Fierce
Chapter 7
Chased By Bandits
Kiri looked back. A mighty struggle played out upon the plain. Vicious warriors and hardy men hammered one another with steel and steeds. She took a breath so deep it reached her toes and back up again. The spirits of this land had sent the bandits to save her. She breathed her thanks and wound her fingers in the mane of her horse and clung on as they bounded and raced away towards the distant smudge of hills where they could find trees and a place to hide.
Rayl slowed her horse down to a trot and then a walk.
"How did you pass through this country and keep your life?" she demanded, looking darkly at Kynan.
His face grew even more grim. "The first time the others and I travelled without incident. This time we were attacked by bandits, my companions were killed. I had to deliver my lord's message and I thought Yavar Bey would send me back with warriors as our tribes are joined by a marriage treaty."
He couldn't help but cast a reproachful glance at Kiri although she'd been ignorant of her husband's treatment of Kynan. Rayl blew her breath out slowly between bared teeth.
"This is difficult," she said at last, "so difficult that I fear we will perish and I will fail to bring you back to your brother and your people and this I must do before I can go my own way once more."
She looked so stricken that Kiri was moved. "Is there nothing we can do, Rayl?"
Rayl tapped her thigh with an impatient hand and her gaze was far away.
"I must get the chance to return to my sister warriors," she whispered under her breath.
She turned suddenly to Kynan. "Do you think that there is any use running?"
The young warrior shook his head. "Their horses are fast and they are well armed. Between them and the bandits our chances of outrunning them are slim."
"Won't they kill each other?" Kiri asked innocently.
Rayl and Kynan exchanged glances. "That would be the best outcome, Kiri, but we cannot depend on it," Rayl said heavily. She looked at the frightened face in front of her. She would be unrecognisable to anyone from her village. Covered in dirt with her hair in a mess! But the way Kiri sat on her horse was different. Her back was straight and her eyes were full of calm intelligence. Rayl softened. This young princess must be returned to her people. Rayl closed her eyes, lifted her face and let her soul wander. It travelled up and up in her mind's eye, up close to the Sky Father.
"What can I do," the thought breathed through her and she cried out silently with her whole being to the spirits that ruled the land, "there must be a way."
Not by strength but by trickery. It was a clear thought and it originated outside of herself. It was a true thought. Her eyes snapped open. "We will flee to the trees and we will set such a trap for them that none shall escape to tell the tale!" The two young faces gazed back at her in astonishment. "Come," she commanded, "I know just what to do."
The sun had passed its zenith and shadows of the galloping riders lengthened by the time they reached the line of trees. Rayl had assessed the approaching forest. "We won't head in a straight line for the trees," she said, "we must make it harder for our pursuers. Get off your horses."
Kiri was confused but Kynan enlightened her. "The hoof prints will be shallower without us on their backs," he said, "and harder to track."
The horses were spent from the hard, long ride. Their hides were dark with sweat and their heads drooped as they walked. Kynan, Kiri and Rayl peered back across the plain, shading their eyes with their hands. There was no sign of their pursuers.
"Not yet," Rayl said without preamble, "but whoever is the victor will come and when they do we must be ready." She lifted a leather flask to her lips and drank and the others copied. "First we must find water for the horses and a place for them to eat and rest. Then we will begin our preparations."
The forest was full of jagged hills, small gullies, shallow ravines and giant boulders. These shrouded in dense foliage, prickly gorse, vines and grasses. Other parts were more open with space between the trees to move easily and Rayl and her companions found a running stream right away. The horses drank thirstily and the three companions refilled their water flasks upstream from them.
"Don't let them over-drink, they're still hot," Rayl said.
"What do we do now?" Kiri asked.
"We must scan the area," Rayl answered.
"Looking for what?" Kynan asked Rayl, eyebrows lifted in enquiry.
Rayl gave a quick, gusty sigh and glanced about, "A steep climb leading up to a big treed area and thick, thick scrub."
They pulled the reluctant horses from the steady, shallow stream.
"I can stay with them, while you and Kynan find the place," Kiri stated but Rayl shook her head.
"We will tie their legs and leave them to graze. I want you with us, under our eyes at all times."
Kiri stared at her a moment and then shrugged. Kynan tied the horses' legs, one back to one front and they left them cropping peacefully.
"How long do you think we have?" Kiri said in a low voice.
"They won't be far behind," Rayl answered and quickened her pace.
