Good Things Never Last

Chapter 9

"So who might you be, princess?"

The words were coated in venom and hatred as they were whispered into my ear, making me stiffen up. I found myself sliding further into my opponent's chest as I tried to back away from the sharp blade of an axe pressing against my neck.

"Answer my question"
His voice was low and aggressive as he whispered viciously into my ear, making sure no one else could hear him. A sudden high-pitched scream came from my left as I saw Wilbur swinging at the goggles boy out of the corner of my eye.

"What's it to you green boy?"
I kept my cool, attempting to match his confidence so I could show him that I wasn't scared of the murderous maniac that stood behind me.

"Oh it's everything to me"
He ran his empty hand through my hair lightly before grabbing the ends and jerking my head backwards, forcing me to look up at him. I smiled at him. The mischievous grin that edged its way onto my face just seemed right at that moment.

With that, I pushed myself forward, causing the blade to sink somewhat deeper into my neck, and blood to start trickling down my chest. Using the momentum I'd built up, I slammed my left leg into his stomach, catching him off guard as his grasp loosened slightly, allowing me to free myself.

Ripping my sword away from my belt, I spun around, planting my feet steadily, awaiting my opponent's first move.

"Aren't you interesting"
His tone was harsh, almost a growl.

He backed off a bit, examining the slight hint of red liquid on his axe. I kept my sword in front of me, waiting for him to make the first move, reluctant to move forward for fear of the fight's outcome.

A screech coming from the direction of my little brother caught my attention as I turned to find its source. The bandana boy stood over him, driving an arrow deeper and deeper into the young boy's shoulder, blood running from the open wound, tears streaming down the pale child's face as the colour drained from him.

Wilbur was unconscious on the floor to my left, blood dripping from his curly hair. Fundy's blade clashed with the goggle boy's, pushing him away from his defenceless father.

I saw a quick movement in the corner of my eye which made me turn my head back to face the masked man as he swung his axe at me. Swiftly turning to the right, the axe only grazed my armour on my left arm. I looked back at him to see him going for another swing. I raised my sword just in time, clashing against the metal of his, only to pull away moments later and slash at his legs. He jumped backwards and then lunged back at me. I felt the power of the swing against my skin as he missed my neck by only an inch.

Even though I stumbled a little, I managed to hold my ground. I could hear my own breath quickening as the adrenaline started to set in. The masked man seemed to just stop and stare for a couple of moments before swinging at me again. This time, though, I used my free hand to protect my face, resulting in a nasty cut along my lower arm and wrist.

I swung at the boy again, aiming for his torso after realising he was going for the kill. My sword smashed against his armour, pushing us both away from each other from the momentum. I tried to catch my breath as I lunged at him yet again.

Our weapons collided once more, forcing me to use every ounce of strength left in my legs to stop myself from falling back. I began to twist my wrist, forcing my sword into his, which twisted his wrist backwards, taking him by surprise.

As I saw him fight to retain his sword against mine, I kicked out, slamming my heel into his chest with a powerful kick. He slipped, losing his hold on his axe in the process, which clattered to the ground.

He lay on the ground, defenceless, as I stood over him, sword against his neck, adding little to no pressure. He may have tried to kill me just moments earlier, but I could never do such a thing. No matter how much I despised the person, I could never kill them. I just stared down at him, feeling him stare back, waiting for me to kill him or to at least hurt him, but that moment never came.

Hearing Tommy scream caused me to run away from the boy I was towering over, stealing his axe in the process. I dashed over to Tommy and the bandana boy, striking at the older of the two. He stumbled back quickly, falling over his own feet, and pushed himself against the opposite wall while just staring at me. He didn't even pull his crossbow out to defend himself.

I rushed to my brother's side, dropping to my knees. I released the weapons from both my hands as I ripped away at my own trouser leg, pulling the cloth up to Tommy's shoulder and adding an immense amount of pressure to his open wound in an attempt to slow the blood flow. I heard him whimper as I applied some more force.

"Tommy, please just try to stay awake, okay? Can you stay awake for me Tom?"
Tommy's half-closed eyes looked up to meet mine as I saw him barely nod his head.

"I won't let them hurt you anymore, Tommy"
I looked over to my left to see Fundy dabbing some cloth on Wilbur's wound on his head. Our eyes briefly locked as we nodded at each other. I tried my best to smile, to lighten the mood between us two, but the smile didn't meet my eyes that are full of fear.

I turned my head a little more to see the goggles boy slumped over in the corner, unconscious. The bandana boy stood over him, gently shaking him in an attempt to wake him up. He clearly didn't have a clue what to do. He was freaking out. Goggle boy had clearly lost a lot of blood, and wasn't responding to anything.

I locked eyes with the fox again, who also seemed to have just been looking at the bandana boy struggling to wake his friend. I almost felt... bad?

"Tommy, could you hold this for a minute? I'm going to check on Wilbur, okay?"
"Mkay"
I stood up and walked over to Fundy, who was still crouched over Will.

"Should I help him? He could die Fundy"
Fundy gave me a sympathetic look, as if he was thinking the same thing I was. None of us wanted to kill our enemy. We just wanted our independence. We were willing to risk our own lives, but not the lives of others. We desired liberty, not bloodshed. The nod from Fundy reassured me that I was doing the right thing as I stood up.

I walked over to the two mysterious boys in the corner, not realising that the masked man in the shadows was watching my every move.

"Excuse me?"
Bandana boy's head turned to face mine. He was scared. I could see it in his eyes. He backed up slightly as I knelt down, checking the goggle boys pulse.
"Hey don't touch him"
I looked up at the other boy, still concentrating on the unconscious boy's pulse.

"Is it okay if I help? I do first aid for L'Manburg"
I didn't realise how scared I was until I spoke to him. Even though the boy in front of me was defenceless, hearing myself stutter made me feel vulnerable.

I lifted the other boy's head forward to find a big bump and blood flowing from a gaping wound. Ripping the end of my other trouser leg, I placed it on the wound, applying pressure and watching as the blood flow slowed slightly.

"Right, I want you to keep as much pressure on it as possible, okay? He's already lost a lot of blood, so you don't want him to lose more. If you manage to get him to somewhere that has some sort of equipment, he'll be fine. Maybe just a concussion, but you'll need to be quick"

I got up and walked back over to my brother, taking the cloth from his hands and taking it in mine. I watched a small thankful smile appear on his face as I nodded back.

I heard a disturbance behind me as the green man emerged from the shadows and made his way over to his friends. After sharing a quick word with the bandana boy, he picked up the other boy and headed out the exit. But he stopped and turned back to supposedly lock eyes with me and sent me a brief nod. And that was the last I saw of him.