From The Ashes

Chapter Thirty-Five

Dread seeped into my skin as we approached the cave. The area was dark and there was no light peaking from behind the waterfall. King Ruben had commanded that a fire always be lit after what had happened.

My breathing hitched and I pushed my legs to go faster. Valen sensed my urgency and sped up as well.

Soon, we were diving under under the black water and resurfacing under the waterfall. I took in my surroundings as my eyes adjusted to the scene before me.

The base looked like it had been ransacked. Papers were everywhere, tables and chairs had been thrown around and knocked over, and burnt ashes and logs from a previous fire were scattered all over the dark ground.

My ears perked as I heard groaning coming from the opposite end of the room. Valen and I rushed over to see two bodies slumped on the floor.

He pulled a waterproof flashlight out of his bag and shined the light on them.

Celia and Von lay before us, unconscious and bleeding.

Von's nose looked crooked and there was dried blood around his mouth. Celia was bleeding from somewhere in her hair line, a thin trail of the red liquid running down her temple and pooling below just below her ear.

We immediately rushed to them. I tore the hem of my shirt off and put it to Celia's head. She hissed in pain and tried to roll away from me.

I glanced over to Valen who was trying to rouse Von into a sitting position. Once he finally got him up, Von clutched his head and groaned again.

Valen flashed the light into his eyes, checking his pupil dilation. Von angrily slapped the flashlight out of his hands.

"Yes, I probably have a concussion but that's not important right now," he muttered out.

Valen retrieved the light and bent down in front of Von.

"What happened here?" he asked while handing him a piece of cloth to press to his nose.

Von took it gratefully before explaining.

"We were ambushed. It happened so fast that I didn't have time to mind-link King Ruben. Seven wolves barged in here and wrecked the place, before knocking out Artemis and taking her. We tried to fight back, but Celia and I couldn't take them on by ourselves." He looked up into Valen's eyes.

"She's gone. I have to get her back." His voice cracked on his last words.

Valen clenched his jaw in anger but put his hand on his brother's shoulder.

"It's okay, Von. I've known you long enough to know that you fought your hardest. What about her?" He jerked his head in Celia's direction.

She was still passed out, but was beginning to make little whimpers of pain. I pressed the cloth to her head once more.

"I didn't see much. I was focused on Artemis," Von looked down with shame clouding his face.

I saw Valen's eyes glaze over as he mind-linked someone-who I assumed to be his brother. They sat in silence for a moment, just staring at each other.

"Son of a bitch," Von swore when their silent conversation had ended.

He looked to Celia with pure rage in his eyes.

"I swear to the Goddess, if she's the one who's helping them, I'll kill her myself."

I glanced at Valen and he nodded, confirming to me that he had told Von what we had discovered at the ruins.

"I'll be right back," Valen excused himself.

"I need to get in touch with father."

He stood up and walked to the fire pit, bending down and to begin assembling a new one. Von turned to me.