A Story of Blood and Thorns

Chapter 6

A person stumbles out of the tree line, and I reach for something to defend myself. My hand closes around Maria's fire stick. Metal scrapes against metal next to me, and I see Elijah holding twin swords. Seven waves his hands in an intricate pattern. As he does so, the fire reignites. A scream erupts from the shadows.

Ten Forsaken claw their way into the clearing. Four women, five men, and a child. I freeze in place as Maria mutters a curse.

"What are they doing here?" Jon whispers, his voice carrying in the silence. The Forsaken don't make a noise as they circle us, the fire against our backs. "They shouldn't be this far south."

"Well, they are," Seven hisses. He eyes the child and the two men on either side of it.

A tree rustles, and five more Forsaken enter the clearing. Fifteen now. Panic shoves it's way down my throat and into the deepest parts of me, freezing me in place. This is impossible.

"Impossible," Zahra says, echoing my thoughts. "This is impossible."

Without warning, one of the new ones lunges forward with a snarl. Maria darts in front of Jon, and they go down in a pile of thrashing limbs.

And all hell breaks loose.

Seven yells something, and the fire flares brighter. The light illuminates the empty eye sockets of the Forsaken and the worm-eaten skin peeling off their bones. I rush toward a woman, determined to take her out before she can choose who she wants. The pole sweeps under her feet, and she goes down. I stomp on her head before she can attack. Her head caves in and her brains ooze out of her ears. A thick gooey mess gathers at my feet.

"Disgusting," I spit. The sounds of fighting draw my attention to the big fight in the middle of the clearing, near the fire. Zahra fights off three, four Forsaken. Silver gleams in her hands as she lunges and ducks, weaving through them like water. I hurry towards her. Before I get to her, she trips backward. One of the Forsaken grabs one of her knives and plunges it into her chest. Her mouth drops open as her arms windmill. She falls in slow motion. The wound in her chest drops blood, and maybe if I get there on time, I can save her.

I slash through a woman and take the head off a man, and reach for Zahra. A Forsaken intercepts me. Another appears behind Zahra. It locks its arms around her neck, and without a sound, pulls her back into the fire.

"ZAHRA!" A hair-raising shriek slams into my ears. I duck, the Forsaken taking advantage of my distraction. A blur of brown hair streaks past me and Maria reaches into the flames for the body of her lover. She doesn't notice the Forsaken behind her until he shoves her into the fire.

Sparks fly and one last scream tears my heart from my chest. A hand rises from the blaze. Scorched black, it falls back in and crumbles to ash.

I punch through another Forsaken. It falls, it's mouth open in a taunting smile. Then silence.

Silence greets me.

No cheers.

No sounds of celebration.

Horror rising in my stomach, I spin in a slow circle. Bodies cover the ground. The fire hisses and pops as it reveals the bodies of my friends strewn across the ground. A spear stakes Seven to a tree, blood dripping out of his mouth. Below him is Elijah. Jon is on the other side of the fire, his eyes turned to the stars. His chest had been ripped open by the Forsaken. And the two lovers, Maria and Zahra, in the fire.

The blue cape from before lays in a heap near the wagon. A Forsaken's head covers half of it.

A strangled gasp leaves me and I fall to my knees. My heart crumbles to pieces as I claw at the blood-soaked ground, desperate for the last few minutes to be reversed. I wail, my voice jagged and sharp.