Sabit’s hand prickled with tiny jolts of pain where the bronze adze-head had flown from her grasp. Staring at the bandit king in shock, Sabit took note of the deep blue and black tattoo-lines on his neck writhing across his skin like a ball of serpents. “You hide behind your magic, coward!” Sabit spat.
The corners of the bandit king’s mouth dropped from a mocking grin to an angry scowl. “Call me ‘coward’? I’ll rip that tongue from your head, harpy!”
Although her body still trembled with the fatigue of lifting the cart, Sabit raised her hands in a defensive stance—her right hand screaming with every movement.
The bandit king took a menacing step toward her.
Sabit’s fighting instinct, honed by years of battle, had her leg up and kicking without a moment’s thought. Her foot smashed into the smaller man’s gut. Agony shot up her leg as though she had kicked a tree.
The impact sent the spear woman careening backwards. She landed on her back on the springy mahogany planks. The river roared beneath her. The white sunlight and green treetops spun far above. For a moment, Sabit forgot how to move.
Then, the bandit king was upon her.
———
Wayfarings of Sabit: Bandit Queen is copyright (c) 2017 by Michael S. Miller. All rights reserved. New chapters are posted on Monday and Thursday. You can support this and other stories on Patreon, https://patreon.com/michaelsmiller, or at http://ipressgames.com/fiction/.