As it passed, he lunged with his tanto, driving the knife deeply into the bear's neck and dragging it hard in a cutting motion. He was rewarded by a gush of blood. The bear whirled towards him and he skipped back to distance himself.
Serensaa ran forward from behind the animal and shoved her spear directly into its backside. Logan couldn't see where she struck, but from the bear's reaction, it was somewhere extremely sensitive. It jerked around, roaring in pain and trying to bite her spear shaft. She dodged back behind the thick oak trunk.
As it whirled, Logan could see that she'd planted the spear deep in the bear's rectum. It ignored him as he danced forward, looking for a chance to slash with the tanto.
Before he could bury the knife again, the bear broke and ran for the darkness, roaring in pain with each step. It disappeared.
They could hear it for a short time, but the roars suddenly became choked, and then there was a distant gurgle.
Serensaa cocked her head on one side, listened, then said, “Tode.” The context made the word unmistakable. The bear was dead.
Logan sheathed his knife, trying to regain control of his nerves. They could easily have been killed.
The bear had taken three of their spear points away with it. By his count, they only had two more in her pouch. They'd taken three from the man that they'd killed. Those plus the three from the men the saber-tooth tigers had killed made six and he'd used the broken one for practice until it was completely destroyed. They needed to recover those points from the bear. Two were not enough for defense.
He grabbed a flaming branch, and started forward. Serensaa made a cautioning sound, but came beside him, carrying her own branch and one of the two remaining fore-shafts that she held as a knife.
They walked slowly along the direction the bear had retreated. Logan glanced back to see the fire shining faintly in the distance. As he did, Serensaa made a soft exclamation. He jerked his head around. There was the bear.
It was not quite dead. Having lost much blood, it could no longer run, but it had managed to stand, leaning its back against a tree. It snarled feebly at its two adversaries and took a slow step forward. Its massive strength chose that moment to give out and it dropped onto its chest.
Logan cautiously moved forward. The still living bear tried to crawl to meet his advance. He stepped quickly to the side and drove the tanto deep between the bear's ribs in the exposed lower part of its chest. The sharp blade struck something vital and the bear made a convulsive flinch, gasped, and then stilled in death.
Serensaa came forward, deferentially held out her hand for the knife, and, when he gave it to her, she knelt and quickly cut off several large chunks of meat.
Logan watched, bemused. This was primitive life at its best and worst. The bear would have cheerfully eaten them. Now it would serve as their next meal. He resolved to be more alert. It was not his ambition to become lunch for some hungry predator. If he had any say in the matter, it would be he who did the eating.
Chapter 16: SEPARATED
Bear meat for breakfast was good. Logan finished, feeling quite stuffed. The meat was a little greasy, but he wholeheartedly approved of the taste. It was something he hoped to have again.
He sat watching Serensaa cut up and cook a few last bits to be eaten later. When she was finished, she wrapped the steaming meat in some palm fronds, making a neat package that she put into her pouch. Then she stood and kicked dirt over the fire, still holding his tanto.
Logan stretched, and began to gather the spears. He saw her feet stop kicking dirt, and wondered why. The fire was still smoking. Looking up, his first impression was that she was terrified. Her face was pale. She was standing stiffly, looking into the trees, holding her arms at her sides.
He jumped to his feet. There was a bearded man standing by a tree staring at them. No, staring at Serensaa.
The man said something low and harsh. Serensaa answered, an angry tone in her voice, than spat on the dirt. The man laughed, shook his head, and started forward. She turned to run, but drew up instantly.
Logan started to turn, but was grabbed from behind by a strong pair of arms that came around his chest, pinning his arms to his sides.
His Tae Kwon Do training was triggered by that unexpected attack. Without thinking about it, he stamped hard on the attacker's foot. The grasp loosened in response. Logan caught one of the man's arms with both hands and bent into a throw that flung the attacker to the ground.
The man landed on his neck, and flopped limply for a moment. Taking no chance that his assailant might recover, Logan kicked him under the chin, slamming the man's jaw shut with a “clack”.
A third warrior grabbed at Logan's arm. He twisted into another throw, using the man's forward motion against him. That one, too, ended on the ground, but rolled quickly away and jumped to his feet.
Logan looked around, trying to see where the next attack would originate. Serensaa was sprinting away through the trees with the bearded man in hot pursuit. He started to yell at her, but a forth enemy presented himself.
This one was armed with a spear that he apparently intended to stick in Logan's guts. He came forward at a run, and lunged with the spear held low.
Logan desperately twisted, and the point grazed his side, cutting a hole through his ragged shirt. The fabric bound, trapping the spear as the man tried to pull it back.
Logan grabbed the fore-shaft, pulling it free with one hand, while he yanked on the spear shaft with the other. His attacker didn't release the shaft and stumbled forward a little. That was all Logan needed. He swung the short fore-shaft upward in a rising strike and drove the flint point directly into the man's solar plexus. It went deep. The man's eyes rolled up and he dropped to his knees, and then fell forward on his face, unmoving.
