Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 101336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Borg gave her a shove and a sharp pain tore through her ankle causing her to cry out.
“You’ll not delay us,” Borg ordered and gave her another shove. “Hurry your pace. He waits for us.”
Sky was deposited roughly on the horse and Borg mounted behind her.
“We don’t have far to go,” Borg said.
That worried Sky since it would leave little time for her to escape. She kept alert, trying to think of ways she could get away. Her thoughts were repeatedly interrupted with worry for her husband. He was a superior warrior, and she should not worry. But battle and death played no favorites. He could die like any other warrior on the battlefield.
Her heart felt as if it broke thinking she could lose him and that made her even more determined to survive along with the bairn inside her, for she knew her husband would do the same. He would not give up. He would survive and find her.
Several soulful howls echoed through the woods and the horses grew upset, their riders trying to calm them.
“The wolves followed her,” one man said.
“They will see us dead,” another said, glancing around nervously.
Another leaned his head back to look at the sky. “That hawk has been following us for some time now.”
Sky tilted her head back to see a hawk circling overhead. The hawk probably was hunting and had spotted prey. Or could he be helping someone to find her?
The men continued to express their concern, one saying, “She commands the animals just like her grandmother.”
“She’ll call them down on us,” another cautioned.
“They will get us just like they got him,” another cried out.
“And he will see her dead just like her grandmother,” Borg called out. “Now shut up and pay heed. We are almost there.”
Sky felt the loss. It hurt to hear that she would never get to meet her grandmother and it made her wonder if it would be the same with her mother and father. Were they not alive as well? Was there nothing left of her true family?
It was not long before they entered a small clearing and as soon as she spotted the post planted in the ground, she knew it was meant for her. Once they tied her to it, she would have no chance of escape. But then with six men there and an injured ankle she had little chance of escape anyway. Her only hope was Slayer, but she could help him by giving him more time to reach her.
“Tie her to the post,” Borg ordered once he yanked her off his horse.
Sky was glad when only one man approached her. She formed a quick plan and when they reached the post, she jabbed the man so hard in the eye that he screamed out in pain and stumbled. She ran, her ankle screaming in pain. She knew she did not have much time to hide or much time before they found her, but she did not let that stop her. Any extra time she could give her husband to reach her was worth it.
“Get her, you fools!” Borg screamed.
If she kept running, she would be caught easily, so she dashed behind some thick foliage, hunkering down so she could not be seen and watched as the men ran past her. Borg was right in calling them fools, though he should have included himself.
When she could barely see them, she turned and went in the opposite direction, thinking they would discover their mistake soon enough and return. She needed to put more distance between them and more time.
It was difficult to ignore the pain in her ankle and more difficult to keep herself from slowing her pace. She did her best, but she would have to find a spot soon to hide or she would be caught.
She almost cried out in relief when she saw two wolves running toward her in the distance. They would help her, and she hurried toward them only to stop abruptly when they did. When they began to growl, she knew they alerted her to someone nearby.
“Send them away or I will see them dead.”
Sky shuddered. She never thought evil could be heard in a voice, but she was wrong. The voice exuded evil in the pleasure that she heard he would get in the deaths of the wolves.
“GO!” Sky called out, frantic the man had no intention of keeping his word, and he didn’t.
Arrows sailed through the air and her breath caught briefly until she saw that not one arrow hit its mark. The wolves were safe. She raised her chin, drew her shoulders back and turned to face the man who meant her harm, and an icy chill ran through her.
He was a large and heavy man. His meaty fists looked powerful enough to kill a man with one punch. Old scars marred a face that held no appeal, and his eyes were so dark they appeared soulless.