* * *
The men inched closer to the towns and villages, walking their horses. Sierra and Sashe stayed back at a distance as they followed them. They grew close to a small cluster of cottages, Evan leading the way, Seth a little to his left and Dar to his right.
Sashe held back a yawn. “Is this what you wanted to do?” she asked Sierra. “Just follow them around?”
Sierra was about to respond when Evan froze in his steps. He spun around and looked at Dar and Seth, then swore loudly.
“What’s going—” Sierra began, stepping forward.
She was cut off by a yell as two men burst out of one of the cottages and charged towards the men. One held a sword, the other a crossbow.
“Cosa magic!” Sashe exclaimed.
Evan drew his sword just in time to block the swordman’s attack. The one with the crossbow loaded it and shot one off in Dar’s direction. Dar narrowly avoided it. His horse reared up, spooked by the arrow. Dar dropped the reins and charged the man with the crossbow, who whistled loudly. More men flooded out of the cottages. Some were confused, but others moved straight into action. A mob of at least six men moved forward like a flood of ants. Didn't they have work to do? What did they do, just wait around for people to break through the Cosa barrier?
“We have to do something,” Sierra said, reaching for her dagger and a bundle of rope on her saddle.
“Give me your horse, I’ll tie it up,” Sashe said. “Don’t cross the Cosa line or they’ll see you!”
The problem was she wasn’t sure where the Cosa line was. She grew closer to the fight where Evan and Seth were vastly outnumbered, but the village men were drawing them in, further and further away from her. Evan was just past an oak tree when he stopped, and they were at least two foot past it now. She swallowed, looking for her opportunity.
When a village man stepped towards her, she grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him back. He was a smaller man, and his yelp went unnoticed by the other men. She held the dagger to his neck—though he couldn’t see it, he could definitely feel the cld metal. He went still, and she dragged him to the tree. She tied him up and gagged him. He could still yell, but they were quiet in the midst of the battle.
She spun around and took in the scene again. Two of the village men were on the ground, bleeding, nearly dead. Seth was disarmed, on his knees. Evan still fought viciously. His sword plunged into the chest of one of the men.
“Stop!” one of the men yelled. He wore a bloody tunic and had bright red hair. He put his sword to Seth’s neck. “Stop or I’ll cut his head off.”
Evan slowly turned around, his teeth bared. Blood streaked his face and mixed with sweat and dirt.
Could she get in now? Could she help Seth?
No, they were too far past the oak tree. Past the Cosa line. She’d surely be revealed. But if she stayed here, would they kill them?
She looked around to see where Dar was. She didn’t see him anywhere.
A rock suddenly hit the red-haired man in the face. He cried out, nearly dropping his sword. Seth tried to jump up to his feet, and the other men swarmed on him.
Sierra spun around. Sashe stood there with another rock. “Come on, help me!” Sashe said, motioning to the pile of rocks at her feet.
“Where did you—”
“Later!”
Sierra nodded, grabbing a rock and aiming for a villager with his back to them. He jumped for Seth at the last minute, and the rock flew past his ear. Evan was fighting again, his sword waving. One of the villagers’ sword sliced him in the arm, and Evan fell back just the slightest. Sierra aimed for that villager next, and her rock hit his shoulder.
“There’s more of them!” the red-haired man shouted. He pointed at the mob where they were fighting to keep Seth down. “Get him under control!”
He turned and ran towards the oak tree. Sierra threw another rock at him—the last one. It hit him in the arm, and he let out a cry of anger.
Sashe grabbed her arm and pulled her back. The red-haired man stopped at the tree and dropped to his knees next to the man Sierra had tied up. He took out the rope, and the man said, “There’s more! Invisible!”
“Yes, I know,” the red-haired man grumbled.
“Drop your sword or he dies,” another man was threatening Evan again. Three men were holding Seth down now, the fourth with his sword at his throat. Sashe clutched Sierra’s arm.
