Blood of Decusia

Chapter Four

I was face to face with the most beautiful man I had ever seen. He was probably about my age, with sweeping black hair and strong features. His gray-blue eyes reminded me of an ocean during a terrible storm and they were boring into mine.
    Using his free hand, he put a finger to his lips. I nodded and he removed his hand from my mouth. I could hear the footsteps and voices of the two men, now incredibly close. The man peered quickly behind the tree.
    "I need you to get down and stay down," he whispered, his voice low and smooth.
    I wasn't sure if this guy was really trying to help me, but realizing I had no choice, I listened to him. I crouched down, leaning against the tree. He was dressed all in black, with a belt holstered around his waist. He pulled a knife out, sending a chill down my spine.
    "Stay here," he whispered, before creeping out behind the tree.
    My curiosity won out and I peeked out.
    "Fellas!" the man said, sounding like he was greeting a couple of old friends.
    The masked men quickly pulled out their knives. I gulped when I saw one of them was still covered in Mina's blood.
    "Mutt," one of the men, the one with the bloody knife, growled.
    "Oh, that's not nice," he smirked back, "What are you two doing in here? You know this isn't your territory."
    "Not yours either," the other one grunted back, "Not anybody's anymore, little boy."
    "Why don't you two crawl back into whatever crevice you came out of and we won't have a problem?"
    "Two against one?" the man with the bloody knife spat, "I like our odds."
    The black haired man laughed.
    "You see that's where you're wrong. The thing about wolves," he smirked, taking a step forward, "is that they travel in packs."
    All of a sudden, a figure dropped down from one of the trees and landed next to the black haired man. He was also built like his partner, but this one was blonde instead.
    "What'd I miss?"
The masked men hesitated for a brief second, but then with a roar, they charged forward. The one with the bloody knife swung at the black haired man, who easily ducked out of the way. The second masked man simultaneously went for a different method, throwing the knife at the blonde man, who dove out of the way. The knife kept flying, right towards me. I let out a yelp and ducked back as the knife buried itself right where my head had been.
    The bloody knife man heard me and looked up.
    "The girl!" he grunted, turning to his comrade.
The dark haired man landed a solid flying kick at the man, sending him flying backward. The other masked man had already pulled another knife out. He made a beeline for me, but before I could even react, the blonde man tackled the masked man coming at me. They fell hard to the ground.
    They immediately got to their feet and were now circling each other, knives at the ready. Meanwhile, the other two were grappling with each other on the ground, the dark haired man, trying to pin the masked man. Both of their knives had been knocked to the ground and were now out of reach. The masked man kicked his legs, landing the black haired man square in the chest, sending him back.
    At that moment, the bloodied knife man sprinted at the blonde man. The blonde man ducked and swept the other's legs, causing him to fall flat on his face. The man quickly turned on his back, too late. The blonde man took his knife and drove it deep into the masked man's heart. The man let out a grunt of pain as blood came spurting out of his chest.
    Meanwhile, the dark haired man had gotten back up and had the other masked man in a chokehold. In a similar fashion as his partner, he drove his own knife into the man's heart, twisting it deep for extra measure. The man gurgled, the blood staining his front. The dark haired man released him and he fell flat onto the ground.
    I was in shock, not sure what had just happened.
    "Well, that was something," the dark haired man, rubbing his blade on his pants.
    "I have some other words I would use, Marcus," the blonde hair man replied in a smooth voice, walking over to his partner, Marcus.
"Come on, Warner," the dark haired one, Marcus, smirked, "It's been awhile since we've seen some real action."
"Yeah," Warner sighed, looking over at the two bodies lying still on the ground, "The question is why were they even here? Why are they this deep in the forest? Normally they stay near the border."
Marcus turned, his eyes meeting mine.
"I have a theory."
Warner followed his gaze and he cursed under his breath. Marcus started walking toward me, his jovial expression now gone, replaced with the stone face he had when I first saw him. Finally, coming to my senses, I scooted back until my back hit the tree.
Instinctively, I jumped to my feet and ran. My legs still shaky, my body screaming in protest.
"Shit!" I heard one of them say.
I stumbled through the tree, my breathing loud in my ears. I couldn't hear the footsteps behind me, so I risked a glance backward and immediately collided with something solid in front of me. I fell back on my ass, my tailbone erupting in pain.
My heart was racing as I looked up to see the blonde one, Warner, in front of me.
