𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧

Twelve

"Taylor?" Liana stepped over, dropping the deer. "Taylor? Can you hear me?" She noticed no one else looked concerned, just curious. "What's going on?"

"He's just having a vision. He'll wake up in a few minutes," Iris explained.

"Can you pick him up? We have to get back to Xina, now!"

Kian lifted him off the ground with a grunt. "All good."

They continued through the forest, finally reaching the lawn and sprinting to Xina's tent. Outcasts emerged from their tents, smiling when they saw the deer, but staring at her as it levitated. Xina poked her head outside, saw Taylor, and sighed. "Again?"

"This is urgent," Allie whispered as Liana tilted the deer's head so she could see the bullet wound.

Xina's jaw dropped. "What? How?"

"I think we should come inside," Travis suggested, glancing around at everyone who was staring at Liana, Taylor, and the deer.

The Queen nodded and opened the tent flap for them to come in.

Liana tried to still her shaking hands as Travis began explaining everything they had heard. "I suggest we send a small group of archers to snipe them from the trees. Remember, they have guns."

Xina narrowed her eyes. "They're called S.E.A.M.? Are you sure they weren't with the mainlanders?"

"We're sure," Allie stepped in. She pointed to the bullet wound. "We could have..." she paused as Xina's gaze pierced her confidence. "We could have scientists check the bullet out. See what we're up against."

"I'm going to call a meeting. Whatever S.E.A.M.'s job is, we're going to make sure they don't get a chance to finish it," she said.

Taylor woke with a strangled gasp, forehead slick with sweat. "They're going to kill us. They're going to..." he trailed off, clutching his head. "Crap, crap,crap...."

"Shh.... calm down, tell us what you saw," Xina placed a hand on his shoulder, and he flinched away.

"They lined us all up, on our knees, even..." he paused, shaking his head. "Even the kids. And..." Taylor coughed, obviously shaken by what he had seen.

Liana exchanged a worried glance with Charlie and Iris. "Let's get you to the Forseer's tent," she said, standing.

Taylor shook his head. "No... I'm fine. I want to be there for the meeting." he stood shakily and walked out of the tent.

~'*'~

"Several of our hunting party have reported seeing strange men in the woods, who seem to be working to exterminate this island and mine the gold in the caves," Xina called. Her strong, confident voice hid worry and fear well. "They are not mainlanders, but another organization called SEAM. I plan to send a party to take them out before they have a chance to finish-"

A loud gunshot cut off her speech, and Liana jumped, eyes wide and brimming with fear as she shook her head, looking at Xina. "No..."

Xina looked down at her chest, her face a range of surprise and pain as she saw the growing dark blue staining her shirt, and she collapsed, toppling over the balcony and slamming against the lawn below.

Thank you guys for the support and all the love, even when I'm evil and give you cliffhangers. ^