They tramped through the forest and Kiri longed earnestly to be done with danger and dirt. She thought of her large tent with all its creature comforts and the easy life that lay behind her and quick moisture rose to her eyes. She had the grace to hang her head and hide this weakness from the other two. Kynan and Rayl seemed invincible. They strode onward, bright and alert, only Kiri bent over to climb the hillside by pushing her hands against her knees with every step. t the top, Rayl announced that this was not the place. Yes, it was steep but there were no overhanging trees and the flat spot where they rested was too bare. Kiri sighed inwardly when Rayl stood up and moved off again.
The sun was a warm glow low on the horizon when they found the place. There was a natural clear path along the edge of a steep stone face topped by trees. Ahead the forest was thick with old tangled underbrush and dead fallen limbs. Ferns thrust out of the ground, tall and thick. Rayl made a place for Kiri to sit. It was a round cosy flat spot. Dense brush surrounded it on two sides and a sheer tussocky hillside rose behind.
"Sit," Rayl said and Kiri sat on the blanket placed there for her. Rayl thrust a chunk of meat into her hand, "eat, Kiri. Kynan will fetch the horses and I will lay the trap. I must be quick, the enemy will be upon us very soon." Kiri started up in alarm but Rayl waved her back. "You will be fine. There is a bit of time and I will be able to see you as I move about."
Kiri nodded. She needed to rest. Fatigue sapped her bones and there was grit and dirt in the corners of her eyes. She was of no use to Kynan or Rayl. The best she could do was to stay out of their way. She ate quietly. One bite, savoured and chewed thoroughly before the next was taken. A lone flower grew, tender and fresh from a tussock next to her. Kiri admired its tiny, exquisite beauty with its tracery of delicate scarlet veins traced on pale pink petals. She lifted her eyes from the flower and gazed about until she spotted Rayl. She watched her curiously. Rayl was busy. She rushed from one spot to another, heaving logs about and fixing long, hastily tied lengths of plaited vines here and there.
Before long the meat was gone. Kiri felt strength return to her bones. She took a swig of water from her flask. As she tipped her head back she saw something moving through the forest. She swallowed her water in haste, choking a little and fumbled to replace the stopper. She stayed low but leaned forward to peer through the trees. A wave of relief washed over her. It was Kynan coming at a run. Kiri rose up and ran down to meet him. She and Rayl converged upon him at the same time.
"I hope you are ready, hatuns," he panted, "the enemy is not far behind me."
"How many," Rayl said quickly.
"Four."
Rayl told them the plan in sharp earnest tones and then she turned around and vanished through the thick ferns and Kynan and Kiri were left alone.
"Did you rest?" Kynan asked.
"I did and I ate."
"Can you run fast enough?"
This Kiri did not know. She looked along the path she and Kynan had to follow and took a deep, shivery breath. "I will run with all my strength and all my breath," she said seriously, "and Rayl thinks I can do it."
Kynan looked at her critically. He could see that she had toughened up in the short time she'd been living rough. He knew that not all of her girlhood had been one of complete spoiling. When he was old enough to insist, her brother Galti took her out riding with him and take fighting lessons with the other women in their tribe. Kynan also remembered how reluctant Kiri had been and uninclined to exert herself in these outdoor activities. Well, she had no choice now. It was run or die, or even run fast and perhaps die anyway. He shrugged his shoulders. The spirits of the land had decided for them. Kiri would run.
"We'll go a little further down where there is a gap in this dense foliage. When they are close enough, you will move across the gap so that they see you."
Kiri nodded but she couldn't speak for all the blood rushing through her body, deafening her ears and stealing her words clean away. She looked around for Rayl but there was no sign of her. Rayl knew how to hide. Kynan lifted his head to listen. Kiri heard it too. The echo of male voices. The sharp snap of twigs breaking under hoof. A horse snorted. The noise of it carried clearly up the shallow side of the hill. Kiri clenched her fingers into tight fists. This was it. She must put forth such a burst of energy and run like the wind. If she wasn't fast enough she must dodge and twist like the hare did on the plain to escape the two mounted hunters. She caught a flash of movement through the trees.
"They're here," Kynan murmured, "remember the plan and don't forget what to do if they catch you."
