"Intruder!" I look behind my shoulder at Torin. He looked at me with a smirk of triumph. It felt as if an anvil had dropped in my stomach. Soon all four men was in a semi circle around me.
"Shoot!" I mutter under my breath. Torin then hit his leg against my gut and my grip on him loosened. Two guards stepped up and kicked me in the stomach at the same time and I fell to my knees. The air from my lungs going out in a whoosh. Torin went to his feet before I took him down with me. "You…..knew?" I gasp out getting my breath back.
"Yes. Philippe knew the Brotherhood would try to send someone to get underlings of his inner circle. So, we came up with a plan to get whoever Altaïr sent." Torin explained smugly. The men who kneed me went behind me. They grabbed my arms and I started to struggle against their grip. They raise me up to hover above my knees and one hits my head. I grunt at the impact.
"No one is coming for ya." He said finally.
XXX Reed's POV XXX
I look up at the shouting. I crawl to the ridge and heard Torin talking. I faintly hear his explanation. It was a trap, I thought and look with a slightly horrified look on my face. I watch as they picked Lili up and hit her head. I wince for her as she looks at the ground. I rise to a crouch and get Lili's bow and arrows she left. I nock an arrow and bring the string back.
As I pull it back, more men come from the surrounding forest. I can faintly hear them talking. "...hoping…...you…...boss…...happy." I could hear Torin saying.
"Ready." I whisper to my horse. I then do the ready signal Lili used for her horse. I stand up and sight the man closest to Torin. I then release the arrow and it shots away and hit the man square in the back and he falls down. Everyone starts looking around and eventually look at me.
"There! She has help. Get him!" Torin yelled. Every man available started toward me except Torin and the two holding Lili. I sling the bow around my shoulders and jump onto my horse.
I tap my heels into Bounty's sides. "Come, Ana!" I yell back and I see Ana reluctantly following. She continuously looks back to where she last saw her master.
XXX
I rush into the clearing and Rangers and Assassins alike get out of the way. I jump off Ana's back and run to the command tent. Over the course of the night I switched between horses, glad Lili told me Ana's code phrase. "Crowley! Halt! Altaïr!" I run in and Halt, Crowley, Altaïr and Duncan all look at me. I breath heavily for a moment.
"Where's Lilith?" Gilan asked walking in.
"Trap. It was a trap. They knew you would send someone so they prepared. They had men hiding in the forest. I tried to get her but I was chased." I tell them.
"We need to rescue her!" Gilan said. He started to go back out and Halt grabbed his arm.
"Wait. We need to come up with a plan before we go off to rescue her." Halt said reasonably. Gilan nodded reluctantly. "How many men were there?"
"There were about 20 men."
"So we should be able to stop them with three Rangers." Halt said and Crowley nodded. "Gilan, Reed. You're coming with me. Will is also going to help us." With that said Halt walked out and Gilan a step behind him. I rush to catch up and see that they're talking to Will already. I walk over to them.
"Ok, lets go." Will said. We then swing up onto our horses and I look back at Ana. Will looks at her too. "What about Lili's horse?"
"Leave her here. We don't want her to run up to Lilith and not to mention if they've hurt her then she will be too weak to stay on Ana." Gilan said. He then walked his horse to her and gave Ana the hand command to stay. We then gallop away to the ruins.
XXX
We crawl to the ridge and look over it. In the distance we could see Torin pacing in front of Lili, head down in defeat. Torin suddenly hits Lili and she falls to her side, unable to break her fall. We could see her hands are together. Probably by the thumb cuffs she had on her. "What's the plan?" I asked.
"When they go to sleep for the night we go to their horses and turn them loose and then set fire to one of the tents. At the fire the horses will run and the fire will spread to the other tents. While they run around trying to settle things we'll shoot them off one at a time, and Reed," Halt looked at me, "While we do that you go get Lili."
I nod and we continue to watch the camp. Soon the sun went down and they left. I slowly followed suit and went to where I saw Lili. I hear shouting and look over to see a tent on fire and horses running amok. I crawl to Lili prone figure on the ground and shake her shoulder gently. She moans softly, her eyes flutter open slowly and looks at me. "Come on."
She smiles weakly. "I knew you would come to get me. But it took you long enough." She starts getting up but falls down and she grunts on impact. I open the chains on her wrists and the thumb cuffs. I then grab one arm and pull it around my shoulders. I pull her up and when she's leaning against me I put my other arm around her and help her to our horses.
When we reach the horses Gilan, Halt and Will seem to rise from the ground. "Are you ok?" Gilan asked. Lili gave a small nod.
"Yeah." She said weakly. Gilan nodded, he seemed not totally convinced by her statement. "What about Torin?"
"Here." Will said. He bent down and then picked something up. As he straightened up we could see he was holding an unconscious Torin. He then put Torin across his saddle and swung up. The others then swung up onto their own horses. I let go of Lili and swing up onto Bounty. I then reach down and help Lili onto Bounty's back behind me.
She then wraps her arms around me but they aren't tight. I put my left hand over her clasped ones and held them tightly. We then got our horses to go at a canter and went down the trail. I heard crossbow bolts hissing through the air. It then thunks into a tree a meter from us. "They're shooting at us!" I yell to the others.
We then set our horses to a gallop and dodge through the trail. I hear another hiss and lean to the side and have Lili lean over also. I then hear Lili gasp and her loose grip becomes more loose and I feel her slipping from my grip. I hear a thud and a moan. I look back and see Lili on the ground. "Lili!" At my shout the others stop and I also stop.
I slide off my horse and run over to Lili. The others shoot into the distance and I hear the people yelling in pain. I kneel down and see a bolt in her side and her attempts to stanch the blood flow. I pull the bolt out and then rip some cloth from Lili's cloak. I then wrap it around the wound and then pick her up. I swing up onto my horse and get him to a gallop.
I vaguely hear the other Ranger horses galloping also. We gallop through the trail back to our camp. A branch almost pushes me off Bounty and I hold Lili to my chest to keep from jostling her. We make it back to cap and I swing down with Lili in my arms. I walk over to the makeshift healer's tent and people stop what they're doing to look at me.
Once inside I gently set her on a cot and a healer comes up to us. Soon enough Lili is in a deep sleep, her body slowly healing itself.
XXX
Ok wow. This chap shouldn't have taken so long but it did. LOL! Review! I want to know if I'm doing anything wrong so tell me what I can do to fix it. Thanks! Love ya! -RK
