~x~ Chapter 67 ~x~
Once we reached deeper and deeper into the woods, Sarah seemed to be more aware of her surroundings and stopped stumbling around everywhere. Travis and Sarah appeared to work quite well as a pair. Perhaps the fact that they've probably known each other for a few years already helped with their cooperation. Either way, I was glad that she wasn't being difficult. From the way that she had spoken earlier about how it would be a given that I protect her, I was scared that she might be someone really tough to handle, but so far things seemed to be going rather well and we had already managed to obtain three stamps within half an hour. Judging by how difficult everyone made this exercise sound, I would say that getting three stamps within that time slot was normal.
We had until dinner time to try and collect all ten.
That meant we had another three hours to try and collect the other seven. But it would only get harder as the afternoon wore on. We would grow wearier from each fight against the guardians, and judging from Sarah's heavy breathing, we would need to take a short break soon.
"There's a tiny clearing just up ahead, We're going to scout and see if it's a good place to take a short rest." Dan murmured just loud enough for everyone in the team to hear.
"Judging from the map we're still a couple hundred meters away from the next closest checkpoint so we shouldn't get ambushed by guardians." Christian informed us.
"I hope the other students stay well away. I am far too tired to try and put up a fight right now." Sarah groaned as she leaned her palms on her knees.
"It's clear." Dan's voice breezed through towards us.
Travis gently nudged her and she gave a heavy sigh. She seemed to struggle a lot getting to the clearing and I frowned. It didn't make any sense that she was struggling so much. When we got to the clearing, she immediately sat down and leaned against a tree. I strode towards her and crouched down until we were eye to eye and I leaned in close so I could inspect her features more clearly since it was so dark.
"What? You're creeping me out," she grumbled.
I held the dimmed torch between my teeth and opened my bag. "Did you feed properly earlier?" I asked her bluntly, my voice muffled.
"What?"
"Did you take enough blood?"
"What does it matter?"
I gave a heavy sigh and took the torch from my mouth. "You are not usually this unfit. From what I can tell, you have surprisingly good stamina so it's unnatural for you to be this tired so soon. You don't look ill. But you do look awfully pale. So did you or did you not feed properly during lunch?"
She stared back at me defiantly for a moment longer before she conceded. "They didn't have enough donors for my blood type preference this afternoon. I require the rare blood type so there was nothing they could do but give me a blood bag."
"Why didn't you just tell the teachers? They would've let you sit out."
She gave me a stubborn stare and for a brief moment I actually liked the girl. I could recognise that gaze anywhere. The sheer refusal to give up and concede over small reasons was one that I could relate to.
"Take off your shoes." I told her.
"What?"
"Just take them off. Your feet feel uncomfortable, right? I remember there being some cream in our bags that's good for soothing the ache a little. It's not a perfect remedy but it should help until we reach our next break."
She stared at me for a moment longer before she finally took her shoes off. She pulled her feet away in shock when I reached for them and I glanced back at her with an arched brow.
"What?"
"They must be really gross by now."
"I've handled much worse I'm sure." I scoffed. "Besides, do you know how to bandage feet to offer extra support for the ankles?"
"But-"
"For the love of - Will you just stop yabbering and let me help you already." I snapped.
She shut up and simply looked away from me with what seemed to be an expression of embarrassment. She was Moroi, surely she wasn't that unaccustomed to people helping her like this. Had she never gotten injured before and had to be healed by a nurse? Whatever it was, I decided not to dwell on it and simply got to work. I'd bandaged all sorts of injuries and the like from my sporty days. It was good to know that it would be of use even now.
When I was done, I stood back up and stretched a little. From the light spread dimly around the forest thanks to the guide lights the guardians had set up around the forest, I noticed the others staring at me with unfathomable gazes and I stared back with a puzzled glance. Axel gave me a firm pat on the back and Travis seemed to stare at me with some sort of admiration.
I pulled my bottle out from the bag and took a small swig of water.
