ovanlig tanke. Vanligtvis brukade Merk inte bry sig om vem som överlevde eller vem som dog; det var bara ett jobb. Det var det som höll honom fri från anklagelse, och fri från känslomässig inblandning. Denna gång var det dock annorlunda. För första gången någonsin som han kan komma ihåg, var det ingen som betalade honom för att göra detta. Han fortsatte för sin egen räkning, för ingen annan anledning än att han tyckte synd om flickan och ville rätta till saker och ting. Det gjorde honom inblandad, och han tyckte inte om den känslan. Han ångrade redan nu att han inte hade reagerat snabbare och vänt om.
Merk sprang som en stadig klippa, utan att bära vapen – och han behövde inte det heller. Han hade endast sin dolk i sitt bälte, och det var tillräckligt. Han behövde kanske inte ens använda den. Han föredrog att gå in i en strid utan vapen: det överraskade hans motståndare. Dessutom kunde han ta motståndarens vapen och använda de mot honom. Det lämnade honom med en känsla av alert vart han än gick.
Merk rusade ut ur Vitskogen, träden gav vida till de öppna fälten, de rullande kullarna och den störa röda solen som gick ner vid horisonten. Fälten spreds ut framför honom, med den svarta skyn ovanför, fylld med rök, och hus i lågor, där ett av de bara kan vara flickans hus. Merk kunde höra det där ifrån, det glädjefyllda skriken från männen, de kriminella, deras röster fylldes med glädje och blodlust. Med sitt professionella öga skannade han brottscenen och såg omedelbart ett dussin män, med ansikten upplysta av facklor, och satte eld på allt. Vissa sprang från stallet till husen, satte eld på höet, medan andra slaktade de oskyldiga boskapen och hackade ner dem med sina yxor. Han såg att en av dem släpade en kropp i leran.
En kvinna.
Merks hjärta rusade när han undrade om det var flickan – och om hon var död eller levande. Han drog henne mot vad som såg ut som att vara flickans familj, alla var bundna i rep mot ladan. Där var hennes far och mor, och bredvid, antagligen hennes syskon, två stycken yngre, flickor båda två. As a breeze moved a cloud of black smoke, Merk caught a glimpse of the body’s long blonde hair, matted with dirt, and he knew that was her.
Merk felt a rush of adrenaline as he took off at a sprint down the hill. He rushed into the muddy compound, running amidst the flame and the smoke, and he could finally see what was happening: the girl’s family, against the wall, were all already dead, their throats cut, their bodies hanging limply against the wall. He felt a wave of relief as he saw the girl being dragged was still alive, resisting as they dragged her to join her family. He saw a thug awaiting her arrival with a dagger, and he knew she would be next. He had arrived too late to save her family – but not too late to save her.
Merk knew he had to catch these men off-guard. He slowed his gait and marched calmly down the center of the compound, as if he had all the time in the world, waiting for them to take notice of him, wanting to confuse them.
Soon enough, one of them did. The thug turned immediately, shocked at the sight of a man walking calmly through all the carnage, and he yelled to his friends.
Merk felt all the confused eyes on him as he proceeded, walking casually toward the girl. The thug dragging her looked over his shoulder, and at the sight of Merk he stopped, too, loosening his grip and letting her fall in the mud. He turned and approached Merk with the others, all closing in on him, ready to fight.
“What do we have here?” called out the man who appeared to be their leader. It was the one who had dropped the girl, and as he set his sights on Merk he drew a sword from his belt and approached, as the others encircled him.
Merk looked only at the girl, checking to make sure she was alive and unharmed. He was relieved to see her squirm in the mud, slowly collecting herself, lifting her head and looking back out at him, dazed and confused. Merk felt relief that he had not, at least, been too late to save her. Perhaps this was the first step on what would be a very long road to redemption. Perhaps, he realized, it did not start in the tower, but right here.
As the girl turned over in the mud, propping herself up on her elbows, their eyes met, and he saw them flood with hope.
“Kill them!” she shrieked.
Merk stayed calm, still walking casually toward her, as if not even noticing the men around him.
“So you know the girl,” the leader called out to him.
“Her uncle?” one of them called out mockingly.
“A long-lost brother?” laughed another.
“You coming to protect her, old man?” another mocked.
The others burst into laughter as they closed in.
While he did not show it, Merk was silently taking stock of all his opponents, summing them up out of the corner of his eye, tallying how many they were, how big they were, how fast they moved, the weapons they carried. He analyzed how much muscle they had versus fat, what they were wearing, how flexible they were in those clothes, how fast they could pivot in their boots. He noted the weapons they held – the crude knives, daggers drawn, swords poorly sharpened – and he analyzed how they held them, at their sides or out in front, and in which hands.
Most were amateur, he realized, and none of them truly concerned him. Save one. The one with the crossbow. Merk made a mental note to kill him first.
Merk entered a different zone, a different mode of thinking, of being, the one that always naturally gripped him whenever he was in a confrontation. He became submerged in his own world, a world he had little control over, a world he gave his body up to. It was a world that dictated to him how many men he could kill how quickly, how efficiently. How to inflict the maximum damage with the least possible effort.
He felt bad for these men; they had no idea what they were walking into.
“Hey, I’m talking to you!” their leader called out, hardly ten feet away, holding out his sword with a sneer and closing in fast.
Merk stayed the course, though, and kept marching, calm and expressionless. He was staying focused, hardly listening to their leader’s words, now muted in his mind. He would not run, or show any signs of aggression, until it suited him, and he could sense how puzzled these men were by his lack of actions.
“Hey, do you know you’re about to die?” the leader insisted. “You listening to me?”
Merk continued walking calmly while their leader, infuriated, waited no longer. He shouted in rage, raised his sword, and charged, swinging down for Merk’s shoulder.
Merk took his time, not reacting. He walked calmly toward his attacker, waiting until the very last second, making sure not to tense up, to show any signs of resistance.
He waited until his opponent’s sword reached its highest point, high above the man’s head, the pivotal moment of vulnerability for any man, he had learned long ago. And then, faster than his foe could possibly foresee, Merk lunged forward like a snake, using two fingers to strike at a pressure point beneath the man’s armpit.
His attacker, eyes bulging in pain and surprise, immediately dropped the sword.
Merk stepped in close, looped one arm around the man’s arm and tightened his grip in a lock. In the same motion he grabbed the man by the back of his head and spun him around, using him as a shield. For it wasn’t this man that Merk had been worried about, but the attacker behind him with the crossbow. Merk had chosen to attack this oaf first merely to gain himself a shield.
Merk spun and faced the man with the crossbow, who, as he’d anticipated, already had his bow trained on him. A moment later Merk heard the telltale sound
