Chapter 19: Disgusting Fellow

Leon ran in with his sword in hand.

"Hey, filthy mutts, this way!"

The dogs spun around. There were five of them, thin and red-eyed, with their ribs showing under short hair. They forgot about the tree at once and charged at him in a pack.

’Okay. Don’t swing like an idiot this time.’

He planted his feet and held the katana in front of him, the way he had learned to back in the plains. His grip was tighter, and his elbows were closer to his body. He was not good with the sword, but he was better than he had been an hour ago.

The first dog jumped.

He watched its shoulders drop, then cut straight up through its chest. It fell in two pieces. The second came at his legs, and he stepped aside and brought the blade down across its back.

The third and fourth hit him together.

Teeth sank into his arm and his thigh, and he felt the hard squeeze of the jaws. The suit took the brunt of it, and he didn’t even bleed. He grunted, drove his elbow into one dog’s skull, and stabbed the other through the side.

SHING!

Four were down.

The last one circled him, low and slow. It did not rush like the others. It waited, and when Leon finally swung, it slipped around the blade and shot forward with its jaws open.

It was not going for his arm or his neck.

It was going for his groin.

"Whoa!" Leon yelped and threw himself backward.

He was too slow. The teeth locked down right there, and for a long, horrible second, he stood frozen with his eyes wide and his mouth open.

Nothing happened.

The suit held. The teeth ground against the plates, and the dog could not break through.

Leon let out a long, shaky breath.

"Thank you, ninety-eight thousand credits," he whispered.

He kicked the dog off him, and it skidded across the dirt. He walked over and stabbed it through the head before it could get up.

As the body went still, he looked at his sword.

’That’s the second one today that dodged my attack. First the one in the forest, and now this one.’

It bothered him, but the tree behind him groaned, and the thought slid to the back of his mind. Now was not the time.

The tree was still holding both of them.

Long branches had wrapped around the man and the lady, lifting them high and swinging them back and forth like toys. The lady was screaming. The man was cursing in a high, frantic voice.

Leon rushed in and slashed at the nearest branch.

It cut halfway through and stuck. Before he could pull the blade free, another branch whipped around and hit him in the side. He flew sideways and slammed into a tree trunk.

THUD!

"Ow, shit!"

He pushed himself up and went again. A second branch swatted him back, and he crashed into another tree. He coughed, shook his head, and got up. A third one caught him in the chest and pushed him across the ground.

Each time, the suit stopped the worst of it, but his bones still rattled.

"Stay down, you stupid plant," he muttered, "or I swear I’m going to chop you into firewood."

He kept going.

He slashed at the thin branches first, cutting them away one by one, and dodged the thick ones when he could. Slowly, he worked his way closer to the trunk. Then he saw the two branches holding the pair up in the air.

He jumped, swung, and cut through one.

SLASH!

The man dropped with a yell. Leon turned and cut through the second.

The lady fell too. She hit the ground on her hands and knees, gasping.

Leon walked to her first and held out his hand.

"Are you okay? Can you stand?"

She nodded, still shaking, and he helped her to her feet. Then he turned to the man, who was lying in the dirt, groaning, and pulled him up too.

The man grabbed at his lower half and covered himself with both hands.

Leon stared at him.

’Why is he still butt naked? What the hell is going on?’

"Uhm," he said. "Why exactly are you not wearing pants?"

"It’s nothing," the man said quickly. He was avoiding Leon’s eyes. "It’s, uh, a long story. Thanks for the help."

"I heard the scream," Leon said. "That’s why I came. It sounded like somebody was really in danger."

"It was just the tree. It surprised us. We’re fine now."

He turned to leave.

Leon glanced at the lady. She was standing with her arms wrapped around herself, and her eyes were on the man. Even after being saved, there was still fear in them. It was not fear of the tree, or of the dogs. It was something else.

’That’s not right.’

The man took a step.

Leon grabbed his arm, yanked him back, and threw him to the ground. He pinned him there with a knee on his back and turned to the lady.

"What happened?" he asked. His voice was calm. "Tell me the truth."

She looked at the ground. Her hands twisted in the hem of her robe.

"I..." she began, and stopped.

"You’re safe now," Leon said. "He can’t do anything. Just tell me."

She hesitated. It was clear she was unsure if she should say it. After a long moment, she drew a shaky breath and spoke.

"I’m a healer, mostly. I don’t have a good party, but I wanted to make some money. He offered to be my party mate, and I agreed. We met as strangers."

Her voice cracked.

"Once we got inside, he wanted more than that. He grabbed me and pushed me against a tree." She swallowed. "He tried to... he tried to force himself on me. That was what woke the tree and made it attack us."

Silence fell.

Leon did not move. His face did not change, but something in his eyes went cold.

The man under his knee began to thrash.

"She’s lying! She’s making it up! Get off me!"

He twisted out from under Leon’s leg and scrambled to his feet. Without looking back, he ran, bare-legged and stumbling, away from the tree and into the forest.

Leon stood up slowly.

He picked up his katana, turned it in his hand, and threw it.

It flew like a spear, spinning once through the air, and sank into the man’s shoulder from behind.

"AAAH!"

The man crashed to the ground and rolled, clutching the blade.

Leon walked over. He grabbed the man by the collar, dragged him back across the dirt, and threw him against the trunk of the tree.

BAM!

He pulled the katana out of his shoulder and held it at his side.

"I’m a patient person," he said. "I let a lot of things go. I’ll take a lot of things. But when it comes to something like rape, to disgusting shit like this, a man like you doesn’t deserve to live."

The man stared up at him with wide eyes. His mouth opened to speak.

The tree moved first.

Branches shot out from the trunk and wrapped around the man’s arms, legs and neck. They lifted him off the ground, and he screamed.

"No! No, wait! Help me! Please!"

Leon watched without a word.

The branches pulled him toward the trunk. The bark split open, and the man was dragged into it, kicking and screaming, his voice rising higher and higher until it was cut off by the wood closing over his face.

Then there was silence.

The tree went still. A few leaves fell to the ground.

Leon’s face showed no emotion at all. He stood there with the blade at his side, looking at the trunk, as if it were any other tree.

Beside him, the lady shivered. She had both arms around herself, and her eyes were wide and unblinking as she stared at the place where the man had been.