*** This story contains some mild language, suspense, romance, and some frightening images and situations—13 and older, please.
** Scabbard: a sheath used for holding a sword
* 4/16/09 – new version, 150 words added for continuity.
In the Grip of Twilight
By:
Olivia Tannis Moore
Chapter Forty Seven:
Week One, Night Two
Attack!
Demetri drew a long, silver sword from the leather scabbard at his hip. Get behind me! And try to keep up…
I gazed back over my shoulder thinking maybe it would be better to go back that way—perhaps the other pair had given up… But Demetri seemed to know what I was thinking and shook his head. There's no point in backtracking. Forward is our only option. The tunnel opens up ahead and we have to beat them to it.
Then we were running toward the Lycans…Demetri urging me on, faster, faster, as I tried my best not to think of what I was running toward, the long rip in my jeans a constant reminder.
The tunnel gradually became larger until we arrived at the portion of the passageway that Demetri had spoken of. The ceiling here was domed and perhaps ten or twelve feet high, the width a good twenty-five feet. After the confining tunnel we'd just come from, I could see why Demetri sought this area of the tunnels to make a stand.
We made it there only seconds before two Lycans came into sight. They slowed to a wary pace, fixing us with their orange eyes, their snouts wrinkled and snarling. One of the Lycans was almost completely black except for a streak of gray down its chest. The other looked like the large gray Lycan we'd outrun in the tunnel before. Both were intimidating as they stood upright within the higher ceiling, easily a foot or two taller than Demetri.
Demetri stepped back, driving me back to the wall of the passageway; he held his arms out to his side, the silver sword protectively before me. Then he goaded them, saying loudly, "Come meet your death, Wolves!"
My heart leapt in my chest when Demetri didn't wait for the pair to come to him, but instead vaulted into the center of the passageway. He moved like a wraith as he confronted them. The whirl of his silver blade was impossible to focus upon even with my improved sight.
The Lycans were not slow-moving creatures themselves. I instinctively shouted a warning when the darker one leapt over Demetri's head, its long claws coming within inches of his throat. But Demetri crouched and with a flick of his wrist slashed the Lycan's shoulder with his blade. It stumbled as it landed, bellowing with rage. The cut along its shoulder sizzled and wafts of smoke rose into the air as if its skin were burning.
And then I looked on in horror as the two Lycans seemed to coordinate their attack, rushing Demetri from both front and back.
I shouted again, not knowing if Demetri saw or heard the lumbering Lycan at his back. My hands curled into tight fists as I wished desperately for my own sword. It was excruciating to stand by and watch as the two converged on Demetri. And that's when suddenly, and inexplicably, I was running forward to confront them…to divert their attention—I didn't know what I intended to do. It was rash and impulsive.
And I knew almost instantly it was the wrong thing to do when Demetri turned his head from their attack and shouted "Bella…No!"
I froze then, looking on from just a few feet as both Lycans leapt upon him, taking him to the ground. His sword clanged to the floor from his open grasp. Bare-handed, he wrestled with the beasts, trying to keep their deadly jaws from his throat. Their claws ripped at his chest and torso in frenzy.
I grabbed for the sword on the ground, but the darker Lycan threw its muscular arm out and knocked me across the floor, causing the sword to slide further away, losing precious time. I crawled to where it came to rest and picked it up.
Demetri was still fighting them off, trying to hold the gray Lycan's head in the crook of his arm as the darker one bit into his shoulder. His face was a mask of exertion, of sheer will-power. The black and red uniform was in tatters; deep gorges in his flesh gaped open where the Lycans' claws had gashed and ripped. And the same thought pounded in my mind over and over as each new wound appeared on his exposed skin…No no no!
The ferocity of their snarls and snapping teeth was deafening to my ears as I strode behind the dark Lycan with his face embedded in Demetri's shoulder and neck.
I closed my eyes and swung the sword with all my might.
***
(Note: I'm not exactly happy with this chapter, but time ran out on me. I'll probably change some things this week. Also, on another note, if the cliffhangers bother you…you can always come back after a chapter or two, and read through it.
Thanks for reading. OTM)