The Chosen (34 page)

Roseanna desperately tried to slip past him but he grabbed her around the waist and picked her up. Both hands flailing Roseanna barred her nails and scratched as his face as much as she could.

He hollered at the pain but didn’t release her, instead he lowered her feet to floor released her waist, but grabbed both hands and twisted them behind her back.

This time is was Roseanna’s turn to cry out. He pushed her towards his bed while she desperately tried to break loose.

“This is getting hopeless.” David hollered as he bashed in another knight’s skull with the hilt of his sword, the knight toppled to the ground unconscious.

“I agree.” Daniel shouted back. “At this rate we’ll never get to the princess in time.”

“Kat!” David yelled above the commotion. “Do you have any ideas on how to speed this up?”

“Just one.”

“What is it?”

Sebastian tied Roseanna’s hands together and wound a gag across her mouth. “Sorry my, love, it looks like we’re going to have to make a fast getaway.”

Roseanna struggled as much as she could with her arms tied behind her, kicking out at his shins and knees as often as she could. Her courage strengthened with every grunt he let out, letting her know she had hurt him.

When Kathryn didn’t immediately answer him, David tried again. “What’s your idea Kat?”

“Blind them!” Her arrows whizzed by his head, inches from his ear.

“Watch it! You almost took off my ear!” He yelled as he began to reach inside and tap into his power.

In his mind he imagined the corridor glowing like the surface of the sun and he knew Natalie was doing the same thing.

He sensed the hall growing brighter and brighter. The combined power of two light gifted Guardians made the corridor so bright it seemed like the blazing furnace of the surface of the sun.

“I can’t see!” One of them cried, groping for shadows in the bright light.

“My eyes are burning up!”

“Natalie!” Kathryn called. “Finish them!”

“How?” Natalie’s question held a slight hit of panic. She’d managed to hold it together in the courtyard but was beyond comprehending what Kathryn was asking of her.

“Burn them, create a fire barrier, or whatever you want, just do something!” Kathryn let another arrow fly as she moved away from a sword thrust aimed at her neck.

Natalie let steams of fire flow from her hands, engulfing the unfortunate soldiers still in the hallway.

The panicked screams of the knights echoed through the halls scared the reinforcements back into the courtyards.

“Okay!” David cried after a few moments. The acrid stench of charred flesh and hair filled the corridors making David’s head spin slightly. “Enough. They’re out of this fight.”
Natalie’s going to have to work on control
, he thought as they raced through the halls.

The light dimmed back to normal and the six Guardians hurried through the smoke filled corridor and toward the Duke’s bedroom, unchallenged and unmolested. Jenna and Matt lagged slightly behind the other four to maintain a rear guard. Matt paused for a moment while wiping tears from his eyes and hacking smoke residue from his lungs. Bending over with both hands on his knees he rasped between breaths, “That’s just nasty, real nasty.”

“Of all people, I would have thought you’d be used to a little smoke and the smell of burnt flesh.”

Matt straightened with an incredulous look while narrowing his eyes. “You have a problem with my cooking?”

Jenna grinned and headed off in the direction of the rest of the team. Turning she gestured for him to follow. “Come on char-boy they might need some help!”

Matt harrumphed to himself and followed after her with sword in hand.

Upon finding the door locked David and Daniel broke down the door.

Duke Sebastian was a giant of a man by any standard. Standing at almost seven feet tall, he dominated everyone in the room. He was still attempting to keep a steady hold on the struggling princess, who looked like a small child in his muscled arms. David vaguely remembered hearing that the Duke had been a renowned warrior in his youth and the size of his shoulders and arms convinced David that the Duke kept up on his training. Seeing that he had no other choice Sebastian whipped a dagger out and held it to the princess’ throat, intending with every fiber of his being to slit her from ear to ear.

David seeing what he was about to do tried to move quickly enough to prevent it. Before he even took half a step, an arrow flew past him just above his shoulder causing him to twist away. A second arrow whizzed by.

The first arrow hit the Duke in his arm and the second took him in the shoulder and sent him sprawling to the floor.

David turned to Kathryn to see her holding the bow at ready, another arrow already notched and ready to go. “I’m sure glad you’re on my side,” he said in surprise. “Any particular reason you didn’t kill him?”

Kathryn moved to the princess and cut the ropes that bound her. “We need a hostage to get out of here,” she replied, helping the sobbing princess to sit up. “He seems like the best choice.”

“I didn’t think you’d make it,” Princess Roseanna cried.

Immediately Natalie ran over and put her arms around her. “We’re glad that we did,” she soothed.

“Your Highness,” David addressed the princess. She stared at him, shock beginning to overwhelm her. “We need to move quickly, can you walk?”

After a few moments, the princess appeared to collect herself and nodded. “I’m ready to run if needed.” Roseanna got to her feet, determination written across her face. “Just get me out of here.”

“We’d be glad to,” Daniel grunted as he hauled the duke to his feet. David crossed the room and used the rope that had bound the princess to secure the duke’s hands behind his back.

Roseanna crossed the room and placed herself in front of the seething Duke. “I guess now you’re about to find out just how much my father does care.” She told him hotly before slapping him across the face.

David chuckled softly. “Princess you stay between Kat and myself. Dan if you think you can handle him, you can walk up front with our hostage. Nat you walk after Dan and Jen you walk after Princess Roseanna.”

“Aye, aye Captain!” Daniel called as he moved towards the door. The rest of them formed up and walked out of the chamber.

At first they met up with some resistance but it quickly died when they realized their leader was captive and being led out in his underclothes. Daniel successfully and uneventfully led the group out of the castle and out of its grounds without so much as loosing another shot.

