The Protector

Chapter Five: The Ambush

Kara and Gabriel continue on their long journey. Traveling through the snow lands, surrounded by vast open seas of white and snow capped mountains as far as the eye can see. As they Travel, Gabriel explains that this land was once one of the most fertile lands in all of the Underworld. However, the threat of war had made most of the residents leave and flea for safety. It was always her mother's wish to restore these lands but the snow had suffocated it for so long that by now, it would probably be completely unmanageable without some intense magic to fix all the damage that had been caused.
They pass by several dozens of abandoned villages and towns, only stopping to take short breaks and to give themselves a rest though Gabriel usually insist that they push foward and Kara finds herself more determined to push foward with every single stop. They both want this journey to be over and yet on some level, Kara does not want it to end. She isn't entirely sure what will happen when they do reach the Queen but she gathers that there is no way that Gabriel would stay. He would have no reason too. At that point, he would have completed his job and could go back home to his kingdom..wherever that is. In some ways, she had hopes that they would pass by his kingdom so she could see where he was from but she had a feeling that it would more than likely only reassure her of his eventual departure.

" So when we reach the kingdom..the Queen..or whatever...what do you plan to do" She dared to ask. It had been on her mind so long that she could no longer bare it. She had to know now and get the disappoint out of the way. " I will return home. It is where I am needed. " He answers back to her which only made her wish she had not asked. Of course he would. She knew it. " So I have another question. Why do kings and queens and castles exist here. For the most part on earth, we phased those out a long time ago " it did seem as though that this place, whilst different, was stuck in time and it made no sense. These were beings of magic. They could create anything and everything they want and yet they live like this. " Some parts are more modern and some parts are not. We find it easier to live simple lives rather to overcomplicate things" he answers. He seems to have an answer for everything and this on some level makes Kara trust him more but also infuriates her. He is always one step ahead of her..which is probably for the best considering he has to keep her alive. " So do you have a girlfriend or something? Someone that you met maybe on earth?" Kara would facepalm from embarrassment of she could but she is currently holding on for dear life at breakneck speeds. " Why the hell did I ask him that?" She argues with herself. " Do you mean a mate? No. There aren't many of my kind on earth and love doesn't really interest me" He explains, panting but never seeming to run out of stamina. His speed never wavering through the snow. " Oh. Well would your mate even have to be Lycan? Couldn't you find someone else?" She asks and again, slowly hating herself for asking. " No. As a Prince, it is looked down upon for me to mate outside of lycans. And no, I've never had a mate " Kara is surprised by this. " So...you are a Virgin?" Kara jokes and Gabriel Sighs " You are too Kara. Remember, I know everything" Kara blushes at this and decides that it is better to not ask anymore questions. And so for the rest of the ride, she stays silent. Pondering over all the interesting things that she has learned about Gabriel. Surprised that was even communicating with her at all.

They travel for several more hours until nightfall approaches and they decide that it is time to finally rest and try to catch some sleep. They've made alot of progress today and the house seems so far away now. They've come far enough that Gabriel says after another day or so, they will no longer have to deal with anymore snow. Which is a huge relief to Kara because whilst she loves snow, she is absolutely sick of seeing it considering its all she has been staring at for so long now.
They make camp at a small cluster of trees where Gabriel gathers fire wood and begins preparing the fire whilst Kara tries her best to help despite Gabriel's best efforts to shoo her away from him. Once the fire has been made the both sit down and begin pulling out their rations so that they can have their dinner. Gabriel hands her a piece of twisted meat and explains that is something similar to rabbit Jerry. A Delicacy that Kara never got to try back on earth but won't deny that this treat is good. " So I'm a Witch huh? " Kara asks as she takes a bite from her Jerky.
" Yes, you are a witch" he answers to which Kara replies " I wonder why Kind of magic I can do. I wonder if it's like..healing stuff..or maybe setting things on fire or something " Kara's eyes light up at the thought of casting fire balls. " I don't know what your abilities will be but I'm sure you will find out once we reach your mom..I mean..Queen" Kara stops eating and stares into the fire. " I can't believe she is gone..that woman raised me my whole life and she is..just gone. Someday...someday I'm going to make Jack pay for whatever he did to her..and for what he did to Grace "Kara takes another bite from her Jerky.
" Well I'm sure he will regret the day he ever tangled with you" Gabriel sits back and lays down on a blanket and bedroll that he took with him from the house. " Wait..you brought a blanket and bedroll? The fuck dude. I don't have shit " Kara exclaims in disbelief. " Its not my fault you didn't bring anything " Gabriel smirks as he rolls over.
" Oh hell no" Kara jumps over from her spot and lands right on top of Gabriel. " You are going to freaking share dammit. I'm not about to freeze over here" Gabriel shoves Kara off of him. " Here..take the blanket and bedroll " Gabriel rolls over off both allowing Kara access to them.  Although, now she feels bad because he will freeze. " No. It's not fair for you to freeze either. We can share the freaking blanket man. Come on. We are both adults here " Kara tries her best to reason with Gabriel but he does not seem interested. " Kara..dont fight me. Everything has to be a fight with you. Just take the damn shit and let it go. I'll be fine " Kara thinks on it for a moment and then throws the blanket at Gabriel. " I'm not taking it. I dont want your frozen body on my conscious. I've got the fire to keep me warm anyway " She explains. " If you had the fire to keep you warm..then why did you complain in the first place?" Gabriel throws the blanket down behind him, refusing to look at Kara from sheer frustration but Kara doesn't respond. She is not going to allow this conversation to continue any further and would prefer at this point for him to get the warmth. He is the one putting in all the work and running her the entire way there so he deserves it alot more than she does. She was just being greedy in the moment. Which isn't fair to him. Kara lays down on the snow and continues staring into the fire and manages to close her eyes for a few minutes before she is woken up by the cackling of the fire. She awakes to find that the blanket is on her now, and Gabriel is asleep with the bedroll. " Kara smiles and closes her eyes and falls asleep yet again.

