The Thieves of Otar

The Threat

Zia couldn't sleep that night. She tossed and turned in her new bed trying to get comfortable, but sleep never came.

As soon as everyone had settled down about the sun being in their eyes, they had all turned to find what Zia already had, and the King immediately sent the best Royal Guards in his troops to find him, but Zia knew they wouldn't. Daxtor was a sneaky little snake, even if he was fat and heavy. When Arch finally took Zia home, there had been no news of his capture. Zia knew that Daxtor would come after her, and when he found her he would kill her. She just hoped that it would take him a while.

Finally accepting that sleep would not come tonight, Zia threw the blankets off of her and crawled out of bed. She walked as silently as she could on the creaking floor boards to the door and pushed it up before she pulled it open to avoid the bottom of the door scraping loudly against the floor.

She walked silently down the hall and down the stairs, avoiding the bottom one because it squeaked the loudest.

She sat down on the lumpy sofa and laid her head on the arm, hoping to find sleep there. But sleep didn't come. She didn't think she'd ever sleep again. She was too uneasy. She was supposed to be free of Daxtor, but now, even though she wasn't with him anymore, she was still imprisoned by him.

Zia stared into the dying embers of the fire, wishing she could just fade away along with the light. The crickets in the night sang loudly, calming her racing heart.

Suddenly, she heard a grunt from right outside the door. It wasn't a grunt from a horse, but from a human, and it was close. Panic seized her heart and she looked around frantically. As the handle of the door started to jiggle, Zia grabbed the nearest thing to her to use as a weapon and ducked down behind the couch. She peered around the sofa to look at the door. Her hand trembled as the knob moved around some more. She looked down at the thing she had grabbed, and was glad to see the sharp end of the fire poker. If she really did need to fight, at least she'd have a sharp object.

Could it possibly be Arch coming back from a midnight stroll? No, the grunt hadn't sounded like Arch, and Zia would have heard him leave. It definitely wasn't Ike. Zia had learned right away that the reason why Arch and Ike shared a room was because not only was it cold, but Ike didn't like being left alone. It could only be one person.

The door opened to reveal the large silhouette of a fat man in the doorway. He was holding something in his hand, and it caught the light of the dwindling fire. A knife.

Daxtor walked into the house, brandishing the knife in front of him as he closed the door loudly behind him. Zia hoped with all her heart that Arch was having a sleepless night as well.

Zia's heart raced in her chest so loudly she was afraid it might give her away. She breathed as silently as she could and tried to hold very still. She knew that Daxtor's nerves were on edge and that he would pick up on the slightest sound.

"I know you're here, girl," he growled quietly. Zia froze completely, her blood running cold and sweat running down her back as she wished with all her soul that she hadn't given herself away.

"I know you're here," Daxtor repeated. "And when I find you, I'm going to tear your heart out. I'm not even going to kill you before I do. I'm going to tear it out while it's still beating, and the ground will run red with your blood. After everything you've cost me, I'm going to make sure you get your just desserts."

Zia couldn't breath. She knew that if he found her, he would be true to his threat, and she felt faint.

Daxtor made his way further into the house, and the closer he got to the stairs, the harder Zia gripped her fire poker. Whatever happened to her, she would not let Daxtor touch Arch or Ike so long as there was air in her lungs.