Logan had released the fore-shaft when the man fell, and now turned to face two more attackers. These men were more cautious, having seen him dispose of three men almost instantly. They separated, raising their spears as if to throw. He jumped towards the nearest one, striking the spear upwards as he closed. The man grunted as Logan struck his neck with his knuckles, then grabbed the infuriated youth in a bear hug.
As Logan started to break free, the second man kicked him in the back of his knee. He fell backwards, dragging the hugging man down on top of him. The second man dove down to help.
Logan was holding his own until the man that he'd previously thrown away got his hands around Logan's neck. The grip tightened until Logan started to see black closing in. With the last of his strength, he wrenched one of his arms free and caught the choker's left thumb. A twisting motion snapped the digit like a twig, and the choker let go with an inarticulate cry.
The other two men managed to flip Logan onto his face, and sat on him. One of them had a piece of hide that he used to tie Logan's wrists and that was that. He was captured.
Logan lay still, breathing heavily and trying to recover. His mind was moving at high speed. If he could regain his feet, he'd attack with kicks. He started to pull his knees under him, but when he moved, one of the men began to whack him viciously with a spear shaft. The blows hurt and didn't cease until he lay still. When he moved again, he was struck instantly.
He relaxed. There would be another chance. It was up to him to be prepared when it came. He hoped that Serensaa had gotten away.
Then a question struck him. Were these the men that had been trailing Serensaa when he first saw her? The ones they'd been fleeing from across half of Florida? He visualized the instant of attack. Serensaa had recognized the bearded guy. That was for certain. She hadn't been happy to see him either.
The first man, whose jaw he'd kicked, regained consciousness slowly, finally sitting up. When he saw Logan, he climbed to his feet and came forward, drawing a stone knife. One of the others said something and the man stopped. He yelled something back at the speaker.
The two argued for a moment, then the kicked man put his knife away, moved up to Logan and kicked him in the ribs. Logan grunt
ed, but made no attempt to move. The man drew his leg back for a harder kick.
That was what Logan had been waiting for. He bent at the waist, scissored his legs hard, and swept the guy's supporting leg, bringing him to the ground. Logan scrambled around, rolled over, then brought his heel down hard on the nose of the fallen man. There was a loud crunch and the man went limp.
The others were on him again, beating him with spear shafts. Logan tried to shield his head, but ended up curled in a fetal position, simply trying to endure until they tired of hitting him.
They quit after a bit. He lay there gasping in pain, trying to recover.
They beat him some more after they determined that his last kick to the nose had killed his final attacker.
Logan endured it with a grim satisfaction. He'd killed two of his five attackers, broken another ones thumb and given the last two some serious bruises. They were likely feeling almost as ill used as he was. He'd gotten in some hard strikes while they rolled around on the ground, including kneeing one in the groin.
The three remaining men sat and watched him, talking among themselves. When Broken-thumb saw him looking at them, he said something to Logan in an ugly tone, then dragged his finger across his throat in an unmistakable threat.
Logan didn't respond; he was re-evaluating himself. He hadn't realized that he could fight so effectively. He'd always been tentative and fearful of hurting others before. Of course, his instructor had emphasized that they shouldn't strike full-force. It wouldn't do to have students injured in a university-sponsored class. Nevertheless, Logan's self image was changing.
He'd won the love of a beautiful woman whom he'd never dare to approach in his own time, and now he'd demonstrated that he was a deadly hand-to-hand fighter. In addition, it seemed that he was stronger than he'd thought he was. All that carrying shingle-bundles up ladders had given him muscles he didn't know he had.
There was a hail, and the men stood up. The bearded guy came through the trees. Logan rolled over, unnoticed, and saw that Serensaa had gotten away. The bearded man was obviously winded and angry. Logan was happy that she was so fast. With her free, perhaps there would be a chance for him to escape, provided they didn't kill him outright.
Logan's three captors showed a degree of deference to the bearded man. From that Logan gathered he was their leader. The four engaged in a heated discussion for several minutes, pausing to gesture at the two dead men and at Logan.
Logan thought. The bearded guy asked what had happened, and the others made up some kind of story that inflated their fighting prowess culminating with capturing Logan. Not knowing the language wasn't too much of a handicap,
The only thing was, the bearded leader didn't buy it. He laughed derisively at something one of them said, and then gestured at the two dead men.
Logan imagined he was saying, “Those two were better fighters than you, and he killed them. If you hadn't gotten lucky, he would have defeated you too. Look at you! You're all beat up.”
His imagined statement was probably close to the truth. The three looked embarrassed when the leader was finished with them.
The men discussed Logan some more, ending with one of them yanking his bound hands until he managed to get to his feet. The thong had been tied tightly and had been cutting off his circulation, but it loosened slightly with the tugging. He hoped it would loosen more. He surreptitiously twisted at it, trying to stretch the poorly cured leather fibers.
