AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He ran to his side and his knees hit the ground, reaching to take Sam’s hand. He was covered in blood and dirt. He was still alive. Severely injured but alive.
“What happened?” Nik took a quick look at Sam’s body. His leg was twisted in an inhuman way and weighed down by a large rock.
“Help me,” he spoke to Ali. She remained silent but she stood next to him as they lifted the rock together, freeing Sam’s leg. He let out another groan, somewhere between relief and pain.
“They came in through the front gate…took out our guards quickly and quietly. They moved through the front of town and killed everyone they came across. It was…they killed them before they could warn anyone. They moved so quickly…so quietly.”
Sam’s eyes were wide as he spoke. Nik could practically see the sorrow in his eyes as he relived the attack. It was a struggle for him to recount the tale.
“By the time someone was able to ring the alarm it was too late. They had swarmed the city. How did you get out?”
“We heard the commotion. We must’ve got lucky.”
“Lucky…” Sam muttered. His eyes glazed over slightly.
“Hey, stay with us. We’re going to get you out of here. We were tracking a few other refugees who followed us out. Did you happen to see them?”
“I ran into a few of them…the ones that did this to me. They had a few people bound.” He had several flesh wounds from sparring with the Coyotes. Nik wasn’t sure how he managed to find himself beneath the rock but they had left him for dead after that, assuming he would succumb to his injuries and the elements.
Ali stood behind him quietly, taking everything in. When Sam noticed her, he blinked and looked at Nik, a question forming on the tip of his tongue.
“Are you going after him?” Sam asked.
Nik tilted his head, unsure what to make of his question.
“That’s why you’re looking for them, right? Eli is the refugee you’re trying to find?”
Nik’s chest tightened and he glanced back at Ali. To his surprise, she wasn’t crying again. Worse…she still looked numb. Unphased by Sam’s questions.
“No, Eli…” He glanced at Ali again, wishing she wasn’t standing behind him. It would be better to rip off the band-aid. To be blunt and not beat around the bush. To not drag on her pain. “Eli is dead.”
Sam stared at him in disbelief and he heard Ali shift on her feet in discomfort. Then, slowly, he shook his head. “No. He was with them. I saw him. Eli isn’t dead.”
Ali dropped to her knees next to him and gasped. Her eyes went wide as she studied Sam. “What?”
“He’s alive.”
“How do you know?” Nik asked, hesitant to believe him.
“He was arguing with one of them. Calling him a bunch of names and saying he would slaughter them in his sleep. The usual.”
Ali threw herself onto Sam, crying into his chest. The look of surprise on Sam’s face almost made Nik laugh but he just watched her release tears of shock and unbelievable joy. He rubbed her back as she sobbed and reality sunk in.
Eli is alive.
***
Chapter Thirty-Four
Eli woke to the sound of yelling. A painful, tortured, yelling. The sun was rising, and he wasn’t sure how long he’d been passed out. Trees surrounded him, but he couldn’t see any distinguishable features. He could still smell the burning forest, though he could no longer see a fire or smoke. A thin blanket was the only barrier between his aching body and the hard ground beneath him.
He vaguely remembered being dragged through the forest surrounding Rysburg, hurling expletives at the Coyotes. It had been the only thing he could hurl. They’d injected him with something…some paralytic. One had hit him over the head just to shut him up. His head pounded as a reminder.
Is the battle over now? Where are we?
The yelling continued, and a woman came over, hushing him. The yelling was his own, he realized.
Eli dropped his head to the ground and took deep breaths. The woman pulled back his blood-soaked shirt, revealing a long gash. He watched, half-conscious, as she cleaned it with water and applied a solution, then covered it with clean cloth.
