Mal looked closely at the ground, his eyes scanning for tracks of any kind for the stag. He knew what they looked like from the first time tracking so it shouldn't be too hard but the first time was difficult enough and he had less hope of finding it now. But every time he had doubt in his mind, he thought on Alina and the thought of Kirigan using his manipulative ways on her made his blood boil and the hope would come back again, determination to find the stag to end this evil.
Mal's eyes stopped at a footprint in the thin layer of snow in the shape of a hoof. He shuffled over to it, inspecting it and it's outline. It was defiantly the hoof of a deer and therefore could be the stag. They had been trekking through the woods since early morning and last place Mal saw the stag was north of Chernest. At this point, he and Baghra were only at the south of Chernest. Of course the stag would travel around and last time it had travelled with a small herd. Perhaps it was now alone.
Mal took a mental image of the track and stood up, pulling the rifle back onto his shoulder that he was carrying. Mal did wonder how he and Baghra were going to keep the stag with them once they found it and how would they stop the Grisha from taking it from them.
"I think I've found something" Mal called over his shoulder and Baghra came trudging over, cane in hand and her mouth turned upside down. Mal wondered if she ever smiled at all.
"Here, these track marks, they could be ordinary deer but it's on its own and usually they travel in herds" he said, pointing to the tracks".
"Good" Baghra said and then she stepped forward, kicking the dirt to remove the track from the earth. Mal dropped his mouth open in shock, narrowing his eyes at her.
"What are you doing" he yelled and Baghra looked at him with a hard look.
"I'm covering ourselves… do you want the Grisha to find it as well" she said and raised one brow which silenced Mal. He didn't like this… feeling like he didn't know how to track down a stag but Baghra was right in that they should make sure there were no tracks for the Grisha to follow which would lead them to the stag and themselves.
"No" he mumbled and Baghra smirked.
Oh, so she does have other emotions beside being miserable
"Let's head this way, it's probably finding a grazing area like last time" Mal ordered, taking charge of the tracking. They stomped through the thickening snow, walking deeper into the woods where the snow had fallen more and settled. The branches of trees were thick with snow and ice, icicles now forming daggers on the ends. Snowflakes fluttered from the top of trees and settles onto their heads.
Baghra wrapped herself tighter in her shawl, grumbling to herself about the cold. Mal was also starting to shiver under his Oprichniki unform but he kept a straight face, showing no fear or misery. The deep snow was making it hard to track for prints and Mal focused on the ground to spot for any sign of stag waste that would suggest it had been around this area. Mal kicked the snow, unfolding the earth below and scowered carefully. He didn't want to miss a single clue.
"Over here" he said when he found something. He knelt on the ground, his fingers brushing away more snow, freezing at the touch and Baghra came up behind him.
"What is it?" she asked and Mal picked up what looked like half eaten leaves and shoots from the trees.
"Something has defiantly passed through here, it was eating" he held up the half-eaten leaves and looked across the plane of the woods.
"Something must have scared it off otherwise it would have finished eating" Mal said quietly. And what could that something be? Could the Grisha have been here already and tried to capture it? Or was it just a predator trying to hunt the stag as well?
After a long morning of tracking, Mal and Baghra made camp to rest. The fire kept them warm as they huddled around it, Baghra taking up most of it. She defiantly did not like the cold. Mal was deep in thought as usual. he was thinking of what Baghra had said to him the first day they were tracking.
She still likes you
What did that mean? Did Alina had feeling's for Mal in a different way to their friendship. They were all they had growing up and no one could ever compare to their friendship. Mal cared for Alina so much. He'd do anything for her, just like he was now. He found the stag just to be able to see Alina at the little palace. If only he knew what it's true purpose was, he would have never took on the assignment.
Mal turned to Baghra, taking a deep breath before speaking.
"You said… Alina still likes me… what did you mean by that?" he said and Baghra stopped to look at him.
"What" she grumbled and Mal opened his mouth to speak again but Baghra sat up straight, staring forward.
"Shhhh" she hushed and silence surrounded them. Mal looked around with wide eyes, nerves building inside them. In the distance, faint voices could be heard. The Grisha were here.
"They are here, quickly now" Baghra ushered as she stood up from the log she was sat on. Mal gathered snow in his arms and threw it on the fire, instantly putting it out with a sizzle. Smoke drew into the air and Mal grabbed his rifle, running to the side where some bushes were, hiding behind them.
Baghra peeked through them, watching intensely. Mal held his rifle tightly in his hands, ready to fire if he needed to.
Eight people marched through the snow, three dressed in bright blue keftas, one being a squaller, the other being inferni. A Heartrender followed close by, holding his fingers up to look for the heartbeats of Mal and Baghra. Four Oprichniki followed close by, also holding their rifles at the ready and scowered the small clearing where Mal and Baghra had just been camping.
"Follow my lead, do not fire until I say so" Baghra gritted.
"They are going to find us" Mal hissed. Mal knew why the Heartrender was here and of course the Oprichniki were here to probably arrest them. The other Grisha must be here to take the stag.
