A Thousand Year Old Heart

✴Chapter 23: Reflexes

Abruptly, Kyle and Ethan left their current hiding spot and, slowly and steady, approached the group of hunters. Kol gave Davina's shoulder a nudge and mimicked their movement, Davina being next. Fortunately, something had caught the hunters' attention and they were all murmuring some strange things; Davina narrowed her eyes as soon as she spotted a woman among the hunters, her face though hiding behind the hood she was wearing. Although the other men were muttering and fighting with each other over something, the woman remained silent and looked around her, as if she was suspicious of the trees, the air, the atmosphere, of everything.

The little witch pursed her lips. She had realised from the start that woman was going to be a tough opponent.

"Davina hurry,” Kol whispered at her as he kept approaching carefully the hunters.

It took her a few seconds to actually get her feet moving again, since she just couldn't get her mind off of that woman hunter. When she did, she crawled behind a tree and stayed there for a long time, without following Kol anymore. She was watching. The woman knew someone was out there and that moment, she was staring straight at Davina's direction. However, there was no sign of a breathing being out there to find. She knew someone was hiding behind those trees, watching their every move. Who, she wondered.

The sharp sound of a silver blade echoed throughout the forest. Everyone flinched.

“Kenna? What are you doing?” asked one of the men, looking warily at the woman. Silence fell between them, their voices which were raised because of the argument they had before dying out in an instant. “Why did you pull out your spear?”

Ethan froze.

Kyle narrowed his eyes.

Kol pursed his lips.

Davina gathered all the tension she had from before and breathed in silence.

They closed their eyes.

And smiled greedily.

“Now!” Kol yelled and, before the hunters could even process what was happening, two men were shot down by Kyle's, Ethan's and Kol's bows.

That's when Davina found the opportunity to strike. While the men were using their weapons and fists to strike a blow at each other, the little witch left from behind the tree and searched for the woman. But, she was not there. She swore she saw her standing there a few minutes ago just beside the man with the ginger hair and brown eyes. But where... had she disappeared to? Davina span around frantically, her eyes scanning the area all around her. Heck, she had seen her coming. If only she-

“Ghagh,” she gritted her teeth, a pain shooting her feet and kneeling her down. With the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of her attacker; the woman was towering over her from behind, vicious and gleeful blue eyes piercing her skull. Her big boot was the one who had kicked Davina's legs, paralyzing them for a brief second.

And then, her voice sounded deep and steady, fearless and frightful. Only when she finally spoke her big round eyes narrowed, revealing a wrinkle across her forehead. “You. You were the one spying on me before.”

Davina span around and stood on her feet; she had managed to regain her composure in mere seconds, rage pooling out of her eyes and an unexplainable desire to rip the woman in half burning her subconscious. In her frustration and rage, caused by the humiliation she just experienced, she curled up her fingers into tight fists and flashed a sarcastic smile at the woman. “I haven't been hit from the back before. I have never really faced cowards in the past, until now.”

“My my, you might want to watch your sharp tongue, little girl.” she scoffed, swinging the spear in her hand, “What is a girl like you doing out here anyway with a bunch of foolish men?”