Chapter 60 Siege #2
Another bright light shines and I squint through it before noticing that we have made our way closer to Sam and Baldar. The light around us brightens and darkens dramatically. I cannot help but feel disoriented as the men around me appear and disappear in the changing light.
Another piercing noise sweeps through the air and the prince collapses to my left.
"No!" I scream reaching for him, but another man swings a hammer towards my head, and I duck and roll out of the way to avoid the swing. I reorient myself, and glance over to see the prince back on his feet, but he is now much further away. The battle is raging around him making it impossible for him to get closer to us. Sorin is now the only one standing at my side. I catch the prince’s eyes and he yells over to Sorin. “Get her out of here!”
I glance towards Baldar and Sam and see that they are still entrenched in battle, hundreds of soldiers surrounding them. Through the fray, Baldar and I make eye contact.
"No, Alaceandra!" Baldar screams in my head. "You should not be out here. They are too close."
"Who?" I internally scream back at him; I duck again as the man wielding the hammer takes another swing at me. I throw flames in his direction and he deftly avoids them before taking yet another swing. I watch as one of the soldiers makes a grab for Baldar and successfully captures him.
A squeak trills sharply through my head. "Keep fighting you cannot be taken." Baldar's voice is weak and strained. “I cannot hold this form much longer. Survive, Alaceandra. I will see you soon.” A couple of seconds later, a sense of emptiness fills me.
What? No! Where did he go?
That humming sensation within me grows even stronger as I throw fireball after fireball at the men surrounding me and Sorin.
Light no longer overtakes the sky, instead it is consumed by darkness, the burgundy of the soldiers’ armor seeming to glow in the low light.
I stab at any man who gets close enough and duck and weave as weapons swing in front of my face.
My energy starts to wane in spite of the humming reaching a fevered pitch.
I stumble slightly, tripping over a shoe left in the street when an axe gets dangerously close to slicing me.
Seconds later Sorin appears behind the man's back and slits his throat.
My eyes snag on a man sneaking up on Sam from behind. A stick held firmly in his grip.
"Sam!" I scream.
Sam's pitch-black eyes swing to mine at the same time the man swings the stick. It does not make contact. Right before the swing connects, a void of darkness expands from Sam's form. Bodies drop as the inky blackness takes a hold of them. “Run!” Sam yells, his voice distorted.
"Come on!" Sorin yells and grabs me. We run past Sam and make it out of the village and into the woods surrounding what was once our refuge.
Crouching between the trees, I become overwhelmed with emotion and tears start to stream from my eyes as the pain in my arm and all that I have witnessed catches up to me.
I take a heaving breath. "Sam and the prince…
They are still back there." Tears continue to streak down my face as I gasp for air.
The humming fills my ears and it feels like every nerve ending is on fire.
"They will be okay; we do not know that they are not. We just need to get out of here for now. We will catch up to them later."
"The soldiers are here for me. This is all my fault. All my-"
"Shh we cannot worry about that now. We need to run hard and fast; we cannot stop for a long time. Do you understand?" A roaring sounds above us as more elvisera soar towards the village entrance.
"What about-"
"We cannot worry about them."
I sniff, wiping my tears from my eyes with my working arm. "Okay. Okay. We can go. I am sorry." I start to run deeper into the woods, but Sorin stops me.
He hesitates. "Whatever happens..." Sorin grasps my face in his hands and kisses me deeply. I hold onto him tightly like he is my only lifeline, because he is. "I love you, Alaceandra. You will get through this."
Me? My eyes search his. "We will get through this," I say, another tear leaking onto my cheek. "Sorin, I love-" He places a finger over my lips, halting my words.
His face lights up with a cheeky smile. Despite all the death and destruction.
All the unknowns, my Sorin, my rock, still has it in him to smile.
The humming dies down slightly, his presence calming whatever chaotic energy was growing within me.
“We need to move. You can tell me la-" His beautiful smile drops, and he looks down.
"Sorin?" I say, reaching towards him. Red seeps from his stomach and slowly starts to coat the front of his shirt. Blood. My heartbeat sounds in my ears as the world starts to move in slow motion.
Sorin grabs at the front of his shirt and his eyes meet mine, full of tears.
"I love you," Sorin whispers. I watch as his eyes roll back, and my vision starts to turn hazy.
No. No, this is not happening. His grip on me loosens and his arms fall to his sides.
"Run." His voice is strangled as he falls to his knees and then crashes to the ground.
"No!" I shout and fall down with him, placing my hand over the wound. "Stay with me, Sorin. Please! Please! You promised!" Tears stream down my face as blood starts to soak my hands, my clothing, my body as I do everything I can to stop the blood. Sorin's blood.
"I am so sorry." I hear a voice whisper.
Whipping my head up, I see a crying Sylvie holding a bloodied knife.
Her eyes are a milky white and her face is unnaturally pale.
She takes a step back. As our eyes connect, her knife falls to the forest floor.
"She's here!" she screams, her voice unnatural and choppy.
"Sylvie what are you-" My voice is shaking. Blood so much blood. Everywhere. The humming within my head comes back full force as magick flares to life under my skin. The mark on my thigh starting to burn painfully.
"He is dead! It is done! She is over here!" Sylvie screams again. Soldiers appear from the trees, surrounding us. Sylvie backs away from us, then turns and stumbles into the woods as the men close in.
Dead? No, he… he cannot be dead. He is right here.
He just said— A prickling heat stabs my skin as a foreign force invades every crevice of my mind.
A woman's ghastly scream echoes through the space— my scream— as I try to force Sorin to wake up.
Hands grab at me, pulling me away from him, and I fight them with all of my might, shooting streams of fire at anyone who tries to get near until I am overwhelmed.
As the men finally start pulling me away from Sorin— my Sorin— a sickly-sweet voice whispers in my ear.
I echo its message as if in a trance. "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. If those I love shall die, you too must." An explosion of fire bursts from my body, and I watch robotically as the soldiers surrounding me succumb to the flames.
Their forms turn to dust before me. Once all who surround me are ash, piercing silence rings through the forest. I crawl back over to Sorin and collapse on top of him and then darkness.