They walk closer, almost ambling, seemingly not in a hurry. I keep the knife hidden.
They line up in front of me, the river at my back, hemming me in.
'Do you have them?' one of them asks the one next to him, in a gruff voice that isn’t his own.
One of the others lines up vials of potion on a nearby rock.
They know what I am.
My stomach twists.
Yes. They know. These men didn’t just happen upon me. They planned this. None seem to have any weapons, but I hear one crack his knuckles and I fight to show no fear.
They want my terror.
They approach, herding me against the river’s edge. I glance back as my foot slips on the wet stone. I can’t swim. I likely can’t run either, even if I did make it past them.
I widen my stance, adopting one that Locke has taught me, bending my knees a little so that they can’t easy unbalance me.
They’re watching me in silence.
‘Come on!’ I snarl. ‘Get on with it, you cowardly fucks!'
One of them laughs and lunges, fists ready, but I feign to the right and strike up in a diagonal arc toward him, the blade of the knife along my forearm. It slices his hand, and before he can do anything, I bring the dagger back down, cutting into his chest.
His expression is incredulous as he staggers back a couple of steps.
‘Fuck!’ he exclaims. ‘The Dark Realm bitch has a blade!’
He forgets to change his voice. I’ve heard it before in Halsford, I’m sure. But where?
I wield the wicked-looking dagger in front of me, grinning like I used to when I fought in the pits because I know how disconcerting it is.
Two of the men glance at each other. ‘She’s deranged. Fucking Dark Realmers.’
‘All the more reason to make sure she knows her place,’ another spits.
‘Aye!’ a third murmurs, showing me his meaty hands. ‘Dane, that fae cunt, won’t do anything. It’s up to us to ensure the safety of the village from her kind! She probably killed Mayson!’
Two of them come at me at once. The one on the left tries to push me into the river, but I slip around him so that I’m not so close to it anymore. But as I move my foot slides and I almost fall. By the time I right myself, it’s to see a fist flying toward my face. I move just in time, but his knuckles still graze my cheek painfully.
A stone falls down the mountain and hits the man in the middle of his back. He yells, and the others guffaw.
'My turn,’ I hear another grind out.
I strike out with the knife as he gets closer, but my element of surprise is gone. He grabs it by the blade and rips it from my fingers without a flinch, his countenance as terrifying as any master in the Dark.
I’m ashamed that my eyes flick down for a moment in submission as, his eyes on me, he chucks the knife to the side.
He must see the deference in my face, because he laughs and my teeth clench.
I’m a free woman. They can’t do this!
I won’t let them do this!
He grabs for me, and I let him. He draws me close with a look of triumph, just before I pull my head back and butt him right in the face.
He lets out a yowl and pushes me hard. I slide in the dirt, losing my balance. Before I can get up, another one is there.
