Every time I saw any opportunity, it was snatched away by this man who was aware of everything—and everyone.
We approached the entrance of another cavern, and once we stepped inside, I realized it was a large dome. The ceiling extended high toward the sky, and there was a break in the center, letting sunlight reach the floor.
But there was no floor.
There was a pit—without a bottom.
I crept to the very edge, my boot kicking a rock over, and I watched it tumble down until it was obscured in darkness. “What the…?” I raised my head and looked at Mastodon, as if he would give me an answer.
Mastodon glanced down before he gestured toward his men. “I’ll take the lead. Ian, you take the rear.”
“Whoa, hold on,” I said. “We’re going down there?”
Mastodon stared at me.
“Into a bottomless pit?” I asked incredulously. “For what reason?” I hoped that my father’s men would search the countryside until they found our tracks. Then they would follow our scent until I was rescued. But if I went down there…they’d never find me.
It was now or never.
“You call it a bottomless pit,” Mastodon said. “I call it home.”
Oh shit.
Without hesitation, I went for it. I kicked the man closest to me in the back and gripped the hilt of his sword as he went down—right over the edge. I barely got a glimpse of Mastodon, but he did exactly what I thought he would do.
He chose his comrade over me.
I sprinted out of the cave without looking back, carrying the heavy sword like it was featherlight because the adrenaline was so powerful. I chose life over death, because that was all that was waiting for me in that pit, death.
I hit the sunlight and kept going, heading for the tree line. Not once did I glance behind me because that would slow me down just a second, and I didn’t have a second. The sunlight disappeared once I was in the shade. I jumped over boulders and tree trunks and dropped the sword once on the way.
That was when I realized he was right behind me.
Fuck, he’s fast.
I moved through the trunks, trying to find little nooks and crannies that I could sneak between and that would slow him down, but the guy was a boulder that just crashed through everything.
This isn’t going to work.
Think.
I jumped over a boulder near a tree, but instead of continuing forward, I veered left and rounded the tree to get him from behind.
But the motherfucker was ready for it, his sword at the ready, his eyes more maniacal than they’d ever been. He marched toward me and withdrew his other short sword. A weapon in each hand with armor that would take several hits to hack through, he was pretty much invincible.
“You weigh like five hundred pounds… How are you so fast?” I held my sword at the ready and stayed light on my feet. My breaths came out labored and heavy because I’d just run a mile, if not more.
“Ask a horse.”
The sword was heavier than I was used to, so I had to focus harder than usual. There was no chance I could defeat this guy, but maybe I could disarm him long enough to get away. Or maybe I should just fight to the death because I’d rather die than end up deep underground in that godforsaken place.
He spun one sword around his wrist, a flash of light glinting off the steel.
“I’m warning you…” I stepped back but kept my sword at the ready.
He halted in mid-step, a slight smile moving on to his lips.
“Just let me go.”
“No.” He moved forward.
“Even if you’re right about my father, I wasn’t even alive—”
One of his swords came down—aimed to wound.
I caught it with my blade like second nature, then pushed it off. I was quick on my feet just as my father taught me, getting out of the way for his secondary attack, missing the blade by a few hairs.
He dropped both swords to his sides as he circled me, his eyes narrowing in a whole new way.
“I’m sorry about what happened to you, okay?” Out of breath, I continued my movements, never allowing myself to be a sitting duck. “I’d hunt down the man responsible to the ends of the earth. But I wouldn’t hunt down his daughter. I’m innocent—”
“So was my mother.” He lunged at me, giving me a flurry of blows.
Muscle memory kicked in, and I blocked both hits with my sword, ducking and spinning out of all the attacks he sent my direction. I rolled out of the way, getting out of his line of fire so I could scurry back.
He stopped where he stood, the tips of both swords pointed to the ground. “You’re good.”
“I did warn you…”
“I’m not striking to kill. Just to make you bleed a bit.” He stepped forward. “If this were a real assault, you’d have my sword straight through your eye right now. You’d be pinned to that tree behind you, and over time, your body would slide through the edge of the blade until your corpse collapsed on the roots of the tree.”