The Man Under The Mask
Part 8
At that instant, sawyer knew he was going to die. The blade was coming down, seeking his neck and not a drop of hope loomed on the horizon. He heard Kate's fearful cry and in an isolated corner of his mind, he thought it was stupid of her to care about his worthless life.
A split of a second could change a man's life, a saying Sawyer constantly heard over the years but never believed in until this day.
In a split second, the whizzing sound of an arrow reached their ears just before it flew past and sinked in the arm of the man holding the blade to Sawyer's neck. The man hissed and the blade fell to the ground with a clang, missing Sawyer's neck by mere inches.
Then, all hell broke loose!
Still down at the same spot, Kate's eyes widened at the scene unfolding before her: a group of skin-clothed, long-haired men suddenly jumped out of nowhere and attacked with an animal-like scream.
The two sides collided, swords clashed and the scent of blood soon clung in the air.
Finally mustering up enough courage to move, Kate used her arms to raise herself slightly higher off the ground. Still in crouching position, she crawled closer to the bloody fight, her eyes anxiously seeking Sawyer.
A snickering sound behind her alerted Kate and she gasped in fright as a man, one of the riders, grabbed her by the arms and painfully yanked her to her feet; his snarl showed a set of crooked filthy teeth. He was armed, yet obviously thought Kate was of no threat since his weapon was held loosely in his hand. Kate wasted no time to act, she kicked the man hard in the leg then delivered another mighty kick to the vulnerable area between his legs, and watched with satisfaction as his snarl turned to a howl before he released her.
Before either of them could initiate the next move, Kate heard a sickening thump and watched the man's eyes widen in surprise before he fell to the ground like a rock, behind him stood Sawyer, a bloody sword in his hand.
Kate could not believe the amount of relief she felt upon seeing Sawyer alive. But soon her relief was replaced with concern as she took in the blood that covered Sawyer's face and front.
"Most of it ain't mine, Freckles," he assured her before she could voice her concern. He was out of breath and bloody but alive and Kate was very grateful for that.
Sawyer bent down and scooped the unconscious man's weapon and handed it to her. "You were supposed to run, Sweet Heart. That was the plan."
"You mean that was your plan."
He smirked.
Kate turned back at the commotion, where the two sides still fought.
"Who are these people, Sawyer? Where did they come from?"
"I sure ain't sticking around to find out, Freckles."
He grabbed her hand and and they took off again, running like the devils were chasing them.
They kept running and running until they were covered in sweat and breathing became a difficult task, only then did they stop. After taking a moment to catch their breath, Sawyer looked around, then back to Kate, their eyes met. "Well, Freckles, I guess we're officially lost now. What do you think? Funny thing, ain't it?"
She didn't find anything funny about it and she made sure Sawyer know that from the look she gave him. The trees moved and both turned, alarmed at the unexpected sound.
But nothing appeared. Kate moved closer to Sawyer, and clung to his shirt. He hissed and she immediately let go with a frown.
"You're hurt," she accused in a whisper.
"Ain't that bad, Pumpkin," Sawyer waved off her concern, but now she could see the pain clear in his face. How did she miss it?
"Let me check."
"Not now, Freckles," he brushed her hand away, "Let's move a little further.
"We're lost, Sawyer," she reasoned, "Going further will not help."
"They might be after us."
She looked at him, clearly upset by the thought, and when he started moving, she followed without another complain.
After a decent distance, they stopped again.
"Let me check your wound," Kate demanded.
Sawyer shrugged and lifted his shirt for her inspection.
A deep wound cut a deep path on his left side. It was ugly, big and worse: bleeding profusely.
Kate breathed. "You've been running around with that wound!"
"It ain't that bad."
"Yes it is, Sawyer," Kate said sharply, "It won't stop bleeding, and if we don't make it stop, you'll bleed to death."
"Got a plan, Drama Queen?" He leaned against a tree and let his eyes scan the area.
Ignoring his mocking, she took off her shirt and ripped it. Taking a piece, she approached him. She lifted his shirt carefully, and directed his other hand to hold it in place. He watched her silently, and when she touched his bare chest and shuddered, he smiled, a lopsided smile. She ignored him again and wrapped the piece around his middle tightening it around his side. He hissed in pain and groaned at her.
