Enchanted Hearts

Chapter 7

Charlie

Delilah was in danger. If those Moxie saw her I would never forgive myself. I was the one who led her out here, but I never meant for this to happen. In two long strides I was right behind her. Her long blonde hair smelt of smoke and pine needles. I didn't want to do this, but I didn't want Delilah to make any noise and I couldn't be certain of how she would react. In one swift movement I clamped one hand over her mouth and wrapped the other around her arms and waist. I took a step back so we couldn't be seen if the Moxie happened to look this way. She struggled at first as I tried to keep her still. 

"Shhhhh," I whispered in her ear. I felt her body relax and I slowly let her go, keeping one hand on her arm as she turned to face me.

"Are they-?"

"They're Seekers. I will explain later, but right now we need to get back to the tent." I tried to keep my voice even. Delilah didn't really seem worried, she had obviously never heard of them before. She looked out, scanning the forest, then up at me. Lucky I was here. "This way." 

When the Seekers were out of sight, Delilah said, "What are they doing out here?"

"Hunting."

"For food?" Wow she really had no idea. I turned around to look at her confused face, only just visible in the moonlight coming through the trees, which were starting to thin out. We must be nearly there.  

"Hah, I wish." 

Just as I turned my head back, I saw Delilah fall towards the ground out of the corner of my eye. At the same time I heard her scream. I could hear the pain in her cry and knew it couldn't be good. I rushed to help her up, but I knew that she wouldn't have just fallen over. I grabbed her arm to pull her up. 

"My foot," she said through gritted teeth, "It's stuck." I followed her other arm down to where her foot foot was. I could vaguely make out a steel object, half of it cutting through her canvas sneaker and liquid steadily pouring out around the sides. It was attached to a chain firmly dug into the ground. My best chance was to get the bear trap off her foot. I knew the Seekers wouldn't be far away. We had maybe three minutes before they caught up to us. I tried to open the steel jaws using both hands but it wouldn't budge.

"Get a stick," Delilah said. Her face was wet with tears and sweat. I could only imagine the pain she was feeling right now. I grabbed a stick and put it in the object. It started to open, freeing her foot. She tugged it out of the sharp teeth with a yelp. She was trying to be quiet, but it was too late. I could see the Seekers light in the distance. I didn't want to tell Delilah that she had to start running or she would be captured by the Seekers.  

"We have to run. The other Moxie are coming for us." I pulled Delilah up, but I didn't think she was going to get very far with her foot. She placed her foot on the ground and put some of her weight on it. I held her soft hand as I watched her face. I saw the distressed and sad look in her eyes. She started to cry again and all I wanted to do was take her pain away, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.  

"I'm sorry. Please just go without me," she begged. 

"No." I didn't know what else to say. I couldn't just leave her here for the Seekers. I could see the fear in her eyes. The fear of what they might do to her, but she had no idea how brutal they were towards Virago and sometimes even their own kind. If she knew she knew what the Seekers were capable of she would be latched on to my leg begging for me to take her with me. 

"Please," she said with desperation in her voice. "It's my fault anyway." No. I had made my decision. I let go of her hand and looked around the tree trunk. Three figures in black hooded cloaks were less than 200 metres away and heading towards us, their fire light still burning brightly. I knew the tent was not that far away. If I could get to Roux we would have a better chance of defeating the Seekers.

"Jump on my back," I said to Delilah. "Quickly." It took her a few seconds to register, but she finally got on. I held her legs tightly against my sides, taking care of her injured foot. When I started to run I noticed her grip around my neck was so tight it felt like she was going to strangle me to death. "Just try and relax otherwise you're going to choke me." 

"Sorry," She loosed her grip.

I started running. I pretended I was running towards the moon, it's pale glow combined with its beauty was surpisingly calming. It dulled the burning pain in my legs. Delilah wasn't heavy, but running at this speed and for this long it was bound to have a physical toll on me. I didn't think about anything but Luna, that was until my thoughts were interrupted.   

 "Where are you going?" she asked abruptly. 

"Where do you think? We are going back to the tent to wake Roux." 

"What? No, please don't go back to the tent," she begged. 

"Are you crazy?! I can't fight them by myself, they'll crush me into the ground." I had no other option, unless it involved both of us getting ourselves killed. 

"Skylar is in the tent. I am not leading these Seekers, or whatever they are, straight to her," Delilah said seriously, her voice filled with sadness and hinting at a mental breakdown. 

 "I'm sorry, but I do not want to die."

"Put me down then. I will not be the cause of Skylar's death. I'm supposed to be protecting her."

"No. You're coming back to the tent with me. She will be okay, I promise you."

"Put me down!"

"Nope." I couldn't help but chuckle. I do regret it though because then Delilah got real mad. She tried to pull her legs back, but she didn't have enough strength. She started punching me anywhere and everywhere within her reach. She must have realized she wasn't getting anywhere because she finally gave up altogether. 

"Charlie!" I turned quickly turned around. Holy shit. We were so screwed. The Seekers were right on our tail. I knew they would have caught up, but not that fast. 

"It's too late. Just give it up!" A voice shouted. I slowed, but didn't stop. "Stop, or we will let our arrows loose on your burden." I didn't let my foot touch the ground, I wasn't going to take another step. Not when Delilah's life was at such a risk. I was angry at that guy for calling Delilah a burden, I was angry at myself for making such a big mistake in the first place and I was angry at angry at the Seekers for even thinking they could do whatever they plan on doing to us and to Delilah. I turned to face them. Delilah's whole body tightened around me. The three Moxie were dressed from head to toe in blacks and browns. The guy in the middle, who must have been the one who threatened to hurt us, had a smirk on his face. He had flicky black hair and dark eyes, he had a medium build, but looked fairly fit. The Moxie to his right was muscly and looked quite intimidating, he had short hair, but his face was hidden by his hood. The one on the left was the tallest. He also had flicky hair, but it was so lightly coloured it could have been white. His expression was almost unreadable. He looked like he was about to burst out laughing, but could kill at any given time. All three had their bows and arrows pointed straight at us. This was not looking good.