"You're quiet."
Dream glanced at me upon hearing my words, before his gaze returned to the horizon. We were headed back to the castle - myself and Dream, George, Punz, Sapnap, Rae and Imane.
"I'm just thinking about everything," Dream responded, squeezing my hand that was clasped in his gently. "I'm happy you found your family."
I smiled at him.
"I'm happy too. I have two families now."
"I'm glad you see it that way," said Sapnap. "I was worried you'd decide to abandon us now that you found them."
I snorted at him.
"I hope you're wildly exaggerating. I would never abandon you lot, not in a million years."
"Aw, Lex!" Beamed Punz.
I laughed at the blonde, ducking behind Dream as we walked, as Punz went to nudge me in a playful manner.
"I, uh... I kinda want to use my birth name more now," I told them, and Dream nodded confirmation, pulling me out from behind him to wrap an arm around me protectively.
"Jett is a cool name," Sapnap grinned. "I'm down to call you that if that's what you want. I think you'll always be Alexa in some way, though."
"The people of the kingdom will still know me as Alexa," I agreed.
We had reached the edge of the forest now, and the civilisation at the outskirts of the kingdom seemed strangely quiet. No one was about on the streets, and although the houses were sparse in this area, i knew it was usually a place that thrived on its friendly neighbourhood.
"Is it just me, or..." began George.
"It is quiet out here," nodded Dream. "I wonder if that's because of the battle with L'Manburg earlier today."
"It shouldn't be," said Sapnap. "We're nowhere near L'Manburg at the moment. Maybe..."
He did not, unfortunately, have time to complete his sentence, as it was interrupted by sudden movement, and a yell of alarm from Punz.
"They're here! Get ready!"
My hand went to my trident instantly, my grip on Dream's hand tightening as warriors dressed in familiar all-black clothing sprang from behind the houses, the trees, and even the ditches. The horizon seemed to be dotted with them, and they were advancing on us quickly. We were vastly outnumbered, with no army to back us up.
"We need to get to the castle," stated Sapnap grimly. "Dream?"
"You're right, we can't just run through them, though," was the king's response. "Rae, Imane, do you have a totem?"
The two girls patted their belts in affirmation.
"The last place I slept was in the Badlands though," said Rae. "Quackity, Karl and I were there last night. If my totem pops, that's where I'll wake up, and that's as good as a death sentence. I'll be considered a traitor."
"You don't leave my side then," said Sapnap, grabbing her hand. "Or better still, stay with Jett so I can protect you both."
"I can defend myself, you know," Rae complained half heartedly.
"I know," Sapnap's stern expression cracked for a half a second. "That's what makes you so amazing. For my sake, let me defend you if it becomes necessary, okay?"
The two of them stared at each other, and I met first Dream's sardonic eye, then Punz's, and despite our situation I couldn't help my smile.
"You'll get used to it Rae, trust me."
Sapnap turned to glare at me, and I shook my head.
"We don't have time for this," Punz told us. "There's a gap between those two houses to the west, see them? Let's go through there and bottleneck them."
We did as he suggested, and all of us took off running, taking care not to trip over the uneven grass and stones beneath our feet. The black clothed warriors began to give chase, and we'd barely reached the gap that Punz had indicated before they were upon us. George was the first to attack, swinging his netherite axe before Sapnap stepped up to flank his attack. We tried to keep moving, but it was difficult as more and more assailants poured into the alleyway. We at least had the advantage that it was no longer possible for them to surround us, but if we didn't keep moving they would have time to come at us from the front.
"I have an infinity bow," said Imane, pausing her run to take it from her belt. "I don't have an arrow though."
"Here," said Dream, taking one from his quiver and passing it to her.
"You don't need it?" She asked, with surprise.
"I only have a crossbow," he told her. "I have more arrows but not enough to deal with this horde. You can take it. It's blindness tipped."
Imane, who'd been on the point of testing the sharpness of the arrow, halted suddenly.
"Good to know," she muttered. "I like to test my arrows, but I'll take your word for it this time."
Imane was a good shot with her bow, at close range as well as at a distance, and the blindness arrows helped immensely. Sapnap, George and Punz were able to deal with those advancing on us much more effectively whilst they were temporarily blinded, and the enchantments on Imane's bow set them on fire as well. We took advantage of our assailants falling back to make another run for it, and whilst Imane paused every few moments to send another few arrows towards them, we made it out the other end of the alley.
We were now in open fields, and I soon saw that the warriors had made their way between the rest of the houses, which were much more spread apart and easier to get between. They were level with us as we began to cross towards the fence line, abandoning the roads at Punz and Sapnap's direction to take a more direct route to the castle.
"You're doing great, Imane, keep it up," George told her.
"Thank you," she muttered. "Dream, do you have any other types of arrows? The blindness isn't as useful when they're so far away."
"I have a few," was his response. "What type do you want?"
"Something with damage tick?" She pondered. "My bow has flame and power five, but with something else it could kill in a couple of shots."
"Poison?" Suggested Dream, taking out a green arrow.
"Perfect," Imane nodded, taking it from him and fitting it to her bow.
We'd reached the fence line now, and Imane, being the only one with a renewable source of projectiles, attempted to slow them down whilst the rest of us passed through the barbed wire. I'd considered making use of my trident, but at such a distance it was too heavy to throw with enough accuracy.
