Son of Soron (30 page)

The three girls were scared but at the mention of Nathan they knew that this was a rescue. So they nervously nodded and waited for Ashuna to rise. 

Slowly Ashuna rose and started walking towards the horses. Ava then Rose and Sharon soon followed after.

When Nathan watched the group rise and begin to walk towards horses he quickly took aim at the sentry in the tree. He waited for the sentry to move or make a noise. When Ashuna and the girls got to the horses without being challenged the sentry started to sound out an alarm. Nathan released his arrow and silenced the man. Once the body started to fall towards the ground Nathan readied his bow for the next shot, waiting to see movement among the sleeping bodies.  Chaos broke out as the falling body awoke the sleeping soldiers.

As Ashuna got the girls onto the horses, Verin was taking aim at the bodies of the sleeping warriors. The second Ashuna cut the rope and started leading all the horses away from the camp Verin began to fire. The imbued bloodstone bow was amazing. His aim and accuracy benefited from the lightweight and the arrows flew with far greater velocity than he had imagined possible. The bodies lying close to the fire made easy targets and he concentrated on these, firing as many arrows as he could. Soon a scream came from one of his targets, he put his bow away and quickly followed Ashuna and the girls. He had done as much damage as possible, now Nathan was on his own.

Duke Evollan woke to the sound of a scream. Shouting followed. Alarm coursed through his veins He peeked out of his tent. He searched for the source of the dreadful noise. One of the men was half sitting up with an arrow through his chest. Within a blink of an eye, a second arrow pierced the man’s chest and he fell back to the ground. The duke panicked. He looked towards the horses only to see the cut picket line. Turning, he looked for the girls. They too, like the horses, were gone. The men were moving frantically around him trying to locate the hidden archers. Another man fell then another. The duke spotted one of the scouts they had hired in Pailtar; running up to him, he grabbed the man by the arm and hissed “Get me out of here.”

Chapter forty

WHILE THE DUKE SLIPPED off into the night with the help of the scout, Nathan was busy firing arrows into anything that moved. As he heard the thundering hooves of the fleeing horse’s carrying his friends he knew it was time to create his distraction
.

Nathan let out a loud war cry, a fierce yell at the top of his lungs; the remaining warriors now had a target and began to move towards Nathan’s position. Nathan fired his bow as quickly as possible. Between his position and the camp, the ground was soft sand. Despite their best attempts, the warriors were not able to make quick time in reaching Nathan.

Nathan could see one warrior moving off to the side keeping to the harder rockier ground. His path would bring him around to Nathan’s flank. However, it was a wide approach and gave Nathan plenty of time to focus on the other remaining three warriors coming directly at him. He fired at the closest man, hitting him in the chest with his arrow.

Dropping his bow off to his side, Nathan pulled out his newly forged and magically imbued sword and dagger. The first warrior to reach Nathan swung his sword down hard at him; Nathan blocked the attack with his sword. The sun has started to come over the horizon but the light was still poor and attempting to block with the dagger would have been risky. This did not prevent him from using the second blade to attack with. Nathan sent the dagger into the warrior’s chest.

A sharp pain in his side let Nathan know that the second attacker had swung his sword at Nathan’s exposed side. Had it not been for Nathan’s vraber skin shirt, he would have been sliced wide open. Nathan spun and attacked. The warrior, surprised that Nathan seemed uninjured, was barely able to raise his sword in time to ward off Nathan’s attack.  As the warrior back-peddled, Nathan pressed his attack using both sword and dagger to keep the man off guard. Before long, the warrior slipped in the soft sand and missed his defensive block. Nathan’s sword sliced through his neck with no resistance.

Nathan turned. The last warrior was standing over Nathan’s bow and quiver of arrows. The man was smiling at him “So you are the great northern boy that the duke hates so much. I have to thank you. If it were not for you, we would still be in Progoh and I would not have gotten to spend so much time with those lovely girls. Sharon was nice but when I am done with you I am going to get Ava back and enjoy teaching her the ways of a sex slave before I sell her.” Bailmont baited his youthful opponent.  Anger made men make deadly mistakes. Moreover, the warrior before him was barely a man. He was mentally adding another kill to his credit. 

