Trigger

Trigger: Chapter 25

The blade of the twin's scythe slide out of Ayden's shoulder with a sickening sound. He flinched from the action, gripping his shoulder for a moment and turning to face the twins. More blood leaked out onto the floor as she held the weapon upright at her side. It stood just a few inches taller than her. Neither of the twin's expressions changed.

"Selfish and foolish," the other twin sighed as she pulled her own scythe out of the wall, releasing me. I whimpered as the blade passed through the wound on my stomach a second time, opening it wider. Pressing both my hands hard against it for a few moments, I pulled them away to find them coated with blood. The amount alone made me dizzy as it pooled in my hands. Considering I'd lived a mostly sheltered life up until now, I'd never lost so much blood in one instance.

Ayden quickly spun to face me at the sound of my pained cry. Glancing down at my hands, something flamed across his face. His eyes burned with a bright intensity as his muscles tensed.

"I think he's mad," the first twin remarked.

"Pity. She should be the mad one," the other replied, adjusting her scythe at her side as well. "We were saving her."

As she spoke, I caught the glint of her sister's blade just beyond Ayden's shoulder. She'd positioned it and moved to slash it across his back. Startled, my eyes grew wide and I instantly grabbed him by the arms and pulled him toward me.

"Ayden, watch out!" I yelped.

His expression momentarily softened to surprise before he quickly spun, sword drawn, just as the blade should have cut along his back. Instead of an attack, Ayden found himself facing another fight. Peering around him, I realized that someone had shown up just in time to intercept the blow and defend us. He fought with a thick, jagged black sword. I recognized him almost immediately. Ayden gave what sounded like a short laugh before stepping forward to help.

"Watts!" Ayden exclaimed as he moved to help defend him. "Stay with Melinda. Get her to Cole's. I've got this," he ordered.

The twins both gave lazy sighs of annoyance.

"Finally," the one muttered.

"You've stopped letting other people die for you," the second finished.

Watts paused, gripping his sword tighter. He was enraged.

"I am more than capable-"

"I believe you've been dismissed," one of the twins interrupted.

"Dog," the second added. "A pawn and nothing more."

"Disgusting."

My eyes widened as I watched fire slowly spread across the black metal. Starting by Watts' hand, it slowly leaked down to the tip as if some kind of liquid.

"Angry?" the one asked with amusement, pausing from her battle with Ayden to send Watts a smirk.

"He should be. We orphaned him, didn't we?"

"His mother was a filthy low rank," the other spat.

With his blade now completely engulfed in flames, Watts charged forward with an irritated yell. Just as he was about to attack, Ayden gripped his wrist, dousing the flames, and flung him back toward me.

"Watts, trust me. I'll take care of it. Go," Ayden assured calmly, turning to fight with the twins yet again. "You two talk too much."

Watts reluctantly sheathed his weapon with a nod before grabbing my hand and guiding me down the hall. I planted my feet firmly to the ground.

"I want to stay," I insisted.

"You've already lost a significant amount of blood. We need to get you to a healer and out of danger as soon as possible," he pushed. "You're only a mortal. If you lose too much you could die."