Chapter 22
“We have to leg it
right now.” Completely out of breath Samu rested his hands on his knees,
bending over. He had not doubted for a second that he and Elida were in danger,
after his return to the village. The Jarl was dead and many things were about
to change. Run had been the only word from Yorick Havarson’s lips and his eyes
had spoken volumes. It was becoming dangerous. Although he had never even for a
second thought about leaving without Elida, her small message had given him
hope to find her again, all being well in their own world.
“Where’s the woman,
where’s Elida?” Riku had grabbed his arm and pulled him closer to the provisory
campside in a little den behind bushes.
“She will come as
soon as she can.” Samu stated firmly, overlooking his friend’s thunderstruck
facial expression. “Yorick will surely not take her along.” He simply
continued, now also ignoring Riku’s low gasp for air.
“So I say we bunk
then!” Raul closed his jacket and quickly put his hoodie over his head before
tapping Samu’s arm. “Good to have you back, mate, now come on, we have a bit of
hiking to do!”
“Are you sure that
she’s safe?” Sami broached the subject again and Samu spun around furiously.
“I have no idea, you
hear me for fuck’s sake?” He hissed. “She fucking wrote me this short line and
her loyally trusted personal saviour fucking slaughter-man told me to run, so
no, I have no idea and I am praying right now that she is indeed well and that
she will be able to follow us home. What else can I do? If I go back and try to
find her myself they will kill me right away because I am no longer of use to
them. Not only that, I am in the way of the marriage of the new leading couple
of the clan, what a pleasant turn of events!”
“So she is to marry
this Yorick guy then?” Riku asked silently after giving his friend a moment to
throw a tantrum. Samu threw his head back and laughed but it didn’t sound
happy.
“No, no! Not creepy
raven-in-the-centre-of-his-fucking-face-Yorick but his hulking mega-creepy
brother!” he threw a gaze around. “From everything I could gather before he
sent me away, I am at least 80% sure that he is on our side. But I wouldn’t
hold my breath.” Running his hands over his tired face, Samu looked back at the
village and the big main hut. The night was dark but he caught a glimpse of a
figure that was running through the dense undergrowth. Narrowing his eyes, he
tried to focus. The figure was gone but he had been almost certain that it was
Elida. Feeling his heartbeat increasing, he looked at his friends.
“That was her, wasn’t
it? Not even 300 yards away.” Sami gestured in the direction of the small
clearing where Elida had so suddenly turned up and disappeared.
Samu nodded, his
mouth getting dry with excitement. “Let’s go!” he urged. “Let us follow her and
try to catch up. Maybe we will all find this godforsaken crack in time and
return home!”
Suddenly there wasn’t
even a suggestion of fatigue inside of him. “Let’s go!” he pressed and started
to run after Elida. But only to be stopped by Raul not more than a few seconds
later.
“Stop!” Raul
whispered alarmed, still holding his friend by his arm. “Don’t you see that?”
he pointed into the forest and Samu felt his guts churn.
The main hut was on
fire, the whole place blazing up in flames. And radiant against the burning and
roaring flames there was a man on horseback, riding right into the forest at
express speed and precisely in the direction Elida had disappeared to.
Samu felt all the air
escape his lounges and he sagged to his knees. He didn’t stand a chance. Yorick
was after her and she would not manage to escape this devil. His throat felt
constricted and he looked up at his friends, finding even Riku’s expression
changed completely.
“Maybe we can still
save her.” Riku put his hand on Samu’s shoulder but Samu merely shook his head
and lowered his gaze.
The devil had her.
And he had played him well by making him believe that he was on their side.
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