With Sarah's condition already being like this after half an hour, it would be better if we slowed our pace and took more rests. While it would be nice to complete the task and get all ten stamps within the allotted time period, it was more important to make sure that everyone came out of the exercise okay. There was no point pushing too hard if it was going to endanger her wellbeing.
"We need to rethink our strategy." I stated simply and squatted down again, this time a little bit further away from Sarah but so that I was still opposite her and opened the map in front of me.
"What's wrong with the one we agreed on at the start?" Travis frowned as he gathered around the map along with the others. I smiled gratefully at Christian as he held the torch so we could all see the map.
"With our original plan, Sarah would physically melt down within the next two checkpoints."
I noticed Sarah's face scrunch up in apology and I cut her off before she could say anything.
"No, it's not your fault. It's the academy's fault for not ensuring that they had enough blood donors to cater to all the Moroi, especially for the students since they knew this exercise would happen. Anyway, we'll make more adjustments checkpoint by checkpoint depending on your condition and we'll rest for as long as necessary." I stated.
"What the chick is trying to say is, the most important thing is for you to be able to get out of this forest safely." Axel placated.
"Don't put words in my mouth, you stupid prince." I grumbled.
"But that is what you meant."
I didn't deem it necessary to give him a response and simply went back to studying the map.
"Then we should make this our next checkpoint instead." Christian suggested, gesturing at the one around four hundred and fifty metres away. "It's a little further but the gradient of this route isn't as intense."
"Sarah, what do you think?" I asked her.
"I trust your judgements," she murmured after a few moments. "I'd like to get out of these woods on my own two feet at least."
"Then it's settled, we'll take another two minutes rest and then set off." Christian agreed.
We followed our plan and when we approached the next checkpoint where we knew guardians would be scattered close by around the pedestal where the stamp was placed, we readjusted ourselves into an offensive formation to prepare to attack any guardian that approached us. This stamp was no harder to obtain than the first three. The guardians appeared to retain a similar level of difficulty in their defence of the stamps. This meant that the toughest part of this exercise wasn't actually the fight against the guardians for the stamps but rather the pace and navigation of the woods. What would make the exercise gradually more difficult and intense would be the fatigue that would inevitably take hold as time passed.
From what I could remember, there was one stamp set at the highest point of the mountain and I estimated that the climb to that would take at least 45 minutes if not more from the nearest checkpoint to the peak stamp. The gradient of the slope leading up to the checkpoint was almost vertical regardless of the direction we took. There were still two stamp points before the mountain peak. We could re-evaluate how to tackle the top point when we reached the second highest stamp point. Assessing the currently situation, the most logical choice would be to ignore the top point completely and simply aim for the remaining five, but that was just my opinion. We would need to make a group decision nearer the time.
We got our fifth stamp within the next 45 minutes.
As we made our way further and further up the mountain, the temperature dropped a little more and I gave Sarah my extra top to ensure that she would remain warm. I was naturally a little more adverse to the cold temperatures after lots of training in the snowy mountains a few years back. More than just the temperature though, I could feel the ground becoming increasingly unsteady and rocky. I noticed the trickles of water reflecting the scattered electronic lights set up around the mountain which provided the little navigating light we had. After another fifteen minutes as we approached the sixth stamp point the sky above us boomed with thunder. Moments later large rain droplets began to break through the tree layers and we all put on our waterproofs.
Anxiety rose as I noticed how slippery the ground was becoming and Sarah was finding it almost impossible to climb the mountain. As we approached our sixth intended stamp point, a siren echoed from the start point across the whole mountain. The signal meant that the exercise was to be paused temporarily and that none of us were to move while the guardians assessed the danger. We found the nearest rock face and rested in front of it. Hopefully it would act as a shield in the case of a landslide. The rock jutted outwards in an almost protective manner and I could only hope that it was firmly embedded into the mountain in a way that it wouldn't possibly budge.
