by Alex Aguilar
Without a single word, Malekai slid his blade back into its sheath and ran for his horse.
“Cap’n!” Borrys ran after him. “Sh-Shit… Come, boys! Follow the cap’n!”
The attack on Skinner’s cabin was over. Eleven men were scattered over the floors, all of them red mercenaries, all of them dead. The Wardens of Grymsbi gathered on the porch, the Beast standing among them. They watched merrily as their commander rode away in the cart, safe and uninjured. Robyn turned in her seat and waved goodbye at them with a smile.
They had done it. They had escaped the wrath of the Brotherhood yet again.
Even Ignar the Beast felt his lips curving into a warm smile, which was as rare as a Vallenghardian blackbear hunting at mid-winter.
“Farewell, scrap,” he muttered under his breath. “Farewell…”
It was a pleasant moment while it lasted. The young wardens patted each other’s backs and shared smiles with each other. But then a white stallion rode out from the trees, speeding down the road in pursuit of the cart. Captain Malekai Pahrvus was not finished; he wouldn’t rest until he saw the girl dead. When the rest of the red mercenaries galloped behind their captain, the wardens glanced at one another in a panic, unsure of what to do.
“With me, lads! We’re goin’ after ‘em!” Ayisha said, rushing to the stables.
“Wait! Skinner ordered us to stay here!” Aldous protested, struggling to keep up with her pace. The rest of them followed in a close formation like a flock of birds.
“I said we’re goin’ after ‘em!”
“The horses… they’re gone!” Milo said suddenly. When they reached the stables, there was nothing but clutter and garbage.
“The bastards must’ve scared them off…”
Ayisha froze, her mind thinking of the worst possible outcome.
“It’ll be alright,” Aldous tried to calm her. “Skinner’s tough. He’ll make it back.”
But even he wasn’t certain of it…
Vengeance could drive a man insane, and the look on Malekai’s face had certainly started to show it. In a moment of fury, the captain chose to trail them like a tenacious predator refusing to let a prey escape. The only thing that gave the young wardens hope was that their fearless leader knew Halghard’s roads better than any of the rogue mercenaries did.
Skinner, true to his word, took the cliffside road, a majestic route that gave Robyn a spectacular view of the Great Rift of Halghard that left her speechless. It was also, however, a treacherous deathtrap for anyone traveling at full speed on horse; a single wrong move and both horse and rider would fall off the edge and plummet a thousand feet down to their deaths. The road was long and rough, and every few seconds the cart would bounce and the wheels would screech.
“Anyone on our tail?” Skinner asked, hesitant to slow the cart down.
Robyn glanced back at the murky vacant road.
“I think we lost them!” she said with a smile. “We made it!”
“Don’t celebrate just yet,” said Skinner. “Hang onto something, will you?”
Robyn chose to grab on to the cart’s wooden backrest so that she could sit on the edge and take in the view. It was just minutes before dawn and the black sky was starting to lighten into an overcast blue hue, with just enough light to give Robyn a detailed spectacle of the grandiose Rift. Her mother’s description couldn’t have been more precise, she realized; it looked as if a massive object had crashed in from the sky, leaving an immense opening in the thick brown earth that stretched for miles on the horizon. It was frightening and beautiful all at once.
“Sit back, girl. It’s gonna be a long ride,” Skinner said.
But Robyn was so overwhelmed with curiosity, she could hardly stay in her seat. She stretched her neck for a better view of the Rift, enjoying her brief moment of bliss. It was utterly peaceful until she heard those vicious neighs echoing behind them, the neighs of a frightened horse that was being lashed and overworked.
She felt her heart quicken and her palms start to sweat. Skinner’s hearing must not have been great, for he seemed concentrated on the road ahead. Robyn placed her knee on the seat and lifted herself for a better view.
“What are you doing? I said sit, girl!”
The fog started to clear and the sun was peeking out of the horizon. And it was then that Robyn saw him, a figure dressed in red leathers riding a white stallion. He stood out against the brown scenery like a barbed scarlet rose on a dying shrub.
