Chapter 18

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Chapter 18

The hunter shouted something in his language and there were jeers from the other men. She watched in shock as the guard and another man dressed in clothes made of what looked like demon skin walked towards Leo. The guard pulled out his knife and slashed the rope that held Leo to the tree. The man in demon skin grabbed Leo by the hair and dragged him forward.

“No!” Kiayani cried.

It was all her fault, Leo was going to get hurt. She ran forward; ignoring the shouts of the men. She punched the man holding him. She forgot that she was an eighteen year old girl and at least half the size of that man. She wanted to stop him so badly that she kept on kicking him. However the man just shoved her aside and she fell to the ground.

Before she could jump back up the guard had grabbed her arms, holding on so tight that she was afraid her bones would snap. He dragged her along behind him ruthlessly and shoved her against a tree. Another came to help him, binding her tightly to the trunk of the tree. The guard slapped her hard across her face and went over to join his friends.

Leo was now on the ground, his head held up by the demon skin wearer who had a grip on his hair. Tears poured down her cheeks and she closed her eyes. She was such a coward. It was her fault that all of this was happening and Leo was being punished for it.

“Leo,” she whispered sadly.

She could hear him cry out in pain and the laughs of the men. She didn’t dare open her eyes for fear of what she might see.

The minutes dragged on and to Kiayani it felt like hours. It finally stopped and she could tell because the sound of walking began and she could hear another set approach the tree line. She opened her eyes.

Two men were dragging an unconscious Leo to tie him to a tree. To say he looked terrible was understatement. He had a black eye and a cut lip. His right cheek was puffy. He had a slash from his ear to his noise and blood was seeping down his chin. His left arm was blue from bruises and the fact that he was unconscious scared Kiayani. She badly wanted to rush over to him and check if he was still breathing and more importantly she wanted to tell him how sorry she was. The guard and the other man walked away leaving Kiayani and the boys alone.

She bowed her head and closed her eyes, for if they were open she would have to look at Leo and she didn’t want the image of his cut up face implanted in her mind. Minutes ticked by and then she heard a whisper in her ear.

“Kiayani,” Koran whispered.

Her eyes flew open and she saw him by her side. He, Mik and the twins were all standing free from the ropes. Koran started hacking at her ropes while the twins and Mik went over to Leo.

“What. . .” she opened her mouth to speak but Koran put a finger to his lips.

Within a minute or so she was free from the tree. Kiayani and Koran went over to where Mik and the twins were unbinding Leo. Mik had his hands on Leo’s shoulders, ready to catch him should he fall. Up close Leo looked even worse and Kiayani felt her stomach sink lower and her heart rise in her mouth. She had caused this. Koran helped them with his knife cutting through the ropes easily. Leo’s body lurched forward and Mik caught him under the arms. Rute came forward and picked up Leo as if he were a rag doll and flung him gently over his shoulder.

Koran looked at Kiayani, “Where are our packs?” he asked.

“I’ll show you,” she said.

“Mik,” Koran said after nodding, “these poachers must have some horses, see if you can find them, we will need them if we want to get away fast.”

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