The Descendants of the Ascendance Series - Nessa's POV

Chapter Fourteen

We woke up nearly as early the next morning and set off once more just as the sun rose. Around noon, we neared a camp with tents brandishing a flag that made my heart skip a beat -- the flag of the Prozarians.

Addy and I glanced at each other before once more setting our sights on the camp.

There seemed to be nearly 40 tents, all in the same shade of brown - but varying in size and level of disarray. Some of the smaller tents seemed patched and frayed, while the larger tents seemed to be in better condition. The largest -- and most well-kept -- tent in the camp was in the center of the rest and flew its own flag. Amongst the tents, there were two buildings and a sword fighting arena. We deduced that Ev and Walker had to be hidden in one of the buildings.

The eight of us circled the camp a few times before dismounting our horses and entering by foot from the far end in two groups - Me, Addy, Nila, and Fink were one group, Jaron, Roden, Silas, and my dad were the other. Each group would be searching one of the buildings, and we had the smaller of the two.

Fortunately, we found a back door. Just as we had opened it, though, an arrow pierced through the air, narrowly missing my shoulder and lodging itself in the building's rotting, wooden wall.

"Run"

Addy ran inside, determined not to leave without Evangeline. Fink and Nila attempted to wield off the soldiers coming at us, but sword versus bow and arrow just isn't a fair fight. An arrow flew towards Fink, and before any of us could register what had happened, it had slashed across his chest and he was on the floor.

Nila and I dropped to our knees.

Both of us were studying to be physicians, but neither of us had ever had to actually help someone in a life-or-death situation.

As I fumbled with the buttons on his overcoat, he slowly started to fade out of consciousness, which made me even more determined. Eventually, we pulled off his overcoat, leaving just his white shirt underneath. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to pull it off, I ripped it and pulled the shreds away to reveal a cut nearly 4 inches deep across his whole chest. I began to rip off a cloth from my cloak, when something -- or rather someone -- else caught my eye. Addy was limping, narrowly avoiding arrows being shot towards her. I glanced at her and then at Fink and in a split second made my decision.

"Nila, you know what to do to help him," I started. "I have to go help Adelade because somehow she found a way to break her leg."

"No - Nessa- I can't - I don't -" She protested.

"You'll be fine," I reassured her.

And with that, I stood up and ran towards Addy, catching her just as she collapsed.

"What'd you do this time?" I asked.

"It wasn't me, it was Ev," She defended.

"Ev broke your leg?!" I exclaimed.

She shushed me. "Yes, now quiet down and just -- fix it."

I had just finished wrapping her leg into a make-shift cast when I felt something hard collide with my head, knocking me over.

The world turned fuzzy.

I heard voices that I couldn't quite make out. And then

Darkness

Silence

Peace