Ark Kingdom: The Magic Within (Bellarke)

Chapter 3

Thanks for all of the votes so far. I hope you enjoy this next part. If you have any ideas like powers for certain characters I'd love to hear them. 

        We stop a couple feet away from Octavia. I can see her hair above the crowd. All of our people are surrounding her and they are cheering. Octavia must be standing on a rock for me to be able to see her. Bellamy drops me to the ground. Luckily I catch myself as he pushes his way through the mob.

I hurry after him. He hasn’t made it very far yet. A boy makes the mistake to shove Bellamy back when he tries to get past him. Bellamy pulls his arm back and punches him square in the jaw. The boy squeals as he grabs his face. After that they all part to let us through. My heart sinks when I see what they are cheering about.

Wells is in the middle with a boy about his size swinging a dagger at him. Wells stubbles and falls on his backside because he can’t stand well on his hurt ankle. He catches his weight with one arm while the other goes up to block the boy’s next jab.

“Stop!” I yell, but because of the cheering only Bellamy can hear me or he’s the only one who cares.

“Murphy! Stop! Atom help him up!” His voice booms over the cheering.

“Thank you.” I tell Bellamy as I step around him to help Wells.

“Wait.” He puts his arm out stopping me. “It has to be a fair fight.”

With that he leans down and pulls out a small dagger from his boot. Without looking up he pitches it at Wells. Wells catches it just as the blade is a mere inch from his right eye. He pushes away from Atom after thanking him and moves into a fight stance. This is the first time I’ve seen him ready to fight and it wasn’t just for fun or training.

“Are you crazy? You almost just killed him yourself!” I fight against Bellamy’s hold on my arm. His glove starts to rub at the sensitive flesh of my inner arm. I stop struggling.

“We aren’t in the Kingdom anymore. If he wants to be the prince he has to prove himself.” Bellamy says so only I can hear him.

“Not right now. He’s hurt already.” Finn is standing on the other side of me.

Murphy looks at Wells. “You’re no prince of mine.” He spits at his feet and leaps toward him.

I struggle harder against Bellamy’s hold. “Don’t let him do this.” I plead with him.

Bellamy doesn’t respond. I kick at him and he just pulls me closer so that I can’t put any force behind my hits. I look at his face and it is completely unreadable. His features are harsh and I can see that he is much more powerful than I thought at first.

I look back at the two boys who are fighting. Murphy has a cut on his left arm and Wells’ limp is more severe. Murphy jumps at Wells again and slices his dagger towards his right arm. Wells dodges the blow while simultaneously kicking out. His foot lands on Murphy’s ribcage causing him to wobble. Murphy uses the momentum to through his arm out. His fist connects with Wells’ cheek.

When he pulls back there is a growing red line on Wells’ cheek. Wells ducks out of the way of the next attack and comes up with his fist ready. It slams into Murphy’s nose. The crack echoes off of the surrounding rubble. The group cheers so loudly at the sight of blood gushing from Murphy’s nose that I have to cover my ears.  

Murphy screams as he throws his dagger. Wells doesn’t move out of the way fast enough. The dagger lands in his side. I’m just thankful that he moved enough that it didn’t land in his chest. Blood starts to ooze out around the knife. Murphy grabs the hilt of the dagger and twists it. Wells’ groans as he tries to fend him off.

I shove Bellamy’s arm off of me with strength I never knew I had and rush towards Wells. Bellamy hugs me from behind to hold me back.

“Let me go!”

“No, you have to let him do this.” He sounds almost sad.

“No, he’ll kill him.” I can feel tears welling in my eyes.

“You should have more faith in your prince.” He says and I hear a rumble. Just then the rock Murphy is standing on crumples causing him to fall backward. Wells uses the opening to pull the blade from his side and jump down on Murphy. He puts the blade to Murphy’s throat. His own blood is dripping onto the other boy’s neck.

“I will not kill you. This is over.” Wells drops the knife and gets back up. His hands immediately go to the wound on his side.

Bellamy drops his hold and I run to Wells. I pull him up from the ground onto the flatter surface of a table like boulder. I help him lie down and pull his hands away from the wound. Blood is already pooling underneath him.

“Enough!” Bellamy’s voice quiets the entire group. I look to see Murphy holding the dagger about two meters away from us. Murphy scowls at Bellamy, drops the blade, and walks away.

“Okay, this is going to hurt.” I say to Wells as I press my hands to his side.

My hands feel warm as I sense the damage that has been caused. Luckily the blade missed all of his vital organs. It will be a lot easier to heal this way. I feel someone come up behind me but keep my focus on my once best friend. I feel myself pulled into the past.

Wells and I are jousting. He is on a white horse and I am on a grey one. My dad drops the flag and we race towards each other. We have sticks like they use in real competitions. It is heavy but feels good cradled in my arm. Our fathers and my mother are on the side now cheering us both on. Wells has an enormous smile on his face that matches my own.

I was so happy, so innocent back then. That was the day before I was cursed. The day before my father told me the truth about our kingdom.

“You healed him just like me.” Finn is breathing in my ear. He’s speaking so quietly that I can barely hear him. “I knew it.”

“Yes, I’m a monster.” I can feel the darkness in the back of my mind struggling to break free. I bite my lip until I taste the metallic blood. This is enough to pull me out of the spell that tries to consume me.

“You’re not the only one.” Finn says and I feel a warmth coming from him like what I feel when I’m healing.

“We need to keep moving! Get in groups. You will not go off alone.” Bellamy calls out. He and Octavia come over to us.

“Princess let’s get you into some better clothes. I’m not going to carry you the whole way.” He says to me. I can see a smile play at his lips for a second before his face is blank again.

“I don’t have anything else.”

“I do. Come with me. You, get started. Watch Octavia. If anything happens to her you’ll answer to me. Got it?” He says to the small group still with us. Jasper and Monty share a look before shrugging their shoulders. Atom helps Wells to his feet and they all start off.

I follow Bellamy.