Kara (2 page)

“I-I don’t…” Kara’s father stammered.

Kreitan grabbed the front of the baker’s
tunic. “You’ve lost your precious house. Soon it will be embers.
Tell me where the shard of mirror is or you will lose more than
just your home.”

“But….”

“I’ll accept no excuses.” The dark man shoved
Kara’s father to the ground. “A house, old man, something you could
rebuild, replace. I thought that would be enough for you to start
telling me what I want to know.” He paced again in front of the
prisoner.
Hissss…Hissss….

Kreitan pointed to the house. “Your precious
wife could still be saved.”

The man on the ground began to cry.

“Your only answer to that is to weep like an
infant?”
Boumpf!
The dark man viciously kicked out, knocking
Kara’s father to the ground.
Hissss
… Kirt’s tunic smoldered
with a boot print.

“And still you refuse. A tiny bit of
information. That’s all I need. Or do we need to wait until your
precious daughter comes running home? She should be here any
minute. Maybe you’ll talk then. “

Kreitan’s hand patted his mahogany box,
tucked away in a pouch. A useful tool in interrogations like
this.

“You…stay away from her!” The baker fought to
free himself from his restrainers. They tightened their hold on his
arms.

Kreitan stared down at the defiant man. “That
is no way to talk to a man such as me,” he said. “Don’t you know
how dangerous I am?”

He kicked the baker in the side again,
letting his disgust drive the boot in deeper.

Suddenly, he felt eyes upon him. Someone
watched. Someone nearby. The dark man stopped, turned, and looked
out to the hills. His dark eyes caught sight of a little girl on a
small hill, clutching a tree not a hundred yards away. The wind
tugged at her auburn hair, which danced at her shoulders. A small
animal pranced about the hem of her skirt.

“Ahh, the child comes.” His voice dripped
with hungry satisfaction.

Kreitan opened his box carefully, keeping his
eyes glued upon the girl.

“Taylon,” Kreitan summoned his
second-in-command. “Fetch me that child. I believe she may prove
useful in making this traitor speak.”

***

Kara remained glued to the tree.

Her whole world froze and time seemed to
slow. The dark man looked at her. His eyes were full of shadows,
yet a ring of silver lined them.

Inside her head, a voice beckoned her.
Come
.

Not a harsh or venomous command, but rather
the tone coaxed, soothed, numbed.

Birch barked.

For a moment, confusion blinded all her
efforts to do anything. Her body leaned forward to save her father.
Her grasp loosened on the tree. Thoughts whirled in her head
causing almost dizziness. Her father needed her, but he had told
her run.
What should I do?

Birch barked again and tugged at her skirt.
She looked down at her dog, breaking eye contact with the dark man.
Immediately, her mind cleared. She looked up again at the chaos in
front of her burning home. She saw three horsemen swing up into
their saddles and turn the horses toward her. It took her only a
moment to realize the dark man had directed his riders to capture
her. Kara turned and ran.

Her dress flapped at her calves and snagged
on low-hanging branches, slowing her down. She ran without a clue
where to go. Should she go to the meadow? Or farther down the path?
Maybe she could hide in a bramble thicket. But surely, wherever she
went, the horsemen would find her. No, her best chance was reaching
the river at the end of the meadow. Maybe someone would be fishing
there, someone who could hide her, save her from the king’s
men.

She heard hoof beats behind her, eating up
the distance between them. Her heart beat faster, pounding in her
chest. This was the fastest she had ever run. Would it be fast
enough?

How far away were they? Birch ran at her
heels, which could mean the men were not close enough to bark at.
Kara dared not give into the temptation to glance back. Her legs
pumped, muscles starting to ache with the strain.

“Halt!” A distant command shattered her hope
of escape. The word sent ripples of fear through her. They were
going to catch her.

Kara reached the meadow where she witnessed
the smoke. So much of her body wanted to stop, to rest a moment,
but she willed—prayed—that it would keep going.

Hoof beats shook the air and panic rushed
through her, a cold shiver disorienting her train of thought.
What if the horses trample me?

