"You are barking mad," Eve shook her head. The Cauldron. Fae. Prythian. Mike. It was getting too much too fast.
"Guards, take her. We will thank Hybern later," the queen said, satisfied when she saw the girl had finally started showing signs of terror. Good, she should suffer; she was favoured by the Cauldron when herself - a queen- hadn't.
"No!" Eve shouted, struggling against their hold. All this time, she had stood there and gleaned information from the queen- now, it was time to run.
So, she did what she had wanted to since she stepped into this camp- set it on fire.
*******
Az' came onto a completely chaotic scene. At least seven tents were on fire, soldiers were running in every direction and the king was shouting orders whilst standing and protecting the Cauldron.
He let his shadows spread out. Normally, a fire this large and blazing would bring back awful memories, but right now, his only thought was of Eve. Two came back, reporting her to be in the east side. He had never run quicker.
He found her panting near the edge of the cliff with seven guards advancing on her. "I swear to God, I will castrate the lot of you," she seemed to mutter under her breath before readying two ice daggers, her eyes burning blue and red. But, she didn't get a chance to do anything as Az sent his shadows on the first three guard and killed the other four himself, his eyes dancing with fury.
One look at him and she stumbled ahead. He caught her and held her close to his chest, breathing rapidly. Sweat ran from her forehead, she was shivering and blood ran from her cut lip and right and left arm. "I am here," he said before opening his wings to fly away from here.
Halfway across the wards of Hybern, arrows flew in the sky, made of ashwood. Eve' eyes widened and she gave a shout of warning to him but, he was already ahead of her. Flying in a zig zag pattern, he increased his already fast pace. Only twenty feet left.
An arrow found its mark on his left wing and he gave out a cry of pain but continued nevertheless. Ten feet. Another arrow whizzed past him, missing Eve by inches. His fury knew no bounds. Covering Eve with his own shadows, he took arrows to his lower abdomen. Three feet. Two. One. Az blasted through Hybern' shield with all his strength.
*******
He did not let go of her till they reached the healer' tent. "I am fine," Eve snapped at the healer with such annoyance that the healer took a step back. One more glare had them leave the tent muttering something about a tonic for sleep.
"You should let them check on you," Az said, his eyes still holding fury, standing on the end of her cot.
"What happened? Did they- are you alright?" Rhys asked Eve, sitting beside her cot.
"I am fine," Eve rolled her eyes. "Did you know I could winnow?" They all blinked at that. "Apparently I can in life and death situations without practice beforehand."
"You shouldn't have been in such a situation in the first place," Rhys muttered, his voice full of guilt. "I am not supposed to be in this world either, yet here I am, aren't I?" Eve snapped back. Rhys recoiled a bit. "Sorry," Eve muttered, noticing the unreadable look in Rhys' eyes.
"They would rather I be Nesta- at least that's what the commander of Hybern said to me." Eve gritted her teeth and stopped talking. Rhys, Az, Mor, and others waited patiently for her to continue, giving her space and time.
"Just this once," Eve said finally, looking at Rhys who tilted his head in confusion. "Just this once I will let you in my mind to see today's events first hand and you can share it with others." Rhys nodded before his eyes glazed along with everyone else' in the room.
The first fireball found its mark- the annoying queen. She started screaming, clawing at her face, shouting for water. Karma works in mysterious ways- the queen had put a silencing spell in the tent so that she could acquire secrets from Eve without anyone else' notice, and here she was, burning due to it. Eve couldn't help but grin savagely at that. And maybe that made her a bad person but, this queen had wanted to force something on her body... and Eve would never let anyone do that to her ever again.
The two guards left near the queen came at her. The two who had been flanking Eve had been the first to die- she would thank Cassian for that later. The first incoming got a dagger that sliced through his cheeks while the second found one in his stomach. He hissed but continued attacking. Ducking, she swiped, making him fall to the ground. The first one came from the back, choking her. She felt the oxygen leave her as she struggled against his grip. Setting her throat on fire, she elbowed the guard who stumbled back, horrified. Picking up a sword that one of them had left on the ground, she peeked outside the tent.
