She could hear him approach. "Who's there?!" He yelled. He was too loud. The others would hear him and come to see what was wrong. Kesodra held her breath and looked around, desperate to find anything. "Who's there?" Damerk pronounced even louder. Not sure about what she was doing, she audibly shuffled her feet. She found a twig and purposely snapped it. Let him come. He won't even have time to scream.

Only a moment later, he was on the opposite side of the tree and was coming up beside her. She pulled her wool scarf over the front of her face and tied it tighter so that it wouldn't fall. As soon as she saw the front of his blue shirt, she leaped out at him. She knocked him off balance, pinned him against the nearest tree, and rested her blade against his exposed throat in one fluid movement.

"Don't move. Don't even breathe if you don't want the movement in your throat to scar you—or worse." Kesodra saw fear in his sunken blue eyes now open as wide as they could go; they had a cold, indifferent fear in them. She laughed, "I won't kill you if you're good."

Damerk glanced at her from eye to eye, his chin held up, not out of pride but out of his fear of steel. The light was dim and her scarf hooded her eyes so that he couldn't see them. What would she do to him? Should I scream? No she means this, especially after what we're doing to her.

She spun him around before he could think; "Keep your hands where I can see them and don't try anything. A little pressure is all it takes for this knife to do my bidding." She undid the buckle that twined a thick leather strap that held his quiver of bow and arrows. She felt him for any other weapons; she found none. "Now walk in front of me and don't slow me down; I'll continue to walk and this knife is at your back."

They continued at a slow pace for nearly an hour when Kesodra said, "Sorry." She hit him on the head with the dull end of her dagger and he moaned once as he fell unconscious, face forward, onto the mossy earth. She tied his hands behind his back quickly because she was expecting him to wake up soon. She had not hit him too hard, but hard enough to make the area swell.

She turned him on his back and slapped him awake. "Uh, lea' me alone!" Damerk grunted dumbly and followed his statment with a train of cursing. Then he recognized her, "You!" The young man jerked awkwardly and squirmed defenselessly. His legs kicked the air and made a hard contact with her shin. She kicked his side just as hard back and then he noticed that it was going to be no use.

Kesodra took out her dagger and flipped it in her hand casually. "You know I didn't want you to hear me because then I wouldn't need to deal with your hindering presence. But first, we will keep moving till sundown." She paused, "Well get up!" When she saw that he made no movement to get up she said, "You know I'm very gifted at knife throwing. Just get up and make things simple."

He took this shame as a blow to his honor and him being from Hembarrow, honor was not taken lightly. I have shamed myself already by not fighting back and had this girl guide me with a knife. Father was right; I am not fit for this. But no more! "They will notice my absance if they haven't already. They'll find us and take you!" he sneered not at all taking head her warning.

The next second, her dagger was an inch away from his ear. His surprise left him paralyzed and she pinned his shoulder with her foot. "Don't give me problems and I mean it."

He noticed she was now unarmed and he seized his opportunity. No more will I be disgraced. Before Kesodra could think his legs came up and around her knees and brought her crashing down over his torso. Both knocked out of breath, neither moved for a moment. Damerk willed himself to sit up quickly, wanting to get the embedded knife to free him from his bondage, but he stopped noticed that the scarf had come a bit loose. She opened her eyes and saw him staring at her. A few rays of light broke through the forest canopy and landed upon her eyes. Their brilliant green showed depth and energy.

Casting aside any pain she felt, she stood up and tightened the scarf around her face. He had not seen my face, she thought to herself. And indeed he had not. The way she had looked at him in defiance caused time to seem frozen for Damerk. Why had she not just killed him? "Why didn't you kill me? Why don't you kill me and be over with it?"

She cocked her head to the side and thought a bit. "It would be a shame to waste a life, wouldn't you think? Well, at least until I find out a few things." Damerk had no answer. He noticed the dagger was back in her hands and decided to do as she asked. They walked with Kesodra in the rear and they went the full day in silence. She had made sure they had left no trail of any sort.

The chilling weather got even colder in the sun's absence. Kesodra started a small fire that would not give away their position. After much threatening and attempts, she was able to tie Damerk firmly to the trunk of a tree.

"Cold isn't it? You know I have no blankets." She paused when she received no reply. Damerk was looking away as if being tied to a tree was normal. Her voice grew cold. "So you prefer that I get directly into the fruit of the conversation. Why are you and those men chasing me?"