“Oh shit,” she mumbled, her eyes widening with panic. “Shit, shit, shit…”
And then, like a loyal pack following their alpha wolf, a group of red riders emerged from the dissolving fog, trailing behind their captain.
“Skinner! They’ve tailed us!” Robyn said agitatedly.
Skinner winced and tried to glance over his shoulder, but his eyes diverted back to the road when he felt the horses drift perilously to the right. “Fucking hells,” he growled, gripping the reins for dear life. “How many are there?!”
“I dunno! Four? Five?”
“Which is it, girl? Four or five?!”
“F-Five!” she squinted her eyes. “It’s five!”
Skinner’s neck remained still, keeping his gaze ahead, but his eyes were gently moving from side to side as if he was contemplating their options, what little they were.
“You must ride!” he finally said to her.
“What?!”
“You heard me, girl. Take the reins…”
“But I-I’ve never ridden a cart bef-”
“Listen to me, girl!” he shouted aggressively at her. “If we don’t fight back, we’ll die out here! Do you understand that?! Now take the reins, I say!”
Robyn stared at the narrow road trailing endlessly ahead, the cliff just inches to the right. A mere bump, a simple twitch of the wrist, the smallest mistake could shake the wheels off track and kill them all.
“I-I can’t!” she panicked.
“I said take the reins, girl! That’s an order!”
An arrow flew suddenly into the cart. Had the wooden backrest not been there, it would have struck Robyn in the shoulder. She felt the hairs rising on the back of her neck.
This is it, Robyn, she told herself. There’s no other way…
She breathed deeply, taking a moment to accept what was about to occur.
“What on earth are you waiting for?!” Skinner shouted at her.
Another breath… A deep one… She had to force herself to concentrate and muffle Skinner’s shouts, for they were of no help to her at that moment…
If we don’t fight back, we’ll die out here, she repeated the man’s words in her mind. Calmly, she removed Nyx from her shoulders and set him down on the seat.
“Lady Robyn?” he looked up at her.
And she replied with a nervous whisper. “I’m sorry, Nyx…”
“What are you doing?!” Skinner glanced at her with his brows in an arch. But Robyn appeared determined and lost in concentration, like a soldier charging bravely into battle.
If we don’t fight back, we’ll die out here…
Skinner’s words kept echoing in her mind, overwhelming her, frightening her half to death. If she died out here, she wouldn’t see John again. She wouldn’t see her mother or the twins again. They may never even know what became of her. Malekai would throw her body into the Rift and she would be forever forgotten.
If we don’t fight back, we’ll die out here…
The words horrified her but she used them, as if they were the oil that would feed her inner fire. Another arrow flew into the cart but she managed to duck this time; it missed her hair by an inch. She glanced suddenly at Skinner with a hardened glare. “Keep riding,” she said to him; it sounded almost like an order.
She forced the fear out of her chest and eased her breaths into a relaxed and gentle rhythm. She’d always been a bold soul, that Robyn… but Malekai had left a mark on her, a wound that she yielded to like a frightened child.
She loat
hed it… At all costs, she wanted rid of it…
And she knew that the only way to accomplish that was to face him the way she had faced every one of her fears in the past, just as she’d seen her mother do.
“Lady Robyn!” Nyx shouted up at her fretfully, panicking at the realization that in his serpent form he could do absolutely nothing to stop her.
If we don’t fight back, we’ll die out here…
She strapped her quiver of arrows to her back and reached for her bow. She rose gradually to her feet, maintaining her balance as best she could while the cart ran at full speed.
“Lady Robyn, what in all hells do you think you’re doing?!”
She gave her neck a good crack and then gazed back at Malekai as if the man was nothing but a red target on a wooden board.
“Fighting back,” she said, and then she hopped to the back of the cart.
* * *
The ruthless captain charged ahead, slamming the reins so fiercely that the poor steed neighed in pain with every strike. To Malekai’s right, one of his bowmen was aiming again, his legs clasped at his mount’s sides to keep himself balanced.
