Emily's Saga

by Travis Bughi

  She gasped; he swung.

  His clawed hand went for her face, and she tumbled back, crashing to the ground but avoiding the strike.

  Jabbar snarled and hissed. Emily kicked and crawled back on her elbows, but Jabbar reached down and grabbed ahold of her leg. His claws cut into her skin—fresh blood dripped onto the white stone—and she cried out and tried to kick his hand. He didn’t even seem to notice.

  He dragged her back and grabbed her by the throat. She lashed out with her dagger and sliced open his furry skin. Jabbar snarled but didn’t let go. Instead, he grabbed her dagger hand with his free one and squeezed tightly. Emily shouted, her hand crippled by pain.

  “You stupid, foolish human!” Jabbar snarled and bared his teeth again. “I’m going to cut you open and feed on your entrails!”

  From the door she had been running towards, Eisa and Lufti burst into the chapel. From the door Emily had entered, emerged Bari. Jabbar ignored them as he hauled Emily off her feet, effortlessly, by the neck. She dangled in the air, her dagger hand still crippled by his grip, and kicked at the rakshasa’s side. Her blows bounced off his solidly muscled body as if she was striking metal.

  From behind Eisa and Lufti, Takeo appeared with sword drawn.

  “Where is she?” the samurai called out.

  Eisa and Lufti turned to look at Takeo, confusion on their faces. From across the room, Bari narrowed his eyes.

  “Takeo?” Eisa shook his head in bewilderment. “What are you doing? I told you to watch the viking.”

  “Bari is watching him,” Takeo replied.

  Eisa, Lufti, Emily, and even Jabbar turned and looked at Bari. Bari looked back at them, scowled in disbelief, and shrugged.

  “No, I’m not,” he replied.

  But then Koll stepped through the doorway behind Bari and smiled.

  “Yes, you are,” the viking whispered.

  Koll swung his shackled arms over Bari’s head and wrapped the chain around the slaver’s neck. He yanked tight and pulled back, bringing the slightly smaller Bari to his hairy chest, where Bari began to gasp for air.

  Eisa and Lufti drew their swords and turned to face Takeo, but Takeo was one step ahead of them. His scimitar was already out, and as Lufti turned around, the last thing he saw was the samurai’s blade slicing across his face. Lufti screamed as he fell back, plunging into the dark basement below. The loud snap of bone cracking echoed up through the pit, and Lufti’s screams died out.

  Eisa swung for Takeo with lightning speed, and the samurai barely deflected it in time.

  “You traitorous bastard!” Eisa yelled.

  Takeo’s reply was to lunge for Eisa, and Emily was shocked to see that Eisa not only parried, but also swung back in return. Takeo dodged the blow and lashed out again, and so the two went at it with a whirling speed. Clangs rang out again and again as Eisa and Takeo’s scimitars danced in the sunlight.

  Emily’s lungs were on fire. Jabbar’s iron-tight grip on her throat still stood firm as the rakshasa looked around him in shock. His big eyes bulged further, and his claws extended into Emily’s neck. She tried to yell but then became aware that Jabbar’s grip on her dagger hand was no longer squeezing so tightly.

  She summoned the last of her fading energy and yanked her tiny hand free, leaving the knife to drop freely to the floor.

  Jabbar snarled and snapped his attention to her, bringing his focus back just in time to see Emily wrap both of her hands around his arm and swing her foot up. Her sandaled foot clocked the rakshasa hard in the side of the head, and he hissed and roared in pain. His hand let go of her neck, and she broke free, plummeting to the ground and sucking in a breath of precious air into her burning lungs, coughing it out immediately after.

  To her right, across the room, Bari’s eyes were rolling back into his head as Koll held the chain tightly around his neck. Bari had pulled out his dagger and made several slashes at Koll, causing more than a few cuts across the viking’s shoulders and legs. Koll held true, though, and Bari was fading fast.

  Behind Jabbar, Takeo and Eisa continued to battle it out, swinging their blades ferociously in brutal yet skillful arcs. The room continued to clang with both metal on metal as they parried and metal on stone as they dodged. They both breathed laboriously from swinging the heavy blades and, after one particularly nasty clash, paused for a slight moment, blades held up and pointed at each other.

