Fire

The Flaming Sword

“Lean on my shoulder,” I told him. “And we back up slowly.”

It took us what seemed like hours to move out of the forest, one backwards step at a time. I kept an eye on the forms of the rebels while we went, watching them flicker through the trees and disappear one by one. It occurred to me that I should watch where they were going, try to figure out their hiding place or wherever they were staying. But I was more concerned with Asher, how heavily he was leaning on me, and the wet warmth that was soaking into the side of my sweatshirt.

“You’re bleeding a lot.” I panted. Glancing at Asher’s face gave me an unpleasant shock. He was pale as freshly driven snow. “Are you…”

“I’m fine,” he wheezed. “I’ll be fine. Keep…going.”

Glancing over my shoulder I tried to quicken our pace,dragging him as much as I could. It wasn’t likely they would come after us. Kari had been out cold. “You gave her a nasty head wound.” I tried to sound cheerful. “I hope she gets brain damage and doesn’t want to fight anymore.”

Asher’s laugh was shaky. “Hit her with the hilt of the sword…” He glanced around suddenly, noticed that I was dragging the sword behind us with one hand, and his shoulders slumped in relief.

“I got it.” I didn’t mention that the blade was dragging over the rocks and dirt, and that he would probably need to sharpen it when we got back. That hardly mattered right now.

“Are you okay…Jess?” His voice was concerned, and it almost made me laugh.

“Am I okay? Asher, you got stabbed.”

“Yes,” he wheezed. “And when I get my breath again I’m going to give you a long lecture about coming out here by yourself.”

My stomach sank. “They had…they said they’d kill Kloe…” my voice hitched, and we both went silent. Obviously we were thinking the same thing. Nothing we had done stopped them from killing Kloe. Asher hadn’t had time to react yet, we’d been too busy fighting and then running away, but he must have seen her body…

When I glanced over at him his face was pale and blank, like he was saving his emotions for later.

My voice cracked. “I thought…”

“It doesn’t matter,” he rasped. “She made her own choices.”

I looked at him, startled. “How did you know? I mean…I didn’t even tell you she was on their side.”

“We had a spy in the palace, and seeing her body…I figured it out fast.”

Neither of us spoke again. There was only the sound of our shuffling feet as we limped uphill, and the eerie hoot and squawk of night life in the forest around us. I wasn’t on fire anymore, so obviously my eyes had finally adjusted…

I let out a sigh of relief when I saw the stone towers of the castle rising up over the tree tops. “Almost there.”

Asher just grunted. We took another step and he stumbled, nearly bringing us both to the ground. I did my best to brace us, gritting my teeth with the effort, and the sword fell to the earth, blade ringing against the rocks.

The lights of the castle shone through the forest, just out of reach. We were so close.

“Asher.” My eyes were watering with the effort of keeping him upright. “Asher!”

He hung limp in my arms, eyes closed, and his hand dropped away from his side. The entire side of his shirt was soaked deep red, and I sucked in a breath through my teeth. I couldn’t hold him up all by myself, and we sank slowly to the ground. It was frustrating to be so close and feel so helpless. We were nearly there. Glancing over my shoulder once, I decided to risk it.