“Wait!” said Malekai. “Save your arrows!”
“Aye, cap’n!”
“And listen, lad!” Malekai growled. “Only wound her, you understand?!”
But the bowman couldn’t hear; they were riding so fast that the wind was freezing his ears. “What??”
“I said wound her! I want the bitch for myse-”
Malekai became stunned all of a sudden, the blood rushing from his face.
A sharp arrow pierced through the bowman’s neck… A lethal shot…
The bowman was only alive for a few seconds to see it. He felt his body grow cold as the blood gushed down his chest. And then his body sunk into a slouch and he fell to the right, dragging his crying horse off the edge of the cliff with him.
Slowly and bewilderingly, Malekai turned his gaze forward.
He saw her… Robyn Huxley was standing on the back of the cart with her bow in hand… But Malekai hardly recognized the farmgirl he had tied up in his tent. She looked fearless, aggressive, and ready to kill again. She took aim and, without hesitating, released another arrow.
Malekai pulled his horse to the left just in time and the arrow grazed the hairs on his scalp. His eyes widened, the mask of valor he once held had shattered; the girl was determined to kill him and, for the first time since meeting her, Malekai became worried for his life.
“Spread out, lads!” he shouted. “Take to the trees!”
The remaining three raiders scattered themselves, finding paths along the greenery to their left. Malekai had the road to himself, allowing him the breathing space he needed. He galloped on, drawing himself fearlessly nearer to the cart, knowing he would only make himself a bigger target. But with every arrow that Robyn shot his way, he appeared to dodge them with ease, as if he could read where the arrow would hit the moment she let go of it.
When he was a good thirty feet away, he pulled out his blade. Robyn could see him clearly now. She could see his eerie grin returning, as if he was enjoying himself, fueled by the thrill of the chase.
“Go on, you bitch!” he muttered violently under his breath. “Give us more!”
Robyn was aiming again, but she hesitated when she realized Malekai was no longer trying to catch up to her. He kept a cautious distance, but he wasn’t slowing down either.
“That’s it,” he kept on, softly so that she wouldn’t hear him over the sound of horse hooves. “You’ve only got so many arrows… Give us all you got…”
Something pricked at her ear all of a sudden, a violent rustling of leaves coming from her right. “Skinner, look out!” she shouted, and then the cart darted dangerously towards the cliff, and the wheel nearly slid off the edge. A rogue mercenary with a shaved head had galloped into the road and nearly crashed into them. But Skinner managed to slam the reins just in time and the man had no choice but to trail behind them. He was so near, Robyn could practically smell him.
She aimed right at him with her bow but the man surprised her with a shield he had strapped to his back. He swung it forward and hid behind the steel. She could hear him snickering as he galloped even closer, close enough to jump into the cart.
But then she lowered her aim a good three feet.
I’m so sorry, she thought to herself, as if the poor horse could somehow read her thoughts. She closed her eyes and let go… The arrow struck the horse on the foreleg and it gave out a bellowing cry before it fell face-forward onto the dirt. The red mercenary was thrown into the air; he rolled on the mud, trying desperately to sink his nails into something, but it was of no use. He’d been riding so fast that the horse slid over the mud and pushed the man off the cliff to his death.
Robyn took a moment to catch her breath.
Two down. Three more to go.
Meanwhile, in the front of the cart, something caught Nyx’s eye.
“To your left, old man,” he warned.
Skinner took a quick glance and saw the shadow galloping within the trees, catching up to the cart with ease. “No… no, no, no, come on!” Skinner hit the reins again. But before he knew it the rider had surpassed them, and just a moment later he galloped out of the trees in front of the cart. They were surrounded, a snickering mercenary with arm tattoos in the front and Captain Malekai Pahrvus in the back.
“What’s the plan now?” Nyx asked.
The rider in front of them had already started to slow down, leaving Skinner no choice but to do the same. “Oi! Girl!”