"They will find us if you shoot them, giving us away and then we'll have no chance of getting away… do you want that" Baghra seethed and Mal huffed.
"Fine" he whispered and went back to looking at the search party. The inferni walked closer, seeing the recently put out fire.
"They've been here, can you feel their heartbeats" he called to the Heartrender who held his fingers up to search for them. The silence was deadly and Mal's heart started to quick, fear inside him that the Heartrender would certainty find him now. The Heartrender turned to face the bushes and slowly crept over.
"I can feel- "his words were cut short when suddenly darkness enveloped them. The whole clearing when pitch black and Mal couldn't see anything. The Grisha ushered to each other, calling out.
"They're here?" one shouted.
"Come with me now" Mal felt his arm being tugged and was pulled from the ground. He was still stunned from the complete darkness and he tripped up as Baghra dragged him across.
"get your rifle ready" she ordered and Mal fumble with it, finding it difficult to see what to do with the complete darkness surrounding him.
"inferni" one of the Grisha called and spark broke the silence, a bright orange light lighting up the clearing. The fire waved in his hand and showed where the inferni was stood. Mal and Baghra were stood metres away beside a tree, hiding behind it's trunk and Baghra gave Mal a shove.
"When he fires his flame, shoot him, make sure it's in the leg" she ordered and Mal gripped the rifle steadily, holding his rifle at the inferni's leg. His kefta was bulletproof so by shooting his leg it would bring him down. like Baghra said, the inferni pushed his fireball forward, sending it across the clearing to the tree and Mal, with the help of the fire light, shot the rifle and hit the inferni in the knee. he fell to the ground with a groan, clutching his knee and Mal cocked the rifle again, the bullet pinging out.
The Oprichniki cocked their rifles as well, taking aim but Baghra stepped froward, pulling up a handful of shadows and sending them to the guards pulling them into the darkness and chocking them. Mal was amazed and shocked.
Another spark cracked and fire flew towards them, hitting the tree and lighting it on fire to illuminate the whole clearing. Mal ran to safety behind another bush, falling into the snow and breathing heavily.
The Heartrender ran forward to the bush where he saw Mal run to and Mal held the rifle tightly again, eyes focused hard. The Heartrender jumped around the bush, ready to grip his heart but Mal was a second quicker and shot at him in the leg, causing him to fall as well. The Heartrender groaned but his arms were still available. Mal scrambled from the snow, shoving his boot on to the Heartrender's arm to pin him down so he couldn't use his power.
He glanced up to see the squaller wave her hands to summon the wind and looked quickly at Baghra.
"Baghra" he called and she stepped out from her hiding spot, waving her hand to shoot a barrier of shadow to counteract the blast of air. The air ricocheted and hit the squaller back, sending her across the clearing. The shadows that took the Oprichniki had fallen and they ran forward. Mal quickly cocked the rifle and shot at them. One of them was hit in the chest, falling down and screaming in pain as blood poured out from his uniform, staining the snow red.
Mal cocked it again and shot at the one closest to him, sending him down as well. One Oprichniki got close to Mal, whacking him on the head with the rifle. Mal slammed the rifle back against his side and kicked him in the stomach. In the corner of his eye he saw Baghra fighting off the other inferni while Mal fought the Oprichniki. His rifle was knocked from his hand and so Mal balled up his fist, sending a hard punch in the face to the guard, blood pouring from his nose. He punched him again in the side and felt a kick back into his shin, a groan escaping. Mal saw his rifle lying in the snow and he quickly punched the guard again before running and sliding on the ground to pick it up.
In a flash, he turned and shot the Oprichniki in the chest, killing him and as the body fell, Mal saw the Heartrender raise his hands to halt him. Mal flung himself forward, throwing himself on the Heartrender to knock his hands down and cocked his rifle again. The Heartrender gripped the end of the rifle, trying to move it away and knock it from Mal's hand but by doing so, Mal's finger slipped on the trigger and shot the Heartrender in the neck. blood splattered on Mal, the shot ringing in his ears, deafening him and Mal stared down at the lifeless body.
The Heartrender lay still, blood pouring like a waterfall out his neck and covering him in more red. His eyes were sullen and still. The snow was soaked in blood and silence fell once again through the clearing. The tree crackled and burned as the fire kept it burning and Mal took a shuddering breath. He looked up to see Baghra come out from her hiding spot and she came over to Mal, spotting the dead grisha.
"Come on, we better get going before they wake up" Baghra nodded to the unconscious Oprichniki that Mal had punched out. Mal stood up, swallowing the heard lump in the back of his throat. The battle that just took place had shaken him a little but he quickly brushed it away. He was a strong fighter. He was a solider. He had seen death before. He was certain now the Kirigan would be even more pissed now he had killed his Grisha.
Mal stepped over the dead body to retrieve one of the rifles from the Oprichniki and slung it over his shoulder before following Baghra and leaving the battle field.
Hey so I hope you like it, please leave a review and let me know what you think