Abigail Fredrickson

Ara

A scream tears through the air outside, followed by running feet.  I sit bolt upright in bed.  Sarim is already standing, eyes narrowed.  “What’s happening out there?” I get to my feet, just as I hear little feet pattering across the floors.  The door opens, revealing a pair of amber eyes shining in the dark.

“Mamá, Papá, what’s going on?” she asks with a frown.

“Samurai…” my husband growls.  “They’re raiding the village.”  He moves out of the room.

“Raiding the…” I follow him.  “Why?”

“I don’t know.”

There’s a resounding crash that shakes the house, and several samurai barge inside.  Sarim gestures to Sheranee subtly.  Then he approaches the group of samurai, towering over them.

“Mamá?” my daughter stares at the samurai from around the corner, “Who are they?”

I pull her back out of sight and crouch to be at her eye level.  Brushing her auburn hair behind her ear, I make her look at me, “Those men are bad.  You have to stay back here, mi pequeña tigresa, alright?”

She stares at me with those perfectly amber eyes she inherited from her father and is silent.  I wait until she steps back to turn and watch the samurai and Sarim.

“You have no right to search this home, or raid our village,” he growls.

“We do what we do on direct orders from Saber Demien himself,” one retorts.  “Every boy from five to seven-“

“I am the only male in this household,” Sarim snaps.

“Step aside.”

“I will not allo-” my husband breaks off with a roar of pain, a blade sinking into his side.  The samurai pulls it right back out, allowing the wound to gush out blood.

“Sarim!” I jump out, smoothly disarming a samurai who had tried to run past.  My husband straightens and throws two outside, then turns to deal with the others.

“Search the house!” the leader barks, dodging a crushing blow from Sarim’s fist.  I catch two of the samurai who rush to obey and crash their heads together.  A knife slashes through the air; I lean back just enough to avoid it, turning and kicking in the same movement.  My foot connects with the samurai’s stomach, making him stumble back.

Sarim hisses sharply behind me.  I turn in time to see him stumble and collapse in a heap on the ground, a knife stuck in his shoulder.  In the same moment, I feel something pierce my skin, slashing my upper arm.  I gasp, pulling away and grasping my arm.

I hear Sheranee yell and charge out, leaping and pushing the samurai away from me.  She rolls away and looks up.  I duck under a sword, “No, Sheranee, get back-“

“Papá!” she scrambles to her feet and flies at the samurai leader, knocking the sword away from Sarim and using all her weight and strength to push the soldier away.

I see the eyes glint too late.  “Sheranee, run!”

The samurai grabs her arm roughly and lifts her off the ground, then pins her arms to her side, not without receiving a sharp blow to the eye.  “We have what we came for!”

I’m roughly shoved against the ground, then as they leave, a samurai kicks me in the ribs.  I gasp, blinking roughly as Sheranee screams.  A torch is thrown in the doorway, sending it in flames so I can’t follow.  I crawl over to Sarim, laying a hand on his shoulder.

“PAPÁ, MAMÁ!”  Sheranee’s amber eyes shine in terror through the flames as she’s taken again, “HELP ME.  ¡AYÚDAME!”

Sarim grunts and tries to push himself up, but collapses again with a pained groan.  I lock eyes with my daughter, “STAY STRONG, SHERANEE!”

“Please!” her last cry is punctuated with sobs, then she takes a harsh blow to the head and they’re gone.

I bend my head over my husband’s shoulder, scrambling to press a torn cloth on his first wound.  My cheeks are wet, and I taste salt on my lips.  Heat from the fire beats against my face and arms.  Blood trickles down my arm, the gash stinging and throbbing like it’s a living organ.  In my mind, I can still hear my daughter’s screams mingling with those others finding the same fate.

“We’ll find you, Sheranee.  I promise, if it’s the last thing we do, we’ll find you.  And we’ll bring you back.”

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This is the prologue to my book, Tigress, the first in my Protectors of Htrae series. For context, the prologue takes place before The Never-Ending Cycle, but the rest of the book comes after.

Happy Fourth of July!!!