Dimension Travelers

Chapter 40

As soon as Chloe shoots up in the sky, my mind is spinning. Firefly drags me to the front gate. Our battle begins. Soldiers see us coming and call for back up. I morph into a panther and claw some poor sap in the face. I pounce and strike, over and over again. Firefly charges the soldiers with her electric spear. She stabs, slices, and deflects. I pay attention to my role in this. I morph back into my human self. I attack with everything I have. I see some people bursting from the gate. It's more soldiers. But, mixed in, are some prisoners, with weapons. Yes! Jared has done it! His army pulled through. A lot of them went down faster than a drunkard would have in battle. I feel bad for them. I keep on fighting. I see that Firefly is cornered. I run over there and take out one guard. Then, one gets the (not) brilliant idea to slice my side. I fall to the ground. Firefly kills him. My cut isn't deep, but it hurts like hell.

"Are you ok?" Firefly asks me.

I get up. "Yeah, I'm ok. Now, go! Go!"

She runs off into battle and disappears in the crowd. I try to ignore the pain and keep on fighting. I kill about two more soldiers when I see that Jared's army has gotten smaller and smaller. These people are dying for the small chance they would finally get out. Instead, more of them are dying here. I keep attacking. I begin to feel a bit weak. Was it from the cut? I look down. It's bleeding, but not too badly. I can handle it. Before I know it, I'm face-to-face with Hammer. He's wounded from earlier. How can he possibly be alive? I thought Chloe killed him.

Hammer's arms are giant hammers again. I now know that one blow from those, and I'd never be able to get up. I glared at him. He's probably the one who snitched on us. And, as you know, they say that, "Snitches get stitches." Well, I'm going to give him more than stitches.

"Good to see you again, Earthling." Hammer says.

I spit to one side. "Nice to see you, too, freak."

Our battle begins. I don't bother using my bow and arrow in this. I stab, punch, and kick him. But killing him will be no easy task. Do I really have the guts to kill him? He's the only dad Firefly's ever known...that I know of. I decided that it doesn't matter. I slice his arm pretty badly. He takes a swing at me. I duck. I kick his leg with so much force, that he falls forward. I stab him in the back. I can't kill this guy. I just can't. He doesn't even try to get up. Then, someone whacks me in the head and I fall down. Hammer gets up and somehow escapes. I turn over and see my attacker. It's a woman soldier. I quickly get up and take a swing at her. She dodges with ease and shoves me. Then, I morph into a lion. She didn't expect that. She's down before she can even realize what just happened.

I move on, tirelessly. I keep on fighting. It's been almost two hours. I keep on fighting. But we're over whelmed. I can't keep on fighting forever. But I keep trying. At one point, hours later, Chloe and Jared join us. By this time, I'm weak and ready to drop. Eclipsa is nowhere to be seen. As we fight, our numbers drop massively. We continue to fight. The day drags on. Rick hasn't showed up. Is he dead? But that's when help arrives...from Rick.

I look up and hear a trumpet call. I must be dreaming. I see Rick, on a horse, with an entire army. He finds me and grins. He charges into battle. I keep on fighting. But I can barely stand up. That's when Chloe goes down. She doesn't die, she just falls to the ground. I kill the soldier that hurt her and run to her. She's alive, but weaker than I am, which is not good.

"Chloe?"

She groans and looks at me. "I'm alive..."

She's bleeding badly. I frantically look around. We're doomed, even with Rick's army. Firefly is nowhere to be seen. Neither is Jared. Chloe can't go in to face Eclipsa now. Neither can I. But then, Rick arrives, still seated on his horses and is uninjured, though he's a bit out of breath and rather sweaty.

"Need a lift?" He asks.

"She does. We need a healer." I say.

Rick's face becomes serious, and afraid. "You do too apparently."

Before I can protest, I just help Chloe get on Rick's horse. Then I get on. That hurts. Once we're on, Rick makes his horse run. Chloe leans back on me, since she can't hold herself up. I feel a bit lightheaded myself. I look for Jared or Firefly. No sign of them. I hope they're all right...

"Where are we going?" I ask Rick.

"Rosemary." He answers.

Silence. Minus the rain, the horse's hooves, distant battle sounds, and thunder.

"How is she?" Rick asks me.

"I'm alright." Chloe answers weakly.

"You sure?"

"She's lying. Just get us there." I say.

Rick's horse runs even faster. Chloe has to lean on Rick now. She holds onto his shoulders. He doesn't seem to mind. I can barely see where we're going. How does Rick, then? I just decide to trust him and not ask. Not the right place or time. We ride on, in the rain. I being to feel more tired with every passing minute.

"How much longer?" Chloe asks.

"Few minutes." Rick answers. "Is something wrong?"

She doesn't say anything.

"Chloe?" I say warily.

Rick stops the horse. He turns around. "Come on guys. Be honest here."

"Just ride. Don't stop." Chloe says.

Rick gets off the horse. "Seth, I need you to take us to Rosemary. I have something that will help her. Just keep going that way." He points forward.

"How do you know?" I ask.

"Just trust me. Now take the freaking reins!" He snaps.

I get off and get in front. Rick gets in the back. Chloe is still in the middle. I flick the reins. The horse runs forward. This feels so strange and new to me. I keep running through the rain. (Well, the horse does the running but you get my point.) I keep my eyes forward, even though I can't see anything. For all I know, Rick could be leading us to our deaths. But I still trust him. Even though some say that trust is foolish. Trust is all I have.

* * * * * * * *

As Seth urges the horse forward, I'm sitting in between him and Rick. I'm weak, tired, and totally out of it. I can't comprehend all that's going on.

The only things I can comprehend are: 1) it's raining, 2) Jared and Firefly are still fighting and don't know we are gone, 3) Seth and I are hurt pretty bad, 4) Rick came through with an entire army, 5) We are going to Rosemary, and 6) I'm still alive.

Rick searches his saddle for something. What exactly, I have no clue. I cling to Seth, hands on his shoulders, for fear I might fall off. I'm not scared of horses, mind you. I'm just so weak I can't hold onto a fast moving horse very well. Once Rick finds what he is looking for, he hands me something.

"Drink this," He says, "Don't ask what it is, just drink."

I drink. The liquid, despite the cold, is warm. It tastes like honey, cinnamon, sugar, and other spices. I drink half of it. I feel a little bit stronger. I wonder if I should give some to Seth...Nah, he needs to concentrate on getting us to Rosemary.

"That's all I can do for now. Feel better?" Rick says.

"Much. Thanks." I reply.

Silence. All I hear is the rain and horse's hooves.

"Well, Rick? Where to now?" Seth asks.

"Keep moving forward!" Rick says above the rain.

Seth flicks the reins and we fly forward.

"How do you know where we're going?" I ask Rick.

"Before I got here, I found a map. I found Rosemary's village. I calculated where it was from the castle. I knew that I'd need to take someone to a healer. I guess it was you guys." He answers.

"Very funny."

"I'm not trying to be funny."

More silence. Deafening silence.