Page 59 of Dawn of Hope

I don’t stop moving, trying not to give away that I noticed anything, in case someone is watching me. I pan the walls of trees, keeping my head still and straight forward. The inability to see anything through the dense vegetation makes me nervous for an ambush.

I need to get to more open ground, but I can’t remember how long until the trees open up again. I have two choices, stand my ground and wait for an attack, or get the hell out of here.

I go with the latter.

I don’t hesitate. I run with all my might, boots slamming into the packed dirt path and trees whooshing by. I keep my head straight and don’t look back, focusing only on getting back to camp.

An arrow whizzes past my ear and strikes a tree in front of me.

Fuck, they are shooting at me.

At least I know the threat is a person and not some magical creature I wouldn’t know how to defend myself against. I know I should weave, because a moving target would be harder to strike, but the path is too narrow.

My lungs burn and my legs still carry me as fast as I can. There are no breaks in the trees, but there hasn’t been another arrow, so maybe I have to outrun whoever is following me.

I risk a glance back and don’t see anyone, but I refuse to slow down. I’m not out of trouble yet.

I look forward again just as a thick rope of vines snaps into place right in front of me. I can’t stop myself and slam into it, my momentum knocking me to the ground.

I can’t breathe. I lay there gasping for breath, black dots flashing over my vision, when I hear multiple bodies step out of the trees around me

“Well, well, well. What have we here?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Itry to move, try to do anything to reach back and grab the hilt, but I have no breath. All I can focus on is sucking in air, trying to breathe again. Pain sears through my wrist as a boot crushes it, preventing even my small movements from going any further.

“Ah, ah, ah, not so fast.” This is a new voice, different from the first. I mentally tally the number of people, so I know what I am dealing with.

The boot lifts, and hands wrap tightly around my wrists, squeezing and jerking me forward. “Give me that rope!”

A thick rope wraps around me, pulling tight and cutting into my skin. The dark spots are slowly disappearing, and my breath is returning. I can make out at least four people standing over me, all of varying heights.

This is bad.

I should have fucking listened to Dane and stayed put. Here I thought he was going to be proud of me for finding my way and getting back to camp safely, and instead I am here, hands bound, and at the mercy of these people.

Edmond’s hostility training immediately comes to mind. I never thought I would need it, especially never having left the castle, but now I am glad I listened to him. When I can’t fight, I have to be smart. I have to listen. I have to find out as much information about my attackers so that I can persuade them to free me, or at least get on their side and bide my time to escape.

“I’ve never seen her before.”

“Neither have I, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t one of them. Scum that thinks they run the island.” The speaker spits, not on me, thank gods.

“Bind her feet too. We’ll carry her if we need to. She can’t get away.”

I’m pulled to a seated position, hands bound in front of me as someone kneels next to me and begins wrapping a rope around my feet. I could kick and scream and try to get away with my hands tied, but who would hear me? The only people I know here are Dane and Storm, and one isn’t even on this island anymore.

I decide on a different tactic as soon as I notice who is binding my feet. A girl, slightly younger than me, at least by my world standards. She pulls tight on the knot, cutting it into my ankles just above my boots.

“Mara?” I ask.

Her eyes snap up to mine, a look of shock on her face.

“What did you say?” she sneers.

“Is your name Mara?” I try again. “Dane wanted me to meet you last night, but you didn’t come back.”

“Shut the fuck up, you filthy Castaway.” It was the first voice again. He leans down and yells in my face, finally giving me a good look at my captors. They are not at all what I expected. The youngest looks barely ten years old, and no one looks older than Dane. Mara is the only girl among them, which verifies what Dane told me last night in the sleeping quarters.