A fourth Ashman threw Heather to the ground and stomped on her wrist until she lost her grip on the dagger she held, and he kicked it away.
Scarlet and Heather were both unarmed.
The fourth Ashman raised his Bluestone blade above Heather. Scarlet whipped around but she wasn’t fast enough. The Bluestone knife thrust toward Heather’s throat—
The Ashman fell dead.
Several yards behind the crumbling creature stood Gabriel with a bow and arrow. Without hesitating, Gabriel pulled another arrow and began shooting down other the Ashmen bearing down on Heather and Scarlet.
Yanking Heather to her side, Scarlet pulled her friend away from the dangerous cluster of Ashmen, no longer feeling the agonizing claws inside her skin.
From the corner of her eye, Scarlet saw Tristan at the top of a nearby boulder, shooting arrows at warp speed like Gabriel. Ashmen everywhere began to fall to ash and Scarlet soon the clearing became more ash than Ashmen.
When only a handful of Ashmen remained standing, Gabriel hurried over to Heather and Scarlet as Tristan continued shooting.
“Let’s go!” Gabriel ordered.
Tristan jumped from the rock and started walking backwards toward the hill, loosing arrows as he went.
Scarlet started to run alongside Gabriel and Heather, but froze in her tracks when she caught sight of a dark-haired figure in the shadows holding a sharp blue weapon to a body on the ground.
Nate!
Scarlet rushed into the shadows, momentarily forgetting she was unarmed.
Raven held the tip of a Bluestone knife against Nate’s heart, her silver eyes crazed as she waved a piece of paper in her other hand. “This is not the map!” Searching around, Scarlet spied a Bluestone axe beside a pile of ash and snatched it up. A twig snapped beneath her foot and Raven turned.
“You,” she sneered, dirt still smeared around her mouth. “Give me the map, Scarlet, or I’ll kill my cousin without blinking.”
“I don’t have the map.” Scarlet took a careful step forward, lifting the axe.
“I need that ma—“ Raven’s eyes caught on Scarlet’s pants and her lips curved into a wicked smile. “There it is.”
Scarlet looked down.
Crap.
A corner of the map was sticking out of her pocket. Well wasn’t that just perfect?
Scarlet slowed to a standstill, gripping the heavy weapon in her hands. “Let Nate go.”
“Negotiation time is over. You blew your chance with my good graces when you ambushed my trade off. Now, give me the map!”
Scarlet took a step forward and Raven jabbed the point of the Bluestone blade into Nate’s chest. He winced and blood started to seep through his shirt.
“What’s it going to be, Scarlet?” Raven twisted the tip of the blade and Nate’s face contorted. “The map? Or your precious little friend over here?”
“You don’t want to kill Nate,” Scarlet said. “You might need him. Remember?”
Raven squared her jaw. “A heart to sacrifice is pointless without the map.” She twisted the blade again and Nate groaned in agony.
Scarlet charged Raven and swung the axe at the aging witch’s head. Raven blocked the blow with her knife and Scarlet used the opportunity to kick in Raven’s stomach. She stumbled backward as Nate pulled himself up and moved away from the now swinging Bluestone weapons Raven and Scarlet held.
The axe was heavy and difficult to control, but its blow was powerful as Scarlet raised it above her head and brought it down on Raven. The axe sliced through Raven’s chest, red blood spurting from the wound and, for a second, Scarlet felt both triumphant and guilty.
But then Raven laughed—a wicked sound against the blood escaping her large wound—and Scarlet watched in disbelief as Raven’s aging body began to heal.
The fountain water was still in her system.
Scarlet was stunned for only a moment, but it was long enough for Raven to retaliate with her magic of choice: Fire.
A blast of heat went up around Scarlet, encircling her in fire as Scarlet lunged to escape the walls of flames, but a sharp pain in her arm caused her to stumble and Raven’s hand was suddenly gripping Scarlet’s throat through the fire, squeezing until Scarlet saw nothing but black splotches.
Her hips were shuffled from side to side, then she was released. The fire walls instantly disappeared and Scarlet saw Nate—the wound in his chest still leaking red—battling against Raven.
Scarlet joined in, swinging the axe once again at Raven’s neck, but the witch disappeared behind another wall of fire. The fire disappeared almost as quickly as it had come, but Raven was nowhere in sight.
Out of breath, Scarlet turned to Nate. “We need to get you stitched up.”
He shook his head. “It’s shallow. You might need some stitches, though.”
Scarlet looked down and frowned at the cut across the top of her left arm. She looked down further and her frown grew darker.
Raven had stolen the map.
Nate took a step forward and grimaced. “What did Raven mean about a heart to sacrifice?”
Scarlet looked up. “Nothing. Let’s go.”
Nate didn’t move. “What sacrifice?”
Scarlet didn’t have a lie ready, so instead she said nothing.
He nodded slowly. “The fountain requires a death, doesn’t it? I should have known.” He exhaled. “Well, you could have told us sooner. Now what are we going to do? There’s no point in hiking to the fountain if we can’t even access the water. It’s not like we have an extra heart lying around.”
Scarlet looked to the side.
Nate inhaled sharply. “Wha—Scarlet, no. No. Are you kidding me? Is that what you were trying to do in your last life? Sacrifice yourself?”
“No.” She looked at him. “But it’s sure as hell what I’m going to do in this one.”
“Are you insane?”
“Yes, Nate! I’m insane and I’m in love and Tristan is dying! How else can I save him?”
He shoved his hands in his hair and stared at her with a slack jaw. “Are you hearing yourself? You sound like a crazy person.“
“Scarlet!” Heather’s voice called into the trees.
“Nate!” Gabriel called.
Scarlet shook her head. “Believe me, Nate. If there was any other way—“
“There must be another way.” He nodded. “I will find another way.”
The determination in his voice was both moving and tragic because Scarlet wanted to believe there was a way out, but she knew better.
Tristan watched the ten or so remaining Ashmen flee into the trees and cursed under his breath. Where the hell did Raven get so many dead people? It was like the zombie apocalypse out here.
He put his bow away and jogged up to where Gabriel was taking off his shoes and giving them to a very dirty, pink Heather.
“Where are Scarlet and Nate?” Tristan looked around, a sliver of panic skating up his spine. Scarlet could handle herself, he knew that. But he couldn’t keep from worrying—
“Holy mackerel, did you guys see Raven? She looks old!” Nate said, out of breath as he ran up to them.
Scarlet was right behind him.
Not out of breath.
“Yeah,” Gabriel said, steadying Heather’s elbow as she slipped her feet into his shoes. “She’s addicted to fountain water and her withdrawals are making her age. And go crazy.”
“Drugs are bad, people.” Nate shook his head. “Drugs are bad.”
Gabriel and Heather exchanged an uncomfortable look.
“What?” Scarlet said.
Tristan noticed her arm was bleeding and hoped it wasn’t as bad as it looked.