Her eyes coasted to Raven and she noticed Raven’s black hair was silver at the roots and her face was more shadowed and aged than it had been in the graveyard. Which meant Raven was out of fountain water.
Suddenly, Raven dropped to the ground and started digging up the earth at her feet. Like a savage animal, she clawed at the dark dirt until she had a hole dug. Then she scooped up a fistful of dirt and shoved it in her mouth.
What the…?
Raven chewed for a moment, then spit it out. “I need that fountain!” she screamed to nobody.
O-kay. Clearly, the withdrawals were kicking in. Their Raven takedown might be easier than Scarlet originally thought.
The twelve Ashmen guarding Heather and Raven would be no match for Scarlet and Tristan—especially not when they had the advantage of a surprise attack.
She glanced over to where Tristan was perched, his figure strong and poised to kill as he waited for Scarlet’s signal.
And Nate…
Scarlet glanced to the bottom of the hill she had just descended and saw a Nate waiting behind a group of tall rocks.
God love Nate.
The man was a saint. Always leaving his comfort zone to help his friends. Always with a positive attitude. She watched him nervously rub his palms on his pants.
Scarlet was nervous too, but she was not fearful which perplexed her.
What made her brave?
She looked down at Heather and her trembling lip and red ankles. She looked at Tristan and his determined face and selfless eyes. And she knew.
Love.
Love made her brave.
It made her fearless to fight and determined to win, and hopefully, when this was over and she was laying her life down, it would leave her regretful of nothing.
She glanced at Tristan again and the lump returned to her throat.
Taking a deep breath, Scarlet caught Nate’s attention and nodded in his direction. He nodded back and marched into the clearing. Timidly.
Please let this go according to plan.
When Nate came into view, Raven immediately started screaming, her face still covered in dirt from her mud snack.
“Why are you here? Where is Scarlet? I need the map!” Her silver eyes glinted in the dying sunlight.
“I have the map,” Nate said. His voice cracked.
Scarlet pulled an arrow from her back and lined it against her bow. Slowly drawing it back, she took careful aim and waited.
If Nate could just lure Raven away from her circle of Ashmen, Scarlet could pierce her heart with an arrow and Tristan could take out the Ashmen guards while Nate rescued Heather.
Raven took a step forward, but not outside her circle of safety. “Let me see it.”
“Untie Heather first, then I’ll show you the map.”
“No!” Raven flung her arms out. “Give me the map!”
Nate took a step backwards and Raven, in turn, stepped forward.
Good job, Nate. Just keep pulling her out.
He held up an aged piece of scrap paper that most definitely not the map, but Raven was too far away to notice. The real map was tucked into Scarlet’s front pocket.
They’d left all their backpacks and gear at the base of the hill, but didn’t dare leave the map unguarded with their other items.
“Here you go.” Nate waved the paper, and took another step back. “Now, let Heather go.”
Raven stepped forward. “Hand it over.”
One more step forward and Raven would be a clear shot for Scarlet.
Nate shook his head and stepped back. “First release Heather.”
Raven stepped forward…
Scarlet let her arrow sail through the air, flying to the center of Raven’s heart.
An Ashman lunged at Nate to grab the map and the creature’s large body moved in front of Scarlet’s arrow, effectively blocking the dart to Raven’s chest.
The Ashman fell to the ground in death and Raven’s eyes shot to the trees where Scarlet was hidden. The remaining Ashmen broke into two halves. One side rushing Nate, the other side charging into the trees by Scarlet.
So far, not according to plan.
Arrows started flying from Tristan’s tree, sinking into the Ashmen bodies charging at Nate with deadly precision as Raven fled into the trees at the south end of the clearing.
Dammit. She was getting away.
Scarlet pulled arrow after arrow from her back and shot down the Ashmen headed her way as Nate moved through falling bodies of ash toward Heather. Using a knife from his pocket, he cut her ties, and they started running to the base of the hill.
Tristan shot down the last Ashman, jumped from his tree, and gave Scarlet a nod. She nodded back, silently telling him she had the situation under control so he could go rescue Gabriel.
He hesitated, probably worried his distance from her was going to be too painful, so Scarlet urgently waved him off until he finally conceded and disappeared behind the rocks.
The tightness intensified around her muscles and Scarlet climbed from tree to tree, keeping her body as close to Tristan’s, with her bow still ready as she watched Nate and Heather exiting the clearing. They were almost to the hill when, from behind the great boulders to their right, came more Ashmen.
Lots more.
Scarlet immediately found a spot to crouch in the tree she was in and pulled another arrow from her back. With Tristan gone and Nate armed with only one knife, she was on her own.
The Ashmen charged at Nate and Heather as Scarlet deftly retrieved and shot arrow after arrow into their ashy chests, taking out the Ashmen closest to them as fast as possible.
A second army of Ashmen rose up from the opposite side of the clearing, effectively trapping Heather and Nate, and Scarlet’s heart started to pound.
Heather’s eyes were wide in fear and Nate’s hand, though steadily holding his knife, shook ever so slightly as he and Heather braved the walls of Ashmen closing in on them.
Scarlet desperately drew arrow after arrow piercing her targets, but it wasn’t enough. Everyone she had ever loved was in this God-forsaken forest on the verge of death and Scarlet was running out of ammunition.
No.
No one she loved was going to die.
Pulling the last arrow from her quiver, Scarlet aimed, shot, and jumped from the tree. Pulling out the two daggers she’d stashed in her belt, she armed both hands as she started running for her friends.
Her bodily pain intensified and she had to grit her teeth to make her legs carry her into the boulder-surrounded clearing. She was immediately attacked by Ashmen on all sides. The pain coursing through her body became like the sharp talons of a vicious bird, clawing through her insides, raking against her organs.
She fought against both pain and opponent, not sure how long her body could withstand both at the same time.
She slashed through the dusk, cutting into her opponents as rapidly as possible, trying to get to Heather. Trying to get to Nate. Trying to survive.
Nate held his own against the Ashmen bearing down on him and Heather, swinging his knife with an impressive force.
Scarlet cut her way through Ashman after Ashman until she finally reached Heather. Nate moved to the side, fighting back the Ashmen as Scarlet handed Heather one of her daggers before grabbing her friend’s arm and yanking her toward the hill. If she could just get Heather to the trees or a boulder or someplace she could hide.
But they were surrounded and all thoughts of pain left Scarlet’s mind.
Ashmen swarmed, encroaching on the small space she stood guarding her friend. Nate had been swallowed in the mass of Ashmen coming down at him, and all Scarlet could see of him were his thrashing limbs as he fought against his attackers. Two Ashmen lunged for Heather and Scarlet hacked through them both with one swing of her knife, but a third Ashman took Scarlet by surprise and knocked the dagger from her hand, leaving her unarmed.