Page 86 of Lucie
Lucien jumped right before the horse went down. He managed to land correctly this time, and rolled. But when he tried to get back up, his left leg suddenly buckled on him. Hard, hot pain shotup into his buttock and back. In the next instant, he was pushed downward, and he realized another Blood had hit him.
He turned his head to see his father also trying to fight off a Blood, when an arrow seemed to magically appear through the creature’s neck. A second arrow pierced its chest from the back as the creature raised its club, and for a second Lucien stared in shock atthe sight of the colored fletching at the end of the shaft. His mind barely had the chance to take in what he’d seen, when the Blood landed on top of him. It tried to stab his neck with its crude weapon, but the metal collar protected him. Lucien raised an arm to try and grab the Blood, when the creature suddenly jerked. It gave a raspy howl of pain, then jerked again.
Sensing thiswas his chance, Lucien scrambled to crawl away. Once he was free of the extra weight, he turned to findJohnastraddling the Blood. She plunged her knife repeatedly into its back and neck as it fought to get free of her, but she held on, keeping the creature in a vise-like grip between her legs. It wasn’t until the Blood stopped squirming that she finally sat back. She was breathing heavily. Herface and clothes, and the dagger she held, was covered in gore.
He continued to stare agape at her, when she lifted her face to look at him. For one heart-stopping second he wondered what she would do next, and his hand clutched Mattox’s weapon in preparation.
Several feet behind her,Yulenshrugged off a Blood with an arrow piercing its head from ear to ear. His fatherbarely glanced at him as he ran off, out of Lucien’s range of vision. From the sounds around them, he could tell the battle was winding down.
Johnastraightened but made no overtly threatening move toward him. Her chin trembled, and her eyes were bright with unshed tears.
“L-Lucien?”
At that moment he realized she was lucid. Sane. Whole.
Alive.
Hope.
He got to his feet and limped toward her. Dropping his dagger, he held out his arms.Johnatossed her blade to the side and rushed into his embrace, throwing her arms around his neck as he momentarily hugged her tightly. A quick check around them showed they were momentarily in the clear. Still, he’d feel better if they were closer to where the others were gathered,and not exposed out in the open.
As they hobbled over to the main group, he spotted his father and mother embracing each other tightly, then kiss. He couldn’t stop the smile creasing his face as they kissed, the both of them cupping each other’s face. Looking down atJohna, he waited until she glanced up at him. Taking her chin, he lifted her mouth to kiss her.
“Youhave blood running down your leg.” Iain’s voice filtered through the loving haze in his brain.
“I think I was stabbed.”
“Let me look at it. Are you injured anyplace else that you know of?” The physician whipped out a strip of leather to apply a temporary tourniquet before examining the wound more closely.
“Not that I can tell.”
Mastinmotionedto Atty. “How did you manage to get free?”
“I cut them loose,” Iain admitted.
Yulenstared at the doctor. “You took the risk they weren’t Damaged?”
Iain flashed a quick smile. “They woke up almost simultaneously. I think they both sensed you two were in danger. Don’t ask me how. One moment they were completely out of it, and the next,Attywas demandingI cut her bindings because you needed her.” He nodded inJohna’sdirection. “She was a little more direct. She threatened me.”
Curious, Lucien raised an eyebrow at her. “What did you say?”
“I told him if he didn’t cut me loose, and you died because I couldn’t protect you, I was going to kill him the second I had the chance.” She added a grin, but he could tell she’dmeant every word she’d said.
Renkenwalked over and tossed a couple of the Bloods’ weapons on the ground. “These look exactly like the spears that fake battle lord’s men were carrying.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,”Yulenremarked.
“Where do you think those Bloods came from?”Mastinqueried.
“I’m guessing fromWhiterock,”Renkenreplied.
Yulenagreed. “It’s possible a large contingency of the Bloods from that compound followed us to Schutz Ridge, while the rest remained behind. At some point they had to have been notified we’d defeated the group.”
Teetersonspoke up. “We saw and heard nothing when we went byWhiterock, on our way to join you. Guess they were in hiding.”
“But somehow theyfound out we were coming back their way,” Lucien noted. “That’s when they probably decided to follow us.”
“It would also explain why they were carrying the fake battle lord’s weapons,”Renkenadded. “They may have thought they had a good chance to defeat us, now that they were better armed.”
