Among The Stars

CHAPTER 10

"But seriously though! Animal army? That's crazy!" I exclaimed. It was a few hours before dawn and I was taking the most of the possibly last peaceful hours of my life with my best friends.

Sabrina chuckled slightly but William stayed serious at my attempt to lighten the mood. He cast a glance in the corner of the room where Snuffles and Dolphus were sleeping, curled into little balls.

"It might just end up coming down to that," he said quietly, making me look at him.

"Come on, Will! Why so serious?" I asked.

"Because in the evening we might be dead," he said.

Straight to the point, huh? I thought.

"And that's why you should enjoy what you can right now. You never know what could happen in the matter of minutes," I tried to explain myself to him but he wasn't taking any of it.

"You're so naive, Olivia. You think this is a game! You think that people will just happily play out there!" he said, gesturing his hand to the door. He was clearly very angry, the pressure and stress of war getting to him.

"William-" I started.

"No. I'll see you on the battlefield," and he left.

***

We were in a very bad position compared to the others. They had metal armor. All we had were wooden swords and shields. Few people had managed to get themselves stone weapons, maybe an axe. Those who were lucky had bows and arrows with stone ends. And we were severely outnumbered.

"Lucky me," I grumbled to myself sarcastically and gripped the handle of my wooden sword tighter.

"Well, well, well," I heard a familiar voice.

Is that-

"Don't you think it's pathetic how weak you look now?" the voice continued. "To think that they called me weak! Look what I have now. I have the whole world on my side and I'm ready to get my sweet sweet revenge." The talking figure stepped out of the crowd opposing us.

"Laura?!" I heard Will's voice call from the crowd, I quickly made my way to him and stood my ground, knowing I needed to be there if anything was to go south.

"What- What are you doing over there?" William questioned, hurt and confusion in his voice.

"Don't you see? I'm in a position that I'm worthy of! The leader! I will never again be called weak because I'm prey!" Laura shouted making way to the very edge of the ravine. "Come on. Join me, brother-"

"Don't. Call me that," William spat. "You are nothing but a traitor! I will never join you!"

Laura's gaze turned even colder. "Then so be it." She turned to the rest of the crowd. "Here's your last chance to live, people. Look at how poorly outnumbered you are. It's pathetic. You know you'll never last long like this. So here's your last offer from my generous heart. Switch sides. Live under my rule and I'll let you live."

Silence filled the air, yet the tension was still there.

"So? Do any of you think living is worth it?" Laura questioned.

"I'll switch," came a voice from a few meters beside me.

"Good choice, Sabrina, is it?" Laura asked and my head snapped towards the girl who was walking towards the slowly forming earth bridge over the ravine.

I lost it. First my older sister figure, now my roommate. "How could you!?"

"I think living is worth it. Why should I die for a place that was never my home in the first place?" she asked, making her way over the bridge.

"See? She gets it," came a new yet familiar voice from the other side of the ravine.

"Tashon," William glared. Said boy smirked right back.

"Anyone else?" Laura asked, drawing my attention from the boys. Shuffles of feet went through the crowd. I could feel people around me moving.

"Like- How bad exactly could it be? It's better for us, prey, anyway," said one of the people going over. My eyes widened. So many people were going over now and they were warmly welcomed on the other side, given proper armor and weapons, even. At least a third of all the animals had gone over.

We're so doomed. Screwed. Completely, I thought and watched the last people go over.

"Well. Anyone else?" Laura asked. As no moving followed, she nodded her head and said: "Alright then. Charge!"

Suddenly the earth bridge widened and people came charging at us.

"Oh, and. Watch your backs," said Laura barely audibly right before the crowd blocked my vision.

The element controllers were definitely not holding back at all. Thin columns of earth were shooting out of the ground everywhere, some of them piercing through people and some just blocking the way.

The sight was too much for me and I ran. Ran back to our campus, heart pounding in my ears out of fear and legs feeling as if I couldn't go any longer.

"Livy!" came a shout from behind me. Out of reflex I turned around and pointed my sword at the comer.

"Hey, hey, hey, Livy. Calm down," William said, coming closer slowly so my mind could completely register who it was. "Where are you going? I was worried when you suddenly weren't there anymore."

"I'm going to get Dolphus and then I'll go hide until some kind of peace. I know it sounds cowardly, but-" sobs started racking through my body. "I can't take it. It's too much for me. I'm not strong enough for that. I'm so, so, so weak. I-"

"Hey, Olivia," William took my shoulders, making me look at him. "It's okay. You're only sixteen. Still half a child. It's really okay when you can't fight a war." He hugged me and I nodded into his shoulder, making sure I didn't break Will's glasses, turning my head slightly to the side.

"Let's go," William said and took my arm, making me walk with him towards the place outside where we had left Snuffles, Dolphus and also Lovota, Sabrina's year-old cub. Lovota wasn't there at the moment and I did feel bad for it but my top priority was to get out of there and to a safe place.

Come on, buddy. Let's get out of here, I told her in my mind, not trusting my voice not to crack.