The Zodiac Cycle

2.17 Flightless bird

I was pushed backward by Zach, falling onto my back. I was barely able to wrap my head around our situation, let alone fight.

I had been wrong. Iris was not the traitor, but rather, Brianna was. Iris had shoved me out of the way of a spike and was currently unable to stand, and for some reason, Brianna was fighting with us. I didnt know what to say to her.

On top of all that, we were losing dramatically. Who knew one vampire king would be a challenge for 7 untrained acquaintances? Manpower meant nothing to this man.

I got back to my feet as soon as I could but felt a shiver go down my spine as Zach threw Carson back. Carson ended up rolling to beside me and got up slowly, groaning a bit.

"I dont know him much longer we can do this." He huffed. "Maybe we should retreat."

"No. If we stop now, thousands of people will die." I summoned my bow again, my arms starting to shake from the strain. I had learned that summoning our weapons drained our energy, especially projectiles like my arrows.

Zach let out an aggressive shout before grabbing Alex by the shoulder and throwing them. They collided with Carson and the two of them went tumbling to the edge of the platform. Alex fell off the edge, but managed to half climb, half fly back onto the ledge. Brianna attached herself to Zacks back, trying to straddle his neck, but he managed to yank her off and and throw her as well. He kicked Keith back, and Rebecca took a step back from him, unable to fight him alone.

Then he turned to me, fire in his eyes.

He ran at me, picking up one of his swords that had been taken away from him earlier. He leaped at me, swinging down. I jumped to the side to avoid him, but he reacted quickly, swinging his sword side to side. I stepped back with each swing, until I was nearly pressed against one of the pillars on the edge of the platform. He swung from my right and I jumped to the left, rolling to behind him. He hit the pillar and it crumbled, sending rocks flying everywhere.

I was still on the ground, and he was raising his sword again, preparing one final strike.

Metal collided with metal as Iris jumped in front of me, her two swords parrying with Zachs one. She had some fabric ripped from her shirt wrapped tightly around her injury on her right arm. She also had the same thing on her left arm.

She had removed her own feathers. Her arms were trembling, losing their strength as she pushed Zach back.

She stumbled back as well, nearly falling over me. I got up and set a hand on her back hoping to keep her from falling. "Are you okay?"

"Okay enough to fight." She didnt take her eyes off of Zach. He was far more agitated now, and ran at us.

Maybe I could take his sword with my bow.

I pushed Iris to behind me and summoned my bow once more. I managed to twist my bow like in the forest and turn his weapon against him, but he kicked my legs out from under me and shoved me to the side, his sights no longer on me.

He didnt seem to like sticking to one target.

He went for Iris, but before he could reach her, a glowing red knife dug itself into his shoulder.

He called out and looked to who had thrown it.

Brianna.

He quite nearly growled at her , but I realized his back was turned to me.

I stood, nocked an arrow, and shot him in the back.

This was it.

The positions everyone was in, he couldnt face one of us without an attack from behind. While I had been fighting him alone, the others instinctually surrounded him.

He turned to me, allowing Iris to move away from him, closer to the pillar he had just knocked down.

Rebecca, Brianna, and I did the most work with our long ranged weapons, and the others jumped close to him when they got a chance. The more we attacked him, the more aggravated and violent he got.

The worst part was, none of our attacks seemed to have any effects on him.

It happened in a moment.

The ground shook a bit, more spikes rising from it, darker than the darkest night. He let out a shout "Enough!" And the spiked went outwards toward us from all angles. I felt a sharp pain as one dug into my left leg, and the others shouted as well.

I fell to my knees, unable to stand with a spike through my leg, but didnt look away from Zach. He looked to my left, before looking at me, smirking and straightening himself. He calmly started to walk toward his throne.

What was on my left?

I looked to the left and saw Iris.

She was standing still, looking at him with a shocked expression, her hands hanging by her sides. From where I was, I saw her from the side.

She took a quick breath, looking down at her chest, bringing her hands to her stomach. She pulled one away again and it was covered in blood.

What?

I saw a spike was dug into the wall behind her, also covered in blood.

Wait.

She turned her head slightly, locking eyes with me. The fear in her eyes . She stumbled back a bit, as if the impact had a delayed reaction.

No.

Her foot slipped off the edge of the ledge.

I'm sorry...

(Audible gasp part 2. *insert lenny face*. I'm sure you all appreciate that I dont leave you on cliffhangers, right? No? Fair enough.)