The six of us huddled close and waited for the next signal which would determine whether or not the exercise was to be continued or stopped. Soon enough, the signal echoed and Sarah sighed in relief as the emergency signal sounded. I couldn't blame her. In this weather and state, I didn't want to carry on the exercise any more than she did regardless of my competitive streak. The ground looked more and more unstable as rain water weakened the soil.
"Let's get these torches attached to our heads so we can use both hands. Does everyone still have the headsets?" I asked as I fished mine out of my bag.
Everyone else followed suit and we switched the torches to its highest setting. Since we no longer had to navigate the woods undetected anymore we didn't have to worry about our lights being seen. In fact, it would be even better if our lights were seen. Then we could have some help making sure that Sarah could make it off this slippery mountain safely.
As we got ourselves ready to make our way back to the exit of the forest, I couldn't shake the sense of unease that was rushing through me. It wasn't just the rain and the uneven ground that made me anxious. Something was wrong. I couldn't work out what was making me feel this way but something about our current situation didn't sit well with me.
It struck me when we began making our way down the mountain.
Nathan. Axel's guardian.
He should have emerged by now. He'd made himself scarce during the course of this exercise in order to maintain the fairness of the task. But now that it had been called off Nathan should have come forward immediately to take Axel back down the mountain. So where the heck was he?
"Axel, do you have a phone?" I called out to him.
"Yeah, why?"
"I need you to call Nathan. Shouldn't he be here?"
From the corner of my eye I noticed the realisation dawn on him and he took out his phone to make the call. My sense of unease deepened when it was clear that Nathan wasn't picking up.
"Guys, I think I hear his phone." Christian called out, shifting direction to head towards where the sound of the ringtone was coming from.
What we saw next made my blood run cold.
We found Nathan with what looked like a dart in his neck.
Sarah screamed and Travis immediately tried to calm her down but it was no use. Sarah was rapidly becoming hysterical. To be honest, I couldn't really blame her either. Nathan was meant to be there as a sign of reassurance that nothing terrible would happen to us. Now, with him incapacitated, this meant that there was someone out there who meant us harm.
I covered her mouth with my hands and told her to take deep steady breaths.
"I need you to stop screaming, Sarah. Cry all you want but stop screaming. We don't know who did this and we don't know where they are. Your screaming is only going to alert the bad guys the body's been found. Now, I'm going to take my hands away. Are you going to stop screaming?"
She nodded.
"Good." I took my hands away and headed over to Nathan's unmoving body.
Steeling myself, I pushed the questions I had to one side. Now wasn't the time to let my mind wander away. I had to focus. I checked for his pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when I felt it. It was weak, but it was there nonetheless. I got Axel to help me move him into a sitting position against a tree.
As my hands went through the pockets of his jacket trying to find any weapon or form of communication I could find, I cast my mind back to when I was a child. Back when my parents were still alive, I had been taught some emergency manoeuvres in case of non-Strigoi related attacks. Considering the dart in Nathan's neck, this was likely to be non-Strigoi related.
Since I was just a child back then, I wasn't taught anything that wasn't immensely basic, I soon realised. The main thing I remembered was to leave breadcrumbs behind if it was a kidnapping. At that precise moment, I hadn't the faintest clue what this situation was. Was it an assassination? A kidnapping?
"Dan and Axel, since you two are royals, were you ever taught what to do in cases of emergencies like this?"
I grabbed Nathan's phone and messaged Joe: "S.O.S. Track this phone if possible. K." in bold. I tucked the phone back into Nathan's pocket. This was the only way we would be able to locate Nathan's body again if anything happened.
"They mainly tell us not to fight back if there are no other guardians present and wait for rescue." Dan frowned.
"They tell you to be sitting ducks?" I questioned but a part of me remembered that.
"Waiting is the better option otherwise we might end up getting hurt in the crossfire." Axel sighed.
"We need to split up." Dan stated.
