Steel Maiden (26 page)

The undergrowth was thicker here, and I had
to slow down, but I kept up as good a pace as I could. Another hill
rose steeply in front of me and I went up and down again. I ran and
ran.

I seemed to get nowhere. It was as if the
woods went on forever. The dead trees sprouted around me and the
ground beneath my feet grew wetter and swampier. I slapped away
mosquitoes that were the size of horseflies, but they bit my neck
and forehead anyway. I cursed. I hated bugs. I ran faster but the
earth turned soft and muddy beneath my boots, and I stumbled and
fell. When I rose again my pants were soaked through and covered in
dark green muck that smelled like sewer water.

I stopped to catch my breath and realized it
was getting even colder. Night was falling, and soon the forest
would be too dark for me to run anymore. A damp chill closed over
my skin, and I strained to find my footing. I needed to get out of
this swamp.

Then I heard them. My pursuers’ voices
carried easily though the woodland. I could even hear their
footsteps tromping through the brush. They were still behind me,
but they were getting too close.

“She went this way…”

“Here…look…footprints turning left…”

“Stay on the path. We’ll get her, and then
we’ll kill the witch and take the stone.”

I didn’t recognize the voices, and I didn’t
care. The voices were getting louder, the footsteps closer. I
struggled through the wet ground, and when I found harder soil I
was able to run faster.

I ran until I was finally too exhausted to
take another step. I stumbled through a thick patch of weeds and
into a rushing stream.

“Thank the Creator!”

The icy-cold water stung my face and neck as
I splashed the glorious water over me. I was waist deep. I washed
some of the grime off me, and I drank long and deep. I trudged up
and out of the stream on the other side, but my strides were slow
and heavy because my wet clothes added unnecessary weight. It
hadn’t been such a good idea to plunge into the stream, but it was
too late now to second-guess myself.

As I stood twisting the water from my cloak,
something stung the back of my neck. I reached back and felt a
lump.

“That hurt, you little shits—”

I held my breath and went cold with fear. I
felt a presence. I went for my sword, but it was already too
late.

Something hard hit me in the back on the
head, and I pitched headfirst into a tangle of sharp branches. I
spit the dirt from my mouth and whirled around.

I recognized what he was even in the
darkness. A red monk, an assassin from the temple, stepped out of
the shadows of the forest.

CHAPTER 27

H
IS BRIGHT RED ROBE stood out like a
light in the gloom. I had never seen a red monk before, but I had
seen the mutilated bodies they left behind. I’d always wondered why
professional assassins would choose to wear such a bright color.
His wool gown was tied around the waist with a simple rope, and
soft light reflected off the shaven bald spot on the top of his
head. Monks called the shaven spot
the blessing
because it
symbolized a direct connection with the Creator. If I didn’t know
better I would have assumed that he was an ordinary monk.

But these monks were such skilled killers
that it didn’t really matter what color they wore, since no one
ever lived to tell. He wore a glove fashioned with the talons of
some beast on his right hand. Red monks were the notorious
assassins. I’d never heard of anyone surviving after a monk had
been unleashed to kill them.

I struggled to my feet and stumbled at the
pain that throbbed in my neck. Those bloody horseflies left a nasty
large welt.

I looked into the fury of the monk’s
eyes.

“Why did the high priest send you? I’ve got
the stone.
I
got it. I was on my way to bring it back.”

My anger boiled up to the surface. “I
haven’t told anyone of our arrangement, if that’s what you’re
worried about. Everything is exactly like we agreed.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

I frowned.

“Stop speaking in riddles, monk. Tell me why
you’re here, and stop dicking around!”

He looked amused. “I can’t let you live,
being what you are.”

“What the hell does that mean?” My voice
rose, and I motioned towards the bag tied at my waist.

“I did what he asked. I got him the bloody
stone!”

Deep down I had known all along that the
high priest wouldn’t let me live. I’d been kidding myself. What
else had he lied about? My blood froze, and I felt sick. Rose…

The monk looked at the bag around my waist,
and I saw a flicker of stifled admiration that disappeared quickly.
“Yes. Impressive for a
woman
. You must have been lucky.”

“Lucky?” I spat furiously. “It wasn’t luck,
you prick.”

He laughed, and I could feel waves of
contempt coming off of him like heat.

“Always so dramatic and emotional, you women
are all the same. You are pathetic, weak creatures that need to be
tamed and conquered.”

I narrowed my eyes. I wanted to kill this
bastard.

“It’s obvious you know nothing about women.
We are certainly
not
weak.”

I moved my right hand carefully towards my
sword.

The monk’s face was blank and emotionless. I
saw only contempt in his eyes.

“All women are the property of the temple,”
he continued like this was a well-known fact. “No matter what their
station.”

I thought that if Princess Isabella were
still alive, she would beg to differ.

“The noble women are not the property of the
temple, or have you forgotten the treaty that you signed with the
kingdoms. I’m sure the noble women from Espan would have your head
if they heard you talk like that.”

“Things are changing. Soon, it won’t matter
if you’re wealthy, highborn, or simply from the Pit like you. All
women will belong to the temple priests. You’ll see.”

“See what? You spineless dick.”

“Women have always been inferior to men in
every way. A woman is nothing more than a handicapped version of a
man. You have smaller brains, weaker muscles, and you are
submissive and unable to think rationally or logically. You are too
emotional and lack the intelligence to rule and govern. You only
have two purposes in life: to breed and to bring pleasure to
men.”

I wanted to cut out his tongue and feed it
to him.

“You know nothing about women. And what
would
you
know about pleasure? Everyone knows that you monks
have been castrated. You are nothing more than ball-less tools of
the temple.”

