Reaching Retribution(98)

“You cannot pin this on me, Zahtri. You cannot blame any of this on me. If it didn’t happen tonight, it would have happened eventually. You cannot say that all of this is surprising. You can’t tell me that you didn’t see this coming. You are responsible for all of this. You are the reason that there is a fight here. Not me.”

I’m about to push my magic out when I’m hit with an unforeseen force and am sent flying backward. Sometime during Zahtri’s taunts, I must have dropped my shield. My back slams into the trunk of a tree and I fall limply to the ground. I attempt to slow my fall, but the magic took me by surprise and I fall like a ton of bricks to the ground where I remain.

I need to get up. I need to fight.

But I can’t.





Colton


Any ideas? Liam’s voice speaks in my mind. I hear a collective gasp around me, and it takes all of my willpower not to turn around and look at Ryanne. I know something is going on. I want to see that she’s alright, but I can’t.

Do I have any ideas? There has to be something.

I’m about to reply to Liam when a man barrels into me, knocking me to the ground. The air is knocked out of me when I land on the hard grass. Rolling onto my back, I get a good look at the man that ran into me. Jedrek rolls to the side with a grimace on his face. I push myself up and move toward him.

“What did you do?” I whisper to him.

He reaches down and pulls a small dagger out of his side. Blood starts oozing out of the wound. “You…you didn’t see it….coming. It’s,” he gasps and lies on his back, trying to take deep breaths, “tainted with d-d-dark magi…” he trails off.

“Jedrek where is the antidote?” I can’t let him die like this. He just saved my life. He saved Natalie’s life earlier, and even though Ryanne doesn’t know him well, she does care about him. I have to do something.

“N-no more. Used all of…it,” he sputters. “Now, you can…stop D-d-ravin.” He rests his head on the ground. I push myself up into a seated position. His normally pale skin is turning an ashy shade of gray—the color of death. There’s literally nothing I can do to save him. Jedrek is going to die, and all I can do is watch.

“Ssssave her, Colton. Don’t l-let her go,” he says as his eyes slowly close. The blood is still pouring out of the wound on his side, but his breathing stops.

“Jedrek?” I stare at his chest, waiting for the subtle rise and fall. “Come on, don’t do this.” I hit his chest. He can’t just save me and then die. It’s not supposed to work like that. The good guys are supposed to survive.

“Larkin,” I say quietly, knowing that he’ll come.

Larkin transports in behind me. I can see the anger in his expression. I saw what happened to Kyril, and I know that Larkin and Kyril were really close. “Can you move his body?” I ask him. “I want to give him a proper burial when all of this is over.”

Without saying anything to me, Larkin bends down and touches Jedrek’s shoulder and leaves the clearing. Jedrek died saving my life. Ryanne’s father saved Natalie and me today. Who knows how many people he gave the antidote to while we were fighting—how many people he saved. I stand up and look back in Dravin’s direction. I don’t know where his body was moved to, but I can’t focus on that. Liam needs my help right now.

Turning around, I find Liam and Dravin very much concentrated on their fighting. Unsheathing my sword, I slowly move behind Dravin. It looks like Dravin has stopped the mental attacks and is just focusing on his fighting. Liam has a split lip and blood dripping down his arm. Even though he has a larger sword on his back, he is only fighting with a dagger. I see blood sliding down Dravin’s forearm and blood oozing down his throat from a cut on his cheek. Both of them are injured, but neither one is wavering. They’re not going to stop until this is finished. I can help finish it.

Liam moves forward and thrusts the dagger into Dravin’s side. Dravin grunts, but doesn’t stop fighting. Hastily removing the weapon, Liam steps back and blocks Dravin’s punch. Blood starts soaking Dravin’s shirt and spreading down his torso.

If I can move without being noticed, I may be able to end this right now. Liam’s eyes quickly move in my direction, but they continue moving across the clearing as if he doesn’t see me. He can’t make it obvious that I’m coming. My cover could be blown.

As Liam continues to fight, I move forward, little by little, keeping my eyes on Dravin, but my ears open to the crowd around me. I don’t need to get stabbed with a dagger right now. This could be what we need. Liam moves to the right and deflects Dravin’s punch. He’s fighting in a way that keeps Dravin’s back to me, giving me the outing I need. The shot I need to finally end this. I hear another scream behind me, but it’s not Ryanne’s. I’m unsure of who it actually belonged to.