Free First Of Her Kind (Book 1) by K.L. Schwengel Page A

belt around her throat, tightening as he jerked her head back.
    "Tryg," he yelled. "Get over here."
    Ciara gasped for air and clawed at her neck, trying to get her fingers under the leather to loosen its hold. She couldn't keep the threads of her earth magic pushing at the other man, not when she couldn't even breathe. Scar-face put his head next to hers, the course hairs of his beard scratching her skin as he reached beneath her and grabbed her breast.
    "Keep fighting. Gets me stiff." He ground against her buttocks and grunted. "Feel that?"
    He shifted his weight back and rolled her, and Ciara lashed out. A frustrated snarl tore from her throat as the belt loosened, but he caught her wrists and held them until his partner joined him.
    "Keep a tight hold 'til I've had my go."
    Ciara clenched her jaw; her breath came hard and fast. Toothless Tryg pulled her arms up over her head, and leered down at her. His tongue flicked between broken and blackened nubs of teeth to lick spittle off his cracked lips. His partner still straddled her. A pungent smell assaulted her nostrils, an odd mix of wet sheep and hay. Scar-face jerked her tunic up to get at the laces on her britches, his fingers rough against her stomach.
    "Ya wear pants like a man," he said, and shoved a hand down between her legs. "But yer no man, are ya, mouse?"
    He started to undo his own britches then, and spit landed on her forehead as his partner cackled. Ciara twisted, and he gave her arms a yank, sending pain searing through her shoulder.
    "Stop it!" she yelled.
    "When I'm done," Scar-face said.
    He grabbed her cheeks, squeezed her mouth into a pucker, and covered her lips with his, drooling onto her face. When he pulled back, Ciara spit at him, and he laughed. Something stirred inside of her. As fear gave way to anger she reached past her earth magic, and grabbed hold of the wilding. The world around her went to black, split by shards of red and silver, like broken glass. Scar-face had both hands on the waist of her britches and had started to yank them down when he froze. His eyes locked on Ciara's, and she felt the corners of her mouth curl upwards in a wicked smile.
    "I told you to stop," she whispered, but it didn't sound like her voice.
    The sound Ciara made didn't resemble anything human as Scar-face started to climb off her. The force of it caught him full in the chest and sent him hurtling backwards through the air, limbs flailing. Ciara tipped her face back. The toothless man still held her wrists on the ground above her head. He gaped at his companion, and then turned that wide-eyed terror on her.
    "You're next," she said, in someone else's voice. Someone cold and deadly.
    He tried to let go of her wrists, but the wilding seeped from Ciara's fingers and tightened around his arms. Ciara yanked, and threw him in the direction of his partner. The force of the wilding propelled him into a tree with a sickening thud, and he landed on the ground, his neck twisted at an obscene angle. She stood slowly, and hitched at her pants as she walked toward Scar-face. Her earth magic begin to swirl around her, around the wilding, and Ciara watched as though from somewhere outside her body. Watched as she drew closer to Scar-face. He pushed himself to his feet, and glanced at his companion, then turned to look at her. His face contorted, the scar twitching noticeably. Ciara sniffed the air like an animal. The acrid scent of his fear hung between them, though he curled his lip and spat at her in feigned defiance. He edged back and reached down without taking his eyes off her; searching with his hand until he found his friend's sword, and pulled it from beneath the lifeless body.
    "I'm not afraid of you, witch," he said, the sword held ready as he took a fighting stance.
    "No?" She cocked her head. "I think you should be."
    Ciara reached a hand out to the side, and the belt he had used against her rose off the ground and snaked towards him through the air. He angled the