Shadows of Ash and Gold

Chapter eighteen

The weariness of the desert and the night sky made my heart skip a beat as we walked out of The seer's house. "Do you think it's real ... what she said?" I asked Ever.

He didn't respond, instead his stare was focused ahead of us on ... on nothing. There was nothing there, we were in the middle of nowhere. "Ever?"

He put a finger to his lips, silencing me, still not looking in my direction. I peered out at the emptiness ahead of us. I suddenly felt my skin crawl, something wasn't right. I felt it in my bones. Ever took a step forward gesturing for me to stay behind him.

There was no way that was happening.

I followed him out into the emptiness.

They came to us one by one, the shadows seemed to obey them, working in their favor. But I guess that's a perk for Greer. They appeared in front of us, behind us and to the sides of us.

They were everywhere.

I felt anger brew in me, Foster couldn't have mentioned this little tidbit when we were in her house?

There were about six of them, I was quick to tell that they were soldiers. Their stances screamed powerful. They wore all black that I had assumed it was for their aesthetic but now I think it's because it blends them in with the night. It blends them with their shadows.

One of them stood taller than the others. More firm and demanding. The soldier had two swords on his back creating an X shape behind him. Of course it was him. It was always him.
He removed his hood from his head and smiled in my direction. "We have to stop meeting like this, darling."

"What do you want?" I snapped, most of the time I was a civil person but for some reason when he was around I didn't care, I just felt anger. I wanted him to leave me and my friends alone.

He took a step forward but Ever immediately stepped in front of me, blocking him.
"You will go nowhere near her," Ever growled, the protectiveness in his stance and the anger I saw in his eyes was unfamiliar to me. He was being completely serious. It was like a flipped switch for him sometimes, he can go from being the most carefree person to my protector in the next.

"You're ruining the fun," Raiden mocked in a fake pout, his dark eyes filled with ... with ... I didn't know. I couldn't read him and it drove me crazy. But the thing I did know was he was insane. And sick. And demented. I could sense that at least. "Sadly i'm not here for you Devara, i'm here for the girl."

That was expected, after what Foster told us I knew I was going to be number one on the Greer hitlist. Raw and painful fear filled me as I realized the situation in front of us. We were outnumbered. And there was no way we could contact any of the others. There was .... There was nothing we could do.

"You're going to have to kill me to get to her."
I turned to Ever shocked. Why the hell would he say that? I wanted to scream at him, he was such an idiot. Did he really think that Raiden wouldn't kill him? He would. I didn't know how but i knew deep down that he would and he would do it gladly.

Raiden smirked, it was equally terrifying as it was amused. "That's the spirit, fight for your girl. I do love it when they fight."

Another soldier stepped up and removed their hood revealing a girl with black curly hair, so dark filled with shadows, and black eyes with gold swirls in the middle, like honey and the night sky. Roz glared at her brother. "Would you stop playing with them and get on with it?"

"You're no fun," Raiden exclaimed and then drove a dagger into Everson's chest.

Ever dropped to the ground.