The Knife Thrower

Chapter 22

I stand in a shadow, too shocked to move. Around me my neighbours are running around screaming, begging for mercy. Rats walk up and down the line of houses, starting from the other end. I watch as two Rats go up to a broken house and walk inside. I hear an ear-splitting scream and see them come back out, dragging an old women and a young boy behind them. They have decided to start collecting people to sell.

Anger flares up inside of me, replacing the fear and shock. How dare they take people, against their will, and sell them as slaves! My hands curl into fists by my sides and I resist the urge to punch the wall. Instead I slowly take out one of my knives from my belt, careful to keep in my shadow. I see there is a cart behind the last row of Rats, that is being used to hold the prisoners. Two Rats walk towards it, carrying a little girl between them.

Slowly I raise my knife, never taking my eyes of the attacker. The one closet to me is side on and I stare at his temple. 1... 2... 3. I throw my knife forward, sending the blade and hilt spinning. It slams into his temple and he drops to the ground, unconscious. The second guard looks my way but I am well hidden in the shadows.

I throw my next knife, sending it hurtling into the pressure point in his neck this time. He too drops to the ground and the little girl runs away from them, into another house. Now Rats are looking my way and advancing. I waste no time, throwing knife, after knife, after knife. One by one the Rats drop to the ground with a thud. Now people are gapping in my direction in awe and fear.

I have one knife left, the one hidden in my boot. I look around for any more Rats but they seem to all be lying on the ground. People stand in the doorways of their houses, staring at me. I turn around to go back inside, sure it is now safe for Izzy and Jay.

"Stop!" A gruff voice yells behind me. I turn back around to see the last Rat standing five houses down from me. He is wearing a wicked smile that gleams evily in the moonlight. When I see what he is holding my blood freezes. Standing in front of him as a shield is the little girl I rescued earlier. She has a knife pressed into her neck and is silently sobbing. She looks the same age as Izzy. I am still hidden in the shadows, so I draw my last knife, sizing up the distance between us. He is standing just out of range.

"Throw another knife and the girl gets it!" He screeches out again, limbs shaking and eyes full of cruelty. A trickle of blood makes its way down her neck, soaking the collar of her blue dress. She looks at me with big, scared eyes, begging me to save her. My heart twists inside of me. I can't let her get killed. She is too much like Izzy.

I take a a step forward, out of my protecting shadow. People around me gasp and I wonder if they have recognised who I am. I glance down but realise they are gasping at the form who stepped out of the shadows, not who is underneath the cloak. The mans eyes widen for a second, hesitation making him clutch the girl tighter. She lets out a small cry, tears running down her cheeks. Her head reaches just under his chest and she is half the size of him length wise. He picked a really bad shield.

He yells at me to put the knife down. I move my right hand slowly towards the ground, like I am surrendering. His face is covered with blatant triumph, like he won an award or something. He starts taunting me, saying 'I am not so brave as I pretend' and other useless sentences. If he knew he was about to die in thirty seconds, I wonder if he would still waste his last words on mockery.

I take a deep breath, inhale...exhale. I stop moving my hand to the ground, for it is now perfectly in the right position and spot. I look him straight in the eye and throw. In a millisecond the knife slams into his chest, forcing him to take a step backwards. He gasps in surprise and the knife he was holding drops to the floor. The little girl scrambles out of his reach and runs towards me. She runs into my arms and clings onto me tight, sobbing into my torso.

The man is kneeling on the floor, blood gushing from his mouth and eyes filled with pain and confusion. He tries to say something I can't comprehend and shakily pulls the knife out of his chest. It clatters to the ground in a sticky pile. Then he drops onto his back and his chest stops moving. He is dead.

I turn the little girl gently away from the ugly scene and smooth down her tangled hair. I hear a cry behind me and I turn around, half expecting to see another Rat. But instead a plump middle aged lady runs towards us and takes her daughter into her arms. She looks at me with teary eyes and mouths Thank You. Then they walk away, back into a house. I stand still and survey the battle ground. The Rats that had dropped to the floor have been pulled away by some of the men from the street, probably into alleyways or deserted houses far from here.

I turn away and dissapear into the shadows, glad once again for the comfort of being concealed. I killed a man tonight. My chest aches painfully, from guilt or shock, I can't tell. But I know I have to let this go, or it will destroy me. I take a deep breath and shut my eyes.

'I am Kyra Avedel. My parents were murdered. My brother and sister are in danger. I stood up for what is right. One man died but from his own stupidity. It is okay. Let it go.'

I open my eyes and the weight in my chest lifts and falls away. A single tear glides down my cheek but I let it fall. It is my battle scar. Inside of me I hold my battle scar, but it won't destroy me. It will make me stronger.

The tear hits the ground and I walk away. Into the shadows of the deadly night.