(eng) Pam Brondos - Fourline 03 by The Last Remnant

Author:The Last Remnant [Remnant, The Last]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Cold.

A jolt sent Nat’s shivering body floating into the air, then crashing against a hard, flat surface. She opened her swollen eyes and tried to focus. Pain shot through her head and she groaned. When she swallowed, she tasted blood. She gingerly ran her tongue over her teeth. Two bottom teeth wiggled, and her mouth filled with more blood. She lay still, trying to gather her wits as her head pounded with pain.

Slats of splintered wood and a deer carcass next to her legs came into focus. She felt another jolt and braced herself before her body hit the wood beneath her. Snow tumbled off her shoulder onto her cheek from the impact. She licked the snow into her swollen mouth before lifting her head even higher.

A small man bundled in furs sat atop a winter-coated horse in front of her. Nat’s vision improved, and she realized she was in the bed of a wooden sled. A smooth white blanket of snow spread over a flat expanse of land to her right. She turned her head only to be rewarded with another sharp stab of pain. She swallowed the bile in her mouth and forced herself to look around. The Keyen Mountains were distant streaks of blue and white in the still-cloudy sky. Nat rested her head on her arm, wondering how long she’d been passed out and how far away from the others Mudug’s guards had taken her. An intense pain brought her attention to her bound hands. Someone had torn part of her protective bandage away, and the bristly rope fiber binding her wrists and lower arms stung her still-open wound. Nat gagged when she examined the exposed skin. The once-vibrant tendrils of her vine and spear were barely visible against the grotesquely discolored skin.

She took a deep breath and focused again on her surroundings. A series of structures far in front of the rider caught her attention. She squinted, trying to get a better view. “Whoa,” the rider said, quietly bringing the horse and sled to a slow stop a ways away from the tall spiked fence surrounding a cluster of low buildings. Snow crunched around the sled. Nat turned her head carefully, searching for the source of the noise. A burly man with a dark beard appeared next to the sled and threw a blanket over her.

“She’s awake, but I’ve covered her,” the man said. Nat recognized his voice as that of one of her attackers.

Nat listened through the layers of fabric to the rider’s voice. “Good, that blow of yours could’ve killed her. No good to us if she’s dead, is she, Fergus? I’m surprised it only knocked her out half a day.” He spoke in a nervous pitch.

Nat remained still, her heart thudding as she pondered his words. She knew now she’d been traveling less than a day. Had any of her companions or the duozi rebels seen her abduction? And what about Cal? Nat forgot her own predicament for a moment when she thought of her sister.

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