Target: A YA Fantasy Fairytale Retelling (The Unbroken Tales Book 1) by Darci Cole

Author:Darci Cole [Cole, Darci]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ember Rose Entertainment LLC
Published: 2021-10-11T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

“LEX!”

He shot up from sleep and looked around in the darkness, vision blurry. Robyn’s voice was still above him, but he couldn’t see her.

“Look out!”

He was surrounded by lantern-wielding soldiers; they wore the tunics of knights in training but no armor, and they wore no colors. One of them lifted him by his shirt and threw him to the ground. Damp earth covered his face, and entered his nose and mouth. A kick in the ribs knocked the wind out of his lungs. Then a fist came down on his head and he splayed out on the ground. They laughed.

“He’s out. Take care of the girl.”

No…

Lex rolled onto his side and kicked at one man’s stomach, but the man grabbed his foot and spun him. He crashed into the ground, knocking his breath out again, and he gasped for air. Another man grabbed Lex’s arms and held him up. He hung between two men like a curtain.

“You think you can take all six of us?” the leader of them sneered. Lex made out a tall, strong young man, but didn’t recognize him. “We know who you are. Lord Valio’s promised a high price for your head, your highness.” He drew his sword and set it on Lex’s shoulder. “And we’re happy to take back nothing but your head.”

Lex fought them. He twisted his arms, making the skin raw. He shouted for help, but they shoved a cloth in his mouth to muffle the sound and it made him gag. The men at his sides twisted him until he knelt in the dirt. They pressed his face into a fallen tree trunk. Finally, Lex spat out the cloth and shouted as he struggled. “This is treason! You swore loyalty to the crown, not to Valio! I command you to stop this!”

They weren’t listening. A royal order wouldn’t do any good with no one to enforce it. He saw the man with the sword raise it high. His heart pounded in his chest. He closed his eye, and for an instant remembered the day Robyn had saved his life, and how close to death he thought he’d come at the hands of a bandit.

Thwip.

The man grunted, his sword dropped, clattering against the rocks. He fell to the forest floor.

Thwip.

Lex’s arms were released. The man at his back fell onto him.

Thwip. Thwip. Thwip.

Three more men stiffened and fell, crying out in pain.

The last man looked around at his comrades and backed away, turned, and broke into a run.

“I’m sorry,” Robyn’s voice whispered.

Thwip.

The last man collapsed mid stride. Chills broke out all over Lex’s skin. He stood, shoving the motionless body off of him.

Dead.

They were all dead. The first two by arrows to their throats, just as Robyn had described earlier. Three lay on the ground, whimpering, not quite dead yet, and the last had taken an arrow to his neck. He, too, twisted in the distance, and Lex felt his stomach churn at the sight around him.

Blood.

Blood was leaking from every man.

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