Captive

Chapter Twenty Two

“Okay men,” Eb called out loudly, “It seems that King Eris has not come alone.”

I sucked in at the sound of this. My father, he was really here now. After all this time, it was coming down to the end. I felt tears filling my eyes, unsure how many men my father would have brought. He wasn’t going to just let up on a fight, but Eb had probably just as many as us.

“We’re going to have to put up a good fight. No one let the girl out. I don’t want any of them to be able to make it into the city either. Keep her in here and them outside of it. We all know we know these grounds better than them. Keep your eyes out. We don’t know exactly where they are now. They were spotted earlier.” Eb stopped, glancing at everyone. I tugged but the men held on easily.

Zaleck’s eyes were on me and I watched him. He looked nervous as his gaze finally moved away. Neither of us knew what was going to happen, it was hopeless. We could guess what might be coming though, it wasn’t that difficult. Whether it played out as plan was the difficult part of not knowing. My eyes went down.

“Let’s go.” I heard from Eb and I was held back and about a hundred men headed out, including Zaleck. I was left alone, unknowing. When they all left there weren’t many staying behind. It was quiet, for now at least. I just stared straight ahead. No one was speaking.

Then all of a sudden it broke out. I could hear cries and gun shots from where I was. It didn’t seem to stop, it just kept going. I let out a strained sound. I wasn’t the only one who seemed surprised by this. The men on either side tightened their grip on me and glanced around uneasily. The shots were loud, ricocheting throughout where I was standing.

What is Zaleck got shot? What if my father had already been killed? I couldn’t stop thinking of all the different possibilities. Then all of a sudden there were people starting to fill the area. Young and older men. Some women.

Murmurs filled it, asking what was happening. And then I saw a flash of someone. They slammed into the men, knocking me free. I stumbled forward, glancing back. The men yelled loudly and I saw something unimaginable. Warner. Warner stood in front of me, facing the men. And then all of a sudden India was there too. And then people I didn’t know, all forcing themselves upon the men. A few other men of Eb had come to help, but there were too many people filling the area.

“Run Sage!” Warner snapped at me, backing up towards me. “Go! Get out of here!”

I couldn’t think straight. I stood, staring at him, “What?” I asked weakly, “What’s happening? Warner-”

“Just go! Run! Get as far away as possible!” He reached out, shoving me in the direction the men had left by, “There’s a side door. Find it. It’ll take you away from the battle out there. Just go. Everything will be okay.” His eyes turned tender for a moment, “Zaleck was right about you. You were so much more than a princess, you still are. Go. This will end when you leave.” He gave me another push and I stumbled away from him.

Then I gave him one last look before I turned and bolted towards the small passageway. I saw the main large doors and zoomed past them. It was still dark, hard to see. I slowed, feeling against the walls before my hands found a handle. I grabbed it tightly and pushed into it. It swung open loudly and I winced. I darted out. I moved forward, trying to use the little light of the sky to help me. I could hear cries and shots. I didn’t know what direction to move in. I couldn’t wait here much longer though. Someone was already shouting over the top that I was gone. I bound forward, into the trees.

I slammed into a few firmly before slowing down dramatically. I glanced around, eyes adjusting quickly. I couldn’t just leave everybody. It wasn’t fair. I couldn’t just run, what if every one of them died from Dane? I had to find a soldier first, then leave, showing I was out.