Lightning Bringer: (Lighting Seeker Book 2)

Interrupted Silences

Screams filled the darkness. Somewhere loud and angry. Others were quick cries of pain that were suddenly silenced by a final blow. But they each had the same result and Vale couldn't stop them all. 

She had tried to intercede two hours previously and was rewarded with a long cut along her thigh and blood on her hands as a girl fell, the light leaving her eyes. Vale didn't even know the girl's name but she would never forget the shock and the sound as the air was snatched from her body with a crude wooden spear. 

After several more gashes, Vale forced herself to retreat to the hiding spot where she had left Reign. She hadn't been able to find any wounded or fight back without lighting up the forest around her with lightning and becoming a beacon for an attack in the process. In short, the entire decision to leave the safety she had found to try and help the cries she had heard had been a disaster.

The simple fact was, the thick trees blocking out the moonlight made it impossible to see more than a few feet ahead, and Vale had been torn between attacking any sound she heard and attempting to break up the silhouettes she did see. 

Squeezing behind a boulder, Vale crouched in the entrance to a hidden cave and took a moment to collect herself. Her thigh screamed in pain where a girl had stabbed her with a knife carved from a rock. After fumbling with a sleeve of her blouse, Vale ripped it into strips and wrapped it around the wound. She couldn't see it clearly and hoped that when she checked in the morning light, it would be manageable. 

But Vale knew better than to hope for good news. If she hadn't dodged, the girl would have nicked her tendon making it nearly impossible to run away. Some of these girls have been well trained. They must have known what coming to the Devinus House would cost. 

Pulling the material tight around her leg, she worked it into a knot and limped deeper into the cave. 

"Vale?" Reign asked quietly. 

"Yep," Vale replied collapsing on the ground. 

Long bouts of silences so thick that Vale began to hope that the hunters that had taken advantage of the dark were satiated filled the night. But the screams continued to rip into the night, startling and terrifying. 

Vale threw her arm over her face and closed her eyes, settling in on the hard ground and ignoring the cold that settled into her bones. Reign didn't say anything else. There was no point in asking if Vale had been able to help anyone. She had come back alone. "We should try and get some shut-eye." 

"'Kay." 

Vale's heart rate spiked with each cry she heard, her wounded leg throbbing in rhythm. "How did you know this place was here?" Reign asked. 

Vale hesitated. She didn't know if Kebar could hear them and was afraid of getting Sky into trouble. He was most likely being forced to watch the battle that was happening outside. "Was just hoping for a good place to get some shut-eye. This turned out better than I had hoped for." 

Tears filled her eyes. Thank you, Sky. 

Angry shouts filled the air. "How did you meet Sky?" Reign asked. 

"Don't you want to get some sleep?" Vale asked with a groan.

"Are you serious? Can you hear what is going on out there?" 

Vale nodded. Then realizing that Reign couldn't see her, she added "I met him on a ship." Vale blushed in the dark as she remembered seeing him for the first time. "He had the most beautiful hair I had ever seen. It looked like it was woven straight from sunrays. The bluest eyes I had ever seen." A tear escaped Vale's shut eyes. "He saved my life."