They set off, one of them shoving Logan along. The leader headed along Serensaa's path, following her tracks. Logan moved slowly, just trying to avoid making them angry enough to beat him again. His bruises had bruises and walking was difficult. His knee was sore from being kicked, and he limped a little, favoring it.
He looked down at his waist and felt a shock of loss. His tanto was gone. For a moment, his mind was blank, then he remembered Serensaa had been holding it last, cutting the last few pieces of bear meat to save for later. He hoped she still had it. His captors certainly didn't, although they'd been careful to pick up the spears he'd been carrying.
Spears were to be preserved. They weren't that easy to make, and they broke often. The men's action was completely understandable.
The leader wanted Serensaa. That was obvious. He carefully followed her tracks. They came to a place where the trail faded out, and the leader and Broken-thumb cast about for a long time before Broken-thumb found a faint trace of her passage. Then they were off again.
The hunters ate some jerky or dried meat during the day, but didn't offer any to Logan. He trudged along stoically, his stomach making complaining noises.
The path led through pine forests, interspersed with scrub oak. The long-leaf pines were thick in the valleys, but gave way to sand pines near the crest of the low sandy hills.
Logan's back ached from walking with his hands behind him. It seemed like the men would never stop. He walked through the pain from his knee, and it gradually grew better, but by the time the sun was setting, he was moving in a gray fog of exhaustion.
He didn't know what they were going to do with him. By now he felt it would almost be a relief if they killed him. His main concern was for Serensaa's safety. He wanted with all of his heart for her to escape. Whatever the leader had in mind for her, it wasn't something Logan wanted her to be forced to endure.
The day faded unceremoniously into an overcast night. The clouds had gathered during the late afternoon, and were now a solid mass from the east across to the far western sky. He could only tell the sun was low by its faint glow through the cloud cover.
The leader selected a campsite, and directed the others to gather wood. Broken-thumb complained that he couldn't carry wood, shaking his hand in the leader's face. The leader pointed at Logan, and Broken-thumb came over and grumpily settled down to guard him.
The men had a fire going before the last light faded. They'd gathered a lot of wood, something Logan was glad of. He didn't fancy fighting off any predators with his hands bound. Climbing a tree was out of the question, too.
The bearded leader came over to Logan, and asked him several questions. Logan could make no sense of the words, and just shook his head “no” using Serensaa's motion. This seemed to anger the man. He slapped Logan twice, and then walked back to the other side of the fire, where he sat, glaring at his captive.
Night fell and the cloud cover made it pitch black. The leader and two of the men were stretched out sleeping. Logan was lying on his side, facing the fire, while Broken-thumb sat guard and tended the fire. The man was drowsing. Every so often he would almost nod off, but then he'd catch himself with a jerk. He'd raise his head, look around alertly for a moment, and then start to fall asleep again.
There were no night noises, save for a young barred owl that flew into a tree a hundred yards away. It laughed like a maniac for a bit, and then flew off, pausing to laugh again much farther away. Broken-thumb ignored it, drowsing by the fire while the others slept.
Logan was nearly asleep himself when he felt a slim hand grasp his hand. He jerked slightly, but then lay still. There was a dragging sensation at his wrists.
Serensaa had wormed up behind him, and was cutting the restraining thong. There was a brief sensation of pain as the knife nicked his skin. She was using his tanto. The cutting motion was smooth instead of a jagged, rough feeling that one of the flint tips would have caused.
His hands came free. He fought an almost irresistible urge to pull them in front of him. The muscle pain in his upper arms and shoulders was intense and called out for relief. He lay still, watching his captors.
Imperceptibly, the sense of Serensaa's presence faded. She was moving away. He chanced a look over his shoulder. The crazy girl was working her way around behind Broken-thumb. The man, head slumped on his chest, was nearly asleep now.
Serensaa rose up behind him, grabbed his mouth with one hand, pulled his head back, and slashed his throat. He jerked, and started to struggle. Blood was pouring over his chest, but he wasn'
t dead yet. One of his feet struck a log that was part way in the fire, making a sound.
The leader raised his head and yelled. All three of the remaining men jumped to their feet in alarm.
Logan was well into the darkness by then. He couldn't run very fast, his knee was still sore, but he was moving as quickly as he could. There was shouting behind him.
He glanced back. Serensaa had dashed forward and slashed the leader's face with the tanto, then had run in exactly the opposite direction that he'd taken. The men were yelling in confusion. The leader shouted in anger and gestured for the two to follow Logan. Without waiting to see if they followed his order, he turned and set out after the girl.
Logan had no doubt that she'd escape his pursuit. She'd already shown that she could easily outrun him, and it was so dark that she couldn't be seen.
Paradox: On the Sharp Edge of the Blade Page 18