Badblood (Badbloods, #1) [Completed, Unedited]

14. Dangerous night

"Keep your eyes open" Rena said, looking around their surroundings. "We're near Nagili village and Leni's men are scattered in these woods".

Serra nodded and followed Rena. They make quiet steps and walked under the starry sky. The sun already sets and the moon above shone bright along with the stars that looked like fireflies in the night sky. There were no clouds tonight and the perfect color of the universe compliments the beauty of the moon.

They're both exhausted as they walked all day. After they killed the Reaper at the cave, they spent the night there and in the morning they walked immediately, no time to waste. Time is luxury when death is at your tail.

Serra was behind Rena and was watching their back. Rena knew these woods well and she was right, Serra could smell the familiar scent of danger everywhere. She don't know but after she embraced the power of the Ether inside her, she can now smell death. It's like all the bad smell of the world mixed into a one pungent but weirdly satisfying scent. It's a bad scent but the longer you smelled it, the more you are attracted to it. It's like a drug in all possible ways.

The wind tonight was shivering cold, they have changed their clothes to thicker ones at the cave but still the coldness seeps to their skin, making Serra's teeth clattered inside her mouth.

In the distance, Serra could hear the village noise. The sound of faint voices like soft whispers against the cold wind. She could also the see burning torches that lined up above the walls of Nagili village.
The village looked prosperous and full of life in the outside but inside were death and sorrow.

The walls were high and proud, and there were towers above it where Badblood watchers watched the perimeter with bird-like eyes, they can see through the dark.

They stopped behind the trunk of a tall tree. 

"We should stay in the shadows" Rena said quietly. "The watchers can see in the dark. One wrong move and we will be dead"

Serra nodded. "Okay, I will just follow you".

A black bird landed on the nearby tree. Rena's body suddenly tighten. Serra could hear her heart beating loudly. She swallowed.

"We have an eye above us" Rena whispered tensely. "That bird is a Badblood. It's Leni's men".

Serra's heart joined the race. She reflexively tighten the grip on her sword.

"Don't look" Rena continued. "Follow what I will say, okay?" Rena's voice shook, either of the cold or of the fear. Steam comes out everytime she opens her mouth.

"You will walk carefully just like we did. Hide behind the shadows of the trees and do not make any single sound. We don't know how many of them here. Just walk and pretend you didn't know".

Serra swallowed. "O..okay" she said between her breath. "And you?"

"I'll be right behind you" Rena said and vanished into thin air.

Serra panicked. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her heart kicking its way out of her chest. Then she started to walk.

She walked in the shadows casted by the trees. Her steps were careful and delicate, making soft noises against the grasses. She shifted from one tree to another. Rena's word echoed on her head.

One wrong move and we will be dead. One wrong move and we will be dead.

She could feel the bird following her, shifting from one branch to another.

Serra continued to walk, her mind was fixed on the task at hand. The village walls was more clearer now.

Suddenly, she heard a sound of huge wings flapping towards her. Cold wind hit Serra's back. She stopped behind a tree and turned. The bird above was gone and in front of her was a man with shiny black wings behind his back.