Page 66 of Forgotten Fate

He held it to my throat. “One more fucking move like that, and I’ll kill you with your own knife, you hear me?”

I responded by spitting in his face. That maybe wasn’t the best move, because Vick jabbed the blunt end of my knife into my temple, and my body went limp yet again. I wasn’t completely unconscious, but almost there. I felt him grab my feet and tie them to the base of the tree. I tried to fight it, but my body wasn’t connecting with my thoughts as darkness began to pull me under.

When he was finished, he stood in front of me, his black teeth peering at me through his wicked grin. With his uninjured arm, he began using my knife to cut open my blouse. I didn’t have much left in me physically, but I wasn’t going to give up.

With his face right in front of mine, I used all of my remaining energy to headbutt him square in his crooked nose. Pain shot through the wound in my head as Vick jumped back, shrieking and dropping my knife. He cupped his nose in his hands as blood gushed from one of his nostrils and spilled through his fingers. “You fuckingbitch!” he shrieked.

He stepped forward and grabbed me by the throat, getting his own blood all over me. My head throbbed from the impact with his nose,and my eyes began to roll back as he blocked my airway with his grasp. I felt myself shifting into unconsciousness again, my lungs craving air. I wasn’t sure I would ever wake up, thinking Vick was about to kill me with his bare hands. Or if he didn’t kill me, would I wake up after he had his way with me? I wasn’t sure which was worse. And in that moment, I had never felt so scared.

Seconds from blacking out, one last thought came to mind. Possibly the last thing I would think of before I died.

Elias, I silently begged.Elias, please help me.

It was a desperate, useless plea.

As Vick threw curse words at me and squeezed his slippery, bloody hand around my neck, a loud howl thundered through the trees, causing birds to fly off in every direction.

“What the fuck was that?” Vick muttered to himself, and he let go of me. Just then, we both heard blood curdling screams coming from the forest. It sounded like Ripp. His screams were masked by the sounds of growling and snarling, like a predator ripping apart its prey.

“Oh gods!” we heard Remi shout in the distance. “No, no, no! Help me, Vick!”

I faded in and out of consciousness, trying to hold on and decipher what was going on. My vision darkened around the outside, and a haze of blurriness blocked everything else.

“What the fuck?” Vick spat again. He bent down and grabbed my knife from the ground and started backing away from the noises. Then more bone-chilling screams interrupted, this time from Remi.

I tried to blink the blurriness from my vision but it only got worse. Then my ears began ringing as the sounds around me became muffled. The figure of Vick was now just a blob, and I could barely make out his distorted silhouette running in the opposite direction of his friends’ screams, like the coward he was.

But he wouldn’t make it far. I closed my eyes before the sounds of his muffled shrieks made me reopen them, and I saw another dark figure at least three times his size jump on top of him. His screams continued, and I thought I heard a yelping sound. Then within seconds, the screaming stopped.

My eyes fluttered as I tried everything in my power not to go unconscious. It seemed Vick and his crew were torn to shreds by a giant beast, and I was next. The large black blob got bigger and bigger as it headed towards me. My heart pounded in my ears, the only sound I could hear as I fought for consciousness. Through my distorted vision, I briefly made out two glowing yellow eyes, and a startled breath caught in my throat. I blinked a few times in quick succession, then watched as the blob transformed from a giant black mass to a humanoid shape.

“Aura!”

The sound was so muffled, so muted, but I knew his voice anywhere.

Elias.

“Gods, what have they done to you?”

I squeezed my eyes shut and reopened them, the blurry haze subsiding for just a moment. I saw Elias standing in front of me, cupping my face in his hands.

He then quickly bent down, and I felt the rope fall off my feet. Then I watched him reach up, and I felt the tension of the rope around my wrists go limp. Elias caught me in his arms before I could crash to the ground.

“I’m sorry, Aura. I’m so sorry,” he said as he cradled me in his arms. He reached up and gently brushed my hair out of my face. “I’m so sorry,” he repeated, his voice fading. Then, everything went black.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Ifound myself shifting in and out of reality as consciousness came in short waves. I could feel myself being cradled in warm, strong arms as Elias ran through the forest. I knew he was running because I saw trees blurring past us at intense speeds. But why was he running? Was there still a threat?

He was fast. Unnaturally fast. And yet he wasn’t breathing heavily or showing any signs of fatigue. Perhaps hewaswalking and it only felt like we were flying through the forest because I was incredibly dizzy. Before I could consider it further, I went unconscious again.

When I awoke, I found myself sitting on the ground with my back against a tree. The sun was just starting to peek through the forest canopy above. It was dawn. When I was at the camp with the bandits, it was nearing dusk. Had Elias run through the entire night with me in his arms, or was that another weird dream caused by my head injury?

I shifted slightly, noting that there was a small, folded blanket against my back, creating a cushion between me and the tree. Another blanket was draped over my lower half. My blouse was drenched in blood, and the rip down the middle made by Vick revealed the edges of my breasts, also covered in blood.

I heard a noise from my right and quickly turned to find Elias rummaging through his pack. The quick movement of my head created a wave of intense pain, and I finally noticed how my head was absolutely splitting. I groaned slightly.

Elias heard me and immediately turned to find me awake. “Aura,” he spoke my name gently. I looked at him and found grief hidden behind his eyes.