“That the women?” asked Gorma.

No response came. ”That the boy?” the words came like a hiss. I guessed the man to be Emar.

I already heard footsteps come my way before I heard Jiren reply yes. I felt the same bad feeling that would bubble in me anytime a plan went wrong in the village. As the steps loudened, chills grew on my skin. I became all too conscious of my body, I tried to keep it relaxed, but felt increasingly stiff.

“he’s still uncon-”

Slap! My cheek become nothing but pain. The hit felt like a sword: cold, sharp and powerful. I couldn’t see them but I knew for certain my cheek had turned an angry red. A mournful scream escaped my lips. But then with a thud came a kick to my chest, I felt like all the strength was pushed out of me. The kick stole the little air I had left from my lungs, leaving me croaking.

Now my eyes were wide open and wild. I saw a short, lean young man in a scribe’s attire. He couldn’t have been older than twenty, a good ten years less than Gorma and Jiren. His face was calm, neither pleased nor angry- but definitely arrogant. He stared me down, coldly watching me panic for air.

“Could of killed him,” Jiren mumbled, his words apprehensive, like they were scared to come out.

Gorma’s words followed quickly, “Would have been right to, the boy actually faked us, nice on you Emra.” I could tell he was on edge by the newcomer.

Emra acknowledged neither. His eyes still set on me. My vision had settled enough to realise what made his steps so heavy. slung on one shoulder was a woman, dressed in a familiar green dress. It was Velma.

Velma’s eyes were shut and her skin worryingly pale. I almost thought her dead, but her chest still showed small undulations of life.

Emra seemed to be assessing my stare. Still with his calm detached look.

“Where is it boy?” Emra’s words carried no pretence, just an arrogant will, like the answer he wanted had no choice but to come.

I tried to gather myself to respond but words came slow. Before my lips were ready to shape a response, Emra’s foot was buried in my chest again. It came too fast for me to respond. Like an axe on wood, the hit rattled my ribs. I felt a cold liquid feeling under my skin, which must have been internal bleeding. Syons. I keeled over on all fours on the forest ground, too hurt to move.

“Don’t waste my time boy, I won’t ask again.”

I wasn’t sure what to say, I wanted to at least wait until Velma was awake, maybe she could do something with the beads, or at least tell me.

Just in case I made sure to keep the beads from Emra’s sight, shifting my weight to block his vision.

“I don’t know what you are looking for sir,” I said. The words coming like a nervous slur.

This time it was Gorma to hurt me. His black boots jam into my elbow, twisting then grinding it into the ground. I felt a click and knew it broken. The pain paled to the ache in my chest, but I still screamed louder than I knew I could. I wanted to cry but all I let slip was whimpers. Weak, pitiful whimpers.

“I didn’t tell you to do that,” Emra growled to Gorma. The harshness of his voice somehow made my arm elbow hurt more.

“The boy was obviously lying Emra, I-” Gorma’s words were cut short by a rush of wind. Emra hadn’t even deigned to look at what he’d done- whatever he done- and Jiren was too worried about Emra to move and look. I turned to look to see Gorma caved into a tree at the camp perimeter. The trees around him shaked more than they should have and after, I saw his clothes move. Gorma was knocked out so he couldn’t have done anything, I thought it the wind or maybe an animal.

“Very few people would lie to me kid, I’d already have killed you if you and I both didn’t know I need you.” Emra said to me.

I wasn’t sure how much they thought I knew. I guessed They’d failed to juice anything out of Velma and were trying to come after me as the weaker link. If they knew nothing I could weave a vague lie to try and save myself from more beatings without compromising anything important. But if they thought me a liar, or knew more than I did- which wasn’t hard- I could be in trouble.

“I was just looking at sir, I don’t know what it is, and I don’t know what happened to it,” It took a lot out of me to lie right to his face. What made it easier where the strong notes of truth, but even hiding information made my skin crawl.

Emra’s gave me an irritated look. Then looked to Jiren.

“H-He was by himself, found him using it. Book disappeared by him.” Jiren said.

Emra planted his foot on my head, shoving me from all fours to on my back. As my vision reoriented I felt another all too familiar pelt to my chest, the pain numbing.

“I swear, I don’t know how to use the book, I don’t know what happened to it!” The desperate scream not even feeling like my own. He can’t kill me. He can’t kill me.

Emra dug his foot further and further into my chest, pressing deep enough to agitate the aggressive throbbing of my veins. He’s face was tense and vengeful, brimming with hate like a bursting dam. I felt less and less air. A worrying amount of hypoxia. like my body was being squeezed out of breath and life. Okay. Now this was it, I thought. I wanted to sputter the little that I knew but didn’t even have the life for it.

My vision begun to lose focus, and I moved my attention from Emra. I could see the same trees from before, the ones by Gorma, moving more blurred than my sight. Then they stilled.

“Take the girl and put her in her own camp. Make sure to keep her and the boy separate. I’m going ahead to take a holy sister.” The arrogance in Emra’s voice came stronger now with anger.

A thud.