Tristan strained to hear Tina. She had let out a scream that chilled him to his core a few minutes ago. Then she fell silent. He didn’t know if she was still alive or not. He knew some whippings tore through bone and he had witness a few whipping that managed to kill the person being punished. He hoped that was the case with Tina. It was his fault that was happening to her. He jerked against his restraints as a loud crack of a whip echoed through the air. It sounded like it came from his right. He twisted to stare in that direction.
At first he didn’t see anything, but he saw the tip of the whip fly over the tops of the nearby huts followed by the cracking sound. That made number 13. She didn’t cry out this time. Maybe she was knocked unconscious by the whippings. That would be a blessing because she didn’t deserve this.
Tristan’s eyes darted around of what he could see of the village. At least a dozen or two huts scattered the landscape with the largest in the middle of the village. The largest hut’s walls were dyed in a dark red that it almost look like it was burgundy while the the roof covering was a rich gold. He didn’t see if there was a small tunnel leading to a door like the Ruling Family had with their travel huts.
He resisted the urge to growl as another crack erupted from his right. 14. Tina had 6 more whippings to go through. His eyes darted around, trying to figure out how many Fawns were in the village. He couldn’t risk escaping, right now. If he tried, there was a chance he would be whipped, too, then Tina and he would truely be trapped. He had to waited until there was a distraction. He just didn’t know when that would be.
‘15,’ he thought as he heard the crack. Tina would be in tremulously pain from the cuts the whip left behind and the open cuts would be at risk becoming infected without proper care. He racked his mind, thinking about the nearby villages. He knew there was one settlement less then a few hours travel from the forest.
16. He knew the village representative would be tripping over his feet to help out a Knight of Camelot like Tristan. Tina may not like the plan, but Tristan may have to say he did something dishonorable and Tina had to pay the price. It was widely known that if a man of a household did something dishonorable or broke the law, there were times that a loved one had to pay the price.
17. Tristan let out a slow breath, fighting against the memories that rose at the situation. He couldn’t think about that, not right now. He needed to figure out how to get out of this Fawn village. He couldn’t do anything from his position, being tied to a pole.
Tristan frowned as the 18th lashing should have cracked the air, but it didn’t come. His heart jumped as his chest tightened. His breath picked up. Ice shot through his veins. Something heavy as lead dropped into his stomach. He waited. The crack still didn’t come. If Tina was killed by the whippings, he would show this Fawn village why he was known as the Violent Knight.
“THE KING IS DEAD! THE KING IS DEAD!” the cry came from Tristan’s right. He jerked his head toward the village crier. “KING UTHER IS DEAD!” A male Fawn rode a horse through the village, yelling. The villagers streamed through the nearby huts, hearing the cry, and gathered near the bonfire. The Knight watched as the Fawn dismounted and hurried to the decorated hut as a female Fawn, wearing an elaborate headdress emerged. The messenger knelt on one knee, bowing his head in greeting, and spoke to the Female.
The Female Fawn nodded before she turned to the villagers and rose her voice, “THE SO-CALLED KING, UTHER; THE TENTH OF HIS NAME, OF HOUSE DRAKE; HAD DIED!”
Tristan’s heart stopped. King Uther had died. He took a shuddering breath to calm his nerves and steady himself as a thunderous cry echoed in the village. The Knight felt sick to his stomach. He knew there were races that were upset by their treatment and it didn’t help matters when King Uther didn’t do anything to better the relations between the races, but to hear this village celebrate his King’s death was something Tristan was not prepared to witness. His gut tightened as his eyes narrowed.
“AT SUNSET, WE PARTY!!” the Female leader yelled. The roar from the village shook the trees. It matched the roar of anger that flow through Tristan’s veins. He watched as the villagers immediately separated. Does bounced toward the nearby fires as the Hunters left the village with carpenters.
“Grab my huge cooking pot!” one called.
“Get the herbs,” another shouted.
“Marc left to hunt, Mama,” a child yelled, “He didn’t take me with him!” before the child burst into tears.
Tristan took a deep breath. He didn’t loose his temper very often. He tried not to lose it, at all. It was a family curse and it effected the men, only. Which a good thing. If it had effect one of his sisters, he shuddered to think about the destruction that one of his sisters could do. His father died because he lose control of his temper. His grandfather was executed because he couldn’t control of his anger. His Uncle Nickolas traveled around the country as a hired mercenary because he was caught by the Kingdom of Camelot and nearly killed the entire battle squadron that the King had sent to capture him, but in the end, Uncle Nickolas was the lucky one, dying from the numerous wounds he had gained from the battle.