  “If I had known,” Eisa said through ragged breaths, “that you were this good, I’d have killed you the moment you told us of Ichiro.”

  “If I had my katana, you’d already be dead,” Takeo answered, his breathing equally pained.

  Takeo lunged at Eisa, and the ringing resumed.

  Meanwhile, the life-giving air had returned to Emily her powers of movement. She grabbed her dropped dagger just as Jabbar regained his senses. He roared at her, sending spittle flying into the air and making her hair wave. He pulled back his foot to kick her in revenge.

  Rather than dodge the blow, Emily took it square in her chest.

  The blow was like nothing she’d ever felt—even an ogre didn’t hit as hard—and she coughed, spurted and choked on her own spit, and tasted blood in her mouth. Fortunately, she still had enough sense to carry on with her plan, and just as Jabbar kicked her, she wrapped her free arm around his shin and clung to him. With the other hand, she plunged the dagger into his ankle.

  Jabbar howled and brought the foot back, dragging Emily with it. She stabbed again and again, up and down his leg in as many places as she could reach. His blood ran down her arm, but she didn’t stop stabbing. The rakshasa kicked and roared and hissed, throwing his leg wildly about, slamming Emily into the ground and tossing her like a ragdoll onto the stone floor.

  Her head snapped back and forth, her body doubled over again and again, and Jabbar’s clawed foot dug into her flesh. She lost track of everything around her, but she held on and stabbed and slashed with every fiber in her body. She’d have gone on stabbing, too, but Jabbar stopped moving that leg, held her still, and kicked her with his other foot. It caught her in the stomach, and all the savory air she’d inhaled was forcibly expunged. Her body lost contact with Jabbar, soared into the air, then crashed to the ground and rolled away.

  Her vision blurred for a moment, her entire body screaming from the countless scrapes and bruises, but then focus returned to her and she looked up.

  She’d been punted across the hole and lay sprawled against the back wall. Across from her, Jabbar was leaning on his one good leg while he bled profusely from the other. He snarled and growled, his ears flattened back, and his tail and fur puffed out. He looked massive and furious, and he started limping towards her.

  Emily’s lungs refused to expand. She gasped for air and tried to crawl on her elbows. Her stomach sent a stabbing shudder of pain throughout her body with every struggle, and she’d barely moved more than a pace before Jabbar had limped around the hole. His throat vibrated with a deep, low growl unlike any noise Emily had heard, and a cold shiver ran up her spine.

  “I’m going to feast on your flesh,” Jabbar promised.

  “Hey!” Koll shouted.

  Jabbar paused and looked toward the sound, his ears twitching towards it first. Unfortunately for Jabbar, just like with Emily’s kick, he’d turned too late. Koll had finished with Bari, leaving the slaver on the floor. He sprinted toward Jabbar, despite his shackled ankles, and crashed into the beast with all his strength.

  Koll had gained barely any momentum, thanks to both the lack of room and his chained feet. He was both shorter and smaller than Jabbar and only a human, so when Koll hit, they both stumbled hardly more than two steps.

  Jabbar fell straight into the basement.

  Koll crashed to the ground, chest and head suspended over the hole, just narrowly avoiding the fall himself. Jabbar roared as he plunged into the darkness, and Emily heard a surprisingly light thud a moment later.

  “Damn rakshasa landed on his feet!” Koll warned. “Emily! Hurr
y! Pull me back!”

  From across the room, Takeo finished parrying another one of Eisa’s blows. Both men were sweating profusely and short of breath. They stared at each other and paused once more.

  “Damn you, you traitorous filth!” Eisa swore. “We gave you freedom! We were going to be rich! We were going to control an army! No wonder your master sold you!”

  “Last chance,” Takeo smirked, ignoring the insult. “Surrender, and I’ll let you die with the honor you don’t deserve.”

  Emily’s lungs finally relented and filled with air. She crawled towards Koll, grabbed him by his ankles, and hauled back with all her strength. However, she might as well have been pulling a tree log for all the good it did. Koll was a massive man, and she didn’t even move him an inch. She took a deep breath and pulled again, and thankfully, Koll pushed on his elbows to lift his body into the air.

  “That’s it!” Koll yelled. “Pull! Pull! He’s going to jump!”

