The Boy With The Arrows

C H A P T E R • F O R T Y O N E

"You don't leave my side then," said Sapnap, grabbing her hand. "Or better still, stay with Jett so I can protect you both."

"I can defend myself, you know," Rae complained half heartedly.

"I know," Sapnap's stern expression cracked for a half a second. "That's what makes you so amazing. For my sake, let me defend you if it becomes necessary, okay?"

The two of them stared at each other, and I met first Dream's sardonic eye, then Punz's, and despite our situation I couldn't help my smile.

"You'll get used to it Rae, trust me."

Sapnap turned to glare at me, and I shook my head.

"We don't have time for this," Punz told us. "There's a gap between those two houses to the west, see them? Let's go through there and bottleneck them."

We did as he suggested, and all of us took off running, taking care not to trip over the uneven grass and stones beneath our feet. The black clothed warriors began to give chase, and we'd barely reached the gap that Punz had indicated before they were upon us. George was the first to attack, swinging his netherite axe before Sapnap stepped up to flank his attack. We tried to keep moving, but it was difficult as more and more assailants poured into the alleyway. We at least had the advantage that it was no longer possible for them to surround us, but if we didn't keep moving they would have time to come at us from the front.

"I have an infinity bow," said Imane, pausing her run to take it from her belt. "I don't have an arrow though."

"Here," said Dream, taking one from his quiver and passing it to her.

"You don't need it?" She asked, with surprise.

"I only have a crossbow," he told her. "I have more arrows but not enough to deal with this horde. You can take it. It's blindness tipped."

Imane, who'd been on the point of testing the sharpness of the arrow, halted suddenly.

"Good to know," she muttered. "I like to test my arrows, but I'll take your word for it this time."

Imane was a good shot with her bow, at close range as well as at a distance, and the blindness arrows helped immensely. Sapnap, George and Punz were able to deal with those advancing on us much more effectively whilst they were temporarily blinded, and the enchantments on Imane's bow set them on fire as well. We took advantage of our assailants falling back to make another run for it, and whilst Imane paused every few moments to send another few arrows towards them, we made it out the other end of the alley.

We were now in open fields, and I soon saw that the warriors had made their way between the rest of the houses, which were much more spread apart and easier to get between. They were level with us as we began to cross towards the fence line, abandoning the roads at Punz and Sapnap's direction to take a more direct route to the castle.

"You're doing great, Imane, keep it up," George told her.

"Thank you," she muttered. "Dream, do you have any other types of arrows? The blindness isn't as useful when they're so far away."

"I have a few," was his response. "What type do you want?"

"Something with damage tick?" She pondered. "My bow has flame and power five, but with something else it could kill in a couple of shots."

"Poison?" Suggested Dream, taking out a green arrow.

"Perfect," Imane nodded, taking it from him and fitting it to her bow.

We'd reached the fence line now, and Imane, being the only one with a renewable source of projectiles, attempted to slow them down whilst the rest of us passed through the barbed wire. I'd considered making use of my trident, but at such a distance it was too heavy to throw with enough accuracy.