Revive

Hidden Cavern

Chapter VII: Hidden Cavern

Before I could even run, I heard the yells of the men. It didn't sound like there were many, but we were still outnumbered by at least one. Cloaking wouldn't work, because we were all exhausted and Adrien didn't have enough energy to shield three people, let alone himself. I pulled out my dagger and readied myself for attack. Beside me, Louis had a large stick, and it looked like Adrien was getting ready to fight the men by hand.
I turned toward the closest assassin, and aimed my arm. When I was ready, I threw the blade, hoping that my aim wouldn't be affected by my sleepiness. The man dodged it, but nonetheless, my dagger struck him in the shoulder. He doubled over in pain wincing, while pulling out the bloodsoaked dagger. I grimaced at it, but discarded the thought of the blood. I had to get my head in the fight. From beside me, I noticed Louis seize the sword from the assassin he was fighting, only causing the man to run. That left three more.

"Grab the bow, I'll shield you!" Louis yelled, drawing the sword from its sleeve. I ran towards the bow, hearing grunts and swords clinging in the background. I didn't dare look back because I was scared of what I might see, but the continuous sound of ringing metal made me confident that everything was okay. Taking one last step, I grasped the bow and the quiver before turning back and drawing an arrow.

"Know how to use one of these?" I called out to Louis and Adrien, hoping one of them could hear me over the continuous swordplay.

"Nope. You?" Louis yelled back, swinging his sword in defense against his opponent.

"Not a clue. Guess we'll have to wing it!" I enthusiastically pulled the arrow back, turning to my side to aim for my target properly before releasing.
I paused, watching Louis struggle under his opponent's strength. Adrien had overtaken his opponent easily, but now Louis was being overpowered. The arrow splintered through the air before hitting it's final target, the offender's swinging arm. Louis stepped back and dropped the sword in his hand. He released a sigh and felt relief engulf him. I quickly drew another arrow, and shot it at the last assassin's knee. He tumbled to the ground like his friends, groaning in pain.

I finally dropped over to my weapon and ran over to Louis before jumping into his arms and burying him with a hug.

"I thought you didn't know how to use a bow," Louis joked, his voice muffled by my long raven hair.

"I didn't. Like I said, I winged it." I joked back before pulling back and dropping my feet to the ground. "Are you hurt?" I skimmed my eyes over his body looking for any injuries.

"Who were they?" Louis asked, directing his attention to the group of men grunting from pain on the ground.

"I don't know, but let's not stay to find out. Now answer me, Are you hurt?" I wasn't sure if the distress in my voice was noticeable, but it was definitely there.

"Just some cuts on my shoulder and chest. I don't know how deep they are." Louis responded. I lightly brushed my fingers over the injuries, examining them.

"They look deep but we're gonna have to wait to mend them when we're far enough away from these crooks." I glared at the men and grabbed my bow and quiver before turning towards the path. Louis followed after biting his tongue from the pain, knowing he'd have to wait to find a hidden destination.

The search was unbearable. Not only was it hard to find a hiding spot without being followed, but Louis's pain didn't make anything less awkward. No one said a single word, not even Adrien through my mind. The awkwardness flooded me because I knew I couldn't help them as much as I wanted to. Looking over my shoulder for the 100th time, I made sure we weren't being followed or listened to.

"Look, over there!" I pointed to a small cave behind a waterfall that was shielded enough by water to hide us. We ran to the cave and twisted around the water to avoid getting wet.

"Here, sit there so I can examine your wounds," I said to Louis, pointing to a wall of the cave. Louis did so, sliding down the wall slowly to avoid pain.

"I'll go scout the area." Adrien said, making his way out of the cavern.

"What about your wounds?"

"They're mere scratches, you can just heal them when I return." I smiled softly, watching him leave. I then turned back to Louis and pushed myself closer.

"This will probably sting at first," Louis nodded at my warning and closed his eyes. I looked at the slashes through the rips of his shirt, and prepared my magic, trying to push through the exhaustion.

"On the count of three,"

"One," I placed my hands on the different areas, trying to cover as much space as possible,

"Two," This count was mainly so I could gather myself,

"Three," I closed my eyes and focused on the wounds. I felt the familiar green glow as the light twirled it's way over Louis' chest and shoulder.

"Imph" Louis bit his tongue, a small sting taking over his cuts, but slowly fading into cool relief.

"Thank you," Louis said, opening his eyes and looking into my gray ones.

"For what? You know that healing takes nothing by now," I responded looking back into his chocolate ones.

"Well yes for the healing, but mainly for letting me come with you. If you hadn't I'd probably be back in my village having to take on my horrible royal family responsibilities." Louis added, clarifying his original statement.

"Tell me about it. Anyway, it's nothing. You're a good company that I enjoy." I smiled examining Louis' features. His messy red hair almost looked brown due to the dirt, and his pale skin was dusty.

"To the company of the person who's supposed to be my enemy," Louis spoke enthusiastically. I raised an eyebrow at the weird encouraging statement Louis had come up with, but nonetheless he had a point. We were supposed to be each other's enemies, but instead had a growing bond and were comfortable around each other. I smiled softly at the thought before repeating what the ginger boy had said before,

"To the company of the person who's supposed to be my enemy."