The next day, they continue making their way out of the snow and finally manage to reach some Green grasslands. It's a sight that all to soothing for Kara and Gabriel. It feels like a fresh start from the icy cold winter and into the possibility of something warm and inviting. The smell of trees and flowers are embracing their noses and filling with a sense of joy and determination. They can definitely make it to the Kingdom. They have been making such good progress and now the possibilities are endless.
As they make their way through the green lands, Kara begins to notice the twitching of Gabriel's ears. " What is wrong she asks" having not seen this done by him the entire time of riding before. " Someone is following us. I am going to have to let you down at some point soon so I can figure out what is going on. But I need to get you somewhere safe before I do that" Kara turns around and tries to spot who he is talking about but she sees noone. " I don't see anyone around us. Are you sure?" Gabriel continues running and suddenly, Kara goes flying in the air and lands hard onto the ground in front of Gabriel's body who crashed hard in the dirt, destroying the grass and beauty that surrounds them. " wha...what happened?" Kara asked..dazed and confused. From what she could tell..something tripped Gabriel and made he flip over which sent her flying..but what?
Kara notices Gabriel struggling to get back to his feet but he manages to do so just in time for 3 dark shadows to fly down from the sky and tackle him deep into his ribs which sends him flying hundreds of feet away, crashing into a tree. " GABRIEL!!" Kara calls out, worried that he is hurt and knowing that she cannot get to him. And then, Kara notices them. The three shapes that seem to be cause of all of this. One seems to be a man, supremely tall, around 7 ft 5 in her guess while the other two are females and are much shorter. The stranger thing about them is that they all have dark clothing on and yet they all have a bluish tint to their skin. They don't exactly look human and Kara is guessing that these are probably not vampires considering that Jack didn't have a blue skin like these three do. " Savine, I think we have found a lost little puppy" one of the girls calls to the man standing between them. " I think you are right Albie " He reapondes. They each have bright white hair and dark red eyes which is also something that Kara has never seen before. All she can do though is hope that Gabriel will be okay. " What are you doing out here..pup" Savine calls out to Gabriel who groans but answers " none of your damn business. Now why don't you three just leave before I have to end you. I would say before this gets ugly..but you three are already here" The group chuckles at Gabriel's insult and proceed to launch another attack at him. Punching and stabing him with speeds that no human could ever dream of matching. It was then that Kara noticed the third girl had a dagger of some type that was now marked with Gabriel's blood.
Gabriel lunges foward and tries to fight against them but they beat him down over and over again. So much so that they did not even notice Kara trying to stand up to help Gabriel. Although, she couldn't, because Ankle was twisted and she felt pain in her ribs that made her hesitate to move. The onslaught went on for so long and all Kara could do was watch on is dismay. Eventually, the three left after leaving Gabriel a broken mess on the ground. So much so that he fell out of his wolf form the moment they left. He was broken but it was then that he noticed Kara in the notices. So despite the pain and suffering inside of his both, he did his best to crawl to his feet and stand up. It was then that he limped his way over to her and kneeled down in front of her. Holes covered his body with blood pouring down him. His once beautiful hair was covered in blood and mud and the only thing left pure on him was his eyes. Those beautiful beautiful eyes of his. Deep. Powerful. Protective. He scoops Kara in his arms and raises himself back to his feet. Kara tried to tell him to stop but she couldn't speak. She simply could not find the words to say to him. Not after what she just witnessed. How is he still moving. How is he still going. How can he even be carrying her right now.
" Gabe please...stop..." Kara cried out to him as he carried her through the woods and to a place where noone would be able to find them before he finally sat her down and fell back to his knees. " I'm going to be okay Princess..I promise" he smiles at her to which she shakes her head " No..I'm not going to let you die on me..no" She lays him back on the ground and tries her best to keep him conscious.  " Please...please don't die...you are the only friend I have Gabe..please God don't die..everything is so fucked up and..you are all I have..please don't go. Don't leave me.  Don't leave me. Don't leave me"