The Darkness Before the Dawn - By Ryan Hughes Page 0,90
there, his hands balled into fists and held ready in front of him. Behind him stood four more even younger boys, all in unmistakably aggressive poses. All five wore dark, tight-fitting clothes, making them difficult to see in the dim light.
Jedra hadn’t sensed them at all. Of course not—his psionic danger sense was just as dead as all his other abilities. Suddenly sweating, he backed away slowly, hands held out palms-forward in a gesture of peace, and said, “Sorry. I didn’t know this was your place. I’ll leave.” The boy who had spoken said, “Kemali non vanada.” His tone of voice made it sound like a command, and sure enough, the others spread out to block Jedra’s escape. Jedra had witnessed the same sort of thing before in Urik. He had never had to fight there, though; his danger sense had always warned him in time.
“Look,” he said, his voice wavering, “I don’t want to fight you. I just want to go home.”
The leader of the boys laughed and said, “Delan.” He reached out and tugged on the sleeve of Jedra’s tunic. The other boys laughed with him. One of the boys who had flanked him said, “Marada delor?” and Jedra turned to say, “Sorry, I don’t under—”
The first boy hit him in the left side of the head. Jedra’s teeth clacked together, biting into his cheek and tongue, and his ear rang. “Ow!” he shouted, jumping back to avoid another blow, but one of the boys behind him hit him in the side, and another in the back. He whirled around and struck at them, fear making him swing wildly, but his longer arms let him connect solidly with one’s chest even so.
“Hooda!” the leader shouted, hitting Jedra in the head again. Jedra spun around and punched him in the nose, two quick, almost instinctive jabs, then he whirled around to face whoever else was close. It was nearly impossible to keep all five boys at bay; they danced forward and back, one or two leaning in and striking while he protected himself from another. Blows fell on him nearly constantly, mostly on the sides and back, but a few landed on his head and face.
His elven ancestry did at least give him the advantage of reach. He didn’t know how to fight well, but he was fast, and he could snap a fist in past his attackers’ guard without letting them get close enough to return his punches. And now he was getting mad. Through his rising anger he noted with satisfaction that the leader was at least bleeding from both nostrils, even while he tasted blood flowing freely from his own. This couldn’t last, though. He couldn’t win against five people, even if they were just children.
That realization transformed his anger back into terror. “Help!” he shouted. He looked past the boys to the open grass, but the only person he saw was hurrying away.
His plea brought forth more laughter from the boys. They shouted something, but their words blended together in Jedra’s ringing ears. Another fist from the side hit him in the right eye, and his vision on that side burst into a shower of light. Screaming in pain, Jedra kicked out sideways with his right foot and felt it connect solidly with the stomach of the boy who had hit him. Jedra heard the boy go down. He spun around, punching and kicking to drive the others back, then he leaped through the gap he had just opened in their ring.
Only he hadn’t hurt the boy on the ground as badly as he’d thought. The boy grabbed Jedra’s leg as he jumped over him, and Jedra toppled off balance and fell to the ground. He wrenched his foot free and jumped up to run again, but it was too late. The others had entrapped him again.
And now they were angry. They had just been playing with him before, but he had fought back too well; now the leader reached to his waistband and withdrew from a pocket a dark folding knife, which he snapped open with a practiced flick of his wrist. Jedra heard the snick of four more knives opening. His heart seemed ready to tear itself from his chest. He kicked out frantically at the boy he’d knocked down, trying once again to make an escape, but the boy dodged back, and before Jedra could recover and turn, he felt a sudden burst of searing pain in his left side.