I looked at the spot between his legs, and I
smiled.

“You’re not even a
real
man. And you
probably have to force yourself on a woman because let’s face it,
what woman would have you
naturally
?”

I laughed. “You’re a freak. You monks are
nothing but the temple’s bastards.”

His face darkened, and his lips grew taut.
He drew a long silver sword. “You’ll die for that.”

I glowered and pulled out my sword. “We’ll
see.”

The monk charged faster than I had
anticipated. I blocked his sword with the broad side of my blade
and managed to avoid the sharp edges. I could smell his rancid
breath as I leapt back. I parried his next blows and looked for an
opening while I tried to stay alive. But I never saw an opening.
Every time I struck, he had already moved his sword to counter my
attack. It was like he had anticipated my every move before I had
even thought of it.

I dodged as the great silver sword came
swinging at my head. He struck unnaturally quick, and I barely had
time to block and recover. I was tired from the running and from
the lack of food, and I felt my strength failing me. My neck burned
where I had been bitten, and I could feel the welt growing down to
my shoulders and onto my collarbone.

I rotated my blade and parried, then feinted
to the left, coming to his right side and striking out hard—but I
only hit air. He caught me on my thigh, and I cried out. I spun
around and blocked a killing blow that would have decapitated me. I
managed to jump clear, and did my best to ignore the throbbing in
my thigh.

He hesitated for a moment when he saw the
golden light that spilled out through the gash on my thigh.

“Damn you, witch!” he hissed at me. “I’m
going to enjoy watching you die.”

He dropped his blade and attacked my injured
leg. I spun, but he rammed his sword into my gut. I opened my mouth
in a silent scream as he pulled away. Blood poured out of my wound
for an instant, but then it slowed. Another inch to the left and
I’d probably be dead. Although my leg wound had already healed, the
wound in my gut needed a little time to seal itself, and I knew I
couldn’t keep getting wounded like this. I needed to find a way to
end it now. My sword was getting heavier and heavier, and I knew I
wouldn’t be able to wield it at all soon. Witch or not, I wasn’t
immortal. I was tired.

“I want to see your face as you die, witch,”
hissed the monk. “I want to be the last thing you see before you
meet the Creator.”

A dizzy spell came over me, and his face
blurred. I shook the white spots from my eyes and thrust my blade
into his side.

But my sword faltered and didn’t pierce the
monk’s skin.

“Did you think your miserable weapon could
harm me?”

The monk laughed. “You might have some skill
with the blade, but you’re no match for a red monk, woman. And now
you’re out of time.”

He snarled, and I could see and smell his
sharp brown-stained teeth.

In a flash of red, and before I could react,
the monk surged towards me again, thrashing wildly. I could only
bound back and deflect his blow with my sword. He was a blur. How
could a natural man move so fast? It was impossible. There was no
way a normal man could move that way. It was almost as though he
was magic.

The world around me became foggy. I threw
out my arms to steady myself, but the ground wavered at my
feet.

“Told you I would kill you,” laughed the
monk.

Pain from my neck and collarbone seared
through me.

“What—what is this?” I felt the numbness
from the bite on my neck spill down my arms and legs. I had to
strain to keep my sword in my hands.

“You will die eventually,” said the monk,
and he curled the talons of his gloved hand.

“The poison is already working through
you.”

I realized with horror that I hadn’t been
bitten by a giant horsefly but rather stung by his clawed glove. I
reached up and touched the back of my neck.

“Poison doesn’t kill me.”

He smiled wickedly. “This is no ordinary
poison.”

I couldn’t keep this up. He would kill me
eventually.

“I’ll make you a deal,” I said, trying not
to sound desperate.

The monk laughed. “I don’t make deals.”

I shook my head, trying to clear the blurry
vision.

My voice trembled, “I’ll disappear. The high
priest will never know you didn’t kill me.”

“But I will kill you,” the monk smiled
darkly. “Like I said, I don’t make deals.”

He made to move towards me, and I stepped
back.

“I’ll give you the stone,” I blurted.

He stopped and studied me for a second.

“That’s right,” I said, and I dropped my
sword to my feet.

“I’ll give you the stone, all right. I’ll
give it to you.”

I unfastened the bag at my belt and pulled
out the golden cage. I popped open the lid and slipped the stone
into my hand. It was hot.

“Here, take it. That’s what you came for,
isn’t? Take it, and I’ll go. The high priest will think you’ve
killed me. I’ll disappear, and you’ll never see or hear from me
again.”

He hesitated. The temptation to possess the
stone consumed him. I could feel the stone’s pull reaching out to
the monk.

“Yes,” he said, nodding strangely. “The
stone is mine. It has always been mine. I can feel its power.”

Suddenly, his smile disappeared.

“Give it to me,” he ordered.

“Catch.” I tossed him the stone and took
several steps back.

The monk caught the stone easily. He dropped
his sword and held the stone in the air, staring at it lovingly,
adoringly.

“It’s mine. The stone is mine! It’s—”

But he didn’t finish his sentence. He glowed
bright yellow and then shattered like glass.

This time I’d been far enough away not to
get hit with bits of him. I reached into the liquid mess that had
once been a monk and picked up the stone.

After I’d rubbed it clean with my cloak, I
slipped it back into its cage and secured it in my pouch. I was
relieved to feel its warm pulse against my skin.

The others would still be coming for me, and
I had wasted precious time battling the monk, but I staggered and
nearly fell as I tried to start running again. I knew the effects
of whatever poison he’d used would eventually wear off, but it was
hard to concentrate.