"Please," I whispered, struggling to get to my feet, "Please don't hurt me."
A wave of dizziness washed over me and I would've fallen back down if someone hadn't caught me from behind, steadying me.
"Woah, woah, woah," Marcus soothed, "Relax, you're ok."
The panic rose in my chest, as I pushed away, practically collapsing into the nearby tree.
"Who-who-?"
Marcus crouched down in front of me.
"It's ok," he said, "We're not going to hurt you."
I began to hyperventilate
"Ok, ok, slow down," he whispered.
My heart was racing so fast. I thought it was going to burst out of my chest. I clawed at my chest, trying to breathe.
He grabbed my hands, pulling them down.
"Hey," he said, his voice firm but somehow also gentle, "Breathe. In. Out."
As I tried to quench the fear threatening to choke me, I focused on his face. His jaw was strong, like a male model. His lips were full and his nose had a slight bump in it, like it had been broken, but somehow, it made him look even better.
I noticed things I hadn't before, like the small scar right by his temple, almost hidden by his hair and there was the mark of a bruise that had almost completely healed on his jaw.
"There you go," he said, smiling, revealing perfect teeth.
I suddenly realized my breathing had slowed back to normal and my legs didn't feel as wobbly.
"You ok?" he asked, "You're not gonna pass out on me right?"
"I'm good," I whispered.
He nodded and let go of my arms. It was then I noticed that the other guy, Warner, had made his way over and was standing right by us, looking around as if he was looking for something.
"I think we're good," he said, "It seems like those two were the only ones."
He turned to me and for the first time, I got a look at his face. He was just as handsome as Marcus. His blonde hair was cut shorter, more like a crew cut than flowy. His eyes were a honey color that seemed friendly and welcoming. He was dressed identical to Marcus, down to the black belt holstered by his side.
Marcus nodded in reply and turned back to me.
"What's your name?"
My mouth felt as dry as the desert and I struggled to get my name out.
"C-Clove."
Marcus flashed me another perfect smile.
"Well, Clove, I'm Marcus and this is Warner."
I looked past them, toward the bodies on the ground.
"You killed them."
"Yeah," Warner replied, "If we hadn't, they probably would've killed you."
"How did you find me?" I asked.
Marcus looked back at Warren before turning back to me.
"We were on patrol when we got reports of a sighting entering the forest. We lost them for a while, but obviously we found them again."
I was even more confused. Patrol?
"Why don't you tell us what happened," Warner said.
I took a deep breath.
"I don't know," I answered, "I came home and my whole house was trashed. That's when I found..."
The words got caught in my mouth.
"That's not your blood, is it?" Warner asked, gesturing at my jeans.
I looked down and my bottom half was covered in blood. I shook my head. I think Marcus could tell that I was about to lose it, so he jumped in.
"That's when they jumped you?" he asked.
"Yes," I nodded, turning back to him, "They knocked me out and then I woke up here. I managed to get away and then I ran into you."
I decided to leave out the whole blast of white light, because I couldn't explain it.
"Wait a second," Warner interjected, "If they took you from your house, why would they bring you back here?"
He paused for a second.
"What village are you from?"
"Village?" I asked, confused.
"Yeah what village?" he asked, "Vicas? Pagus? Somewhere in the north?"
I stared blankly back at him.
He frowned, "Are you from the city? Majestas?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, all the words foreign to me.
"Oh my god," Marcus muttered, looking at me, eyes wide, "You're from the Other World, aren't you?"
"What?" I asked.
"Marcus, don't be stupid," Warner said, rolling his eyes, "Only people with Decusia blood can cross."
"Look at her clothes, Warner" Marcus replied, gesturing to me.
I suddenly felt very self-conscious in my dirty, bloody clothes.
"It also explains why she's so close to the gate and how we lost them. They crossed and obviously we were able to pick up their trail when we came back through."
"Other World? What are you guys talking about?"
Marcus turned and grabbed my shoulders. I flinched and he loosened his grip slightly.
"Clove, do you know what Decusia is?"
"De-what? What are you talking about?"
Warner cursed under his breath.
"What's happening, Marcus?"
I could feel my heart rate skyrocketing.
"I don't know," he answered, before turning back to me, "But we're going to help you figure it out, ok?"
He turned back to Warner, his hands still on my shoulders.
"We have to bring her back to Lupidium."