Evan glanced towards the direction of the red-haired man, who was dragging the small one back into the array. He dropped his sword, and one of the villagers immediately hit him on the back of the head with the hilt of his sword.
Evan dropped to his knees, groaning as he held his head. Sierra tried to take a step forward, but Sashe held her back.
“Wait,” she whispered.
“How many are there?” the red-haired man demanded, walking up to Evan.
“We came alone,” Evan said.
“There were three of you,” the man said, looking around. “Where’s the third?” He nodded to a man nearby. “Go find Rincon.”
Three men had fallen, and four had their swords on Evan and Seth. More men were running in from a distant field. They were in work clothes, covered in dirt and sweat. The women watched from their doorways or their windows, but none of them stepped forward to help.
“They’re outnumbered,” Sierra said.
“Did you think since this was a little village, you could just walk in and do what you wanted?” the red-haired man asked Evan, dragging the tip of his sword down Evan’s face. He didn’t draw blood, but if he did, Sierra would kill him. “Did you think we’d be unprepared for swine like you?”
Evan glared at him. “We’re here to protect the shape changers you’re terrorizing.”
The red-haired man laughed. “Terrorizing? We’re purging our state of evil.”
Two men returned, dragging Dar between them. His face was bloodied, and his shirt torn. He sagged in their arms, and when they dropped him, he didn’t move.
“We found him in Jeneane’s cottage,” one of the men said. He spit on Dar. “He was in there all alone and had her up against the wall!”
A few cries of outrage rose up, and the other man kicked Dar in the side.
“This is horrible,” Sierra said quietly. Dar would never do something like that, but the men crowded around him, jeering at him and kicking.
“Hey!” the red-haired man yelled. “Bring them to the empty cottage. I’ll call for Jorda and he’ll decide what to do with them.” He raised his sword and pointed it at them. “Until then, don’t touch them again, do you understand?”
“He won’t get here for days, Lorn,” one of the men grumbled.
“Then they’ll sit there for days,” the red-haired man, Lorn, snapped. “You know what Jorda wants.”
The men nodded, backing away from Dar. He didn’t even seem conscious anymore. Sierra fought back sudden tears. How were they going to get out of this?
“Rincon, get Willow.” He looked towards the oak tree. “We need to find their friends.”
One man nodded and left. The rest took Seth, Evan, and Dar to a rundown cottage about three houses away. Lorn walked towards the oak tree.
“What are we going to do?” Sierra groaned.
“We need to… we could…” Sashe trailed off, her voice thickening. Her eyes shone with tears.
“We have to think of something,” Sierra said.
“You better watch out,” Lorn said, raising his sword and speaking to the air. “You may think you’re clever, but we’ll find you and we’ll take care of you, just how we took care of your friends.”
Sierra stepped forward. “We could take him right now—”
Sashe yanked on her arm. “Are you crazy? Look at the size of him!”
“There’s two of us—”
Sashe grabbed her chin and forced her to look at her. “Sierra, don’t be stupid. We’re not going to save them with our strength or our fighting
skills.”
“Then how?” Sierra asked, tearing her chin away from Sashe.
Sashe let out a slow breath. “I don’t know.”
They went to their horses, who were tied up about fifteen feet away near the river, which had a rocky bank. Lorn paced around, and they watched as a woman with identical hair joined him.
“Do you think that’s the Cosa?” Sashe asked.
“Yes,” Sierra said. “We should leave, come back tomorrow night when it’s worn off, and sneak in.”
“Tomorrow night?” Sashe asked, her shoulders sagging.
“They said they were going to wait for Jorda, whoever that is,” Sierra said.
“But what if he gets here earlier?” Sashe asked. A few tears trickled down her cheeks, and she wiped them away. “What if they kill them and we could have done something?”
The red-headed woman was walking around now, her lips moving.
“If we get caught, we’ll really be useless,” Sierra said, taking her horse’s reins. “Come on.”
They walked away from their husbands and their brother, and with each step, Sierra felt like she was leaving them behind forever.