The Last Witch (Incenaga Trilogy) (24 page)

On
a bright afternoon the glow of the late September sun burned along the countryside and they found themselves enjoying the cool shelter of their favorite shade tree. A low rumble grew in the distance and the horses began throwing their heads up and down, their ears flat, and their eyes wide. Erick and Emmeline looked up to see hooves cresting the far hill.

Emmeline jumped to her feet, panicked.
Mahlon had found her! She looked at Erick, who was standing as well, a worry of his own etched across his face.

“Get behind the tree,” he ordered as he propell
ed her toward the trunk

“No, it’s Mahlon,” Emmeline protested. “You go behind the tree!”

“Trust me, it’s not Mahlon.” Erick urged Emmeline behind the tree once again. She reached the other side just as a group of men on horseback thundered to a halt in front of Erick. Emmeline crouched down. She wanted to do something, but what? She was powerless without a flame.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen,” Erick said with a low, calm voice. “
Is there anything I can assist you with?”

Someone spat
. “I’m Tevin. We come from Volarcus.”

Volarcus!
Emmeline nearly jumped out from behind the tree. Her father was in Volarcus!

But
the low timbre of Erick's voice kept her from stepping out from behind the tree. “You have traveled quite a distance,” Erick said. “You’re horses must be spent. There is a stream nearby with an apple orchard ripe for the picking. I’d be happy to show you.”

The man named
Tevan laughed as he jumped from his mount. “We are not here for apples,” he said. “We have come for a much greater prize.”

Emmeline crouched low and
snatched a couple of sticks from the ground, a sense of urgency erupting inside her. She didn’t have fire, but she thought she might be able to make some. Copying what her father had shown her, she split the wider stick in two and rubbed the other against its flat side. Her father made it look so effortless when he started fire with sticks, but as she rubbed them together with no affect, she wondered if he had another trick he used.

“Dolmerti is a fine country,” Erick said.
“There are many wonderful opportunities awaiting those willing to earn them.”

L
aughter rolled through the air. Emmeline rubbed harder and faster. The wood darkened a little so she scraped some dry grass from the ground and wadded it against the flat stick.

“
Do you consider thieves worthy benefactors of Dolmerti’s prize?” The men laughed again.

“
Is that what you are? If so, I can assure you, you won’t leave Dolmerti alive.”

Tevan
roared with laughter, clearly unaffected by Erick’s unveiled threat. The other thieves, however only chuckled under their breath.

“
There’s a rumor that an Incenaga is in Dolmerti,” Tevan said, “The
last
Incenaga.”

Emmeline reached to stifle h
er gasp. They had come for her! She pressed her back into the tree. Erick was in danger. If they knew he was hiding her, he wouldn’t stand a chance against so many thieves. She needed fire. She snatched the sticks back up and started anew.

“You have been misinformed,” Erick said evenly.

“Have I then? Perhaps a little sport will refresh your memory. She is here, one of my men has seen her, and you have the look of someone hiding something.”

From behind the tree Emme
line heard a fight break out—the low shuffle of quick feet, the smack of flesh meeting flesh, the crack of breaking bones, and the thud of three bodies falling to the ground.

Emmeline
rubbed the sticks harder, her arms shaking with fatigue. It was a curse to know she could help Erick, but was unable to do anything without a flame. She was like a master archer without a bow or an expert swordsman without a sword. Worthless, powerless, nothing.

She
pushed with all her might, ignoring the protesting bruises in her shoulders and back. A trail of smoke formed at the base of the flat stick and Emmeline’s heart did a flip. She crouched down and thrust the dried grass near the smoke, blowing as softly as her shaking frame would allow.

But be
fore the fire took, the fighting sounds were over. Emmeline paused. She knew Erick was strong, and the King thought a great deal about his skill, but she held her breath, afraid one of bodies had been his.

“You have beaten three of my men with
your bare hands,” Tevan said. “Admirable, but I have seven more willing to fight. Do you still believe I have been misinformed?”

“I do.”

“Then enjoy your death.”

The sickening sounds began again. Shuffle, whirr, smack, crack, thud.
Then another thud. And another.

“I am losing my
patience with you!” Tevan said. Metal on metal rang as he drew his sword from his scabbard.

Erick’s
sharp intake was all Emmeline needed to realize he was weaponless.

“Stop!”

Emmeline
stepped out from behind the wide tree, flame in hand. She had managed a small spark with her two sticks and had used it to light one of them. The wavering flame wasn’t strong, but it gave off enough heat.

“Well, wel
l, well. What do we have…" Tevan’s voice died once she came into full view.

“That’s her,” a man shouted.
“That’s the girl I was telling you about.”

Emmeline
searched the faces of those still standing and saw the man from the forest sitting tall on his stead, his face shining with pride.

“
He is correct,” Emmeline said. “I am the Incenaga you seek.”

The
thieves’ eyes widened and then looked to the ground. Tevin, however, squared his shoulders and met her gaze.

“Yes, my sweet, it appears
you are.”

Emmeline stuck her chin in th
e air. “You will leave at once or I will be forced to use this flame against you.”

Tevan’s
eyes narrowed. “It’s so small. What do you plan to do with it? Push us deeper into our saddles?” He roared with laughter, but none of his men joined in, terror written across their faces.

“As you wish,” Emmeline shrugged.
With her free hand she thrust her palm toward two of his mounted men. The cinch of their saddles broke free and both riders and saddles sailed to the ground.

“I can make them sit deeper, if you’d like,” Emmeline
said with disdain. The fire surged in her hand.