Tristan slowly closed his eyes as he tried to clear his mind, taking deep, calming breaths like his father taught him.
Meanwhile, six huts down from Tristan, Tina’s eyes snapped open. How long was she out? She heard a thunderous cry of “THE KING IS DEAD! THE KING IS DEAD!” and she slowly raised her head, watching the deer like creatures to began dancing around the village. She held in the snort she wanted to exhale. That would be an experience, watching these creatures preform a dance that would be similar to the munchkins of the Land of Oz dance when they saw the Wicked Witch was dead. “AT SUNSET, WE PARTY!”
Tina’s ears rang with the cry that followed. She shifted her weight and gasped, sharply. Her back ached something fierce. It would be a challenge to move, but she needed to get out of this village before they killed her. That lake must mean something really important to them to punish her like they did. She looked around, hoping to see Tristan, nearby, but he must have ran off after she was captured. She secretly hoped he didn’t. She might need his help to get out of this hell-hole of a village. Plus, he knew the area. He could get her to a safe area and get her to a doctor for her back, hopefully before infection could set in, give her more of a headache, and increased her chances of dieing.
She turned her head and felt something move in her open cuts. She hissed as tears well up and fell down her cheeks. It felt something was slicing the tender meat of her back. Her vision blacked at the edges, again. Her heart pounded in her ears. She felt blood trailing down her lower back. She slumped in her restraints, panting. Her hair slowly fell over her shoulder. She fought to clear her vision, blinking rapidly. She shifted her legs under her and stood up. Her shoulders throbbed in relief. She watched the blackness that crept into her vision edged back.
She felt the ground vibrate. She hunched her shoulders and looked up. Tina watched the deer jump around, cheering. She heard feminine voices calling for their cooking pots, masculine baritones announcing they were going hunting, and children voices whining about being forced to help. The village quickly become a bee hive as each deer had a task they knew they had to complete. The atmosphere took on a cheery note as Tina viewed the deers with a calculating eye. She knew their guard had dropped. She had to wait for the perfect, opportune moment to attack. She took a deep breath as she tightened the muscles in her back. She wanted to whimper as she fought against the pain.
‘I have to do this. This is training. I have to work through the pain. Pain means I am still alive. I am fighter. I have to work through the pain. I have to out of this. This is training. I have to work through the pain.’ She told herself as she slowly relaxed her back before she tried again. She repeated the cycle, trying to hold the muscles tight longer then before.
Unable to mediate, Tristan managed to cool his temper by thinking what would happen to Camelot as he watched the preparations for the feast. He lend back against the pole and hunched over a bit. He couldn’t believe King Uther was dead. Tristan had left the castle to search for a cure, but find a woman. He cursed himself. If he was not honorable knight, if he didn’t follow the Knights’ code, he might have been able to find a cure in time. Merlin did say that Uther only had a week left since the curse had left him bedridden.
Now, the Kingdom didn’t have a King. He remembered the last time, 10 years ago when he was a teenager, there was a funeral within the week of the King’s passing. He, now, know that Uther was chosen by the Holy Sword and there was no problem like there was during the six months of the Kingless Kingdom. There was a few battles that allowed Uther to proved himself on the international stage as a powerful ruler. Now, he hoped Arthur would be able to pull the Holy Sword out of the sheath. He feared the worst if the prince was not able to. He sighed.
He turned his mind back to the matter at hand. Tristan needed to find Tina and get her to safety, even possible either back to Camelot to heal or escort her to the White Hall Estate to see if she was telling the truth or not about Lady Freya ordering her kidnapping.
He was knocked out of his thoughts by the change of noise in the Fawn village. Tristan peered around and noticed the Fawns were making last minute preparations for the feast. A large tree sawed in half was drugged across the ground to an area nearby, on his right. He turned in that direction and spotted Tina. His eyes widened.
Tina slumped in the rope restraints, her arms held up and out to the sides. Tristan couldn’t see her back, but he knew it was cut up. They both had been in the sunlight for the entire day. He could image what her back must have felt like with her pale skin. Her arms already appeared to have a darker shade of red to them. He watched with amazement as Tina slowly stood up and appeared to be something. He couldn’t see exactly what she was doing but she seemed to tightened her body, held it for a few minutes, then relaxed before she repeated the cycle, again, again, and again. Tina still had the will power to fight back against their captives. Tristan smirked. He immediately reached into his arm bracers for the small knife he still had left. He slowly pulled it out and curled his fist around it as he slowly sawed the ropes holding his wrists above his head.