Birch barked once. It was enough for Kara to
regain control.

The river was just a short distance farther.
Just a few more steps and she would be….

Suddenly, Kara crashed to the hard ground.
Pain ripped through her ankle. A rock had snagged her left foot.
Her knee collided with another stony patch and tore the skin away.
She bit her lip and suppressed a sob, curling up with the pain.

Her mind screamed
Get up!

Birch echoed the cry dancing back and forth
around her barking. Through her tears, she risked a glance over her
shoulder. The horses were quickly coming upon her.

“Girl! Halt!”

She felt the earth vibrate with each hoof
beat. Kara struggled to her feet. Pain radiated from her scuffed
knee. There was no time to tend to it. Her eyes flicked to the
distant edge of the meadow as she started to run. Where were all
the fishermen? Somebody had to be here.

Keep going.
Just a little
farther
….

The riverbank came into view through a fringe
of trees.

Now what?

And the horses were upon her.

A hand seized the back of her dress, but
didn’t get a firm grasp. She fell forward. Her injured knee
buckled.

Horses passed her as she fell. Kara’s arms
came up to protect her head, expecting a hoof to kick her. She
bounced on the solid ground, which rumbled as the soldiers slowed
their horses.

Birch barked madly from somewhere near her
head. A horse whinnied shrilly. When Kara looked up, she quickly
shut her eyes again. The scared horse had risen up on two legs,
kicking out in the air.

She pulled her body in tight, waiting for the
crushing blow. There was a massive thump, but Kara felt no
pain.

Birch growled, and she felt him run off.

A soldier shouted angry words as he quickly
recovered from his fall. Birch ran at the man, barking viciously.
But the soldier did not look frightened. His look told of something
else on his mind. Revenge.

“Birch! No!” Kara scrambled to her feet, to
save her dog from the Witch Guard soldier. But it was already too
late.

Yipe!

A large hand clamped down on the dog’s back.
The soldier swung Birch around and catapulted the dog ten feet
away. Birch struck a nearby tree trunk and disappeared among the
tall grass.

It only took Kara a moment for her shock to
become anger. “Grr!” She launched herself at the offending soldier,
not caring about herself. Her good knee jabbed upward, finding a
soft spot in the armor. She clawed at the soldier’s unprotected
face drawing blood with her nails. Kara got a few good punches in
before the man easily threw her aside as deftly as he had
Birch.

The ground welcomed her with a bout of new
pain. A half-buried rock jabbed into her side.

A menacing shadow cast over Kara. The
soldier’s blood-streaked face glared down at her. Rage boiled in
his eyes. He reached down with one hand, drawing the other back in
a fist.

She clamped her eyes shut.

“No! We are to bring her back to Master
Kreitan.”

“One small lesson will not take much time at
all….”

Kara felt her body lift off the ground. This
was it.

“No! He will be very displeased if she is too
injured to be of any use.”

She remained motionless, uncertain what would
happen. Suddenly, she fell back to the ground, the pointed rock now
stabbing at her back.

Her eyes shot open with the hurt, and she saw
the soldier walk away. She tried to roll, but her body would not
respond. Tears blurred her eyes and she sobbed in frustration,
fear, and pain.

A horse clomped near her. Someone
dismounted.

Kara’s instincts to escape snapped in place,
and she tried to roll over again. This time it worked.

“Not so fast there.” And a boot came down on
the small of her back, not hard, but with enough strength to pin
her to the ground.

She looked around wildly, trying to get her
bearings. Where was Birch? Was he even alive?

“Hey, what’s going on over there?”

The sound of a man’s voice made her stop for
a moment. It didn’t sound like a soldier.

A fisherman! There was somebody down here!
Hope reignited in her heart for a moment, before logic asked how a
fisherman could rescue her.

“Go about your business, old man. This is the
king’s affair.” The soldier above her spoke. His boot pressed down
harder on Kara’s back.

Old man?
Kara’s spirit sank lower, now
realizing there was no chance for salvation. It would take a
strong, young man to beat the soldiers.

