Jesika quickly glanced at their surroundings, trying to find a safe way to maneuver through the frenzied, fighting crowd. Once she spotted the easiest route, she yelled at her friends to follow her. They took off running, Jesika leading them through. Miraculously they were able to safely wind through the crowd. They were making their way to the gates of Grumor when five gargoyles flew down, blocking their path. Jesika swore, backing away slightly. They didn't have any of their weapons on them, they were completely defenseless. The gargoyles waited, daring them to make a move.
"What do we do, Jes?! We can't fight and we can't outrun beasts that can fly," Rowan asked in a panic.
Jesika smiled as an idea came to her head. "If we can't run, we can hide," she said proudly. "Follow me!"
Jesika took off to the left, her friends following close behind her. She ran into the safety of a tall apartment building, that way the gargoyles wouldn't see them as they flew over. From there, they took off running to the back, going out the door and across the narrow alleyway to the building behind it. They continued doing that until finally they had neared the gates of Grumor.
From there, it was a straight shot, absolutely nothing to give them cover. They would have to pray and sprint. Her friends looked to her, waiting for approval.
Jesika nodded. "Don't hesitate. We got to move fast."
Without another word, Jesika took off running. Her friends followed. Immediately the gargoyles noticed them, cawing and starting to fly towards them. Jesika ignored them, almost to the gate, a huge smile on her face. Her heart dropped though at a scream from behind her and the sound of Darryn yelling Aquila's name. Jesika froze, turning to see that one of the gargoyles had dove, ramming into Aquila and knocking her to the ground. Her face was cringing in pain and she was clutching her shoulder. Darryn started to go after her but was quickly beat by Rowan.
Rowan ran to help her up, but one of the gargoyles opened their mouth, firing a rock straight at his head. Jesika felt her heart leap in fear and she screamed:
"Rowan, watch out! From above!"
Rowan's head shot up and as the rock came hurling towards him, he held up his arm. It hit him, knocking him back a bit and making him groan in pain. He grabbed Aquila, quickly bringing to her feet and taking off running with her.
Jesika took off towards the gate once again and in a couple seconds, she had reached it. "Climb up the towers and jump, guys!" she yelled as she started climbing the towers.
Rowan shook his head. "Afraid we can't do that. Our arms are pretty freaking banged up."
Jesika glared at the tower. "Then Darryn and I will take care of it. Hide behind the towers."
Her and Darryn swiftly made their way to the top of the tower. Darryn quickly made his way to the other side and the two of them began opening up the gate. The whole while, the gargoyles were shooting rocks at them and they were narrowly dodging them, taking chunks out of the towers in the meantime. They were close to done when Jesika glanced down. Her eyes widened at a fleet of knights on horseback riding towards them. Darryn saw it too and they both quickened their pace. The gate finally fell open with a large thud. Jesika leapt from the tower, rolling just as she made impact with the ground. Darryn did the same as Rowan and Aquila joined them.
The four of them took off into the woods. They didn't stop running until night. By then the fleet had lost track of them as they had wound through the forest.
They rested, hidden in a cave, breathing heavily.
Darryn crawled over to Aquila. "Let me see your shoulder," he said gently.
