“What do you want from us?” I asked, proud when my voice didn’t shake.
The man laughed. “A lot of things, but we’ll start with why your group decided to sneak a blind woman on my boat.”
Ice stabbed in my chest.
Zoe said, “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Of course you do. You’ve all been helping her since she boarded, only I didn’t realize it until we arrived.” The captain pushed the point of his blade harder against me, almost breaking skin. “We’re going to turn this one in for coin. All of you, in fact. The warriors might not have recognized you on the way out, but you must be the ones they’re searching for. Though I wonder why they didn’t realize it was you…”
I slowly moved my hands, until my cane was in both. If I got the chance to twist it apart and fight with it, I would. “What’re you talking about?”
“No matter. We’re going to take care of this the easy way. After my men exterminate the more dangerous people in your group, you two will be appropriately tied up.”
His words made me more angry than fearful. I wouldn’t go quietly. My more immediate concern was Nikon and Kaius. Were they going to be all right?
What was I thinking? It was Nikon. Of course he’d be all right.
I twisted my cane but didn’t pull it apart.
The man said, “Let’s g—”
A crash sounded from back where we’d come from. It was what I’d been hoping for. I yanked my sticks apart, whipped around, and struck out, without the magic guiding my hand. My arm vibrated with the force of impact.
The captain yelled in pain. “You’ll pay for that.”
A familiar buzz came, and I was moving. The sticks banged against him. He growled, and something came toward my torso. Before I could fully block it, a weapon nicked me. I shoved my stick to the side, moving the blade away before it could do me major harm. My stomach stung on the left, but not enough to stop me from whacking my sticks out again.
Zoe called out, “You’ve got him. Keep it up, Cassandra.”
I swung hard, keeping pace with the tingle telling me where my opponent was. He was getting faster, probably determined to win.
The fray waged on. The sand beneath my feet was thick. Vibrations rained down my arms as he slammed his weapon into my sticks with a thunk. If they weren’t magical, I had no doubt they’d have notches taken out of them, with as hard as he was hitting.
He might be stronger, but I was fast. I blocked an attack and lashed out at his torso. He grunted, and the weapon came flying at my head. With no time to spare, I ducked. He growled and swung at me.
I weakened under his assault. I had to have more. An advantage he wouldn’t see coming. If I called out for Tewy or Zoe, he’d hear. As I blocked time after time, I wracked my mind for something I could do. When nothing came, I let go of all thoughts.
I dived down, whacking at his knee. He cried out, pain radiating from the sound. There was a thud, and then nothing but my harsh breathing.
“Is he…?” I couldn’t bring myself to finish that statement.
“I think he passed out from the pain,” Zoe blurted out.
My arms ached from the harsh, quick movements, but it was over.
No time for relief, though some of the tautness in my muscles eased.
“We have to check on Kaius and Nikon.” Zoe sounded more panicked than I felt.
She had seen Nikon fight but didn’t know him like I did. Despite that, I wanted to make certain they were well too. “Where are you?” I had a vague idea, but not for certain.
“Here.” She brushed against me, and I grabbed on to her arm.
We hurried back toward the river, by the sound of the water. I wanted to call out, but I knew I shouldn’t distract them if they were fighting. The faint noises of sparring grew louder the closer we came.
I pushed Zoe faster, stumbling over something and not caring. She caught up, leading the way again. I wanted to run, but it was a horrible idea, with all the vegetation.
The clashing of metal grew louder. Someone grunted and huffed. The fight was building. What if I was wrong? What if Nikon or Kaius got hurt?
Zoe said, “Nikon is fighting two of the crewmen, Kaius another, and the fourth and fifth were on the ground.”
Not hurt, but maybe not excelling? “Are they winning?”
She didn’t respond. Either she didn’t have an idea, or things weren’t going well.
“Who needs help more?” I asked.
“Kaius.” Her voice was shaky.
“Push me in his direction.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I can help.” I hoped.
“If you’re certain.” She moved me to the left a little, and gently pushed me forward. I continued on the path, readying my sticks in front of me. About twelve steps later, they tingled with an attack. I struck back, using a mix of my skills and the magic.
Within moments, I was gaining the upper hand.
Kaius screamed, “Behind you.” At the same time, an odd rush went through my sticks to my back.
I whipped around and lashed out, aiming toward where I thought my attacker’s head would be. I hit with a solid whack. Something heavy hit the ground in front of me, and there was a smack of skin being hit behind me. Then all was silent, except for heavy breathing.
“Is everyone all right?” Nikon asked between gasps for breath.
Zoe and Kaius gave an affirmative. I went through a mental check of myself and added, “Fine.”
“Is that your blood or someone else’s?” Nikon’s words were closer than before, almost next to me.
“She got stabbed in the stomach,” Zoe said.
Did I? When did that happen?
Now that she mentioned it, my stomach did hurt. The pain wasn’t as bad as I expected, but it stung.
Hands grabbed me, and Nikon said, “Why don’t you sit, Cass?”
“I’m fine. Really.” But I did as he asked and let him help me to the ground.
“Can you lie back?” he asked.
While I did as he requested, I said, “It’s not that bad. Other than probably having a tear in my clothes, it’s barely an inconvenience.”
“That’s not what the red on your white dress is saying.” Nikon sounded almost calm, but there was an underlying note of tension.
I didn’t want to think about losing blood. It couldn’t be that much, or I’d feel different, right? “Is it someone else’s blood?”
“There’s some of that,” he admitted, “but there’s definitely a lot of your own.”
I gently touched my stomach, where the pain was coming from. My dress was wetter than I expected. Why didn’t I realize that before?
A cold, lightheaded feeling came over me, and with it, a strange sort of distance from what was going on.
“She’s shaking,” Zoe said.
Nikon replied, “Go get some sand. And Kaius, tie up the crew.”
“The captain, too,” Zoe said. “He’s back that way. He attacked us. That’s where she got this wound.”
“I’m fine.” Though their voices were distant.
“She’s going into shock.”
Nikon’s words didn’t make sense.
I was fine. Just fine.