The Seventh Crow

Part 38

The day of the auction came in the blink of an eye. Everything was already prepared. Everyone should be in position. I should know any moment from now.

I was told to wait in this specific alley way for Wylan. After he is with me, we have to make our way to Jesper. Make sure he shoots the shot on time.

I hear shuffling from behind me. "Finally," I began to say until I saw who was walking down the alley.
Fjerdan's. The blond who took me to the Ice Court and the other with brown hair.

I take steps back, they laugh and move forward. My back runs into the wall's edge. Both Fjerdan's closing in on me.

"No," I whisper. "This isn't happening."

"Hello, Nox," the blond said. "Been awhile."

"No-"

"You weren't supposed to leave the Ice Court," the other said.

"The King sent us to get you."

"I'm not going with you," I squeak.

"Oh but you will!" the blond states.

They get closer. Everything around me felt tight. I couldn't breathe.

The blond closes the gap between us. A horrific smile on his face.

"There's no one around to save you this time," he murmurs while leaning into my neck. His warm lips touch my cold neck. Tears wail in my eyes.

The other comes up behind the blond. He takes a small piece of my hair between his fingers. Twisting it all around.

Fight! My thoughts scream.

Slowly, I grab my knife from my back. The two soldiers in front of me weren't aware. Too busy playing with my hair and kissing my neck.

In one quick motion, I embed the knife in the blond's stomach. He backs up, holding his stomach.

The other tries to stop me, but I learned a thing or two in my Ice Court days. He raises his rifle at me.

"Stop," he states.

I lift my hands up in a show of surrender. The blond had regained his composure by now. For he is the one who forced my hands behind my back.

"You shouldn't have done that," he says. He nods to his partner. I brace for impact.

Hit after hit. Bruise on top of bruise. Everything that I had in me was slowly losing interest. They win.

Fight!

How?

Fight. Just fight.

The two soldiers finally stopped. I fell to the ground in a messy lump. My gaze landed on something that shines a couple feet in front of me.

A rifle.

"You should've known better, Nox," the blond states with a laugh. "Fjerda will always win. That's what Djel-"

His sentence was cut off by a bullet landing between his eyes. Before the other soldier could react, I put a bullet between his eyes. He falls to the ground.

Oh Djel...

I fell to the ground once I realized what I just did. Their bodies lay on the ground unmoving. Blood poured out of their bullet wounds. Thick blood covered my hands.

What have I done?

"Nox?" Wylans muttered voice breaks through my thoughts. "Nox?"

I look up to a concerned friend. His eyes scan the two dead bodies around me before his gaze lands on my bloody hands.

"I-I-I-" I couldn't speak. Everything is caving in. My heart was racing. My breathing becomes difficult.

"Nox," Wylan's soft voice says. "We have to move or Kaz won't be pleased."

Kaz. This all was Kaz's fault. He knew I would be in this alley. He knew that these two Fjerdan's would be walking past here. Why is it that everything can be boiled down to Kaz Brekker?

"Nox!" Wylan said. "We have to go. Please snap out of it!"

I look at the blond's body. The same one who took me in. Ruined my life. Now he is dead in an alley in Ketterdam. No one will miss him, no one will mourn him.

And that's how he should always be remembered. He should stay on the cold Ketterdam soil. A failure in the eyes of his country.

"No mourners," I say looking at Wylan.

"No funerals," he said.

Together we stand, making our way to Jesper's position. The bodies and my past behind me.

Maybe Kaz was right on one thing. As long as the people who put me through hell are alive, I will never forget.

Greed and revenge fuel Kaz. He is successful in all his attempts. So why can't I?

Thank you, Kaz, my heart speaks for my thoughts. For I'm slowly starting to realize he isn't the villain.