7. Raya
RAYA
“I’m sorry.”
- RAYA
The safe house appeared just as the sun soared at its highest. Beads of sweat mixed with dirt dripped down my forehead and back, and even Opal Blose had finally stopped talking. I couldn’t find the energy to be relieved. I was losing my mind; the voices had been quiet ever since my outburst. I knew that it wasn’t real, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of wrongness that seemed to follow me.
I stared at the safe house, attempting to clear my mind; the house was huge, more of a royal mansion. Pale, stone columns stood proudly at the front of the building, their strong structure keeping the building up right. Though clearly eroded from time, the house stood regal and beautiful, with green vines snaking up the wall and large, brown, wooden doors marking its entrance. We stood in silence just before Captain Luka motioned for us to crouch.
“Okay, we believe, from the letter we received from the guards, Sargent Whels is on the ground floor in the second dining room.”
“Who needs a second dining room?” Alias whispered to me, and I smiled weakly.
“…We move quickly and quietly. Alias, you’ll go with Opal to retrieve Sargent Whels, the rest of us will sweep the house. I want us in and out of there in minutes.” And with that he rose, checking the long sword at his side and the crossbow over his shoulder.
“See you after?” Alias said as Opal beckoned him towards him.
An odd feeling whirled in the pit of my stomach but I nodded my head. Of course, I would see him after, what other choice was there?
“See you after,” I said, giving him a quick hug before jogging towards the rest of my team.
We stalked slowly and quietly towards the house until we stood outside, each of us with our backs flat against the wall. Soon Alias slipped inside, Opal on his tail. Silence pushed against my skin, adrenaline pumping through my veins.
A minute passed, then two, then five, then ten. Alias should be back by now. I looked up at the blue sky, frowning at the clouds blocking the sun. I stared at the door, willing Alias to run through it, Sargent Whels in hand.
“Captain.” Alias’s crisp voice rung over earpieces; I sighed in relief.
“What’s taking so long, Alias?”
“He’s not here… Sargent Whels, he’s not here.”
Silence followed his voice. I stared at Luka, his complexion ashen and stark. And suddenly I was no longer staring at him, I was staring at the white stone behind him. At the red splashed up the wall. His unseeing eyes stared at me from the frozen ground, with an arrow perfectly seated in-between his eyebrows.
The ground beneath me moved as I was dragged into the house, my name on Lexa’s lips. Inside the house was chaos, soldiers friendly and foreign fought, some falling, never to get up again. I locked eyes with an attacker, his bow already raised, but I rolled away, pulling out a showing knife, hitting him between the eyes. Another arrow aimed for me but this time I was slower, the sharp steel grazing against my thigh.
Lexa pulled an arrow from a fallen enemy and sunk it into the next. I grabbed her arm, and we charged up the stairs, swords drawn and arrows firing sporadically, almost aimlessly. I slipped on the stairs when Lexa’s grip on me loosened as she fell, an arrow lodged in her chest. Her face was a mask of surprise and sadness. I reached for her, but I was not fast enough.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, knowing she was already dead. Our team seemed to be falling, one after the other. I tripped over Opal, alive but hanging on by a thread, as I staggered to the second dining room.
I couldn’t see Alias, and the noise of metal on metal prevented my shouts from being heard. Blood coated the fraying carpets as bodies fell.
And suddenly I was nine years old again.
The dead solider at my feet was not a stranger, she was my mother.
The world began to blur and spin, I couldn’t let this happen again. I couldn’t lose everything again. I blocked a blow from our cloaked enemies and disarmed him in moments, shifting though the crowd of chaos, hoping to find Alias. A heavy sword came down hard narrowly missing my shoulder, the vibrations throwing me forward, onto a dead body.
No not a dead body, it was Alias. He was broken and unconscious, but he was alive. The attacker raced towards us, his sword arced high in the air and his long, dark hair flowing wildly behind him. I couldn’t lose Alias, he was my only family, my only person. I looked around at the chaos surrounding me and my blood began to boil.
This was not right.
This was never right.
My mother’s glassy eyes, the sword through her chest, tripping over my friends’ bodies, Alias’s lifeless shape.
My blood began to sing and lightning coursed through my veins, begging for release.
