Welcome to Broken, the sequel to Fallen! Here we goooo!
Prologue
-Elove
I hoisted up the bow, notching an arrow and standing up slowly, eyes not leaving the deer. It raised its head and looked around; it's wide black eyes innocent. It didn't realise the danger it was in. Yet. I took a deep breath and fired, closing my eyes a split second before it hit. A heard a small squeal and cracked open my eyes, my heart sinking. It had survived. I trudged through the snow and knelt beside it, shivering.
"Sorry, little guy," I whispered, drawing my dagger from my belt. With a swift stab, the pained light its eyes died. I sighed. You'd think I'd be used to this by now. I'd been killing animals for at least three months now. We were still running from the Resistance, and we hadn't found the jungle where the Alliance was supposedly based. Every time we reached our newest destination, my hopes would die just a little bit more when we didn't find it. I grabbed the deer and pulled it up, heaving it over my shoulder. I had gotten a lot stronger over the past three months. Sky was distant, Aleks was still badly wounded and Mitch was often too crippled by pain to help. I walked back to our small camp, a shallow cave hidden by drooping vines, and threw the deer down, staring at the crackling fire. Mitch didn't look up from where he sat crossed-legged beside it, stroking it with a stick. The horses, still tied to the trees just outside, whinnied softly.
"Snow storm's passed," Mitch said softly, and I nodded, plopping down heavily beside him and watching the fire leap freely from branch to branch. We'd been huddled up in a cave for three weeks while a terrible snow storm raged. Aleks had spent most of that time crying from pain. His original wound was even worse, and during the beginning of the snowstorm we'd been attacked by bandits, earning him some stab wounds to the torso. He wasn't in a good condition.
"How's Aleks?" I asked, and Mitch sighed, looking over at me.
"Elove, he isn't getting better. If anything, he's getting worse," he said gently, and I shook my head.
"No. You healed fine!" I said, trying to hide the desperation in my voice.
"That's because I wasn't shot and then stabbed multiple times. I was just cut up a bit," Mitch said, and I glared at him.
"I…. I don't know what to do, Mitch," I said with a sigh, letting my shoulders sag. Mitch looked hesitant.
"None of us know what to do," he said quietly. "Maybe we should go back and get him help. He needs it, Elove, or he's going to die." His words seemed final, but I shook my head.
"We can't go back, Mitch. That bridge has been burned. Plus, we don't even know where the Resistance is based now. I know we're close to the Alliance. I can feel it," I said, trying to sound confident. Mitch opened his mouth to reply when the vines were parted. I thought it was Sky returning from getting more wood, but when Mitch's eyes widened and an arrow was suddenly in his arm I knew it wasn't. I looked up in shock only to have claws close around my throat and toss me to a wall. My head cracked and I saw stars. My head slumped forward and I gasped in pain as the ringing in my ears subsided. I realised I was screaming as blood began to pool around me. I managed to look up and see our attacker before I lost consciousness.
A Hybrid.