8 Unfinished Business

Zeph did not find the bag he had thrown to the other shore of the river. He was sure he remembered the place it had fallen in, it just was not there anymore.

There was not much to miss from the bag though, so he didn't dwell on it. Zeph had more pressing matters to resolve. He had no way of knowing how much time had passed since he arrived in the hut, but he hoped it wasn't more than a single night.

He traced his way back to the camp just to be sure, but was disappointed to find it empty. There were still some embers from the fire, so they shouldn't have departed a too long ago.

He decided to check the road that woman had lead him before. There were many footprints pointing both ways and he wasn't any expert in tracking to figure which one belonged to the group, but he expected they would have gone to the opposite direction the woman wanted to go.

He tried to follow the trail going as fast as he could without making too much noise. He passed a few people on his way that gave him a few odd stares, but no one bothered to do anything else.

Zeph was beginning to worry he had chosen the wrong direction as he found no signs of neither the men nor the woman. He thought about it and found that they would have to be stupid to carry a kidnaped woman through a busy trail. Then he found himself even more stupid for trying to search for them here. Nevertheless, he continued down this path since he had no other clues. He would try to search for any signs of fire he saw on the way. At some point, they would have to camp again.

He kept going until night came. He was about to give up when he finally saw some smoke coming from the woods. Zeph immediately chose to check the source. He followed the smoke while keeping his hand on the dagger, ready to attack if necessary.

He heard men arguing and the sobbing of a woman as he approached the source. Zeph hid in the bushes closest to the camp. He tried to see what was going on.

The men were arguing with each other. The woman seemed to be fine, although there was some blood on the corner of her lips. Maybe they would have been rougher if she wasn't so weak already. Whatever they intended to do with her, she would have no value dead.

The discussion went on for a while. Unfortunately, the men didn't break out in a fight as he hoped. Zeph had decided to wait until they slept to attack, but what happened next broke this train of thought.

One of the man headed towards the woman on the corner. She tried to back away but he pulled her by her hair. He fiercely tugged the corner of the woman's dress, exposing her breasts.

The woman screamed as fought back, trying to push the man away without any result. The other man only took a glance before going back to his tent.

Zeph did not know if that happened before, but judging by the woman's desperate reaction, it was probably the first time. Whatever it was, he knew he could not wait anymore. Although he still felt he lacked sympathy, he knew he would regret it one day if he didn't help her now.

The other man going inside the tent also gave him a perfect opportunity. Zeph took the knife in a reverse grip and stealthily approached the man from behind. He was just a few meters away from the man, when the struggling woman saw him. She stared at him in surprise for just a second before looking back at the man in front of her, but it was too late.

The man noticed something was wrong and turned back while pushing the woman to the ground. Zeph already knew he wouldn't be able to get the man from the back when the woman stared at him so he started running right away.

Just as the man turned, Zeph was jumping on him. The knife fell down right on his right eye, but the man put his hand on the way on reflex. The knife went through his palm and was just a couple of centimeters away from his face.

Zeph released the knife and unsheathed the sword while jumping back to avoid the man's swinging arm. The man shouted for help, but Zeph was already on him again, slashing with the sword.

The man removed the dagger from his hand and tried to parry the blade. His movement didn't bring the result he wished for, as he didn't have enough momentum to deflect the attack. The slash lost some strength but still managed to cut deeply into his belly.

The man screamed in pain as he tried to hold his innards inside. The other man left the tent at the same moment Zeph hammed his shoulder against his foe's chest, knocking him down to the ground.

Zeph was about to stab the man when an axe came hacking his way. He changed the direction of the blow to defend himself but was throw off balance by the strength of his new enemy, falling on his own back.

The man attacked again with a vicious expression on his face. He was trying to chop the teenager in half, but Zeph managed to roll away. The counter attack came soon in the form of single slash that drew blood from his thigh.

Zeph managed to get back on his feet. He kept attacking the warrior in front of him without any finesse, just slash after slash. The man had to give his all to parry the attacks while limping. The cut must have hit an artery, as the wound bled profusely. He was getting weaker as the fight continued, until eventually he didn't manage to parry anymore and the blade found its way through his heart. He cursed a single time before falling down.

Zeph was prepared to finish off the other person but found out he was already dead. The woman managed to take the knife and jab it in his throat. She was lying weakly on the ground with her upper body already covered.

Zeph let a breath out. He could feel his heart beating extremely fast. His hands slightly trembling. He wiped the blood off the sword on the warrior's shirt, then he dragged the two bodies to the side. Tired as he was, he would not be able to take the woman away now, so he knew he would have to rest here for the night.

Zeph checked the woman, who was now unconscious. She seemed very weak, but otherwise all right. He carried her inside one of the tents and left her there. As he laid inside the other tent, he could not help but smile. That stifling feeling was gone now.