The Map - Part IV

This is how I picture Darin...
but maybe slightly younger than this image.

(Note: Please keep in mind, that if I ever finish this as a short story, I will probably come back through and edit/change a few things...but for now, I'll keep it as is, unless I run into a big problem with the plot.)

“No! Wait!”

Darin jerked awake, realizing it was his own voice that had shouted. He looked around wildly. He was faintly aware that he was leaning upright against a tree, and someone must have been beating a mallet against his head, for it was throbbing like he’d never experienced before.

“Quiet!” someone hissed. Darin jumped when the voice came from right by his head. The sudden movement didn’t help his tremendous headache, and he suddenly felt as though he might blackout again.

“Who’s there?” he asked groggily. “Why can’t I move?” His legs were free, he was sure, but his wrists were tied together behind his back, and his aching shoulders told him they had been like that for a while. He blinked his eyes to adjust to the dim world. It was a bit lighter outside, though still dark.

“Shut up,” the person answered. Darin turned his head and saw the dim form of the girl, completely free of her bonds.

“Oh, no,” Darin groaned, thumping his head back against the tree. New pain shot through his skull and he groaned even more.

The girl smacked a hand over his mouth. “Stop that! Do you want to get caught?”

Darin was about to ask, Caught by who, but stopped himself when he heard the clink of metal. Was it the guards? Was the girl trying to protect him? He winced at the burning pain in his wrists where they were bound by the ropes and decided that couldn’t be it. Maybe the girl herself was hiding from the guards. But why?

“They can’t have gotten far,” a low voice said. “The village is their closest refuge.”

“We ride on,” another voice spoke.

There was a clopping of horse hooves as the riders continued on down the road beside the forest. After a moment, it was silent.

Darin heard the girl’s small sigh of relief and she removed her hand from his mouth.

“Would you mind telling me what’s going on?” he asked calmly. He’d been in worse situations, but from the way the girl had handled herself earlier, he thought it wise to remain relaxed.

Morning was nearing, and the world was brightening around them. Darin hadn’t been able to see what the girl looked like before, but now he had a better idea. He would have thought she was rather pretty with her pale skin and dark hair, but he was quickly turned off by her scowling expression.

“You’re not the only one who has plans for that map,” the girl said, staring him right in the eyes.

Darin’s stomach twisted uncomfortably. “Don’t tell me you want it, too…”

The girl scoffed, and even cracked a smile, but it was a bitter one. “No, I don’t want it.”

“You know where it is then?”

“Of course I know!” the girl said, raising her voice a little. “I live in that house, if you hadn’t noticed.”

“Alone?” Darin continued to think of questions to keep her distracted from the fact that he was slowly inching his hands free of the ropes. He tried not to shift too much, and was thankful for the dimness of the forest to hide his arm movements.

The girl raised an eyebrow at him and got to her feet. “Why would I tell a thief like you? Now get up, we have a long walk.” She waited with her arms crossed, obviously not about to help him up.

“As you wish…” Darin said. He slowly got to his feet, pretending to use great effort to stand. But just as he stood to full height, he whipped his freed hands out from behind his back and shoved the girl to the ground. She let out a surprised cry, and fell beneath him, kicking and flailing. Darin had already spotted his dagger, safely stuck in the top of the girl’s pants, hilt visible. He managed to shove one of the girl’s arms to the ground, but not the other, and the girl used it now to reach for the dagger. She pulled it out, but Darin grabbed her wrist in a solid grip and stopped her just as she aimed the blade at him.

“Get. Off,” the girl uttered menacingly. She was stronger than Darin had guessed, and she resisted his effort to pin her arm to the ground. Their muscles shook, both of them gritting their teeth.

Darin couldn’t pin the girl’s arm down, but there were other ways. With a rough movement, he twisted the girl’s wrist until her arm was bent at a painful angle. She cried out and dropped the dagger. Darin lunged for it, still holding the girl’s injured arm in own hand. She gave a choked gasp as Darin got up and hauled her to her feet after him.

“That hurts!” she cried, tears glinting in her eyes.

Darin almost felt bad. But then he remembered seeing the girl standing over him with the branch in her hands, and all thoughts of pity left him. He still had a massive headache, and he briefly wondered if he had a slight concussion.

“I need the code to the safe in the library,” he told her. “Tell me what it is.”

“Or what?” the girl asked. “You’ll kill me?”

“No,” Darin said. “But your tall friend is still out there, and I’m sure he’d love to find you again.”

The girl winced against Darin’s grip on her arm. “It won’t do either of you any good to capture me,” she said tightly. “I don’t know the safe’s code.”

“Then how do you know the map is inside?”

“Please, you’re hurting me!” the girl pleaded. She struggled a little, but stopped, eyeing the dagger in Darin’s hand. Darin sighed in frustration and released her arm. The girl crumpled to the ground, cradling her injury. She was being a little dramatic, if you asked Darin.

“Answer me,” he said, standing over her and hoping he looked dangerous. He was getting tired of this whole situation, and wished God would slow the sunrise just once. He much preferred to move at night, or on an overcast day, but the sun was about to breach the horizon into a cloudless sky, and then he’d feel dreadfully exposed.

The girl looked up at him, her eyes glaring daggers of her own. “My grandfather passed the secret down to me,” she said. “But he died before he could share the code.”

“What are you, some kind of guardian to the map?” Darin asked in disbelief.

“It sounds stupid when you say it like that,” the girl huffed. “But yes.”