Chapter 9

Whispering a prayer to the Goddess for protection, Kel took one last look at the men. They were still talking and Kel thanked all the gods that they didn't have a lookout.

Moving slowly, she crawled towards Dom. The grass tickled her, but she stopped herself from paying too much attention to it. The glaive slowed her down, but she refused to let it go or leave it behind.

She reached her travelling companion and saw that he was conscious but not aware that she was there.

Carefully she placed a hand over his gagged mouth. His whole body jerked and his eyes flew open.

His blue eyes widened when realised who was leaning over him.

Kel recognised quite a few different emotions in them: Relief, joy, thankfulness and the same one that she still couldn't place.

Ignoring it, she pulled her knife out of her belt and quickly cut through the gag and rope that tied his hands and feet together.

Putting a finger to her lips, she stopped Dom from speaking. He nodded and rubbed his wrists where the bonds had cut into the flesh.

Motioning to the trees, Kel gently pulled Dom to his feet.

At that moment a yell pierced the silence.

"They are getting away!"

Kel spun and saw the men jump to their feet, pull weapons and advance on them.

Grimacing, Kel handed Dom her sword and gripped her glaive with both hands.

The three bandits surrounded them. The small one with the high voice lunged at Kel with his dagger. Kel parried the blow to her stomach and did a counter attack.

Her training took over. She parried, thrust, engaged, disengaged, advanced, retreated, spun and lunged without thinking. She felt Dom at her back doing the same. The blade of her glaive was a blur, distracting the bandits.

The whole time, Kel was looking for an opening. There it was! She spun the glaive around and, using it like a spear, thrust it into the stomach of the small bandit.

He went down with a scream, blood spurting around his hands as he grabbed at the gaping wound in his abdomen. The foul smell proved that the blade had contacted with an organ. No one could survive such an injury.

The hurt bandit spluttered, fell backwards and his eyes rolled back in his head. He drew a ragged breath and then all movement stopped in his body. He was dead.

Kel turned away. She wasn't overjoyed because she had beaten him. Nor was she sad. He was still a man, if a bandit, and everyone deserved to live.

The two other bandits had joined forces against Dom.

A cut on his arm was bleeding and Kel could see that his capture had weakened him. His movements were sluggish and the bandits had gained the upper hand.

Quickly she engaged one of them in a bout and tried to separate him from his mate.

Dom was left with the man who carried the longbow and quiver. The bandit didn't have enough time or space to use the bow, but instead was battling Dom with a dagger in each hand.

Kel concentrated on her opponent. He was smarter than the man she had killed. He didn't make any mistakes, nor did he act rashly. He almost played with Kel, teasing her blade with his.

He was fast and darted around her. But it was obvious that he couldn't kill her. He had recognised her female features and couldn't bring himself to kill a woman, even if she carried a weapon and was using it against him.

Smiling grimly, Kel parried his blows and nimbly side stepped his attacks. She wasn't putting all her energy into the fight, but instead tried to wear the man out. Already the speed was taking its toll on the bandit. His movements became more desperate and it was easier for Kel to parry as well as counter attack.

Suddenly a yell from Dom distracted her. He had disarmed his opponent who had become so desperate that he had swung his enormous fist at Dom. While Dom had managed to cut the bandit's legs from under him, the blow had connected with his head and he had gone down in a heap.

The half crippled bandit pulled out his long bow, but instead on targeting Dom, who laid sprawled a couple of feet from him, he aimed the arrow at Kel and let it fly.

Without enough time to avoid the arrow completely, Kel spun to protect her front from it.

The arrow buried itself in her right arm's bicep.

Stumbling, Kel managed to grip her glaive tightly with her good left hand and with a clean sweep beheaded the bandit, who she had been fighting, but who stood watching her, not expecting her to continue.

Through a grey haze, Kel saw Dom stab the last bandit. She didn't notice when she fell to her knees, only felt the constant pounding emitted from the wound, which echoed through her body. She barely saw Dom running to her side, kneeling next to her, trying to comfort her.

The sides of her vision were going dark and a black hole was looming just up ahead, gesturing for her to slip through into peace.

With a last burst of energy she forced her eyes open only to see Dom working on the arrow producing from her shoulder.

A new surge of pain swept through her and pushed her over the edge of consciousness.

A shorter chapter, I know. It's all about the fight, so tell me what you think.

Sorry, I can't write a comment to each reviewer. I am on our holiday farm with very little internet connection. This will probably be one of the last updates for the next two weeks. I am very sorry and hope that you all bare with me!

Thanks to all reviewers!

Wolfy