to be outnumbered.
Isolde’s heart hammered in her ears, and her fingernails dug into the bark.
Everything was quiet, almost too quiet, until a group of four men and one woman strolled into the clearing, weapons drawn.
Luella leaned toward her. “Felix and Garren will stall them,” she whispered. “If anything goes wrong, follow me.” Isolde swallowed hard, but nodded.
The strangers halted some distance away. One man, a greasy-looking sort of person, snorted loudly. “Who’re you two? Where’s the leytouched girl?”
To her left, Luella sniffed dismissively, shaking her head.
“Wouldn’t know who or what you’re talking about,” Felix said, shifting his stance.
“No? What’re you doin’ out here, then? We’re lookin’ for a leytouched girl with three guards. You two match the description pretty well. Where’s she hidin’?” The man took a threatening step forward.
“What do you want with her?” Garren asked.
“There’s a bounty on ‘er head, there is,” the thug answered, as if that was obvious. “Three hundred gold crowns. Killed half the mage circle back in Azuill, she did! People demand justice.”
Felix scoffed. “You’re here for justice, are you?”
“Naw, we’re here for the gold.”
A bounty. Someone had put a bounty on her.
The mages? Surely not; they could have dealt with her when they had the chance.
Then who? Isolde’s thoughts spiralled. The stories that must be told about her, making her out to be a murderer, a monster…
She almost moved, but a firm hand on her shoulder froze her in her tracks.
She glanced sideways, and Luella caught her eye and quietly shook her head.
In the clearing, Felix let out a whistle. “You sure you can even count to three hundred?”
One of the other bounty hunters laughed. The first man scowled and waved his club at Felix threateningly. “Don’t be actin’ all smart. Last I checked, there was five of us and just two of you!”
“Glad you can count to five, at least. I’m impressed.”
What was he doing? Every instinct in her body was telling her to run, her hands growing clammy with sweat.
“Look, give us the girl, and we’ll let you go,” the woman piped up.
“I’ll only say this once,” Garren said coldly. “Go back the way you came, right now.”
The group collectively stared at him for a moment. Then their leader laughed, and the others followed. “I don’t think so,” he said with a grin. The woman spat onto the grass.
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Felix replied. Isolde couldn’t see his face, but there was an undertone in his voice that sent a shiver down her spine.
Felix and Garren must have exchanged some kind of signal; it was the only way to explain how they moved as one, each lunging for their nearest adversary.
Felix drove the butt of his axe into a man’s sternum hard enough to knock the wind out of him.
As the bounty hunter doubled over, the blade of the axe found his exposed neck.
The man dropped like a sack of grain. A second man swung his sword in a wild arc, but Felix somehow caught it on the hilt of his dagger, twisting it sharply, forcing the sword out of his hand.
A savage stab to the ribs and a shove, and Felix dodged nimbly around the third man coming for him.
He ducked a swing that would have surely killed him like it was nothing.
Even from a distance, Isolde could see the wide grin on his face .
Felix circled his adversary like a predator stalking prey. “You any good with that?” he taunted, motioning to the man’s trembling sword. “Go on. Show me what you’ve got. Make the first move.”
Luella clicked her tongue. “Ugh. Of course, he plays with his food,” she whispered, more to herself than to Isolde. “Unhinged brat.”
Isolde had seen people fight before, soldiers sparring in the yard, men duelling. This wasn’t a fight; it was a slaughter.
Garren had disposed of the other two bounty hunters. She barely noticed it, unable to tear her gaze away from Felix. With only one opponent left, Luella started forward.
“Keep that one alive,” she called out, “so we can –”
Distracted by Luella’s voice coming from the trees, the remaining thug made the mistake of turning his head.
Felix swung his axe at the man’s exposed neck so violently he nearly decapitated him.
A wide arc of crimson sprayed across the clearing.
Isolde reflexively squeezed her eyes shut, retreating behind the tree, her stomach lurching.
For perhaps two heartbeats, there was complete silence.
“Triad above, Felix, was that necessary?” Luella sounded equal parts disgusted and annoyed.
“What?”
“He can’t tell us anything useful anymore now, can he?”
“It’s alright, Luella,” Garren said. “They told us enough. Where is Lady Isolde?”
Breathe, she told herself. They protected you while you cowered behind a tree.
The least you can do is go up there and face it.
“I’m here,” she called. Her voice was small and weak.
The taste of fear was still in her mouth, the wet crunch of an axe slicing through a man’s neck still in her ears. “I’m coming.”
The metallic smell of blood assaulted her senses as soon as she stepped out of the tree line. Blood… and something else. She covered her nose and mouth with her cloak, eyes watering.
Felix glanced over at her and chuckled. “They didn’t smell much better alive.
” He nudged a body with his boot and rolled it over.
Dead, empty eyes stared right at Isolde from a bruised, bloodied face.
She made it four steps back towards the trees before heaving the contents of her stomach onto the forest floor.
A tentative hand came to rest on her back. “I’m sorry, my lady,” Garren said. “You should not have to see that.”
But she should. It might be their own fault, but these people were dead because of her. “It’s fine, Garren,” she said as she straightened and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. “I’m fine.” She wasn’t, but she would be. Eventually.
***