Defiance (The Priestess Trilogy) (9 page)

“Dana protect me…”
she muttered as she tried to rise to her feet, but p
ain seared through her body and she feel to her knees.
Touching
her side,
she pulled her hand away to realize
that she hadn’t missed the arro
w entirely.
Shiovra
glanced over
to see Árdal stalking towa
rds her with the same wicked smile upon his lips
.

Shiovra
knew she needed to do something, and quickly. She rose unsteadily to her feet and focused on Árdal as she began
gathering the energies around her,
calling upon the elements of fire in a desper
ate plea. Small flames spra
ng to life around him,
small at first then
quickly becoming
a broad belt of fire. The flames
crackled despite the rain and stretched, burning
white hot as it
encompassed him. The
y fire
leapt
at Árdal, reaching for him. It
did not burn his
flesh, merely held him in place.

Leaving Árdal trapped,
Shiovra
turned
and hastened
as quickly as she could away
. It grew nearly pitch black as she ran into the deepest part
s of the forest where t
he trees grew tall, their leave thick and branches intertwined. Passing through some thick brush,
Shiovra
stumbl
ed, feeling weak from the injury she had sustained
, and fell to her knees once more.

Breath came painfully hard and her wound stung terribly
. Taking a deep breath, she sighed and
rested
th
ere for a brief moment, a heaviness to her body. She knew she would need to treat the wound and bind it, but first she needed to be sure Árdal and his men would not be able to find her
.

“Cousin
,
” c
ame a soft male voice.

Shiovra
let out a
startled
cry
, and looked up.

Thunder rumbled lowly
.

In the fleeting flash of lightning, she could see
Daire
leaning
against a tree. He carried
a bow in one hand and an ar
row in the other.

Slowly, painfully
,
Shiovra
made her way towards her cousin. Standing
before him, she
offered him a tight smile.
“You could have followed me sooner, cousin
,
”
she told him, t
hen
winced
sl
ightly in pain
. “Much sooner…”

Daire
frowned. “We were supposed to leave
together,
if you do not remember,” he scolded
. “Instead you go off on your own and left me to face mother’s wrath.
Alone
.” He
shook his head and exhaled. “I must confess. Though I do not wish to see you get hurt, i
t will only become more dangerous from here.
You have been seen and identified. You
will
be hunted.
”

Shiovra
glanced away.

“Here.”
Daire
drew the sword sheathed at his belt
and handed it to her. “He comes.”
Daire
’s face wa
s hard, his eyes on the thick brush behind
Shiovra
.

“Árd
al? Where is he?” she asked softly, trying to see in the darkness
.

Daire
brought a finger to his lips, demanding silence.

Shiovra
obeyed, nodding.

Daire
brought up the arrow and pulled the string back, ready to release at any moment.

Shiovra
closed her eyes and focused on every little sou
nd. The wind rustled slightly and
the
rain
had dwindled to a soft patter on the leaves above them. Thunder was low and growing distant.
Somewhere to her right
a b
ird cried out warning. Then
she heard
it,
the soft crack of a twig breaking.
Shiovra
’s eyes snapped open and she pointed. “There!”

Daire
knocked the arrow loose and it whistled into the brush to their left.

Árdal stumbled
thro
ugh the thick brush, his men no
where in sight
, shaft of
Daire
’s arrow embedded in his leg
.
Despite his injury, he lunged
for
Shiovra
.

The Priestess dodged quickly
, bringing the blade up into a defensive position.

“Pathetic Milidh man,” mutte
red
Daire
. He glanced swiftly at
Shiovra
, face unreadable.
“Ignore your injuries, they will only come to hinder you if you think abo
ut them,” he told her firmly
in a low voice
. “We can tend to them after we deal with this filth
.”
Daire
nodded his head curtly
towards Árdal.

Shiovra
’s gaze shifted back to
Árdal
, watching
as he
clutched his leg in pain and tried
to force
th
e arrow out. Her
well trained
hands tightened on the hilt of the sword
and she slowed her breathing
, waiting
.
 

A
bird called out not far from
them, a curious little whistle.

Daire
chuckled lightly in
response. “
Took them long enough,
”
he muttered under his breath.

An arrow whistled through the trees, coming out of the darkness surrounding them, to land in Árdal’s already injured leg.

