Herba's Forrest [Complete]

Chapter 13

Darion appeared in Ben's view. Panicking, Ben threw the dagger he still held in his hand at Darion. The motion set him gasping with pain. The dagger missed its mark by a long shot and fell harmlessly to the ground.

Darion laughed, causing the hair on the back of Ben's neck to stand on end. His hollow laughter revealed the emotionless void that took the place of a heart in Darion's chest.

"My my, you are in a pitiful state, aren't you?" Darion laughed again and took a step toward Ben. "Here I come to kill you and you lie there with two arrow wounds, a broken arm, and with no weapon, even if you were in any condition to use it. How sad. I must say that I'm rather disappointed. Where's the sport in this? I had expected to spend weeks planning your death, but it was not to be so. Ah, well. I shall lose no sleep over you."

Darion continued to take slow steps toward the place where Ben lay. Ben closed his eyes and focused on taking steady breaths. He ignored the pain completely, giving his mind over to other, more pleasant thoughts. He thought of Natalie. He spent the most time on her, then moved on to Gabriel and Mara. Lastly, he thought of Brendan. Shoving the image of the dying prince from his mind, Ben thought of him as he had been when he was alive. Once again, Ben wished desperately that he could change their last encounter.

Thud! A short pause. Kluthunk!

Ben opened his eyes and saw a sight that made his mouth drop open in amazement. Natalie was standing over Darion's collapsed body holding the handlebars of his bike as she would hold a baseball bat.

Natalie raised the handlebars to strike the unconscious man once again, but Ben stopped her.

"No!"

Natalie looked at Ben like he was crazy but hesitated, waiting for him to explain himself.

"We should bring him to Simone​," he told her.

"Ben, I swore to kill this man," Natalie reminded him. "He murdered Brendan. I am going to make good on my promise." Holding her necklace out for Ben to see, she demanded, "Do you see this? This symbol means forever. Forever. That's what this man took from me. I intend to make him pay for that."
"I know. I swore to kill him too, but wait first. I need a doctor very very badly."

Natalie seemed to really look at him for the first time since she had come to his rescue. She noticed the blood that stained his shirt from his arrow wounds. She saw the bloody mess that was his left arm and gasped.

"What happened!" she asked.

"My arm is broken." He glanced down at his arm, then away, clenching his teeth and trying not to vomit. "The bone went through the skin, apparently."

She watched as Ben struggled to his feet, gritting his teeth against the pain as he pulled himself up using a tree trunk for support. She winced as she saw the sweat that dripped from his face with the effort of biting back the cries that tried to rip out from his chest.

Natalie grabbed a vine from the nearest tree and pulled Darion into a sitting position. Then she tied the vine around his body tightly.

"Watch him," she told Ben. "I'll be right back." Then she left, walking into the trees through which she had just appeared. Ben stood leaning against a tree for support.

It wasn't long before Natalie returned, Basche in tow. She shoved Darion roughly onto the horse's back before turning to Ben.

"Do you need help getting up?" she asked.

"Yeah," Ben admitted. He was eyeing Basche's tall back warily. "I'd never be able to get up there by myself in this condition."

He walked slowly to the stallion's side. Every step he took jarred his broken arm painfully. Natalie knelt beside him and held out her cupped palms. Brian stepped into her hands, and then into the stirrup. From there, he was able to drag himself into the saddle.