The Five [EDITING]

Chapter Sixteen: Hesitation (P2)

A/N: Second part to the chapter, be sure you read the first part as well as the authors note before reading this one please and thank you!!

Recap:   
   The second I turned the corner, I had my arrow sighted and took down another guard running but though two were still running up, I'd misjudged the number and three were running down, keeping close to the shadows until they were nearly on me. Greg shot one while I dodged a blade coming at my head. Ritch raised his axe to take that one down.
   And froze.

   The guard, unstopped by Ritch's ax a he should have been, whipped around after the miss and I leaped back as he slashed forward with his sword. I dodged, but not completely and felt a burning sensation across my collarbone and shoulder. I tried to raise my bow but there was no time before he swung again and I dropped, rolling to the side, very nearly rolling off the edge.
   There was an ugh sound and I looked up to see Angus pulling his sword out of the guards back. He wiped off his blade, sheathed it, then reached down and hauled me to my feet. "You alright, girl?"
   "I'm... fine. I think." I looked at Ritch. "What happened? You had the shot!" I felt myself starting to shake. In anger or in shock, I wasn't sure. "I saw you, you had the axe---"
   "I killed my aunt!"
   "I... you... what?"
   "She was already dying you see? And she was in so much pain and suffering so much so bad and she asked me to kill her and so I did and I stabbed her over and over even though I didn't want to and buried her the night before I had the vision and I didn't think nothing was wrong with me 'cept some bad dreams but when I raised the axe I couldn't kill him! I couldn't kill anyone else! Oh Father, I'm so sorry, Alie. I'm so sor---"
   Angus grabbed him by the shirt and slammed him into the cliff wall. "You fool of a boy!" He hissed. "Are ye a fekin' daft? Ye thinks ye couldna mentioned this a'fore ye had peoples lives relyin' on ye?"
   "I didn't know!" Ritch cried. "I'm sorry!"
   The size of Ritch as well as his intelligence made him seem so much older than his years, I often forgot that he was only just turned thirteen, the youngest of us all. I felt anger at his aunt who was so cowardly as to ask such a thing of a boy and then realized that I had asked him the very same by having him watch my back tonight.
   Angus had no such thoughts though, and he slammed the crying Ritch against the wall again. "What were ye thinkin' you fool? Ye want her death on y'r hands, b'cause ye just about---"
   "Stop that!" I snapped and pushed Angus hard. He was twice my size but the surprise worked in my favour and he stumbled back.
   "What in the gods woman---"
   I punched him. Hard enough to hurt my knuckles. "Don't you talk to my friend like that!"
   "What's going on here?" I heard Uncle Jack but I was too into it now. All I knew was it was either go into shock again or lash out, so I chose the latter and went to hit Angus again.
   "Alie!" I was grabbed from behind by familiar arms and I struggled.
   "Let me go!"
   "Alie, stop! Angus didn't do anything to---"
   "What the bloody gods is going on here?"
   "Let me go!"
   "Alie, you're bleeding bad." Geac finally set me on my feet and it would have been a perfect opportunity to break free except that his words stilled me.
   "I... what?" Then I remembered the burning sensation.
   He turned me around and cursed. "Your arm." He said. "And your chest, too. What in the name of all the gods happened?"
   "Ye can blame the boy here f'r that." Angus said.
   "Ritch did this?" His disbelief was obvious in his voice.
   "Ritch didn't do anything!"
   "That be the point, ye fekin' deathcat." Angus snapped at me now, spitting blood from his split lip. I had a brief moment of feeling mildly impressed with myself at actually causing that before he continued. "The bastard juss stood there while she near got her throat slit."
   "Don't call him---"
   "Shut up!" Uncle Jack snapped. "All of you." He turned me roughly and looked at my wound. "Geac, get this cleaned up and calm her the bloody fek down. Garg, keep an eye out up top. And what the fig are you doing here, Loryn? Never mind, just calm the boy down would you? Angus, start explaining before I start beating on you next."
   Geacob took me down to the torch and used that to see by, calling Darci over to keep me hidden by the men with her cloak while he pulled the wool and undershirt down over my shoulders, very nearly baring my breast.
   "I'm fine." I said, looking at it. "It's only in need of a few stitches."
   "Give me your bag."
   I did and he pulled out the needle and some thread. As he heated the needle over the fire to burn off anything that might give me an infection, I drowned a cloth in whisky, then slapped it to my wound, hissing in pain. Wow that hurt.
   Ready. Geacob pulled the cloth away and warned me to stay still, then asked what happened. I told him of the events and finished just as he pulled the last stitch through. He started wrapping my arm and chest in clean linen. "So why did you hit Angus?"
   That caught Darci's attention and she turned her head. "You hit Angus?"
   I held up my stinging, bloody knuckled for proof. "He was insulting my friend."
   "Sounded to me like he deserved the insult."
   Geac gave her a look. "Do you want Alie to hit you too?"
   "He's gonna be a handsome one. Big too." Darci said with female appreciation, then frowned. "His aunt made him kill her?"
   "Guilt'ed him into it, it sounds like."
   She sighed quietly. "The poor boy." She said and must have noticed my face because she turned defensive. "I'm not a monster all the time."
   Geac snorted but had finished wrapping and pulled my wool up. "It'll be a nasty scar, but you'll be alright."
   "I know." I moved my arm around experimentally, felling the stitches pull only slightly. "I can still handle a bow." I assured them. "But I'll need a new guard."
   "I'll get Rummy to cover you." Said Darci while Geac asked if I was sure.
   "Thank you, and yes, I'm sure. But I need to talk to Ritch."
   "Looks like he's coming to you." Geac nodded upwards where Ritch was coming down, clutching Loryn's hand.
   "Alie, I'm so---"
   "Shh." I said and hugged him. "You couldn't have known. If you had, you wouldn't have agreed to stand at my back. It's not your fault and I'm fine, so don't eat yourself up over it or it will make me feel guilty. Terribly so. And apparently I become violent when I have high emotions so let us try to avoid that, yes?"
   He let out something between a sob and a laugh but nodded.
   "Let's go!" Uncle Jack called. "We don't have time for this."
   I kissed Ritch's cheek. "Stay safe." I told him and when I let go, took a deep breath and reloaded my crossbow. Time to get back to work.