One soldier guarded the entrance, other than that, no one seemed to notice anything. With one smooth motion, he was wrapped in a curtain, choking. After Eve was sure he would remain unconscious, she left.
She was ten feet from the tent when a soldier noticed her. Not knowing what to do, she ducked inside a tent just as a swarm of people went past her- drunk. The tent was completely dark and her heart was beating fast- she had not thought about this escape plan thoroughly.
Once she adjusted to the dim light, she took a double take. Caches of Faebane lay there, along with at least ten bundles of weapons- swords, shields, knifes. "Who is there?" a voice demanded. Before she had time to hide, someone tore open the tent' entrance and standing there were three deadly looking soldiers.
Eve' first and only thought after that was- if she died now, she would die with a blast. And so, she backed up slowly, kicking an oil barrel down which had probably been there to oil some of the rusty weapons. "I was asked to come here," Eve said. "By whose orders?" the left soldier demanded. "By mine," Eve said and set the tent on fire, running right through the three confused soldiers who were now chasing her.
She ran screaming on the top of her lungs, "fire! Fire! Protect the Cauldron. The queen is dead." Somehow, miraculously, it worked. Chaos ensued and soldiers ran left and right. Panting, Eve once again slipped into another tent too catch her breath. The soldiers had lost her in the crowd.
And even though it was the most inappropriate time, Eve couldn't stop the laughter that bubbled inside of her- how did her life go from studying psych to this? Her mind went to Thor Ragnarök theme music- it would be perfect for this situation. She really was becoming delirious. Moreover, she found herself in another tent full of weapons.
And so, she set it on fire and ran again. She lost count of how many she had set on fire- maybe six? Who knew? Some of them, majority of them were huge tents full of weapons and cache of Faebane. Others were the sleeping quarters. But who cared?
She didn't know where the energy came from, but she knew this was her way of finally letting go of everything that had happened to her. She screamed and raged- this being the outcome.
By now, sweat dripped on her forehead. She scanned the horizon- for what? She didn't know- and saw the edge of the plain. Running in that direction, she dodged the soldiers that had now found her once again.
But, luck did not prevail long. She was near the cliff when ten guards surrounded her, smiling wickedly. Oh, how she wished she knew how to winnow. They advanced slowly. "You cost us a lot, don't worry, you are going to die slowly," one of them crooned.
Eve gave out a bitter laugh. "What was the cost for which I am now paying with my life?" she asked, curious.
"Ten percent of our weaponry and fifty percent of our Faebane. And now, you are going to pay dearly," one- on her left- snarled. Satisfaction came over her- maybe her kidnapping had some advantage after all.
She knew she had no way out of this trap now. So, with all her might, she wished with all her mind, to winnow- the last escape route now. And somehow, just after one of them had sliced her arm, she did- right into Tamlin's arms.
One blink at her. "Run," he snarled and turning into a beast, he faced the incoming attack. With one startled look at him, she ran, not questioning him. She just ran in shock- that she could winnow and that maybe, just maybe, Tamlin could be saved after all.
She ran till she was at the edge of the cliff. Either jump or face the soldiers in front of her. The jump would be painful- rocks jutted out everywhere, scattered like an army. So, she faced the Fae. She let herself trip two of them into the very same sparse of space she had considered jumping to death into. Eight left. She felt herself be on her last ember. Seven left- she could feel her eyes closing. A sword lay on the ground. If she pushed it into herself then Hybern would not have the chance to do any more harm. She bent down, muttering. Just as she were about to pick up the sword, the steel reflecting her burning eyes, someone killed the guards. She whipped her head and stumbled. Az.
No one had seen such fury in Az eyes as they did now. Eve smiled, a bit delirious, "now you know. Didn't know how I held up for so long-" she muttered finally before fainting.
Happy reading :)
XOXO,
the amazing author
Imagine the thinnest, most fragile thread that you can.... I am hanging on that....