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Onyx signs, and all eyes are on him. Finally, I reluctantly speak his words. "He believes father is so far gone that he'll take her to hurt us, not even because of the prophecy, but because he doesn't care about our most sacred of rules."
Flames sighs. "Just come with us. It doesn't have to be like this."
I draw my dagger in one hand and my sword in the other. “None of you will take her with me still alive."
There are easily thirty of them. Four of my us. And Ann. The odds aren't good, but then, the odds have never been good for us.
Phantom looks at Rayne. “Protect her.”
He nods and the fight begins like an explosion. Like a storm that barely gave a warning before shaking the world.
Men surround us. Swords clank against swords. I see Onyx lop off a head as my own blade meets one enemy's then another's. They're trying so damned hard to reach us, but with us in a circle, we're making it fucking hard for them to catch us off-guard. There are screams of pain and growls of anger. But we encircle Ann, striving to keep her safe from danger. Even though it's obvious to us, to everyone, that we can only fight these numbers for so long.
One way or another, these men will get us today. And then... we'll be prisoners of the shadow king.
15
Ann
The fight endedwith too much blood and too much death before all my men had their weapons stripped away and their hands bound. Phantom has a cut on his cheek that drips blood down his face, Onyx's mouth is swollen and bleeding, and Dusk's eye is swollen nearly shut. But I know those aren't the worst of their injuries. The worst ones are the ones I can't see, but distinctly remember. The backs of swords smashed into their stomachs, shoulders, and even the back of their heads. Punches. Kicks. Yes, it could have been worse. If these men wanted my shadow beasts dead, they'd be dead.
But it doesn't really matter. Even if they didn't kill us, there's no question they're marching us off to a fate worse than death.
We're out of the main cave. Other than the elder, it seems that every shadow beast on earth is around us. Most are in the front, leading our sad group. Apparently, they'd left before us to speak with the king and his minions, to let them know they were successful and that the deal would be completed soon. A group of about a dozen surround our group. Guilt radiates from them, but also exhaustion. I understand that, even if I don't believe they're doing the right thing. They're tired of this war. They're tired of the blood and death. But it doesn't justify making this horrible decision, and I'm pretty sure they know deep down that we're right.
It doesn't stop them from doing this though.
Half of them carry torches, but they're almost unneeded. Around us, shards light up in every direction in the woods. They're like a creepy path to our destruction. And it almost seems sad that they believe these pieces came from the heart of a goddess who saved them but are now being used to destroy a world. It's also creepy to see just how many there are in these woods.
"I thought we'd collected most of the shards," I say.
Dusk shakes his head. “There are almost enough for the king to expand the shadow realm.”
Flame glances back at me, his mouth in a thin line. "We've been keeping a stash of them from the elder. Part of our agreement was to put them back."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Phantom growls. "After all our hard work!"
Flame winces, but then shakes his head. "It doesn't matter anymore. This war has been lost."
"What would your goddess say?" Rayne asks, crossing his arms over his chest. Neither he nor I were bound. I'm thinking it's because they didn't see us as much of a challenge, which is more than a little insulting.
"Goddess help us," rises from a few of the men, but nothing else.
Rayne gets a familiar look on his face, one that says he's putting together pieces of a puzzle, and that he's close to making them work. I just hope whatever he's figuring out will help us when he does. Not that we have a lot of time left.
“The second they get us to the shadow realm we're done for.” Phantom speaks in a low voice just beside Rayne, telling us something I'm pretty sure we all already know. But then he leans in and whispers something to Rayne. I can't see either of their faces, but I see Rayne tense, then give a subtle nod.
A second later, I watch Rayne slip Phantom something. I'm not sure what, but my mind is going a million miles a minute. There's a plan. A way to escape before we reach the shadow realm, I hope, but I don't know how it’d be possible. Not with a dozen shadow beasts around us, and dozens more a short distance in front of us. But I know we have to make a move soon... or never.
I don’t know the plan, don’t know my place in it, but I’m ready to fight. My muscles tense, and I watch my men, ready for the smallest sign.
And then, it's like an explosion. Phantom breaks free of his bindings, then uses his dagger to cut Onyx and Dusk free, the three of them have taken swords from our guards before our enemies know what's happened. I don't know what to do, but I clench my hands into fists, ready to help in any way I can.
But within seconds, a hand digs into my arm so hard it hurts, and then I'm being hauled away. Away from the fight and my men.
I look at the person taking me, feeling frantic. And... my gaze catches with Rayne's.
"Wh-what?"