My enemy was mere paces away. I couldn’t not defend us. I had to make a choice. I would not sit here and watch everything I cared about burn to nothing but ash and memories. A sharp tug began to ball in the pit of my stomach, the butterfly wings beat against my skin, and my vision became crisp.
The smell of fresh cut grass and my mother’s perfume filled my nostrils.
And suddenly everything slowed, almost stopping. My hair rose around me, as though gravity did not exist. Alias’s eyes cracked open as he regained consciousness, the instinct to shrink into myself clawed against me, but I could not be afraid, not this time. I dug into the foreign entity inside myself, feeling the pleasure-pain rip through my body.
And I did the only thing I could.
I let go, a scream ripping through the world.
And the world dissolved into fire and lightning and heat.
Silence pounded against my ears.
I was no longer hurt or tired, I was alive and buzzing with power as the floor cracked beneath us.
“Raya…” Alias whispered.
My hair slowly floated back down to my shoulders and my glow faded. I tilted my head back and breathed deeply, I had never known content like it. It was like I had told a secret I had been holding in for a hundred years. I opened my eyes slowly, gasping at the destruction around me. The floor to ceiling windows surrounding the dining room were smashed, the harsh winter air blowing through the room. I looked at the attackers surrounding us. They were all dead. My entire body was covered in scorch marks.
“We need to go,” I said, attempting to stand on shaky knees.
“Raya, stop.” Alias’s loud voice echoed through the room. “What was that? What is going on? I don’t unders—” he said, beginning to push the beam off his legs.
“I don’t understand either,” I said quietly. “All I know is that we were going to die and now we aren’t.” I finally met his eyes. “We need to leave, now.”
“And go where? Back to the Foothills? They’re going to want some sort of explanation of how the two of us killed…” he paused and looked around the room, “Sixteen soldiers!”
He was calling me a murderer.
“I saved your life!” I yelled. “Without me, you would’ve been dead by now!” Tears of frustration filled my eyes.
“Raya, stop talking,” he said holding up a hand.
“Are you seri—” I began before he clasped his hand over my mouth.
“Do you hear that?” he whispered as the faint sound of horse hooves hitting frozen earth filled the room.
“Maybe it’s help from the Foothills?” I said hopefully.
“How could they have gotten the message so quickly?” Alias said shaking his head. “More attackers?” he suggested.
We moved towards the broken windows, daring to peek outside. A single carriage raced towards us with a foreign banner flowing in the wind.
“We need to run,” I said quickly.
“Where? There is nothing but flat lands for miles.” His voice barely a whisper. “We need to surrender, then maybe they won’t kill us.”
“Maybe they won’t kill us?” I mocked him. “That’s the best outcome here?” I argued quietly.
“Do you have a better idea?” he said and I paused, my gaze flicking from Alias to the dead bodies around me. I shook my head.
“Everything is going to be fine,” he said, shuffling towards the staircase.
I wished he wasn’t such a terrible liar.
The safe house reminded me of Matron’s training barracks. It was big and old, but it felt hollow. Alias walked in front of me, and I saw his hands reach for a weapon whenever I got a too close. He was afraid of me. The thought alone was like dunking my hand in boiling water, but part of me liked the burn.
Movement caught my eye as Opal Blose hobbled towards us. He was alive, barely, blood dripping down his temple and one eye gone completely. Alias motioned for him to follow. Were we the only ones left?
We took the stairs slowly, cringing when the they creaked loudly. Alias looked back at us as we approached the front door. A bolt of nervous energy ripped through me; my palms began to sweat. The sound outside stopped abruptly, making the only noise our combined, shallow breathing. Alias turned to look at me and nodded once.
“Everything is going to be fine,” he whispered. I nodded back weakly. Opal coughed quietly, blood on his lips.
“We need to do this,” I whispered at Alias’s hesitation. “Or he’s not going to make it,” I gestured to Opal.
Alias nodded and reached for the door handle, twisting it slowly. My heart hammered in my chest. Everything is going to be fine, I repeated Alias’s words over in my head.
I didn’t see what was behind the door; I heard Alias scream my name and Opal attempt to fight but my world exploded into a blinding bright white all over again, but this time it wasn’t mine.
And this time I wasn’t sure who would survive.