Bunduki (Bunduki Series Book One) (22 page)

Having been told that his party were
returning, Dryaka strode majestically from his quarters. He had
removed his breastplate and his helmet, exposing short-cropped
black hair that was turning grey at the temples. He wore the usual
white tunic, but with an illustration of a rearing quagga
emblazoned on its chest. Halting just outside the pavilion, he
gazed at Dawn with every evidence of satisfaction. Then he threw a
glance across to the Protectress’s temporary dwelling. Even as he
noted that she had not come to the entrance, a thought struck him.
His head swiveled back to the riders, going from one to another.
His expression of triumph faded as he failed to see Dawn’s bow and
arrows.

‘
We’ve
brought the foreign bitch as you told us, Lord Dryaka,’ Elidor
announced, but she was puzzled and uneasy at the evidence of the
High Priest’s displeasure.

Before any more could be said the four
members of the Council of Elders, who were on the hunt, emerged in
pairs from their respective tents. Tall, bulky men with shoulder
long white hair, they had on white toga-like garments that carried
the rampant quagga insignia.

‘
So this is
the foreign woman, Dryaka,’ said Hulkona, the senior Elder. He
nodded his approval. ‘She will make a worthy sacrifice for the
Quagga God
.’

‘
Where are Sabart and the
others?’ asked one of the second pair who was related to Charole
and was hardly able to conceal his resentment that the High
Priest’s party had brought in the prisoner.

‘
Aren’t they
back yet?’ Mador inquired, with such sincerity that he might have
been speaking the truth. ‘We separated when we lost her tracks.
After we’d caught her, we called, but they didn’t come and join
us
.’

Although Dawn was momentarily
tempted to tell what she suspected, she decided to keep quiet. Her
suspicions
might be of more use later. So she sat without speaking and
awaited developments.

‘
Did you see any more of her
people, Mador?’ the High Priest put in, guessing that there might
be considerably more to the story than had been told.

‘
No, Lord
Dryaka,’ the man replied. ‘Perhaps Chanak has and is following them
to see if he can capture more of them
.’

‘
It’s possible,’ Dryaka
conceded. ‘Bring her inside. I want to question her—if I may, my
lords?’

‘
She’s your
prisoner,’ Hulkona answered, but he noticed that the request for
permission had come almost as an afterthought. ‘Care for her
well,
Lord
Dryaka.’

‘
I will,’ the High Priest
assured the Elder, for he could sense a warning in the last
sentence. ‘Bring her inside.’

Dismounting as the Elders
walked away, Mador and the other man went to the
grar-gatah.
They liberated the
girl’s feet, then Mador removed the thong which had passed from the
link of the hobbles to the saddle horn. Before either man could
make a move to lift her down, Dawn swung her right leg forward and
above her mount’s head. Freeing her left foot from the stirrup, she
jumped to the ground. Remembering how awkward she had acted
previously, Elidor let out a hiss of annoyance.

‘
Where is her knife?’ the
High Priest demanded, having watched Dawn’s actions with interest,
and noticed the empty sheath.

‘
I have it, my
lord,’ Mador answered reluctantly, returning to his
banar-gatah
and opening the
saddlebag in which he had concealed the weapon.

‘
Take her inside, Elidor,’
Dryaka commanded, accepting the knife and finding, as he had
expected, that it was of very high quality. ‘See to your mounts,
Mador.’

Swinging from her
banar-gatah’s
saddle, the woman stalked forward. Catching Dawn
by the left arm, she pulled at it with the intention of forcing the
girl to enter the pavilion. For a moment, Dawn considered taking
advantage of the opportunity to make a reprisal against Elidor.
Prudence dictated against it. While she did not doubt that she
could render Elidor
hors-de-combat,
the men, or some of the women who were hovering
nearby, would quickly subdue her. So she allowed herself to be
guided roughly into the entrance.