Nobody spoke for a moment.

“Why would a mere girl warrant the attention
of the king’s soldiers, I wonder?” The voice sounded closer. Kara
did not recognize it, although it sounded vaguely familiar. Who was
it?

“Can’t you hear? This is none of your
concern. Now go back to fishing, peasant.” This time the order came
from another soldier.

Something rustled the grasses to Kara’s
right. Birch slowly crept up. Blood caked his fur. His cold nose
pressed into her face.

She wanted to hug him, but one arm was pinned
underneath her.

“Again, why would the king want to arrest my
niece? I think I do have the right to ask at least that.”

Kara picked her head up from the grass and
turned in the direction of the fisherman’s voice. A horse’s legs
and some tall grass blocked her view of the speaker.

What did he just say! Niece
! How could
that be? She didn’t have an uncle or any relative in these parts or
anywhere else for that matter. Her parents both were only children,
so no aunts or uncles for Kara. What was this stranger talking
about?

“Be gone, old man. She is a matter for the
king. Consider yourself lucky he’s not interested in you as well.”
This came from the soldier above her again, and he stepped forward,
blocking more of her view.

“Lucky? Hmm, well, I will have to
protest.”

Birch whined in her ear. Kara opened her
mouth to shush him, but realized she could move. She wanted to run,
but her instincts warned her to wait. The soldier in front of her
moved forward a few more steps.

Where is the river?
That was her only
escape. The fisherman must have a boat somewhere nearby.

“Old man, do you really…” But Kara lost the
rest of the conversation as she strained her ears to listen for
running water. She heard the flow of the river to her left. It
sounded close. If she were lucky—and fast—she could make it
there.

She looked back toward the soldier. His boots
were still there, but barely visible through the grass now. She
prepared herself mentally and physically for the dash to the river.
It was a crazy plan, but one that might work. But what if there was
no boat?

I’ll swim.

Kara launched herself toward the riverbank.
She was running, and no one seemed to notice, until Birch
barked.

“Halt!”

It was all or nothing as the riverbank came
closer. She wasn’t going to stop now. Fear crept in, but adrenaline
pumped through her aching body. Sixty feet more and she would be
free. She heard armor chinking, men chasing her, but still she kept
going.

Fifty feet to the river… forty….

She heard a grunt behind her, and it sounded
closer than the footsteps. Birch barked from somewhere, but Kara
couldn’t think about any of that. She needed to just run. If they
caught her, she would be lost.

Thirty feet….

Where’s the boat?

Twenty-five….

Her eyes scanned the shore. Nothing, but a
short drop-off into the rushing river.

Fifteen….

Kara ducked under a tree branch and
immediately heard someone behind her strike it.

Five….

Her mind focused on the river, unsure of what
to do next.

Jump!

Kara didn’t question the decision; she just
followed it. The ground disappeared as she flew through the air.
Something passed through her hair, as she left the bank. But Kara
had no time to look back. Icy cold water engulfed her, some
spilling down her throat.

She came up coughing, spluttering. Her arms
flailed for a moment as the current took her, tugging at first like
a small infant at her dress, but quickly the flow of the river
strengthened like an angry beast playing tug-of-war.

She slipped under the thrashing torrent. Kara
kicked desperately, struggling for the surface. The world above her
muted.

One strong whip kick pushed her above the
surface of the water. She coughed up the choking water and tried to
suck in some air. More water came with it.

“Help!” Her voice sounded far away, weak.

Why am I calling for help?
She knew
how to swim. But her mind was overloaded and she couldn’t regain
control over her panic.

The current pulled again, but she kept her
head up. Kara looked about for the bank or a log, something to grab
on to, but all she saw was tumbling brown water.

And then, suddenly, a huge rock loomed in
front of her.

Oh, no! Rapids!

Quickly, Kara felt herself begin to spin. She
fought to face forward.

Crack!

She collided with a pale gray boulder. Her
body, like a rag doll, flopped as it floated farther into the
rocks.