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.She would deal with that one later.The man she held flailed at her ineffectually, his frantic blows feeling like the patter of rain.His screams shrilled as she grinned and pulled him down to the sabers of her teeth, then dissolved into delicious gurgles and the rush of warm blood…and power.≈The crowd stilled to an expectant hush as the executioner drew close to her victim.Her dark, animated eyes travelled up and down Dura’s stocky physique, examining her critically, as if inspecting a piece of granite she was about to sculpt or a blank canvas she was going to paint.Dura tried to close her eyes as the grinning woman approached, but a nauseating curiosity held her rapt.The serrations on the obsidian blade seemed as large and lethal as shark teeth as they neared her flesh.“Well, Maker, I’m comin’ ta meet ya,” she murmured.A shout, high-pitched and feminine, rang out from the back of the crowd, and the entire tribe turned, murmuring with curiosity.The executioner glanced around, her expression transformed from glee to rage.Dura craned her neck, but she was too short and the cannibals were massed too thickly for her to see what was happening.Another shout rang out, an ululating battle cry that devolved into a horrific shriek.The crowd of cannibals murmured and shifted back, shoving and jostling one another.Several brandished weapons, and it seemed that a full-on brawl might commence.Then a woman called out in the native language, and everyone froze.Dura jerked so hard at her bonds that she cracked her head against the wooden frame.The cannibals’ attention was away from her, and even her executioner had joined the crowd.If she was ever going to get a chance, this was it.Then the crowd parted before her.Dura glimpsed a flash of red amidst the shifting bodies as they moved aside and the newcomer stood before her.The dwarf sagged against the wooden frame and stared in disbelief.“Camilla?”Dura looked at her friend and nearly choked.The flash of red she had seen could have been Camilla’s crimson hair, or her scarlet dress, or the bright blood that painted her pale skin.Her arms were red to the elbow, gore dripped from her fingertips, and blood had spattered her from chin to the décolletage of her gown.Beyond Camilla, through the parted crowd, Dura saw the source of the blood.A warrior lay in a twisted heap, one arm bent at an impossible angle, his broad chest flayed open.She looked back at Camilla, and the woman’s blood-drenched lips curved up in a smile.“Hello, Dura.”The voice was Camilla’s, but something lurked beneath that calm contralto, something dark and powerful that sent a chill up her spine.Dura ignored the bloody mess and looked into her friend’s eyes.At first she thought that the dim light was playing tricks with her vision.Instead of their normal vibrant blue, Camilla’s eyes were two polished orbs of blackest obsidian.“Camilla!” she croaked again, unable to comprehend what had happened to her friend.In a flash, Camilla’s eyes shifted to blue and went wide, as if she only now recognized her friend.“Dura!” she said, urgency replacing the chilling calm.“I’ve got to get you out of here.” She stepped forward, reaching for the leather bonds.She was intercepted by Dura’s would-be executioner.The woman brandished her serrated knife, shouting and shaking with rage, pointing first at Dura, then at the mutilated warrior.Camilla snapped a sharp command to the woman in the native language, then turned back to Dura.As she stepped past the woman, the cannibal struck.“Camilla!” Dura called in warning…too late.The cannibal bared her pointed teeth in a feral grin, and buried her obsidian blade to the hilt in Camilla’s slim waist.Dura gaped in shock when, instead of crying out and collapsing, Camilla simply grasped the woman’s wrist, her blue eyes flashing black.There was a sound like dice clattering on a stone table, and a guttural scream tore out of the woman’s throat.Her knees buckled and she released the hilt of the dagger.Camilla grabbed the woman’s hair with her free hand and wrenched her head back, then stooped down to the exposed throat.Her crimson hair fell forward to hide the sight from Dura’s view.The woman’s horrific scream echoed through the clearing before dying in a strangled gurgle.Her body convulsed, then went slack.Camilla dropped the corpse, its throat a ragged mess of torn meat, and straightened.Fresh blood coated her lips and chin, and for an instant, Dura thought that her mouth bristled with dagger-like teeth.Camilla stood still for a moment, her head held high, obsidian eyes flashing, her hair, dress and the gore dripping from her chin all the same crimson hue; a beautiful yet repulsive goddess of blood.Then she shuddered and looked toward Dura, her eyes fading to sapphire once again.Dura couldn’t help but cringe when Camilla wrenched the knife from her abdomen and reached for the leather bonds.The blade was coated not with blood, but with a sickening black ichor.Dura swallowed hard and whispered, “Who are you? What are you?”“I’m Camilla,” she said, though there was some doubt in that claim.“Yes, for at least a while longer, I’m Camilla, and I’m here to free you, Dura.” She slashed the leather bindings at Dura’s ankles and wrists, then handed the weapon to her.“Free the others and follow the trail down to the beach.Paska and Tipos are waiting with Flothrindel.”Dura grasped the hilt with numb fingers.Her mind felt equally as numb as she tried to comprehend the last few moments.Beneath all the gore, this was her friend, Camilla, her face drawn, her eyes wide, and her hands clenched in bloody fists by her side.Despite her other actions, she had set Dura free.“What about you?” she asked.“I’m staying,” Camilla said, a sad yet cold determination edging her voice.“This is the only place I can live and not harm the ones I love, Dura.These…people deserve me for what they did, and I deserve them.”A dangerous murmur spread through the crowd as Dura stepped down from the wooden frame, dagger in hand.Camilla glared at them and they quieted, then she jerked her head toward the caged prisoners.“Go now, and hurry!”Dura wasted no more time in conversation, but hobbled to the nearest cage, sawed through the leather bindings, and helped the woman inside to crawl out.She heard the cannibals shout, but their protests were immediately quelled by Camilla’s harsh commands.Dura dared a glance back.Several cannibals had raised their weapons, but Camilla was pointing to the two corpses she had made and gesturing emphatically.The crowd quailed, many ducking their heads and backing away.Dura kept working, and in short order all of the prisoners were free.Though stumbling and stiff from their long confinement, they didn’t hesitate when Dura urged them toward the path to freedom [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]