The Border Trilogy (Book #1) Enemies to lovers, Forbidden love

Part 5 - EDITED

Elder Mincha caught the stake just as the tip poked Elder Genevieve's skin.

"INTRUDERS!" a man burst through the crowd, "We're under attack!"

"Gather in the stone houses!" Elder Mincha ordered the crowd, "Get the children to safety and assume your positions!"

I watched as the people of Theon scrambled around, my head shot around horrified as I tried to think of what to do. I was frozen in place until I was pushed to the ground, landing on my side. As soon as the ground greeted my body, I felt a firm grip on my arm that yanked me right back up, and then I was face to face with Darien. He had a conflicted look on his face, but I didn't have much time to analyze why before he turned us around and began dragging me in the direction we came. I didn't say anything, just followed instinctively. Truthfully if he hadn't touched me, I probably would've been frozen in place on the ground. My fight or flight reflex completely turned off the moment I had evaded a death sentence, but only to be served with a fate possibly worse.

He picked up his pace and then we were running- fast, his hold on me never loosening. A few seconds later he came to a halt and thrust me forward. I had to make an effort to stop myself from tumbling over from the harshness of it.

"Go. Run. Get back to your tribe and don't ever find yourself anywhere near that river again," Darien's voice was low, "Or I'll kill you myself."

How sweet.

He didn't wait for confirmation or an acknowledgment of his words that both threatened and saved me. Instead, Darien turned and ran off in the direction of the ongoing battle. I took a look around where he'd brought me to, it seemed to be the last row of houses before the woods that separated the river from their residential grounds. At that moment I realized I had drowned out the sounds of the people around me. Stepping away from the woods and closer into the tribe, what I saw before me truly was a scene of horror.

It was chaos, parents desperately seeking their children, protectors with weapons in hand running off in different directions, rallying residents towards the stone houses, watchers on alert in case any intruders got past the first line of defense which was closer to the council grounds, and then a few did.

Screams picked up all around me as the invading tribe had made its way deeper into residential grounds. All at once, six men with knives in their hands jumped over one of the houses aiming at a line of children that were running away. I watched as the protectors ran towards them and engaged in a knife fight.

Just when I thought I had seen enough and was ready to leave, a child tripped and fell to the ground. A few paces behind him, a man with a knife began to stalk toward him, the protectors unaware of what was happening, their hands too full. My heartbeat picked up in my ears as the young boy on the floor turned on his back, propped up on his elbows, staring up at the intruder with fear in his eyes. I felt my blood boil as anger creeped into my veins, and then I was running. The world around me blurred as the boy and the intruder grew closer together, and I closer to them. The intruder stalked around the boy like a predator playing with his prey, except now his back was to me, and he found himself in the perfect position to be my prey.

As soon as I was within arms reach, I jumped up on him. The first step on his lower back, the second on his right shoulder as my left foot found the top of his left shoulder. Perched over his body, my hands taking hold of the sides of his head, he only had enough time for his hands to shoot up at me in confusion, but before he could even reach for me, I snapped his neck jumping off of him. I watched as his body slumped to the floor. I had landed on my feet in a crouching position, I slowly rose to look at the unconscious body of the man before me. He wasn't dead yet, he just wasn't breathing. His neck would take a day to heal, the bones forcing the correct structure back in place.

I was only a first-year in training. I never really had reason to fight and defend myself, or anyone around me for that matter. I never killed, because I never needed to. But even in this moment that it seemed necessary, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Only incapacitate.

"Georgie, RUN!" a familiar voice snapped me back into reality. I looked over at the young boy in front of me as he scrambled to his feet and ran off towards the closest stone house to us. The door closed behind him as protectors barricaded in front of it, standing guard.

I turned now to face Darien who crouched over the intruder I attacked, he grabbed his knife and slashed it through the man's chest. Ripping his heart to shreds. It was the only way to kill one of us for good. The heart would have to be punctured, it's the only organ that doesn't heal on its own. The bloodline of our ancestors lingers close enough that every other body part would regenerate and heal when wounded, but not the heart.

"Why are you still here," Darien stood slowly to face me, his eyes attempting to read mine.

"I don't know," I was being honest, I don't know why I'm still here. I just know I can't leave them like this.

"I'm not gonna tell you again, get back to your tribe! You have no business here."

"I can't just leave!"

"Yes you can! We don't need you here, and we sure as hell don't want you here."

"They're coming for the stone house!" someone yelled behind us. My head snapped back to the sound, but when I looked back at Darien, he was no longer there.

More intruders poured in and I didn't know where to start. My training never covered this many attackers, and I never thought I'd live to see a day like this. I focused on one of them, on the insignia around his neck, it's the Ra'am tribe. I know this tribe, our council keeps track of treaties and agreements between all the tribes around us and this tribe is most known for having to be kept in check. But there hasn't been any provocations between Theon and Ra'am- this isn't retaliation, it's a declaration of war. They're here for blood, to kill for sport.

"Eva!"

Zane ran towards me. "Eva, you have to go, you have to go NOW." his voice was more concerned than anything.

"I can help you!- I just don't know what to do."

"You'll get yourself killed, either by them or by us. Just leave," he pleaded.

"I can't Zane, please just tell me what to do."

He huffed aggressively, "Darien's gonna kill me," his eyes searching our surroundings and then coming back to me. "Okay fine, follow me and stay close!"

He took off and I followed. We were only a few feet ahead when a knife flew between us that made me stop dead in my tracks and before I could register what was happening, Zane was tackled to the ground by an intruder. It seemed the knife was meant to take me down, but he missed and Zane was putting up a hell of a fight. I stepped forward to rip the intruder off but before I could, my head was wrenched back by my hair, my knees were kicked forward and I fell down to a kneeling position. My head was held in place forcing my eyes up as an arm swung down with a machete headed straight for my heart.

My right arm shot out to stop it, my left hand gripping the wrist of the hand holding me down by my hair. I pulled my attacker forward and threw him over my shoulder, throwing my body over his, I took hold of his weapon and drove into his stomach, pinning him to the ground. My attacker growled in pain as I rolled away. I've never seen such rage as the storms in his eyes. I didn't kill him, his body would eventually heal but Zane crawled over to me then, pulling out the machete and bringing it down on his heart, killing him as I looked away.

"How are you supposed to help us if you can't even finish the job?" Zane was breathing heavily, more curious than frustrated.

I looked behind me where his own attacker's lifeless body lay face down.

"Don't tell anyone," I don't know why I was ashamed of my inability to take a life even when my own life was the one at stake, but I couldn't let anyone think I was weak.

"I can't trust you to fight with us if you're gonna let them live. This is war Eva, they're here to kill. Me and you. And if they were brazen enough to do it to us... believe me when I saw your tribe is next."

"I've never had to... I just wanna help."

His eyes softened, "You can help us get people to safety. Come on, follow behind me." He took off then, "Anyone you can't kill, I'll do it for you." He said over his shoulder.