Young Writers Society

“Why should we?” Akia piped up, finding her way back to the front. “Everything you’ve ever told me was a lie.”

“Not everything,” he whispered. “But some of it, yes. I did it all for you.”

Akia let out an exasperated laugh. “Everyone keeps saying that. I’m not the one who needs protection here; it’s the people whose lives you’ve destroyed.”

“I didn’t destroy—"

“Maybe not, but you chose that side. Whatever blood and crimes Rhys has on your hands are now on yours. And yours too!” She whirled to face Aidan, accusation blazing from her eyes. “You worked with the little worm.”

Aidan’s face paled. “I can explain.”

“I don’t want your explanations,” she snapped as she turned back to George. “Nothing you can say can change my mind. You tricked us, played us all. We’re fighting for something good, something strong. All you’re doing is following a coward.”

Falyn looked around nervously. Here they were, in enemy territory, and all Akia wanted to do was snap at George and her brother. Falyn could understand why, but she knew that they couldn’t stand around wasting their time like this. Those eyes she saw in the caves, she knew she hadn’t imagined them. And with every passing moment, she heard more rustling in the leaves and sounds she couldn’t even describe. Something was happening that she couldn’t explain.

She tugged Sam’s sleeve and pointed behind them. Out of the first cave came a Hund Warrior, its purple hood covering every part of its face but its tight mouth. Her heart raced as another followed it out and two more joined them. Their steps were deliberate, but lazy. Each time a boot landed on the ground, a dozen leaves crunched.

Falyn took a quick glance back at the rest of the group. Akia was still arguing with George and the rest of them didn’t seem to be able to focus on anything but the conversation.

“What do we do now?” Sam asked. He looked just as uncomfortable as Falyn felt. Why was he like this? She had expected him to be the strong one in the group, especially after he saved her from that one back in Agathi nearly a week ago. Then again, all she had seen him do was run. Maybe he hadn’t actually fought him.

“They don’t seem to be attacking,” she said quietly. “Maybe they’re just here to scare us.”

Sam shook his head. “Rhys wouldn’t waste his men on that. They’re going to attack. I just don’t know if we should attack first.”

Falyn’s mind raced, trying to come up with a solution. Desperation gripped her mind as more Warriors emerged from the caves. If they didn’t come up with something soon, the Warriors would have them and everything would be lost.

Slowly, she took a step backwards, dragging Sam with her. She had to get the attention of the others, but she wasn’t going to take her eyes off of the Warriors. One wrong move, she felt, would set them off.

With each step, her breath caught in her throat. She could still hear Akia and George talking. It was obvious that neither of them had noticed anything going on behind them. Falyn wasn’t ready to fight, wasn’t ready to face the Warriors without everyone aware. This wasn’t a fight that she and Sam could win on their own. Sam shouldn’t have even been with them. She was going to be more concerned about his well being than her won. She didn’t know what she would do if anything happened to him.

Finally she bumped into someone. They grunted and turned, but didn’t say anything. She took a quick look back and saw Layna staring past her, eyes locked on the advancing Warriors. It was strange to see her so calm despite the situation.

“Hey, Phillip,” she shouted back. “Come look—" She was cut off by a loud cry that sent a shiver down Falyn’s spine. Before she could even think about which of the guys it had come from, it was definitely a man’s voice, a Warrior in the front flicked his fingers, sending a green light hurtling towards Sam. It hit him straight in the stomach, knocking him to the ground.

Suddenly the whole front line of Warriors froze and then crumbled to the ground, their red eyes wide and desperate, darting one way and the other. Their hoods had fallen off to reveal the sickening pale skin underneath. It almost made them look like they weren’t even there.