Tristan kept a pace as he watched the Fawns finished setting up their feast. A few Bucks hugged up a cloth separating him from the rest of the village, but it also blocked his view of Tina. It was nearly time for their escape.
Tina sucked in a breath, her eyes snapped open as a female voice rang out, loudly, “TONIGHT, WE CELEBRATE THE DEATH OF KING UTHER OF HOUSE DRAKE!” A cheer rang out and Tina looked up, eyes widening. Six yards away from her, a large cloth hanged. She narrowed her eyes as she stared through it. She saw the various huts that had been sitting the area before her nap had been replaced long tree like tables. She eyed the nearby tree table. It appeared the deer like creatures had sawed a tree in half, trimmed down the branches to short knobs, and laid the trees on their rounded sides. “WE WILL NO LONGER LIVE UNDER A RULER LIKE THE HOUSE OF DRAKE!” Another cheer echoed. It ranged in Tina’s ears as she wondered what kind of land she had ended up. “WE HAVE LIVED CENTURIES LIKE SUB-SERVANT CLASS! NO MORE!”
“NO MORE!” Echoed back from the other side of the cloth.
Tina turned her head to the left and ran her eyes up the tables to see what appeared to be a small red wood tree sliced in half, just like the tables, and a Doe with the most elaborate headdress Tina had ever seen outside of the movies. It had a rainbow of feathers and jewels that sparkled in the light of dozens of fires as she turned her head, looking at her people. The Doe wore a dress that hugged her upper half from what Tina could see.
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
It was that Doe who spoke, “WE HAVE LIVED CENTURIES IN HIDING, IN FEAR OF THE HUMANS! NO MORE!”
“NO MORE!”
Tina glanced up at her restraints. She straightened up, standing tall and saw the handle where the rope looped through was inches away from her hand. She shifted over to the right, trying to ignore the muscles pulling her left arm. She pressed her lips together as she felt her fingers slide the curve of the handle. She shifted her foot and stood on the balls of her feet. Her fingers curled over the handle. She smiled. She twisted her arm to the left. The handle wouldn’t budge. She tried again with a underhand before it budge. Her grinned spread and she twisted the handle in a hurry.
“IT IS OUR TURN TO MAKE THE HUMANS A SUB-SERVANT CLASS! IT IS OUR TURN FOR REVENGE!”
Tina shot a glance toward the Doe speaking as she worked the handle out of the post. She didn’t know what was going on, but the way this appeared to be going, she knew her escaping will be hard when the deer like creatures finally realized what she was doing.
“TONIGHT!” The doe paused.
Tina grinned as she pulled the handle out of the post. She placed her right foot flat against the ground and half turned to the left pole. She stepped closer to it and placed her weight against it. She reached up with both hands. She ignored the strain the position of her back and twisted the handle. This time, the handle turned with ease. She jerked it out of the pole and allowed her arms to drop to her sides. Her shoulders ached. She panted. Her chest filled with pride. She managed to do that by herself. Her cheeks rippled with pain as she couldn’t stop smiling.
“TONIGHT, WE HAVE A SPECIAL GUEST!” The doe went on, “ALL THE WAY FROM CAMELOT, WE HAVE ONE OF THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE!” The roar from the villagers echoed loudly, knocking Tina out of her musing. She glanced around and didn’t find any of the deer guards. She shrugged. They shouldn’t have left her unguarded. It was on them.
Tina crunched down. Her back ached as her back muscles stretched and she grabbed the handles. She bounced them in her hands. They were the perfect weight to smash someone’s face if she needed to protect herself. Keeping the metal handles in her hands, she glanced toward the doe. The dressed-up leader waited for her people calm down a bit before she went on. That would work for Tina.
Tina went to her left and started to jog. She reached the first hut and peered into it. She looked in it long enough to see that her bag was not in that hut. She needed to find Tristan, her weapons, and her bag before flying the coup. Not in that order of items to find, but mostly definitely before leaving.
“PLEASE WELCOME, SIR TRISTAN, THE VIOLENT!” a gasp echoed before it went silent as the grave.
Tina turned to peer back down the path and saw the cloth that separate her poles from the rest of the village dropped to the ground. She smirked and turned away. She crept along the huts, peering into the next three huts without problem before the roar of the doe broke the silence, “FIND THE HUMANS! BRING THEM TO ME!”
Tina spotted a large pile of weapons near the edge of the village. She hurried over to the pile. She hoped she got a lucky and find her weapons. She looked right and left, ahead and behind before she moved to the next hut.
