One of the men said, “Go, Brinley, and hurt him enough that he can’t bother us, but he can watch while we enjoy his wife.”
The large man laughed and dismounted.
“And be quick about it,” another fellow called out. “It’s been too long since I had a woman.”
“I get her first since it’s me who puts the husband down,” Brinley said, approaching Dar.
For a moment, Elara thought to flee, but the other men would only chase after her and something in her just could not leave Dar on his own, no matter the circumstances. Whatever way she looked at the situation, it seemed hopeless. Yet Dar stood there prepared to fight even if his only weapon was a dagger.
She hastily glanced around and spotted a slim branch on the ground. The forest had provided her with a weapon. She hurried and scooped it up.
Brinley laughed along with the other three men.
“She thinks a branch will stop us,” one said with a laugh.
“Hurry and be done,” another shouted. “My shaft’s as hard as a rock.”
“I’m first,” Brinley reminded as he lunged toward Dar.
Elara stood shocked, seeing how fast Dar’s dagger left its sheath and was thrust in Brinley’s neck. Blood squirted out when he pulled it out and Brinley grabbed his neck, but the blood surged between his fingers. His eyes went wide, he gurgled, then fell to the ground.
The three men stared in shock. Dar didn’t hesitate, he rushed at them. He jabbed one man in his thigh and blood gushed out. He caught another man in the stomach before he could draw his sword. The third jumped from his horse and headed for Elara.
She raised the branch ready to defend herself but the man fell to the ground before he reached her, Dar’s dagger protruding from his back. She stood speechless seeing three men dead and one only minutes away from death.
Warrior.
The thought rang like a tolling bell in her head. Dar had to have once been a warrior to be so skillful with a blade. His dagger had landed on each man where there was no chance of survival, the blood loss too great.
Dar gathered the four horses’ reins and secured them to tree branches, then he retrieved his dagger from the fallen man’s back, wiping it clean on the man’s cloak before sheathing it and went to Elara.
His hand went to her face, cupping it firmly. “I will always keep you safe, Elara.”
Words failed her. She simply did not know what to say.
Dar smiled. “I am glad to see that you would have fought beside me.”
The word slipped out from her lips without hesitation. “Always.”
“We make a good pair, wife,” he said, his hand falling away from her face as he leaned closer and kissed her lips gently.
Her trembling legs, she hadn’t realized trembled, gave way and she fell against him, his arms going around her to hold her tight. She pressed her face to his chest, inhaling his manly scent that mingled with the rich scent of the forest she loved so much. He almost smelled like home to her and his scent calmed her.
“It’s over. You’re safe,” he assured firmly, leaving no room for worry. “And we have horses now, which will make our quest easier.”
She drew her head back and smiled faintly. “An improvement for sure.”
“Aye,” he agreed and brushed his lips over hers once again even though he silently warned himself not to.
He favored the taste of her, sweet and potent, and her courage intoxicated as well. That she hadn’t run in fear, hadn’t left him, had him admiring her even more. But that was a dangerous thing to think, dangerous to feel, dangerous for them both.
Dar kept hold of her as he asked, “How did you know the men approached?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted, her voice steady now. “I heard them before the forest did, felt them, saw them.”
“You have the power of sight?” he asked, looking at her strangely.
She allowed herself to feel comfortable with him, trust him, and, in doing so, she made a mistake. The power of sight was linked to dark magic, though she did not quite understand why. What was evil about seeing things before they happened? Could it not somehow prove beneficial? But after the Great War that divided Scotara and brought about Driochmor, the forbidden lands, the power of sight was considered evil.