Ref coughed up blood. His face was split open. Thick mud enveloped him as he dropped.
Tomas groaned, his ankle aching. It felt as if he had kicked a stone wall. He left the brute there to wallow in the pain of his broken face.
Lightning flashed above.
Styna jumped up, hunch-backed with dripping hair. He looked like a wild animal. The brute waddled over with his pants half-down, tackling Tomas and throwing him down on his back into the thick soup of mud.
A closed fist hit Tomas square in the face, knocking the sense out of him. He saw flashing lights for a moment. Rain and blood entered his eyes.
Styna grabbed a rock and slammed it into Tomas’s face.
An explosion of agony erupted from his mouth. He felt a tooth chip and a burning sensation in his gums like a hot fire poker. He spat up blood, coughing to get it out of his throat.
The vicious dog went to hit him again, but before he could, Rilan was up, attempting to pull Styna off Tomas.
“Get off him!”
Tomas, still on his back with Styna’s calloused hands around his throat, kicked up as hard as he could, his foot meeting Styna’s groin with a sickening crunch. The brute let out a bellow, doubling over.
Tomas ignored the pain, wiping the blood out of his eyes and climbing to his feet, covered in mud. He and Rilan both rushed into Styna, throwing him down once again.
Tomas and Rilan stood side by side, faces bleeding, clothes drenched and covered in mud as the rains fell.
Another flash of lightening lit up the forest for an instant before the roar of thunder clapped.
“Are you alright?” Tomas asked.
Before Rilan could even answer, Tomas felt a hand grab his leg from behind. He lost his balance as Ref, lying in the mud with a split down his face, yanked Tomas to the ground.
Ref rolled on top of Tomas, dagger in hand, placing the crooked tip straight into the side of his neck. He pressed so hard that Tomas felt the sting of his skin breaking.
But he did not slice, holding the tip in place.
“Back off! Back the fuck off!” Ref screamed at Rilan. “Or I’ll cut this bitch’s throat.”
Rilan took a step back, then another, holding his hands out to try and calm Ref down.
Tomas lay frozen, enveloped in mud. The point of the dagger dug deeper into his skin, enough to make it bleed. He closed his eyes, scowling at the sharp pain.
I’m going to die. I’m going to die.
“Let him go, please,” Rilan begged.
Styna, still writhing in the mud with his hands on his groin, began snickering. “You’re fucked now, both of you!”
“Please,” Rilan said. “He’s all I’ve got. Let him go.”
Ref leant down and whispered into Tomas’s ear. “You hear that, boy? You’re all he’s got.” The thug cackled.
Tomas heard something whiz through the air.
In an instant, Ref was flung backwards off of Tomas with force. The dagger went flying. Tomas sat up, hand against his throat, unsure of what just happened.
Ref had an arrow stuck in his shoulder. He rolled around in the mud, shrieking in agony.
“Get it out! Get it out!”
Tomas and Rilan, wide-eyed, ran to each other. Out of the darkness, Landry came running with a bow in one hand and another arrow in the other.
Landry loomed over Styna, nocking his arrow, and fully drawing the bow. The arrowhead was aimed straight down at Styna’s face.
Landry looked straight down at the squalid man, making sure that he truly understood how close to death he really was.
“P-p-please, don’t,” Styna begged.
Landry did not blink.
“Tell me why I shouldn’t,” Landry hissed His hands remained perfectly motionless; arrow pointed straight at his eye.
“We was only havin’ some fun, no harm done,” Styna said.
Ref snickered in pain. “No harm done!”
Tomas and Rilan, crippled with fear, remained still, waiting to see what was going to happen.
Landry was in control.
His eyes remained locked on Styna. “You lay a finger on anyone again, I will hand you over to Gharland and he will castrate you on the spot,” Landry threatened.
Styna whimpered in the mud.
“I’ve seen him do it, and you’ve seen him do it. One thing the Captain hates is insubordination within his ranks. You know this. Do I make myself clear?”
Ref and Styna laughed nervously. Ref pulled the arrow from his shoulder in one swift move, a trail of blood spraying out with it.
“Better yet, if you so even look at us for the remainder of this journey, so help me, Creator, I will send an arrow each through your cocks. And trust me, I never miss.”
Landry glared over at Ref, a hole in his shoulder. A great shot- not lethal, but very painful. The arrow landed right where Landry had wanted it to go.
Landry backed away from the two brutes.
“You will regret this, boy,” Ref warned. He continued groaning in pain and snickering alongside Styna.
Landry walked away with Tomas and Rilan, heading back for the camp. Rilan held Tomas up with an arm, his face was bleeding and the cut in his neck was bruised and aching.
Ref’s voice shouted once more. “Mark my words, you will regret this!”
The three ignored the threat, but heard it echo in their minds. None of them said a word in response.
Chapter 15 - Outside of the Circle
A crisp sunrise sent the shadows of night running as dawn fell over Ravenrock. The bells of the city rang as flocks of grey gulls flew out to sea for their morning hunt.
Lamplighters strode around
