The Water Witcher (Completed)

Chapter 13 - Wrath

       It was silent as Corbin stood in the kitchen with Clara, helping her prepare dinner while Archibald rested upstairs. The knife clinking against the cutting board and the boiling pot of water filled the air while waiting for the others to get back.

"What's the story with Archibald, Luna, and Jasper? How did they become thieves?"

Clara let out a long, ragged breath as each chop sent a hard snap through the air.

"From what I know, Archibald always walked a fine line with the law. Apparently, the authorities learned it wasn't just coffee growing on his father-in-law's farm, and that's why the Soldados burned the place down. Everyone was killed, except for Luna. She hid in a tree for days, waiting. So I guess raising two kids by himself pushed him towards the corrupt world. I think it's the only way he knew how to support them."

"Sounds like they've been through a lot."

"Yes, and the scary part is weeks before it happened, Luna had nightmares about fires and bodies in the fields. Everyone thought it was just a kid having bad dreams but..." Clara paused and jerked her head towards the kitchen entrance. "Did you hear that?"

"No..."

At the sound of something slamming onto the ground with a strangled cry, they both flinched.

"Archibald must've fallen down the stairs!" Clara exclaimed.

They abandoned their cooking and rushed into the living room, but skidded to a halt when they found it occupied by five strangers. Corbin stepped in front of Clara, not knowing whether to focus on the men pinning Archibald to the floor or the tall muscular one, with obsidian eyes—Merric.

The woman with a mohawk grinned at them—toying with a pipe-like object before pressing it to her lips and blowing a dart. It happened so quickly as Corbin collapsed to the floor with another dart whizzing through the air and stabbing Clara. Her body hit the hardwood floor with a thud, her eye's slowly blinking at him.

Neither of them could move, despite Corbin trying to move his limbs. As his vision blurred, the last thing he saw was Merric's boots.

∆∆∆

Archibald came to consciousness with arms swinging, but when his vision cleared, he saw Gunner and Coyote crouched beside him. Their soothing voices contrasted with the blood, cuts, and fresh bruises covering their skin. His eyes opened wider as he remembered what happened.

"The Hounds. They were here!"

"What happened? Where's my wife?" Gunner said as he tried to stop him from sitting up. "Easy, easy, your wound has opened up and you're bleeding through your shirt."

"They're gone." He grimaced, getting into an upright position. "I was coming down the stairs and saw about five Hounds sneaking in through the front door. They spotted me and tackled me to the ground. That's when Corbin and Clara came running, but the woman..." He paused as he lifted his shirt to check his wound. "She shot them with some tranquilizer dart."

"We need to leave. We need to find them. NOW." Gunner got to his feet.

"Wait, wait!" Archibald grabbed his arm. "Where are my kids?"

"They took off."

"What? Why?"

"Clara was right." Coyote ran his tongue across the bleeding split in his lip. "We got ambushed by a bunch of angry folks wanting answers. Jasper and Luna made a run for it, but we just barely made it out of that angry mob."

"We need to wait for them."

"No," Gunner said and walked to the window to pull back the curtain. "Abraham is with them. He got there right as the mob started getting rough and Luna and Jasper jumped into his car. He knows to take them to the safe-house."