Sabit’s lungs fought against the bandit king’s weight, dragging in one more breath. His powerful hands pried her mouth open, despite the desperate fury of her defense. The pressure on her jaw was agony. The tattoos writhed across his skin everywhere Sabit clawed at him, making his touch as unyielding as stone. The blue and black curving lines covered every bit of visible skin.
But not all the bandit king’s skin was visible.
Sabit realized her only chance and seized it at the same moment. Abandoning her fruitless fight against the stony fingers that crushed her face, Sabit swung her long arms upward. At the same instant, both her palms struck the bandit king’s ears.
He howled in pain. The pressure on her jaw lessened.
With her longer reach, Sabit clawed at the bandit king’s eyes. He roared and grabbed her hands, releasing her aching face in the same moment.
Sabit brought her legs up, hooking them under the bandit king’s arms from behind. She pulled him backward with all her might. Sabit’s legs screamed with protest at the weight. Her shoulders pressed hard against the wooden bridge. There was a rushing sound everywhere—either the river or her blood, Sabit could not say.
Slowly at first, and then with sudden speed, the bandit king toppled off of Sabit. The bridge bounced as he landed square on his back.
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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/.