Spirits and Sorrows
TWELVE

Ruben lifted the deer carcass over his shoulder as the sun lowered in the sky, painting the sky red and gold. He called out for everyone to get ready to return to the hideout after a successful scout mission into the forest.

He, Laura, Alison, and Nathaniel had led the scout group in the forest this morning and gathered all the food, water, wood, and all other supplies they could carry. They’d originally planned to go into either Ocean Falls or Raven City for their scout mission but opted to do it in the woods.

They had to find the Iron Arrow soon and needed all the supplies they could get. They preferred to go into the territories and sneak supplies out since they were more advanced. It was how they had advanced weapons, able to get clothes, certain foods, and medical supplies. They did venture into the woods when supplies were getting low and needed to get them hastily. They hunted animals and got berries and vegetables from the woods and collected wood for fires and weapons.

They decided to gather supplies from the woods rather than territories for time necessity. After tonight the planning for finding the Iron Arrow would begin.

He looked at Laura, Alison, Nathaniel, and the fourteen other sups who’d gone on the scout mission with them. All of them were wrapping up with their tasks and getting ready to head back.

By the time they got back, Hendrix and Sebastian would start opening a portal to bring Peter back and hopefully, he would see his best friend tonight.

He turned to say something to Laura but froze. He thought he saw movement in the trees out of her peripheral vision and had the feeling something was watching him.

He reached out and grabbed Laura’s arm. She startled and looked at him with wide eyes. He gave a subtle nod in the direction of the trees. He signed with his hands in the sign language they’d created in the community there was something in the trees. An expression of terrified understanding passed over her face. She signed the message to Nathaniel and Alison and they quickly passed the message to everyone else.

Ruben saw the panic starting to form on everyone’s faces and he quickly signed to them, ‘Remain calm. Do not panic. Continue to act as though everything is fine. Calmly travel back to the entrance.’

“Alright everyone,” he said to the group in a steady, calm voice even though he was terrified on the inside. He could’ve sworn the shadows in the trees were creeping closer and closer to them. He knew something terrible was about to happen. “That’s enough for the day. Let’s head back.”

He led the group forward as he racked his mind trying to figure out what to do. He knew an ambush was about to take place and he couldn’t lead Kane’s scouts without letting them know where the hideout was but he needed to find a way for them to get back without fighting with their hands.

He made eye contact with Nathaniel and knew his friend was thinking the same thing. He started to sign to him, trying to come up with a plan, but a blood-curdling scream pierced the air.

Before he had time to react, he was knocked to the ground, the wind knocked out of his lungs. The shock had him unable to process that a griffin with gray feathers had him pinned to the ground, its talon digging painfully into his chest. It roared in his face and reared back to bite him.

He shot his hands out and grabbed the griffin’s jaws, using all of his strength to keep the beast back. He cried out as his arms trembled with effort and the griffin was getting closer and closer, getting ready to bite his face off. He tried to shift but couldn’t concentrate on shifting and keeping the griffin back at the same time.

The griffin was dangerously close and about to clamp its sharp jaws on him when it was suddenly knocked off of him. He looked up and saw that another griffin with gold feathers was attacking the gray one.

It took him a moment to realize it was Alison who’d saved him. She’d

mimicked the other griffin’s ability and shifted into one herself.

It was the first time he’d seen a shapeshifter turn into a griffin before. Shapeshifters typically only shifted into the animals they were more frequently around such as forest and domestic animals or animals they’d learned about. Not mythological animals that kept to themselves and were scarcely seen.

Alison and the griffin fought in the air and he watched them for a moment, silently thanking his sister-in-law before turning his attention back to the task at hand.

His wife was fighting another shapeshifter, fighting in their bear forms, its fur a reddish gold while Laura’s was raven black.

Nathaniel had drawn out the sword that he always carried with him and was fighting back against Kane’s army, slicing his adversaries in half at frightening speed.

Ruben grabbed a wooden stake from the ground and snuck behind a vampire that was a part of Kane’s army. He pierced the stake through the vampire’s heart. The vampire let out a pained screech before exploding into blood and guts.

He saw that they were outnumbered and they weren’t going to get out of this alive if they didn’t retreat. There were at least thirty of Kane’s army and there were only sixteen of them.

“FALL BACK!” he screamed. “FALL BACK!”

Nathaniel repeated the order and all of them ran toward the entrance which was only a few feet away. Ruben made sure Laura and Alison were near him as they ran. Laura shifted into her human form mid-run; Alison lowered herself to the ground and shifted into her human form as well and ran beside them.

Nathaniel was behind them, slicing his sword in the air and killing Kane’s army left and right. He used his magic to let thorns grow from the ground, tangling Kane’s army in a painful trap. The thorns helped slow down Kane’s army but not for long. Many of them were stuck in the labyrinth of thorns that cut at their flesh painfully but they were powering through them.

The group reached the tree and Nathaniel pressed his hand on the tree’s bark, muttering the ancient faerie spell to open the entrance. It was opening at what felt like a snail’s pace as Kane’s army kept getting closer.

“Hurry up!” Laura screeched, fear and panic written all over her face.

The army broke through and rushed toward them at the same time Nathaniel got the entrance opened. They filed in and Nathaniel sealed the entrance shut in his faerie language as the army nearly reached them.

The outside world was sealed off and they were cloaked in darkness until one of the sorceresses with them, Ally, used her magic to cast a soft light. There was a long, agonizing moment of silence as they saw who was there and who wasn’t.

The realization of how many they lost was a blow to Ruben’s heart and it took everything inside of him to retain his composure.

There’d been sixteen members in total who’d gone on this scout mission.

Now there were only seven of them.

The journey down the long, winding staircase to the community was completed in heavy silence as every processed what just happened.

Ruben’s thoughts swirled around in his head and were all full of guilt and self-loathing. He’d failed everyone today. Everyone. He nearly got his wife, sister-in-law, and friend killed as well as got nine individuals killed.

Nine individuals had been killed under his watch. He was going to have to tell nine families that their loved ones were killed and he hadn’t watched out for them like he’d sworn he would. He knew all of them and had lived beside them for four years. Nine families didn’t even have a body to bury and all they had was to write their names on the memorial wall.

He’d failed. He’d failed those nine individuals and their deaths were going to haunt them for the rest of his life.

He felt Laura watching him though he didn’t turn to look at her. If he did he’d break down then and there. He knew her gaze was filled with worry and concern. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder but he shook it off, shaking his head. He didn’t mean to be curt but he couldn’t bear it at the moment. He didn’t deserve to be comforted.

They reached the bottom and stepped out into the community. What they saw made them stop in place.

Hendrix and Sebastian had opened a portal.

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