I’m mass uploading these while watching a video about Glee. Not watching glee, just a video about it.

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Chapter 8

It’s weird how quickly things can change from peaceful to feeling like you’ve been dragged into a storm. One moment you can have no cares in the world and the next you’re staring down an enemy that you don’t know you can beat.

That’s how today felt at least as I was thrust into one of the most terrifying situations in my life. The group of five large, rugged men continued to attack the woman and we didn’t know what to do. We couldn’t just run in there wasn’t enough of us and we weren’t strong enough.

Waiting around wasn’t a good idea with every passing moment the woman looked weaker. Her movements were slower, and blood dripped off her in thick globs. Just past her in the grass, there was some sort of mound of blue fabric that moved slowly up and down.

I couldn’t wait any longer the woman looked near death and whatever was next to her wasn’t far off, “Raine do you think you can get into a tree?” I asked pulling my slingshot from the pouch id strapped to my waist, “I need you to try and get that one away from the group we’ll deal with the rest.” I pointed out the most well-built of the guys as I explained. He was standing off to the side and I hoped he would get distracted.

He nodded grabbed the slingshot and headed up to a tree I told Kat to move over about twenty feet to the left out of the way. We were going to attack as soon as someone left the group. Raine would be able to take on the one guy and we’d hopefully be able to deal with the rest.

My hands ached from the grip I had on my sword my knuckles white, my hands trembling as I waited for Raine to get into position. When he had gotten safely onto a high branch, he gave me a thumbs up. I glanced over to Kat who nodded to me her hands clutching both a sword and a dagger as she crouched behind a tree.

Glancing back, I noticed the woman looked significantly worse than she had before. She stumbled back as another of the men took his turn at her the others jeering as they stood around. It was torment they had no intention of really fighting her.

The larger of the men suddenly turned toward us rubbing the side of his head, “what was that?” he groaned as he looked around. I glanced up to Raine who was grinning preparing another shot. On the second shot, the man made his way over towards Raine none of the others really noticing.

As soon as he passed behind me Kat made her way into the group running up behind them. No one heard her coming so they didn’t notice her there until her sword had already split open one of the men’s backs. He collapsed forwards into the others his shirt being quickly stained a deep red.

I followed suit quickly running into the side as soon as she had gotten their attention. My body acted on its own as I ran in, I felt weightless sprinting toward the group. I got between the woman and her attacker shoving the hilt of my sword into his ribs. He gasped for air dropping his sword in his panic. I swiped my leg around to knock him down before kicking his sword away.

“You alright?” I asked over my shoulder looking at the exhausted blood-soaked woman.

Before she was able to answer one of the other men lunged at me his face contorted in rage. I couldn’t move the woman would be in his direct line. I gripped my sword tightly holding it up to try and guard. The sound of steel crashing together filled my ears as my arm was pushed back. I forced his sword away trying to make some distance between us.

With each step back he took I followed him metal screeching as it clashed together. Just past him, I could see Kat defending herself against the other man’s attacks. She parried one of his strikes knocking his arm to the side and lunging in with her dagger. Her opponent didn’t get a chance to move and ended up with a dagger lodged in his chest.

My opponent over me his shadow looming over me as I forced him to take another step back. I swung at him my sword coming close to his face the tip cutting his cheek. This seemed to annoy him more as he lunged at me again, I couldn’t get out of the way, and he grabbed my hair.

 “You bitch!” He yelled as he slammed my head on the ground with as much force as he could muster. Black spots began to appear in my peripheral vision the air felt like freezing smoke filling my lungs the warm trickle of iron filling my throat. I opened my eyes as much as I could noticing he was still crouched over me. My sword wasn’t in my hand anymore instead being replaced by a freezing feeling.

His hand still roughly gripped my head his fingers digging into my scalp. A piercing noise filled my ears drowning out the world. The world spun as I stared up at the man a menacing grin on his face as he stared down at me.

I felt around for my sword hoping it was nearby, but I couldn’t feel it in the grass. The dew only served to make my hand feel colder than it already was. In that moment I lost hope in the wet and cold I laid my life in the hands of this man and to top it off I didn’t have a weapon.

Then I remembered my dagger I had it on my waist. If I could just get it, I could get him off me. The man didn’t seem to notice when I reached for it his eyes glancing between me and something behind me worriedly. His mouth moved but no sound came out. The piercing noise rang louder in my ears as I struggled to grip my dagger.

The strap loosened easily, and I pulled the dagger from its sheath waiting for the man to look away. He looked up again opening his mouth to speak his voice finally breaking through the noise as he yelled something. I pulled the dagger up and shoved it into his arm. The grip on my head loosened as I pulled the dagger down and out. Thick globs of blood spilled out onto the grass below him.

I pushed myself as far back as I could until I hit something hard. Rough scratchy fabric rubbed against my neck a large shadow hung over me. My hands shook as I lifted the dagger above me to protect myself. Blood splattered on my cheek in small drops as I stared up at the woman above me. She didn’t look down at me her sword was drawn, and she stared at the man.

A moment later she stepped over me pinning the man down with her sword to his throat. She was tense her sword was steady as she glared down at the man her sword millimetres away from his throat. For the first time in this fight, I saw the man look anything but angry. He looked terrified as he stared at the woman.

