Inferno's legacy

Chapter 6

Pain shot through her body. She laid on the floor for a while, letting the pain of falling off her horse consume her. How the hell had she fallen off? With Roman being so distracting, running straight into a tree branch was inevitable and her horse had abandoned her. Traitor.

Roman dismounted and walked up to Eretria. "You're still alive, right?"

"I think I'm dead." Eretria said and didn't move until Roman got to her. Even standing hurt.

"Good, you're not broken." He said, helping her back to his horse since hers had abandoned her.

"It might make a bruise." She said.

"Nothing too serious, right?"

Eretria nodded and paused, so did Roman.

"You're hearing that right?"

Roman nodded. The sound of leaves crunching under boots could be heard. They both turned to the sound.

"I guess I'm in for some luck today." The intruder said, flashing a set of brown teeth.

"You had to come on a day when I'm not quite prepared for you." Roman smirked.

"That's what makes me lucky."

Eretria was tense beside Roman. "You've got no weapons on you?" She asked in a whisper.

"I didn't think anyone would trespass into royalty territory. But he seems to have a lot of guts."

"That, he does." She almost envied his courage. Wandering into royalty territory, he should know better than that.

Eretria didn't notice the others that appeared from behind trees. These were bandits. The thought made her shiver. She had a vague idea of what they planned on doing with them and with both of them unarmed, that made their jobs easier.

"Vashar will pay a hefty sum for both your heads." He said and chuckled.

That only added to her fear. Vashar was an enemy kingdom. They had been enemies longer before she was born and she never knew the cause of the war. Politics didn't interest her, not that it will help her out of this situation.

"I'm sure of it. Too bad, he'll be getting your heads instead." Roman said.

The man laughed, a sound Eretria was sure would hunt her.

"You're one to talk prince. You're clearly outnumbered."

Roman glanced around. "True." He said like that wasn't one of his major problems right now.

"You're entire is finally going to pay for the lives they destroyed. I'll make sure of it."

"You're quite chatty for someone here to capture me." Roman said.

"Get them."

Eretria registered the hands that held her a little too late. She was dragged away from Roman's side, admist struggling and kicking. She managed to elbow her captor but before she could take a few steps, he grabbed her by her hair and slap her across the face.

Everything went down from there.

Whoever it was that held Roman suffered a terrible dislocation. He pulled out two daggers from his boots. He was a skilled fighter and daggers were his favorite weapons.

Eretria spat out blood and watched her brother finish off those people with two daggers she didn't know he carried. Her cheek was throbbing, coupled with the pain from falling earlier. She didn't have a moment for herself before someone grabbed her arm. He might have wanted to use her as his escape but he made a big mistake.

Being a princess didn't mean she was a damsel in distress. She was a pretty good fighter. She had twisted the arm that grabbed her and given him a powerful kick before an arrow hit her shoulder. She fell, holding her injured shoulder. The pain was unimaginable. She cried in pain, catching Roman's attention.

He was quite sorrunded, making it difficult to get to her. The next moment, one of the bandits hauled her on his shoulder and ran towards Roman's horse. She laid on her stomach as he mounted. Roman made an attempt to get to her but fell on his knees, clutching the arrow attached to his chest.

"Roman!" Her cry was shrill. The horse neighed and raised it's front hooves, throwing them both off balance. Eretria got up without a second thought and pulled the arrow out of her arm. And arrow whizzed past her as she neared. Another came but she caught it. Her gold eyes were no doubt glowing. Fury burned in the depths of her beautiful eyes, so did the world around them and the people in it. Their screams were a buzz as she squatted next to Roman, holding his shoulders.

He raised a tired gaze to her. It wasn't the first time an arrow had pierced him. He'd survive. But the look in his eyes scared her. What if he didn't? There was a limit to everything. What if he couldn't take this one.

His eyes grew heavy and his weight was on Eretria, his head on her shoulder.

"Roman." She called, shaking him. He didn't respond. "Roman!" She called again. "Roman don't be silly, answer me."

His body had began to grow cold. No no no, she couldn't loose him.

That was when she felt warmth on her chest. Her hand went to her pendant which was warm. Slowly, she placed Roman on his back and stared down at her pendant. It was glowing. She had had it for a long time and not even once had it glowed.

She looked at Roman's pale face. He was slipping away. Without knowing what she was doing, she pulled out the arrow. Blood gushed from the wound. Then, with one hand on her pendant, she placed the other on his chest. She could feel the warmth traveling to her fingers. A strange sensation went over her and she could feel the world spin. But Roman still had no reaction. If anything, he had grown more pale.

"Roman?" She called and when he didn't answer, she placed her head on his chest and sobbed. She only wanted a ride, now she had lost her brother. Then she heard a low groan.

"It's... hot."

She raised her head and stared at Roman. To her surprise, his eyes were open, barely. She gave out a shaky sigh.

"You're okay." She choked on her tears. "You're okay." More tears ran down and clouded her vision.

"It's hot." He said again.

"What?"

"Your palm...it's hot."

She immediately retracted her hand from his chest. When she stared at it, she gasped in horror. Her hand was smeared with black blood.

Poison? That had to be the reason why Roman had been so weak easily. But she had also been shot. She reached for her injured shoulder when she felt a gentle tug.

"The fire."

When she turned around, more horror awaited her. The flames she so much felt drawn to were dancing on the trees and what had been people. There was nothing but a skeleton of them. Had she done this?

The flames had died down but was still pretty much obvious.

So much destruction and she had caused it with only a thought. How much more could she do?