A Dance of Dragons: Series Starter Bundle by Kaitlyn Davis

to
survey the scene.
    There were five men—four smiling, and one
distinctly more sullen.
    My rescuer , Jinji thought dryly,
taking in the straps binding his ankles and the harsh angles of his
arms, which must be bound behind his back. His skin was pale,
reminding her of her joining dress, bleached by the sun rather than
baked by it. His hair was light brown, fused with red, almost like
a bird's feathers—a color Jinji had never seen on a man. Even
sitting, he seemed rather large, stockier than the boys she had
grown up with.
    But more than anything, Jinji found herself
drawn to his eyes. They were green, like the forest, filled with a
deep despair that Jinji understood. Hopelessness. The feeling of
failure.
    Even though the two of them could not be
more different, Jinji felt as though she looked into her own
reflection. Her eyes, brown as they were, told the same story. And
that sense of shared loss made her want to help.
    But how?
    Jinji shifted slightly, taking in the other
four men. It was their laughter that had rung through the
trees.
    They were not particularly large or
threatening, more like foxes than bears, but still she was
outnumbered. Jinji looked at the red tint to their cheeks, the jugs
in their hands, the wide smiles plastered on their lips. Something
was odd about them, like they had leaned too long over a fire and
breathed in too many fumes. Their eyes were vacant, open, but
unaware.
    Perhaps it would be easier than she
realized.
    Jinji reached for the knife at her waist,
but grasped nothing. She looked down, wincing at her idiocy. Her
brother's skins. She was in her brother's skins, not her own. Her
knife was a long distance away, back home laying useless on the
floor.
    Using the firelight, she searched the
ground, but a branch would not be nimble enough to wield against
four foes. She could knock out one maybe, but four? No.
    Jinji turned back to the camp. They had to
have weapons.
    She crept in a circle, moving behind the
trees and just out of sight. The men looked unarmed and relaxed.
But surely they kept protection with them.
    And then a bright light caught her eye.
    She looked closer.
    The hint of flickering fire gleamed from the
dark.
    A newworlder weapon. Jinji had only seen
them a few times; like hardened water they shimmered. Metal ,
she thought. The newworlders fought with metal and not rock. But , she sighed, it will have to do .
    It looked like her knife, slightly longer
with a curved edge rather than a straight one, and a cuff circled
the handle.
    But it was a few feet out of reach. She
would have to make herself known before grabbing it, would have to
expose herself. If one of them held a weapon she couldn't see,
Jinji would be dead. And she would never avenge her people.
    Oh what she wouldn't give for a
spear—something she could throw from the shadows. Slamming a fist
against her leg in frustration, she searched for another option.
But there was none.
    A drumming sound caught her ear, pounding
closer and closer.
    From her peripheral, Jinji saw her rescuer
look up with a gleam of hope, the smallest hint of a smile.
    A squeal sounded through the darkness.
    All four captors looked up from the fire,
brows furrowed.
    The horse , Jinji realized. Her knot
hadn’t been tight enough—thank the spirits.
    The thunder got louder, quicker.
    The men stood and turned toward the darkness
on swaying feet, searching for the cause of the noise.
    Before she had time to second guess, Jinji
jumped from the trees and ran the short distance to the gleaming
knife, gripping its cool hilt.
    She felt eyes on her.
    Jinji looked up, right into the crystal
green irises of her former rescuer. They were wide, shocked, and
then satisfied.
    A deep yell interrupted her focus, and Jinji
stood swiftly, swinging the knife into the throat of the man
reaching for the weapons at her feet. Blooded spurted out, raining
on her like a wave as he crashed to the ground.
    Before it was too late, Jinji gripped
another knife from the