Dawn found that she had been hustled
into the main section of the large tent. A padded mat of what
appeared to be silk covered the ground. There were several large
cushions scattered on it and a low, long table was placed parallel
to the rear wall.

Receiving a push in the back, Dawn
staggered forward a few steps and almost fell. She managed to
remain on her feet and came to a halt in the centre of the floor.
Turning angrily, she glared at Elidor. Then her eyes went to
Dryaka. The High Priest had followed them inside and he was
standing examining the Randall knife with obvious
interest.

‘
It’s
very good, isn’t it, my lord?’ Elidor remarked, following in the
direction that Dawn was looking. ‘Their “Suppliers” give them
better weapons than we get.’

‘
Where are her
bow and arrows?
’ Dryaka demanded, lowering the knife to his
side.

‘
Her
bow
—?’ Elidor began and an expression of perturbation came to
her face. Suddenly she remembered the High Priest’s interest in the
arrows which had killed the eagle and Tomlu. She also realized what
had caused Dryaka’s annoyance when they had brought in the captive.
‘She—She must have thrown them away so she could run faster when
she saw us coming.’

An angry snort burst from the
High Priest and, for a moment, he was on the point of striking the
woman. He controlled his inclination with an effort, but his temper
was not made any sweeter by the knowledge that he was partly to
blame for the failure to gain possession of the girl’s bow and
arrows. Because of his desire to avoid letting Charole’s supporters
know how badly he wanted
the weapons, he had not mentioned them when
sending the party to hunt for Dawn. He had hoped that, if his
adherents caught the girl, they would have sufficient sense to
bring all her arms to him.

While Elidor and the two men
were
banar-gatah
riders, they held their ranks by virtue of fighting ability
rather than intelligence. That was one of the reasons why Dryaka
considered Elidor an ideal replacement for Charole, whom he had
helped to attain the position of Protectress of the Quagga God and
who had subsequently proved too strong willed and clever to remain
subservient to his will. Believing that Elidor would be more
amenable and less ambitious, he had no wish to alienate her. So he
decided to transfer his annoyance elsewhere.

‘
Where did you leave your
bow and arrows?’ Dryaka barked swinging his gaze to their
captive.

‘
Let
me
ask her, Lord Dryaka,’ Elidor requested when the girl did
not reply, seeing a way in which she might return to the High
Priest’s favor.

Dryaka looked from the woman to
Dawn, glancing for a moment at her manacled wrists and then raising
his eyes to her face. Finding no fear on the beautiful features, he
said, ‘
You’ll find it less painful to answer me.’

‘
Answer the Lord Dryaka!’
Elidor commanded, and without giving Dawn an opportunity to do so
she glided forward and drew back her left fist, ‘or you’ll get more
of this!’

With that, confident that she had
little to fear from the girl, the woman shot her fist forward in a
straight punch. It did not reach its intended mark, the centre of
Dawn’s face. Having read the other’s intentions from her
expression, the girl was ready to counter them.

Stepping back a short distance
with her right foot and turning it outwards, Dawn crossed her
hobbled wrists and threw them up. While the fetters did not allow
her to separate her hands, the connecting links gave her
enough
play
to form a
karate
X-block. Intercepting Elidor’s advancing arm, she forced it
higher than it was supposed to go. Simultaneously, the girl brought
her left foot around until it was almost touching the woman’s left
sandal. By bending her knees, Dawn lowered her body a little. Then,
freeing her wrists from the block, she snapped around and propelled
her left elbow into Elidor’s midsection.

The woman might have counted herself
fortunate that Dawn could not put her full power into the blow.
Even at reduced force, it arrived hard enough to drive Elidor back
a few steps and make her fold over. However, she did not go down.
Nor was she badly hurt, as was shown by the way she lunged forward
meaning to butt the girl in the chest.