Robyn held on to her arrows, realizing it’d be easier to outrun Malekai than to kill him. She glanced back and cursed under her breath when she noticed the other rider ahead, treacherously close for his own good. She drew an arrow, but Skinner held her back with a hand motion.
“Don’t!” he said. “We’ll crash into the dead bastard and stumble off the cliff!”
With one hand on the reins, the man reached into his rucksack and pulled a thick dagger out of it. “You’ve no choice now, girl! You must ride!”
He slid to the side, giving her room to hop to the front. Whatever fear burdened the young archer before had now diminished, replaced by a boundless thrill, one that made her feel unstoppable. It might have been her imagination, but the road looked suddenly wider, a good foot and a half of space between the wheels and the edge of the cliff.
It’s nothing Robyn, she told herself. Just think of it like riding next to a river. What’s the worst that could happen?
Nyx had curled himself on the seat like a rope, shrinking his size a good three feet, his head popping out from the center so as to keep watch, which was the only way he could be helpful in his state. “Watch the trees,” he said to her.
When she took a glimpse, there was only one shadow left dashing through the greenery. Borrys Belvaine, she recognized him even as a red silhouette.
Skinner crouched on the front edge of the cart, keeping his balance with only his heels. A single slip of the ankle and his body would fall under the wheels, but the man was much more agile than he appeared for his age. “Don’t be gentle with it! Get us closer!” he shouted at Robyn. Then he took a risky leap onto one of the horses that was pulling the cart. He nearly stumbled off, but he wrapped his arms around the horse’s back and hoisted himself to a seat.
Focus, Robyn... Fight back…
Realizing what Skinner’s intentions were, she smirked. She hit the reins and the cart moved closer to the red rider, the two horses closing in on his. Skinner was just two feet away, but he knew killing him from afar was not an option. If they wanted to avoid a clash, he’d have to remove the man from his horse entirely.
Skinner bent a knee and placed one foot onto his horse’s back, then the other. Then, without thinking twice, he took another leap, pushing himself as far as his legs would allow him. He landed sloppily behind the red rider; a mere half-foot and he would have sprung right off and tumbled down the cliff.
&
nbsp; They struggled… The red rider refused to let go of his horse and Skinner refused to let him keep it. Robyn slowed the cart a bit, just far enough so that she could still lend Skinner a hand, should it be necessary.
Meanwhile, Nyx glanced over the backrest of the cart.
“He’s gaining on us…”
Robyn’s grin faded. She’d been far too distracted, she’d forgotten about the real threat. When she glanced back, Captain Malekai Pahrvus was only a few feet away. Any closer and the man would be able to hop into the cart.
She hit the reins again, unaware of the danger that lied ahead.
Skinner was the first to notice it; his disturbed reaction made him slow, and so the red rider jabbed a dagger into the old man’s leg. Skinner grunted from the pain, but rather than yielding to it he allowed it to fuel his rage. Risking losing his balance, he grabbed the red rider by the head and gave it a violent twist.
There was a crack. And then the rider slumped forward.
He’d won… But there was no time to lose, for the threat ahead was now treacherously near… “Sharp left!” he shouted so loudly, his lungs nearly gave in.
Robyn became startled… Skinner pulled his horse carelessly into an opening among the trees. They crashed into a willow and stumbled on a resting log. The horse fell hard, and Robyn hoped Skinner wasn’t underneath it when it did.
When she turned her gaze forward again, her jaw dropped…
Straight ahead, the road curved sharply to the left; a wide curve it was, and beyond it was nothing but empty space. The Great Rift of Halghard was as enormous as the stories told… And Robyn Huxley hadn’t even seen half of it…
Her instinct told her to jump off, but she couldn’t just leave Nyx behind. Instead, she let go of the right rein and pulled on the left one like her life depended on it. The poor horses bellowed loudly, their necks bending, beckoning them to take that sharp turn. But there was nothing that could have prepared Robyn for what came next.
The horses made the turn, but there was a moment of terror in which the cart began to tip off-balance. Robyn felt the world stand still for a moment, before everything began to tilt.