The Fall Of Snow: Guard Your Heart

19. Nineteen

Nineteen

To The Hilt

H uck shoulders open the back door of the cabin and the warriors are already rushing around the room, strapping their armor and weapons on in silence as the sirens continue to blare. No doubt everyone in the camp is now awake and getting ready for battle. I look around the room at the warriors suiting up to defend what's theirs, and I have the overwhelming urge to join them. Maybe this is how Whip felt when Coy took her in.

Huck runs to the front of the cabin where their weapons are stored and slings his bow onto his back. I enter the kitchen and tie my hair back, the locks barely making it into the bunch at the back of my head.

"What are you doing?" Huck asks, his voice frenzied as he strides towards me.

"I'm getting ready."

"The hell you are." He grabs me by the shoulders and pushes me into the closet that I once occupied for so many nights. Does he actually believe I am going to hide out in here?

"Stay here until all is clear. One of us will come get you when it's safe." A sheen of sweat has gathered along Huck's forehead as I debate whether to argue with him or just punch him for his audacity. He is not my keeper.

But a part of me hesitates when I see the look in his eyes. It is genuine fear. Fear for his brothers in arms—and then it hits me.

People are going to die tonight if they haven't already. I can already hear the warriors leave the cabin, their boots a shuffle of movement as the sound dissipates to nothing but muffled chaos outside the cabin. A fire erupts somewhere outside, and I know another cabin has gone up in flames. The sounds are deafening. My mind drifts to Coy, Terran, and Archer. And all of the warriors who are already in danger by now.

"No. I want to come. I can help." I grab his hands on my shoulders and squeeze as if my need to come along will transfer through touch alone.

"Snow, you can't. This is serious, and you aren't trained for this kind of battle." Before I can retaliate, he continues.

"I know you've defended yourself before and I know you want to help, but this is bigger than you. This is bigger than all of us." My face falls in surrender at his words. I hate that he's right. I hate that I can do nothing but sit here and wait. Just hide while others defend our land.

The front door of the cabin bursts open. Huck pushes me further into the closet, walking in behind me before closing us both inside. We stand there in silence, my chest against his back, as we listen to the sound of angry male voices and boots stomping into our home. Heat radiates from him and I think he might set on fire. The closet is black save for the small light creeping through the slats of the door. Huck shields me from the door and I can't seem to see anything through the thin slats behind his hulking frame. I hear the crash of glass to the floor and from the sound of it, I’d guess someone just knocked over the lamp near the fireplace.

"Room is clear." I hear a male voice shout with an accent from overseas. They must have come by ship from the island of Kailani. How did they get here undetected? How did they get past our night patrol?

A sick feeling settles in my stomach when I think of our night patrol up on the cliffs of the coast, all dead. The sirens went off, but the fleet must have been more than they could handle. Especially if they made it all the way to the end of the camp, to our cabin. The furthest into our land.

From the sound of the boot steps, there must be about four soldiers in the cabin. I hear the boots of one nearing the back of the cabin and my throat tightens in fear. My fingers tingle as I grab the dagger at my side, the only weapon I have. I'm about to grab Huck's shoulder for direction when he pulls an arrow from his back, knocking it into place. I move back, giving him room to pull the bowstring taut as he sets his sights through the slat.

A shadow comes into view, blocking out the light of the cabin and I hold my breath, not wanting to make a sound. My heart is in my throat as I watch Huck's shoulders rise, the arrow brushing against his cheek. The soldier's hand jiggles the knob and Huck lets his arrow fly through the slat, burying itself into the soldier's throat. It barely makes a whine as it passes through and I hear the sick huff as the arrow embeds itself into the soldier.

Before I can even process the next move, Huck kicks open the door before the wounded soldier even has a chance to drop to the floor, pushing him out of the way as he falls back onto the kitchen floor in a heavy thud. The other soldiers swarm the back of the cabin in a quick motion, one with a bow and arrow, and two with glistening swords. They're quick to move, but Huck is quicker, already disarming the closest soldier of his weapon as he flips it around, knocks the soldier to the ground, and pins him to the floor with his own sword sticking out of his chest like a weed growing through a crack in stone.

