Full and covered in blood, the volsa appeared before them licking her snout and cleaning her bloodied coat. Little Dak, sniffed the air and his mother, and ran past her, most likely to get his share of the fresh kill.
" This must be the first time he'd eaten a fresh kill. We should set camp" Eisza sighed, unstrapping her bag and plopping it on the ground.
" No, we are going. They will send more when that one wouldn't return from his watch. I don't want to wait." Maya fished out the vial that Caell had given her " If he has been poisoned, like Corvin then he is in trouble. He won't make it until Caell gets here. We don't have that much time." The fierceness in her tone and expression gained all of Eisza's attention. The red was full of surprises, showing many sides of herself in her time of need.
" Stow your claws, kitten. We need a plan" Eisza picked up the bag off the ground and strapped it back on her chest " I go through the front and draw them out, you stay on the edge and check the huts, one by one. The cub will follow you and the volsa will follow the cub. She will protect the cub at all costs, stay close to him" Eisza advised and took the torch off her " You won't need this, you'll draw attention. You don't want that. Keep out of sight and wait until everyone is out of the huts. Otherwise, there will be a blood bath and plenty of food to feed the volsa until the next Whitsun celebration." Eisza chuckled and took the reins, pulling the horses behind her.
" Alright. What if they will stay inside?" Maya curiously asked as she followed with the volsa on her tail.
" No one can resist a fight, especially if it's a woman fighting." Eisza smiled and frowned when the light touched the bloody man on the ground and the cub, gnawing on his hand.
" Not much of him left now. I have never seen a volsa kill, but I've heard that you don't see it coming." Eisza absently remarked, with her eyes on the cub, and whistled when she noticed that the volsa stayed behind with the cub.
It didn't take long for the cub to appear at their feet along with volsa, as they followed the path lit by the torch. She never dealt with Ianri but now she was worried. Dakran always spoke highly of them when it came to their fighting skills. Maya shakily sighed, she hoped that Dakran was doing alright. She hoped that they hadn't done anything to him.
Eisza halted her steps" Here is where we part ways. Wait until everyone is out" Eisza's amusement had faded, replaced by the same troubling expression. She was frightening, with the deep frown, grim, jaw-clenched, and heavy breathing. Frightfully worried, Maya raised her hand to touch Eisza, but Eisza recoiled with a piercing look. Maya's breath hitched, took a step back, and nodded.
" I best be going then" Maya kinda breathed the words and scurried away to the nearest hut watching her. As expected the cub followed and so did the volsa, leaving her alone with her thoughts.
The moment Maya reached the hut, Eisza stopped in front of the hut in the middle and knocked with her sword on the piece of wood hanging by the huts flap.
It didn't take long for someone to come out and greet her but Eisza didn't give him a chance to speak and cut off his arm, followed by a pain-stricken scream, and a lot of blood squirting everywhere.
Alarmed by the ruckus, people barged out of their huts, surrounding Eisza and the man that whimpered on the ground holding onto his chopped arm.
And that was what she was waiting for. With her ears perked, listening to the people gathered at the front, Maya peeked inside each hut, one by one with the volsa and the cub on her tail.
" What is the meaning of this?" she heard the trembling voice of a man address the question to Eisza.
" You have something that belongs to me and I've come to fetch it" She could hear the smirk in Eisza's voice.
" What that might be?" The old man asked in a grave tone, a little angry.
There was a pause when the clamoring grew, but it turned silent all of a sudden.
" Well," Eisza drawled, most likely smirking " One is the man that had been promised to me, and the other one is the man I serve. You might know him as the Lord of these cursed lands." At Eisza's words, Maya gasped and stilled. A little taken aback when she realized that Haren was promised to Eisza as a husband. Maya giggled, trying to picture those two together. Both, nutters as Dakran liked to call Haren, and Eisza was feared, strong, and capable to beat Haren's ass, until it turned black.
Maya frowned when she stepped into the middle hut and found both Dakran and Haren out of it, hogtied tied, gagged in the middle of the hut. Whatever was going on outside, faded at the sight of Dakran, looking like he was shaking hands with death. He was far worse than Corvin was. Maya snapped out of it and knelt next to Dakran, making quick work with her hands to untie the gag, and fished out the vial that Caell had given her. She could only hope that Caell would have enough common sense to send the cure through Issare. Maya threw the vial on the ground and looked at Haren. She frowned when Haren looked like he was asleep and didn't have the same pasty skin as Dakran.
" Dakran" Maya softly called trying to bring Dakran to his senses, gently patting his cheeks with the back of her hand.
When that didn't yield any results, Maya paled afraid that she had come too late to make a difference.
Maya took a deep breath to steel herself and backhanded Dakran as hard as she could.
Maya hissed and hugged her hand at the numbing pain in her hand like she hit a rock.
" Shit" Maya groaned and shook her hand and backhanded Dakran again but with the other one this time around.
Dakran groaned " Maya" He mumbled her name and tried to raise his head but dropped it back down.
" Wake up. It's just a dream. Please" Maya frantically tried to reach him wherever he was. Caell said that he would dream about the life he would want to live.
" Maya" Dakran mumbled again, a little more clearer this time around. Maya drew her sword and severed the ties, but she quickly regretted it when Dakran kind of slumped onto the floor, face down.
Maya let out an exasperated cry, louder than she intended, and covered her mouth, hopeful that no one had heard her over the racket outside.
With great difficulty and effort, Maya finally rolled Dakran on his back " Dakran. Wake up" Maya kept slapping him, desperately trying to get him to return to reality " You're dreaming. It is not real. Please wake up. It's just a dream" Maya huffed, panicky, she was out of ideas on how to get to him.
" You'll need to do a lot more than plead to wake him up" Nya's haughty voice rang behind her.
Maya raised her eyes, viciously glaring at Nya" What that might be? Enlighten me" Maya stood up, tightly gripping her longsword" You couldn't have him, and this is the best you could do. Poison him" Maya huffed, furious facing Nya.
" Careful with that sword. You might hurt yourself." Nya smirked, sighed, and took a seat cradling her tummy.
Maya narrowed her eyes, it was a common gesture among women with child. Maya's eyes widened and glanced at Dakran. No, it couldn't have been his, it wasn't showing. Maya glanced at Haren and Nya followed her line of sight. She was with child.Haren's child.
" The heir to the Ironstone seat" Nya asserted her suspicions, contemptuous as ever. She had only seen her once but it was enough to get a clear picture of what kind of woman she was.
" I see." Maya slackened and stepped over Dakran and lowered herself on her heels. She needed to keep an eye on Nya and try to wake up Dakran.