Rhian was grabbed from behind and was lifted off her feet. She screamed angrily and threw her head back violently. It missed its mark and swung over the soldier�s shoulder. Another soldier approached with a menacing leer on his ugly face.
�Pity to kill such a pretty thing,� he said as he pulled a dagger from his belt.
Connor kicked the man in his stomach and drew a short sword from the man�s own belt to plunge into his side. �Aye, and a good thing you didn�t!� he said as he drew the sword back out.
The man holding Rhian threw her at Connor who caught her and swung her behind him. He parried the blade of the soldier as it approached his face. Then counter quickly and pierced the metal on the soldier�s chest. Stumbling backwards the man doubled over and Rhian gave him a satisfying kick in the head to knock him onto his back to die. �A battle really isn�t the place for a lovely kid, lass,� said Connor. �Get out of here before they loose the arrows!�
Rhian gave him a hateful glare. �I will fight and die for the Cause. DEATH to the KING and the ONE GOD!� she screamed.
�Oh, isn�t that nice. You brought the whole army down on us. I�ll remember this next time I decide to save you!� he hissed with a smile as he shoved the short sword into her hands.
Badir ran forward and grabbed Rhian�s arm. �We have to get out of here! They have archers and cavalry! We can fight another day!� he argued. She shook her arm free.
�I will fight them to the death!� she yelled.
Connor raised an eyebrow. He threw his sword and it struck a cavalry man in the chest. He fell onto ground and convulsed before he died. The horse came plunging towards them and Badir grabbed its reins. �Here, take your girl,� he ordered.
Badir�s face turned bright red. �I am not his girl!� she screamed offended. Connor smacked Rhian in the back of the head with the side of his blade. He grabbed her before she could hit the ground and tossed her up over the horse�s back. Badir quickly climbed up onto its back and ran the horse into the forest. Seeing one of the horses run off with a rebel villagers, Caden coaxed his horse into pursuit.
Cahira was deep in the woods when Badir came galloping past her in a desperate attempt to keep both him and Rhian on the horse. Seeing Rhian�s limp form draped over the bloody saddle, she immediately expected the worse and increased her run in a foolish attempt to catch up to the racing horse. Behind her she heard the hooves of another horse as it followed close behind. She leapt forward cowering behind her sword waiting for the horse to run her down.
A young girl suddenly appeared in the forest path created by the stolen horse. She hid behind a bloodstained dagger. He pulled as hard as he could on the reins. The bit tore into Aithne�s mouth and caused it to bleed. Unaccustomed to her master�s sudden cruelty she leapt on to her hind legs. Still startled he lost his grip and fell to the ground with a thud. The horse bolted and nearly ran Cahira down but instead just brushed her with its flank. Cahira lost her breath in the heavy impact and fell to her knees. Thankful to be alive she struggled to her feet to face the fleeing rider. She had intended for him to fight her and leave her friends alone. However, he must have decided that the horse was more important then killing another villager. She�d show him!
�Bloody bitch,� swore Caden. He heard a startled gasp and watched the girl spin around and face him with her bloody long dagger. He quickly pulled his sword from his back sheath and regained his feet.
She didn�t look very threatening. She was surprisingly pretty for a village girl with the cheekbones women in court dreamed of and the delicate features to match. Her long black hair was silky and flowed over her shoulder carelessly with a few twigs stuck in it from its tied back ponytail. He would have found her unthreatening except for the fact she wielded a long dagger drenched in drying blood and the revealing leather garments of the women warriors.
�Drop your sword and I will allow you to leave peacefully,� he ordered.
She shook her head. �I won�t let you hunt down my friends!� she said.
She was facing the Chief Commander in Arms. She could tell by the emerald uniform. He was young, too young, in her opinion. Maybe a few harvests older then her. He would have been considered attractive if not for his ridiculously short hair of a noblemen and the fact that he was a noblemen.
He laughed and she gave him an angrier look of defiance. �You�ve wasted enough of my time that I�ll be lucky to find my horse let alone your friends,� he said. She didn�t respond. �Move. Before my men come and capture you. I am giving you a chance to get away. Pretend for a moment you pagans have some sense in you heads,� he ordered.
Cahira leapt forward at the insult. Caden parried her thrust and quickly caught her blade in a cross. He thrust forward surprised by the strength in her slender arms. She released a kick aiming at his middle and he barely avoided it and the swooping recoiled spring of her sword aiming at his head. He shoved forward and grabbed her sword hand wrist and shook the sword from her grasp. She caught him in the nose with an upturned palm. He backed away in pain as blood sprung to his nose. He quickly pulled his short sword from his belt sheath.