Chapter 4
An agonized yell later, Jaeda was on her knees sucking in raggedy breaths and the intruder was no more. Despite the horrible process, Jaeda couldn't help but feel a smidgen proud: she'd taken on two full-grown men and won. With no combat experience.
"Ravo!" Mother suddenly cried, startling her eldest daughter into action.
Jaeda lurched to her feet, seeking out her father in the odd glow of torchlight. The third intruder gained the upper hand and threw Ravo on the floor, pummeling him in the face. Jaeda immediately approached her father's assailant, but stopped cold when her mother's voice wailed, "Jaeda, no! No more! Just run!"
"I can help!" she insisted.
The intruder took a heartbeat to breathe and raise both fists above his head, preparing to deal a nasty blow, but Father seized the opportunity. Fast as lightning, the heel of Ravo's hand drove up against the other man's nose, the snout making a sickening crunch. Bellowing with rage and clutching his face, the man tumbled off of Father, allowing him to scramble to his feet. Jaeda watched her father draw back a leg, teeth bared in a snarl, and then swing it full force into his opponent's skull. The man dropped like a rock, unconscious.
Father panted heavily for a moment, glaring down at the body with the snarl still contorting his bloodied face. And then that face turned on Jaeda, the coldness there seeming to shrink her.
Ravo's eyes wavered over to his wife and youngest daughter, then over the two piles of black dust, and then finally rested on his eldest child.
"How did you get down from that tree?" he growled, jerking his body so that he faced her head-on. Jaeda didn't miss the fact that his hands balled into fists.
"I-I saw those men coming for you. I had to help--"
"Did you kill those two heathens?"
"I--"
"In front of my daughter?" Jaeda didn't need clarification; Ravo was obviously referring to the little girl huddling in Mother's arms. "Do you have any idea what you've done!"
Swallowing, Jaeda took a step backwards, away from the enraged man before her.
"Do you think she needed to see you--you--slaughter them like that? How could you be so thoughtless!"
Jaeda could only stare in utter shock. She hadn't expected this kind of reaction at all. Perhaps a little wariness, but not . . .this.
Heart constricting uncomfortably, Jaeda half-turned so that she could look at her mother. The woman was still crouched in the corner, arms wrapped protectively around a trembling little girl. Huge eyes, exact replicas of Father's, stared up at Jaeda with a hurtful degree of terror in them. Even Mother wouldn't meet Jaeda's gaze; her whole face was blanched, and her mouth was pursed in a tight line.
An emotion lanced through Jaeda's chest, but she couldn't put a name to it. Hurt? Too soft. Agony? Didn't do the feeling justice. Whatever its title, it crushed her heart flat, hard enough to draw moisture to her eyes. She struggled to blink it away as she slowly faced her father again. She knew she waited on judgement, and that she couldn't hope for anything of a positive nature.
Nostrils flaring, Father killed the space between them in two rapid, threatening strides. Jaeda couldn't help but to cower under the force of his anger . . . of his hate.
Ravo bit out his next words as if each syllable was barbed with thorns, his breath puffing against her damp forehead. "You are nothing but a curse to this family."
Jaeda was trembling uncontrollably, but she refused to break down in front of this man. Through tear-blurred eyes, she sought out her mother once more, yearning for the woman to reprimand her husband. Jaeda hoped at least her very own mother still loved her, but even as she hoped, Jaeda saw that the woman had buried her face in the little girl's hair. She was hiding in terror from her own offspring.
A hard lump swelled in Jaeda's throat, but she took a single step forward anyway, hand reaching for Mother. Instead of the woman reacting, the little girl responded with a whimper and an attempt to hide in Mother's bosom.
"Stay away from them!" Ravo yelled behind Jaeda. She spun around, catching a flash of something in his eyes.
They're . . . they're terrified of me. All three of them.
Jaeda just stood there, unmoving, taking it all in. Processing. . . And then, without one more glance, she ran from the room, hands clenched into fists and head lowered. Tears threatened to blind her, but she held them at bay as she burst out of the cabin's back door and into the night. The air was poisoned with smoke. Every breath irritated her throat and burned her nostrils with a horrid stench.
