A Different Landing

Chapter-28

Anya felt victorious as she saw the two men in the strange suits of the mountain. One held a gun and was taking shots down the valley at her team. The other stood by carrying a strange old world device. With a hand gesture, she signaled Percy to drop down on top of them. In the initial shock of his entrance, she followed, slicing the throat of the man with a single brutal slash. She saw that despite Percy's size and age, he had easily killed his opponent as well. Swinging her blade, she flicked the blood off of it before standing tall. The fools had given her every reason to ambush them when they shot at her party. By doing so, they made her orders to disguise their deaths as an accident if possible, completely unnecessary. Turning to look down towards the clearing, she prepared to shout the all clear so Aden and Char could get to Tris. The shout lodged in her throat as she took in what she saw.

"CHAR!" Aden's voice carried up to her as he cried out sticking his head foolishly above the log.

Anya didn't wait, taking off for the clearing. When she arrived, she saw that Aden had his hands pressing down on Char's side. His hands were coated in blood.

She dropped down on her knees beside him, instantly scanning the girl to assess her injuries. Looking up at Aden, she demanded an explanation. "What happened?" Ripping fabric, she shoved a wad of it onto the injury to try and stop the precious blood from leaving the girl's body.

Aden's face was stricken. "Tris was bleeding out, she wouldn't have lasted much longer. Char said she'd cover me. I didn't know." His breathing was picking up speed.

"I don't have time to baby you, snap to it. Is Tris alive?" She asked while yanking one of Char's knife belts down and viciously tightening it to keep the blood in her body. Yanking her own belt off, she wrapped it around the girl's shoulder where a second bullet had hit and yanked the belt tightly, trying to limit the bleeding.

"She's alive. I stopped the bleeding." Aden said.

Anya nodded. Grabbing Char, she slung her limp body over her shoulder. "Get Tris and the others back to camp."

She stood with the girl hanging over her shoulder her blood already soaking into her. "Stay strong."

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Six months ago:

Silas frowned as Prince Roan entered the general's quarters without announcing himself, his face was drawn and clearly burdened. This couldn't be good. He watched carefully as the wayward prince came to a stop in front of his general.

"You are a traitor to the throne." He declared in a harsh voice.

Klark stood carefully, her eyes narrowed as she stared the man down. "On what grounds do you accuse me of treason?" She demanded.

"You have disobeyed the direct orders of a superior and shown clear intent to rebel by occupying another's territory." He said and it was like a death toll had rung and everyone in the room fell completely silent.

"I left only Xander and his division in your territory and they are there as support, to help you rebuild. The rest of my army has or is in the process of returning to my territory. As for my breach of your orders, my doing so saved your life." Klark replied lowly.

Silas could see it in the line of the prince's shoulders. He didn't believe the shit he was saying. He was clearly here reluctantly, though why he would challenge Klark at all, mystified Silas. Klark had saved his life and her support was vital for the recovery of his territory. Her death would cause chaos in his own territory with no reward to compensate for it that Silas could see.