A Dark Knight

21. The Shadow

I stood in the centre of a round chamber. I was surrounded by unoccupied stone seats. The room was dimly lit and I could see my breath when I exhaled.
“Hello?” I called. My voice echoed around the room but no one was to be seen. I then noticed a pedestal a couple of metres behind me. A disc-like artifact stood on it. I walked over to it, my footsteps echoing around the chamber. I reached out to touch it but when my finger touched  the object, golden light exploded around the room, blinding me. I jerked away and shield my eyes.
“Greetings, Spirit of the Wolf.” A voice said. It was inhuman and the words seemed to swirl around my mind.
“You are running out of time. You must find the disk before the enemy.”
“The disk?” I asked out loud, lowering my hand. “But it is right there.”
“This is only a vision. A warning. This is what you must find.”
“Why? I have never heard of the disk before. What does it do?”
“In time, you will find out. Whether  you find it, or the enemy does.”
“The king?”
“The king and his family is not your biggest threat at the moment. Be careful who you trust.”
“But who-”
“Good luck, Spirit of the Wolf.”
The roomed faded into darkness.
Suddenly I heard a bloodcurdling scream. My left arm was completely numb except for an unbearable pain in between my shoulder and my neck. I tried to open my eyes, but my vision was blurry. My head lolled against my chest. I blinked a few times, but it was useless. I lifted my head even though it was killing me to do so. I didn’t have a clue what was going on.
My arms were bound around the trunk of a thin tree, behind me. I was in a glade. Two girls about my age lay across a stone alter in the centre. They didn’t seem to be breathing. One man was bandaging his wrist with a strip of cloth and another faced a girl who was tied to a tree like I was. He leaned close to her and said something that only she could hear before he smacked her hard across the face. She screamed. That’s what had woken me up. Tears ran down her cheeks as she sobbed and screeched for help that did not come.
My thoughts were like glue. Moving slowly. What was going on? Who were these people? Why was I here? Where was “here“? Then it hit me. The men. They were the ones who had tried to attack my brother’s home. The pain I was feeling. The knife. I wondered how I was alive. The girl who they were torturing. It was Kelsey. The other two. I really hoped it wasn’t Emma and Eve. But something told me that it was. 
The man hit Kelsey again and a wave of anger washed over me. They were going to regret that. But I didn’t know what to do. Everything I did was ten times slower than usual and caused me a lot of pain. I knew that I would probably end up unconscious again soon. My body could barely cope then.
I tested the ropes which bound my wrist. I tried to break them apart but it wouldn’t break. Maybe I could divert their attention?
“Leave her alone.” I tried to yell but it came out as a croak. I coughed and spat blood onto the ground beside me. I cursed. But I had gotten the men’s attention.
The one who had been interrogating Kelsey straightened up and faced me. A grin spread across his face. The other man cracked his knuckles and leaned against a tree.
“Well, well.” the first man said. “You’re still alive. How nice. We decided that a friend of Mr. Bo’s is an enemy to us. And we like to make our enemies suffer. That’s why you’re dying slowly. And it also why your friend here is having a nice little chat with myself.”
I locked eyes with Kelsey. Her eyes were red and swollen. Blood trickled down her chin and she looked drained. Pale, tired and scared.
The other man moved so that he was blocking my view of my friend. He knelt in front of my and frowned- a fake frown. He looked at the knife which stuck out from my shoulder and shook his head.
“Look at that.” he murmured. “Here, let me try and get it out.”
He took hold of the handle and twisted. I screamed. Kelsey screamed. I screamed louder than I had ever screamed before. I had never felt this much pain. Tears ran down my cheeks and pain exploded through my body. He stopped and sighed.
“I’m sorry.” he said mockingly. “It’s stuck. Here, Carl. Wanna have a go?” There was no reply. “Carl?” he turned around. “Oh my-” His sentence was never finished. He crashed to the ground in a heap. An arrow in his neck. Carl was also dead. A rope had been lassoed around his neck and he hung from a tree. Kelsey gaped, wide eyed at him. I did the same. What had happened?
Something moved in the corner of my eye. A shadow of a human. A knife flew through the air and cut through the ropes which had tied Kelsey to the tree, freeing her. And the shape disappeared as quickly as if had come.
“Wait!” Kelsey called, slowly getting to her feet. Her voice echoed around but no one replied. I couldn’t keep my head up any longer and let it rest against my chest again. I focused on my breathing. In. Out. In. Out.
I heard Kelsey’s footstep approach me, quickly but disoriented. A cold hand reached under my chin and tilted my head upwards. Kelsey stared at me with worry filled eyes. She bit her lip.
“Kelsey.” I murmured.
“Jade.” she whispered back.
She cut the ropes which held me against the tree and she caught me as I fell forward. She helped my to my feet and slung my good arm over her shoulder. I had to put all my weight against her to prevent myself from falling.
“Leave me here.” I told her. “You’re injured too. You can get Payton and-”
“No. It’s too dangerous.”
“I don’t think I can-”
“We have to.” Kelsey told me. “If we don’t get you treated soon, you’ll die. Like…. Like-” her voice broke.
“Like Emma and Eve.” I finished softly.
Kelsey nodded. I looked at the twins’ bodies on the alter.
“We have to come back for them anyway.” I told her.
“We can. But later. I don’t want to have lost three.”
“You won’t.”
We limped away, into the woods, in silence. I didn’t know how we had gotten there so I didn’t know how to get back, but Kelsey seemed to know.
“Who was that who saved us?” I wondered a loud.
“I haven’t got a clue. But they seem to be on our side.”
The voice echoed in my head. “Be careful who you trust.”
“Maybe.” I murmured. “Maybe not. I guess we’ll find out eventually.”