Cruel Empathy ✓

Chapter 2

When Anna came to, all hell had broken loose around her. She heard swords clashing, men yelling, and she felt such overwhelming feelings that she could barely breathe.

She bit her lip so hard she bled. She touched her throat and was surprised to find no wound and that's when she realized that the big brute of a man was lying beside her, dead, with an arrow in his neck and one of his arms over her chest. She pushed his arm off of her and tried to orient herself. She took deep breaths, and dug her nails deep.

When she looked up, she was amazed at what she saw. The fiercest man she had ever seen was fighting men left and right like they were bugs instead of warriors. He was so skilled with his sword that it didn't even look like he broke a sweat.

She had to move. Kill them all, he had said. Shit! The boy! She was fighting hard against the tunnel vision and extreme pain and bloodlust that seemed to overtake her.

She managed to yell to him, "How do I get you out? Is there a key?"

His face colored with surprise and he shook his head at her in exasperation, "Don't worry about me! Run!"

"I won't! A key? Tell me!" She gasped. Her vision tunneled again as she felt an excruciating stabbing pain in her heart. Not mine, she reminded herself. Another blow was felt in her face. She couldn't survive much more of this.

The boy nodded to the large man that had died beside Anna. "Around his neck," the boy urged.

Her fingers fumbled around the man's neck. She gagged repeatedly and tried not to think about his state. She found a leather lanyard with keys and pulled it off. There was a blow to the back of her leg and a stab into her back. Not me, she breathed. Not me. Block it, block it.

She started to crawl to the boy as best she could. The boy looked at her with great worry. "You're hurt," he observed.

"I'm fine," she croaked. Her eye! Pain, excruciating pain. God! Not me, not me. "You'll have to do it,'' she said as she handed him the keys and collapsed next to him.

The boy was quick, she'd give him that. Before she knew it, he had pulled her up and basically carried her as they ran off into the woods. His adrenaline surged inside her. The more distance they made, the better she felt until he didn't need to hold her at all. Shit! The lake! They were running in the wrong direction. She couldn't worry about that now, they had to get to safety.

The boy's ribs started to throb horribly and the jolt of adrenaline seemed to have dulled in him after some distance. "I...I have to stop for a bit," he gasped.

"Alright," she panted, "Just for a minute." She took some comfort in the fact that her gift could alert her to any intruders who would come upon them.

"My name is Anna," she offered warmly.

"Finlian, Fin for short." He grimaced as he spoke and he leaned back against a tree.

"Who are all these violent people? It's alright, don't answer. No need to speak anymore, Fin. You're in a lot of pain. God, those guys are such assholes!" Her whole body started trembling. It was a miracle she was still standing.

Fin grunted in response and held his ribs tightly. After her breaths began to settle, anxiety started to pierce her. They needed to move again.

"Umm, Fin? We have to keep going. I'll help you, but we have to go, alright?"

He nodded and she pulled one of his arms around her shoulder and they started to move onward. Anna tried to quicken the pace as fast as she could. Her gift gave her awareness of Fin and she pushed as much as she thought he could handle. The anxiety in her chest was festering.