\u201cThis cost us time,\u201d Davik said. \u201cWe need to get moving \u2013 but where?\u201d<\/p>\n
Taren whirled toward one of the captives, seizing his jaw. \u201cYou. Where has your master gone? If there’s an answer in you, we’ll get it one way or another.\u201d<\/p>\n
The man had just seen his fellows subdued in the space of half a minute, and sported quite a few bruises himself; he was utterly terrified. But he shook his head against Taren’s fingers. \u201cN-no! I won’t…\u201d<\/p>\n
Davik sighed. \u201cHe gets credit for loyalty, at least,\u201d he observed, tugging off his gloves and tucking them into his belt.<\/p>\n
\u201cLoyalty to a warlock,\u201d Taren snarled. \u201cWe don’t have time for this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before anyone else could react, she had her hands against the captive’s head on either side, her gaze boring into her eyes.<\/p>\n
The man cried out as the force of her power came to bear on him, then that cry was just as swiftly cut off. His body strained upward against his bonds, arched and trembling, his fingers curling like claws, eyes wide, unable to look away from hers no matter how much he willed them to.<\/p>\n
Moments slipped by. Davik was impressed in spite of himself. To have lasted any length of time at all against Taren’s interrogation, the man must have had a strong will. To last this long was a rare thing indeed.<\/p>\n
Not that it would matter in the end. They hadn’t met anyone yet who could long endure the force of Taren’s mind. Resisting it would only leave the man broken that much worse in the end.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mill,\u201d Taren declared suddenly, letting go and turning away from her captive. The man sank back with little more than a sigh, crumpling into an unconscious heap. As long as he’d held out, it was more than likely he’d never rise again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mill?\u201d Davik repeated. \u201cWhat could he possibly want with the mill?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes it matter?\u201d she shot back. \u201cHe’s an outlaw and a warlock. We’re going to put him down by any means necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI suppose I can’t argue with that,\u201d he admitted, and gestured toward the other captives. \u201cWhat about them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don’t have time to fuss about,\u201d she growled. \u201cThey chose to follow him…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is<\/em> their liege-sworn lord,\u201d Davik pointed out.<\/p>\n \u201cHe’s also a warlock and an enemy of the Crown,\u201d she shot back. \u201cTo which everyone in this land also<\/em> took oath. Now come on, let’s get moving.\u201d She stomped toward the horses. \u201cLeave them for the wolves.\u201d<\/p>\n Someone in the group whimpered at that, but Taren merely slowing her stride slightly was enough to silence it. There were no further reactions.<\/p>\n Davik swung up into his saddle, giving one last look over the wake of the fighting. Then he shook the reins, bent down over the mare’s back, and followed Taren to the east.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Two agents of the Crown hurry to track their quarry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[84],"class_list":["post-358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-one-shot","tag-flash"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}