Belly of the Beast by Warren Thomas (story books for 5 year olds txt) 📕

            Kicking the horse in the mouth, he sidestepped it and thrust his sword into the surprised mercenary’s lower belly, below his cuirass. Jerking the blade free, he turned and dashed across the path of another horseman. The horse turned aside in surprise, forcing the rider to turn all his attention to staying in the saddle. The distraction was his last, as Quinn leapt up on the beast’s hindquarters and drew his sword across the rider’s throat, slicing all the way to the spine.

            Opening up a long, shallow wound across the withers of the dying man’s horse, Quinn darted for the darkest part of the forest as the beast screamed like a spited whore and began bucking and kicking. The other riders became cautious, allowing him to outdistance them easily. Soon he came to the outskirts of the encampment.

            The mercenary sentry that hailed him didn’t live long enough to regret his lack of vigilance. His uniform fit well enough.

Chapter 68

            Raven ducked under a horse, and sank her dagger into the rider’s upper thigh before slicing open his leg from hip to knee. Then pulling his foot out of the stirrup, she stepped into it and surged up. Her fist took the stunned man in the neck, toppling him out of the saddle. With a wild scream, she kicked the horse into a dead run straight into the dark forest.

            Men and women cursed and yelled behind her. The sound of pursuit quickly followed. She prayed her friends escaped as well. Then prayed she made good her escape when she spotted shadowy movement to her front left.

            Glancing up at the cloud-sheathed heavens, she wondered if the Gods could even hear her prayers. She doubted it possible so deep within Dakar’s domain. The Old One’s were territorial, preferring absolute power over a region to sharing power throughout the world, so had ways to dampening the power of other Gods in Their domain.

            Thus distracted, she was surprised by a low limb that swept her from the saddle. She hit the ground hard, losing the rest of her wind. The sounds of galloping horses were quickly approaching from three directions.

            Scrambling the best she could on all fours, teary-eyed and gasping for breath, she just made it to cover as a dozen horsemen rumbled past. She couldn’t hear anything else over her own labored gasps. But her wind returned about the time two other groups of mercenaries joined the first, and rode off in the direction her stolen horse had gone.

            “I’ll have to leave that little accident out of my tale,” she muttered, glaring at the low limb while gently probing the spot just below her breasts where the limb hit her. Nothing felt broken. “Now what?”

            She looked around. It was all dark, snowy forest. To the south and downhill, she could see thousands of campfires peeking through the forest. She wasn’t sure how far she’d gotten before losing her mount, but figured herself to be near the road to Treversax.

            “Guess I’ll just walk through the camp like I own it,” she said, grinning at the thought of Quinn’s face when she told him what she did.

            A quick inventory showed her down to her last weapon, a throwing dagger in her left boot. For a bare instant intense bitterness threatened over the loss of Tasheba. There would be a reckoning for that slight. So, taking the dagger in hand, she started down the hill and straight for the camp. Sooner than she expected, Raven was faced with a dozen sentries calling for her to declare herself.

            She briefly toyed with the idea of telling the truth, just to see their faces. Bad idea. Not conducive to living out the night. She rejected it, though such bravado was near and dear to her heart.

            “I am a messenger,” she said in her best imitation of a zombie’s monotone. “I have a message for the commander.”

            “You do?” one of them said. He sounded entirely too happy to her mind. That didn’t bode well. “Is it about those three men and two women Sister Arlene wants found?”

            Raven’s heart hammered. They know about us! Shining Gods, they’re waiting for us!

            “Yes,” she said, though her head spun dizzily.

            Tane was in grave danger. As were Quinn and the Vikon couple. She had to do something to save them. But what could she do? She didn’t even know where they were, if any of them escaped alive or were captives.

            “Have they been captured?” he asked.

            He stepped out of the darkness, a dark shape to her right front. How many more were surrounding her? Her throat tightened and she fought a tremble in her hands. There was no way of knowing if he was being honestly inquisitive, or was trying to lure her into a trap. Then more soldiers moved into view, all staring intently at her in the night shadows.

            Ashtar! Give me strength, she silently prayed.

            “I do not know,” she said. “I must go. I must deliver my message.”

            “Oh, yes. Of course,” he said, waving her through.

            Raven tried her best to move as woodenly as the zombies. She walked within two steps of the soldier that questioned her. The hardest part was just breathing, expecting a sword thrust in the back at any second. The men seemed satisfied, if they even noticed her passing. Most of them were busy speculating, even wagering, on what had happened.

            Idiots! she thought, slanting a scornful glance at their backs. The riders didn’t have any zombies with them. And if they did, they were riding.

            Of course, the incident would show her superior intelligence in her tale. How people would laugh at those buffoons! And admire her daring!

            Once she was safely inside the camp, Raven headed toward a dark squad tent to await returning soldiers. The best she could figure, any troops returning with prisoners