Tina’s heart pounded in her chest. Her breath rushed in and out, shallowly. Blood thundered in her ears as she crept forward. She heard a noise and ducked into a hut. She didn’t looked before she entered. However, she turned her attention to the interior of the hut and saw it was large hut with fancy decorations. She frowned as she ran her eyes over the dark gray robe. It triggered something in her memory - a mage holding a staff up, on the shoreline of that lake.
Tina stared at the robe before she turned in a circle and her eyes widened in glee. Her hiking bag sat at the foot of what appeared to be a bed. She hurried over to it and threw back the cover of her bag, peering inside. She let out a sigh as she saw the contexts of her bag was still in there. These deer like creatures didn’t go through her bag…unless they did and only took what they found interesting like the scroll. She shoved her hand into the bag and searched for the scroll. Her fingers brushed against a long cylinder and she curled her fingers around it before she pulled it. She stared at the scroll.
Tina still couldn’t believe that simple letter like this has caused so much trouble. She giggled softly. She returned the scroll to the interior of her bag and closed the flap. She grabbed the straps. She paused. She couldn’t tossed her hiking bag onto her back like she did the other day. It would irritate her back, rubbing against the open cuts. Not to mention, the hiking bag was not been washed in years and she didn’t know what kind of germs were on the bag. She shuddered at that thought. Her spirit energy rose to the surface of her skin, causing it to glow, faintly.
“FIND THEM! SEARCH THE HUTS!”
Tristan heard the demand as he crept out of another hut. He glanced over his shoulder and hurried to the next one. He had to find his weapons before he started to search for Tina. He knew he would have to fight his way out of the village.
The hut was simple one. A quick glance around it inform him that the hut belonged to a blanket weaver. He turned back to the entrance and peered through the flap.
He cursed under his breath as he saw a couple of the Fawn Warriors approach the hut. He turned around, looking for a weapon. He stepped away from the flap, rolled his shoulders back, and turned to face the flap when his eyes landed on the weaver stand at the same time the flap was pushed inward. Tristan directed his gaze to the entrance to see a Fawn Warrior open his mouth in a yell before he leaped toward the Knight.
Tristan waited until the last moment before he swung his right fist up. His fist buried itself into the midsection of his opponent. The Fawn Warrior’s eyes widened in a mixture of pain and surprise before he coughed then Tristan followed his punch through, sending the Fawn Warrior back through the flap. He saw the Warrior land on his backside a couple feet outside of the hut. He stepped out of the hut, with a grin. A war cry echoed through the huts as a second Warrior rushed at him.
Tristan automatically reached up to his shoulder and cursed under his breath. He forgot he didn’t still found his bow and quiver, yet. Guess he would have to this Gawain’s way. He narrowed his eyes at the second warrior and waited for the buck to get closer with his right fist raised over his shoulder when Tristan lashed out with a sharp left hook, landing it in the buck’s jaw. The Fawn Warrior blinked stupidly at him before he joined the first warrior on the ground at Tristan’s feet.
He looked up toward where he had tied to the post to see a dozen swordsmen closing the distance between himself and them. Tristan pivoted and darted along the path between the huts. He heard the warriors following him.
Tina heard the loud demand echo between the huts. She jerked before she hissed in pain. She grabbed her bag by the shoulders straps in one hand. She struggled to lift it up with her right hand, but she managed to do it. She glanced around the hut, hoping to find her weapons. She let out a sigh as she didn’t spot them. She knew she couldn’t get that lucky.
She tightened her grip on her bag before she walked over to the entrance way and peered through the crack, checking if there was any of the deer people was coming her way or not. The area she could see was clear. She shifted her weight on to her foot while she pushed her other foot forward, pushing the flap outward, double checking. She stepped out as a war cry echoed. Tina jerked her head to the noise, spinning in a circle. It sounded like someone else had started something. While she personally hoped that Tristan was nearby, safe and hidden; she hoped there was a third party getting involved somehow. She rolled her eyes at herself.
She heard running footsteps heading away past her location. She didn’t know if any of the local warriors had that extra sense like her friends had. She withheld a snort and closed her eyes in dismay. She didn’t know if her teenage buddies would even consider her a friend still. She allowed herself to become distance with them after she started to date that jerk of an ex and she had lost track of them. A tear slipped out of her left eye. It would be nice to have one of them with her, watching her back. She would love to have the plant manipulator and master thief be there. He would have known which plants to help to speed up her healing enough where she didn’t have to worry about infection.
