Confessor: Chainfire Trilogy Part 3

Before Jennsen could crawl in close and whisper instructions to Laurie, the young woman abruptly started crawling forward. Apparently, she'd decided that it might be her husband down in the tomb. Jennsen lunged, snatching at the young woman's ankle, but it was out of reach.

"Laurie!" Jennsen whispered. "Stop!"

Laurie ignored the command, instead skittering off through the dry grass. Jennsen immediately crawled after her, wending her way among ancient grave markers scattered about on the uneven ground. The dry grass made far too much noise for Jennsen's liking. Laurie wasn't being especially careful, or quiet. Jennsen had been schooled in evasion and escape by her mother. Laurie didn't know much about such things.

Some distance ahead in the darkness, Laurie gasped in fright.

Jennsen lifted her head just enough to try to see if anyone was nearby, but in the darkness it was hard to see much of anything. For all Jennsen knew there could be a dozen men spread out around them. If they remained still it would be difficult, if not impossible, to see them.

Laurie suddenly rose up on her knees as she let out a wail of horror that sent a ripple of goose bumps up the nape of Jennsen's neck. The scream shattered the quiet of the night. The mockingbirds fell silent.

In the dead of night, such a scream would carry great distances. No longer having to worry about giving herself away, Jennsen scrambled to her feet and raced to cover the remaining distance to the woman. Overcome with abject misery, Laurie held her hair in her fists as she threw her head back and cried in desolation.

The body of a man lay sprawled in the grass before her. Even though it was too dark for Jennsen to make out the face, it was only too obvious who it had to be.

Jennsen pulled the silver-handled knife from the sheath at her waist.

Just as she did so, the dark shape of a big man, sword in hand, loomed up out of the darkness. He had probably been the one who had killed Laurie's husband. After that he'd likely crouched somewhere nearby to be on watch for anyone else who might approach the open tomb.

Just as Jennsen reached Laurie, but before she could knock the young woman out of harm's way, the man swung the sword. The dark blur of the blade slashed across Laurie's throat, nearly decapitating her. Splatters of warm blood splashed across the side of Jennsen's face.

Her horror was instantly banished by a flash of anger. She might have expected dread, fear, or even panic, but it was a rush of hot rage that erupted through her. It was an anger first ignited by others who had so long ago come out of nowhere and brutally murdered her mother.

Before the sword had even finished the murderous slash, Jennsen was already leaping toward the man.

She leaped out of the darkness, hitting him square in the chest with her knife. Before he could even flinch back in surprise, she pulled the knife back and, gripping it tightly in her fist, stabbed it into his neck three times in rapid succession. Atop him, she rode him to the ground, still furiously stabbing him. Only when his breath gurgled to a halt did she stop.

In the sudden stillness, she panted, catching her breath. She struggled to not allow herself to become paralyzed by the shock of what had just happened. If there was one guard, there would likely be others. She knew for certain that there was someone down in the tomb. She had to get away from the place where Laurie had screamed.

Jennsen told herself to move. Moving was her best defense, now. Moving was life.

Crouching low, she started slipping away to the side, the whole time keeping an eye on the shaft of light rising up from the tomb, watching for anyone who might emerge to investigate the noise and discover the bodies.

A second man seemed suddenly to materialize out of the black night, rising up out of the grass right in front of her.

Jennsen flipped the knife in her hand, getting a fighting grip on it, rather than the stabbing grip she'd had when she'd taken the other man down. Her heart pounded wildly as she looked around for other threats.

She ignored the man's command to stop and instead quickly feinted left. As he lunged in that direction, grabbing for her, Jennsen instead rolled to the right.

Another man appeared out of the darkness, responding to the yells of the first man, blocking any escape to that side. The light coming from the tomb glinted softly off links of the chain mail covering the man's broad chest and the axe gripped in a meaty fist. Long greasy strings of hair hung down over his shoulders.

She reminded herself to remember his chain mail in case she had to fight him off. Her knife would be largely ineffective against such armor. She would need to find vulnerable spots. She realized that she had been lucky that the man she'd fought, the man who had killed Laurie, hadn't been wearing chain mail.