Unhinged

Kirigan's POV

Still, I would not go down defenseless. 

Bellowing like a maddened beast, I lunged at the nearest with my measly knife, hoping to take at least one down with me. 

But though strong from years in the wilds, I had real skill but no armor against such hardened cutthroats. A meaty club caught me across the temple, sending stars exploding before my eyes as I crumpled.

Through the dizzying haze, I vaguely registered more yelling and the sounds of struggle around me. Had the gang turned on each other in their savagery once I was no longer a threat? 

No… I picked up other yells, war cries not belonging to the brigands. Through blurred vision I saw a vague shape engaged in combat - one newcomer battling the thugs with skill and ferocity, defending me and the fallen boy.

Just then, Gregory came to me as I got to my feet with a slight headache.

"Are you okay?" He asked as I nodded. But I was now ready to actually deal with these men.

"Leave off, you curs!" bellowed Gregory imperiously, standing with me at the ready. The brutes paused in surprise, taking in my royal garb and Gregory's formidable warrior physique. 

"Ah, we were just havin' a bit o' fun is all," grunted their apparent leader with yellowed grins. "Run on back to yer castle, boys - this ain't none of yer concern." 

Now I was insulted. I stared them down coldly. "Attacking an unarmed child most certainly is the crown's business. Explain yourselves at once or face the consequences." 

The thugs exchanged uneasy looks, realizing escape may prove difficult. Their leader shrugged nonchalantly. "Lil bastard owed us a debt, wouldn't pay. Taught him a lesson is all, so be on yer way."

Gregory growled, taking a step forward. "Debt or no, violence was unwarranted. You've assaulted a subject of the realm - for that you'll face the king's justice." 

As the brute raised a hand threateningly, I took my blade from Gregory's outstretched hand in a flash and pointed it to the men. "Leave now and charges may be lessened if you surrender peacefully. But lay hands on us, and you'll pay the price for your many crimes this night."

Enraged by lost control of the situation, the leader lunged with a knife-edge. But Gregory was faster still, parrying the blade neatly aside and launching a punishing elbow into the man's nose with a wet crack. 

"Attacking the prince is treason!" Gregory roared as the others charged wildly. I was not going to be beaten down this time. I would instead be the one with the punishing advantage as I engaged two at once, dancing between them with practiced moves to land scoring cuts while avoiding injury. 

Gregory fought like a whirlwind, lashing out with brazen strength and precision honed from decades of war. 

Within moments the remaining four laid broken and bleeding, crying for mercy before the masters of arms. 

Binding the miscreants' wounds lest they die before trial, we tended the boy's many hurts with care. 

"Who are you boy and where are you from?" I asked as the boy told me his history.

He was from my kingdom but he stayed in the forest as a farmer with his family. Apparently, a woman had run through the forest and the men were after her. He was one of them and he had seen her running but instead of telling his friends about it, he had shown them a wrong turn.

This had the rest of the men against him as they started beating him in the forest.

"We should throw you in the pits with your friends," said Gregory as I shook my head.

"No. Let us show mercy first," I smiled at the warrior.

"This woman, do you know her name?" I asked the boy as he shook his head.

"But I do know that she is supposed to be blind."

Jane. What was she doing in this place at this time of the night?

I immediately stood up. "I have to go," I said before running into the forest amidst the warrior calling my name.

If she was in this forest then I had to save her from whoever was in here.

I heard some sounds in the distance as I crouched around while avoiding her searchers.

They had archers. If they found me, they would try to take me out from a distance without thinking twice.

***

Katarina's POV

I woke with a start, heart pounding in my ears. The hiding spot I had chosen was deathly silent save for running streams in the darkness. Slowly my eyes adjusted, scanning for any movement—there! A faint scuffling echoing down the forest had me stiff with terror. 

My escape from those men played on endless repeat in nightmares. 

Hours hiding in this abandoned borough, barely sleeping for fear of being found. But I was running out of places to hide, and options dwindled. 

Steeling my shaking nerves, I grabbed my worn water skin and inched towards the noise, staying light on my feet. 

Two darkened silhouettes emerged, muttering urgently to each other as they rummaged. Scavengers, like myself—but could they be more enemies? 

I backed away carefully, the sand seeping into my toes under my tread. The figures snapped to attention, freezing me in my tracks. "Is someone there?!" a man called out tentatively. Fight or flight instincts clashed violently; but if they meant harm, running would be no use in the dark.

Gripping tightly around the neck of my water skin, I readied myself for an assault.

One of the men rounded the tree before me as I swung wildly at his face which had the water skin smacking him dangerously as he fell to the ground with the stinging pain washing over his entire body.

"I will kill you!" He yelled but I used that opportunity to run blindly into the next route before bumping into something hard.