Tina shook her head. She couldn’t allow the past creep now. She would allow it to happen when she was not in danger. She let out a breath and tried to remember her lessons with her grandma’s friend when it came the spirit energy. She knew there were some humans were naturally aware of spiritual energy like she was, but it depended on how strong their spiritual awareness was if they could sense more.
Tina took a deep breath and reached for her pool of spiritual energy, deep within her. She summoned enough of it to surface of her back. Her back felt warmer then it did when the sun baked it. It was comforting then hurtful. She opened her eyes and turned her head to peek over her shoulder. A smile crossed her face as she spotted the faint glow of her golden yellow energy that always reminded her of lightening during a thunderstorm. The ache from the cuts on her back slowly faded away. She relaxed under the familiar warmth of her own spiritual energy, but the energy faded away before she could fully heal the cuts. She fell to her knees, panting and feeling drained. She cursed as she flexed her back. It felt like she was only able to knit the surface back together, but she was not for sure if she was able even to do that. She didn’t expected to feel drained, but at the same time, she knew it could happen. She didn’t do any of her training during the 6 year period she was with her ex or participated in spars, even though she had been offered several times when her non-humans showed up on her doorstep, checking on her. She turned them down, mainly because she didn’t want her ex to worry over her if she showed up with bruises that were shaped in fists or a black eye by a lucky stray shot. Eventually, they stopped coming by.
Now, she regretted not staying in shape or agreeing to those spars. Plus that diet of ice cream she had been eating for nearly three weeks. She was really out of shape. Some of her old friends would have been able to kill three times over if they had found out about her diet.
Tina shoved those feelings and memories aside. She had to find her bow and quiver as well as her rapier. She pushed herself up to her feet again. Her back had a dull ache to it, but Tina could move without it becoming much of a problem. She mentally reached again for her spirit energy and allowed it to course through her veins, giving her strength and the extra boost she needed to keep going, trying to knock off the rust on her powers.
She sensed the deer like creatures chasing after a human, about a dozen feet behind her. Her gut tightened with worry. She didn’t try to feel Tristan’s energy earlier when they were at the Lake. She opened her eyes and straightened up, summoning a barrier to protect her back from further injury. She reached down and swung her hiking bag onto her back. She felt the bag bounced against the barrier she created to protect her back. She pulled the ropes through the straps. She needed to keep those out. She planned to use them as weapons against any of the deer like creatures and anything else that stood in her way.
Tina hurried out of the hut and pushed her spirit energy into her muscles, breaking out into a run toward the edge of the village. She had to reach that weapon pile. Her rapier and bow could be in there. If not, she would have to find another weapon pile to search through. She felt someone watching her and snapped her head to the right. Running along a path separated by the huts, Tristan chased after her. Relief washed over her. He was still alive and didn’t leave this village without her.
Tristan’s eyes widened as he spotted Tina dashing past the row of huts he was zig zagging through. He didn’t dared to call out. He planted his foot and spun to the right, heading to down the path parallel to hers. He saw her bag bouncing against something yellow, protecting her back. Besides that, she appeared to be alright. He was amazed by the fact she was able to walk, let alone run after the lashings she took. There was something different about Tina then he first thought.
Another war cry echoed up from behind him. He heard more Fawns join the chase. He glance toward Tina who appeared to be focus on something. He turned his gaze ahead and his eyes widened as he spotted the weapon pile. He increased his speed and reached the pile at the same time Tina did.
“Fancy meeting you here,” Tristan greeted the red head as she appeared on the far side of the hut. She jerked her head toward him before she relaxed.
“Yeah,” Tina’s lips twitched into a small smile, “Though this type of party is not my kind of party. Next time, you decide to take me out for a good time, please avoid the whipping kind of parties. I think I may have discovered I do not like them.” Tristan snorted. “Behind you!”
Tristan waited a heartbeat before he stepped back and twisted around, bringing up his right leg in swiping arc. His leg swung into a Fawn Warrior, knocking the warrior away from him several steps. However, he saw out of the corner of his eye, Tina swinging one of the ropes she held over her head and down. His eyes narrowed as he could have sworn the ropes glowed faintly in the fading sunlight before they hit the ground, hard.
Tristan felt the ground shake slightly under his feet. He brought his foot back down fast as he could before Tina leap the few feet separating them and crunched in front of him. She looked over her shoulder at him, “Look our weapons, would ya, dear?” She turned back to the Fawn Warriors staring at her with shock expressions. “Thanks.”
Tristan blinked. He watched, dumbly, as she charged at the Warriors with both of the ropes she still had tied to her wrists glowing a faint yellow.