We wouldn’t be able to fight them all off.
“Get her in to the cabin.” Yelson barked at his sister. His hands wrapped around the goblins face and twisted its head farther than it should go. The loud snap echoed around the clearing.
My legs refused to move. I stood frozen staring at Yelson in horror. Even though that thing deserved to die, I could not bring
myself to accept that fact that Yelson did it. He killed something in front of me.
“Anastasia.” Mari jerked my arm toward her forcing me to run to the cabin.
Two goblins jumped out of the forest after us. A guard managed to stop one and pinned it to the ground with his body. However the second one was faster and escaped his grasp.
Mari pushed me to keep running as she stopped halfway to the cabin. She cut through the air with her sword. It made contact with the goblins left arm. It fell to the ground letting out a high pitched scream. Within seconds she was running after me. When we entered the cabin she locked the door behind her.
“No, they are still out there,” I screamed at her. She stopped me before I could open the door, holding my arm back with her free hand.
“Yelson told me to bring you in here. Protecting you is the most important thing right now.”
“He is your brother.”
“I know that,” she yelled. She shoved me away as she turned the last lock. “And I know this is what he would want me to do because protecting you is priority.”
“You said that but why?” I asked. She moved past me to look out the window. “Why am I so damn important Mari? It can’t possible just be about Daruka.”
“Yes it is! You are the only person who could end the wrath of Daruka. You can bring peace back to this planet and only you can. So yes you are so important for only that reason. Can we please discuss this another time?” She was right. Everyone else was still outside and I needed to focus on how to help them.
I followed her to the window. She pushed the blue curtains out of the way. From the angle we were at we couldn’t see much. The goblin Mari had injured was still on the floor clutching its arm. Two more bodies lay behind it and only one of the guards, the one who dragged me from the goblin, was visible.
His dark hands blocked a hit from the goblin that was missing an arm. The guard moved to punch the goblin but it was faster and dogged it landing one of its own on his left hip. It quickly kicked the guard’s feet from under him. A cloud of dirt appeared when his large body hit the ground.
A different creature, one I did not recognize, ran to where the goblin now sat on top of the guard. Its large claw like hands started digging into the guard’s chest. Blood had begun to saturate the guards shirt.
“Oh my gosh.” I jumped away from the window and looked to the door.
“Don’t you dare.” Mari closed the blinds blocking our view of the fight.
“We need to help him.” I ran to the door and started to unlock it. Strong hands grasped my shoulders and pulled me away.
“I already told you no. You cannot go out there until Yelson comes for us.”
“We can’t just not do anything Mari. He could die, they all can die,” I tried to reason with her. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if any of them died because of something that was my fault.
“And he was aware of that before he volunteered to come, we all were.”
“What?” I stared at her in shock. She knew there was a possibility something like this would happen.
“Everyone here volunteered to come. Cabel told us that we might get attacked by Daruka’s men because they could be waiting for you to return so that they can kill you. He was right. He also told us that protecting you is our primary concern, no matter the cost.”
Yelson lied to me. He told me the possibility of Daruka’s men attacking was little to none and not to worry about it. I believed him. It was the only reason I was okay with us all returning to my cabin.
“I don’t want anyone to die because of me,” I whispered. I never wanted this to happen. I thought it was safe to come back here.
“I am not letting you out of this cabin.” She planted her feet in front of the door. Her hands rested on her hips as she stared me down.
“Mari, please. I have already lost my family because I hid from the bad guys. I don’t want to lose any more people for the same reason.”
I could see her processing what I said. She knew what it meant to lose people. She lost her parents. She didn’t want to lose her brother too. However, she also knew what it meant for my safety. I was the only one who could end this war and bring back peace to Bolton. If I died there was no more hope left in the world.
“You stay next to my side the entire time.” She grabbed a dagger from her belt and handed it to me. The heavy metal felt foreign in my hands. I hadn’t had much training with weapon but I needed something to protect myself so I gladly took it.
Mari grabbed her sword off the floor. She looked through the peephole before opening the door. Its hinges creaked sending an eerie noise into the unusually silent clearing.
The guard lay face down in the last place I saw him. The goblins who attacked him were nowhere in sight. I ran past Mari to where he laid.
“Anastasia,” Mari hissed after me but it was too late. I knelt down next to his body. It took all my energy to turn him over. His white eyes blankly stared at me.
“He’s dead.” Mari’s cold voice came from behind me. I fumbled with trying to find a pulse even though it was a lost cause. “We need to go.”
She grabbed my forearm and yanked me to my feet. We started walking away from the fallen guard.
I followed her because I needed to find Yelson and Weldon. As much as I was sad for the dead guard, I didn’t feel much. I didn’t know him, not even his name. I needed to find my friends and make sure they were okay.
No one was in sight. A few bodies littered the ground but other than the guard, I didn’t recognize anyone. I don’t know what I would have done if I did. We walked around the perimeter of the clearing before deciding we needed to go into the forest.
