This can’t end like this, she thought, her mind drifting to Dhalia and her certain death, to her friend and the memories they’d shared in over twenty years of friendship.
Is this the end?
A loud, deep scream interrupted her whimpers. Her captor took his eyes off her for a second. Distracted by the sound, he lost the grip of his left hand a little. Alissa took advantage, using her head as a weapon and hitting it against his. His right hand accidentally left the hilt of his sword. In an agonizing motion,she removed the blade that stuck out of her thigh and pointed it at the man, but he kicked it far away before she could strike.
Alissa rolled to her left, crawling to where her dagger lay amid the wheat. The stranger was fast as he grabbed her feet again and pulled her closer once more, but this time, he made a mistake; he didn’t see the weapon she held in the palm of her hand.
The small black dagger didn’t pierce a neck this time. Instead, it punctured an eye, slicing through his skull with an ease she hadn’t anticipated. The sound was reminiscent of an orange being squeezed. The subsequent symphony of cracking bones triggered a memory of her first hunt. Hot blood gushed over her face, the smell of the blood causing instant nausea. The body collapsed onto her, pressing down on her chest so heavily that the air in her lungs felt stubbornly trapped.
Alissa struggled to move the dead weight on top of her. When she finally did, her body acted on its own, guided by instinct to finally kill the man holding Freyah. When she looked up, she gasped in relief. Alissa realized then where that scream—the one that had saved her life—had come from.
Eldric moved his sword with the same precision and determination he had shown them in training. He was fast and agile; his skill was such that he wielded the blade with the same ease with which he ran across the field toward the man.
The stranger let go of Freyah the minute he saw Eldric approaching.
Alissa admired the view in awe: Eldric’s muscles were tensed, and the short strands of hair flowed in the wind. The look on his face was focused. She knew just by looking at him that adrenaline moved him forward just as much as the willpower to save them.
The captor cursed, running away to whatever place he had come from, but it was too late for him. In his bad shape, runningwasn’t much better than a power walk. He had no chance against Eldric’s strength and agility. It took Eldric seconds to bury his emerald-hilted sword through the man’s soft, hairy chest.
Alissa crawled to where Freyah lay, dodging the trail of corpses they left on the yellow field. Her friend sobbed, paralyzed in shock. They sat there for a while, hugging each other, tears flowing freely. The blood staining their faces had already started to dry, sticking to their hair and skin. A reminder of what they had been through.
Eldric watched them. His usual blank expression failed him, incapable of hiding the multitude of emotions flowing through him. Alissa recognized anger as the one winning over, because it mirrored hers.
Her heart tightened inside her ribcage—she had never been so thankful for someone as she was for Eldric at that moment. It made her wonder how she was ever capable of doubting his character. She mouthed a thank you and tried to smile to ease the tension, but she couldn’t.
Chapter 17
Stupid Blade
Alissa had always thought of ending someone else’s life as inconceivable. She couldn’t grasp how anyone could find themselves prepared to cease another’s existence. The level of selfishness, apathy, and cruelty it took to take from another the one thing everyone had of most value—their lives—was unimaginable to her.
Having to kill animals to survive already took a toll on her, and she knew part of her was forever changed the day she took her first life. Considering that, Alissa had always believed she was incapable of doing the same to a human being. Someone who could be to another what she was to Dhalia or to her father. Her eyes used to fill with tears at the simple contemplation of such a scenario.
Of course, she would have never expected that taking those men’s lives would be so easy in reality. From the moment she left the wheat field and the blood-stained battleground behind, she had been replaying it all in her head. The sound of her dagger piercing the soft neck of the first man, the way the blood seemed to boil out of where the blade was buried. His eyes were wide, frozen in a lifeless gaze. Alissa contemplated the fragility of life, how in that one second, she took everything that man had. Thememories of an entire life were forever gone, the dreams he might have had that would never come true. The scars he carried in his body were now completely unimportant, as what was left of him rotted under the hot sun of Heldraine.
Death was a tragedy; it robbed people of everything they held dear. Yet it was precisely its inevitability that gave their lives meaning.
When the realization of what she had done hit, Alissa felt the guilt, once disguised by adrenaline, rush in. She felt for their mothers, who held those men, full of innocence, as babies in their arms and looked into their eyes with overwhelming love.
An invisible pain stabbed her chest with the thought of that happening to her baby and how that could be her reality in a few months if she didn’t succeed in her mission. She had killed people, and now she saw how true the commitment she had made to herself that night was. By committing to fight anyone to save those she loved, she gained the confidence she needed to save Dhalia, as she had saved Freyah.
The reason why those men had attacked Freyah so unexpectedly was still a mystery to them, unlike the weakness, sweat, and dizziness that became more obvious to her with every passing minute. She believed her sickness was a response to the traumatizing events of earlier that day, but her burning forehead proved the cause was physical, not emotional.
Freyah glanced at Alissa; she looked paler than usual. “Are you okay, Lissa?”
“Yes, I just feel… weak,” she whispered, realizing how hard it was to swallow. Her muscles spasmed next.
Eldric immediately stopped the carriage to examine her. “Kriegen, were you injured?”
His eyes were wide, frantically scanning her body for any signs of harm. An impossible task when she was all covered in other people’s blood.
Was she hallucinating, or was the look on his face one of concern?
Her eyes began to roll back, giving in before she could answer Eldric’s question. He grabbed her shoulder and shook her in an attempt to keep her conscious.
“Alissa!”
Did he just call me by my first name?