The Hawk Warriors

XXIII

All three of us look at each other in utter loss of words. "What now?" Tyler asks, breaking the silence.

"I literally have no idea." I desperately say as I look at the scene before me. The guards are bowing before that man with his brown mane in a dumb man bun. He's too far away to listen, but with those quick gestures and the attentive guards, one can just insinuate that he's pissed.

A raven sits on Tyler's shoulder and looks at each and every one of us. In its beak, I can see a small note that is only meant for us. Carefully I take the letter and see it's from Ruby. "Who's it from?" Hazel asks as she approaches me.

"Ruby..." I answer as I unroll the piece of paper. In it, she describes to us what he wants, and it boils my blood.

"What does it say?" Hazel asks as she tries to reach for the note. Before her fingers can even touch it, I crumple it up as I glare at his direction. "Hades!" She shouts as she tries to open my fist.

"You know what it says," Tyler says without even having to look at the note.

Hazel looks at him, "no, I don't know what it says."

"He wants you," I answer her burning question. "He has those guards patrolling to see if they find you. He wants you alive, but he wants me dead." Hazel opens her mouth before closing it. "Hazel, tell me exactly what you did to him," I beg her.

"He went too far this time, and I was desperately trying to get out of the damn hold he has on me. Liam deserved what I did to him." She explains with tears in her eyes.

"Hazel," I softly say to encourage her to answer my question.

She angrily wipes away a stray tear off of her cheek, "I stabbed him in the eye because he tried to cross a line, okay. I don't regret it one bit cause his moment of pain felt like I was returning the years of abuse he caused me."

"Well, now I see why he's pissed," Tyler says as he puts the binocular on again. "You did what you had to."

"How are we going to get out of this mess?" I ask.

Tyler puts down the binoculars and looks at Hazel, "are you prepared to run for your life?"

Hazel looks at him then at me before nodding her head. "I'm willing to do anything to leave this place."

"Grab your stuff cause we're leaving," Tyler announces. My heart races as I slip my overnight bag on me. "Be prepared to kill some people."

"Freedom always comes with a price," Hazel says as she cleans one of her many knives. We all look at each other before nodding our heads in determination. Tyler softly bangs his open palm onto the hood of his old car and motions for us to go.

Gripping my sword with a tighter grip, I run alongside Hazel onto the open field that leads to that dreaded gate.

That's when all hell let loose.

"Hazel!" Liam roars as he spots us. Hazel looks over to him and nearly froze in pure terror. I grab her hand to pull her out of that spell he has on her. We need to waste time until the spell Ruby is doing is done. We cannot cross that gate if it's not ready, but I am willing to do so even if it's not prepared.

From the corners of my eyes, I can see soldiers rushing towards us with swords. "Hades, they're coming closer!" Hazel shouts as she squeezes my hand even tighter.

"You know what to do," I say to her, which makes her slightly grin. Nodding to each other, we turn our backs to each other and face the crowd that wants me dead. Tyler looks around to make sure Ruby is isolated as she does her spell. "I believe in you," I softly whisper to Hazel.