“I can hold them off,” Layna shouted. She was staring intently at one of the Warriors, her eyes shuddering slightly. It must be a telek mind trick she played on the Warriors to keep them down and out. “Just get the others! Then make sure Sam’s okay.” Falyn looked at the boy she had grown up with, lying on the ground. As much as she wanted to help him now, she knew she had to do what Layna said. If the Warriors weren’t taken care of, and there were a lot of them, there wouldn’t be anything she could so to help Sam.

When she turned to the others, she stopped in her tracks. Frozen in place, her eyes grazed the scene in front of her. Akia was gone, nowhere to be found. Aidan and Phillip were in a battle against Rhys, neither man gaining anything. Each attack was met with a counterattack from Rhys. But with both of them fighting, Rhys wasn’t able to gain anything either.

Her eyes traveled to the ground just in front of her. George was lying face down, blood staining the back of his shirt. It had all seeped out of a tear in the cloth. Her heart stopped. She couldn’t breathe. He wasn’t moving, his skin. There wasn’t anything she could do for him, she knew. George was dead. Despite the way he had been playing them the entire time, the loss tugged at her heart.

“Falyn!” Mina cried, rushing to her and crushing her in an embrace. “Did you see? Oh, it was terrible! Rhys came out and… the Warriors are here too. There’s too many of them! No way we’re going to get out of this. I want out. I want to go home.”

Falyn pushed back and stared her sister square in the eyes. “You need to fight with us. Understand? Layna is trying to hold off the Warriors, but she can’t do it by herself.”

“What about you?” Mina asked, her voice shaking. Falyn looked over at Sam. He was lying on his side now, trying to move, but it looked as if each movement pained him. Mina’s hand flew to her mouth.

“You have to help,” Falyn pleaded. “Throw whatever you’ve got at them.”

“We never learned any magic that would help us fight!”

“I don’t care,” Falyn snapped. “Anything that pushes them back is a victory.”

Mina finally tore her gaze from Sam and looked at her sister. A small smile broke across her lips. “You’re good for this, you know that? I’d fight with you any day.”

“Fight with me now.” Falyn responded. She didn’t hesitate before rushing to Sam’s side.

He tried to roll over when he saw her, but he only groaned, his body protesting. He managed to land on his back so he was staring up at her. Those blue eyes that caught her from the very first day looked up at her. She placed a hand on his chest to keep him steady.

“Don’t move,” she said softly. “You’re obviously hurt.”

He only shook his head. “You don’t have to babysit me. Go fight with the others. I’m just fine.”

“You’re not! You’re already hurt and I’m not about to let you get any more bruises.” She had noticed the bruise on his face. It stretched from just below the right side of his hairline to his eyebrow. It looked more like a patch than a bruise, as if someone had cut out a piece of his skin and replaced it with a strip of red, agitated skin. There must’ve been more than just the floor that his head hit. This was a much larger injury.

She reached out and touched it softly. Sam grimaced for a moment, but it didn’t seem to bother him. The skin was rough, much unlike his untouched cheek. He must’ve hit more than just the floor when he fell.

“This is much more of an injury than anyone can ignore,” she said. “Even you.”

He closed his eyes as he leaned into her hand. “Mhm. My head is killing me now. But like I said… not gonna back down.” He took a deep breath and opens his eyes. They’re dark, fiery, showing the Sam that she had come to know in Lightport.

Falyn grinned. “So what are we gonna do?”

Before Sam could answer, Aidan and Phillip came running over. They were both breathing heavy and Aidan was limping.

“What have you two been doing?” Phillip demanded. “We’ve barely made any progress!” Aidan took a step forward and pushed out against the air. The Warriors flew backward, knocking each other over. They all laid on the ground, unable to move or do much of anything else.

Layna turned on her heel. “I had it under control.” She stalked over to them, glancing over her shoulder. It was obvious that she didn’t trust that the threat was really gone. Falyn didn’t believe it either, but Aidan had bought them a few minute’s time before they’d have to do anything else.

By the time Layna reached them, she was fuming, her face red, her steps heavy. Falyn was surprised to see her like that. Layna had been nothing but nice and optimistic. Now she was cutthroat and determined.

