Blood of Decusia

Chapter Seven

I stared at the hilt of the knife, inches from my face.
    "Shit, run!" Marcus cried.
    We took off into the woods, weaving as more knives rained down on us. I wasn't the best runner on a good day, but I had overestimated how much I had actually recovered from the night before. My knees were still shaky and after just a few seconds, I was out of breath. Marcus, noticing I wasn't with them, stopped and turned back.
    "Come on, Clove!"
    "Shut up!" I said, through gritted teeth.
    He turned back and froze and grabbed my arm, stopping me. He pulled a knife out of his pouch, smaller than the one he used on the masked men. He grabbed my hand, his hands warm and actually kind of soft, and put the knife in my hand.
    "No," I breathed, trying to give it back to him.
    He shook his head, pushing it back at me. His eyes met mine, the stormy sea raging wild and pulled out his own knife.
    I stared down at the one in my hand. The handle was silver and had a small symbol at the base, a wolf howling at the moon. It felt foreign in my hand, not wrong per say, but something felt slightly off. I could feel the fear building anxiety, part of me felt like this was a dream, like I would wake up any second.
    For a second, we just stood there, waiting. Silence.
    "Marcus," I whispered.
    "Shh!" he hissed.
    Suddenly, half a dozen dark figures dropped from the trees above, surrounding us. They looked almost identical to men from before, except their masks were silver instead of completely black. They didn't move, just stood there, watching us.
    "Milest," Warner cursed.
    "I'm guessing these guys are the fighters?" I asked.
    "Unfortunately," he replied.
    "Ok, Clove," Marcus murmured, "Defense is the key. They're fast, but you have to be faster. If you find yourself trapped, if you can, drive it. They're at their most vulnerable in a grapple. We'll help you the best we can."
    I opened my mouth to confirm I understood, but nothing came out. At that moment, four of them rushed toward Warner and Marcus, who immediately became engrossed in the battle. The other two ran right to me, one of them swiping at me. I dodged, but lost my footing and fell on my butt. Fortunately for me, the fall saved me from a jab from the second.
    Suddenly, instinct took over and from my place on the ground, I swept his legs, knocking down the one who swung at me. But, the other one grabbed me by the hair and yanked me to my feet, throwing me up against the nearby tree. Pain exploded down my back, but I couldn't linger on that because within seconds, his knife-free hand was on my throat.
    The other one had gotten off the ground, but instead of coming over, he turned and headed toward Warner and Marcus, who had taken down one of them. Warner was grappling with the one, Marcus held off the others with a combination of dual knives and some form of fighting, like MMA, but different. I tried to call for them, but all that came out was a squeak.
    I could feel myself getting lightheaded. But it was at that moment I realized, I had somehow kept a grip on my knife and the masked man hadn't noticed. I drove the knife forward and made contact with his side. He grunted and stumbled back. Instinctively, I kicked up and connected with his hand, knocking the knife out of it. He lunged for me, but I slashed the knife horizontally, in front of me.
     He stumbled back again, this time falling onto the ground. He gurgled, a hand to his neck as blood poured out from in between his fingers. I stared down at the body on the ground and then my knife in my hand, dripping in blood. I had killed someone.
    No, not someone, I thought to myself, A monster that would've killed you, or worse. Something evil, twisted, and warped.
    Suddenly, something large hit me, knocking me to the ground, the air whooshing out of my lungs. I could feel the knife fly out of my hand. I was trapped and without a weapon.
Another masked man stood over me. I was unable to move, still trying to remember how to breathe. He grabbed me roughly by the arm and yanked me to my feet. He might've pulled my shoulder out it's socket, but I had much bigger problems.
I looked over at Warner and Marcus, both of whom were now fighting, hand to hand combat style, all of their knives scattered across the ground. I opened my mouth to scream, but the man's large hand covered it. I screamed and screamed, but it was muffled. The man started dragging me deeper into the woods, away from everyone else. I struggled, but to no avail.
Suddenly, Marcus's words echoed in my head.
If you find yourself trapped, drive it.
I didn't have a knife, but maybe I didn't need one. I threw my head back as hard as I could. He let out a groan as it made contact and loosened his grip. I managed to break away and turned back to face him. I could see about a 100 yards away, Marcus and Warner were each circling one masked man as their comrades lay dead on the ground, including the one I killed. I tried to drive my fist into his neck, but my hesitation cost me. He grabbed it and twisted it so hard, I let out a yelp of pain.
    Suddenly it was back, the heat in my chest, before a low burn, but now it raged so hot, I was sure I was about to burst into flames. Not only was the heat rising, my anger was too. My vision darkened, images floating in and out. Reading at night with my mom, my dad putting a bandaid on my knee after I tripped on the sidewalk, Sage holding me after one of my nightmares, and Mina sitting in the passenger seat as I learned how to drive, pressing the imaginary brake even though she's the most erratic driver I had ever ridden with.
    The memories were replaced with something different. Me hugging my brother as I graduated from college, my dad walking down the aisle at my wedding, my mom crying as she held her grandchild, and Mina coming over for dinners every Sunday. These weren't what had happened, but what could've been and will never be.
    What used to fill me with sadness was now filling me with fury. A boiling rage that screamed, begging to be let out. The pressure built inside of me, growing more and more. So I decided to stop holding it in, I let go.
    What was dark became an explosion of white light. This felt different from the last time though. It wasn't something that threw me back, but seemed to course through every fiber of my being. I could feel everything around me. The ground beneath me seemed alive and buzzing, like something was trapped. Something that was full of light and energy, but pushed deep down where it could not break free.
    "Clove!"
    I opened my eyes. Marcus was standing in front of me, his hand on my shoulder, and Warner beside him. I could feel my legs about to give out. I felt weak and tired, like I had just finished a marathon that I didn't train for.
    "Can I sit down?" I asked, my voice sounding weak to me.
    Marcus and Warner slowly lowered me to the ground by a tree and I leaned back against it.
    "Clove," Warner started slowly, "Do you remember what happened?"
    I nodded, my head feeling heavy.
    "We were surrounded," I said, "Two of them came for me. One of them pinned me against the tree, so the other one turned to you guys. I stabbed his side and slashed his throat."
    My voice sounded very monotonous and flatlined, like a dull teacher lecturing.
    "The other came back, tackled me from behind, and started dragging me into the woods. I headbutted him and tried to punch him, but he grabbed my arm and then-."
    "What?" Warner said, "What happened next?"
    "There was a bright light and there you guys were," I answered.
    "Where did the bright light come from?"
    "I don't know, it just happened."
    Marcus shot Warner a look, I could see he looked angry, furious.
    "Clove," Warner said, slowly, "To us, it looked like the light came from you."
    I knew he was right. The pressure building, the release. It's happened twice now, but this one was different. I could literally feel the power flowing through me and leaving into the explosion of light, the energy.
    "Who are you?" Marcus demanded.