Sparrow

20 ♠ Duty

I'd heard many tales of Ravenhood. Witnessed the haunted faces of the men he willing let go, solely for the purpose of expanding his reputation among the people of Icadia. He was the villian in children's tales, and wore his bloodthirsty greed on his sleeve.

That very man now stood in front of me, watching with a wicked grin as his men whipped my body bloody. I could hear Sparrow yelling for them to stop, her voice dripping with threats and venom. That made me proud, that her spirit wouldn't be broken by this, and I used her voice as an anchor to consciousness, not wanting to pass out from the pain.

But, the lashings kept coming and eventually, I couldn't even hear myself scream, let alone anything else around me. Still, I felt everything. The searing friction as the leather met flesh caused the nerves behind my eyes to pulse, and my back bowed out with every hit, straining against the binds pinning me in place. Every jerk reflex I made pulled against my joints and muscles, and I could feel my body growing weaker and weaker. It got so overwhelming that I could no longer shield Beau from my agony, despite me fully knowing he was enduring his own form of torture—something I wouldn't allow myself to think about.

Not until I'd gotten Sparrow out of danger.

Beau was my shadoe, but she was our salvation. He and I both agreed that the mission came first—That keeping her and Oak alive was our purpose, our reason the Creator brought us back, and even now, in the face of such adversity, we refused to fail Him again.

The beating seemed to go on for hours, but the position of the sun in the sky hadn't changed, so I knew it hadn't been but a dozen minutes at most, yet my skin begged for relief. The edges of the holes my arms were slipped through were ragged, splintering, and felt like claws scratching at my burning limbs. Even in such a state, I could hear General Yates voice as he gave me my charge:

"Protect her with your life, get her to Paxton, but keep her status hidden."

That was why my eyes never left her.

She looked to be in the same condition as she was after the avalanche. I saw no new wounds. Her clothing was in tact, and judging by the way she refrained from murdering the man next to her, I concluded he hadn't been able to force himself on her. Though it was a better fate for her than death, for the sake of humanity as a whole, I would rather be executed than allow her to accept that violation because of a navigational choice I'd made. If I'd known I was going to fail in evading Ravenhood, I never would have lead her this way, right into his hands.

It was possible that if I revealed the gravity of who she was to Ravenhood, that he would let us go, but that would require him to contain an ounce of selflessness and concern for others. That miniscule chance was not a gamble I was willing to take.

Ravenhood would certainly take his chance sooner rather than later, rape easily something he was capable of, even more so if he knew exactly whose body he'd be taking—that of the prophecied one. I could feel time running out for both of us, yet I struggled to find a way out of this. Past the faces of the snarling, barbaric men around me, I couldn't see much. Just trees, cabins, and snow. But, slowly the deep green of the trees blurred together, the browns of the cabins melted into dark shapeless figures, and my vision became foggy. I could feel my eyelids weighing down, wanting to close, and my mind was dancing with unconsciousness. I knew I had to stay awake, but my physical body could only fight for so long.