The Map - Part III

(guess this should have a name, eh?)

The girl uttered a muffled cry behind her gag, clearly unhappy by this change of scene, though Darin hoped she would see that he had just saved her life, and wasn’t trying to kidnap her. He would’ve removed the cloth from around her mouth and head, but maybe it was just as well that he couldn’t. The girl might start screaming if her mouth was free, and then what would he do? But the girl kept up with him, not trying to stop or turn back, and he was grateful. Still, her breathing became ragged, and he suddenly remembered that she was only able to get air through her nose.

“A little farther,” he told her. They were running down the road toward the village. Darin planned to find a temporary hiding place where he could safely untie the girl and leave her for the guards to find. Surely the tall man had been overcome and taken prisoner. There was no way he could have escaped with the guards charging at him. He risked a look over his shoulder. No one was following them. Strange, he thought, wondering how they had managed to escape when the guards had horses.

The girl was beginning to lag behind. Darin slowed. Wide-open land spread out to the right of the road, but the skeletal beginning of a forest was taking form to the left. The trees thickened further down the road, but the girl might not make it that far. Darin reached for her bound hands and pulled her into the trees. They wouldn’t be completely hidden from the road, but Darin had no choice. The girl was blinking rapidly and looked faint as she breathed heavily through her nose.

Darin took out his dagger to cut the rope around the girl’s wrists, but she mistook his movements. She let out a muffled scream and backed away from the small blade. Her heel caught on a tree root and she fell on her rear.

“It’s okay!” Darin said, impatient to set her free and be on his way. “I’m only trying to help.”

The girl frowned and mumbled something inaudible. Darin stared at her in confusion for a moment.

“Look, if I wanted to kill you,” he told her, “I would have done it already.”

The girl didn’t look convinced. Darin went to kneel beside her and try again, but she pushed away, backing herself up against a tree.

Darin let out a sharp sigh. “You want me to leave you here? Fine.” He got to his feet and began to walk away.

“Mmph!” the girl protested. “Crm mbk hrm!”

Slowly, Darin turned around. “Do my ears deceive me? You want me to come back?”

It was dark, but Darin was pretty sure the girl was still scowling. He went back toward her.

“You know,” he said, crouching down and taking out his dagger. “It was never my intention to hurt you. In fact, if it wasn’t for me, you’d probably be dead. I saved you!”

And just as he said those words, the girl flung up her bound hands, walloping Darin right in the chin. His neck snapped back and he fell onto his back. His vision swam as he stared up at the silhouettes of tree branches against the sparkling night sky. Were those stars, or was he falling unconscious? He tried to sit up, but the girl was suddenly standing over him. Was that a tree branch in her hands? Whatever it was, she raised it high above her head, and brought it down heavily on his head. A split-second of agonizing pain seared through Darin’s body, and then he lost all consciousness.