  Emily pulled again and, assisted by Koll, yanked the viking away from the hole. A moment later, Emily heard Jabbar snarl and saw one clawed paw reach out of the hole and slide across the stone. With nothing to catch, though, it was sucked back into the darkness when the rakshasa fell back down.

  “He can jump that high!?” Emily gasped.

  Eisa suddenly became aware of the noises around him. He risked a single glance to look over at Emily and Koll, and that was a sorry mistake.

  Takeo swung his scimitar hard and fast like the sharpened club it was designed to be. Eisa, realizing his error too late, barely had enough time to haul his blade up for a parry. Takeo’s sword struck Eisa’s and barreled into the slaver. Eisa stumbled a few steps towards the hole, but he survived the strike.

  Rather than take the time needed to bring the sword back around for another swing, Takeo lunged out with his foot, striking the not-yet-prepared Eisa and sending the slaver flying into the cavern below. Eisa screamed as he fell into the darkness.

  “Run! Run!” Takeo yelled.

  Jabbar leapt again, this time both clawed hands scraping the cobbled stone. One paw caught the lip of the floor and dug in. Emily saw it and lunged, stabbing Jabber’s hand with her dagger. The rakshasa snarled and fell away.

  “Run, Emily!” Takeo yelled.

  Takeo sprinted around the hole and helped Koll to his feet. Together, the trio sprinted out of the temple, pausing as they broke out into the sunlight.

  “Kick the column!” Takeo shouted to Koll.

  “What?” Koll shouted back.

  “Kick the column!” Takeo repeated.

  “How? I’m chained up!” Koll pointed at his ankles.

  “Help me then!”

  Takeo put his shoulder to the column, and Koll assisted. Emily wanted to help but there was no room.

  The two grunted and groaned. From inside the temple, Emily heard Jabbar roar in anger. A moment later, the column shifted, and Takeo stepped back.

  “Emily, help!”

  Koll stepped back, too, and Takeo chambered his foot to kick the column.

  “With me, ready?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Emily answered, copying Takeo.

  “Now!” he shouted.

  They kicked, and the column supporting the archway shifted back more. The heavy weight it was holding up did the rest, buckling and cracking the supporting stone, and then collapsing over. The stones avalanched down, burying the entrance under a ton of rubble in seconds. Ossim’s corpse, still lying in the way, was buried.

  The three stood back, breathing heavily and staring with open mouths at the devastation. The loud sound of stone cascading down upon itself ground to a halt as the weak structure finally exhausted itself.

  In the silence that followed, only the wind could be heard.

  And then Jabbar roared again, and his deep voice echoed up through the hollow roof.

  “Good,” Takeo smiled. “We bought us some time.”

  Chapter 21

  They ran due east for one whole minute before Emily remembered that she could free Koll of his shackles. They stopped—both to catch their breaths and to allow Emily to pick the locks. It proved difficult to do with her eyes streaming tears of joy and her hands shaking, but she was able to make progress after a few deep breaths. As she fiddled with the shackles, the big viking began to laugh hysterically.

  “Haha!” he grinned up at the bright sun. “Hahaha! Yes! By Valhalla, yes! Ah, haha! I knew it. I KNEW IT! HAHA! I’m free! We’re free! AHAHAHAHA! Damn it all! By Valhalla, damn it all! I knew there was something off about you, Samurai! Haha! AHAHA!”

  Takeo didn’t reply immediately. He was bent forward, grabbing his knees, inhaling and exhaling as he squinted back towards the temple.

  “We have to keep moving,” he said, licking his lips. “Jabbar won’t be trapped for longer than a day if we’re lucky. If we’re unlucky, he’s already found an exit.”

  To add to the effects of the shaking, Emily’s hands were wet with Jabbar’s and Ossim’s blood. It took her several attempts, but she was finally able to work the simple mechanical parts into place and pop the shackles open. Koll instantly tossed the iron aside and rubbed his forearms. Takeo picked up the shackles and put them in his pack.

  “You’re going to carry those?” Emily asked.

  “They might come in handy, you never know,” Takeo shrugged. “And I’d rather not make it any easier for Jabbar to find our trail. The wind should cover our tracks well enough if he’s trapped long, but iron shackles will be hard to miss.”