I turned to look at him like he had suddenly sprouted an extra head. It wasn't just me. The others had the exact same expression on their faces. Except for Axel. I thought about his words more carefully. Dan wasn't stupid. There had to be a reason for his comment. Then it hit me.
They were told to do this to protect other students in situations like these.
In the case of an ambiguous and unknown threat, they had to risk themselves because they were almost guaranteed to remain alive. Other students didn't have such an assurance. Most likely, other students would be killed on the spot to avoid a messy kidnapping. In most kidnapping cases, people other than the target or targets were incapacitated using whatever means the kidnappers preferred.
"Christian, Tristan. Take Sarah and go. Make sure you three stay on the flattest and safest route, alright? I'm going with Dan and Axel on the shortest and steepest route. If we bump into any guardians, we'll send them over your way."
"Christian should go with you guys." Sarah piped up. "I'll be fine with just Travis. In case something does happen you should have another dhampir on your side."
"More importantly, it'd be good to have me there and stop you from making stupidly rash decisions." Christian added.
I wanted to argue with him but he did have a point. If it was up to me, I would most likely break any protocol the royals were taught and try my best to keep them safe regardless of my own safety. Christian's presence would help keep my mind rational.
"Then it's settled. You two stay safe and stick to the trees. That way, even if you slip you'll have something to hold on to." I told them. "See you back at the resort."
"And if we bump into the guardians first we'll send them your way." Travis nodded.
I watched as Travis and Sarah made their way along the flattest and safest route down the mountain. When they and the light from their torches disappeared from sight, I went back to patting Nathan down for anything that might help us get out of this alive.
"Since it's like this, the best strategy would be to split up and stay in our assigned pairs." Dan suggested. "These grounds are meant to be safe and heavily guarded. I don't know what happened to Nathan but I can't imagine there being too many attackers out there."
"Dan's right. If there aren't many of them out there, they won't split up to try and get us both. One of us is all they would usually need if this is a kidnapping." Axel agreed.
"Fine. Here's another communication device, see if you can contact the guardians while you guys run." I threw the black object at Christian.
"I actually feel sorry about this but of course we're going to have to leave Nathan behind." Axel sighed.
"It's fine. He's going to be shocked when he wakes up but at least he won't be dead this way. Clearly they want to avoid murdering the guardians left right and centre so he'll be okay." I scoffed. "So long as he's breathing, that's more than enough for now. How are you on stamina, Axel?"
"I'm doing fine. Why?"
"Then we're going to take the longer route. If my memory's right, there is essentially a main road running all around the foot of the mountain, no?"
"Let me guess, we're going to take that route while Dan and his guard run the shorter route directly back down to the first check point at the main entrance."
"Right in one, smartie pants." I grinned cheekily. "Think of this as a lovely sweat inducing exercise you get to do with me."
"I can think of a dozen other types of sweat inducing activities I'd much rather do with and to you," he scoffed and rolled his eyes. "But fine, let's go. Stay safe, cousin. I mean it."
"You too, Axel. Try not to drive her insane with your flirting."
"You really do know how to attract the forward ones, don't you?" Christian grinned in amusement as he stared at me.
"I don't do it on purpose you know." I grumbled. "Be safe. Don't try to be clever. I want you two to be fast but be sensible about the path you take, okay?"
"Understood," the two of them chimed.
"Alright, does anyone object to me setting off a flare here? If it attracts the enemy, good it might give us more of a chance of missing them. If it attracts the guardians, even better then they'll know instantly that something's gone wrong."
The three of them shook their heads and we got ready to run. I set off Nathan's flare gun. As soon as it was in the sky I tucked the gun tightly into the back of my trousers. It might be empty but it would serve as a weapon at least for me to hit people with. We all stared at each other for a moment before taking off in our respective directions towards the foot of the mountain.
Following standard procedure, I ran just a little behind Axel. That way he couldn't be silently snatched away without my knowing. The ground was far too wet and slippery for us to be running but we didn't have much of a choice. They had to be protected and right now the best way to do that was to get them to other guardians as soon as possible. Not to mention, since they seemed to be using tranquilizer darts, they definitely couldn't afford to shoot at us while we were running so fast. If they hit us while we were moving this fast downhill, they risked fatally injuring their asset.
