HBH IV: Forges Of Hellfire

XVI: My Way Or No Hecking Way

I didn't know how the heck I ran on a broken ankle, but it was a miracle. I hid behind a pillar of stones. I realized it wasn't Gray bit it was Pandora. She was muttering things to herself. "I don't know why Gray trusts Bres. I mean like- Bres is like a chaotic neutral." I could risk my life to talk to her like I did with Rowan, but she's unhinged and deranged. I don't do unhinged and deranged. I slowly thought to myself. Pandora looked right at me- well at the column I was behind. "I know you're there Kendra." I snuck out slowly. "So you found me? What are you gonna do now? Fight a girl with a broken ankle to death?"

"Don't give me ideas, we need you alive anyways. Gray keeps on saying that or he's gonna lose an ally."

"What ally?"

"He never told me."

"You know."

"I really don't know Kendra, now we can do this the easy way or the hard way."

"How about- my way?" I charged at her. She dodged it. I smirked and quickly crept behind her and slashed her right arm. She cried in pain before turning around. "I've already notified Gray, you'll be dead." A faint voice was heard. "LOOK OUT BELOW!" I looked up and saw a hatch. The door flung open. Rowan, Claudia and another woman dropped in. She had red braids and I'd been expecting the green eyes but I was met with brown eyes. "Mebh?"

"Yes, Kendra, I found your friends." She still had a bruise on her head from where I bashed her with a bread loaf. Gray burst open. He wasn't accompanied by anyone. Gray drew his sword and pointed it at Claudia. "What changed- why'd it have to end like this, huh?" Claudia scowled at him. Gray sighed. "More than once I was willing to let you join, you rejected it."

"Because you can't keep any promises."

"I can Claudia."

"No, you made a promise to me- you broke that."

"It killed me inside."

"Then why?"

"Because it killed me more to see people I considered family die." Claudia clenched her sword. Pandora raced forward and ran her sword right through Claudia's side. It wasn't too deep and hopefully didn't hurt any of her organs (that would've been really bad). Gray stormed to Pandora and pulled her back. "What the heck was that?!" Pandora looked up at him sadly. "She insulted you-"

"So? I didn't give orders to kill." I raced to Claudia's side while Gray and Pandora bickered. Claudia was beginning to lose blood. I carefully handed her over to Mebh. "Keep her safe, find the river and wait for us." I blocked Gray's access to Claudia and Mebh. Pandora turned purple with rage. She turned to Rowan and charged. "I'll kill you, you don't deserve love, you deserve to die." Rowan pushed her back. I drew my sword and slashed her back open. She turned around with a horrified look on her face. "Dúnmharfóir." She quietly whispered in my eye. Tears sprung to my eyes. Gray was frozen in shock. Rowan grabbed me and we bolted out of there.

We'd finally reached the riverbank where Mebh stood with Claudia. She'd bandaged up the wound to her best ability. I heard Gray bellow with rage. "We gotta go." I started to untie the boat. Rowan stood guard to make sure Gray hadn't followed us. When he was sure he turned back and ran to us. "We gotta-"

"Rowan, running away so soon?" Gray stood holding Pandora's dead body in his arms. He tossed her to the side. "You're next." He raced forward to kill Rowan. I pushed him away with the hilt of my sword. Rowan raced forward

and grabbed Gray by the arm. "Stop it." Gray thrusted his sword into Rowan. "Rowan!" He managed to stab Gray in the leg, sending him stumbling backwards. Rowan's body fell slack on the river bank. "No, we need to get you back, for Sadie, for Saoirse. I promised."

"Some promises can't be kept, sometimes you have to let go." Gray began to stir and stand up. "Kendra, go." I shook my head. It was Croix all over again. "Just tell Saoirse, I'm so sorry." I wiped my tears as his body went slack. His eyes still open, staring into nothing. I closed his eyes. I felt undeniable rage, the rage that makes you want to pick something up and throw it at someone. I sent a jet of water at Gray. I'd send blast after blast at him. "You're a monster." I sat down in the boat as Mebh pushed us farther away from shore.

I looked at the fading riverbank in shock. He was gone. I had made a promise, I'd bring him home. I know I could've done it, I know I could've helped. I felt tears threatening to spill. I couldn't afford to lose someone else on this mission. I blinked them back. I felt speechless, like I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream but it happened so suddenly. He had a family to go home to. I tried to keep my tears from falling. Claudia turned to me slowly. "You okay?"

"Y-yeah, never better." I crumpled into a ball and sobbed. Claudia hugged me tightly. "It's okay." It was Croix all over again, I wish it wasn't. I couldn't stop crying, I kept on crying. I wanted to stop. I don't know why I couldn't. Claudia pulled away and fell asleep. I turned to Mebh, she was whittling away at sticks. "So, I hope you're not too mad about me hitting you with a bread loaf."

"I am."

"Oh, sorry then."

"So, how'd they do it?" She looked at me in confusion. "It was actually my friend Breyna who convinced me to help them. She was the cell warden so they convinced her. That led to this." I wiped my tears, I didn't even know they were still pouring. "He died a hero's death, pay respects in the end." Mebh handed me a jug of water and some trail mix. "I have healing water." I shook my head and handed it back to her. "I can't." She placed them beside me and continued to paddle the boat. I took out the healing water and slowly twisted it to my needs. I healed Claudia and looked down at my ankle. I poured a few drops on it. It began to feel better, the swelling reduced and the wound healed. Claudia's stab wound looked good as new. I sighed. "If it makes you feel better, I was put in as cell warden because I was a failure."

"It doesn't really."

"It was worth a shot."

"What did you fail to do?"

"I failed to protect someone, an old friend."

"Yeah, I know how that feels."

"People would say, 'When you hit rock bottom, the on;y way to go is up'."

"I've been told that."

"It's a stupid qoute, it's hard to bounce back, no use if bouncing back when nothing waits for you at the top."

"But you said you had a friend."

"Who gets all the praise? Yes. She gets all the praise."

"Oh, that must feel sad."

"One mistake from me and I get all the insults, she wins and she gets all the praise."

"It must be hard. I think maybe you need to understand her-"

"I couldn't protect my brother. What they don't know is that she's the reason why he's dead. She could've saved him but she didn't. She's the hero no matter what. People will always see her as a hero because they never knew my side of the story." I nodded sadly.