Pallik held the shield up and bolts bounced off it. He gripped onto the rusty sword and looked around to see where the archers might have shot from. He watched Mira scan the darkness and maliciously smile. She followed the trajectory of the arrows and sprinted towards them.
With the two weakest in her party gone, she could release her energy effectively. The spear extended and her swings became more powerful. She forced energy into her limbs and felt her muscles inflate and harden. She pounced on her new prey with the vindication of a cat that finally caught the pesky rat. No need to panic, anymore. Tella was safe.
Pallik could hear the untamed laughter as she slaughtered her enemies. Wet slurps of wounds echoed terrified streams of slurs and curses. He heard Mira fight a few times before when they were raided by bandits. Then, she ordered everyone to stay in their homes unless they could fight.
Nothing prepared him to witness her battle.
It was no secret in their village that she cleansed the ground with the blood of her enemies. The dark voice that echoed in her laughter terrified him because he knew where that voice came from. He realized there was something tied to her soul that made her enjoy this. The manically laughter between twangs of metal on metal unsettled him.
Another dwarf rushed towards with his sword drawn. Pallik blocked the attack from before swinging towards them with the rusted sword. Mira’s knife flew and stuck in the bandit’s neck before he could land his strike. Blood sprayed across his face and in his eyes as he tried to turn away. He wiped his arm across his face to see again when another figure stood in front of him.
He felt a sharp pain in his side. He looked to see the chainmail split with a dagger logged in him. Broken chains dug into the wound and further ripped his flesh. His sword dropped in his moment of shock. Garlison grinned evilly as he twisted the blade. Pallik screamed at the motion and gripped at the blood oozing from his side.
“You should watch yourself better, boy,” He laughed, “Maybe in the next cycle, you’ll learn.”
Pallik panted to keep his anxiety down as he punched the dwarf in his already broken nose. He copied Mira’s movements to the best of his ability in his panicked mind. His foot swiftly kicked between the dwarf’s legs. His opponent stumbled backwards and Pallik took this moment to kick him to the ground. He grabbed the dropped sword and plunged it into the man’s chest.
As it pierced the dwarf’s heart, the bandit gripped the blade and violently coughed. The crunch of bone and hoarse croak as the man died surprised Pallik. He felt something else stab into his back and shrieked. He looked over his shoulder to see the feathers of an arrow loosely lodged on his shoulder. His shoulders flexed and it fell to the ground.
“Mira said not to panic,” He reminded himself, “What do I do?”
Pallik quickly got down and put his back against the cart’s wheel to stop to give him some form of cover. He threw the shield in front of him and inspected his wound. His trembling hand grabbed the dagger’s hilt, and he took a deep breath to calm himself.
Mira told him before to never take any blade from a wound before she or a healer inspected it. Unless it was poisoned.
“Mira! Help!” Pallik’s voice quivered, “I’ve been hit.”
The blade throbbed angrily as he fell to his knees. He pulled himself towards the cart and placed the shield in front of him. He knew he had to stay calm, but he couldn’t help it. The warm red liquid oozed from his side and caused him to panic. He couldn’t help it. It hurt. He couldn’t concentrate on anything else but the pain that throbbed into his side.
“I… I don’t know what to do!”
Jonen grabbed a terrified Tella when they entered a small, hidden cave a short distance away from the fight. They could hear shouts and clangs of metal. When Pallik’s voice echoed out, Jonen held the girl against him. She violently thrashed to get away and run to her brother’s aid.
“He’s never been in a real fight! He needs me!” Tella slammed her tiny fists against the wound on his arm, “Let me go!”
“If he’s with Mira, he will be okay. Right?” Jonen tried to calm her.
“He’s hurt! I can help him!” She cried, “Let me go!”
“You can’t help him if you’re injured too,” He winced as she kicked him in the stomach and stomped on the wound on his leg, “You can help him when Mira says its safe.”
“What if he doesn’t make it?” Her eyes overflowed with tears, “I can’t lose him too!”
Jonen knew that look all too well. He hugged the girl and pulled her closer to him. She sobbed into his tunic and fearfully shook in his arms. Her small fists slammed against him as she tried to get away.