When we finally reached the foot of the mountain where the road was, we paused and debated what the best strategy would be. If we stayed in the shadows along the forest edge, we would have cover. If we were on the road, however, we could run much faster. Either option was a valid reason. Eventually, we agreed that it would be fastest and if we ran along the forest edge on the main road since that would still offer us at least some protection from a long range weapon.
I was startled when I felt something hit me and knocked the wind from my lungs. Since it came at me from the front, it threw me backwards and sent me skidding along the road.
"Kylie!" Axel yelled and dashed over. "Are you alright?"
"I knew this was too good to be true… it was too easy." I hissed as I got up as fast as I could and glanced around us.
I cursed as fuzzy figures emerged from behind the trees. Since it was raining so much it was tough to see clearly. But through the rain and the dim light I managed to count four opponents in total. Then again, there might be more hidden in the woods. I really hoped that wasn't the case though… Our chance of getting out of this just fine was low enough as it was.
"It was quite difficult to find you. You two run awfully fast. It's a shame that you were smart enough to run separately but at least we have one of you. You'll fetch a high price for us, Prince Zeklos."
"Couldn't you guys have found a better paying job than becoming hired guns?" I hissed.
"You would be surprised." I couldn't see clearly enough but since he spoke first and answered my question, he was mostly likely the one leading this operation. "If you ever get bored of having to protect those arrogant fools without good reason you're very welcome to join our side, Miss Valentine."
Shock coursed through me.
How the hell did they know my name?
"Oh we have heard quite a lot about you, Miss Valentine. You could become quite the asset to our line of work."
"Thanks but kidnapping royalty for ransom isn't something I'd consider as a career path." I scoffed.
I had to guess that the Moroi in front of us was the air specialist who knocked the wind out of me. I had a useless flare gun and a rope I could use as a weapon. Four was potentially out of my capabilities if all of them were armed with tranquilizers. I might have good reflexes but dodging bullets was one thing I had never had to try.
I had to hope that since I could hardly see clearly in this rain it was the same for our attackers too. Being in this rain would mean they probably wouldn't be able to take a clear shot at us. The most dangerous attacker was the Moroi. Dhampir I could handle just fine but Moroi who could manipulate their elements well was out of my skills range.
When we got out of this, I was going to have to take up Drew's offer on training with elements.
So far, it was mainly a priority to fight against dhampir and Strigoi. Us dhampir weren't trained to fight against Moroi at all. If bad organisations had a significant number of Moroi under their employment then this was perhaps something that would need to be introduced to our training.
"It's me that you want. Taking her will only cause you trouble." Axel stated firmly and stood protectively in front of me.
This was ridiculous, I was the one who was meant to protect him not the other way around.
"Don't be ridiculous, they're not taking you anywhere." I grumbled.
"Quite the contrary, you'll both be coming with us."
When the three began to close in on us, I shifted my stance and decided to risk it. Four against two wasn't such a terrible fight. The odds could swing in our favour if I managed to knock at least two of them out quickly enough. They seemed to want the both of us alive which was definitely in our favour.
When one of them was close enough I took my chance. I threw the empty flare gun at the one within throwing range as hard as I could hoping to hit them in the face. I didn't risk turning my attention and checking. Instead, I threw myself at another attacker and found his pressure points before he could react. Within moments, he fell limp.
I heard grunts and groans as Axel held his ground. Spinning around I tackled the one he was grappling with and we rolled around, each of us trying to get the upper hand. If it wasn't for the rain, I probably could have done better, but the wet clothes and heavy rain falling into my eyes made it too hard to focus.
