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Gareth was the first to react. “Don’t be afraid Shona,” he said, keeping his voice as calm as he could. “My name is Gareth. I am here with Kwin Longbow. We are here to rescue you.”
Shona dropped the bloody knife she was still holding. “Kwin?” she said, as though she could not believe what Gareth had just said. “Is that really you?”
“Yes my Lady,” Kwin said and bowed to her. “Now before we can get you out of here, we need to get you released. Do you know where Fillen is?”
Shona shook her head. “You don’t need him. Brend has my controller.” She indicated with her head the man she had just stabbed. Luckily she had missed all vital organs. The man was bleeding, but would live.
Kwin rushed over to him and placed his hand on his head, forcing his way into his mind so he could block it, preventing him using the controller to harm Shona.
Brend was groaning and Kwin helped him sit up. “Remove Shona’s shackles and I will treat your injury,” he said, neglecting to mention that he had already reduced the blood flow so it was no longer life threatening.
“May Hellan take you,” Brend gasped. “You will never get out of here alive and Shona will get what’s coming to her.”
“I don’t want to make you suffer,” Kwin said, his voice cold and hard. “But I will if I have to.”
“Do what you want. I won’t remove her shackles.”
Kwin did not like torturing people, but seeing no alternative, he prepared himself to start.
“Wait,” Shona cried out. “You don’t have to hurt him, though he deserves it if you do. Find Fillen. Brend is in love with him and will do anything to protect him.”
“You bitch,” Brend hissed, then called for the guards as loudly as he could.
Kwin looked at him in amusement. “Make as much noise as you like. I’ve put a sound shield around this room. Nobody will hear you.”
“You can’t do magic,” Brend said. “You’re shackled.”
Kwin slowly removed his bracelets and dropped them on the floor. “No, I’m not.”
The colour drained from Brend’s already pale face and he began to shake. Whether it was from fright or pain, Kwin didn’t care. He nodded to Gareth, who left the room, returning a few moments later with a struggling Wayvern in his grasp.
“Fillen?’ he asked Shona, who nodded.
Kwin, who had been bent down, talking to Brend, stood up and walked over to him. “Order Brend to release Shona. I don’t want to make you, but I will do whatever it takes for you to comply.”
“Never,” Fillen hissed at him. Then he started to scream.
“Stop,” Brend cried out. “I’ll do it.”
Fillen stopped screaming when Kwin stopped using his magic on him and Brend hastily did what he needed to to his controller then told Shona she could remove her shackles. She looked questioningly at Kwin, who nodded.
“Go ahead. Brend will not like the consequences of lying to us.”
Shona removed her collar and bracelets, dropping them on the floor. Then she stamped on them.
Gareth handed over a new set. “Put these on,” he said. “They’re fakes, like mine and Kwin’s, though they’re good enough to fool most people.”
Kwin picked up his own bracelets from the floor and put them on again.
“You’ll never get away with this,” Fillen said. “My guards will overpower you the moment you try to leave this room.”
“Your guards won’t even know we have been here,” Kwin said. “Not for a while, anyway. Now sit down next to Brend.”
Fillen did as commanded.
Kwin ordered them both to place their hands in front of them, then he used magic to bind them with an invisible rope. He did the same to their feet. Then he tied them to the bedposts, effectively guaranteeing they couldn’t get out of the room or do anything that would warn others of their predicament.
“Are you actually going to let me bleed to death?” Brend asked.
Fillen looked at him sharply, the colour draining from his face. Kwin guessed he didn’t know that Brend had been injured.
“You’ll be fine,” Kwin said. “The bleeding has probably stopped by now. If Shona was trying to kill you, she did a lousy job. I will have to train her to do better next time.”
The look Fillen gave Shona was filled with hate.
“Should I gag them?” Gareth asked, but Kwin shook his head.
“I’ll leave my aural shield in place. It will stay active for a while after we’ve gone.”
Gareth nodded, then looked at Shona. “Is there anything you want to take with you?”
She shook her head. “No. Everything I have belongs to him.” She kicked Fillen’s leg as she spoke. “And I want no reminder of my time here.”
“Then let’s go,” Kwin said. He nodded at Gareth, who took hold of Shona’s hand.
“I’m going to make us invisible,” he told her. “I can only keep the shield around you if we keep in physical contact. Do you understand?”
She nodded and tightened her grip on Gareth.
“I’m relying on you to look after her,” Kwin said directly into Gareth’s mind.
“I will,” Gareth replied. “Or die trying.”
Then he and Shona disappeared as he activated his invisibility shield.
Kwin did the same then pulled his sword from his belt and opened the door, checking there was nobody in sight before stepping into the corridor. He could only hope that Gareth was following him. As Gareth wouldn’t be able to see him, Kwin gave him a telepathic running commentary on his movements so he always knew exactly where he was.
