Elza stumbled forward at the side of Hess as he shouted at her. “Faster!” He looked over his shoulder every few steps to judge their lead over their pursuers. Elza's rasping breath didn't provide enough air for her to object. Hess ran easily, carrying both their packs and looking like he was just hitting his stride.
The hunters behind them howled like animals. They were animals. They decorated their territory with hideous displays made from human corpses as warnings to intruders. Unfortunately, once you trespassed, leaving the area as quickly as possible wasn't enough. Hunters had found their trail.
It was only twenty days since they left the tribe of Kallig. Twenty long days filled with heated arguments and cold silences. The only thing they could agree on was the fact that the two of them would never agree on anything.
The exertion was too much for her. Elza's vision began to dim and she staggered to a halt. Did he bring me here on purpose to be rid of me? I shouldn't have told him he deserved to be unmade by the Creator. Sight returned to normal and Elza saw Hess by her side still. “I can't run anymore,” she panted. “If I stay still after they kill me, it might trick them.”
“When they cut you into pieces for one of their displays, they'll notice that your body parts vanish and come back together.” Hess looked around as he spoke. “I want you to go deep into that thicket, lay down, and try to make your breathing sound less like a bear's.”
Elza stared at him. “You're leaving me?”
“Worse, according to you. Now go.” Hess ran to the crest of a hill as she tripped through the dense undergrowth in the direction he had pointed.
Their pursuers appeared before she could hide herself. Three charged after Hess while two turned in her direction. Elza mentally prepared herself for what would come. She had been killed once for trespassing. It wasn't one of her more cherished experiences, but she hadn't had nightmares about the incident in close to a century.
The fastest of their pursuers let out a whoop as he closed on Hess, who faced the charge with stoic resolve. I wish I'd let Hess take his spear when we left his tribe. Hess spread his arms and the hunter drove the spear home.
Quick as a flash of lightning, Hess seized the spear with one hand and pulled it further into his body, at the same time bringing his other fist up to the opposite shoulder and then viciously chopping the throat of his attacker. That man stumbled back holding his neck.
The second hunter closed on him. Hess pulled the spear free of his body. With casual elegance, Hess twisted to the side and used the body of the spear in his hands to deflect that of his enemy, then drove his own spear home. A second man fell to the ground.
Once more weaponless, Hess charged the third hunter, dodging a thrown spear. When Hess hit the man, he did so in a low dive, forcing his target's knees to bend in an unnatural direction. Both of them disappeared from view as they rolled upon the ground.
Hess rose and staggered into an unsteady sprint towards where Elza watched, holding his bleeding abdomen closed with his hands. One of the two hunters pursuing her sprinted away, fleeing into the forest. The second crashed through the dense foliage of the thicket, struggling to reach her. Elza tried to judge the speed and position of the two men. Hess was moving faster, but she didn't think he could close the distance in time.
The hunter reached her first. He seized Elza by the hair and rested the point of his spear beneath her jaw. When Hess reached them, the hunter spoke. “Stop or I will kill your woman!”
“That would make me very angry,” Hess said. “I would have to kill your entire tribe. But if you release my woman, I will let you go.”
The point of the hunter's spear drew blood as the man trembled. “Are you an evil spirit?”
“Yes,” Hess whispered. “I am the body of a man killed by your tribe. You should not keep us above the ground where we can wake up. We get angry, sometimes.”
The hunter threw Elza to the ground and fled in the opposite direction, hindered by the thick vegetation. Hess pulled Elza to her feet.
“We need to leave,” he said. “We’ll walk until my bleeding stops, then run again.”