Natalie helped the princess up onto her horse then mounted behind her. David went to the stables and found a horse for the duke to ride. After securing Sebastian they started riding towards the capitol.

For three days everything went smoothly, they tended to the few wounds they had amassed during the fight that first night, and then two days before they were scheduled to reach the palace, the group woke up to find Duke Sebastian gone and Natalie as well.

“What happened?” David demanded furiously.

“The only thing I can figure,” Daniel said, looking at the tracks. “Is that somehow Sebastian got loose during the night and took a hostage should we catch up with him.”

“And Nat being the least immature of us all…” Jenna said slowly.

“Made her the perfect hostage,” Kathryn finished.

“Oh, this is just great.” David was frustrated beyond anything he had ever felt before. “Who tied the duke last night after dinner?”

Kathryn sighed. “Nat.”

“She was in a hurry.” Roseanna spoke up

“And is paying for it.” David replied angrily.

There was silence for a few moments then Daniel asked, “Um, shouldn’t we be going after them?”

David turned. “You, Matt, and Jen stay here with Roseanna, Kat— David looked around for her and found her missing as well. “Hey! Where did she go!?”

“To find Nat,” Roseanna spoke quietly. “She left right after she last spoke.”

Spinning on his heel David set out after her. “You guys wait here, if I’m gone more than a radian, continue toward the capitol, we’ll catch up.” As he followed the trail Kathryn had left behind David told himself that when he caught up with her they were going to have a serious discussion about teamwork.

Despite the dense foliage, following the trail was easy. Natalie was smart enough to leave an obvious trail for her rescue, at least obvious for a Guardian, either that or Sebastian wasn’t worried about being tracked. Kathryn ran silently through the trees, Destiny flying high above, and her ears and senses alert for any indication that she was approaching the fugitive and his captive.

Finally, near midday, Kathryn heard Natalie’s voice.

“You won’t get away with this you know.”

“Oh shut your mouth!”

“My friends will come for me.”

There was the sound of a slap. “I said shut up!” Sebastian bellowed.

Kathryn slowed and approached cautiously. It didn’t take a genius to tell that the Duke was desperate and desperate men did desperate and stupid things. Kidnapping Natalie fell into the second category. She was still trying to figure out why the Duke had chosen Natalie as a hostage instead of going for the Princess again.

The sound of water, which had been growing steadily stronger, had graduated into a full-fledged roar. Sebastian had taken Natalie to the Nahar River. Was he expecting a rescue committee? Kathryn pulled an arrow from her quiver and notched it. Destiny landed in the dirt next to her feet. Silently, she tapped three fingers against her hip, commanding Destiny to stay put.

Warily Kathryn rounded a bend and caught sight of the two. Natalie was standing next to a large boulder, her hands bound in front of her, her mask gone. Sebastian paced nervously in front of her.

“This will never work,” Natalie informed him defiantly.

Sebastian whirled around his hand ready to slap her. “I told you enough— He brought his hand down in a sweeping motion—

At that moment Kathryn stepped out of the trees pulled the arrow back and fired. It went straight through his hand tearing flesh, muscle, and bone, as she knew it would. Sebastian screamed in pain.

“Give up, Sebastian!” she called.

Natalie began to move toward Kathryn but Sebastian, too desperate to surrender grabbed her around the neck and held her in front of him.

“If you want to kill me, you’ll have to kill her,” he rasped. Despite the arrow still lodged in his hand, his grip on Natalie was inhumanly strong. Blood poured out of his injured hand, soaking the front of Natalie’s overgarment.

Kathryn, who by now had already redrawn her bow considered her options. Natalie was small, much smaller than Sebastian. In fact the girl only came up mid-chest on the man. She had an open shot, but there was a possibility that Sebastian would move and her arrow would fly past him. She might not have another chance to get off another shot before he snapped Natalie’s neck.

Another danger was the river directly behind them. From where she stood, Kathryn couldn’t see the river between the banks, and from the sound of the water, she guessed that it was a good sized drop to the water. If her arrow did hit its mark there was a possibility that Natalie would be pulled backwards into the river with Sebastian. Still another danger was along with being pulled backwards and down, Sebastian had his arm wrapped around Natalie’s neck, if he moved wrong, he could break it.

In each scenario was the possibility that Natalie wouldn’t make it, but Kathryn didn’t have a choice. Her job was to take Sebastian, dead or alive. And at this point, the man had seen Natalie without her mask. Easy decision. She looked at Natalie and for the first time she saw fear in the girl’s eyes.

Kathryn looked Natalie straight in the eye. “Do you trust me?”

Natalie’s lip quivered, but just for an instant. She’d also identified each of the scenarios Kathryn had and understood the risks Kathryn was about to take. She also knew that Kathryn didn’t like her options, but neither of them had a choice. “I trust you.”

In that instant Kathryn loosed her arrow.

Sebastian never imagined that Kathryn would risk her companion’s life to capture him. That the Guardian would make the leap from capturing to killing him in a single breath he never even contemplated. The arrow jumped from the bow before he could react.

It took him in the left eye and he slumped backward, pulling Natalie with him.

Kathryn leapt forward but was too slow to cover the distance. Both Natalie and Sebastian disappeared over the side.

Natalie felt the arrow strike Sebastian, could feel his body shudder with the impact. As she felt him drag her backwards she struggled to free herself. His dead weight plunged them both over the side, as they fell Natalie grasped blindly for handholds along the bank. Her hand snagged a root and she held on for dear life.