They made it out of the house without seeing anyone. There were guards on the entrance to the house, but they had manged to slip past them when entering so neither man was worried.
It took a while to walk to the edge of Fillen’s estate and retrieve their horses. Only then did Kwin drop his shield and order Gareth to do the same.
“So far so good,” Kwin said. “My sound shield and magical restraints will remain in place for now, but will disintegrate before we are no more than a few leagues away. I won’t be able to maintain them from any greater distance.”
He then turned to Shona. “You will have to ride with Gareth. I’m better with a bow than he is and you will be in my way if I have to use it to deter any pursuit.”
“I understand,” Shona said and allowed Kwin to help her onto one of the horses. “Can I ask you a question?” she asked once she was seated. Kwin nodded. “Why didn’t you kill them? After what they have done, you would be doing the world a favour.”
“I may be a soldier,” Kwin said, “but I only kill when I have to. If soldiers went around killing everyone they thought deserved it, the world would be a pretty empty place.”
Gareth chuckled, then mounted his horse behind Shona. She made no objection when he placed his arms around her to take hold of the reins.
“Ride fast for a while,” Kwin said. “Once we are off the road and into the countryside, slow down to a walk. We don’t want to tire the horses while my magic is still in place. I will feel when it fails. Then ride as fast as you can, but don’t get careless.”
“When have you ever known me be careless?”
“All the time,” Kwin mumbled.
Before mounting, he untied his quiver from his saddle and placed it on his back, followed by his bow. “Let’s go,” he said. “I’ll take care of looking for signs of pursuit, you just concentrate on what is ahead of us.”
Gareth nodded, kicked his heels into his horse’s side and took off. Kwin was close behind.
————————————-∞————————————-
They travelled unhindered for a few hours, then decided to make camp. Shona was so tired Gareth was worried that she would fall off if they continued on for much longer. They found a clearing deep inside a wood, but even so, they decided that a fire was not worth the risk.
Gareth watched Shona closely while they ate a cold meal. Despite her months in captivity, she was still a beautiful woman and her eyes had not lost their sparkle. Kwin was a lucky man to be marrying her.
He noticed that Shona had a strange look on her face. “What are you thinking?” he asked.
“I can’t believe you both came into Wayvern to rescue me. I kept praying, but it got harder and harder to keep believing as time went by.”
“Sorry. We planned to get here sooner, but were captured. I’ll tell you all about it once we’re safely back in Tippet.”
“Don’t say sorry. You came. That’s all that matters.”
The three of them talked for a while, then Kwin told Shona and Gareth to get some sleep; he would take first watch.
Gareth didn’t argue. He found as comfortable a place on the ground as he could manage, took off his cloak and laid it over himself.
He watched Kwin give Shona his own cloak then she lay down next to him. He resisted the urge to roll over and cuddle her. Ever since he had seen her father’s memory of her in Kwin’s mind, Gareth had been enraptured with her. Now that he had met her, his feelings hadn’t changed.
“Goodnight,” he whispered, then closed his eyes. Tonight, like many other nights, he would be dreaming of her.
————————————-∞————————————-
It was still dark when Kwin woke. He had swapped places with Gareth only a few hours previous, but was eager to get moving.
He woke Shona and they ate a hasty breakfast before mounting up once more. By the time they left the wood, the sun was beginning to rise. It was going to be another bright and sunny day. Under other circumstances he would have enjoyed the ride.
They kept away from the roads as much as possible and saw very few travellers. They were nearing the edge of a large village when Kwin heard a noise he recognised.
“Arrows,” he cried out and threw a shield around Gareth and Shona. He didn’t have time to shield himself as well and an arrow embedded itself in his thigh. Stifling a cry of pain, he pulled his horse to a stop and nocked an arrow in his bow. Looking around, he tried to determine where the attack had come from.
He saw dust rising in the distance behind them and could just make out three riders coming their way, fast. All had bows in their hands and were ready to fire.
“Keep going,” Kwin yelled at Gareth, who had also halted his horse, then released an arrow in the enemy’s direction before shielding himself, trusting Gareth to do the same. This time the enemy arrows dropped to the ground before hitting their targets. Kwin’s arrow, however, found its mark and he saw one of their pursuers fall from his horse.
He quickly released another one then looked behind him to make sure Gareth had obeyed his order. His leg was hurting, but he put it from his mind. He had two more people to kill before he would be able to pull the arrow out. Gareth wouldn’t be able to help. If he left Shona’s side, he wouldn’t be able to shield both her and himself.
Returning his attention to their attackers, he saw that he had hit one of the horses, who fell, dragging its rider down with it. For the moment, Kwin could put him from his mind as he concentrated on the last remaining rider.
He nocked another arrow, took aim and fired. He prayed to Hellan as he watched its flight. The god must have heard him as it hit its target directly in his heart.