The way the man was taunting Nathan almost made him lose his temper, but the many lessons on breathing had finally taught Nathan control. He kept his anger at bay and prepared to rush at the man.

Bailmont knew he would be able to pick up and fire the bow before Nathan could get close enough to be of any danger. As he reached down for the bow, he noticed the fine jewel in the handle. Only a silly boy would waste such a fine jewel in a weapon he thought. The bow would be a nice bonus once he finished with the lad. Bailmont growled deep in his throat like an animal. The sound intended to evoke fear.

Nathan, unaffected by the taunts, knew that his bow would be useless to the man. Seeing the man’s eyes drop to the bow Nathan charged.

When Nathan rushed towards him, Bailmont reached down and picked up the bow. Gods, it is heavy he thought. The weight of the bow made his upswing much slower than anticipated and Nathan was gaining ground quickly. Bailmont slid the arrow into position and began to pull back on the string, but nothing happened. He was not strong enough.  In frustration, Bailmont threw down the useless weapon to pull out his sword. He would end this the old fashion way, with a sword. He anticipated gutting him slowly and watching the life fade from his eyes.  It fascinated him to watch death. It made him feel powerful. He was eager to feel that power again.

As Bailmont reached towards the ground, grabbing at the bow, Nathan was already moving. Confident that the bow would not work Nathan focused on getting close to Bailmont. When Bailmont threw the weapon to the ground Nathan was already in position. While Bailmont looked down to grab his own weapon Nathan threw his dagger towards the chest of the vile rapist. Bailmont grabbed the pommel of his weapon as the dagger pierced through his heavy leather armor and deep into his shoulder. His downward movement was the only thing that stopped the dagger from piercing into his heart.  The pain and shock of being injured slowed the duke a fraction of a second. The short amount of time cost the man his life. Nathan still charging forward into him ran his sword deep into Bailmont’s chest.

Bailmont looked down at the black sword that had penetrated into his chest, in a moment of clarity he noted the fine black steel, the thinness of the blade, the jewel sparkling in the helm. Magic, he thought to himself, never fight against magic. A rule he once had and should have followed. He looked up at the boy holding the magnificent weapon. One last surge of anger coursed through his body, a boy defeating him without suffering even one wound. Not in this lifetime he thought, knowing that that his time was ending. Bailmont, weak and fading fast, grabbed Nathan’s sword hand and pulled him in closer. Bailmont raked Nathan’s face with his gauntleted hand; the sharp metal sliced open Nathan’s cheek despite the lack of power behind the move. Bailmont looked at the cut with satisfaction, smiled and coughed up blood before speaking “Something to remember me by.” While he took his last few gasping breaths of air Nathan calmly removed his dagger from the man’s shoulder then pushed the man away letting his sword slide out of his chest cavity. Bailmont looked into the Nathan’s one last time. His last vision one of Nathan’s icy blue eyes.

Nathan let out a deep breath and wiped a small amount of blood away from his cheek.  Seeing the life fade in his opponents eyes was unsettling.  He told himself that is was a death deserved, earned and long overdue.  He wondered if he would ever not feel a chill when he looked into the eyes of a man as life faded. At least this time he did not feel the need to empty the contents of his stomach. Nathan refocused his thoughts back to the task at hand and surveyed the camp, no sign of the duke, or the last scout. Torn between the desire to hunt the man down and head back towards Ava, Nathan took one last look into the desert before making his way towards Pailtar. The duke had escaped, a regrettable outcome, but his priority was the girls, not revenge. Nathan picked up the pace as he moved across the desert towards his friends and family.
 

Chapter forty one

AVA WAS RELIEVED beyond imagination to be sitting on the Lady Bonita, safely away from the deranged duke and the vile Bailmont, but she could not stop worrying about Nathan. When Verin and Ashuna had taken the girls, she had assumed that Nathan would be hiding out in the desert, or possibly back in Pailtar, waiting for them to return. It wasn’t until they reached the port city that she found out otherwise. Rose had asked Verin where Nathan was and when he explained that Nathan chose to stay back and provide a distraction while the girls escaped she wanted to explode. Didn’t these stupid men know he was only a boy? That he would be killed and Ava would have no one.

