Valentine

I shoved through the carriage door, taking away most of the wall as I did, and rolled through the gap. I whirled as I sprung to my feet, trying to locate the source of the footsteps I'd heard, my hand already diving into the front of my suit.

There, not two paces from the back of the carriage. I straightened my right arm, even as my left went for the other pistol, and I squeezed the trigger.

The wheellock threw a sheaf of sparks, and the elf dodged to the side, but I continued to track him as the powder hissed in the pan. It caught the charge, and the pistol shuddered in my hand as a blast of smoke and flame caught the elf in the chest.

The flash illuminated three more figures, but it was gone in an instant, and the smoke left behind by the shot obscured my vision.

The man on the ground groaned, and I almost snapped off my second shot at the sudden noise, but caught myself.

"She's not supposed to be standing," one of the men shouted in protest.

I swung the muzzle around to point at the speaker, but it sounded like he was at the back of the group, and I didn't have a clear idea of where he stood.

The first shot had ruined what little night adaptation I had. I only hoped it had done the same for the men before me. The ruddy cast and the brevity of the light made it difficult to be sure, but at least by their build, I guessed they were elves.

"She's got that amulet, get the a-"

I fired the pistol's second barrel, cutting the speaker short. This time I was ready for the flash, and when it illuminated the scene again- yeah, definitely elven mercs -I brought to bear the pistol in my left. The empty gun was already on its way to the gravel below before my vision cleared, and I took the one that remained in both hands, levelled at where I'd seen the next man standing.

Then a blast of water struck me full in the chest, launching me backwards and taking me off my feet. I landed hard and my vision filled with stars as my head hit the packed gravel.

I still held the second of my wheel locks, the impact had not been enough to shake my grip, but the effort had served little purpose.

I tossed aside the pistol, rendered useless by the water. I tried to struggle to my feet but found it difficult to figure out which way was up. In the dark and with my vision swimming, I could hardly make sense of what I saw, and the blow to my head had rattled me to the point I couldn't tell which way was up.

Someone grabbed me from behind- was it from behind? -shoving their hand down my collar.

"Wally?" I mumbled.

I grabbed their wrist and squeezed. I heard two distinct crunches, and behind me, the sound of a man screaming.

Not Wally, then.

I let go but felt the chain on my amulet suddenly grow tight around my neck. I heard the scrape of boots on gravel as the man whose wrist I'd crushed retreated, taking his pained whimpers with him, but there was someone else standing behind me.

I gasped for air as the chain dug into my flesh, arms flailing as I tried to get ahold of the person choking me. Not that it did me much good, I was having a hard enough time just staying upright, and I'd only just made it to my knees. I had only the vaguest sense of where they were, and my newfound strength mattered little if I couldn't set my hands on them. Less if they choked me unconscious.

I leaned back into them, clawing at the chain as I did. I got a finger between the links and my neck and pulled hard. It snapped, and I lurched forward. I barely caught myself on my hands and scrambled forwards, away from the one who'd ripped off my amulet and to my feet.

"I got the amulet, grab her," a woman's voice shouted from behind.

I don't know if I imagined the blur lunging towards me, but I felt someone take a fistful of hair a moment later. I howled in protest and lashed out. I struck them in- the thigh, I think? And I heard something like a thick tree branch snapping.

A piercing scream filled the night, and the man collapsed to the ground, dragging me down with him. I pawed at the ground, finding dirt, gravel-

There. I found his arm and tried to pull his arm free of my hair, but he had a death grip on my silken tresses, and it only made my head hurt more as he refused to break his grip.

I followed the arm to the torso it was connected to and began pounding on his chest.

"Let go. Let go. Let go!." I repeated as I drummed on his chest, bloodying my knuckles on his breastplate.

Another torrent of water picked me up off the ground and slammed me into what remained of the carriage. The sorry-looking thing was barely hanging on as it was, and through my suit, I felt planks splintering against my body, some even pulling free as the nails holding them in place came loose.

