The Thief

Chapter 51

Jessie was quick to act in response to Vorn's words. He was obviously put in charge of the soldiers here as he ordered two of them to dismount before joining the rest in securing the perimeter as the original order was.

I glanced at the horse that was handed to me and then back at the boy on my back. This was my next obstacle. I had two options the first being to leave him and the second was finding a different way to mount the horse in front of me as it would be next to impossible to mount the normal way with him on my back. The former had already been proven futile so the only option left was the latter.

Vorn who had not mounted his own horse yet walked up to me to offer his version of what I assume was help. He had pulled out a small knife from his pocket.

"This should do the trick, hold still Skyler I don't want to accidentally cut you while I cut a few of his fingers off."

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Don't even think about it."

"Well I don't suppose you have any better ideas then? We are wasting valuable time here..."

I glanced at Jessie for help and in return all I got from him was a shrug. I let out a soft sigh before drawing my attention back to Vorn and his knife.

"You and Jessie go ahead, I will sort this situation out myself and catch up to you.*

Both of them took at few seconds to contemplate my words but agreed.

Instead of Vorn mounting the horse offered to him, he chose to jump onto Jessie's horse with him in a manner so smooth it seemed otherworldly. This kid had some serious skills.

Jessie looked annoyed at this ordeal but huffed and cantered off anyways. I think he accepted the fact that it was probably safer for them both with Vorn away from the controls of a horse.

The horse given to Vorn was quickly taken back by the solider who offered it to him.

Now it was my turn.

I looked around the area for anything large enough for me to stand on to use to mount the horse in front of me without any hassle with the boy on my back. I was pleased when my gaze landed on a large piece of the wall that had been destroyed.

Leading the horse over to it and trying to position the animal next to it, I barely managed to climb up. The horse was no help as it moved away. Fortunately after some coaxing I got the horse back in the right position. I then managed to carefully get onto the horse with little hassle.

Isaac was still holding onto me in an iron lock grip and showed no signs of regaining consciousness. If it was not for his soft breathing on my nape, I would have assumed he was dead.

A part of me knew that I could have used this as an opportunity to get Isaac to safety but a larger part of me was more concerned about Ivor and the battle taking place. Maybe I was just being selfish and stupid but I could not help it.

I ushered the horse into a steady yet fast canter after Jessie and Vorn. We zig-zagged on steady feet through the streets now littered with dead bodies and blood. The sight made my stomach turn but I forced myself to block it out.

I could hear the screams of battle far ahead making the silence around me almost suffocating.

"M.. Ma.. Mama..." A child's voice rang out. I brought the horse to a halt, my eyes searching the area.

My blood ran cold. A shiver went down my spine at the sight. It was an absolute blood bath littered with bodies. Civilians.

Women...

Children...

The elderly...

They all lay dead. A large number of them. They were innocent, just trying to escape but were unfortunately caught in a war between two kingdoms.

"Mama... I-I'm scared..." I heard the child cry out again.

My eyes immediately zoned in on her. She sat near the centre of the bodies, no older than 4 years of age, covered in blood holding onto a dead woman's hand and gently shaking her in an attempt to wake her up. I was shattered at the mere sight.

"Little girl... You need to get out of here." My voice cracked halfway through.

Her tearful eyes looked up at me upon hearing my words.

"B-b-but mama." She looked down at her mother's body and back at me again. Her eyes then widened as she looked past me.

Something did not feel right.

I turned my head around leaning to the one side slightly and barely missed an arrow flying past my face. The sharp point managed to scrape a tiny piece of the skin on my cheek causing a tiny trickle of blood to fall.

I heard a gasp. I shot my head back to where the little girl was.

Embedded in her tiny little chest was the very arrow that was just shot. Her big eyes widened as she looked down at it, she then looked up and met my eyes again. She was scared. Fear danced in her small eyes leaving soon after as all life left her and she fell forward across her mother's corpse. It all had happened so fast.

I needed to get out of here quickly. The enemy was here. Another arrow was shot. I managed to dodge it in time.

They were on the roofs. I could not tell how many there were. I could hear them moving and jumping along the rooftops above as they shot more and more arrows.

I was nearing the Palace and I could not get them off my tail. When the gates came into view, I was shocked that they were wide open, barely hanging on their hinges and heavily dented. The enemy had pushed through.

Just then something sharp slightly pierced into my left shoulder and then I heard Isaac let out a grunt before his grip loosened. Before I could even process what was happening my horse fell forward and down as an arrow had managed to wedge itself through its one eye and deep into its head killing it instantaneously.

The momentum caused myself and Isaac to go flying forward and hit the hard paved ground before us. Isaac had let go of me and landed a few meters to the side.

I was covered in scraps and scratches and severely winded but I forced myself up and ran towards him. He was still unconscious but had an arrow pierced right through the soft skin of his upper left shoulder.

Before I could do anything, I needed to get us away from the onslaught of arrows. I needed to get him to safety.

I picked him up and ran as fast as I could dodging arrows into the nearest building shutting the doors behind me and pulling the plank down to keep it secured in place.

I placed the boy down gently leaning him against the wall to examine his wounds. I knew that I could not pull the arrow out, he would suffer from to much blood loss and frankly he was too weak to handle it, he would most likely die.

I heard banging on the doors behind me as thy enemy tried to get in and it would not be long before they did. We could not stay here. We needed to move.

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If chapter 52 is not in the right after this please let me know as Wattpad keeps glitching and placing it after the Epilogue.