Mina looked around at them all. “Where’s Rhys? Don’t tell me you guys let him get away.” She stared at Aidan and Phillip with such an intense glare that even Falyn would shrink under.

Phillip spread out his arms, palms facing opposite directions and his eyes glazed over. A thin layer of blue light appeared in front of them, reaching from the ground to about his height. It grew, spreading out to either side until it connected, creating a type of dome around them.

It shimmered in the setting sun, but the light quickly faded away. Falyn remembered Akia once telling her that Phillip was responsible for the barriers protecting Lightport. This must’ve been a type of barrier, one designed to protect them on all sides.

“We fought as hard as we could,” Aidan said. “Akia disappeared within the first few minutes. I didn’t even see her go. We can only hope that she found some way to escape and go after Rhys.”

Phillip picked up from there. “Rhys slipped from our grasp, using some confusion spell to mess with our heads.”

“That’s one of my favorite!” Layna exclaimed. They all stared at her. Her eyes quickly darted to the ground as she mumbled, “Sorry.”

“Anyways,” Phillip continued. “We lost him by the time our minds cleared. He must’ve retreated to his fortress.”

Sam scoffed. “All I see is caves. There’s no fortress here.”

Falyn was only partially listening. She kept watching the Warriors trying to break through the barrier. There were still a handful lying on the ground, but most of their numbers had returned. They were smart, using a destruction spell, a dark shade of light flashing through the air. It was used to tear apart buildings and structures, anything man made and stable. There wasn’t much that it could do to a barrier made of magic, in theory, but it seemed to be doing real damage.

“…just inside that last cave.” Phillip was saying. “We have to send somebody in there.”

“You need to hold this barrier,” Falyn said desperately. The spells were yielding more damage with each passing second. At this rate, they wouldn’t be protected at all.

The barrier shook, blue light shining bright all around them. It was still standing, but she could tell that it was losing its strength. Phillip groaned and placed his hands against the barrier. It started glowing bright blue and, despite the bombardment of magic from the Warriors, seemed to be holding.

But Phillip was losing hold of it fast. He wasn’t standing as strong as before and his arms lowered. The barrier flickered and shook, not comforting to Falyn at all.

“It’s not going to hold much longer!” Phillip shouted.

“Get ready for another fight.” Layna said, setting her feet apart. Everyone else responded the same. Aidan and Mina stood side by side, each looking around, scanning their surroundings.

Sam was still on the ground, although he had been able to sit up. He still wasn’t ready for such a large scaled fight.

A sudden idea popped into Falyn’s mind. She ran over to Phillip. “Sam and I can go after Rhys. We won’t be much help to you out here.”

Phillip hesitated, but nodded his head. “You won’t have much time to escape once the barrier is down. The Warriors should be focused enough on us that you two can slip through. Keep an eye out for Akia too. She’s out there somewhere.”

Falyn agreed to it all. It would be hard to get into the cave without being seen, but it wasn’t impossible. The real struggle would be fighting off Rhys. She had been thinking about all that she had gone through and she realized that this was how it had to be. There was a reason that she was pulled from her life in Vertfay, hid in Agathi, and then pulled from that life to rejoin the one she had. She couldn’t just stand around and watch.

“Oh, and Falyn,” Phillip said. “I trust you. I know you won’t let us down.” He even turned his head to give her a half smile. Then he opened his mouth and shouted, “Barrier down in five!”

Falyn rushed over and helped Sam off of the ground. “What did you say to Phillip?” he asked her as he tried to steady himself.

“We’re going after Rhys,” she explained. “You and me. We’ll find Akia along the way.” Blue light engulfed them all and then the Warriors were upon them. As the rest of the group ran forward, she and Sam ran away from the fight and toward the caves.

One thing was for certain, Falyn was going to find Akia first. It wasn't a fight that they could win without her.