I groped at the front of my suit until I found the pocket with the torch and pulled it free with clumsy hands. The torch lit well enough, and in the fresh light, I realized I'd not ended up inside the carriage but on the far side. What remained of my conveyance heaped beside me, having collapsed after I'd taken my impromptu trip through.

"Alive," a woman- the one who'd taken my amulet -howled, "We need her alive!"

"I don't care if you have her bloody trinket," another woman- the mage? -retorted, "It's not bloody worked, now has it?"

"I switched to piercings," I shouted, "But I'm just so rattled I can't remember where I got them. Why don't you come around and help me find them?"

I hope I sounded better than I felt. The flight suit, and of all things my hair, had kept me from getting cut up by the gravel or splintered wood, but it did nothing to cushion impacts. Just rising to a knee was difficult and brought with it a wave of nausea.

I felt at the zip on my thigh, opening it slowly so as not to make much noise, and withdrew the pistol. It was a narrow little thing in shiny black metal, outlined by the blue-white light of the nearby torch.

I knew what they'd try and held it at the ready, facing the side from which I'd heard the spellcaster speaking. I heard one soft footstep and another, then the sudden flurry of boots on gravel as the women sprung at me from both sides.

I ignored the one behind me and squeezed the trigger twice.

The light reflected off the mage's polished breastplate, but there, right by the sternum, were two black dots. Holes, where the tiny slugs had torn through the metal. There was a look of shock on the big elf's face as she stumbled forward and crumpled to the ground.

I started to turn, but clumsily, slowly. It was tricky, resting on one knee, and the disorientation helped even less. But I was cognizant enough to pull the gun in tight to my chest in an attempt to keep the elf from getting ahold of it.

A vain attempt, as it happened.

The elf mercenary didn't bother trying to grab the gun. Instead, I seemed to blink, and then I was lying on my side while a throbbing pain flashed behind my eyes.

I squinted against the light, and at first, I thought it was the headache, the hangover from hell making me extra sensitive. But I twisted on my side to look up at the sky and realized it actually was brighter than it should be. Not because I'd been out that long, but due to the green flare hanging in the air above, illuminating the ditch I lay in.

That's not good. Dammit Amity, where the hell are you?

The clink of metal caught my attention, and I looked down to find my wrists and ankles bound with several wraps of chain.

Lead for Weaken, or zinc for Transform. Damn, I really do need to try the piercings... But maybe not lead.

I might not have had the mana I wanted, but this was hardly the first time I'd woken up in bondage, and I'm awfully flexible.

I tucked in my thumb and straightened my fingers, trying to make the profile of my hand as narrow as possible.

There's a reason The Blushing Maiden usually uses leather bonds. They can stretch. That stretchiness means it's a lot easier to avoid leaving any slack. Steel chain, by comparison, is not known for the ability to stretch.

I'm also not a fan of the look, but that's hardly the point.

True, I'd have torn right through leather bonds, but chains weren't likely to stop me either. I only needed to be patient, a virtue Wally had taught me at length.

The links clinked against each other as I began to wriggle free, and I winced at each noise, but the elf woman was busy tending to her wounded. Wounded that were far from silent, and I felt a tad guilty as their cries muffled my escape.

I got my hands free, and though still swooning from my injuries, the greater freedom made it much easier to look around. I pushed myself up slightly, just enough to raise my eyes to the level of the road. There I spied the elf woman, the captain, I realized by her attire. Her back was turned as she tended to the man whose femur I'd broken, as he groaned through a piece of leather gripped between his teeth.

I let myself back down slowly. Carefully, I lifted the chains that had bound my wrists and slowly set them down beside me.

I twisted on my side, bringing my ankles close enough to pull at the chains while keeping my torso below the level of the road. I froze with my hands resting lightly on the chains as I heard the beat of approaching hooves.

I heard the captain say something soothing, to the effect of "They'll be here in a moment," and gave up all pretence of stealth.

I kicked off my shoes, pulling the chains down around my ankles and kicking the chains free.