“That won’t be necessary,”
Tevan said.

He seemed calm and sure of himself.
Didn’t her power frighten him?

“Emmeline! Behind you,” Erick shouted.

But it was too late.
The stick was kicked from her hand. It landed on the ground in front of Tevan and sputtered out. With the point of his sword at Erick’s neck, Tevan motioned for two men to grab hold of him. Erick was pushed to his knees with his arms twisted behind his back.

Tevan
dismounted and stalked toward her, a mocking smile lighting his eyes. Grazing the back of his fingertips down her cheek and along her jaw, he searched her eyes.

“The first Incenaga I’ve ever laid eyes on,” he
said. “You are almost too beautiful to touch.” He stroked her cheek again. “Almost,” he added with a glint in his eye.

Erick
struggled against the men holding him, his face red with furry. Emmeline was relieved to see that he appeared unharmed. The same couldn’t be said for the five men moaning on the ground around him.

“If I go with you, will you leave this man unharmed?” Emmeline asked tilting her chin toward Erick.

“No! “ Erick shouted. He ripped his arms free and slammed a fist into each of his captor’s skulls.

Tevan
grabbed Emmeline and twisted her against his chest, his blade pressed into her neck. “Stay back or I’ll slit her.”

Erick stopped short
, his eyes wide. Three men took advantage of his pause and slammed his head into the ground. They drove their heels down onto his back and shoulders and pressed his face into the dirt.

“Stop! Please!” Emmeline
said. “I’ll go with you, just don’t harm him.”

Tevan sniffed and spat.
“You heard the lady, don’t harm him. Tie him to the tree so he can watch us leave with her.”

He
lifted Emmeline onto his horse and joined her in the saddle from behind. His malevolent laughter filled the air as he flanked his horse, setting them off on a gallop to the top of the hill. Emmeline twisted in the saddle, hoping to catch a glimpse of Erick, but Tevan snatched her chin in his grasp and jerked it forward.

“Don’t give me any trouble or I’ll send one of my men back to finish him. Understand?”

Emmeline nodded and kept her eyes forward. Despite her fear for what Tevan might have in store for her, she was glad Erick was safe. And she held some hope that she would find her father in Volarcus. They would escape together and she could send word to the Crown Prince of Mahlon’s treachery.

But she would never
see Erick again. A jolt of pain shot through her, growing until it consumed her chest. Each breath seemed heavier than the one before. She forced herself to think of her father again and the joyful reunion they would share together. The pain dulled, but not enough to free her.

After an hour of riding,
the rider flanking their right clutched his chest and fell off his horse. Moments later, the rider flanking their left also fell, an arrow piercing through his back and into his heart.

“What on earth!”
Tevan said. He twisted his torso to glance behind them, his tight grasp never slacking from Emmeline’s waist. Cursing, he dug his heels into the horse’s soft flesh, forcing the beast harder and faster. Emmeline craned her neck to see, but the leader’s large frame blocked her view. Was it a hundred men or just a handful, and what were they after? Death or gold? Or her?

One by one
Tevan’s men fell from their horses, all pierced in the back and through their hearts. Tevan released his tight grip on Emmeline waist, grabbed her upper arm and swung her around behind him, using her as a shield from the fast approaching attackers. She was smaller, leaving his head and shoulders still exposed. Emmeline considered bailing from the horse and chancing the fall, but when she leaned over and glanced at the fast moving ground, she concluded a quick shot to the heart would be less painful than suffering the blur of rocks below.

Tevan
urged the horse faster. Wet foam oozed from the beast’s mouth as he pushed it harder and harder. An arrow whistled past Emmeline’s ear and bore into the leader’s right shoulder. He let out a cry, but did not pull back on the horse’s reins. He reached back with his uninjured arm and whipped the horse, urging it faster.

Another arrow whistled past Emmeline’s ear, this time piercing the man’s left shoulder. He cursed
again. Emmeline cringed, waiting for the next arrow. She was surprised she hadn’t already been struck, given that the other men all received an arrow in the exact same place.

It occurred to Emmeline that w
hoever was shooting was a dead shot and likely wanted her alive, which meant they were also seeking the power of an Incenaga. Her hope for finding her father crumbled. What chance did she have that whoever was attacking them was also from Volarcus? She was not only about to lose what little freedom she had, but she would never see her father or Erick again. Crushing disappointment pushed her deeper onto the horse.

Another
arrow sailed into Tevan’s arm, confirming her fear. It was only a matter of time before the shooter caught up with them. Howling with rage, Tevan kicked and whipped the horse. Another arrow whistled, this time into the horse’s rump. The beast slowed despite his master’s whip. Another arrow pierced the horse and the mighty beast buckled, sending both riders sprawling to the ground.

Emmeline
rolled to a stop and moaned. Through blurred vision, she could just make out a single rider barreling toward them. He pulled an arrow from his quiver and with the crack of his bow, the arrow soared into Tevan’s heart.

Emmeline pushed up to her hands and knees
, determined to get away from the shooter. She couldn’t give up yet. Pulling herself onto her feet, she stumbled away, her head swirling and her feet refusing to cooperate. If she could just reach the thick brush, she could hide.

The shooter
jumped from his moving horse and ran toward her. He pulled her into his arms and she welcomed his embrace, recognizing him at once.

“
Emmeline.” Erick crushed her to his chest. His relief was obvious as he sucked in breath after breath, squeezing her tighter with each one.

“I’m so glad it’s you,” she mumbled into his shirt.

“Who else would it be?” he chuckled.