“You will regret this,” the man wailed, fleeing with his loincloth flapping against his legs. “I won’t rest until you choke on your blood.” Jai paid no attention to his threats. After stripping him of almost everything he had, the threat-spewing man proved himself a weakling with a large mouth and nothing more. He had no talent with a knife. If he had any skill, it wouldn’t matter that his foe wielded a spear. A knowledgeable combatant knew how to overcome his weaknesses and slay those believed to have the advantage. Jai had knocked the blade away at the first stroke. A simple and unfulfilling fight. Still, Jai hadn’t let his foe leave without a parting gift. Before being robbed of his clothes, the man tried running. With a quick jab of the spear, a deep wound burst in his left thigh. Perhaps he would receive treatment for his injury before bleeding out. It didn’t matter to Jai one way or another.

  As the man’s empty threats grew farther away, Eislyn sighed, “Justice is served. The dead can rest in peace.”

  Jai bit his lip, hating to admit the truth, but he had no choice. “He’s not the one we’re after.”

  His words fell on deaf ears. Eislyn turned her attention to the rescued woman. “Breathe easy,” she said. “You’re safe now. He won’t hurt you anymore.” As Jai looked her over, he believed that calling her a woman was being generous. It looked like she was a few years away from reaching her coming-of-age.

  The young woman hadn’t moved from her place by the fire. Though Eislyn stood in front of her, the girl gazed past her. Jai didn’t have to check where she was looking; he had seen enough rescued women to know. When a woman was freed from a terrible situation, they either wept with relief or fell into denial. This one was in the second category. Jai couldn’t blame her. Looking at her face, he couldn’t imagine what the cowardly man made her endure.

  When she didn’t speak, Eislyn sat beside her. Reaching up, his companion stroked her hair. “You have such pretty hair,” she said in a soothing tone as her fingers waded through the mass of tangled hair. “I bet your mother had beautiful hair too.”

  At this, the girl gave the faintest nod. A warm smile broke out on Eislyn’s face. Jai couldn’t help sharing the grin. This was where Eislyn’s talents shined. He wasn’t skilled at dealing with others. Perhaps it was the price of having the ability to kill without hesitation. On the other hand, Eislyn was able to offer comfort to those drowning in despair. Sitting by himself, he watched as his companion coaxed the woman outside the walls inside her soul.

  In time, they learned everything about the young woman. Her name was Miriam. She loved playing her lute to entertain the village children. When she was ten, she kissed Benjamin when they ran after a rabbit. She hoped to become engaged to him one day. However, she feared that he wouldn’t want anything to do with her after this ordeal. She feared he might doubt her word and believe that her captor defiled her. “N-no one wants a woman r-robbed of her purity,” she stammered in a pitiful whisper.

  “Don’t worry about that,” Eislyn assured her. “If a man loves a woman, there is nothing that will keep him away. Believe me, the moment he sees you, he’ll sweep you up in his strong arms and plant a big kiss across your lips.” She shot a coy look at Jai, one that made him flush. “Besides, you need to look on the bright side of this situation. That coward can’t hurt you anymore. After what Jai did, he’ll never bother anyone again.” Jai shot her a doubtful look in return. There was no way of knowing that. They met men worse than Miriam’s captor. As long as the thigh wound was fresh, his kind would leave women alone. Despite his savage demeanor, it was all an act, one a weakened body couldn’t support if his choices led to a physical altercation. Even the most feeble, obedient woman would exploit the wound and free herself from his tyranny.

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  Looking at the sun, Jai knew that it was high time they took the free woman back to her home. “Get her up,” he said, in a tone harsher than he intended. Eislyn’s piercing eyes stabbed into his heart. With a cough, he mustered up a gentler voice. “The sooner we get her home, the better.” Now that their latest task was completed, they needed to move on. Since the poor girl couldn’t be expected to go home on her own, she’d require an escort. Though it was an expected detour, it was a tiresome detour all the same.

  Turning back to their charge, Eislyn agreed, “He’s right. Once you’re home, all of this will be a faint nightmare.”

  A dark shadow fell on Miriam’s face. “No, it won’t,” she retorted in a strained whisper.

  “Of course it will,” Eislyn answered, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Since you’ve seen how pathetic that cur was, you can live free of his torture.”

  Tears rolled down the girl’s face. Her eyes darted from Eislyn to Jai. “How can I be free when the monster who kidnapped me never paid for his crime?”

  Eislyn argued that her tormentor was defeated, but Jai remained silent. He thought over the facts as he knew them. One man attacked the village, kidnapping one woman. Bandits, slavers, and raiders never travelled alone. Too many risks were at play for one man to settle on his own. He was bold enough to storm into a village without any thought of self-preservation. How could the same man put up so little a fight when confronted by two strangers? Why would he give up his prize so quickly?

  “Eislyn,” he interrupted. His companion stopped, raising an eyebrow in his direction. “Our true target is at large.” Before she could argue with him, he explained, “Think about it. He killed a woman with a blow to the head. It was a brutal, yet swift kill. That rat lacked a killer’s instinct.” Turning his attention to Miriam, he asked, “The real culprit sold you so any pursuers would find you while he escaped, right?”

  Some people struggled to say the truth. The words got caught in their throat. There were facts too difficult to say. It was as if they kept the words inside that they wouldn’t be as real. They wanted to ignore reality, but they couldn’t. The truth stabs deep in their hearts, tormenting them for hiding what they knew to be real. Still, it was impossible for them to face life’s horrors on their own. They needed to hear someone else say it first.

  She nodded.

  “Argh,” Eislyn groaned, grabbing her hair. “I can’t believe this. We were so close to completing a mission for once, just for our enemy to slip out of our grasp.” Sighing, she laid on her back. “Guess we came all this way for nothing.”

  “It wasn’t a complete waste,” he corrected her, hoping to seize the bright side of their situation. “Miriam’s safe. That counts for something.”

  Eislyn said nothing for a time, but in time, a smile crossed her lips. “I hate it when you’re right.” With her short fit over, she rose to her feet, “Come along, Miriam. We have a lot of ground to cover.”

  “What are you going to do about him?” she asked.

  Exchanging a look, neither Jai nor Eislyn knew how to respond. Whoever the attacker was, he was long gone. He took precautions to avoid capture. If the truth was revealed, it would break Miriam’s heart. The man would likely do the same thing again. Men with monstrous hearts never ceased reveling in their wickedness. It was anyone’s guess when he would strike next. Harder to predict was if anyone would stop him.

  “Oh, don’t worry your pretty little head about him,” Eislyn said in her most reassuring voice. “You have a family to go home to. Let the gods sort him out.” She reached out to take the girl’s hand to lead her homeward.

  Jerking away, Miriam rose to her feet, a strong resolve appearing. Now that reality stared down at her, she refused to turn away. Despite her small, battered form, an overwhelming rage poured from her soul. Her eyes cried for blood. “No,” she spat, tears spilling down her face. “I want to see that man dead. You can either help me or get out of the way.”