Moving aside, Dawn avoided the attack
and, pivoting, delivered a kick to Elidor’s rump as she went by.
Squawking in fury, the woman stumbled onwards and barely avoided
sprawling on to her face. She retained her equilibrium with an
effort, halted by the table and turned. With her beautiful features
distorted by rage, she sent her right hand flying to the hilt of
her sword.

Hearing the commotion, the two women
who were preparing a meal in the kitchen portion of the pavilion
ran in to investigate. Standing by the entrance, Dryaka waved for
them to keep back. He was watching the fight with interest and
enjoyment, so did not want it brought to an end by their
intervention. He considered that it was a good test for the foreign
girl and would give him an idea of how she might fare against
Charole.

Darting in a curve towards
Elidor, Dawn bounded into the air. Wrapping her legs around the
woman’s head, she allowed herself to hang down. When her shoulders
came into contact with the silk covering of the pavilion’s floor,
she twisted herself away from her opponent. Bowed forward by the
girl’s weight, Elidor turned a half somersault
and alighted on her back with
the sword flying from her hand.

In performing the flying
head-scissors, Dawn had failed to take into consideration that her
hands would not be available to help her break the fall. So, while
the throw was successful, the impact of her meeting with the floor
had been more severe than she anticipated. By the time she had
shaken off its effects, rolled on to her stomach and was starting
to rise, Elidor had already come to her feet.

Ignoring her sword in her eagerness to
retaliate for the punishment she had been taking, Elidor darted
across the floor. While she was clenching her right hand ready to
strike, her left fingers dug into Dawn’s tawny hair and heaved.
Squealing an involuntary protest at the pain being caused to her
scalp, the girl reacted fast. As she was being dragged erect, she
thrust both her fists upwards and into the base of the woman’s
imposing bosom. Although Dawn did not save herself entirely, her
attack reduced the force with which Elidor’s right cross connected
against the side of her jaw. However, the left to her bust was
harder and it was followed by a straight right to the face which
sent her reeling backwards. Blood ran from the corner of her mouth,
but she kept on her feet.

Going after Dawn, Elidor was taking a
warning from her earlier attempts and knew that the other was
anything but the easy meat which she had anticipated. Wanting to
distract the girl from her true purpose, she swung up both hands as
if she was meaning to plunge them into and pull her hair. Having
done so, on coming into range, she whipped forward her right foot
in a kick. To make sure of her aim, she glanced down.

It was a mistake!

Noticing Elidor’s action, Dawn
was not fooled. Taking a stride to the rear with her left foot and
lowering her hips slightly, she drove her manacled wrists in a
downwards swing that knocked the rising leg aside. Returning her
foot to the floor, Elidor lashed a left hook at the girl’s head.
Forming the X-block again, Dawn once more deflected the blow over
her head. Spitting out a curse, Elidor fetched her right fist
around in a hook aimed at the girl’s stomach. Before it could land,
Dawn had interposed her crossed wrists and halted it. Having done
so, the girl twisted and flung her right elbow as hard as she could
into Elidor’s
solar plexus.

Seeing the attack coming, Elidor tried
to jump clear. The elbow landed, but was almost at the end of its
flight. She grunted as it hit, then grabbed hold of Dawns left
wrist with her right hand. Jerking in an attempt to pull the girl
off balance, Elidor struck her in the chest with the other
fist.

Instead of trying to tear herself
free, Dawn fought to hold her equilibrium. Achieving her purpose,
she stepped forward with her left foot so that it pointed towards
the outside of Elidor’s advanced right leg. While she was doing so,
she twisted sharply to her right so that her left elbow was
exerting leverage against the woman’s grasp. Dawn then took a
short, swift step to the right with her right foot. Setting her
weight on that leg, with its knee slightly bent, she leaned away
from Elidor and stamped with her left heel against the others
forward knee. Pain caused Elidor to release her hold and retire a
step. Pivoting before the woman had gone beyond her reach, Dawn
flung a second stamping kick that took her in the pit of the
stomach. It landed with all the driving thrust of the girl’s
gluteus muscles behind it.