34. Colt

Not long after Rem emerged from the back room with Owen, he had Owen tied up, as well as the rest of them, and marched him to the door.

Colt's chest flared, and he tried to shove the two men behind him off as he said, "Where are you taking him?"

Pausing at the door, Rem eyed Colt and sneered at him, looking at him as if he was nothing more than a scab. "Owen has agreed to come along with me. I am to be his mentor. You will all stay here."

"Like hell we will!" Colt spat. The two men grabbed him from behind, but he shoved them back again, until it took two more men to control him. They forced him to his knees, and someone placed a chain around his neck, pulling him back until it choked him, restricting the air from his lungs.

"Colt, stop fighting them!" Owen shouted. He stepped forward, but Rem grabbed his injured shoulder, making Owen hiss and scowl at the man.

"You will not interfere, Owen," Rem told him.

Owen's eyes were full of rage. Colt could see it, but he knew Owen was too hurt to attempt his fire, too afraid. He wouldn"t fight back this time, but Owen did stand his ground. "If anything happens to anyone in this home, I'll know it, and I will never do as you ask."

Rem's face seemed to relax—in annoyance—and he nodded at the men to release the chain around Colt's throat. When they did, he coughed, then took several breaths.

"Before any of you get any more ideas, we'll leave." Rem opened the door and shoved Owen outside. Five of Rem's men stayed inside the house, while Rem and seven others left with Owen, closing the door with a finality that broke through Colt's chest.

Colt's heart lurched as he was tossed against the wall near Brom. Gilda's red face was set in rage, her eyes full of fire. As the hour passed, four of Rem's men made themselves at home, lounging in chairs at the table, eating and drinking the remains of the Winter's Solstice feast. Nel laid on a pallet on the floor while Agnes tended to her, and Colt hoped the young woman hadn't suffered too bad of a wound, but judging from how relaxed she looked, she seemed to be responding to her mother's treatment.

Bridge sat against the wall near the hearth with the rest of them. They could do nothing more than sit in silence. Anytime one of them tried to whisper, one of the Hunters would separate them violently. By now, Brom and Gilda both were in separate corners of the room. The whole place was tense, waiting for nothing to happen. Colt's heart pounded so hard he could feel it against his chest.

After hours of sitting, with some of them dozing off, something small hit Colt on the leg. He looked around before cutting his eyes down to see a crumpled up piece of paper. It was small, and Colt scooted over slightly until the paper was between his legs. Letting his bound hands relax between his legs, he managed to pick the paper up with his fingers. He waited a few minutes before he carefully opened the note. One word was written on it.

Gate.

That's where Rem was going, where he was taking Owen. Colt had to get there. He had to stop Rem. What would happen if Owen opened the supposed portal to the netherworld? What if spirits rushed out, or the god of death himself reached out and…

I have to get Owen back.

Now.

But getting out of this house was a risk. By now, Colt knew these Hunters would kill whoever tried to challenge them. Rem had shown that when he'd shot Nel. He couldn't put Bridge's family in danger. If they were going to do this, they all had to be on board.

Colt glanced over at Bridge, and that's when he saw it. The glint of a small knife in his hands. Where he'd gotten it, Colt didn't know, but there it was, severing Bridge's ties behind his back as he sat against the wall.

One nod in Colt's direction confirmed that Bridge would try and attack these men. So, Colt looked over and found Gilda's eyes in the corner, locking on to them until she glanced his way. When he cut his eyes to Bridge, she also did the same, then looked down. She understood. Now, he just had to get Brom on board. But Gilda was already staring at him, and the two seemed to understand each other immediately.

When Bridge was finally free of his ties, Gilda suddenly jumped where she was and looked towards the window.

"What was that?" she started. "Is it that Horgg again?"

"Nothing's out there you wench." One of the Hunters scowled at her.

"We saw him before, you pig!" Gilda snapped.

"The only pig I see is you, bitch." Some of the other men laughed, but it was enough to distract them all and allow Bridge to push his knife over to Colt, who hid it under his legs in the nick of time. With the men still distracted, Colt lined the fibers of his binds against the knife's edge. They broke easily. It wouldn't take long for them to become loose.

"That's exactly what I expect an ugly man like you to say," Gilda went on, shaking her head. "He's always going to insult women because he knows he can't do any better than paying someone to fuck him. How pathetic."