As the dead rider fell to the ground, he heard movement behind him and turned to see Gareth lower Shona to the ground before taking off after the man whose horse Kwin had killed. Kwin started swearing loudly.
“Are you going to use that kind of language once we’re married?” Shona asked. Then she noticed the arrow sticking out of his leg and started to swear herself.
Kwin grinned. “It looks like I’ll have some competition.” He winced. His leg was hurting a lot more than it should have been.
Shona helped him off his horse, then took a knife from his belt and used it to cut his trousers, revealing how deep the arrow was embedded in his thigh.
“We have to get it out,” she said. Kwin gritted his teeth to keep from giving a sarcastic reply.
“Gareth knows what to do,” he said. “Get the bag from my horse. It contains medical supplies.”
He had argued with Koal about bringing them, stating they would take up too much of their limited space in the bags, but now he was glad he had given in.
Shona found bandages inside and an antiseptic lotion, as well as needle and cotton.
When Gareth returned he had a grin on his face. “He won’t be bothering us again. Nor anyone else for that matter.”
“I wanted to question him,” Kwin said through his still gritted teeth.
“I thought you would, which is why I did so on your behalf. They were guards employed by a friend of Fillen’s. Apparently he has communicated with everyone he knows, providing our descriptions.”
The news did not surprise Kwin. “Then we need to avoid civilisation as much as possible and make ourselves invisible when we can’t do so. Are you able to make your shield cover your horse as well as you and Shona?”
Gareth nodded as he dismounted. “First we need to take care of you. Want me to take away your pain?”
Kwin shook his head. “No. I’ll cope. I need you to concentrate on cutting the arrow out.”
Gareth took some rope from his saddle and tied it around Kwin’s leg, just above the arrow, pulling it as tight as he could. Then he took the knife from Shona, who turned her back as he dug it into his friend’s leg.
Kwin screamed and blood gushed everywhere, covering Gareth’s clothes as well as his hands. The arrow was deep inside the flesh, but had not penetrated the bone, so once Gareth had cut a large enough gash around it, he was able to pull it out.
Only then did he use his magic to reduce the flow of blood so he could sew up the wound. He worked as quickly as he could, making sure he didn’t miss anything, then removed the tourniquet. He covered the wound in the antiseptic cream then bandaged it up.
Kwin was worried. He was still in more pain than he should have been. His thigh was burning, but he said nothing. They couldn’t afford any delay and Gareth would insist on investigating if he mentioned it.
“Can you stand?” Gareth asked. Kwin nodded and with Gareth’s help, got to his feet. He could only put weight on one leg, but that wouldn’t affect him riding.
Shona had to assist Gareth in getting Kwin onto his horse. “Will he be alright?” she whispered to Gareth.
“I heard that,” Kwin said. “I’ll be fine. I’ve had worse.”
“He isn’t lying,” Gareth said. “At least not about having worse. There was this one time that−”
“We can talk about that later,” Kwin interrupted. “Right now, we need to get moving.”
Gareth didn’t argue. He picked Shona up and put her on his horse, then got up behind her.
A few hours later, Gareth spoke into Kwin’s mind. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“What makes you think I’m not telling you something?”
“I know you.”
“It’s taking all of my strength and concentration just to stay on this damn horse. I won’t be able to create an invisibility shield. You have to take Shona and get her to Luka as fast as you can.”
“No. I won’t leave you.”
“I’ll join you as soon as I can. Wait one day for me. If I’m not there by then, go to Tippet and I will meet you there. Don’t argue with me on this. As your commanding officer, I am ordering you to do this.”
“You had better make it back to Luka in one piece or she is going to kick your arse,” Gareth said then kicked his horse into a gallop, leaving Kwin trailing behind.
Kwin watched them depart then pulled his horse to a stop. He hadn’t lied to Gareth, but he hadn’t told him the complete truth. He was beginning to burn up and the pain in his leg was excruciating. There could be only one answer. The arrow had to have been poisoned.
He knew how to kill the poison and cleanse his blood, but he wasn’t sure he had the strength to do it. He closed his eyes and let his magic flow through him. He found the poison coursing through his system and erasing it was easier than he had thought. Then he probed deeper and a sense of dread filled him. It had already infiltrated his organs. Had Gareth been with him, he would have been able to fix the damage it had already caused, but he didn’t have the strength left to do it himself. And he had sent Gareth away.
Kwin opened his eyes. There was nothing more he could do other than hope he could make it to Luka before Gareth left.
He urged his horse to start moving, but couldn’t handle anything more than a steady walk.
The hours passed by and Kwin felt his strength draining. Fever was ravishing him and he was becoming delirious. He thought he was approaching a farmhouse, but couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t just a figment of his imagination.
Then the world went black and he fell, unconscious, to the ground.