Her eyes sought the pillowcase containing her things, then her body followed. It still lay where she'd left it: at the base of what used to be a sixty-foot-tree. She was about to pluck it up, but decided to slip her gloves back on first. She couldn't risk destroying the book.
With the makeshift travel sack slung over her shoulder, she turned to face the burning town of Emon. The short booms of canon fire had lessened considerably, as had the screams. All Jaeda could hear at the moment was the crackling of fire and distant gunshots.
Despite the absurdity of it, she headed toward those gunshots, for it most likely meant traveling in the direction of the harbor. There were boats in the harbor and, well, she would teach herself how to use one if she had to. If it meant finding the sacred tree.
Jaeda darted in between two smoldering cabins and onto the main pathway that cut through Emon. She went along at a rapid trot, keeping her eyes peeled for anymore of the town's attackers, but she wasn't comforted by the limited visibility; dark clouds of smoke billowed high into the night sky and blotted out huge chunks of starlight. The fires only sent shadows flickering at the edges of her vision, tricking her every time.
A bullet exploded into the night, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin because it had sounded so close. In the next second, something rammed her in the side, barreling her over. Weight crushed her briefly as she rolled left-over-right, dust clogging her nose. Sneezing and feeling a sharp ache flare in her ribs, she squinted ahead to find out what had run her over.
A man. She watched as he pushed himself from the ground and staggered forward, trying to escape. Jaeda saw movement directly ahead, but she couldn't utter a warning in time; a blade pierced straight through the man and out his back, sleek with blood.
Jaeda's mouth dropped in horror. She couldn't seem to look away, even when the blade was yanked back out. The dead man slumped to the ground, revealing the attacker: a short, heavy-set adult male.
A heartbeat after making eye contact, she snatched up the pillowcase and scrambled to her feet. After witnessing that murder, she knew better than to stick around. She raced away, still heading for the harbor. A masculine shout followed her, and then feet thudded in her direction.
Heart jumping in her throat, she picked up the pace.
Why were these men attacking Emon, anyway? Why were they killing everyone in sight and burning down people's homes? What could they possibly gain? Emon wasn't the richest of cit--
Jaeda skidded to a sudden halt, pulse pounding in her ears. Ahead, the whole street was crawling with more men, each armed with some weapon or other. She saw several carrying crates and barrels out of shops, others toying with some of her fellow villagers. Her path was completely blocked.
She spun around to turn back, but soon found that she wouldn't be able to return home. The short man with the bloodied cutlass was running directly for her--only a few paces away and gaining.
There wasn't much time to think; the man was upon her before she knew it, the blade poised to strike. With a frightened screech, she swung the pillowcase to meet his blow, the cutlass thumping against the hard book inside. The force ripped the sack from her hands, but it also distracted her assailant for a moment--just long enough for her to retrieve it. At the corner of her eye, she saw him pull his swinging arm back to most likely deal a death blow. His eyes glittered with the desire.
"Wait! You don't wanna be goin' a'wastin' that," a voice bellowed behind her.
She immediately twisted around, clutching the bag closer to her body, and saw that a couple of men had wandered over to the commotion. Her heart gave an irregular ba-thump at their grungy appearances.
The short man growled, "She tried 'ta hit me!"
Jaeda whipped her head around to give him a bewildered stare. It only infuriated her attacker more, it seemed, for he took a threatening step closer.
"Yer a yellow-belly. Like I says . . ." the other man drawled, mouth curling in a disgusting grin, "Shouldn't be a'wastin' a purdy face like 'at. Let's take her aboard!"
Her ears latched onto his last words, the syllables echoing around in her head. A ship! Suddenly excited, she burst out, "Take me to your captain!"
All the men stared at her for a moment, then exploded into guffaws. One of them managed to snort, "Who are ye? Orderin' us 'round, eh?"
She forced her posture to straighten, faking an air of confidence. "I need a ship, and you all have one. If you take me to your captain, I'll make him an offer he can't refuse."
All their chuckles turned into unattractive smirks, but they didn't seemed displeased with her request. In fact, the one who had stopped her attacker stepped forward and grabbed her wrist, rasping, "Alright, lass. Come 'n see da Cap'n."
Jaeda was quickly surrounded by Emon's assailants and escorted to the docks.