My Darkening Ember

Chapter Eight

A boot kicked at mine the next morning. The sun was barely peaking and the fog was slithering everywhere.

"Wake up." Bronson pulled me to my feet by my collar before I could obey. The poor guy behind me moaned from pain as he was forced up as well.

A fourth man with short black hair helped him untie our bonds, separating us.

"What are you gonna do to us?" I knew what they were going to do to me, my concern was for him, the other bounty.

Two hands clasped around my throat and neck, yanking me to the side.

"I told you to shut up, didn't I?" Bronson was unravelling, sneering into my ear. Something inside him desperately wanted to be unleashed and I was triggering that.

"Bronson get your hands off her." Stern and cold. Bronson crumbled like an obedient dog. Even if he was wild, fear had tamed him.

The lean man approached with a cigarette between his thin lips. Taking a drag, he threw it to the ground, stepping on it with the heel of his boot.

"She is a lady after all." He brushed a strand of hair from my face with his skeletal fingers.

"I apologize for his behaviour, he isn't particularly fond of women. So I must warn you not to try anything, or you might provoke his demons."

Chills went down my spine. The others merely laughed. My lips quivered with fear.

Monsters.

The Mile man turned to Bronson giving him a nod.

The black-haired guy took hold of me, dragging me to the horses lined up ahead. I turned back watching Bronson push Blake onto his knees.

I said nothing, as my tears began.

He was bruised all over. His eyebrow was swollen and red. His nose looked like it had been broken multiple times and his lips were cracked and stained with old blood. His hands had folded into prayer.

The man by my side tied my rope to his horse, while the Mile man mounted it at the same time. My terrified eyes were glued back, locked into Blake's. He shook his head and I looked away, but only for a second. Because I was a liar, I had been a liar for a long time. An untrustworthy, heartless liar.

I looked back.

The knife slid from Bronson's belt. Blake had dropped his head, his lips were still mumbling a prayer. One motion. The blood gushed out. Blake choked immediately, holding his hands to his throat. The blood fell from his mouth and throat, staining his shirt. Those bruised eyes were as wide as they could as he fell onto his back. Bronson holstered his weapon and stepped over him.

The Mile man clinked his boots and the horse was trotting.

I was sobbing, the salty tears ran down my face like a stream. I watched him through the blur of them. Dying slowly, looking up at the sky, hoping no doubt that the gods would forgive him for whatever he had done.

We moved and his body disappeared behind the rocks.

I sobbed until I felt I would choke on my gasps. Nobody spoke as they rode in an almost perfect line, with the Mile man last. I was bound to his horse just like the day I saw Blake from the cliffs. He was dead now. Left to rot in the scorching sun. Just another body, amongst many.

There was no escaping from them, not with the violence they would inflict on me if I failed. Bronson would beat me within an inch of my life and the Mile man would no doubt let him.

I tried to keep the pace they set, but my feet were aching and I felt dizzy. The image of Blake's lifeless body was burned into my mind for what felt like hours. The foxes would find him before nightfall. They never showed themselves to the living man, but to the dead, they would visit. I shook at the image of his rotting eaten body. Barbaric. No grave. No dignity. It was naive to expect them to have the courtesy to give him any of that. I was surrounded by bloodthirsty beasts.