The Grey Blood #2

Sacrifice

Alicia watches with her breath lodged in her throat, Oliver standing ahead of her with the Ghuls blocking his entrance into the chamber.

They can't follow, not without risking death, and that fact makes her feel sick. Sam is alone in facing whatever awaits her within the dark and they can't possibly trust the Ghuls, not when they've clearly been lying to them this entire time.

The princess. That's what Kreenik called her. And by the way Oliver's shoulders stiffened, Alicia knows he caught onto this small slip-up too.

Walking forward, Alicia stands beside Oliver once again to watch the flame of Sam's torch travel deeper into the chamber beyond.

Helpless. That's all they are as they stand by and watch those spikes jut out from the floor at angles, piercing the Ghuls who simply slip off them and continue marching forward, a constant barrier surrounding Sam who clings to Kreenik's back.

"We need to get in there," Alicia states.

"I know." Oliver glances at the Ghuls still around them, each of them peering through the doorway to watch the steady march of their brethren.

Sam's light eventually reveals a staircase that appears to lead to a landing of what could be a throne, but from this distance Alicia struggles to make out what it is.

Sam is set down on the ground, her Ghuls gathering around whatever it is that resides atop the staircase. She procures the key, murmuring something to the Ghuls before she kneels and inserts the key.

It dawns on Alicia then what it is Sam is opening as she plants her hands on the lid and pushes. Alicia once did the same thing when she found the key.

Sam opens a coffin and Alicia's stomach plummets when the flame of Sam's torch reflects on what Kreenik brandishes in its hand.

Alicia lurches forward, Oliver shouts, but she's already running regardless of the pain in her leg as Kreenik grabs Sam, his fingers curling in her knotted hair.

Another Ghul has a hold of her arm to hold her steady and Sam screams as Kreenik slices through her chest, blood gushing from the cut to splash onto the stone steps.

Staggering, Alicia knows she's going to be too late if she manages to dodge the traps, but she can't abandon Sam.

Something grabs her and Alicia is yanked back. She gasps as she hits the ground and rolls, narrowly avoiding a metal spike that shoots up from the stone. Alicia sits up, grimacing with pain, and prepares to run again, but then she sees who grabbed her.

Oliver sprints forward, wheeving along the stone like he's memorised the pressure points on the ground that'll activate the traps.

"No!" Alicia screams as he bounds towards the Ghuls, his gun in his hand as he takes aim.

She manages to get her feet back under her and pulls out her own gun. One shot leaves the barrel and enters the head of a Ghul before something slams into her. She gasps as she's forced to the ground, a Ghul on top of her, grappling with the gun in her grip. Alicia knees the creature between the legs but it doesn't seem to feel the pain. It wrenches the gun from her and sends it sailing through the air. She turns her head, searching for it, and that's when she sees Oliver again.

He struggles with the Ghuls, each of them leaping on him, trying to tear him apart and keep him away from whatever Kreenik is doing to Sam whose screams pierce the air like a dying animal.

Alicia comes back to herself, manages to get her leg high enough to grab the knife from her boot before driving it up into the soft skin beneath the Ghul's jaw. The metal enters the Ghul's brain and the creature slumps. Shoving the heavy weight of her, Alicia  scrambles for her gun, swipes up her weapon, pulls back the hammer and aims.