“I can’t lose him too,” She whimpered, “Let me go.”
“You trust Mira, right?” Jonen looked out of the cave, “She will protect him.”
“He’s hurt,” She gripped his tunic, “What if she can’t save him in time?”
Pallik’s blurry vision cleared away with a few blinks. He couldn’t tell when Mira appeared at his side but felt her soft hands lift his chin upwards.
“Mira—”
“It’s okay,” She nodded, “You are in pain. Take a moment and breath. Calm yourself as much as you can.”
Pallik hated that he couldn’t not cry. Her fingers grabbed the chainmail around the blade and ripped it apart. She examined his wound and gently ran her finger against the dagger. He gagged when she stuck it in her mouth.
“It is not poisoned,” She nodded certainly, “It is not in an area that would hit any major organs. You will live.”
“My shoulder—”
“It only broke the skin,” She reassured him, “A mere cut.”
“Will I at least get a cool scar?” He joked, but the spike of pain caused him to wince, “I heard guys with cool scars attract all the ladies.”
Mira rolled her eyes, “You focus on odd things.”
She scooped him up and placed him on the cart. A bolt pierced through her shoulder, and she grunted. The metal tip sticking out of her right shoulder caught his eye.
“Mira! Are you—”
“It seems I missed one,” The waning fierceness of her eyes fully sparked back to life, “Excuse me for a moment.”
She jumped from the cart and sprinted towards the offender. In the end, only two men fled for their lives. Pallik watched in horror as she disappeared into the darkness. Screams of terror filled the air before soft, wet gurgles followed them.
Mira told him to stay calm. He looked around to try and relax himself. The slumped bodies of bandits around him caused him to hyperventilate. He had killed someone. He was stabbed. He caused Mira’s attention to waver and a bolt struck her because of him.
Pallik’s mind swirled into an anxious spiral. What if Mira dies now? What if he can’t find Tella? What if he dies because he can’t find Tella? What if they get separated forever? What if he can’t recover? What if? What if? What if? What if?
When Mira reappeared at the cart, she shook him.
“Pallik, breathe,” She encouraged him, “The battle is over.”
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He noticed the bolt still sticking from her shoulder, “Are you okay? I’m sorry.”
“I’m fine,” She tried to catch his frantically wavering gaze, “We need to find your sister. Can you walk or do I need to carry you?”
Pallik winced, “I—I can walk.”
Mira helped him down and they walked down the dirt path. Her senses heightened from the anger burned in her veins. Pallik noticed the monumental difference in their wounds, but Mira did not acknowledge hers existed at all. He felt the blood leaking from his side and tried not to focus on it. When he tripped, she caught his shirt before he landed on the ground. She threw his arm over her shoulders and swept his legs from the ground in a swift motion.
“There is no need to be prideful,” She whispered, “You’re injured.”
“I’m no knight,” He halfheartedly laughed, “But… I can’t at least try to seem strong, can I?”
As he relaxed in her arms, her anger subsided. The fiercely blinding white from her eyes faded into the calm, honey color Pallik liked. He sleepily blinked at her, and she shook him to wake him up.
“Stay awake.”
Those miserable bandits did not listen to her. If they had let her pass, they would be alive to bother someone else. Pallik wouldn’t be uninjured. It was the most desirable outcome. If Jonen hadn’t decided to pop up and make an appearance, the bandits wouldn’t’ve seen them, and nobody would be injured. She would have to have a discussion with the half-elf.
“Mira,” Pallik bit his lip to ponder how to phrase his question, “Back there… your voice…”
“It happens when I am unable to control my anger,” She acknowledged it, “A different time.”
He nodded and decided not to press the question. Mira’s eyes followed the hoof prints in the dirt path until it abruptly turned off the road. The small opening of a cave revealed itself as she moved brush out of the way.
Mira called out, “It’s safe now.”
She gently set Pallik’s feet on the ground as the girl burst from the cave and ran towards her brother. Tears streamed down Tella’s face as she threw her arms around him. He winced and pulled back.
“Tella!” He grunted and his hand found the dagger’s hilt, “Watch out. I have a wound.”