I heard a cry of alarm from the road, followed by the captain rising to her feet shortly after. A moment later came a reply, and I realized the captain's alarm was not directed at me.

"Valentine?" Amity's voice was deafening, but there was an odd quality to it. Static, I think Wallace had called it. I recognized it from his explanation of the radio and when we'd tried listening in on Simon's transmissions. More than that, her voice didn't carry the tone of someone shouting. Instead, it sounded more like she was speaking in a perfectly normal voice, only amplified.

"Here!" I called in reply.

I heard carriage and horse alike skid to a stop, a sword was drawn, the clang of metal on metal, and then a whoof of air being driven from someone's lungs. The sword flashed, catching the light from the flare as it spun through the air to land a few yards away in the ditch. Then the impact of a body hitting the ground, and Amity was standing at the side of the road with her lower set of hands on hips while her upper set of arms were crossed on her chest.

"Don't look at me like that," I retorted, realizing for the first time that my voice was slurred.

Amity caught it as well, and her expression changed from one of exasperation to obvious concern, and she rushed down to help me to my feet.

"Come on, let's not hang around," she said as she half-guided half-carried me to the waiting carriage.

She pushed me up onto the driver's bench and took a seat beside me, taking up the reins with her right hands while her left steadied me.

We were off in an instant, and I found myself slumping against her, wishing the tall gynoid were a certain giant.

"Hey," she chided, "You need to stay awake. I know a head wound when I see one."

"Then do your fancy human medicine to me and let me sleep."

"I am doing. You need to stay awake for the next twenty-four hours, but don't worry-"

"Two days?"

"I've hardly had a look at you, and I can already tell you've got a concussion. Exactly how many times did you get hit in the head?"

"Lots, okay? Now, why is it I'm not supposed to worry?"

"Because I'll be here to make sure you don't fall asleep."

"Uhhgh, I already feel awful and tired. I can only imagine how I'll feel a couple of days from now. Where were you? I thought you were supposed to be making sure this sort of thing didn't happen."

Amity looked up at the stars, "God give me strength," she breathed, "I've been following you around all day, kicking over every little pocket of mercenaries I've found while they were busy setting up little ambushes like this one. You were supposed to give me more time, but instead, while I'm still handling the last few, you're already running off in a huff. What's got you in such a mood anyways?"

I winced, "I may have been getting tired of the fact they were hardly putting up a fight," I told her, "I thought they were too afraid of Wallace to try anything, and it was, well, I found it insulting."

Amity sighed, "You are lucky he's as crazy about you as you are in general. What, you wanted a fight?"

I shrugged.

She shook her head, "Do you still want a fight, or are you satisfied?"

"Ask me again in twenty-four hours," I muttered.

"Well, if it's any consolation, they weren't afraid of Wally. Or if they are, they're not letting it keep them from taking a shot at taking you hostage."

I frowned, "Hostage? Why would they want to take me hostage?"

"Some don't," Amity admitted, "Lucky for you, I thought I had time to question them. I wasn't aware you would be in such a rush, so I hung around to speak to those who were feeling chatty. Sure, there's still a couple nobles out there that think you'd make good wife material. Slaves or no, it's not like the property is going to rise up and revolt, so some see it as the only way to hold onto any power."

I shook my head, "Pointless, they'd never be able to keep the land."

"Which is what most of the cleverer nobles seem to think," she agreed, "These are the ones that wish to make a hostage of you."

"Dammit, I've been leading them to realize this is all Simon's fault and that Wally can't do much about it."

"And they think that taking you hostage would be enough to motivate Wally to try harder."

"Just when I think I might be rid of the nobles, I give them another reason to hound me."

"I thought you wanted a fight?" Amity teased.

"Shut up," I retorted, before letting out a long breath, "I don't know what I want."

Amity giggled, "If anyone knows what they want, it's you. Your problem is you want a great many things, all of which are at odds with each other."

"That might be true," I hedged.

"Might be? You go ahead. You tell Wally that you're not sure what you want. You'll have him laughing so hard he shatters windows."