CHAPTER 25
Just the fact that they were taking her somewhere was all Danni needed to know. No one had bothered her after that guy left but, when he came back, she knew exactly why. He had brought the entire crew with him this time, along with several others who had obviously not been there before. Even if Danni had not seen faces, the first time around, she could tell the new guys because they were wearing those sir coats like the ones from the castle place. They were also armed with swords and crossbows and a few other items that Danni did not even care to guess at.
Danni was too scared to run when they took her off the table. It would have made no difference if she could because there were too many hands holding her. Some old guy in a sack cloth began chanting and sprinkling water on her. A couple of old ladies began pulling a red dress down over her. As they straightened it out on her, the world began to blur as tears rolled down her cheeks. She finally started pleading as someone began tying her hands behind her back. “No, please...”
When most of the others finished their work, the man, the one who had seemed rational, stepped up to Danni and put his hand on her hair. He tried to sound comforting even if he was just as sorrowful, “don't fear girl. For what we are about to do, we are truly sorry.”
Danni collapsed at the knees but, she did not fall. She cried, “what are you going to do? Please don't hurt me.” It was almost like the man had been close to her for as long as he could tolerate it. Danni almost thought that she was making him feel the pain and it angered her. She lashed out and, this time, she fought with them as they drug her from this log building. Danni just kept yelling “you son of a bitch! I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill all of you!” Danni only stopped screaming when the entire party stopped moving. She did not stop fighting until she saw why.
Amy was standing right in front of them. When the man told her to move, Amy asked in a determined way, “you're Howler, right?”
Danni screamed, “Amy! Run!”
“Move her out of the way,” Howler told the men who were armed. Amy took a deep breath and held her ground. She also raised her pistol. The guards stopped but they also raised their weapons. Howler then told Amy and sounded as rational as ever, “you can't help her. You don't have enough bullets to stop all of us. You might kill some of us but, in the end, we'll get you and she'll still die. I don't need any more deaths on my conscience so, do us all a favor and go.”
Amy pointed her pistol at Danni and said, “you need this and I know why. You people shouldn't run your mouths so much. You can't make your statement without your little sacrifice.”
Now Danni stopped crying, her eyes got big as she looked at the pistol pointing in her direction. Then she yelled out, “Amy! Are you fucking insane!”
“Shut up Danni,” Amy snarled back, “they want to burn you alive.”
Howler told Amy, “you won't shoot her. She's your friend.”
“Burn me uh...” Danni gulped and then volunteered, “I kissed her boyfriend, twice even!”
Amy took another deep breath and noted the guards who were now coming out of the shadows of the rapidly fading light. She almost could not say it but, it was the only plan she had left. She told Howler point blank, “you let her go. I put this gun down, and you can take me instead. Any way this goes, you're not killing her. We ether both die, right here, for nobody to see, or you can have me. That's the only choice I'm leaving you.”
Howler thought about it. He rubbed at his chin, he looked between the two girls, and then he finally said in his cool and collective measure, “let her go.”
“I want to see her go,” Amy demanded as they began dragging away a screaming Danni.
Now Howler did get slightly angered as he yelled back to his own men, “I said let her go!” This time they actually did it. Danni would not move so Howler walked up to her and said, “I think you had best run miss. Leave this camp and don't come back.” Danni looked at Amy and felt the tears coming again. She could not speak.
Amy licked her at her lips, almost habitually, then she gritted her teeth as she began to shake. As a tear fell from her eye, she told Danni, “I love you. I'm sorry.”
Howler pushed Danni this time and, almost in a blind panic she began running, stumbling, and fighting her way through a maze of huts and cheap log buildings. There did not seem to be anyone around now. Danni figured they were all close by because she could hear a roaring crowd. She actually tried to look in that direction, tripped, and fell flat on her face. Getting up would not be so easy with her hands still tied. Then there was the other problem and it was worse. Danni had lost any will to go on. She burst out crying and stayed on the ground.
Danni was not even sure she cared about anything any more. She just felt numb. She did not even fight when someone picked her up. It almost felt like it was a dream that was rapidly turning into a nightmare because, she heard Jeff, the guy that called himself Saragon, tell her in the dark, “we're not through with you.”
The guy that was holding Danni, from behind, let go and fell. Danni almost went with him but, someone gripped her around the waist and then reached out for Jeff. Fingers went up his nostrils, pulled his head back, and as he tried to scream, Jake told him, “now kid. I need you lead me to a couple magic items from the players handbook.” He then asked Danni, “can you stand? Are you all right?”
“Yeah,” Danni did not sound to sure of herself but, her legs held when Jake let her down. She wasted no time telling him, “they're gonna...”
“I know,” he replied, “already got the brochure. Hold your hands out a little further cause I don't want to loose my grip on mister Dungeons and Dragons here.”
“Wha...” Danni felt her wrists free of the rope and she almost jumped away as she began rubbing at her wrists and going on in a panicked babble. Then she realized Jake had cut her loose and she asked for the knife. Danni's stated reason was, “cause I'm going to cut his balls off!”
Jake disagreed, “we can do that later. Now we got to go rescue our red headed damsel.”
Danni noted the weapons he had slung and wondered where the hell he had gotten them. Jake saw her eyes and said, “you can take one, the shotgun would be best but, it's not enough.”
As Jake forced his prisoner to his knees, Danni took the weapon and made sure a round was racked in the chamber. “I feel better.” It was now almost completely dark and that lit up their target rather well. A light was coming from the same location as the cheering, “oh god I hope we're not too late.”
“Unfortunately,” Jake told her, “we don't have enough ammunition to take on this entire place.”
Danni stomped her foot, “so what do we do? Jake, Amy just saved my life and I am not leaving her.”
“We got to do this the hard way,” Jake told the girl before he showed his knife to the boy on the ground. “See this kid? I need a bigger one and you're going to show it to me.”
Jeff did his best to reply but found it difficult with his nose touching his eyeballs. Danni thought it was amusing and even commented on it but, right now, Jake was a little pressed for time. He eased up on the grip and even took some weight off the knee in the boys spine. One word did get out before he started screaming for help, “Colosseum!” Jake could not have the noise, even if he doubted that it was going to be heard over the nearby crowd.
When the kid stopped kicking and screaming, Danni gasped. She then looked at the other body lying there and wondered, “did you, um, you know, kill them?”
Jake got to his feet and grabbed a couple of display mugs from the stand they were next to. He figured they were easier to move than a couple of bodies and he put them in the hands of the Jeff and his friend. He also noticed Danni's squeamishness so he mentioned, “I don't get it. These guys tried to kill you.”
As if to answer the girls question, Jeff started moaning and lifted his head a little as he did. Without looking away from Danni, Jake kicked him in the side of the head and the moaning stopped. Then he said, “guess that answers your question.”
“So,” Danni was still squeamish, “they wake up with a headache or something?”
Jake shrugged, thought it over, and then replied in a way that made Danni wonder exactly how serious he was, “probably a few months in traction, dislocated shoulder, a few cracks here and there, maybe a little permanent brain damage.”
Now it was Danni's turn to think it over and then she shrugged, “yeah, I guess that's ok.” Danni got a couple of her own kicks in before she followed Jake who was rapidly heading for the roaring crowd.
Days as a Schizophrenic (Poem)
Decant
It's Hurting Again
