A Warrior's Heart

Prisoner

Fear tightened it's vice-like grip around me as I took in the scene playing out in front of me.

Two Moratan girls were being attacked by a trio of Rhadjari males.Like their fellow warriors these three were also heavily scarred and inked, but less so than the ones I had seen in the street.Their intention with the girls was clear from the greedy sounds coming from their mouths.One girl was being held down by a male ,that was shorter compared to the others, as he franticly tried to rip her dress.The girl was paralyzed with fear, her body immobile as she stared at the dark sky with blank eyes.Barely audible sounds came out of her mouth, like the sounds of a wounded animal.

The other two males had their attention on the second girl, who fought like a wildcat to get free, and to keep the males from wrestling her to the ground.The sounds coming out of her were a load roar compared to that of the other girl.She screamed profanities as if that would deter the males.They muttered to her to be quit and one of them suddenly slapped the girl, and she was momentarily dazed.The sound of the hard hit resonated in my head and it snapped me out of my daze.

Without thinking,I looked around me to find something that could be used as a weapon.My eyes landed on a large piece of wood to the right.The males had not yet noticed me and I ran forward, picked up the piece of wood and with a loud cry I swung it at the head of the closest male, one of the two holding the struggling girl.

My breath hitched as the wood made contact, making a hollow noise.The Rhadjari turned around at lightning speed, ready to attack whomever had dared to do so to him.

As his eyes looked down at me I slightly shivered at the murder I saw in his eyes.He came closer, so close that I could practically smell the hatred and violence on him.

His lips twisted into an cruel sneer, as he said: " Perhaps you and I will not have to share after all, Mythras." The other male holding the girl, Mythras, only laughed and answered his friend. "Something tells me you will have your hands full with that one.I say good luck to you." My stomach tightened in despair as I realized what those words meant.

Undeterred by his friend's jesting, the male in front of me lashed out and pulled by my hair with such a force, that I uttered a cry of pain, as I was dragged to the ground. And another scream tore out of me as the male got on top of me, crushing me with his weight. Panic set in as one word slammed over and over in my mind.

Nonononononono.

As if that one word was the only one I knew. In this moment I wanted more than anything to be somewhere else, someone else. But I was here and now and all that mattered now was that I had to stop the male who was going to hurt me. Tears of frustration and fear pooled in my eyes, making it harder to see, as I struggled more when I felt the male raise up the bottom of my long dress.

"Stop." the voice of another male said. His voice was a deep rumble, and though he had not said the word loudly his voice carried command. The Rhadjari on top of me turned his head towards the entrance of the square.

The male who had spoken, strode forward and he came into view. He had a hard face, which was touched by the firelight from the torches, with long dark hair. His eyes were hidden by shadows , so I could not see them clearly.

" Stop," he said once again.

"Get off her." The Rhadjari on top of me did not get off, but he had evidently lost his interest in me. All his attention was for the man in front of him. The other two Rhadjari males had also snapped their attention to the male in front of them.

"Ryke? Why should I let her go? She is just a worthless human girl." ,he said.

I recognized the word ryke ,a term the Rhadjari used to refer to a leader amongst the warrior clans.