The Universe Rings (A Ringing Purpose)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Blinking rapidly, Kenneth struggled to his hands and knees. The ambience of the battle pounded as if he were quickly covering and uncovering his ears.

A body fell in front of him a few paces away. The face of the person looked at him and even though Kenneth's vision was fuzzy he realized it was Liam Blackwood. Dozens of arrows stuck out of Liam's back, shoulders and arms. The clothes under his armor were quickly dyed red.

Kenneth crawled closer. "Liam..." Kenneth muttered, feeling as if marbles were in his mouth. The man's pale face fell in and out of focus and Kenneth stared in horror as his eyes rolled back. Liam was dead.

Kenneth sat up, he needed to find a weapon. With his uninjured hand, he fumbled through the snow, forced to ignore Liam's body. He grabbed a spear but he didn't know how to use it. He dropped it and his eyes landed on a sword. He tried to grab it but it felt as if it went through his numb fingers. Frustrated, he tried to grab it again but missed.

The effects of the poison were getting worse. He couldn't even count his fingers. Five? Nine? Seven? Six and a half?

Kenneth sat there in the red snow; somewhere in the back of his foggy mind, he knew he was in great danger, but he couldn't pull himself to his feet. The world around him tilted to the side as he tried blinking to clear his vision.

"What're..." A voice yelled but the rest of the words got lost somewhere on their way to Kenneth's ears.

Kenneth looked up; the twins stood in front of him, but he couldn't tell which one was Reed and which one was Wade. One twin grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to his feet. He would've fallen back down if the twin didn't still have a hold on him.

"Kenneth, what's gotten up..." One twin asked, but once again, Kenneth's mind couldn't discern all the words. "You're poisoned," the twin said, looking at Kenneth's left hand.

"Yeah," Kenneth muttered, much more calmly than he should've. His mind was torn between extreme panic and numbness.

In the blurred moment, Kenneth was half led, half dragged through the battle by one twin as the other fought Interitus.

Kenneth flinched as colorful lights flashed in his eyes repeatedly. He couldn't tell if it was his imagination or not but it seemed the battle was thinning. The hand of the twin still clenched his upper arm as they ran through the battle. Kenneth squinted into the distance. There wasn't much Interitus and Venenarius in front of them; they were leaving the battle but Kenneth couldn't figure out why.

The twin who held onto Kenneth said, "We're taking you to..." Again, the words were lost.

"What?" Kenneth asked, brow furrowed.

"We're taking you to the—" The twin's reply was cut off by an ear ringing boom.

Kenneth flew weightlessly for a moment before impacting the ground—face scratched by the thick icy snow. High pitch whistling was the only thing he could hear and his body burned. Crawling to his hands and knees, sparks and smoke stung his eyes. Time felt in slow-mo; ahead of him, someone crouched over something.

Kenneth crawled to the person and his eyes slowly focused on the thing on the ground. Shrapnel, blood and burns covered a body; the face was lifelessly asleep.

In a fever dream, Kenneth looked at the person who crouched over the body, and now that he got a good look, he recognized it as Wade. Shock and disbelief displayed over Wade's burned face; his chest fell up and down rapidly.

Kenneth stared wide-eyed at the twin. Something wasn't right. Someone important was dead. Adrenaline kicked in and his vision cleared slightly. He looked at the body and his heart stopped.