Guardians(38)

They sniff the air and with a series of grunts they seem to agree that I’m nearby. I quickly pull back before they can spot me. There’s a small opening under a bed of earth, it’s only a few yards away. It’s big enough for me to fit into but too small for them to follow me.

Can I make it to the opening before they spot me?



I lean against the tree and listen for their footsteps. I don’t hear anything. If I’m going to try for the opening, now is the time. I decide to make a break for it on the count of three.

One…



My heart beats so fast, it’s painful.

Two…



I’m holding on to the trunk of the tree so hard my palms are bleeding.

Three…



I leap out from behind the tree and run towards the opening. I’m two feet away when a Cray blocks the opening at the last second. I turn around and head back the way I came. They take after me. I run frantically through the woods. My body is making up for having frozen on me earlier. It moves with speed I didn’t think I was capable of.

The forest goes by me in a blur. Every gust of wind seems to whisper “death is near.” I run faster. The uneven ground makes it hard to navigate and the braches mercilessly cut into my skin. More than once I nearly fall, but I each time I gain my balance and forge ahead.

I will not die here…



I’m so concerned about the beasts on the ground, I forget about the ones in the air. A Fire Swan sprays me with flames from above. I move out of the way, narrowly avoiding the bird’s wrath. But in the process, I lose my balance and hit the ground, hard.

I’m knocked out for what I think was only a few moments. When I wake up, I’m bruised and aching all over. I open my eyes and look up from the ground. There is a cluster of Cray looking down hungrily at me. There’s nowhere to run. Even if there was somewhere to run, my ankle is broken. I can’t walk let alone run.

They growl amongst each other for a few seconds and come to some kind of decision. I pray to Omnis they decide they’re not hungry, but that wasn’t the conclusion that they came to. They decided the biggest of them gets first stab—literally.

The Cray plunges his claw into my flesh. I let out a bone-chilling cry that’s unrecognizable to me. Blood gushes out of my legs like a dam that’s just been broken. The other Crays lean in to help themselves. Just as I am about to pass out from the pain, I see a bright light from the corner of my eye…

The next time I open my eyes, I’m in a cave. Everything is blurry and spinning. A voice tells me to rest. I think it’s Marcus but I can’t be sure. The darkness pulls me under again. I’m not sure how long I’ve been knocked out but when I wake again, the first person I see is Marcus. Concern and guilt are etched on his stunning face.

“Stop,” I whisper softly to him.

“Stop what?”

“Feeling guilty,” I try to smile but my face hurts.

“How are you feeling?”

“Like a lucky girl.”

“How’s that?”

“Did you see how fast I ran? I may have a chance at the next Olympics.”

“The adrenaline kicked in.”

“Whatever, next year I’m gonna try out.”

He looks back at me. He’s got this look on his face. It’s not his serious First Guardian face. It’s something else. I study him for a moment and then I understand, it’s his concerned boyfriend look. Sexy.

“Marcus, I’m fine,” I assure him. He helps me sit up and fills me in on what happened after the Cray stabbed me.

Wolf was able to distract them with a power ball while Marcus rushed me to safety. Marcus left me with Tony. Then he joined the team and they were able to fend off the Cray.

I look down at my right leg. Someone has bandaged it and fixed my ankle. Marcus tells me it was Tony who was able to heal me with Woe. I remember the side effects of Woe from when Jay got hurt. Fortunately it doesn’t have the same effect on humans.

“So, I didn’t walk around telling anyone I loved them?”

“No, it worked fine on you,” Tony replies.

I ask Marcus about his wounds and he promises it’s all been healed thanks to the Woe. Looking around the cave, I see everyone is fine. But there are two Angels I don’t see.

“Where’s Wolf and Ameana?” I ask.

“Four Crays ganged up on Wolf. He’s hurt.”

“How bad?”

“Bad. Tony set up a Cob just for him so he can rest. Ameana is in there now, trying to convince him to leave the mission and go get help.”

“He has to agree to go.”

“Ameana’s been trying but so far no luck,” Rio says.

I stand up and head outside. Marcus warns me that I am not all better and that I should rest. I don’t have time to convince him I’m okay. I have to see how bad things are with Wolf. Although the Woe worked on me, I still feel sore and ache just about everywhere. It takes me twice as long as I thought to get to the next cave.