Below the Peak (Sola)(20)
“Ugh!” a growl left her lips and struggled to pull out her braid under the heavy soldier’s bloody metal greave, who of now was sprawled down flat on his front crippled from the deep cut she had inflicted on him. Her ears caught the female battle cry of the soldier forwarding at her while she struggled to untangle her hair to free herself. With one arm tugging her braid, Nara stretched her left arm and picked up a discarded shield smeared with a mixture of grass, blood, and dirt. She lifted the shield over her head a second sooner before the Kalil soldier hammered down against her with a grisly mace. The solid metal shield resonated and vibrated in her hands with force. Nara clenched her fingers tighter on the handle of the shield. She stretched her legs to cut the Kalil soldier’s balance off and buy few seconds to free herself. The Kalil soldier smoothly jumped over her legs to the opposite direction and aimed the menacing mace for her face the moment she found her footing.
Foolish! Nara scolded herself for thinking too little of the Kalil warrior’s briskness. Reflexively, she rolled over to the opposite side and avoided the mace’s sharp silver iron teeth. The mace hit the Kalil warrior’s legs causing the fallen soldier to spasm violently and shriek in agony.
Nara’s heart galloped in fear for a long second. For a moment, she was afraid of being smashed with the unsavoury weapon. On the other hand, beyond furious, the Kalil woman threw her helmet aside together with her weapon, her sweaty hair falling on her menacing expression that resembled the discarded mace. She pushed her fellow fallen soldier aside unaware she just freed her target. She grabbed Nara by the neck, while her strong fingers squeezed her throat. The Kali female pinned her down with her body. Before Nara could blink the pain away jabbing her scalp, a heavy fist landed on her jaw. Her head tilted back with a jerk.
The Kalil warrior didn’t give her time to recover and landed the second punch.
A bright red flushed her face, pain lancing through her skull.
With both hands, Nara grabbed tight onto the wrists of the Kalil warrior and struggled to tug free the crushing fingers which closed inflexible around her throat.
Her breath thinned.
Third blow!
Black, red ringed spots swam in her eyes, causing a trail of blood to trickle from a cut right on her cheekbone. Hissing, Nara tugged harder. The taste of copper filled her mouth the moment she jerked free the warrior’s firm grip. Her skull rang violently, her throat worked and swallowed some of the blood flooding her mouth. She needed to get her off her. Not an easy task. Nara grunted.
The Kalil woman was all mean muscle, her body built for the battle which only made her sturdy and exasperatingly strong. Nara grimaced as she thrust her pelvis upward with force and dislodged the soldier impaling her thighs as she was about to throw her next fist, and without wasting a second, she wrapped her legs around the Kalil soldier’s neck tightly and thrust herself up and choked her.
The fierce warrior thrashed and tried to kick her while she drew at Nara’s feet desperately as blood rushed to her skull, eyes bulging, and veins popping and swelling on her forehead. The burning in her lungs increased with the loss of air while the two strong crossed legs threatened to crush her throat.
Not a chance, Nara smirked cruelly at her and without hesitation, she twisted her ankles inwards, one across the other with all the strength from her powerful legs.
Snap!
Nara watched coldly as the light in the warrior’s eyes faded, and the pain filled expression turned slack while she fell backwards to the ground lifeless. Nara rolled her jaw and winced. A fit of a dry cough shook her shoulder and spat some blood. Her head hurt badly, and her throat was beyond sore like she just swallowed a bag of sand. Black strands of hair plastered to her forehead, her body ached yet Nara managed to crawl on her knees to the two short swords which she left beside the fallen helmet of the crippled soldier when she had let go and picked up the shield. She heard the fallen warrior’s faint breath as it wheezed in and out. Sliding one of the swords on the scabbard tied around her waist, Nara plunged the other on the man’s neck to end his misery. Blood spluttered on the cerulean breastplate she wore and on her chin. Eyes cold as winter, Nara felt no remorse for killing the two warriors. She still needed to come to terms with their betrayal to feel anything else besides shock and the burning gnawing her stomach. The burning sensation made her limbs weak, it was excruciating than the fists from the Kalil soldier. There were two things she could not tolerate. One, an ache from eating something that did not agree with her tummy and two, being in her days of the month. It was something she would never get used to no matter how many times throughout the years she experienced it. Cuts, fists or any other form of torment she could endure but not this, this was not among them. A sudden need to sleep next to the dead body beside her so she could catch her breath crossed her mind.
I’m starting to lose it. Nara ground her teeth and staggered on her feet. Her gaze drifted to another Kalil man who was engaging in a sword fight with one of Murisa warrior. He had his back toward her and oblivious to his surroundings with his attention fully committed to his opponent. Sure, there wasn’t anything she could do about her stomach now, but lending her hand she could. A hot spark glinted in her eyes. Nara wiped the blood off her chin with the back of her hand and clutched the crimson smeared sword firmly in her hands. In light and almost soundless measured footsteps, she approached the man from behind.
***
She stood under a worn down roof of a house that had survived from being reduced to ashes and rubbles. Nara watched a young lad in a dirty pale brown tunic, and black hose holds on to his mother’s worn skirt as she carried water in a wooden bucket to several handfuls of men rebuilding one of the houses that were burnt by the Kalil warriors. Above, the sun’s orange and red hues painted the beautiful sky and fell over the surrounding trees. A big contrast to the hollowness of the town.