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“You really shouldn’t have done that!” the warlock snapped as he returned to my side, anger coating his words. “You are nothing but a measly little—”
“That’s enough, Ian,” the wolf snapped. “If it weren’t for her, you would’ve been crushed, and you damn well know it.”
I glanced at the warlock, seething with his nostrils flaring, fists curled at his sides. “I will make sure the general hears of this,” he snarled, storming away, turning on his heel.
My eyes shifted to the other vehicles. As far as I could see, nobody had gotten hurt. There were groups of healers, soldiers, and foresters. The soldiers of the other vehicles were tending to their people, no doubt trying to assure them that everything would be fine. But the air was stagnant with sulfur instead of sea salt water, and my stomach curled at the stench. My eyes flickered in every direction, trying to find the source, but it was nothing but barren, burned land that stretched on both sides of us.
“Where is the attack coming from?” a voice asked, and my eyes drew to a red-accented soldier as he approached the wolf.
“I can’t tell. It’s from everywhere.” My soldier shook his head, glancing around, eyes narrowed, and lips curled downward in a displeased frown.
“Azula,” Carli’s voice was small as she grabbed my wrist, tugging me away from the main conversation. “You know better!”
I shook her hand off. “So? I helped, didn’t I? A lot would be dead if I hadn’t.”
She grimaced, and I noticed a cut on her cheek, trickling with blood. “You can get sent home. You do know that, don’t you?”
I shook my head, squaring my shoulders as I set my jaw. “I helped, and if they can’t see that, that’s on them.”
A red streak of light shot behind Carli, and a forester crumpled to the ground near us, unmoving. A scream ignited the air, and footsteps pounded as everyone started running in every other direction. My eyes caught sight of Olga, who stood just feet away, but her face was turned away from mine.
“Olga!” I screamed, grabbing hold of Carli’s wrist before she could bolt off somewhere and put herself in the path of whatever was going on.
Olga whipped her face around, blinking several times, but not before I saw the white orbs that had been her eyes. Milky white, as if she’d suddenly gone blind. But they were now back to their bright blue color as if it hadn’t happened. Unnerved by the sight, but knowing there was no time to question it, I watched as Olga ran for us, and another hand gripped my wrist. My head whipped around, catching sight of Mallory, whose face was etched in fear.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I hissed. “I saw you leave for the village.”
“When your back was turned, I snuck in,” she admitted sheepishly. “What’s going on? What are these attacks?”
I shook my head. Now wasn’t the time to chastise her for her idiotic decision to follow us. I would have a word with her later, but I just had to protect her for now. Timothy would kill me if this was the time that Mallory died. But hey – at least he couldn’t kill me for her following along. I’d sent her home. I did my job of protecting her then for my mistake of letting her join us. I fixed that mistake, and now it was on her. But I still had to protect her.
Irritation flared in me, but I shoved it down as Olga caught up to us. The ground shook and a large object was pelted in our direction.
“Duck!” I screamed, and the three of them followed my command as I threw my hands over us, palms up, and conjured a shield to wrap around us.
The item hit, and two more followed, slamming against the shield. The impacts shook me, slamming through me, and it took an effort to keep the shield up. My knees locked as I was pushed to the ground, the shield tightening around us, but I made sure it kept all our bodies inside. The sky darkened around us, and lightning streaked. I gripped the shield tighter, making sure it wasn’t about to split.
More objects hit, trying to break our cover, but I held on. I held on until I felt like I couldn’t anymore, then I held on tighter, desperate to keep my grip. Every time they slammed down, my body shook, my bones flaring in pain as they ricocheted through me. I could feel the trickle of blood escaping my nose, but I ignored it. My heart thundered in my ears, pounding in my throat.
Then silence hit. Nothing pelted down upon us, but I lingered for a few moments to ensure it wasn’t about to start up again. Finally, sure we weren’t about to experience another storm, I released my hold on the shield and drew up.
Scuffled footsteps drew my eyes up as the soldier for my group ran up to us, followed by a few others – all looking bewildered, distressed from what had just happened. Drawing my eyes away from him, I surveyed the area around us. Boulders of various sizes littered the ground around us, some whole and some shattered entirely. Blocks of ice also sat around us, fully intact, unfazed by the sun as it drew out of the puffy clouds.
“Who the hell could do this?” Olga breathed, her voice cracking in what I assumed was an attempt to not cry.
Reaching up, I wiped at the blood streaming from my nostrils, pieces fitting in my mind as I drew my hand back to look at the smeared red on my fingertips. “Witches,” I answered warily. “Magic. That’s who and what.”
“But – but why?” Carli asked, confusion in her shaky words. “Why would anyone want to attack us? We’re – we’re military.”
I shook my head and raised my eyes to the horizon, squinting against the sun's rays. No signs of anyone were around us, but I could feel them now. Or maybe I imagined it simply because I’d guessed who had done this. Either way, I knew they were out there, in wait.
“That’s exactly why they did it,” my soldier responded instead. “There are people in this world who don’t want us fighting against the enemy. Others want to fight who aren’t allowed to. Some witches, for example, find it completely unfair and attack out of anger. Some hate the military, and there are enemies in our midst. We don’t know exactly where, but they basically hide inside our territory, doing an inside job. Then some are on our side but work for the enemy. There are various reasons why we were attacked, none of which I can simply explain to you why it happened today.”
Looking around again, I took in the burned lands, but this time really saw the layout. Smoke rose up in the sky, and a few houses were dotted along the horizon, too dark of shapes for me to make out what they looked like.
“Where exactly are we?” I glanced at the overturned vehicles.
My soldier let out a slow sigh, biding his time before responding. “This is Ashland Hollows, the graveyard of the military. We knew coming this would pose a risk, but—”