The girl examined him closely as Jonen trotted the horse back to the road, “That’s—”
“If you cannot keep calm, then let me know and I will do what I can to stop the bleeding,” Mira grabbed the knife, “I can burn it or do stitches my—”
“I can do it!” Tella sniffled and rubbed the tears from her eyes.
The teen blinked and looked between them, “What—”
“Pallik is not a mage. If your spell falters—”
“Mira!” The girl yelled, “I can do it!”
She closed her eyes and nodded, “Very well. I will stop you if I feel you are going to fail. Let’s move into the cave.”
Mira helped him walk into the cave and leaned him against the wall as he sat down. She completely ignored Jonen as he dismounted the horse and tried to get her attention. Pallik needed her full attention. She ripped the chainmail and his shirt off as Tella whispered her spell. He grabbed her wrists and looked frightfully at her. She flinched a moment but steadied her hands around the blade.
“I’m going to pull the knife out. You will bite into it as she stitches you up,” She said softly, “I do not have anything else to help with the pain. If you pass out from the pain, I will do my best to wake you up when it’s done.”
He let go of her wrists, “I’m sorry.”
“You did nothing wrong,” She shook her head softly, “I’m sorry I was unable to protect you.”
She slid the dagger from his side as Tella’s spell completed. The girl walked towards them with needle held and pursed lips. Mira held the dagger’s hilt up to his mouth and he bit into it. She held in in place with her hand on the blade. He looked at her with teary eyes and tried to remain as calm as she did when Tella fixed her wounds.
As his sister stitched his wound together, he grunted and clamped down on the dagger’s leather hilt. Pallik tried not to react to his sister, but he couldn’t help but slam his fist into the ground to let some of the pain twitch out. Mira grabbed his hand to keep him from thrashing around.
“Stay as still as you can,” She looked down at the young healer, “How much longer?”
“Almost done,” Tella whispered.
As the magical threads evaporated in the air, Mira took the knife from Pallik’s mouth. He rested his head against the cave wall and shuddered. Tella threw her arms around him and hugged him. He laughed and patted her back.
“Thanks, Sis.”
“You’re a big, stupid idiot! Mira said that you needed to—”
As Tella berated her brother, Jonen walked towards them. Mira continued to ignore him as he tried to get her attention. She held a small ball of fire in her hands to warm up the children. Jonen didn’t notice the arrow in her shoulder until he saw the light flicker off the metal tip.
“Uh, Mira?” Jonen raised an eyebrow, “Do you want help taking care of that?”
Mira gripped onto the bolt and ripped it out of her front. She burned the wood in her hand and the tip dropped to the ground. She silently brought the small ball of flame to her skin. It singed the skin underneath. She shook her hand and turned back to face Tella and Pallik. Chills ran down Jonen’s spine as her rapidly flashing white-yellow eyes never left his during the process.
Both Tella and Pallik were crying and hugged each other. When Pallik’s adrenaline faded and the soreness set in, he let go of his sister and pointed to Mira.
“Tella, can you stitch the back for me?” She knelt in front of the girl and moved the tunic to expose most of her shoulder.
Tella obliged and healed her wound. Mira’s fading white eyes glared at Jonen with an annoyance he hadn’t expected. After the small healer was down with her spell, Mira stood and walked towards him.
“Children, we will stay here for tonight,” She called over her shoulder, “Jonen, get on the horse. We are going to get the cart.”
Mira waited for him to jump up into the saddle. She grabbed the reins and led the horse further away from the mouth of the cave in silence. Pallik and Tella followed them back to the dirt path. He didn’t know what to say but felt her anger boil at him. After a few minutes of walking in complete silence only broken up by the whispers of the siblings, she stopped and turned to look up at Jonen.
“Why did you throw the cover?” Mira titled her head in an eerie way, “The children knew not to. They knew to tell anyone else. Why did you do that?”
“That bandit… The he way he spoke about you, I couldn’t allow it,” He held her determined gaze, “You needed help. It wasn’t right to stay hidden.”
