"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, friend," Draz replied before Claire could speak. "But Miss Belmont isn't going anywhere with you."
Ben smiled, a cool expression that never quite reached his eyes. He motioned with a flick of his hand and the cloaked figures who had emerged from the darkness began to move in. "Do you always let idiots like this one speak on your behalf?"
His eyes settled on Claire and she was reminded of the bus and how casual and easy going he had been. The way he had smiled and how anxious he'd acted when giving her his number. It made her shudder to think what could have happened if she had called him, or if Draz hadn't been around to come to her aid when Ben had shown up unannounced.
"I don't know who you think you are," Rollan said as he took a step towards Ben, "and it is true that Draz is an idiot but, loathed as I am to admit it, he's also right for a change. Claire is staying right here."
"Very well," Ben replied, his mouth curving into a smirk. "I am going to enjoy this."
Out of the corner of her eye, Claire saw a shimmer of green as a whip uncoiled from the hip of the nearest hunter. The tip brushed the snow with a soft sizzling sound, steam rising into the air only briefly before being swept away on a light breeze.
All around them other weapons were being drawn, the soft glow of magical light illuminating the darkness. Claire felt something heavy drop into her pocket and when she reached in to see what it was she was surprised and relieved when the tips of her fingers came into contact with the smooth surface of the cards. She wasn't sure where they had been up to that point, but who was she to question the nature of magic cards?
Hello again, old friends.
"Remember," Ben called out, drawing Claire's attention towards where he stood, "the woman is the only one we need to take alive."
At that, the hunters began their advance, slowly closing in on them from all sides. Claire wondered why they didn't simply rush in but saw the flames in the firepit dancing wildly and knew they were afraid of Draz and what he could do.
"Claire, get behind me," Rollan insisted in a hushed voice as he drew his sword free of its scabbard..
"No," Claire replied.
"But Claire-"
"They're here for me, I won't hide while other people fight my battles," Claire said, her tone sharp.
"Argue about it later," Draz interrupted. "We've got bigger problems!"
Rollan looked like he wanted to say more, but there wasn't time. Three hunters were coming around to flank them from behind as Ben and another approached from the front. Draz let out a loud yell and the once dying fire shot upwards in a pillar of red, angry flames that lit the surrounding area. It arched through the air, spiraling downwards in a brilliant display of fury and sheer power. It tore through the camp indiscriminately, obliterating anything unable to get out of the way. The three hunters managed to leap to safety while Ben also managed to evade the fiery wall as it encircled the trio. The shorter man who had been beside him, however, was not so fortunate.
Claire was fairly certain she would hear his screams in her dreams for many nights to come.
Draz leaped into the wall of fire and disappeared from sight.
Rollan also broke away to engage with a hunter that had leapt forward rather than back and was trapped in the fiery ring with them. There was a sharp hiss of metal on metal as Rollan's blade came into contact with the hunter's weapon -- a metal staff roughly three feet long.
She was so focused on Rollan that she didn't notice the hunter wielding the whip, a tall woman with dark hair and a dark complexion, was closing in on them.
Not until she felt the pain.
She felt it even before she heard the thunderous crack as it flew through the darkness. Her hand rose to her arm where the very tip of the whip had sliced clean through the fabric of her coat to leave a thin red welt across her upper arm. She turned to see the woman standing less than ten feet away.
"Let's play," the woman called out, cracking the whip again. Claire felt the air ripple as the tongue of the whip came within an inch of her face.
Alright, Claire thought as the woman readied the whip for another blow.
She shoved her hand into her pocket and pulled out the cards. She fanned them out between her fingers and was horrified to see they were all blank. What in the world was he supposed to do with a bunch of blank cards?
Claire heard the whip crack again, but not before she felt something wrapping tightly around her ankle. Before she had a chance to look down there was a sharp pull and she found herself jerked clean off her feet. She hit the ground with enough force to leave her winded but not entirely breathless. The cards had been knocked from her grasp and now lay scattered all around her, nearly impossible to see against the white snow.
"Is that the best you got?" The woman called, her voice closer.
Claire groped around in the moon lit darkness until her fingers curled around the edge of a card. Plucking it from the snow, she raised it up and as she did she saw the woman leaning over her, booted foot raised as though she were preparing to kick her.
As her foot came down, Claire rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a heel stomp to her stomach. She wasn't fast enough to evade the woman a second time and let out a yell of anger when the woman caught a fist full of her hair and pulled. A burst of fiery pain erupted across Claire's scalp as she was jerked unceremoniously to her feet.
"Aren't you a precious little thing," the woman said with a smirk, "that certainly explains why these idiots are so eager to die. Nothing like a little self sacrifice when a pretty face is involved."
Claire grimaced and tried to pull free but the woman simply twisted her fist further into her hair. "I used to be pretty once," the woman continued, tracing a finger across Claire's cheek. "Had boys tripping over their own feet trying to impress me."
