[Ealasaide]

Benia

Benia and Gilly had been traveling northwest across the open countryside for the better part of an hour and a half. The going was difficult, but the shadows of Chetwood loomed close ahead of them. Even though she could feel her sprained ankle beginning to swell again within the confines of her boot, Benia quickened her steps. If they had any hope at all of eluding the bounty hunter, she and Gilly needed to reach the forest. Once there, Benia had hopes they could loose Kaldir amongst the intertwining deer trails. Having spent a large part of her childhood in Bree, she knew Chetwood well. It was their only hope.

Pausing, she glanced back over her shoulder in the direction of the road. What she saw, caused her to suck in her breath sharply. There were figures approaching at a fast pace, and, from the look of them, it was one man and three horses. The man was on foot, leading the three horses on a tether. He moved at an easy jog...and he was following their trail. It was the bounty hunter. Benia turned back in the direction of the forest and saw that Gilly had not noticed her stop and was still making steady progress toward the trees. Benia decided they had no choice but to try to run for it. Gritting her teeth against the pain in her ankle, Benia picked up her skirts and threw herself into a run.

“He’s right behind us!” she called, catching up to Gilly. “Run for the trees!”

Benia saw Gilly’s mouth drop open for an instant, then the middle-aged hobbit lady began to run as well. For Benia, every step brought her a sharp stab of pain, but she ran for all she was worth. Then, she heard the sound she dreaded most, the thud of galloping hooves. She threw another quick glance over her shoulder and saw that Kaldir had mounted his gray horse and was gaining on them at an alarming rate. She knew there was no way she was going to make it to the trees before being overtaken. When her ankle abruptly gave way, nearly causing her to fall, she decided she had to stop running. After all, he didn’t want Gilly. If she could just slow him down long enough to allow Gilly to reach the shelter of Chetwood, maybe Gilly could get away.

“Run!” she yelled again at Gilly’s back. Then, turning to face the bounty hunter, Benia drew her father’s sword from the sheath on her back.

Kaldir closed the distance between them in a matter of seconds. Stopping some feet away, he reined the horses in and dismounted from his stallion. Benia backed away from him slightly, holding her sword at the ready.

Almost casually, he flipped his cloak back over his shoulders and drew his sword.

“Are you sure you want to cross swords with me, lady?” he asked.

Benia said nothing, but continued to hold her ground, her sword at the ready.

Kaldir stepped forward and touched his blade to hers. “En garde, then, my lady.”

“Please keep running!” Benia silently willed Gilly, not daring to take her eyes off the bounty hunter for a second. “Keep going when you get to the trees and don‘t look back!”

Kaldir’s pale blue eyes locked with Benia’s amber ones as the two of them circled each other. Every once in a while, Kaldir’s sword gave Benia’s a light slap, which Benia parried, then returned to the ready.

Noticing the hint of a smile in his eyes, Benia felt suddenly angry. He was toying with her. For what purpose, she was sure she didn’t know, but if it bought time for Gilly, she would play along. Steeling herself against the jolt of pain that would soon come screaming up from her ankle, Benia moved forward and aimed a solid slash at Kaldir’s legs. He parried the blow easily and let her come back to the ready.

She was in so much agony from her ankle now that she balanced precariously on one foot, unable to place any weight on the injured foot at all. Biting her lip against the pain, she watched as Kaldir’s blade again brushed hers. When he made his move, it came so quickly that she barely had time to raise her sword to parry the powerful slash as it fell toward her shoulder. She blocked it, but the counterblow he landed immediately afterward knocked the sword out of her hands. It landed with a clank amongst a cairn of stones some feet away. Stepping back, her ankle gave way and she fell in a heap on the ground. The next thing she felt was the tip of his sword against her throat. Benia looked up at him defiantly, her eyes blazing with an amber fire.

“Kill me, if you’re going to,” she said quietly. She dared not look away from him, but, all the while, she couldn’t get the thought of Gilly out of her mind. She hoped that if she got the opportunity to steal a peek over her shoulder toward the forest, she would see nothing but empty meadow grasses with the shadow of trees in the distance.