  “We could double back,” Koll suggested. “Drop them off on the west side to buy us more time.”

  “That would take too long,” Takeo shook his head.

  “Are you at least going to tell us why you . . . turned?” Emily asked.

  “Not yet,” he shook his head, “but soon. Come on, let’s go.”

  With Koll free, they found the going much easier. The viking no longer stumbled, and they split the water Takeo had on him to drench their dried throats. They ate jerky on the run, and despite the weakness Emily felt in her limbs, her spirit was soaring far too high for her to feel anything but ecstasy.

  She was free! If she wasn’t so near dehydration, she would have continued to shed tears of joy. Emily had never been a slave before this, and if she could help it, she’d do everything in her power never to be one again. She made a promise that if she ever had the chance to free another person from slavery, she would do it. Freedom had never been something she’d had to earn, and she only just realized the feeling was regal.

  After that thought, she shunted the memory from her mind. She needed to focus on the future, on staying free. She had to run, escape, and leave this land as quickly as possible. It had been a mistake to come here in the first place. She should have waited back in Lucifan for a merchant ship to take her straight to Juatwa. Damn her brother and Adelpha for being right. They’d warned her as much. But no, she had been desperate for an adventure. Well, she certainly had one now! There was once a time she wouldn’t have thought such thoughts. Not too long ago, she’d dreamed of seeing everything the world had to offer. She’d wanted to sail to every land, meet every person, and see every creature. Needless to say, she’d been much more naïve—though not much younger—at that time. There were a couple of places, a couple of people, and a couple of creatures she could now safely mark off her list.

  Savara was one of them.

  Perhaps that was just the recently-freed-from-slavery part of her mind talking, but at that moment, no other voice in her head raised a word of opposition.

  They ran until nightfall, which wasn’t more than a few hours out. When the light began to fade, so did their will to keep moving, and they fell to the sands. Through heavy breaths and in sweat-drenched clothing, Koll waited no more than three seconds before he had at it.

  “Well, Samurai,” he heaved, “let me be the first to say thank you! The biggest damned thank you I can possibly muster.”

  “Yes,” Emily nodded. “Thank yo
u, Takeo.”

  Takeo barely seemed to acknowledge their words. He was leaned over, breathing hard, too, and just nodded as he gasped for air.

  “Well then,” Koll continued. “Come now, let’s hear it. Why’d you turn?”

  “Where do you want me to start?” Takeo smiled faintly.

  “How about you tell me how you two know each other?”

  Takeo looked at Emily, and Emily back at him. Koll’s eyes passed between the two of them.

  “That’s a long story,” Emily finally answered.

  “I like long stories,” Koll grinned.

  Takeo stayed quiet. Emily sighed and relented.

  “He thinks I killed his brother,” she said.

  “Used to,” Takeo corrected. “I used to think that, and I’m so very sorry for almost killing you Emily.”

  Koll recoiled, aghast. Takeo sighed in frustration and offered an explanation.

  “I used to serve a shogun whose wife killed my older brother. The woman told me it was Emily who did it, and I almost killed Emily because of it. I figured out the truth, though, and the shogun sold me into slavery as punishment for disobedience.”

  “Wow, old enemies?” Koll raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t see that one coming. And your shogun didn’t kill you, eh?”

  “In Juatwa, death is not considered the ultimate punishment.”

  “A fate worse than death?” Koll said, bobbing his head. “Ah yes, that is something we vikings definitely understand. I’ll get back to you in a second, though. Right now there’s something I need to ask the lady. You there, Emily, I got a question for you. What, in all the world and Valhalla combined, is a damned solitary, bowless, young amazon doing wandering around with no food or water in the Savara desert? Were you looking for Takeo? And if you can include in there how it’s possible you’re immune to olgoi-khorkhoi venom, I’d like that.”

  Emily flicked her eyes at Takeo. It was likely he already knew why she was here, but if so, he wasn’t saying anything. His attention was on her, though, and his eyes told her he wanted to hear this story, too. Emily sighed and looked down, her eyes settling on her hands. They were still red, and she felt a sudden disgust at it. With as much caution as possible, she leaked tiny drops of water from Takeo’s water skin to rinse off some of the blood. She used the sand to rub the rest off. Neither Takeo nor Koll stopped her.