"Ouch!"
"Don't be a baby!" but her concern was clear as day.
They were silent for awhile.
"It needs stitches."
"What?"
"Your wound. It needs stitches."
"Well Freckles, we're kind of short on needles and threads, if you hadn't noticed."
She sighed.
Silence again.
She hesitated. "Sawyer?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think the others are okay?"
"And how in hell should I know?" he asked exasperated.
They found a place hidden by trees and leaves and decided to stay the night there since the sun was descending in the sky with rapid speed. They sat on a flat rock, side by side, their faces like their thoughts, grim and dark. Wafts of fresh air tickled their noses. The nature around them glittered with beauty as of unaware of their current predicament.
As time passed by, she drew closer to him, then closer. He said nothing, none of his smart remarks or anything like it. And when she got close enough that their shoulders touched, he put his arms around her, and she drew even closer, letting him hold her in his arms.
They could not sleep, only sat there silently watching the road ahead with unspoken dread.
Kate checked Sawyer's wound every now and then despite his protests, and when the bleeding did not stop, she began to panic.
"Sawyer, you're still bleeding." She was angry with herself for not noticing his injury from the start-for not noticing his pain-struck face or the paleness of his features.
"I kind of can't help it, Freckles."
"We've got to get back, let Jack take a look at you."
"I hate to break it to you, Soft Lips, but your prince charming might not be among the living right now."
She stared at him, both angry and upset. "How could you say something like that!"
"I'm just being realistic, Freckles."
"You're just being a jerk!"
He smiled bitterly, and they went back to being silent.
Somehow and at some point during the night, she fell asleep against his shoulder. She woke up with a start to realize it was morning and that it was indeed another day. She sat up, and panicked when she couldn't see Sawyer anywhere.
"Right here," his voice came from behind and when she looked at him, she could see that he was worse than yesterday: paler, weaker and the blood stain on his side had stretched.
"You're in a bad shape, Sawyer."
He didn't deny it. "Can you guide us back?"
For a second she looked surprised by the suggestion. She had forgotten completely that she was a good tracker. She nodded. "I'll try."
She watched as he turned around and panicked when he swayed on his feet.
She ran to him, her arms instantly going around him, supporting his weight.
Sawyer took a moment to regain his senses. "I'm okay, Kate." He tried to shrug her off, but she refused to let go of him.
"You're not okay, so just stop pretending that you were."
He sighed and let her guide him. Few steps then they froze. The reason being is that they had suddenly met a pair of vicious-yellow eyes.
"Freckles, am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?"
Kate's fingers tightened around Sawyer's waist. "If it's a huge black wolf, then yes."
They took a careful step backward, only to have the creature growl at them with adversary.
They took another step backward, and the wolf deepened his growl and took a step forward.
Sawyer cursed, and slowly, without breaking eye contact with the hostile beast, pulled Kate behind him. Kate wanted to protest, but for some reason, found herself unable to speak.
"This time when I say run, you run, hear that Freckles?"
Kate swallowed. "We're running together."
He said nothing. Together they took another step backward. This time the wolf seemed agitated, and growled even more. He approached them.
"KATE RUN!"
GGGGGGGGG
For Sawyer's puzzlement, both Kate and the wolf froze in their place.
Sawyer risked a glance backward and cursed at the sight. Another wolf, a white one this time, stood behind them staring at them intently.
Kate was breathing hard.
Sawyer swallowed, then carefully, "Kate?"
She looked up at him, her eyes wide with fear. Sawyer swallowed again, he hated that look.
"When I say run, you run, got that? Don't look back or stop for nothing."
She shook her head, refusing.
"Kate, trust me," he said steadily, looking from wolf to wolf, "I'll be fine, I just need you to do what I'm asking you to do. Just do it."
And this time he didn't wait for her confirmation. He deattached himself away from her and took a step forward.
Kate could hear her own heart beating wildly against her chest.
She looked back and there was the white one still there, but silent and watching. When Sawyer took a step forward, it moved and Kate gasped. And when Sawyer took another one, it jumped; Kate screamed.
GGGGGGGGG
