The eyes of the villagers were wide and bloodshot and devoid of awareness. Their fists and feet struck Dessine and Sabit without the skill and strength of those trained in the ways of battle. But the villagers’ numbers could not be denied as they piled on the two fallen warriors.
Sabit parried and blocked the strikes of the enthralled mob as best she could, seizing any opportunity to knock their legs from beneath them. Dessine slashed with her curved bronze sword, sprays of hot blood surging from the bellies and thighs of her attackers.
With a wild swing, Sabit boxed the ear of a thick-bearded man. He grunted in pain. His eyes came alive again—the red, bloodshot veins draining to show the whites. A thin line of blood trickled from his ear. The man turned and ran, pushing his still-possessed fellows aside in his flight.
With a high-pitched battle cry, the rest of the Pride fell upon the mob. With ropes and nets, they pulled the mass of bodies apart. Sabit struck several more upon the ear, breaking the hold the sorcerer’s spell over them.
Even driven by sorcery, a mass of farm-folk was quick work for the Pride of the Sisterhood of the Lioness. As they restrained the last few stragglers, Sabit looked around frantically for her spear. It had been just out of reach before the fight.
From the village center, the sorcerer let out a high-pitched shriek. Sabit instinctively looked up, but forced her gaze away from the spell-shaper just in time to avoid his piercing eyes.
What she did not see was the still-enthralled boy approach her from behind—Sabit’s spear in his young grip.
The iron spear tip tore into Sabit’s back. For a moment, she convulsed with pain—like a fish raging against the barb that pulls it from the water.
Then, Sabit collapsed to the ground without so much as a scream.
—–
Wayfarings of Sabit: Sisterhood of the Lioness is copyright (c) 2017 by Michael S. Miller. All rights reserved. New chapters post every weekday. You can support this and other stories on Patreon: https://patreon.com/michaelsmiller or http://ipressgames.com/fiction/