There was a small patch of brush that had been disturbed recently. We both decided it was as good a place as any to enter from.
The mid-day sunlight seemed to disappear in the thick forest. I kept close to Mari while watching out for anyone else. I didn’t want us to get attacked by surprise again.
“Did you hear that?” Mari whispered. She looked into the trees on our left but there was nothing there.
“No.” I strained my ears to hear what she did. She beckoned me to follow her as she moved toward what she was hearing. We walked for a minute before I started to hear it too.
Someone was talking. Their voices were just mumbles but the closer we got the clearer their conversation became. However, they were speaking Greek. I could only make out a few words here and there, nothing to make sense of what they were talking about.
“Do you know what they are saying?” I asked Mari. She seemed to understand what they were speaking.
“They are talking about killing someone,” she said quietly next to me.
“Who?” My breath quickened at the thought of it being one of the guys. Maybe they had gotten one of them somehow.
“I don’t know. But he is there with them.”
I listened to the men’s voices. It was two people talking back and forth to each other. Their scratchy voices fought over something I couldn’t make out. After a few minutes new voice joined the conversation. One voice I never thought I would hear again.
“We need to save him.” I whispered quickly as my heart rate sped up in my chest.
“Anastasia I know you want to but I just don’t think we can.” Mari shook her head.
“I have to,” I hissed at her. She must have sensed the determination in my voice because after a minute she nodded. Her
warm hand pressed against my side in an effort to calm me down. It was the first nice thing she had ever done for me.
“I will circle a
round behind them,” she whispered close to my right ear. “You will show yourself to them. Cause some sort of distraction so I can take them out by surprise.”
I nodded in reply. My grip on the dagger tightened at the sound of their voices just feet from us. We didn’t have a visual on them so we weren’t sure exactly how many there were. I had my fingers crossed on it being just the two.
Mari gracefully moved her body around the brush making sure her sword was easily accessible. I counted to one hundred before walking into the small clearing.
Two small, ugly goblins stood in front of a tree blocking my view of whom they were talking too. They didn’t seem to notice me.
“Hey,” I yelled in their direction. When they turned to look at me my heart stopped.
Simon was tied to the tree. His clothes were a tattered mess. He was wearing the same night clothes as the day they took him from me. His once handsome face was broken and bruised that I almost didn’t recognize him. A large gash covered his forehead above his right eye causing blood to slowly trickle in to it.
“Simon,” I whispered. His sad eyes looked to me in horror. His mouth opened and closed as he fought for what to say.
“The princess,” the shorter goblin said in awe. I casted a quick glimpse behind me but no one was there. His green catlike eyes were trained on me.
The second goblin didn’t waste a second as he lunged at me. He was taller than I expected, almost my height. I grabbed his arm and tried to shove his body away from me but I lost my footing and fell bringing him with me.
I push him off and jumped back to my feet. He lunged at me again, my knife in his hands. He must have gotten it when we fell. I panic at what to do. I tried to think of a spell. But before I could remember anything he made contact with my gut. A sharp pain like no other erupted throughout my torso. Something warm saturated the bottom half of my shirt.
“Ahh!” I yelled as some invisible force pushed the goblin away from me and I fell to the ground.
I touched the area above my left hipbone. A warm red liquid coated my fingers. Was that my blood? I was oblivious to what was happening around me. The goblin hadn’t attacked me again. Maybe Mari got to them.
I looked around but could only see trees. I tried to sit up but the pain pushed me back down.
Breath Annie. Think.
I am a Strega. I could heal myself, but I don’t know how. With all my training, I hadn’t had much time to work on my healing spells. I wished I paid more attention to Simon.
Simon!
My brother was here. I shot up from the ground and searched for where he laid. Mari was helping to untie him from the tree.
“Simon,” I cried as I ran to him. I collapsed next to him wrapping my arms around his torso. His once strong arms felt weak as they tried to hold me to him.
“Annie, what are you doing here?” His scratchy voice was nothing like I remembered. It was small and weak. I felt like he would fall into pieces at any moment.
“I came to find you. We all did,” I said looking up at Mari who stared at Simon.
“All of you?” he asked looking around for others.
“Yelson and Weldon are here as well as three-two-guards.” Mari’s voice came out calm and cool as she spoke to my brother.
Simon simply nodded his head before looking at my stomach. “You’re bleeding.”
I had forgotten about the wound. It wasn’t hurting anymore and the bleeding seemed to stop. I forced my hands to move the shirt to reveal my torso. A small faint pink line was the only thing that marred my skin.
“Oh my gosh,” I gasped as I poked the scar. “How is this possible?”
Mari and Simon shared a look. A look of shock and fright. I stared back and forth between the two of them as their silent exchange continued.
“What?”
“We have to go.” Mari helped Simon stand up.
He slightly wobbled but quickly regained his footing. I wrapped his arm around my shoulders and mine around his waist releasing some of the weight from his legs.
Mari led the way back to the cabin. It took longer since we had Simon. He forced us to move slower as he had trouble walking.
