She stumbled through the forest, her body trembling violently and her vision blurred. The sun was setting slowly and she could see her breath in the cold air. She had used her shirt as a bandage, but the blood
from the wounds on her side had already soaked through it and dark rivers of
blood were streaming down her leg.
She was dying. She had managed to kill one of the beasts,
more from luck than any kind of skill, but not before it had wounded her
mortally. She staggered on anyway. The other two would soon discover their
dead brother, and it would not take them long to find her. They would smell
her blood and track her down. If the gods were merciful, she would already be
dead before they found her and ripped her body to pieces.
She stopped and leaned against one of the thick trees, the
bark scraping against her bare back as she took shallow, gasping breaths. The
small dog at her feet whined nervously and pawed at her leg.
"Tia." Her voice was thick and she coughed weakly, moaning
when it made her sides burn. Blood coated her mouth and lips. Her ribs were
broken, she was sure of it. She had both heard and felt the crack when the
beast threw her against the tree.
She raised her hand and touched her face gingerly. Her
battle with the beast had left her face battered and bruised. One eye was
swollen shut completely, and her lips were bruised and swollen from having her
mouth punched. She touched her front teeth experimentally with her tongue,
wincing when they wiggled loosely in their sockets. She was surprised they
hadn't been knocked out completely.
"Tia." She tried again. "When I die, you have to leave me."
The dog stood and rested its small paws on her shin. It
whined again and she smiled at the dog. "Don't stick around. They'll kill you
if they see you. You have to – "
She coughed again, moaning and crying out with the pain as
fresh blood poured from the wounds on her side.
"You have to run away. Find a new family okay?" She
whispered.
The dog barked once, shrilly, and she winced. "Hush Tia."
She made herself push away from the tree. Oddly enough the
pain was a little better. It had been replaced by a curious feeling of
numbness. She pulled the sodden material of her shirt away from her wound, and
stared at the blood spurting from the four deep slashes.
"That can't be good." She whispered and then laughed
weakly. She replaced the drenched material against the wounds, why she
bothered she didn't know, and stared down at the dog.
"Do you hear me Tia? Find a new family. Don't stay with
me." She stared into Tia's soft brown eyes and then frowned when the dog
cocked its head, stared into the trees, and then bolted away.
"I'm not dead yet damn you." She muttered. Her heart
squeezed painfully. The little dog's abandonment hurt more than her broken body
did, but it was for the better. She swiped a shaking hand across her mouth,
staring dully at the blood on her fingers, and lurched on.
They would bring her head back and stick it on a pole beside
the others. She cringed at the thought that her brother would see it. He had
screamed and raged, and begged the beasts to allow him to take her place in the
hunt. They had laughed and sneered at him. He was too valuable to be used in
hunting.
They had stopped laughing when he had attacked and killed
one of them with his bare hands. Valuable or not, they would have torn him
apart if she had not gotten on her knees and begged Draken to spare his life.
They hadn't let her say goodbye to him. They hadn't let her
hug him and tell him she loved him. The last time she had seen him he had been
pinned to the ground, his face red and his muscles straining against his
captors as he fought to get to her.
She swallowed thickly, tasting the metallic tang of blood,
as tears began to slip down her cheeks. She was suddenly so weary she couldn't
take another single step. She collapsed to the ground, her breath wheezing in
and out as her lungs laboured to draw in air.
She was cold and so very tired. Her eyes slipped shut and
she pictured her brother's face - his strong jaw and clear blue eyes. His eyes
had once danced with laughter, but it had been many moons since there had been
anything but anger and sorrow in them.
There was snuffling beside her and a warm, wet tongue licked
her forehead. She forced her one good eye open and stared at the small dog.
"Tia." She whispered.
Tia whimpered softly and looked behind her. The dying woman
followed the dog's gaze, squinting at the two figures behind the dog. Dread
filled her body. They had found her.
One of them crouched beside her, and she realized with a
faint thread of relief that it was not one of the beasts. The man was as big
as her brother, his shoulders broad and heavily muscled. His eyes were a dark
brown, they looked nearly black in the dim light, and his hair was a rich, dark
red.
The second figure knelt beside him. He was blonde and blue
eyed, and almost as big as the redhead. Even with only one eye working
properly, she could see the horror and disgust on his face.
"Gods be damned James. What happened to her?"
The redhead grunted. "I don't know Nicky."
He leaned further over her. "What's your name girl?"
She ignored his question and, with the last of her strength,
reached up and brushed his face with her bloody fingers. "Tia. Please help
her – "
Vicious pain shot through her chest and she screamed
hoarsely. Darkness crept across her vision and the last thing she saw before it
overtook her, was the redhead reaching for her.
* * *
The thumping in her head was loud and irritating. With her
eyes closed, she reached up and massaged at her temple. It didn't help. The
thumping continued - a solid, constant beat that demanded her attention.
She wanted to ignore it. Her side hurt and her head hurt
and she was exhausted. She wanted to drift back into sleep but the thumping
wouldn't allow it. She frowned. Her bed was moving. Only a little but it was
definitely moving.
She forced her eyelids up, and her mouth dropped open with
surprise. Her bed wasn't a bed at all but a human being. She was sprawled
across the body of a man twice her size. Moving carefully, she lifted her head
from his chest. The thumping stopped, and she realized that it was the solid
beat of his heart she had been hearing.
Not daring to move anything but her head, she looked
around. She was in a tent; cold sunlight was filtering through its walls and
although she could see her breath, she wasn't the least bit chilled. The man
beneath her radiated heat. It surrounded her entire body and –
She realized with sudden horror that she was completely
naked and the gods help her – so was the man underneath her. She froze, her
pulse thudding and her eyes widening as she stared at the man's broad chest.
It was covered in a layer of reddish-brown hair and despite the cold weather,
he was deeply tanned. His chest was rising and falling evenly, and she risked
a glance at his face. He was sleeping soundly, and she studied his face
carefully. He had a broad nose and wide cheekbones, and freckles covered his
tanned cheeks.
He looked to be around her age and he was a handsome man, she
decided. He was also huge. Her small frame fit neatly on top of him with room
to spare. He would be at least a foot and a half taller than her, her feet
barely reached his knees. If she –
For the gods sake – what are you doing? In case you've
forgotten, the man is very naked and very much a stranger. Get your naked self
off of him and get out of his tent before he wakes
She decided that was excellent advice. Moving slowly, she
slithered off his body onto the blanket beside him. He snorted, his hands
twitching by his sides, but didn't wake. She almost screamed out loud when a
cold nose poked into her back. She twisted her head, flinching at the pain in
her face, and stared into the face of the small dog.
"Tia!" She breathed softly and the dog licked her face, her entire body wiggling.
"Hush Tia." She said quietly. She started to slide out from under the blankets that covered them and then paused, reaching for the edge of it.
