Faults

Chapter 44: Klaus

While we walk through the forest, Dakota and I talk the entire time. Yet on the other hand, Archie and Aster don't say a single word. Not to me or Dakota, not to each other. I understand why Archie isn't talking. He's clearly on edge, and for a good reason.

This morning, we all met out at Christian's old cottage right at the crack of dawn. We all said our hellos to each other, but Archie's could barely be called a "hello". It was more of a grumble. His tension is visible, and I'd ask if he's okay but it looks like he'd blow us all to smithereens if anyone dares to speak to him.

The morning air is pretty chilly, but it feels nice. Like a breath of new beginnings. Although, it most definitely isn't. At least I have Dakota to talk to. I've learned quite a bit about him and it's been keeping my mind off of what I did to Marshall. Well, not now. Dakota offered to talk me through it and it's significantly helping with the pain and guilt I feel for taking my own best friend's life.

I feel terrible for killing Marshall,–and as hard as it is to say—it's what had to be done. He was helping the people that are plotting the demise of our Kingdom. I just lost my best friend. That reality is really sinking in now. It's my fault, but it's his fault, too.

My brother and Archie speed up ahead of us when they realize we've reached our destination. Dakota and I follow them, and the closer we get, I hear the screams and cries of agony coming from Christian and Taylor's shack.

Oh no.

Aydin.

No wonder Archie is so on edge. He clearly has every reason to be, and obviously knew more about what danger Aydin is in than I did. From the sound of things, I totally underestimated how far Christian and Taylor would take things. The second Archie heard a scream, he began sprinting to the shack. My brother is taking off behind him, fighting to keep up. Aster yells after him, "Archie, wait!"

Archie is almost to the shack and doesn't stop, never heeding my brother's warnings. Aster continues to yell at him, "They're going to see you!"

Dakota and I run after them as Aster speeds up significantly. "I said, stop!" my brother yells as he tackles Archie to the ground.

Archie pushes Aster off of him. "We need to get him out of there!" Archie says frantically, looking up at me and Dakota when we finally reach him.

"I know, but if you rush in there like that, you're going to get yourself killed," I say, offering Archie a hand.

He takes it and I pull him up. Aster looks at the shack and becomes transparent. "I'll go in," he says.

"Aster, you're going to get hurt," I say, my brow furrowed with concern.

"They can't touch me, remember?" Aster smiles. "I'll go in, open the door, and then you guys can come in and we can attack."

Dakota looks from Aster to Archie. "Don't lose it in there, okay? We know you're upset, Archie, but don't do anything stupid. I'll wait out here, just come out if any of you need healing."

Aster and I nod, but Archie shakes his head. "I'm going to do whatever is necessary to get Aydin out of there. The point of this is to get him back, killing Christian and Taylor would only be a bonus. If we do, great. If we don't, so be it. We all live to fight–literally– another day. Whatever we can do in a short amount of time today is all that's going to be done. We get in and get Aydin out."

My brother, Dakota, and I all agree and Aster heads for the shack. Before he passes through the wall, he gives us a nod. We all walk over to the shack and the screams stop.

The yelling begins.

The door opens and Archie rushes over, practically flying through the doorway. I follow quickly behind him, but learn that it isn't the wisest thing to have done. The six of us fill up the whole shack. There's barely any room to move around, let alone fight if we need to. How does anybody live here and not get frustrated with the lack of space?

I take one look at Aydin, and I instantly feel horrible.

The entire right side of his face is covered in blood and his skin looks torn up. His eye is closed and puffy, with two large slash marks on his eyelid. I look to Archie and he does not look happy. He throws Christian against the wall, causing the thin planks of wood to bow and almost break. Taylor heads for me but I stand my ground.

Taylor doesn't hesitate to burn me with his outstretched hands. I push him away, both in anger and shock. Behind Taylor, I can see Aster hurrying to untie Aydin from the chair. He leads Aydin outside and Archie waves his hand at Christian, sending him flying backward and colliding with Taylor. Taylor stumbles toward me and I move, allowing him to trip over the small table in the room. He falls onto the floor and I try to keep myself from laughing.

I'd shift but this damn shack is too small. I seriously don't know how Christian and Taylor have lived here for the past six months.

Archie wastes no time in making his way back to Christian. He quickly has his hands wrapped around Christian's neck, squeezing the life out of him. I tear my eyes away and look over at Taylor. He's getting up now, staggering over to me. I punch him in the face and he backs up. "Give it a rest already, you're just becoming a punching bag at this point," I groan as I give him a strong kick to the crotch.

He wheezes and drops to his knees. That'll do it to you, I think.

A thud comes from the other side of the room. Christian is lying on the ground at Archie's feet. I step over to them and stare down at Christian's motionless body. "Is he... Dead?" I ask.

"Finally," Archie says with an edge to his voice that could cut straight through the air in this room.

He is not in a good mood. Who would be, anyway? I'm quite far from being happy, myself.

Thumping comes from behind us. I turn around and see Taylor getting to his feet again. "You all are so dead," he seethes.

"Run," Archie commands.

He and I both sprint out the door, yelling at Aydin and Dakota to follow us. They oblige but so does Taylor. Archie looks back and waves his hand in Taylor's direction, throwing him back a ways. The four of us keep running, fueled by pure adrenaline. Archie continues to use his ability to keep Taylor away from us and after a while, we're convinced that we lost him.

We slow down to a walk and attempt to catch our breath. When we've all gotten our hearts to stop racing, Aster breaks the silence. "What did they do to you?"

"Mindless torture. They were going to kill me once you got there, but they got too distracted," Aydin replies.

Archie wraps his arms around Aydin. "I'm so sorry," he says quietly.

Aydin dismisses it and smiles weakly. His face looks better since Dakota healed him, but he still has some blood on his face and neck. The injuries are more apparent now, clearly showing signs of burning. The slash marks aren't so deep anymore and have somewhat turned into scars. His eye is now open but slightly puffy.

"I think I've gone blind in my right eye," Aydin says, blinking repeatedly.

"Can't Dakota fix it?" I ask.

Dakota answers, "I can only fix superficial wounds and broken bones."

"It's fine, I just need to adjust to it. And part of that is never coming back here. We're waiting for Taylor to come to us," Aydin grumbles. While he seems angry, his way of speaking and his facial expressions are very calm. It makes me feel like he's used to this, which can't be deserved.

"At least Christian is dead," Archie pipes up.

We all mutter our agreements and our team walks back to Galariesse in silence. I don't think anyone wants to talk much after what just happened.