"I've had enough of your mouth." The man moved forward and grabbed Gilda by the hair. "I can shove something in there to shut you up."

Colt was nearly free when one of the other Hunters spotted him.

"Hey!" the man shouted. Bringing up his sword, he marched forward, but then he jolted, and Colt's eyes widened as the man stumbled forward, knocking against the table and falling to the floor. In his back was a knife, engraved with an elegant B. Colt looked up to see Brom standing in the corner, eyeing all the men marching his way now.

Breaking free of his binds, Colt grabbed the sword from the dead man's grip on the floor and charged forward at the Hunter still holding Gilda. He ran the sword through him, and the man fell to the floor as Colt retracted it. When another Hunter came at him with steel, Colt caught the blade against his own before pushing the man back, applying the move that Brom had taught him.

He looked to his side and pulled his sword up just as another Hunter engaged him. Colt sidestepped when the man lunged at him from the right, and took the opportunity to slash at the man's side.

The Hunter cried out, going to his knees. Colt took no mercy on the man as he drove the sword through his chest. He ripped the blade out, and the man fell face first to the floor. There were two men left, and by now, Brom had retrieved the bloody knife he'd thrown at the first man and engaged one of the others. Colt wasn't sure how Brom had gotten free of his bindings, or how he had obtained his knife, but he was grateful for his companion's aid.

These last two were much more skilled with swords and quickly gained the upper hand. Colt was backed against the wall, and a Hunter slashed wildly at him, gashing his arm. Growling in pain, Colt staggered back, unsure of how much longer he could hold out, when suddenly the Hunter was blasted backwards.

Wincing in pain, Colt dropped his sword and grabbed his left arm, trying to stop the fresh bright blood from flowing, but it was already soaking his sleeve.

Gilda made her way forward, free of her binds now, and put up her hands. With her Essence, she grabbed hold of the Hunters and blasted them against the wall before she and Brom finished them off.

Red filled Colt's vision, his mind. With the Hunters slain, there was only one other he had to kill, and whoever stood in his way to get to him would pay with their life.

"You have to go!" Bridge rushed to their side.

"What about you all?" Brom asked, panting.

"You took them all out. I don't think any more are here." Bridge's wide blue eyes were full of fear. "You have to stop Rem. He'll make Owen open the Gate."

Brom and Gilda gathered what food and water they could into their bags with Bridge's help, while Colt quickly bandaged his arm with a roll that Agnes gave him. Then he grabbed up his bow and rushed for the door.

"Thank you for everything," Gilda told Bridge.

Colt caught Agnes's nod before he nodded back at her, then Bridge, and left.

Outside, the dawn sky broke, giving them light as they raced to the gate of the graveyard, where the Horgg had attacked Owen only days ago. Once they reached it, they all stopped and looked around, panting.

"Come on," Colt started, placing his hand on the iron and opening it.

"Now wait," Gilda said, stopping him. "We can't run like this the whole time."

"Then you two can rest and I'll keep on." Colt went to open the gate again, but Gilda stood in front of him, and he sighed. "Gilda, move." He glared at her.

"Think with your brain, Colt, not your heart. We all want to save Owen," she said. "But we need to come up with a plan first before we rush into that graveyard. I will not be separated from either one of you in there." Her eyes flitted from Colt's to Brom's.

"We won't leave you behind," Brom said. "We all need to stay together, or else we may end up dead. Right, O'Malley?" He cast a stern look at him.

Taking a breath, Colt nodded and stepped back. "Alright, what's our plan then?"

"Firstly, we need to look at this map." She pulled out the map of Avathon that Colt had ripped out of a book in Ivormor. It was torn in some spots now, and heavily creased, but they could see it well enough to locate the Gate. "It's west, so we'll walk that way."

"Brom, you'll be our main fighter. Whatever comes our way, you will deal with it. Colt, you'll observe the area as we go. I'll try to sense Owen. When we're within range, we'll take this slow and try to hide as we walk so we can ambush them."

Brom nodded. "After taking out those men just now, we should have no problem taking the rest of these Hunters on."

Smiling, Gilda said, "We can do this. For Owen."

Colt clasped the crystal hanging around his neck, then he nodded. "For Owen."