“Because of your decision, Pallik got wounded. He had to take his first life at a young age,” She scolded him, “Your decision to protect my ‘honor’ was unwarranted and unnecessary. You put them at risk. That is unacceptable.”
“Mira, I –”
He reached towards her, but she stepped away. She jerked her head to the side and refused to look at him. She kept her eyes closed to hide the telltale sign of anger in her white eyes. She refused to look at him.
“He wanted to intimidate me,” Mira scoffed, “I don’t know why you keep assuming differently, but I’m not a weak woman.”
“That’s not what—”
“I’m a thrall, Jonen. I’m branded,” She sighed and rubbed a hand down her face, “I have dealt with, and will keep dealing with, men with harsh words. That is the way the world works out here.”
Her white eyes faded into the soft amber as she calmed herself. An emptiness replaced the anger he saw earlier as she turned away.
“I don’t care about my own wounds. It isn’t the first time I’ve been injured,” She locked her jaw, “Pallik could have died. Next time, stay under the cover and let me deal with the damn bandits by myself.”
“Mira, please. Just let me—”
“This wasn’t the first-time bandits stopped me and it won’t be the last,” Her hollow eyes met his, “I do not need a knight to save me.”
Her icy demeanor froze his apologies in his throat. Jonen felt the guilt she intended him to. This woman did him a favor by letting him tag along and he was the reason someone she seemed to care about was hurt. She was right. He didn’t know what to do and panicked. This was his fault.
“I understand,” Jonen nodded solemnly, “I’m sorry.”
“We will have to camp tonight so the horse settles down enough to keep going,” She walked back to the dirt path, “I have some business to do with the corpses. My master will not tolerate being besmirched like this.”
Jonen watched wordlessly as she walked away. Mira showed her swiftness in battle with the beast. He just wanted to protect her. With his lame ankle, he was useless and depended completely on the woman. Now, she was angry with him.
Mira led the horse back towards the cart, silently. Jonen felt each second like an eternity of stillness. Only the clomps of the horse broke the quite between them. Tella would not let go of her brother’s hand as they walked the road. The mortified, young healer worried over her brother’s health. Pallik winced as he helped his sister into the cart. Jonen understood her fear of losing another loved one. The guilt stabbed further into him.
“Pallik, if you are well enough to help, lend me a hand,” Mira called as she grabbed the ankles of a bandit, “We need to clear them from the road.”
“Yes, Merawl.”
She stopped and looked at him, “You too, Pallik?”
He pursed his lips and nodded. She sighed and shook her head.
“That’s what the others in the village call her,” Jonen whispered to him, “Why?”
“Tell him, then,” She looked away from the teen and dragged the body from the road, “Go on.”
“Saceida summoned Merawl to fight Agrowl.”
Mira barked in laughter, “Merawl is an infernal creature of protection.”
“What?” He looked between them.
“It’s an honorable name, Mira,” Pallik offered, “You—”
“Your own people think it came from the void only to be tamed for battle,” Her grip snapped the ankles of the dead body in her hands, “Do I look tamed to you?”
“Mira?” Tella sniffled, “Mama Relya says—”
“Never mind. It’s fine,” She ran her hands down her face, “Just get on the cart.”
The awkward silence of the group only broke when Mira tossed one of the bodies off the road like it was a blanket. Pallik patted Tella’s legs and tied the broken rope ends to the horse so it could pull the cart again. He walked back to his sister and squeezed her hands in his.
“You did a good job stitching me up. Mom and Dad would be proud,” He reassured her, “If I feel faint, I will let Mira know.”
Tella nodded and let go of her brother’s hand. Pallik walked by and grabbed another bandit to drag. Mira wanted to keep them off the road. There would likely be more to show up soon, but in case someone else traveled the path before them the road should be cleared.
Pallik walked away from her as she pulled knives and slid them back into the pockets of her bodice. She paused with one before she carved something Garlison’s chest. She wiped the blood from her blade against the black leather before sliding it into its sheath.
“There. The road is clear. Move the cart to the cave entrance,” Mira stood, “We will camp there tonight.”
Jonen looked over the as he rode next to her and saw what she carved.
Do not tempt death.