"Give her to us Jillas, and I promise the elders won't know about this incident at all." The leader said.
"Hum, what a tempting offer. But I am afraid I'll decline." He turned his head back to meet the woman's gaze. He lifted a string of her hair and tucked it behind her ear, his gaze still locked with hers. He lowered his head to reach her ear.
"W What are you doing?!" she said, her cheeks slightly red.
"Play along." He said in a whisper.
'Oh, I see.' She thought to herself. She then nodded her head in cooperation with whatever plan he had in mind.
He moved his hands to her waist and pulled her towards him. Her face instantly flashed red with their bodies pressed together. "W Wha_" she was about to protest when he whispered in her ear:
"Listen carefully. When I whistle, jump off the cliff. Use your ZIHR to lessen the fall's impact. Once you are down there, you'll find a white wolf waiting for you. Follow him. He will lead you to a hidden cottage. You will be safe once you enter it. Understood?"
"This is crazy! You ar..."
"Do as I said, or stay here and get raped and killed by those bastards." He said in a cold voice that caught her off guard, but she knew he was right.
By the looks of it, those men were after her and the only thing stopping them from attacking her is the tall, dark haired man, currently hugging her.
She fell deep in thought. What should she do? She won't be able to fight them all obviously, but jumping off the cliff is still risky. Although she is a ZAHIR _a ZIHR user_ but her ZIHR is temporarily sealed after she was forced to drink that elixir back at her village. So there will be nothing to protect herself with from the impact of the fall.
Sensing her hesitation, Jillas said in a low but convincing voice "I know you are scared and I understand, but there is no way out of this but to jump". He slid his hands from her waist up to her face and caressed her cheeks with his thumbs. "Trust me, okay?" he said in a gentle tone, looking straight at her eyes.
"O Okay." She stuttered, a tint of red on her cheeks.
A few seconds after letting go of her and turning to face the men in front of them, she heard him whistle. She hardly managed to get herself together and jumped off the high cliff.
Jillas was somehow relieved. He thought he will need to push her himself since she seems to be a woman of high status in her clan and surely is pampered and dolled, but she turned out to be more courageous than she seems to be. He smirked unconsciously while looking at the place she was standing at just seconds ago. The girl is really to his liking.
"Is she your lover? Or maybe your half?" one of the men said, a dirty snicker on his face.
Jillas's face darkened. He knew exactly what that dirty expression meant. With an icy expression on his face, Jillas replied: "None of your business." Then he charged at them.
Fighting and trying to keep the team of wolverines from following after the woman, he noticed two persons' absence: the well built man and tom, who has the most sensitive nose he's ever seen before.
'Damn! They will find her easily with tom's tracking nose!'
***
"AAAAAAAH!"
she started yelling at the top of her lungs once she gave up on using her ZIHR to reduce the fall. She was just fifty meters above the ground and nothing seems to be of use for her in this current situation.
There was only Forty –five meters left when she landed on an extended layer of white tissue. It was made of thousands of crossed threads with a glue-like liquid spread on it.
Her heart-beats fastened and her eyes widened in realisation. "This tissue...Don't tell me..." muttered under her breath.
Cold sweat rolled down her forehead when the whole tissue started to vibrate underneath her. She turned her head robotically to her left side, when she saw it: A huge black spider.
The black spider was the size of a grown up bear, famous by its fatal poison that can kill an adult human in three minutes only.
With her ZIHR sealed away, she has no chance on getting out of this alive. She thought of jumping, but her body was totally glued to the spider web.
"Huh, trust me my ass." She scoffed remembering the dark-haired man's words. Her eyes teary as she imagined the way she will die in soon.
The black spider was about to bite when a loud bark echoed in the quiet forest stopping it in its tracks. Right after, a silhouette attacked it, pushing it meters away. It was a white southern wolf in its big form.
'A black spider and now a white southern wolf!' she cursed her luck inwardly. Suddenly, the man's words resounded in her mind. 'Wait, a white wolf!?' her eyes twinkled and a smile cracked on her face.
"A white wolf!"She said aloud happily for she was saved instead of being another wild beast's dinner.
The white wolf landed her safely on the ground then transformed to its miniscule form. She extended her arm and reached the wolf's forehead and patted it. The wolf seemed to enjoy her patting before it turned its head to the right side and growled.
Her head snapped in the same direction only to find two men standing there. "Sorry for breaking your sweet moment, lady." The well built man said with a smirk. "No big deal, fatty." She replied mockingly.
The man's face fumed in anger. He lifted his hand up and almost instantly the near tree's root grew longer and circled around her ankle and pulled her down on the ground.
He walked then squatted just a few inches away from her, a triumphant expression on his face. "It's muscles not fats, you stupid slut!"
Mustering all of her strength in her hands and arms, she managed to elevate her upper body from the muddy ground. When her gaze and the man's met, she spat the mud out of her mouth straight on his face.
The man's face darkened. He grabbed her hair making her wince in pain, and then said with gritted teeth: "How daring! Let's see how long you'll last, you fucking whore!"
His appearance was no longer normal. His teeth were that of a wild animal and his nails like claws. His demeanour was that of a deranged dog.
She turned around searching for the white wolf only to find it trapped in a huge wooden cage, with a large spear piercing through its chest, moaning in pain.
The man grabbed her hair again, but didn't threaten her. Instead he smashed her head on the muddy ground, again, and again, and again, until she was about to pass out. Blood streamed down her head, and she could taste the metallic aroma in her mouth.
'Aah, I'll pass out at this rate. Think Ziri, think.' She thought to herself. She got back to reality when she was thrown at a huge tree. She let out a pained cry while she darted in and out of consciousness.
With all of the pain lingering in her back and head, she tried to check on her ZIHR. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her inner being. Thousand of transparent channels appeared with a very faint white inside of it.
That's it! The ZIHR started unsealing itself and flowing back inside of her. Just an hour and she will get back her strength. And though it is good news, but she knew she won't last for another ten minutes. And with the amount of ZIHR flowing currently in her body, she can't even cast the weakest of her spells.
'Bear with it a little longer, Ziri.' She encouraged herself.
The white wolf's barking became louder and louder as the man walked closer to Ziri, holding a long wooden stick in his hand. Realising what was coming next, she crossed her arms in front of her face to protect her head, and yet, she struggled to stay conscious upon the hit.
'Just a little more...'
Still not satisfied of his work, he walked to where her body was lying now. She groaned in pain after he launched a series of kicks on her like a maniac.
'A little...more...'
He grabbed her hair and lifted her head to meet her eyes. He was expecting to see begging, tearful eyes, but instead, he found a set of cold emerald green eyes glaring at him.
Seeing that look in her eyes, he flared in anger. He pulled her hair harder making her wince, and then said through gritted teeth: "How dare you! You fucking whore!" he smacked her face so hard, sending her flying back to the ground.
Tears flowed down her cheeks. She could feel her body getting numb because of the amount of hitting it received. She closed her eyes tightly trying not to break down, when a faint smile appeared on her lips.
'Finally.'
She bit her lower lip, drawing out blood. She licked it then mumbled some words under her breath and almost instantly, the air around her changed.
The deranged dog-like man seemed to sense the change in the atmosphere since he backed several feet away from her, but it was too late.