Dream and Punz were the only ones tall enough to go over the fence, and they'd lifted myself, Rae and Imane over as well. Sapnap and George, however, were too tall to be lifted, and too short to jump over themselves. As we were focused on helping the two of them pass through the barbed wire with minimal damage, we'd failed to notice the warriors coming at us from behind until they were almost upon us.
"Aaah!" I yelled, unable to form coherent words in my alarm as I gripped my trident, and imbedded it into the armour of the one closest to us almost without thinking.
All heads turned towards me simultaneously, leaving Sapnap to fall painfully on his stomach, one foot still caught in the wire. Rae went to his rescue, using her sword to extract him from his predicament, although it was too late to save him from injury as blood began to drip from the slight gap between his boots and netherite leggings.
I had no time to focus on Sapnap, however, as I was forced to defend myself again, blocking instinctively with my trident and forcing the sword of my next assailant back into their body. A dark blindness arrow shot past me, and I glanced to my left to see Dream had equipped it to his crossbow. As the arrow struck, I stepped forward and dealt the final blow, my trident piercing where I knew there was always a gap in a suit of armour at the armpit that allowed manoeuvrability. My trident returned to my hand tipped in blood, even as two more warriors advanced on us with angry yells for their fallen friend. The first went for Dream, the second for myself.
This time I tried to smack the sword away that was outstretched in my direction, and was surprised when the attacker yelped in pain, but did not drop his weapon. I hadn't expected this after the blow I'd given him, and was forced to dodge his swing. The sword clanged off the netherite plating on my shoulder, a near miss considering it was directed towards my neck. I stabbed at him with my trident, going for the same place on the shoulder that had been so effective earlier, but remembered too late that my last assailant had been rendered blind. This one definitely wasn't.
He neatly blocked my attack, throwing me slightly off balance due to how much I'd leaned into the swing. I stumbled, and my muscles tensed automatically knowing what was coming was going to be painful. It never happened, however, and when I looked up I saw Punz wincing in pain from a shoulder injury, but beating the attacker to pulp nevertheless. I hadn't expected the head of the army to be prepared to take such an injury for me, and it knocked all the breath out of me. Technically, he wasn't even my body guard.
That was the last guard for a minute or two, and I turned to see our party was much more battered and bleeding than we had been a short while beforehand. Dream had a cut on his cheek, and a bigger one under his chin, which I didn't like to think about, and George had blood dripping from his nose. Punz had sustained perhaps the worst injury so far, the one to his shoulder, and I hoped it wasn't too bad.
"Thank you," I told him, breathing heavily. "You didn't have to do that."
Punz looked at me seriously, before glancing at Dream.
"This isn't just my job, you know," he spoke in a quiet voice. "I care about you two."
Dream glanced between the two of us, and quickly understood what had happened.
"That doesn't mean we can't thank you for it," he told him, with a rueful smile. "We need to keep moving, though."
"I was thinking we could try the river," said Sapnap. "It's literally just beyond the trees to the west of this field, it'll carry us straight to the castle, and relatively quickly too. It's a strong current."
"That's almost more dangerous than staying and fighting," said George, wincing. "I think I'd still rather risk it though."
After general assent, we made our way hurriedly towards the river. The warriors were crossing the fence already, the same one that we had crossed, and as they apparently had no qualms about throwing themselves through the barbed wire, they were gaining on us with considerable speed.
Footfalls thudded over the ground behind us as we made our way down the steep bank, towards the edges of the river. We'd been able to hear it from the other side of the field, but up close, it was a rushing, roaring sound as it wound its way between the fields and would, I knew, eventually descend the hill towards the plain where the castle, and general civilisation lay. Even at the bottom of the bank we were still fairly high up above the river, and we'd have to jump if we wanted to make it to the water.
"That's terrifying," stated Sapnap, hesitating a moment, whilst the rest of us prepared to jump in.
"Sap, come on," stated Rae. "We barely have any time as it is."
"You guys go," he told us. "I'll stay here and hold them off."
"Sapnap are you crazy?" Dream exclaimed. "They'll steamroll you!"
"I'm not leaving without you," said Rae determinedly.
"Rae," stated Sapnap patiently, turning to grip her shoulders. "I have a totem. I'll be fine, and even if I'm not, I'll wake up at the castle. I'll probably be home before you."
"You are NOT taking a death for us!" Dream yelled at him. "Totem or not."
Sapnap merely shook his head, before picking Rae up and dropping her into the water.
"Rae!" Imane screamed, jumping in after her, swiftly followed by Punz.
Sapnap turned, and quick as a flash he disappeared up the bank and between the trees once more, heading back out to the fields.
"Sapnap NO!" I screamed at him.
"Sapnap!" Dream was on the point of going after him, when George gripped his arm with such ferocity that he was forced to halt.
"Let him be dumb, if he wants to Dream, but you are the KING! Get in the damn water before I push you in, so help me Dream you are NOT dying on my watch! That would be irresponsible of both of us, and..."
"Okay, okay," Dream sighed, taking one last glance at the tree line, before grabbing my hand, and George's arm. George sighed in relief, and allowed Dream to pull the two of us towards the river. Punz, Rae and Imane were long gone, taken away with the current.
As we jumped, my gaze returned towards the tree line in the hopes of seeing my best friend, but all that could be seen was black clothed warriors.
And then we hit the water.
A/N: Sapnap? 👀
(Why are there always rivers with dangerous currents in my stories WHY)
Pls vote if you enjoyed :)