Riders of Elysium

Chapter Eleven

----Third Person----

Storm was infuriated. This was the second time that girl Eyre had escaped, and this time, she'd go so high up into the mountains that Storm wouldn't have another chance. She'd failed.

When Storm found out, she'd thrown Azariah across the clearing and started to walk over to Rayna. She grabbed he dagger in Rayna's shoulder and twisted it.

Rayna screamed.

Storm then removed the dagger, leaving the blood on it, "I'm going to tell Kugen that the girl is dead, that this is her blood. Tell that girl to be careful."

"Is this mercy?" Rayna asked.

"No," Storm said, "But with the injuries from the waterfall, you may never walk again. And now, you will probably bleed out in five to ten minutes."

Rayna sighed, "If you see the Aurelia or any of the others on your way back, please warn them."

The blade pressed against Rayna's throat, "I might. But if you come after me, or if Kugen finds out that girl escaped, I will find you and I will kill you very slowly."

Storm vanished, leaving an unconscious Rayna in the snow to die.

Azariah dragged himself across the clearing, clutching his stomach. He'd landed on a spiny log, and his stomach was bleeding.

It still hurt. It wouldn't bleed out. But Rayna was dying.

"Rayna, just hold on please," Azariah desperately started to stitch up the hole in her shoulder, wiping away all the blood.

Rayna woke up screaming when he was halfway done.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't stop her," Azariah said, "Just hold on. Please just hold on."

"It's not your fault," Rayna said.

Azariah blinked, but failed to prevent the tears from pouring down his face, "If I'd stopped Scarlet sooner- I could have blocked that dagger. I should've hidden the tracks better, I should've never left the shelter to see what the noise was, I should've-"

"It's not your fault," Rayna said, "You're the reason I'm alive, and I'm not going anywhere."

He was done stitching up her shoulder, and wiped away the excess blood in the snow. She let out a silent scream, squeezing his hand until it felt like it would break his wrist.

"Sorry," Rayna said, "You good?" She'd noticed the blood coming from his stomach.

Azariah nodded, and began to stitch that up as well. There was another howl in the woods. Followed by many more, "Scarlet?"

"She only has one wolf," Rayna said, "Get in the shelter and I'll grab the bow." Azariah had dropped it when he ran across the clearing.

She couldn't move, so Azariah grabbed it instead. He dropped it into the dugout, helped Rayna crawl inside, and then climbed inside himself. He grabbed a spare log and used it to bar the entrance.

It was pitch black, "Rayna?"

He heard a muffled, "Over here."

Crawling over to her, he wrapped one arm around her, just to ensure she was there, "I'm not going anywhere." Azariah smiled, "Hey, I would if I could, but I literally can't walk. Storm was right about that much."

"Good," Azariah said, "Storm wanted you dead. So how are you not dead?"

"She said she didn't want to waste an assassin," Rayna said, "She said that I probably would never walk again, and that I'd probably bleed out within a few minutes of her taking the dagger. She thinks I'm dead."