Excerpt copyright @ 2019 Kara Griffin
“I thought I heard voices.”
“I didn’t hear anything. Come, we’ll take a rest when the
sun sets.” Katriona turned and peered into the woods, listening for sounds, but
no noise came.
Lloyd started off and snapped his fingers to bring Wynn to
heel. “We need to stay close and near the brush should anyone come. I don’t
like this silence. It’s too quiet. None of the animals stir. Something lurks
here…”
“Or someone,” she said and hurried to walk beside him.
Katriona thought about the events that led her to this moment. She wished she
hadn’t made the rash decision to leave Pendragon land. Since she began the
journey, she got a strange aura, as if she made the worst blunder of her life.
But she was humiliated by Rhyder’s followers and the way he told her she’d
leave. Her spirit crushed. If only she’d
waited for her father’s envoy to retrieve her.
The farther she got from Rhyder and his hamlet, the more woeful she was. And no visions
came. It was as if the Gods abandoned her. If it wasn’t for Lloyd, she’d be
alone. He was a true friend.
A rumble sounded a little ways off. She clutched Lloyd’s arm
to stop him from moving forward. Whoever had trailed her caught up to them. She
regretted not telling Lloyd that she suspected someone followed. “Do you hear
that?”
Wynn growled low in his throat. At once, a rider burst
through the underbrush and raced directly at them. Lloyd yelled at her to run.
Katriona rushed through the tree branches and looked back at
the man who attacked. The foe reached near enough to set his bow. Arrows flew past
and whizzed the air. Within minutes, three struck Lloyd, and he fell where he
stood.
Katriona gasped and her breath now coming quick as she tried
to make ground. Her aura burned with pain and the mark throbbed. She huffed and
cried. There was no time to mourn her friend. Wynn held his ground and barked
ferociously at the attackers.
An arrow struck her from behind. She turned and spotted the
other foe that flanked them from the other side of the woods. The arrow
embedded in her shoulder. She fell over a thick root and watched the attackers
approach through tear-filled eyes. Wynn bared his teeth and yelped when one of
the vile men kicked him.
Her poor sweet dog lay on the ground unmoving. Katriona’s
aura ridden with tremendous pain caused her to retch on the ground. Her eyes
stung with tears and dripped from her nose. She couldn’t cease a gag and moaned
at the pain in her shoulder.
“I told ye we would catch up to her. Let us do the deed and
be quick about it.”
Two men stood over her. Katriona tried to crawl away but her
injuries did her in. She hadn’t ever seen the men before and hadn’t recognized
them. Why would they want to hurt her? If she might gain her breath, she would
ask, but fear seized her.
“Here, use my dagger. Once she’s dead, we’ll move her closer
to Wulfar’s holding. He’ll be blamed and then the next part of our plan will
destruct the kingdom. All that Pendragon cares for will be abolished once and
for all.”
The larger man knelt and stabbed her leg with the dagger. She
cried out as pain entrenched her and her mind a jumble of emotions. It was
almost as if she envisioned the entire event, but the pain was all too real.
The foe yanked the blade out of her thigh and looked apprehensively at his
partner.
His comrade scowled and scoffed. “In her heart, ye damned blighter.
Aye, so she’ll breathe no more. We want her dead. Do it.”
“I never killed a woman before and I’m not going to start
now,” the larger man said.
Katriona huffed at the agony of her wounds. She wept and all
blurred. If she let the injuries overtake her, she’d exist no more. But then,
she also wouldn’t know when her end came. She fought to keep her eyes open and
prayed to Woden for he was the most powerful God and likely the only one to aid
her now. They meant to kill her.
“Give me the damned dagger. I’ll do it myself. I don’t have
a qualm about killing a woman. The blade goes in the same way it does on a man.”
The large man handed the dagger to his lanky cohort. He
gripped it and leaned to settle the blade
in her.
Katriona groaned and looked him in the eyes. If he was going
to kill her, she wanted the last thing he saw of her to be her look of
contempt.
Horses sounded near and Katriona wasn’t sure if she should rejoice or not. If the men who
neared were the foe’s brethren, she was certain to die.
“Come, let us away. Someone is coming. We should flee.”
“She’s not dead yet.”
“Look at her, she’ll be dead soon. She bleeds.”
The two men fled. Their footsteps sounded farther away. Katriona
half-dragged and half-crawled to get to
Lloyd. She reached him and labored from the difficult movements. Placing a hand
on his chest, she felt nothing. His eyes were closed and his face serene. Her
friend was dead. Her aura hummed her ears and tensed her chest. The mark on her
wrist burned with agony.
“Oh, Lloyd,” she cried and pressed her hand on his face. “I’m
sorry, my friend…sorry, I dragged you to these godforsaken woods.” She wept
with deep sorrow until Wynn licked her face. With her arms around his torso,
she hugged him and regained her composure. “My pet, you’re unharmed. Thank you,
Gods, thank you. Go on, sweet Wynn…find help. It’s all right, I will be well
until you return. Go on.”
Katriona stared at Wynn as he muddled away and until she
could see him no more. She closed her eyes and grimaced at the painful wounds
and prayed to Tiw to give her the strength and courage to hold on until help
arrived.
The next time she opened her eyes, the sky pitched. Night
came and the moon not as bright as it was on previous nights. She’d likely be
dead by morning light. Would her end be at the ravishing by animals? How she
wished she’d told Rhyder that she loved him and explained she meant no harm to
his followers. She regretted leaving his land and should’ve stood up to him. There
had to be a way to force his acceptance. He was her husband and had no right to
send her away.
Katriona listened to the noises which oddly returned to the
woods. Night insects buzzed and flew between the tree trunks. The scurrying of animals sounded nearby. A bark
came and drew nearer. She focused on the barks
and voices. A woman’s voice…
Someone touched her face. Katriona opened her eyes and
gasped. Surely the God, Loki, was up to his tricks and tried to confuse her,
for he was the most devious of the Gods. Heloise?
Her sister’s face waved before her. She wept and then faded from being.
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