Bounty by Harper Alexander Read Free Book Online

of yet.”
    “ But I’m a god, remember?” he reminded her, making reference to her claims. “I could deliver it right here, right now.”
    Some raspy inner laugh whistled mockingly through her teeth, wheezing out from her terribly amused core. “A god,” she scoffed. “That is only yer name.”
    What did she bloody flaming mean by that? Godren tightened his hold on the hilts of his knives, hearing the leather creak in his grip.
    “ You haven’t a mean bone in yer body, boy,” she informed him, lapsing into an ominous mood from her wheezing hilarity. “And soon you won’t have an unbroken bone in yer body. I said I’d break ’em, I meant I’d break ’em.”
    At that point Godren had decided to stop talking to her. She was clearly cracked. He prepared himself for whatever she might throw at him, knowing it could be anything. If she wasn’t in her right mind, she would not be limited to playing by the odds.
    But she surprised him anyway by reaching into her sleeves and sliding out two wicked knives, arming herself against him. She stood awkwardly on her wooden leg, but didn’t appear trustworthily hindered by it.
    Gods, Godren thought. Who does this woman think she is?
    “ You claim the ability to deliver me fate readily enough, boy, but you still seem hesitant to cross me. What’s this? A criminal ace reluctant to take on an old woman? Are you goin’ to earn the hair on yer back, or remain a cowardly baby mastodon? Show me yer bite, alley snake!”
    Not replying, Godren watched her, waiting for her move. She wasn’t going to stand there forever – no, she would lunge on her own soon enough.
    The crone chanted something under her breath, causing the wisps of hair in her face to dance across her features, like grey snakes billowing to her words. Then with a rising growl and intensifying flash of her blue eyes, she flew at him.
    She was swift, and she was fierce. Godren found himself subtly alarmed at her fervor, stricken by her rabid agility and unlikely strength. For a frail old thing, she was not to be trifled with. Panting through her hair, she clashed her blades with his, a crude encounter that slipped and threatened them both with its lack of accuracy. They tangled with blade and limb, the woman a clawing blur of hobbling agility, and Godren a fluid figure of defense. It was just the fact that he was fighting defensively that gave him cause to rethink the situation.
    But he had no time. The crone tore and slashed at him, whirling and hobbling around him like some crazed creature, rasping and snarling as the struggle intensified. It was a crude quarrel, delivering bruising glances and drawing lots of small blood, and the crone scored against him far more than he was comfortable with. Far more than was warranted, in his opinion, but then that was what made it so disconcerting. His breath was coming short, and his vicious assailant, though surely equally fatigued, did not slow her crazed assault. She tore at his clothes, his hair, shearing at him with lethal, snake-fast knives, climbing all over him, it seemed, and wearing him out just forcing him to keep up with her. He did his best to intercept her fatal blows, but felt like he was cutting it too close each time, barely fending her off. She had a lightning-fast, mocking way of fighting him, crying little meaningless words of success and taunting him with quick, inconsequential grazes with her blades before she was coming at him from a different angle.
    Ducking in behind him, she launched to his back and latched on like a leech. He threw her off, driven to his knees from the stunt, and hurried to pick himself up as he heard her scrambling to her own feet behind him. Half-balanced, he swept around to face her, and found himself facing only a breezy, empty alley.
    After he blinked, he had to wonder what had made the alley appear ‘breezy’ to his eyes, for nothing billowed anywhere in the solid, stony vicinity. It was almost as if the breeze itself had