It was then that Claire noticed the woman wore a black leather mask over one side of her face. Without provocation, the woman reached up and peeled the mask away. The scarred skin beneath showed evidence of having once been horribly burned. The space where her eye should have been was a dark, empty hole.
"Do you like it? My sister did it to me," she explained casually before pulling the mask back into place. Her hand lowered to grasp Claire's face, fingers digging into her cheeks as she forced their eyes to meet.
"Jealousy is a terrible thing. Took branding iron our daddy used to mark cattle and burned my face over and over. Six times before they stopped her. The boys didn't want anything to do with me after that... what do you think? Do you think your white knights will still be willing to put their lives on the line if I ruin that pretty little face?"
Claire felt her heart hammering in her chest as the woman's nails dug into her cheeks.
"Guess there is only one way to find out..."
The card Claire was still gripping in her hands began to grow warm and grew warmer until it was too hot for her to hold. She released it and the card fell to the ground, melting through the snow.
"What's this?" the woman asked, releasing Claire's face so that she could reach down and pick up the card. Claire choked back a warning and the second the woman's hand touched the card she began to scream. She jerked her hand back, but Claire could see that it was too late. Thin, lines of deep red-orange were branching out from her fingertips, pulsating as though they were alive. She staggered back, releasing her hold on Claire's hair before attempting to stop the threads of liquid fire from spreading across her palm and up her arm.
Claire watched in horror as she retreated into the darkness, the only sign of her passing was that of the orange glow that soon engulfed and then consumed her entirely. Turning back to where the card had fallen, Claire saw nothing but a small chunk of coal still glowing angry and hot.
"Thank you," she whispered to the cards still scattered across the snow. In response, they fluttered into the air before returning one by one into her pocket.
"Well, isn't that a neat trick."
Claire twisted around to see Ben nearly on top of her. She turned to run but he caught her by the wrist and pulled her back towards him. He spun her around to face him, his hand remaining locked firmly around her wrist.
"Antonia was one of my best," he said, "I didn't peg you for a killer."
"I'm not a killer," Claire replied.
"Yet, here you stand alive and well, while Antonia, well, let's just say she is little more than ashes. I'm not sure what you'd call that in your world, but here it means she is very dead," Ben replied thoughtfully.
"The cards, they have a mind of their own," Claire insisted, "they're very unpredictable. I suggest you let me go before you become their next target."
Ben laughed. "Do you take me for a fool? I'm well aware of what those cards are capable of doing. The question is, are you?"
Something in Claire's expression must have betrayed her because Ben smiled and shook his head.
"I didn't think so," he replied. He lifted his free hand and brushed strands of hair from her forehead. "But none of that matters, because where you are going, Claire, there is no magic. Only darkness, ever present and eternal."
"Let her go!"
Claire turned to see Rollan limping towards them from what remained of their camp. Draz was close behind, dragging something kicking and struggling along behind him.
Ben pulled Claire into him, his arm snaking around her shoulders to keep her pinned there. "What makes you think I would do that?"
"If you don't," Draz replied as he tossed the figure he was dragging to the ground in front of him. The young man tried to scramble away but Draz slammed his foot into the hunter's back and pinned him to the ground. "I will dispose of your companion."
"I see," Ben replied thoughtfully. "Very well. Kill him. He shall go down in history as a true martyr, a hero, his family will receive honors and rewards. Do you hear that, Julian? Your mother will be so proud of her son."
"Benjamin p-please," the young man blubbered.
"Come now, accept your fate with dignity," Ben replied with a sigh. "It is the greatest--"
Whatever else Ben was going to say was cut short when he was suddenly lifted clean off his feet. He tried to keep his hold on Claire but she managed to pull free, hitting the ground and looking back to see Ben tangled in the grasp of a large tree.
No, not a tree, not entirely.
"Rin?" Claire called as she rose to her feet.
"Rin," the forest guardian replied. Claire looked past him to see the half a dozen other trees had also moved closer and now hovered in a protective half circle around them.
"We thought that might be you," Claire replied. "Why are you here? Why did you follow us?"
"Rin, help," the raspy, rattling voice of the guardian replied. "Rin, crush."
Ben let out an agonizing shout as the vines and branches ensnaring him began to creak and groan as they tightened around him.
"No!" Claire shouted.
The groaning of the branches stopped.
"Bad man hurt Claire," Rin replied.
"I know," she replied. "I know, but that doesn't mean we have to kill him."
"Claire," Draz protested. "Just let the tree do what it wants. It'll be better for everyone."
"No," she said, Ben's earlier comment echoing through her mind. "No. Rin. Let him go."
There was a moment of silence and then the soft creaking as the branches withdrew and Ben tumbled from their grasp. He remained where he landed on his hands and knees, gasping for air.
"Go," Claire said quietly. "Take your friend and go."
Ben chuckled, staggering to his feet. "You should listen to your friends for once. I'll just keep coming back, I'll never stop until I've completed my mission, or died trying."
"Consider this a warning then," Claire said. "If you come near me or my friends again. I'll kill you myself."