I wondered what they did to him to make him like that. He was always the strongest person I knew, even stronger than my dad. But when I look at him now, leaning on me to help him walk a couple of steps, I didn’t see that man. I saw someone beaten to a point where he had no reason to live, a person who gave up.
I was so deep in thought that I didn’t see a man jump out of the trees. He grabbed my arm and pulled me away from my brother.
“Annie,” he yelled as I was dragged into the woods. Mari didn’t hesitate as she ran after us.
The troll moved faster trying to outrun Mari. He tried to jump over a root but I pulled against causing him to trip onto the floor. I fell on top of him. He quickly turned around. His wide, angry face was right next to mine. He grabbed my arms and dug his fingers into me.
I managed to kick him, stunning him enough to get off of him. Before he could get up Mari’s sword had made its way into his chest. He stared at it blankly for a moment before collapsing to the floor.
She gave me a ‘what the hell were you thinking’ look before she grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to my brother.
“Annie,” Simon said when he saw me walk out of the trees. He sat on the floor as he anxiously waited for us to come back. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, gotta pay more attention don’t I?” I helped him off the floor.
“We need to get back.” We nodded at Mari before we started walking again.
After half an hour we emerged from the forest at the back of the property. I could hear the guys yelling in the front of the cabin. I couldn’t see them but I knew they were angry.
“We shouldn’t have left them alone!” Yelson yelled over one of the guard who began to talk.
“They were not supposed to leave the cabin,” a voice I didn’t recognize said.
As we turned the corner I could see Yelson and the two guards standing by the front porch. Yelson’s face was flushed with anger as the guards tried to calm him down.
“We are fine. Even got a third wheel,” Mari exclaimed.
“Thank god,” Yelson sighed. He ran to my side and encompassed me in one armed hug as I was still holding on to Simon. His voice rang in my ears as he whispered how worried he was. “I thought they took you.”
“I’m fine,” I said as he let me go. I decided not to mention anything about the troll as he would had a freaked out. He quickly gave his sister a hug before he turned his attention to my brother.
“It’s nice to see you again Simon.” He couldn’t contain his shocked face. My brother was the last person he expected to see.
“Yelson,” he replied with a slight nod.
“Come on, let’s get you inside.” I moved to enter the cabin but Yelson stopped me.
“Maybe that is not a good idea right now,” He said as he held my elbow.
“What? Why?” Yelson’s face grew strained as he looked away from me. The guards behind him averted their eyes as well. “What is going on?”
I searched the small crowd and found what was missing. “Where is Weldon?”
“I’m sorry Annie.”
Chapter Nine
No.
It couldn’t be true. I was talking to him not even two hours ago. My arm fell limp to my side as I let go of my brother. His grip on me got tighter. It was his turn to hold me up.
“How?” My voice was a whisper.
“He was ambushed when he followed a dwarf into the woods. I’m so sorry Annie,” Yelson said. “I should have been with him. I shouldn’t have let him run off by himself.”
Before the he said his last word I was running to the cabin. Everyone tried to stop me but I was fast enough to escape their outstretched hands.
The air inside was stale and smelled metallic. The state of everything was how I remembered it. Broken and shattered. I looked all around for my frie
nd. My eyes stopped on the couch. A pair of black boots peaked out of the corner. I slowly made my way around to get a better look.
My heart stopped at what I saw. Weldon’s large body lay on the couch. His shirt was ripped to shreds at where he was attacked. Blood covered his torso but was no longer coming from his wounds, telling me his heart stopped pumping.
His sweet face looked peaceful. He looked years younger than his twenty three when he didn’t have that legendary smirk on. I cried as I knelt next to him. I touched his cold cheek and broke down.
“Oh Weldon, I am so sorry,” I cried. I laid my head next to his but didn’t touch him.
It was my fault he was dead. He only volunteered to come because of me. He wanted to help me and protect me. If I didn’t want to come so badly we would be at home playing with Arabella.
“I’m sorry. This should be me. None of us should have ever come back here.”
Don’t say that. Someone whispered in my ear. I looked to see Yelson standing in the doorway.
“It is my fault though.” I looked back at Weldon. I tried to avoid looking at his torso. If I didn’t see it than it wasn’t true. It could seem like he was just sleeping.
“No it is not. Weldon would tell you the same thing.” He moved the sit by me. “He knew what he was doing was dangerous. He came here because he cares about you Annie. He knew what it would mean to you to find your family.”
“He shouldn’t have come, none of us.” I pushed back his hair as I spoke. “Now two people are dead.”
“But we found your brother. Weldon would be happy about that.” He placed his hand on my arm. A sense of calm rushed over me.
A small smile spread across my face. “Weldon would have liked him.”
“He did,” Yelson laughed. He must have seen how confused I looked because he continued. “We used to visit him and your parents before the attack. That is how Cabel knew where to find you.”
“But how? I never saw any of you.”
“That was the point.”
I nodded my head. Of course they didn’t want me to see them. They probably came at night because I was rarely away from the cabin.
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