Dragons of Spring Dawning - Margaret Weis [75]
It was an old elven self-defense technique. Flint had seen it done often and he tensed, ready to act as Laurana’s eyes rolled up, her body sagged, and her knees seemed to give way.
Instinctively, Bakaris reached to catch her.
“No, you don’t! I like my women lively—oof!”
Laurana’s fist slammed into his stomach, knocking the breath from his body. Doubling over in pain, he fell forward. Bringing her knee up, Laurana caught him directly under the chin. As Bakaris pitched into the dirt, Flint grabbed the startled kender and slid off the wyvern.
“Run, Flint! Quickly!” Laurana gasped, leaping away from the wyvern and the man groaning on the ground. “Get into the woods!”
But Bakaris, his face twisted with rage, reached out his hand and grabbed Laurana’s ankle. She stumbled and fell flat, kicking frantically at him. Wielding a tree limb, Flint leaped at Bakaris as the commander was struggling to his feet. Hearing Flint’s roar, Bakaris spun around and struck the dwarf in the face with the back of his hand. In the same motion, he caught hold of Laurana’s arm and dragged her to her feet. Then, turning, he glared at Tas, who had run up beside the unconscious dwarf.
“The lady and I are going into the cave … “Bakaris said, breathing heavily. He gave Laurana’s arm a wrench, causing her to cry out in pain. “Make one move, kender, and I’ll break her arm. Once we get into the cave, I don’t want to be disturbed. There’s a dagger in my belt. I’ll be holding it to the lady’s throat. Do you understand, little fool?”
“Yes, s-sir,” stammered Tasslehoff. “I—I wouldn’t dream of interfering. I—I’ll just stay here with—with Flint.”
“Don’t go into the woods.” Bakaris began to drag Laurana toward the cave. “Draconians guard the forest.”
“N-no, sir,” stuttered Tas, kneeling down beside Flint, his eyes wide.
Satisfied, Bakaris glared once more at the cowering kender, then shoved Laurana toward the entrance to the cave.
Blinded by tears, Laurana stumbled forward. As if to remind her she was trapped, Bakaris twisted her arm again. The pain was excruciating. There was no way to break free of the man’s powerful grip. Cursing herself for falling into this trap, Laurana tried to battle her fear and think clearly. It was hard, the man’s hand was strong, and his smell—the human smell—reminded her of Tanis in a horrifying way.
As if guessing her thoughts, Bakaris clutched her close to him, rubbing his bearded face against her smooth cheek.
“You will be one more woman the half-elf and I have shared—” he whispered hoarsely, then his voice broke off in a bubble of agony.
For an instant, Bakaris’s grip on Laurana’s arm tightened almost past endurance. Then it loosened. His hand slipped from her arm. Laurana tore free of his grip, then spun around to face him.
Blood oozed between Bakaris’s fingers as he clutched at his side where Tasslehoff’s little knife still protruded from the wound. Drawing his own dagger, the man lunged at the defiant kender.
Something snapped in Laurana, letting loose a wild fury and hatred she had not guessed lurked inside her. No longer feeling any fear, no longer caring if she lived or died, Laurana had one thought in mind—she would kill this human male.
With a savage shriek, she flung herself at him, knocking him to the ground. He gave a grunt, then lay still beneath her. Desperately Laurana fought, trying to grab his knife. Then she realized his body was not moving. Slowly she rose to her feet, shaking in reaction.
For a moment she could see nothing through the red mist before her eyes. When it cleared, she saw Tasslehoff roll the body over. Bakaris lay dead. His eyes stared up at the sky, a look of profound shock and surprise on his face. His hand still clutched the dagger he had driven into his own gut.
“What happened?” Laurana whispered, quivering with anger and revulsion.
“You knocked him down and he fell on his knife,” Tas said calmly.
“But before that—”
“Oh, I stuck him,” Tas said. Plucking his knife from the man’s side, he looked at it proudly.