The next one shoots his arrow toward Huck's chest, but he dodges it with precision, and I am momentarily struck by his quick movements as he battles the enemy four to one. The soldier knocks another arrow and pulls back so quick I barely register the movement, but Huck pulls the spark striker from beneath his shirt, and a ball of fire blooms within his palm in an instant. He launches it at the soldier. The flame sizzles through the air with a whine. It finds its target, and the man screams in agony as he drops to his knees in the center of the cabin, grabbing at his burning skin. Huck kicks him and he hits the ground just as the final attacker makes his way towards him. He is large and menacing with black eyes that you only find in nightmares. He swings his sword, just missing Huck's neck and they continue to battle blade to blade.

With the closet door off its hinges, I stay hidden in the darkness. But I can't just sit here and watch as Huck battles for his life. Sure, he's proven he can hold his own, but I refuse to be a damsel.

I shake the shock off my body like mist and take a step towards the light, towards the opening of the closet. The soldier has Huck against the frame of a bunk, their blades sliding against one another and I hear them both grunt as their strength is challenged. It seems they both have met their match and my heart is in my throat as I watch.

My mind is at war with itself as I contemplate what to do. Do I run out and charge at the soldier? Or will that alarm Huck and cause him to falter? Do I make a run for it and flee out the back door? Or do I stay here in the shadow of the closet and wait for Huck to finish this man on his own?

The decision is made for me when something explodes outside of our cabin causing the entire room to shudder. The far window breaks and shatters over Huck and the soldier. My heart is pounding so hard in my ears that I barely hear the glass hit the floor. Huck drops to a knee as the soldier presses harder against the sword, gaining another inch. I pull my dagger up and level it next to my ear as I ready my stance. With one calming breath, I spot my target. Narrowing my eyes on the soldier's back, I find the spot right where his heart and lungs overlap. At the very least, I'll puncture his lung, rendering him weak. At most, I'll skewer his heart.

I focus, drowning out the sounds outside of the cabin. I drown out the screams and shouts, and the roar of fire consuming our camp. I drown out any thoughts of my friends wounded on the battlefield, and I drown out the feeling of Huck's tongue in my mouth as I exhale my fears and let the blade fly from my grip in a straight shot to the soldier.

The dagger hits home as I watch the blade bury itself into the soldier's back, only the hilt sticking out of his armor. He stills and Huck is on him in an instant, flame in hand. He gains his footing as he slices the soldier's throat before lighting him aflame and his eyes find mine. The gurgled breaths of the soldier cease and Huck pulls my dagger from the man before rolling him over onto his back, snuffing out the fire. He steps over the body towards me and swipes the blood from the blade onto the dead soldier with an arrow to the throat, handing it back to me, handle first.

"You just can't take direction, can you?" He pants through his lips as he waits for me to take my weapon back.

"And let you have all the fun?" I grab the dagger before crouching down to the body and let my fingers linger there. For just a moment, I bring my magic to my fingertips, wondering if I can fuze to an empty vessel, now that he's dead, but my magic gets stuck at the surface, unable to latch onto a human body, just as I thought it would. Something about the human body has this natural barrier around it that my magic cannot penetrate. I sheath my blade at my side and watch as a smirk finds its way to Huck's face from my comment.

"I need to go, and you need to stay. Please. I can't focus if you are out there. No one can know you are here." His words strike true, and I hate every second of it. But I know he's right. Not only am I not an Arion Warrior, but I’m also not even supposed to be here. I don't know what the consequences might be for harboring a civilian in a warrior camp, but I don't need to find out.

I nod in agreement, even though I hate it as Huck pulls the arrow from the other soldier's neck near the closet.

"Stay in here until one of us comes back for you." He guides me toward the closet once again, and I comply.

"What if you don't come back?" My question is weighted with more than I say. He knows what I'm asking. What if they don't come back at all?

Huck holds my gaze for just a moment, but I can see what his eyes say. He leans down, planting a soft kiss on my lips, like a promise to return.

"We will." That's the last thing he says to me before disappearing out the front door of the cabin, and into the chaos.