I slowly finish making my way out of the hatch. Sorin makes quick work of climbing up the ladder. We all stand in what was once Sylvie's cottage.
"This is really bad," Sorin says.
"You don't say," the prince replies sarcastically, kicking a pipe. A loud clang echoes through the space. Someone sprints towards us in the distance.
"We should find cover. It is not safe out here." Sorin grabs my arm and we run towards the trees. Crouching, we watch as the man runs closer to where the cottage once stood. With a scream, he trips and falls over an abandoned doll. A soldier in burgundy and black armor follows close behind wielding some kind of pointed bat. Catching up to the man, he swings the huge weapon. With a sickening thwap, the man collapses. Blood sprays, painting the soldier's face and the surrounding area the same burgundy color as the attacker’s armor. He laughs before sauntering back towards the village.
A loud roar makes us all jump. We glance up to see one of the elvisera diving down and spraying more fire over the already burned remains of buildings.
"We need to get out of here," Sorin whispers.
"But what about Sam? He ran out ahead of us."
"Maybe we will find him on the way out. We cannot wait around for him."
"But the village is enclosed, the only way out of here is to go through…that." I motion towards the wreckage.
"I know, we will have to tread carefully, but the more we stand in one place the higher our chances of being seen. Let's go," Sorin says.
"Sorin is correct, I am sure that Sam will be able to handle himself in the meantime but it is much too dangerous for us to be hanging about."
Using what is left of the forest as coverage we slowly make our way deeper into the village. The villagers are fighting the men with burgundy and black armor in the streets with everything they have. Swords clang against axes and hammers. Arrows fly through the air and seemingly strike at random. Dead villagers are thrown to the side once defeated, the armored men's laughter echoes through the air as they take life after life. The stench of death and blood are heavy in the air.
A child's cry has my gaze swinging to the nearest building. A soldier has a man hanging over a table, his arms pinned behind him while another stands crouched in front of his face speaking to him.
"Where is she?" the armored man yells.
"Who? I do not know who you are-" The armored man stands and swings his axe. The villager's head falls to the ground.
"Daddy!" the child cries.
My eyes widen as the men advance on the child and, before I know it, my legs are moving. My body is propelled by instinct rather than thought as fire surges from my palm and into the nearest soldier. My bracelet glows as I make contact with the man's armor and a moment later the burgundy and black suit cracks allowing my fire to penetrate to his skin. He screams andtries to bat at the flames. My heartbeat is thumping through my ears as I take in what I have just done.
"Lace!" I hear Sorin's shout in the distance and I snap out from my daze. Turning, I approach the next armored man.
Using his panic to my advantage, I slice my dagger across the man's throat. He looks at me and his eyes bulge before his body falls to the ground. My body hums as my fire engulfs the man. Suddenly I am yanked back, my arms pulled firmly behind my back.
"There you are." Another soldier breathes into my ear.
I kick back and stomp on the man's foot. His grip on my arms tightens painfully and I struggle against his hold. "Stop moving, brat. I-" His grip loosens and I swing around to blast him with fire but see a bloody vine ripping itself through the man's chest.Sorin.
I turn to face the child but see that the prince is already crouching next to him, wiping at his tears. The child nods at whatever the prince said, holding an object close to his chest, then runs towards the wood line. The prince watches the little boy run until he has disappeared, obscured by the trees, and starts to walk over to me.
Something touches my shoulder and I swing around again, ready to face my next attacker, but it is only Sorin. "We need to keep moving." He says. I nod.
We also start to move back towards the trees but another shout catches our attention. "She's over there!" A woman screams.
The prince pushes me back. "Run!" He yells as several men in armor turn in our direction.
"What are you going to-" The air stirs and something glows in the prince’s hands and along his back.
"Is that a bow? I did not know you could do that." I marvel at the prince's newly formed weapon.
"There are a lot of things you don't know and a lot of things you never will if you do not get moving right now." He fires off a shot and a man falls in the distance. The prince’s eyes have turned a brilliant lavender.
"But—" my hand is yanked by Sorin pulling me away. Something whizzes by my head.
"You can't kill her asshole; he would kill us all."