I decided to keep my eyes closed and focused with my other senses instead since trying to keep my eyes open wasn't doing me any good. Eventually I got a hard hit in and finally managed to pin her down. Thinking fast, I attacked her pressure points and she stopped struggling. Opening my eyes again I saw there were only two figures left standing. It was Axel and the Moroi left. Axel must have taken down the other dhampir.
Anxiety rose when I noticed something. I couldn't see it clearly, but I could vaguely make out the barrier hinting at the edge of the road. If they carried on fighting the way they were, both of them were going to fall off the cliff. In this rain, the sea was no doubt choppy. With the waves crashing against the rock face the way I imagined it must have done, no one could possible survive falling into the sea.
"Axel! Stop! You're going too far!" I screamed, rushing over to them.
I watched with horror as one figure punched the other and he tumbled over the barrier. As he did so, his arm whipped out and latched onto Axel's. I barely made it in time to grab onto Axel's waterproof jacket. Trying my best to wedge myself against the barrier, I clung onto Axel.
"Don't let go, Axel. Whatever you do, don't let go!" I yelled.
"Kylie, let me go. You can't hold the both of us," he hollered.
"Don't you dare give up! I won't let you. We still have those songs to get through, remember?"
Thinking fast, I grabbed the rope from my pocket with my other hand and tried to tie our hands together as best as I could. Dismay sunk in when it didn't work. The rain was falling too hard and it was impossible to tie a decent knot with just one hand. I had to do something otherwise he was going to die… There had to be something that I could do!
Then it hit me.
It was a really big risk.
One wrong move could kill all three of us.
But if it worked. It could save us.
I had to at least try.
Drawing a breath, I tried to calm myself. Power coursed through me as I reached out gently with my senses. I tried to reach for the earth element, to use the vines along the cliff face to tie our hands together. That would buy us a little bit of time at least so that we could think of another way to pull him up. Shock coiled through me when I felt the weight lessen. The other Moroi was no longer holding onto Axel. I wasn't sure what happened, whether he finally lost his grip, or he simply couldn't hold on any longer. Someone just fell to their death but I didn't have the time to dwell on that too much. A part of me was glad that he had let go. This meant that it would be easier to support Axel. But another part of me was angry for thinking that way.
Someone just lost their life.
I shouldn't have been thinking like that. If I had been in the outside world I probably never would have been put in this situation. If I had been out there I wouldn't have had such little amount of time to mourn the death of another, regardless of whether or not they were an enemy.
But unfortunately, it was either him, or us.
I chose us.
Focusing more intently, I felt the magic rolling through me. Thanks to the torch strapped to my head, I could see what I was doing. I focused on the thickest vines I saw and willed them to twist together to form a stronger rope. Surprise, confusion and disbelief was evident on his face. He couldn't believe his eyes. To be honest, I couldn't believe my eyes. I had never had to control something like this before. It was a miracle for it to be working as well as it did.
I tried to envisage the kind of thing you might see in films. I tried to recall how a climbable wall of vines looked like and worked on that. That way, he would have a safe way to climb up. When it was done, he realised what he had to do. Axel began to climb up and I grabbed onto the back of his waterproof as he did until I could reach his belt. When I felt the leather strap of his trousers, I held on as hard as I could and hoisted him up with one forceful pull.
The both of us tumbled over the barrier back onto the road and I felt my heart pound. My ear drums were pounding, ringing, hurting. It was naive to think that doing something like that wouldn't have any negative effects. I closed my eyes and started counting. I needed something to focus on, something to ground me to prevent my power from going out of control.
I could feel the power of it simmering, trying to burst forth.
Footsteps rushed towards us. There seemed to be quite a few people coming toward us. First, tension rose again, thinking that it was more attackers. When I heard a familiar voice though, my nerves calmed a little.
"Who's there?" Joe yelled. "If you're a student, call out your name!"
"Axel Zeklos and the little miss prodigy!" Axel yelled back.
I heard Crispin barking out orders. I knew that they were close by and yet somehow their voices sounded really far away. Slowly things slipped away until I could hear nothing and darkness took over.