I looked before me to see the leader of the kidnappers smiling at me.

"Hello Jane," the man smiled with a dirty grin. He was enjoying my pain and he didn't want me to get away from his grip. "How have you been?"

I looked around to see if I could make a run for it and I found one.

I could potentially injure myself but it would be worth it getting away from these monsters.

With a jump, I moved through the slippery slope, dashing my thigh to a tree but getting up to keep running.

"She's getting away!" He yelled with his men coming after me as I started another flight away from them for the second time that night.

My lungs burned as I tore through the dense forest, branches tearing at my clothes and skin. How long had I been running? Minutes? Hours? All sense of time and direction was lost in my desperation to escape. 

Somewhere behind me I could hear my pursuers crashing after, yelling and cursing. I dared not look back for fear of losing my lead, though it sounded as if they were gaining. My hope was fading fast.

Blinking stinging sweat from my eyes, I rounded a thick oak and collided full force with a solid form. A meaty hand clamped over my mouth to stifle my muffled shriek as we both tumbled to the leafy ground. 

Not again, I thought to myself as I struggled in his arms.

Through the spots in my vision I peered up into the sneering face of one of my captors, recognition dawning in his cruel eyes.

Pure instinct took over - I bit down savagely on his hand, tasting blood but refusing to let go. That was his punishment for trying to get me again and he would pay for it.

I was no one's property. 

As he roared in pain I grabbed the water skin bouncing at my hip and swung it with all my strength at his hateful face, satisfaction blooming briefly as it connected with a sickening crunch. 

But my victory was short-lived. Scrambling up I heard a deep, cruel laugh cut through the trees behind me that turned my blood to ice. 

Spinning around, I found myself face to face with the gang's brutal leader, cracking his bullwhip menacingly as his other hounds appeared out of the brush leering. 

"Well well, my little rabbit's got fight after all!" he bellowed in sadistic delight. "Bit off more than you can chew this time, slut." Black spots swam before my eyes, my breath coming in ragged whimpers of terror. 

There would be no mercy now - only the cruelest tortures until death claimed me at last. 

I should have stayed in that borough. I was safe there but paranoia had gotten the best of me and here I was trying to escape from their clutches.

With no escape left, I stood numbly waiting for the beating to start, mind dissociating from the inevitable pain to come.

But the man paused thoughtfully, stroking his thick beard as his gang hooted and bayed for blood sport. 

A new, horrific idea was dawning behind his snake eyes that chilled me to the core.

What was he thinking this time? Maybe there was a way I could talk down his crazy thoughts.

"Hey," I smiled. "Look, I know I'll probably not say anything but I just want you to know that I didn't see anything. I'm just looking for a way out of here. I'm blind. There's no need to come after a blind girl. What did I do?"

"What's amazing to me is the fact that you're blind but you can somehow escape our claws," he smiled. "To be fair, I didn't even know you were slick like that but it turns out blind people have superpowers and I'll exploit that right now."

The men around laughed before hooting as I wished I hadn't said anything.

"Boys, I believe our little runaway deserves a proper greeting after her trouble. Hold her up!" Rough hands seized my arms in a punishing grip as the man got closer, pulling a long dagger from his belt to admire cruelly. 

My weak struggles were useless against their brutal strength.

"Since you seem to enjoy biting so much, wench," he sneered, running the flat of the blade slowly down my trembling form, "Perhaps we should gift you a new set of teeth more befitting your station." 

Savage cheers rose up from the others as the cold metal came to rest under my chin, tilting it upwards to meet his hateful leer.

Tears spilled unheeded down my face, body gone limp in defeat. 

So this was to be my end in this forsaken place - slaughtered like an animal for daring to hope of escaping my hell. I stared death in the eyes and did not flinch, refusing to give the man the satisfaction of seeing me beg.

My heart pounded in my ears as his dagger gleamed inches from my throat, his foul breath washing over my face. 

I could see the sadistic glee dancing in his cruel eyes as he reveled in my helplessness. Any moment now, the killing stroke would come, and my torment at his hands would at last be over. 

"Maybe I will remove your eyes that can't see even the dark, or maybe I'll remove your nose and feed it to my dogs. Whatever I choose to do will only make me win the fight."

"Please," muttered with fear. "Let me go."

This was the end for me both as Jane and Katarina.

I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the slice of cold steel. But the anticipated pain never came. 

A strangled gasp from the man made me crack open my eyes to see a spear jutting out from his massive shoulder. 

Shouts and screams arose around us as chaos erupted in the clearing. 

The man let out an inhuman howl of rage and pain, dropping his dagger to scrabble fruitlessly at the shaft embedded in his side. I fell to the dirt in a daze, wondering if this was some twisted dream.