The Immortal Blade Trilogy: Book #1: Fate's Destiny.

Sacrifice.

When we woke, it was still raining and thundering. Bentley lead the horse again today. I wrapped my arms around his muscular frame, and tried to fall asleep, which didn't take very long considering I only got two or three hours of sleep last night.

After about one hour of riding, Bentley started to tense up. I had never seen (or literally, felt) him so tense.

"What is it?" I asked quietly.

He jumped when I spoke. That means somethings not right... I sat up and pulled my arms back. I slowly started to stand up on the trotting horse while using Bentley to steady myself. I gasped. I quickly sat back down and grabbed the reins from Bentley.

"Run!" I yelled at the horse as I snapped his reins and dug my heels into his side.

The wagons were straight ahead! I handed the reins back to Bentley, grabbed my dagger belt from the saddle bags, put my dagger belt on, strapped my sword on, grabbed my bow from my back, and nocked an arrow. I thought better of it and put my bow back onto my back. While Bentley was handling the horse, I took his sword and strapped it onto his waist. That seemed to be the only weapon that he carried.

There were about twenty wagons. It seemed useless to try to free them all, but we had to try. I refused to sit around and wait for my sister to die. I know she doesn't have any experience in fighting, so she wouldn't have any chance of surviving. Even if it meant my death, at least I would die trying to save my sister.

We were almost thirty yards away when we heard shouts of exclamation. They had spotted us. Now I nocked an arrow, marked it, drew it, and... fired! It hit one of the guards that was guarding the wagons and he tumbled to the ground, dead. The arrow had pierced his heart. The guards that were guarding that wagon shouted in alarm at their fallen companion. One down, seventy-nine to go.

They were only about twenty yards away now and I had killed three with my bow, and wounded two. I only had seven arrows left. Two of the guards came galloping towards us, only to be killed by two razor sharp daggers flying through the air. I leaped from the horse to retrieve my daggers, just as ten guards came galloping, full speed, towards me. Bentley was already almost to the wagons on the horse, and didn't see the guards coming towards me. I would have to handle them on my own. I fired two arrows before I noticed that these guards wore heavy armor and my arrows couldn't penetrate it.

They were only about five yards away now and three of them dismounted. They all drew their swords. I also returned my bow to my back and drew my sword. The riders were upon me now and I slashed up at one, but he easily parried. They all started circling me and the dismounted guards. The dismounted guards advanced and circled me too. I lunged towards one, when he wasn't expecting it, and killed him. While doing so, one of the other dismounted guards grabbed me from behind by my shoulders while the other stood in front of me, sheathing his sword.

"On your knees!" Shouted the guard in front of me.

"Never!" I hissed back.

"Ah, a feisty one. If you are sure you won't get on your knees, I think we can improvise." He said. Then he struck out and punched me in the stomach, forcing me to my knees.

"There." He said, satisfied and with a smirk.

"Now what are you doing, killing our guards like that?" He asked, and waited a while for my reply. But I would not speak.

"Well, if you won't speak, I guess we could just put you in the wagons like the rest of them." He said and motioned to the guards holding me.

"No! You don't understand! My brother doesn't have any experience in fighting! He's going to die-" I yelled as I was carried away by the guards.

They captured Bentley and I, and put us in wagons next to each other, but not together. They had taken everything we had including the horse. I scanned the wagons for Claire, but I couldn't find her anywhere. Maybe she was in one of the wagons that I couldn't see. I searched the wagons one more time, and found Madeline.

"Madeline!" I yelled. First in joy to see that I wasn't alone, then I turned angry.

How could they destroy family's so easily? How could they not care who lives or dies? How could they be so cruel?

The wagons were made out of wood with a metal cage in it, which is what is keeping us from escaping. I tried everything I could think of to try to free myself but it was useless. There was no escape this time. I couldn't just throw some daggers and run down a snowy hill. I was trapped, we were all trapped.

It was getting dark and it was still raining. I laid down, shivering, when I remembered that Bentley had been captured too. I looked over at him to find him already staring at me. I smiled at him, reassuringly. He didn't smile, but instead gave me a look of concern. I laid back down to go to sleep, but found it very hard to, because rain was soaking me. I was freezing, the wagon was filled with other crying children, and I knew that every move I made would be watched by Bentley. I suddenly remembered that I didn't see Bentley's sister get freed. I sat up quickly and looked at Bentley. He was laying down but when he saw me get up he sat up.

"Where is your sister?" I whispered. He leaned back and covered his face with his hands.

"Bentley?" I asked.

"I couldn't... save..." He couldn't finish.

"Bentley! I'm so sorry!" I quietly cried, as I grabbed onto the cold metal bars and leaned closer. I felt a light tap on my shoulder and turned. A little girl of no more than ten sat there looking up at me. She had dark hair, and looked strangely familiar. I studied her for a moment longer then turned back to Bentley, trying to notice the resemblance between them. He was pressed against the bars, trying desperately to reach his little sister.

"Cassandra!" He yelled. "Don't worry Cassandra, I will save you!"

After about an hour, Bentley stopped trying to reach his sister. He probably realized that he was just wasting his energy. In that hour that Bentley was wasting his energy, I sat, hugging my knees, and thinking up an escape route. I figured that maybe, when the arena-masters were unloading all of the children, I could grab Cassandra and run. Bentley would be able to free himself. I didn't dare discuss this plan with anyone else other than myself, for fear of the guards overhearing. I slowly sat straight. The cages were only tall enough for me to sit, not stand. I could feel a pair of eyes piercing into me. I looked at Bentley to see what he wanted, but he was asleep.

Who's looking at me then?

I looked around until my gaze settled on Cassandra. She was staring at me, shivering, as still as a stone. I looked at her a little while longer, then scooted closer to her and cradled her thin frame.

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-MW