Dawn of Destiny (The Warrior Angels Trilogy - Book 1)

Chapter Forty-Six

Ashton pulled on Rosie's reins, forcing her to a halt. She furiously neighed and shook her head, but obliged, nonetheless. Ashton wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand and peered over his shoulder.

They were finally a safe distance away from the town.

He exhaled in relief and leaned forward, resting the side of his face against Rosie's head. "I'm so sorry, girl. Had I known you would be put through such a mess, I wouldn't have taken you out."

She snorted.

He sat upright and checked around again. Then he grabbed his upper left arm where he had been stabbed with a sword. On the bright side, his wound had officially healed. 

The moment he had left the castle grounds, havoc ensued. Townspeople were crying out, tripping over themselves and into each other to get out of the market. Ashton didn't understand why until he got closer and heard a guard telling everyone to hurry to their homes for their own safety. Ashton had paused and scanned the crowd for any signs of danger, and he found nothing unusual.

Then sharp fingernails dug into his forearm. He yelped and glanced down, finding a man with his face half-covered with a purple cloth. Ashton tugged his arm, but the stranger held on tighter as he unsheathed his sword with his other hand. Ashton quit and began to reach for his rapier instead, when the man suddenly swiped his blade across Ashton's arm.

Ashton grunted and kicked Rosie's side, urging her to flee. At first, she refused. The last thing she wanted was to trample over the panicking people. She had been trained better than that, after all. However, Ashton's assaulter stabbed into her back next and she kicked up her hind legs before taking off in a sprint and knocking Ashton over.

He tumbled onto the ground, landing right next to his attacker's feet, and he winced at the blinding sun blocking his view. The stranger inclined his head, shielding the light just enough for Ashton to get a better look at him. Ashton flickered his eyes to a tiny vial filled with blood. The man proudly dangled it in front of Ashton. Ashton's body tensed when he realized that was his blood.

The man started to speak in that same foreign language Ashton had heard Julian use. At the end of his speech, Ashton managed to understand the word, "Almighty."

Ashton hurried onto his knees and hissed through his teeth at the aches in his body from the fall. Then he was kicked twice in the side, dropping him back down. He wanted to stay like that, flat on his stomach on the hot stone ground in hopes that his assaulter would leave him be.

Nothing could ever be that simple, though.

Ashton was grabbed, forced over, and straddled. Again, the sun prevented him from seeing the man's face clearly, but Ashton got another glimpse of that vial.

"What do you have here?" his assaulter questioned, yanking on Ashton's vest and taking hold of his journal.

"N-No," Ashton begged. "Give that back!" He reached up for it, making the man laugh. 

Ashton clenched his teeth and managed to smack the journal out of his grip. While the man was left dumbfounded from that, Ashton did the same thing to the vial, earning an angrier reaction. His attacker immediately leaped onto his feet and hurried to where both the journal and vial had landed. 

Ashton rolled onto his front and hauled himself off the ground. His ribs throbbed as he staggered away, calling out for his mare. 

The market was nearly cleared now. Anyone remaining were also searching for someone, ignoring the pleas from the guards. Ashton reached a guard standing by the fountain who was calming a wailing woman. The guard promised to return her lost son the second they found him, yet the woman screamed anyway.