A dagger whizzes past me, sticking into the trunk of a withered tree. It nearly grazed me. I can hear the night again; owls hooting, crickets chirping, like a warning. I run alongside John and Sarah, Mark and Henri in lead with BK, who has transformed into some sort of beast on four paws at least quadruple his size.
There's a growl before a scream—Sarah's scream, and I have to hope the growl came from Bernie Kosar, but I know it didn't. "Sarah!" John shouts, catching her as she stumbles and falls.
Pixie sneers at the source of the growl behind us in her returned form of a lion while John holds Sarah in his arms. There's an open slit in her leg, spilling blood from her thigh. It doesn't look big, but I think it's deep.
"Mark, the Chest!" Henri yells, and the quarterback throws it down. "John, help me open it." It snaps open in a beat. Henri rifles in it and pulls out a smooth stone as big as his palm. He looks to John. "Let's hope it works on her." Then to Sarah, "This is going to hurt. Try not to scream."
Sarah, with still perfect hair, nods with her pain and as soon as the stone meets the wound, she grits her teeth. Henri pulls the stone away after a minute or so. I edge closer and the cut's completely healed! It looked like magic!
"Guys?" Six says, standing between Pixie and BK.
"What is it?" I ask.
She doesn't need to answer. I see them before they even get close. Not just one Mogadorian, or two or three, but a dozen, running at us from afar from the way we came. They wield cannons and swords that gleam with the night like nothing I've ever seen. A chill surges through me as the possibility of death once again shoots right back to mind.
"The soldiers," Six says. "They're here."
"Shit," Henri mutters.
"I'll create a storm. You guys run."
"No way," John jumps. "We won't leave you—"
"C'mon, John!" Henri shouts, pulling at his arm, and all he can do is obey.
We run through the forest while a vicious storm cloud gathers over our heads. It begins to rain, then pour, and thunder rolls in until a bolt of lightning strikes the sky.
Soon we're running through mud and puddles. My hair goes damp, dripping with cold. I'm glad for the trees, until we come to the end amongst a wide stretch of plains that I can't see the end of.
"Now where to?" asks Sarah, quivering from the cold.
"Sam's."
"Why do you want to involve more and more people in this mess, John?" Henri reprimands.
"He has a truck," John explains, shouting over the wind. "He'll let us use it."
The storm gets worse the farther we go. I hear them chasing us, growling, snarling as much as Bernie Kosar does. I feel myself start to slow. No! Keep going, Emily. Go!
I'm about to ask how much farther when a pair of headlights speeds past us, then stops, and backs up, and the driver window rolls down. "Sam?!" John asks. "Holy shit, what're you doing?!"
"I thought you might need some help," he says with an arm drooped over the wheel. He's looking at Six distinctly. "Hi there," he says to her. "Need a lift?"
"Christ," is all that come out of her mouth.
"Thanks, Sam. You don't mind?"
"Not at all. Hop in."
YOU ARE READING
A Hero in the Dark: 2nd Edition
FanficTHE EVENTS IN THIS STORY ARE REAL. NAMES AND PLACES HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT THE LORIEN. WHO REMAIN IN HIDING UNTIL THE TIME IS RIGHT. - SHE HAS DEVELOPED POWERS. SHE CAN FIGHT BACK. SHE CAN HELP YOU SAVE THE WORLD, BUT SHE MUST CHOOSE A SI...