Forcing myself up I noticed Kat and Raine stood a few metres away. Raine had one arm wrapped around Kat’s shoulder tightly. They both looked worse for wear covered in various cuts and scratches. Kat’s face was bloodied and bruised but she was standing and that’s all that mattered.

In the grass covered in blood laid another woman adorned in similar armour to the guards at the city gates. She moved occasionally, letting out a groan but never sat up or opened her eyes.

Behind me, there was a quiet sobbing. I turned around to see Emilie rubbing her eyes, her hands were stained from the grass and dirt. Her dress was torn around the knees and was stained with blood and dirt, “Hey-“I tried to speak I wanted to comfort her but as soon as I did I started hacking up blood. My chest burned as I heaved for air the dark spots in my vision becoming bigger.

A moment later there was a loud thud, and my back began to hurt. I coughed loudly and then took a deep breath of the cold forest air. The darkness receded with each deep breath of air I choked down. My chest stung with each breath feeling tight and claustrophobic.

Behind me stood the woman who had saved Emilie her sword was sheathed, and she looked at me in panic, “Are you okay dear child?” She asked.

I nodded up at her not trusting myself to speak again. The thought of that happening scared me more than running into the fight.  I looked back over to Emilie who had stopped crying and was staring at me. She was now sitting next to Raine who had crouched down checking her for wounds.

 Kat knelt over the other woman she had turned her onto her side and was checking the woman’s pulse with a watch she had in her other hand. She looked worried as she counted silently to herself, “It’s way too fast.” She said quietly.

The woman walked past me and towards Kat. She immediately kneeled next to the other woman her back to me. I saw a warm glow between the two and Kat seemed to tense up as the glow slowly faded away.

“How did you do that?” Kat asked with visible confusion and shock.

“Magic,” She sat back on her heels, “Who are you kids anyway?”

Before Kat could speak Raine was over there, “We’re travellers staying in the city for a while.”

The woman seemed to take this answer however little information it had given her. After confirming that Emilie was with us, she seemed to calm down a bit, “Anyone feel like helping me carry her?” She looked down at her unconscious companion with a smile before grabbing one of her arms and pulling it over her shoulder. Raine grabbed the other arm helping to steady them as they stood.

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We wandered through the forest for what felt like an eternity the dark looming over us. Kat set off the red smoke that we had been given to tell people to head back if we found Emilie. It provided some light as the fire on the end lit our path helping us to navigate back to the city. The paths we walked were well-travelled so we kept close to them avoiding the protruding roots and weeds along the way.

When we arrived at the city gates the guards bowed to the woman, “Your majesty, welcome back” One of them said their head bowed, “Is there anything we can do to assist you?”

This was the queen. How did none of us realise and why was she so unguarded. Surely Kat would have known she was always interested in this stuff. I looked at her and she just shook her head. She looked nervous and started squeezing one of her fingers. I blocked out whatever they were talking about now trying to figure out why none of us had realised.

“Are you two coming?” The queen asked as she and Raine set off through the gate carrying the woman with them.

We followed them quickly Kat held onto Emilie, “Sorry I zoned out where are we going?” I asked looking around the dark streets.

“To your family, your friend said there’s a doctor with your group.” She replied her walk was slowly turning more into a limp, but she didn’t show any other signs of injury.

I nodded before realising she couldn’t see me, “Alright cool.” I replied nervously scratching the back of my neck. She stopped for a moment and looked at me I could barely make out her expression, but I knew what she wanted. I was nervous and she could tell, “You’re the queen?”

 She laughed and started to walk again Kat now leading the way, “You didn’t know? I guess it would be hard to find pictures outside the capital.” 

Kat explained that we don’t really come here often and none of us get taught about the royals. The queen listened humming along while we walked taking time to ask questions without interrupting. While it wasn’t a long walk the conversation seemed to make it a lot shorter.

People from the caravan wandered around the area cleaning weapons and storing armour. Emilie’s parents were standing with Lauren near the centre yelling something. They stopped as soon as their kid ran to them screaming their names. Well screaming the names, she calls them. They fell to their knees holding her tight and crying.

Lauren walked over noticing the knocked-out woman, she grabbed her picked her up and looked over at Kat “Go get your father.”

With a nod, Kat ran off to go find her dad and Lauren carried the woman to her tent the queen following close behind. We walked past a lot of the older members of the caravan who whispered between themselves. There were people in the caravan who grew up in Ilamont each one looked on in disbelief as she passed them without a word.

Kat returned within minutes doctor Allen not far behind. He walked into the tent that filled with the thick stench of iron his eyes wide and breath heavy. Lauren had laid the woman down on a pile of thick blankets and started removing the lady’s armour. The doctor was quick to get to work helping his wife remove the material from the woman before grabbing a bottle of alcohol.

Eventually we were all made to leave so that the doctor could treat the woman’s wounds properly. We all stood outside of the tent tending our own wounds that we had disregarded in our panic. Kat found some spare bandages in our tent and offered to help the queen, but she refused them.

 The ground looked like a dress I had bought Kat last year small red polka dots covered an off-white canvas. Unfortunately, the dress hadn’t fit her when I got around to giving her it, so it sat in a box in the carts unworn. Even more unfortunate was the dots on the ground weren’t the result of some well-crafted dye or design.