Kiri was numb. She dropped her chin to acknowledge his words, or at least she thought she did but her heart pounded so violently and nausea roiled in her stomach and pressed against her ribs. Oh, if only she was back in her husband's village! Kynan tapped on her arm and Kiri rose obediently. She stood straight up and gazed down at the approaching men. The leader spotted her straight away. Her dress was no longer the splendid garment that it was originally but it was clearly a dress and she was clearly a woman and the prey they sought. A yell split the air. No longer keeping a steady, seeking pace, the hunters rushed up the hillside. When it got too steep they launched off their horses and scrambled up on foot. Kiri dropped back down behind the thick, high ferns and rushed along the path. She didn't look back to see if Kynan followed. He would flit past the gap and crouch down and flit past it again, making it seem as if there were more men up on the hillside than just him. By the echoing yells and war cries, the oncoming men weren't deterred. Footsteps pounded behind her. Kiri glanced back and saw that it was Kynan coming after her. She couldn't see their pursuers yet. Ahead was the first tangled part of the route carefully explained to her and Kynan by the hidden Rayl. Kiri paused a moment to get her bearings and in that time Kynan reached her. He laid a hand under her arm.
"They're coming," he said. He was calm and not out of breath, unlike Kiri who panted and gasped already, "come on. Run!"
She heard the voices of their pursuers. She didn't answer Kynan but plunged into the low, thick ground cover. Three steps to the right. Leap over the log. Slip between the forked tree boughs growing up together. Run forward. Kiri concentrated on her instructions and placed her feet carefully. The enemies voices' were closer. She looked back and immediately regretted it. The following men were in tight cluster. Although battle weary, they ran fast and light. Boru was not among them. Kiri turned back and rushed away. Kynan overtook her now but he didn't run ahead but just urged her on.
A howl of rage and pain echoed through the forest. The first runner had stumbled into Rayl's snare. It caught his leg and the speed of his stride sent him crashing to the ground right onto a hidden spike of wood. One of his companions stopped to help him, frantically working at to unloose the snare but Kiri could see the man was too injured to move. The rest of the hunters never paused but kept coming right on after Kiri and Kynan. Kiri could see their hard faces, stern and without mercy. She panicked, gasping for air and stumbled in her haste to get away.
"Stay calm," Kynan murmured in her ear, "and follow the plan. We run into the thicket up ahead."
Kiri ran. Step, step, breathe. Step, step, breath. She counted the pattern and forced herself to focus on it and not on the men that steadily gained on them.
"Now," Kynan ducked sideways into a thick clump of gorse. He had his hands up to protect his face. Kiri followed suit. Rayl had beaten out a tunnel with her sword. It wound up small gullies and down along old waterways that were thickly overgrown with the prickly gorse.
"It will slow them down and spread them out," Rayl had told them.
She and Kynan broke through the last part of the green tunnel. They could hear the men, the bandits, Kiri presumed as she hadn't seen Boru, but she couldn't see them and they sounded further back. In front of her, Kynan wrapped his arm around a tree and slid out of sight. The tree grew from far below. Up against a sheer cliff, it was slender yet sturdy. Kiri eyed it doubtfully but a fresh yell from the gorse thicket caused the sweat between her shoulders to turn slick and fear of the enemy behind cancelled any fear she had of gripping a tree limb and sliding many feet to the hidden valley floor far below. The sound of crashing carried clearly to her ears. The bandit warriors were closer than expected. Kiri leaned out and curled her arm around it and held on for dear life as she wrapped her legs around it. Clinging tightly she loosened her arms and legs just enough to slide. She looked up as she slid. She was halfway down when three warriors crowded around the top of the cliff. At that moment her dress snagged and halted her progress. She tugged it frantically until something snapped and her dress tore. Sliding once more, she saw that a knobbly tree knot had a trophy stuck in it - a strip of her dress. The first warrior leaped onto the tree as Kiri reached the ground. She landed with a thud and a grunt but Kynan was there. He took her hand and pulled her away from the trunk. A whistling arrow slithered through the trees. It caught the enemy warrior in the throat. Kiri watched, transfixed with horror, as the warrior lifted his hands to his throat and clutched at the arrow shaft with clawing fingers. In slow motion, his hands fell away and he sailed through the air to land in a heap at the foot of the tree. His companions shrieked and yelled. Kynan ignored them.
"That is Rayl's arrow," he said and leapt forward. Kiri felt sick as he put a firm foot on the dead warrior's shoulder and wrenched the arrow free. Kiri turned her head away and breathed deeply through her nose. As Kynan loped back to her, the next warrior leaned out to grasp the tree trunk.
"Quick, Kiri. Run. Fast as you can."
Kynan took her hand and bolted away.
© 2019 Emma C Buenen
