Following the River

Chapter 23

~~ Part Three: Final Farewells ~~

Chapter 23

The evening moon's crooked smile shone luminously in the midnight sky. A slightly humid breeze swept through Hailey's hair as she stood with her sword high up in her hands.

She waited for their attack. She was ready for them. They would be surprised to leap out and not find her. She had moved from where she originally was. When they came out, she would be ready to slice them open!

But so far, nobody was attacking. Even the forest ahead of her seemed silent as if it were sleeping. Hailey frowned and lowered her sword. What the heck? Where are they?

Suddenly, a screech echoed from above her. Hailey screamed in alarm as she saw Zora cascading down from a tree, her sword held high in her hand. She looked like a flying squirrel as she came down at her.

Hailey was immediately squashed underneath Zora's weight. Hailey then rolled out from under her and held her sword up to her nose. Zora blinked a few times, then smirked when Aira grabbed her from behind.

Aira's eyes glistened in the moonlight as she brought Hailey to the ground. “And my sword would be through your stomach.” Aira told her calmly.

Hailey then swung her sword at Aira's face and said, “Your nose would be missing.”

Hailey turned swiftly and helped Zora stand to her feet. Zora didn't seem even just a bit scared for the battle. Go figure, Hailey said in her mind. She's done this so many times.

Suddenly, just as Hailey opened her mouth to ask Zora more questions about the battle, a voice whispered, “...and lemon pound cake.”

Hailey whisked around. There was no one there, of course. Zora gazed at her with confusion. “What?”

“I heard talking.” Hailey said as she began to inspect the bushes. Aira's eyes suddenly widened with disbelief as she pointed her finger to a figure behind Hailey.

“Somerset! Niki!” Hailey turned to see them. Both of them were standing there while stuffing their mouths with moise lemon pound cake.

“We were going to throw a surprise attack on you three, but we wanted to finish our cake first. Then Hailey heard Somerset's loud mouth say, 'LEMON POUND CAKE!' and we knew it was hopeless.” Niki told them smoothly, her green eyes emotionless.

Hailey smiled. It was good to see them again. She hadn't been able to sleep the night that Dakota told her the date. She told Zora and Aira quickly, and they decided that tonight they should practice...really hard.

In fact, sometimes it didn't even seem like practicing. It seemed like they were battling against each other. Hailey was actually scared last night when Aira held her sword up to her throat.

Fortunately, the worst injury that Hailey had recieved from that fight was a paper cut from a muffin wrapper. It sounds ridiculous, but when you're fighting against Zora, it's probably almost normal.

“So, tomorrow's the battle, huh?” Somerset suddenly blurted out.

“How did you know?” Hailey asked her, her heart pounding in her chest.

“The Divide had a meeting when I happen to be walking by. Constantine said that they were going to take the field way to your house so that they can invade you. But,” Somerset continued, “if you're already waiting in the field...wow they're going to be shocked!”

“Oh yes!” Niki added, her eyes glowing with excitement. “Plus, the Divide has been training how to fight indoors in small spaces and such. This is definitely going to throw them off!”

Zora smiled evilly, but then the evil smile faded. “Wait, wasn't Dakota supposed to come and tell us all these things instead of Somerset and Niki?! Where is he anyways? Hailey, do you know anything?”

“I already told you, Dakota told me the date. That's how I figured it out...” Hailey said stiffly.

“Oh yeah. Oops.” Zora shrugged, then yawned. Her eyes teared up and she rubbed at them. “How about we go inside and rest? We have a big day tomorrow.”

Hailey nodded, suddenly feeling her exhaustion sweeping over her like a tidal wave. Niki and Somerset exchanged gazes, then Niki said, “We're probably going to make up plans. Is it okay if we stay here for the night?”

“It's totally fine.” Zora said as she headed through the door. Hailey followed close behind her and rushed through the hall. She climbed into her bed and closed her eyes, praying that she could actually sleep tonight.

Just as Hailey felt herself drift off into sleep, she saw the darkness split into light. It was raining. Hailey's eyes were blurred from the drops that fell into her eyes.

She saw blood splattered on her clothes and sword. She suddenly gazed up and saw wolves knocking Niki and Aira over. Her mind was blurry at first, not really getting that she was in battle.

Finally, when Constantine yelled, “Go, Divide! Go!” Hailey jolted into consciousness and she held her sword high. She began to run towards Niki to protect her from a wolf that was attacking her.

She stabbed the sword into the wolf's shoulder. It yelped with pain and lashed out at her. Hailey was flung backwards and the air was knocked out from her lungs.

As she coughed and struggled to breath, another wolf jumped on her and began to slash at her stomach. But another wolf began to rip them off, his blue eyes blazing.

“Dakota...” Hailey tried to tell him to get away from her. She knew that Constantine had ordered him to kill her. But if he “never saw her” in the battle, then he wouldn't be able to kill her.

It was too late. Constantine joined in beside him, her cold eyes burning into Hailey. She grinned, her teeth showing as she spoke. “Kill her, Dakota.”

Dakota gazed helplessly at Hailey, a sword held high in his human hand. Hailey's eyes widened in fear, her heart pounding, her whole body paralyzed.

“No...NO!!” Hailey screeched as she saw the sword fall. A horrible cracking sound echoed through her mind. She felt the life drain out of her body and she screamed at the agonizing pain.

She suddenly was floating above everything. Her head was light and her heart was heavy. The pain began to ebb away as she saw clouds fill her vision. A hand suddenly outstretched for her to take. And she did, not knowing where to go.

The smile of a little girl appeared in her mind. She pat Hailey on her head and said, “Hailey...you're not dead yet...I promise. Just wake up, okay? You need rest for tomorrow. Hailey, wake up.”

Hailey's eyes opened and she sat up, her whole body shaking. She saw Zora leaning over her, her eyes now filled with concern.

“Bad dream?” Zora inquired, her eyes soft.

Hailey couldn't speak. She stood to her feet and fell to the ground, her head throbbing. Zora yelled for help and Somerset ran in with Niki and Aira close behind.

“Hailey?”

“Hailey!”

“Hailey...”