“Liar!” the Blight screamed and the word seemed to echo through the entire forest.
Her face contorted again as she renewed her attack with more savagery. Shade barely managed to dodge a blow to his throat, stumbling back unbalanced. Her other hand connected solidly with his face and his vision blurred as her claws ripped through his right eye. Agony tore through him as he staggered back, clutching his face.
“Please stop,” Shade gasped. In the beginning he might have won a fight with her, but he had no hope of it now. The smaller Blights had already wounded him by the time his round with her started, and she had caught him completely off guard with her attack. Between his blinded eye and the blood loss he knew the fight was over for him, and the only prayer he had was talking some sense into her. “Jala Merrodin sent me to make peace with you. I am not here on behalf of the Morcaillo.” His words came out in a rush as she faded back to camouflage again. He only had moments before she attacked again, and he knew it would be the last attack. She would finish him with her next blow if he didn’t do something quick. He couldn’t even shift forms at this point. The process of changing would take too long and she would rip him apart while he was in the middle of the shift.
“Do not kill him,” The command came from the edge of the forest and the newest speaker had a ring of authority to his voice.
“He is Morcaillo!” the woman snarled as she became visible once more. She was crouched barely a foot from him and poised to spring. By her posture Shade knew without a doubt the man had just saved his life.
“Thank you,” Shade gasped as he moved another cautious step from the woman.
The man dropped his camouflage and stepped calmly into the clearing. He was older than the woman, with dark hair and a thin beard covering his chin. He glanced at Shade as he approached and his expression was free of anger, but it was by no means friendly. His dark eyes settled on the woman and he shook his head slowly. “He is Morcaillo, which is exactly why we are taking him to Onvalla rather than killing him. He is too important to simply eat when we might learn useful information from him.”
“He is my prey. I should decide what is done with him. I have been following him for a day now,” the woman snapped as she ros e to her feet. Her back stiffened as she faced her fellow Blight.
“He was your prey and now he is mine. It’s nothing personal, Kella. It’s simply the food chain. You understand, I’m sure,” the man smirked as he repeated her own words back to her and flexed his claws as if daring her to attack him.
Shade looked between the two of them, silently noting the leather armor the man wore as opposed to the linen shirt and breeches the woman had. He was larger built, too, with a powerful frame. When you combined the physical differences and the fact that he was older and likely better trained, the odds were definitely in the man’s favor. Apparently, Kella had come to the same conclusion and Shade watched as she nodded reluctantly.
“The goblin is mine, Granger,” Kella declared stubbornly. “No, it isn’t,” Granger corrected her with a smile.
“You expect me to go hungry tonight?” Kella snarled, her anger rising once more.
“No,” Granger said with a shake of his head and waved a hand toward the campfire. “There is a pot of stew right there, Kella, ” he informed her as he turned back to Shade. The smile faded from his lips as he regarded his captive with distaste. “Follow or I leave you to her mercy,” he ordered as he turned to stalk off toward the woods.
“Is Onvalla a place or a person?” Shade asked quickly as he grabbed his pack and followed after the man. The goblin scampered after him, trilling with alarm as it clutched his pant leg. “It will be OK,” he whispered to it, although he was sure the goblin realized he was feeding it false hope. It was pretty obvious that things were not likely to be OK anytime soon.
“She is our leader and she will most likely be your executioner. Don’t misunderstand your situation Morcaillo. I didn’t save your life. I postponed your death,” Granger said coldly. “If you try to run, I promise you a very painful death. I’m already in a bad enough mood just from your presence here.”
“I have no intention of running, but if it’s a long walk you may end up dragging me the rest of the way. You might not have noticed, but I wasn’t exactly winning the fight back there,” Shade informed him dryly. “So if you want me to reach your leader in order to be questioned you may have to let me rest so that I can heal once the Tevrae has worn off.”
Granger snorted with amusement and shook his head slowly. “So it was sheer stupidity that led you here. I thought perhaps you might have actually known where you were going considering.”
“Considering what?” Shade grumbled.
“Considering you camped less than half a mile from our hive,” Granger replied with a smirk. “I think you will survive that far and I see no point in allowing you to heal before Onvalla kills you. You might actually get away if you weren’t so wounded. I’ve hunted your kind before, and I know how difficult you can be.”