Chapter 16: Amr
The two riders raced through the middle of the square at a blistering pace. He recognized one of the riders as the small girl who had knocked him unconscious. The second, another woman, was slight and beautiful. She rode a light grey wolf with hints of copper around the sides of its head. Maren had said that the riders wouldn’t return until tomorrow. Something was wrong. He reached out for Sanaa and for the first time since he’d awoken, there was a response.
I’m here. Trouble. More coming.
Amr heard the heavy breathing of the wolves before he saw them emerge into the square. His guard, the small man sitting atop his cage, was the only one present when the group arrived. There were eleven riders and twelve wolves. One of the women carried a boy perched in her lap as she rode. The woman was crying, but the tears and her face conveyed anger, not sadness.
“Where are the girls? We tracked them here. Where are they!?” she shouted at Amr’s guard. The small man hopped down from the cage and began explaining that he’d seen the girls, but didn’t know where they went.
“Let’s go. Quinn can track them,” the woman said, patting the head of her giant silver wolf.
“Hold on Eva. Please. Let’s discuss this. None of us know what happened back there,” said the older rider Amr had seen in the village earlier. His name was Ordin and he appeared to have a position of authority in this village.
“I’ll hold for nothing!” she shouted back at him. “One of those bitches killed my son and disfigured poor Rab. They will pay.”
“We don’t know what happened or why,” repeated Ordin calmly. The wolves and riders were all breathing heavy, small clouds of haze was visible with every breath in the cool moonlight.
“I won’t let you hurt my sister,” said another rider. Although he hadn’t seen this man before, he was the male spitting image of the second woman who had raced through the village. Amr was struggling to keep track of who was who here. So many new faces and voices and these little people all looked so similar.
“Nor will I let you hurt Kaja,” said the other rider he recognized, Arnulf. He was related to Maren and the girl who’d shot him with the poison arrows. His tone was serious and resolute. For folk of such paltry physical stature, these people had demonstrated repeatedly extraordinarily strong will. In his short time in captivity, Amr already found himself admiring some of these fairy-people. He wished all his sworn brothers and sisters had as much fortitude.
“Blood for blood,” said the young man on a white wolf next to Eva. He sprang from his wolf with speed, launching himself into the air and at Arnulf. The fight, if you can call it that, was over in seconds. Arnulf was caught by surprise, still fumbling for a weapon, when two small daggers pierced his chest, driven through his body by the force of the diving attacker. Chaos ensued. Riders launched themselves into the air in every direction. They were like shooting stars arcing across the night. He watched as Ordin went down. The man had tried to pry the attacker off Arnulf, and was impaled from behind by Eva. Amr’s guard was slaughtered by the riderless white wolf when he had moved to assist Ordin. His throat was ripped out viciously and quickly, the wolf moving immediately to another target to do the same. Villagers, roused by noise, began to emerge from their homes confused. Seeing the carnage, they grabbed weapons and began to engage. The second set of riders, six in all, found themselves beset on all sides by wildly leaping villagers armed with torches, kitchen knifes, and crude bows. Amr yelled as loud as he could.
“Maren! Come!” his voice boomed across the village and several fighters stopped
momentarily to discern the cause. Identifying him, still locked in his cage, they paid no further notice and the melee continued. Maren arrived shortly aboard the black wolf, seated behind Kaja. She sprang from the wolf and onto the cage, she scanned the square in disbelief.
“You have to let me out. I can help,” he said to her, rattling the roof bars to get her attention. She hesitated for a second and then swung down and unlocked the gate. Amr burst forth from the cage and set his sights on the two white wolves that were mercilessly tearing villagers apart. He caught the first one by surprise and crushed its skull while it fed on the body of a downed woman. The second one saw him coming and rushed him. He prepared to catch the great beast, when a mass of black fur struck the wolf with enormous force, eliciting a terrible yelp. The two animals rolled together for a moment, white and black fur combining in a ball of contrasting fury. The beasts fought with incredibly intensity, snapping jaws, yelps and growls echoing through the night. Amr rushed toward the animals, bounding through the melee, dispatching with ease anything in his way. He was greeted by a low growl and Sanaa became visible emerging from the darkness. The imposing panther had fresh blood on her claws and was dripping from several large bites around her neck.
Amr reviewed the surrounding anarchy. He waded back into the fight, tossing riders and wolves with abandon, attempting to protect the ill-armed villagers. Several riders remounted and began to retreat. Sanaa gave quick chase and then returned to his side. The battle was over.
They’ll return. With more. We need to go.
“I agree my friend,” he said, putting his massive arms around the panthers head in a warm embrace. “I missed you. I was worried you were gone.”
“Amr!”
It was Maren’s melodic voice. Turning, he saw that she and Kaja had survived the combat with only minor cuts and bruises.
“Maren. I need to go,” he said softly.
“Where? Why?” said Maren. The words, her tone, they held a plea for him to stay.
“We must leave too,” said the other female rider.
“Siv! What? Go where? Why?” said Kaja. The look of bewilderment on her face spoke volumes. Amr looked around, his height allowing him to bring the disparate elements of the recent battlefield into focus. Many of the villagers were tending to the wounded and crying over the dead, but the ones that weren’t, they whispered and pointed. He was their obvious target, he and three young women next to him. Siv leapt from her wolf toward Kaja, who slid off her large black wolf. Siv grabbed her by both arms and held her, demanding her undivided attention.
“Listen. We are in serious danger. Look around,” Siv said. She forced Kaja to survey scene and bear witness to the massacre.
“Simon, my beloved brother, is dead. Arnulf and Ordin have also perished. That bitch from Finnmark escaped with Tor,” she was shaking Kaja as she spoke. Her intensity infusing every word with uncontrollable fervor. “Brit, Henrik, and Dag, they all escaped too. Likely headed back to Ostfold. But they’ll come back. All of them. Looking for us. No one here is safe as long as we are here,” said Siv. Her voice was strong and firm, but on the verge of breaking. Amr marvelled at her courage in the face of such devastating loss. Kaja broke down. She began sobbing uncontrollably as the cost of the day’s events, being spoken aloud somehow making them real, hit her, like a hammer.
“I’m coming too,” said Maren. “I won’t abandon Kaja, ever. Plus, this giant man owes me a conversation or two. We need to say goodbye to my mother. Kaja, come with me.”
“It’s settled,” said Siv. “Grab your things, as much as you can take. Maren, you’ll ride with me. Kaja, you’ll take supplies,” she turned toward Amr, looking him up and down.
“Clearly you can’t ride and we need to get away from here quickly. Perhaps we go our separate ways now?”
Amr considered. There was nothing keeping him with these women. Hadn’t they just held him prisoner for several days? He looked at Maren and then Sanaa.
Bring them with you.
“I can keep up. I can run for hours,” he paused for a moment. “Plus, I know where we should go. Where you will all be safe. I can take you there,” he added.
“Where is that?” said Siv.
“To my brothers and sisters in Deylanz. We can protect you from thousands of these people. Can you and your wolf track me?” asked Amr. Siv nodded.
“Follow me then. I’ll get a head start.” Amr took off at a slow jog and then accelerated to a steady run. It felt so good to be moving. His legs were stiff, but they loosened up as the minutes became hours. The girls caught up to him several hours into his run. Maren looked toward him, her admiring gaze was both suggestive and beautiful. He smiled back and then picked up his pace. He was racing along, as fast as he had ever moved, and it felt wonderful. He felt alive. He let loose a call, a roar of sheer pleasure and then began running even faster, toward home.