Wings

Chapter 46: Broken and Bloody

**Edit of Liam in the sidebar/ above. I also feel a need to issue a warning for gore before you begin this chapter. There is a vivid description and I'm sure some of you have read/seen worse but just be wary if you're not good with blood or gross stuff.**

KARI'S POV

My eyes were closed so I only heard the clang, so loud that it jarred my teeth and hurt my eardrums. My eyelids flew open to see the mace crossed with a scimitar, another blade sailing for the soldier's head. The Straze was forced to step back to avoid the hit and I had move to room.

"Kari get your ass off the floor!" Louis yelled as he swung at the soldier again. "I'm gonna kill you for almost getting killed!" A smile pushed its way through the pain at his words of irony. I struggled to get up, my side still screaming at me and my hand pulsing from being stomped on. "Go!" Louis told me, glancing from his peripheral vision to watch my slow progress. I was finally up and moving through the crowd, leaving Louis behind to fight the Straze. I pulled a knife from my belt and slashed left and right as I went, warding off any soldiers who tried to hinder me. Most were already locked in battle with members of The Recovery and couldn't try to anyways.

I broke through the last few people, stumbling out of the chaotic crowd of fighting and into the space between them and the wall where Liam had laid Harry. In the time it had taken me to get here, a soldier had come and engaged Liam, their weapons clashing together repeatedly as they fought. Harry lay behind Liam, tucked beside the wall.

I moved as fast as I could, sharp breaths all I could take as my lungs burned from the mace's attack. I got closer and pulled my bow over my head, removing it from where I had stored it hanging across my body, and pulled an arrow from my quiver. The soldier was dispatched easily at such a short distance and Liam was free to usher me over with a rushed movement of his hand.

I flung myself down beside Harry, kneeling despite a bite of pain in my shin. Glancing, I saw that a chunk of flesh had been removed from the front of my leg, recognizably the work of an arrow nicking me. "Crap, they have an archer somewhere," I told Liam. He immediately began scanning the atrium, looking for the soldier I had mentioned.

My eyes then landed on Harry, fear taking over me as he lay perfectly still. "Liam, where did you find him?" I asked.

"Dungeon, shackled to a wall," he replied curtly, eyes still scanning for the enemy archer. "He needs medical attention Kari, you have to be able to do something."

"Wait he's not-"

"No he's not dead!" Liam interrupted, eyes flicking to me, shocked that I had thought so.

His words pushed me into action, whipping the small pack from my back that I had filled for the raid. I dug for a moment before pulling out a roll of bandages and a small jar of ointment Lou had given me. She said it would keep any flesh wounds from getting infected until she could look at them when we got back from the raid. I only hoped we would be returning to her.

"Why is he unconscious?" I asked Liam. Harry's face was bruised, purple coloring his jawline and there were minimal small cuts to his appearance, but nothing that should have rendered him in this state.

"Look at his back," Liam told me.

With shaking hands and some difficulty, I rolled Harry over. A gasp left my lips as I saw the blood soaking through the Straze uniform someone had put on him. Before I could investigate any further, Liam spoke.

"We have company," he told me. I turned and saw a small group of Straze break off from the crowd, moving our way; three sword-wielding foes pursued by Ed as he tried to intercept them and keep them away from Harry.