Breaking Free (BXB)

Chapter 21-Catfight

My face twisted into confusion. Glancing up at the forest around me, I frowned, then looked down at my map. It said there would be a massive hill nearby but I was surrounded by flat land. It might as well have been written in pig Latin and drawn in hieroglyphs considering I couldn't decipher a single bit of what I was looking at. Groaning, I flopped down onto the forest floor. I could feel a leaf sticking to my butt my jeans soaking with mud. Lovely.

"I'm never going to find this thing, am I?" I propped my head in my hands and stared at my endlessly green surroundings. Bright green leaves on trees that had green moss clinging to the bark. Green sprouts of grass popping up out of the mud and green bushes littered around like little pieces of scraggly, left-behind trash. Every damn thing was green and I was growing sick of it. The color was burned into the backs of my eyelids, and I'm pretty sure I'd see that same shade of green in my nightmares for eternity.

I wondered what Owen was doing right now. I wondered if he missed me, or if he had already moved on to someone else. Someone who wanted him, war or no war. Someone who held him close and kept him there. Someone who he could kiss with passion and with trust. My heart squeezed at the thought of him kissing another person, but I kind of deserved it. I had broken his heart by telling him to wait and I knew that. Maybe I shouldn't have asked such a thing of him, but I had said it and there was nothing to do about it now. Sighing, I leaned into the ache of missing him, torturing myself with the pain.

My gut turned and coiled in on itself, roiling in discomfort. Images of Owen holding hands and smiling with other boys instead of me filled my mind. I blinked, trying to shake off those images but one after another flooded my senses. Owen kissing another boy like his life depended on it. Owen leaving hickeys on another boy's neck. Owen cuddling with another boy, flirting with another boy and showing another boy the parts of himself he had shown me. Anger and jealousy surged within me, clouding my mind. Pain erupted in my hand and I winced, cradling the bleeding hand carefully. The tree in front of me had a hand-shaped dent in it, and I stared, wide-eyed at what I had done.

A twig snapped somewhere in the distance, and I jumped. It had only been one small sound in the cacophony of forest noise, but the hair on the back of my neck rose and I felt ice flood my veins. It was quiet. I couldn't pinpoint why it unnerved me, just that I had to leave. Soon. The bushes began to shiver. I felt my muscles tense up. Then it hit me. The birds weren't singing. They had sensed danger and flown off.

Then before I could understand what was happening, I was flooded with people. They appeared out of nowhere, overwhelming me with their sheer size and numbers. My eyes widened and I sprung to my feet. Raising my shaking fists, I swung frantically, desperately trying to defend myself in the sea of people. There was hooting and shouting and maniacal laughter, so loud I thought my head would explode.  I couldn't see anything except for the dark brown uniform of the soldiers around me. It seemed as if there was no sky, and no ground beneath me, just a sea of people. I could feel blades nicking my skin as I whirled from side to side. I could hear arrows whirring past me and the sharp breaths of the hunters. My heart thudded heavily in my chest, adrenaline pushing me to act.

Something warm and tingly flared up in my chest and my eyes widened. It was the same feeling I got when I was trying to turn back into a human. I dup down deep inside me, still trying to wade through the crowd. Floundering for something, anything to help me live through this. Then I felt it. A well of writhing, rippling power in my gut. It screamed to be let out and I gave in without a second thought, resolving my control. It rolled back its muscles and then snapped to attention, my bones splintering under the power.

I let out a roar of anger and adrenaline and misery, the sound echoing in the trees, a dangerous call, then I dropped onto my haunches, baring my teeth. I snapped at anything that moved and felt flesh beneath my jaws and blood flooding my mouth. The men screamed and shrieked, and a rush of power surged through me. It was twisted and dark and animalistic, and I loved it. Then another man came at me and I hissed and scratched his face. It felt like I was on autopilot as I watched scores of men fall to the forest floor, but more kept coming out of nowhere. It seemed like they had an endless supply of soldiers willing to die. I heaved desperately for air, my lungs burning. A wave of men crept closer, and I felt desperation sink into my bones. Jumping around wildly, I hissed and scratched anything I could find, only to feel weaker as another man came out.  Like fucking whack-a-moles.  I was surrounded. The men brandished their weapons at me, something sick clouding their eyes.

"Here, kitty, kitty." A man cooed, his beard dribbling blood and three long scratches marring his face. There was a crazed gleam in his eye, singular, his other eye was missing, leaving a single, bloody socket in its wake. Did I do that? Whoops. 

 Sharp, searing pain cut into my leg and I yowled, glancing down to see an arrow sticking out. Panting heavily, I grit my teeth around the wooden base and yanked it out. My eyes narrowed as I felt that pain mold into fury. A rumble grew deep inside my chest. Red invaded the edges of my vision. Then with a snap, I exploded into the air, launching at the man in front of me, clawing and biting and spitting wildly as his screams rocked the air. Then another arrow pierced my side and I flew off him, falling to the forest floor. I could feel the first arrow-wound start to close up, faster than any human wound would, and I hissed. This arrow didn't matter. I would keep fighting, even as hundreds of men poured into the clearing. I had to keep fighting. For my dad, for Owen. And for me, too. I wasn't ready to die. 

Another wave of endless soldiers crowed, storming their way towards me. I felt hopelessness settle into my chest. I had just barely begun my mission, I couldn't die here. I wouldn't die here. Then a huge falcon,  larger than any I'd ever seen, swooped in and clawed out the eyes of the men around me. A black-bear the size of horse roared in the distance, thundering down the hill taking out men by the dozen, a cheetah, lean and powerful, keeping stride with him, leaping and twisting and attacking the men around her before disappearing to another spot on the battlefield. And rolling underneath men's legs and scratching their ankles was a hyena, wading beneath the soldiers, his eyes bright yellow. 

I let out a cry of triumph as I settled in, fighting the men around me, the hyena behind me as we scratched and leaped and bit the men around us, fighting in unison. My heart pounded in my chest, but this time I knew it wasn't because I was going to die, but because the thrill of the fight had found its way into my soul. Then the sound of a horn interrupted the fight. For a second everyone paused, then the men in brown retreated, disappearing in every direction.

Within seconds the clearing was empty, splattered blood and arrows littering the greenery. My chest heaved up and down with each ragged breath, and I felt blood and spit fall out of my jaws. I didn't know who had saved me, but I was grateful, whoever they were.

"Man, that was intense!" I turned, only to see the mop of curly red hair that could only belong to Tom, flapping in the wind beside me. I almost snorted, but I felt the pain wash over me in waves, and with a single pant, I slid to the floor, resting my head on my paws. "Are you ok, dude?" I almost rolled my eyes. I could feel blood pooling around me from all the cuts and the holes. Hissing softly, I reached back and pulled the arrow out slowly, pain hitting me in waves of fire. I could hear him shouting, but everything around me seemed muffled and quiet as if I was underwater.

My eyes couldn't focus as I panted loudly, trying to breathe through the pain, but unable to get past the pounding pain that covered my entire body. There was some shouting around me before I felt a pair of hands, callused and simultaneously soft, caressing my cheek.

"Oh Milo," He sighed, and as my vision focused, the soft hazel eyes and brown skin filled my vision. Owen. I felt safety and comfort fall over me like a blanket and I leaned into his touch, a light purr rumbling in my throat. Owen's arms snaked around me, lifting me up gently, and I felt every jarring step as my vision turned to black.