Of the Plains

The grass rippled around her, masking her movements and hiding her dainty figure from sight. She hurried along, crouched and barefoot. Her gaze never left the pair of figures with their backs to her. A faint smile turned up the corners of her mouth as she stopped and closed her eyes to listen.

After several agonizing moments, she dropped to her knees and put her ear to the ground. Several heartbeats later, she heard footsteps moving through the grass behind her. There they are, she told herself. She scrambled forward, keeping below the grass, and took out the boy to her left.

She pulled his feet from under him and pressed her dagger to his throat. He held up his hands in silent surrender and scowled.

With a sharp nod of satisfaction, she turned her attention on his companion a few feet away. Again, she launched forward. She took him down at the knees and he quickly surrendered. His scowl was deeper than his counterpart’s.

She put her ear to the ground a second time. The pair sprinted toward her location from opposite directions. With a sly smile, she scrambled forward to her original position. A silent thanks to Lilith, their patron goddess, slipped from her lips as the pair passed within spitting distance of her.

The two found their fallen companions and shouted curses.

With a resolved nod, she skirted around behind the pair. She crept up on the boy to her right from behind. As with the first boy, she took his feet from under him with a sliding tackle. He grumbled a curse as he surrendered.

“Only one left,” she murmured as she crept forward until she could see the last boy.

He stood with his back to her, surveying his surroundings.

She sprang at him.

The boy spun as she lept forward to tackle him, and landed a solid blow to the side of her head.

A heavy grunt escaped her as she hit the ground. A quiet groan followed as darkness threatened to consume her. She pushed to her feet, then  and shook her head to clear it.

“Not bad, Kimshira,” praised a voice behind the group. “If that were anyone but Naphir you would have gotten them all.”

She rubbed the tender spot on her head and nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind for next time.”

The older woman nodded. “You should. And keep honing your skills. You’ll make an excellent scout someday.” She turned to Naphir whose chest swelled with pride. “I’m sure you’ll be a great warrior in no time.”