Verin seeing the look she gave him tried to calm her down. “Relax Ava. Nathan is not a child. He has learned much in the last few months and those warriors who remained would give him little to worry about.” Verin was not as confident as he sounded. But he wanted to reassure the girls that things would all workout. He believed Nathan could defeat the remaining enemies, but there was that shadow of a doubt. Should he have stayed behind with his nephew?  What if he had miscalculated Nathan's abilities? As he kept his doubts to himself, he realized how fond he had grown of his sister's son.

Ashuna agreed with Verin, “Nathan’s magic is strong, and he is a fine warrior. Those men are no more threat than the bandit chief that he defeated.” Ashuna smiled down at Rose, he had held during the ride back from the desert and now the child seemed comfortable standing at his side. A spunky little thing he thought to himself.

Ava looked as Ashuna as if he was crazy. Had Nathan magic? Nathan killed the bandit chief?  What was going on?  Ava’s mind raced with all the new information.

Verin took pity on her, he could see she still needed reassuring that things would be okay. It was obvious she was in the dark regarding his nephew's a'kil powers. He gave her a brief summary of all of his adventures with Nathan. “When we found the Bandit hideout, Nathan snuck in and led the attack while I provided cover. He single-handedly defeated the bandit chief. Afterward, we headed north and met Nathan’s grandfather. It was there his magical heritage was revealed.”

Ava didn’t know what to think, it was all so confusing. Sleep deprivation and an overload of new information were messing with her mind. She just wanted Nathan back. She remembered the wolf in the forest, it seemed so long ago, but now she realized it must have been magic. But, it mattered not. Ava didn’t care about magic, she cared about Nathan.

Verin thought about it for a moment. If Nathan could sense Ava, surely the girl could do the same. Verin thought back to how Theron had taught Nathan about his connection with Thorn. Inspired, Verin spoke to Ava, “Close your eyes. Think only of Nathan. Picture his face and talk to him inside your head.” He saw her reluctance, her doubt.  “Do it, trust me. Imagine him, talk to him. You and Nathan are connected; it is how we found you.”

Ava wondered what good that would do. She was afraid she would just break down and cry, but Verin looked so insistent she gave in. Eyes closed, she pictured blue eyes, bronzed skin, and the warmth of his hand holding hers.  Nathan Stoneblood, you get your ass back here! We need you and if you don't get back here soon, I'll kill you myself, you jerk! You are needed right here. I miss you. Rose misses you. Hurry, please!  Nothing happened, but Ava was thinking back. Over the last few days, she had felt something different, like something was in her mind. She had attributed it to stress but what if that feeling was this connection Verin spoke of? Ava focused her thoughts again. The feeling was still there, like a dull reassuring pulse in the back of mind. Maybe that was Nathan and he was still alive.

Suddenly, Rose, who had been watching the shoreline, spoke out. “I see him, right there coming up the docks.” She squealed and clapped her hands, jumping up and down for a second.

Ava looked up incredulously. She saw that Rose was right. Ava ran down the plank off the Lady Bonita and towards Nathan, with Rose close on her heels. Nathan grinning from ear to ear said, “Hey!” dropped his gear and quickly caught the flying girl, letting her momentum knock him over. Rose piled on top both of them.

“Oof," said Nathan as he enjoyed the girls embrace. “Am I always going to be looking up into the sky when you around, Ava?” said Nathan. His Ava appeared unharmed, just slightly disheveled and dirty.  She never looked prettier to him than at that moment.
 

“Oh shut up you big jerk. I missed you so much." Ava looked closer at Nathan’s face; the cut made by Bailmont’s gauntlet still was caked in blood. She ran her hand over the wound “You’ve been bleeding again.”

“It’s just a scratch, a small price to pay for a good hug.” Nathan remembered Bailmont’s last words, but his memories would not be of the vile man, but instead what he regained.

Nathan and Ava sat up. Rose wiggled between them to give Nathan a hug. Nathan laughed.  Rose was Rose! Nobody moved for a moment. Rose sighed, “Nathan, you rescued us again,” Rose bounced. Nathan winced as his sore ribs took the beating. Ava noticed his pain and moved to get off him, taking Rose with her.

“I’m just glad you are all safe now,” Nathan said sheepishly, not wanting the praise.