The man cursed and growled, breaking the first arrow shaft in half.

“Heh,” laughed
Daire
with a smirk on his lips.

Árdal
turned his attention back to them, the arrow in his leg forgotten.

Daire
reached for another arrow.

Growling liked a feral animal
, Árdal lunged at
Daire
and flung him
aside with one swift mov
ement
.

Shiovra
twisted the sword to attack him, but he was too quick
an
d
seized her roughly
by the wrist with one hand while the other clenched onto her
waist. His grip bit into her wound and
Shiovra
recoiled
, her grip on the sword loosening. That moment of weakness was enough for Árdal to force the weapon from her hand and try to drag her away
.

“Stop where you are!” shouted a feminine voice, bringing a moment of pause to Árdal.

Shiovra
watched as a
woman garbed
in men’s clothing with
a
spear
in hand,
c
ame through the brush. She was
followed clos
ely by some men armed and ready
.

“I said stay
!”
ordered the young woman when Árdal began to move again
.
Her curly honey-brown
hair
had been tied back and her lightly tanned skin was smudged slightly. Though
men’s garb did little to
hide her tall and slender form, the manner in which she carried herself demanded obedience. She approached cautiously and cast a quick glance to
Daire
. “Get up
,
Daire
.”

Shiovra
tried to pull out of Árdal’s grasp
so the woman could freely attack
, but his hand on her wound only tightened and she winced a
s
pain lashed through her body.

“Pathetic
,” hissed Árdal in
Shiovra
’s ear
. “
What good is a
High Priestess who is helpless to defend herself and must rely on the weapons of others
?
And here I feare
d what power you might hold at your disposal
.
Such a pity
.
”
The man laughed cruelly
as he glanced over his shoulder
.
“Look at them. They think they will be able to keep me from taking you surely this must be a jest
.”

Shiovra
narrowed her eyes on Árdal. She would not let cruelly whispered words get to her. Instead, she would bide her time and focus on gathering the energies in the earth and trees around them
.
From the corner of her eye,
Shiovra
noticed her cousin rise slowly to his feet and draw and arrow.

“Have
you forge
t about me so easily, Árdal?”
Daire
spat, knocking his readied arrow loose
.

Árdal jerked towards
Daire
’s voice in surprise
, loosening his gr
ip on
Shiovra
. The priestess jerked herself free from his grasp
.

“
Shiovra
! Stand back!”
Daire
yelled.

Shiovra
easily dodged
Árdal’s grasp.

Daire
muttered something under his breath and released another arrow to speed towards Árdal. From the fletching sprang a silvery web that glittered
and wrapped tightly around the man
.

Árdal
struggled briefly and then broke free of the web.

Daire
cursed under his breath.

She focused all the energy she had gathered into a strong wind that
began to whip
violently
around them.

The
men
who had come to their aid
brought their arms up to shield their eyes.

Shiovra
stood calmly in the center of it all
, her hair and garments whipping frantically in the wind.
Raising an arm, she created
a protective barrier
around the
men
and her cousin. The air grew utterly still near them, the turbulent wind blocked by a shimmering wall that surrounded them.

The summoned
gale shrieked through the forest, ripping with the fo
rce of hundreds of swords. T
rees clashed and rattled, branches lashed
out
.
The priestess had turned the air and earth itself against the man who threatened her.

A branch broke from a tree and struck Árdal
in the face
, leaving a wide wound which blood trickled down from
.
But that did not bring halt to his advance upon the priestess. Reaching
into his tunic
, he pulled out a dagger and threw
it at
Shiovra
, aiming for her heart
.

The priestess did not move, instead she stood her ground, eyes narrowed coldly on Árdal.
Shiovra
brought
her han
d up then quickly
cast it aside
in a smooth gesture. The dagger followed the movement of her hand
to land blad
e
embedded deeply
in the ground.

“
Is that all you have? So much for the power of
a Túath High Priestess!
” Árdal spat
as he continued towards her, the winds dwindling down
around him
. “If you g
ive yourself up to me
, perhaps
I shall spare
their lives.
”

Shiovra
couldn’t help the
short laugh
that
pass
ed
her lips
.
“Dare not step closer, Árdal, lest it be your last,
”
she warned.