The Enchantress (Wicked Book 1) (19 page)

Drew hurried
closer to Laura as their friends settled down for sleep, beckoning for her to
follow him. She secured her sword to her hip.
  ‘Where are we going?’ Laura asked, following him through the bush.
  ‘You’ll see,’ Drew said, grinning at her, his teeth gleaming in the
moonlight.
  They didn’t walk for long. One moment they were pushing their way through the
bush, the next they had broken through into a little clearing. Drew came to a
halt, and Laura beheld the sight before her.
  She was engulfed by the sound of a gurgling creek and the rushing of a
waterfall.
  The water was sparkling and glistening in the moonlight. Birds chirped as
they settled down for sleep, an owl hooted in the distance, frogs croaked, and water
rushed over the side of a rock formation, splashing little droplets of water up
over the creek bed.
  Laura peered across at Drew, who was crouching by the stream, hands trailing
in the water.
  As the creek bubbled and gurgled in rhythm with the distant rush of the
waterfall, Laura turned to the brightest star in the sky and smiled.
  ‘I miss you every day dad,’ she whispered. ‘I am doing my best, I hope I am
making you proud.’
  And Laura swore she saw the star grow brighter.
  She walked briskly to Drew’s side and sat down on the dampened earth.
  ‘This place is beautiful,’ she said.
  Drew sat back beside her, ‘many things in this world are.’
  Why are you blushing,
Laura lectured herself,
he wasn’t talking
about you.
  Drew leaned back on his hands, like she was doing. His hand brushed against
hers, and her heart was pounding so loudly that she was sure Drew could hear
it.
  ‘How are you, Ace? And I mean,
really,
how are you?’ he asked gently.
  Laura considered his question for a moment, ‘I honestly can’t answer that. I
don’t know how I am. I don’t even know what to think any more. My mind is a
mess. I mean, the things I have seen. God, and the things I have done. I
killed
someone. I don’t-’ she choked on her words.
  Drew moved his hand over hers. His finger were warm, comforting, ‘Laura, it was
you or him.’
  Laura sat up, pulling her hand free, and turned to him, ‘exactly! I chose my
life above another! I killed someone else just so I could live!’ She buried her
head in her hands and then pushed her fingers up through her hair, ‘I just
never thought I would ever do something so awful. I never thought I was capable
of that. I don’t know,’ she shook her head, ‘I am so stressed. I miss my mum.’
  Drew sat up too and glanced sideways at her, ‘as soon as we find your mum we
will be able to clear everything up. Then you can have a proper burial for you
father, and maybe you will be able to start moving on. It’s hard, I know, but
in time you will come to terms with it all.’
  Laura began drawing in the dirt with her finger. She didn’t like thinking about
her father’s funeral that she was yet to arrange.
  She changed the subject, ‘how are you? I know Caspian’s disappearance must be
hurting you. You two are so close.’
  It was Drew’s turn to draw in the dirt, ‘I am praying that he is okay. But I
have this dreadful feeling that he is with them. I think I would know if he was
gone, though. Surely I would feel it if something wasn’t right?’
  Laura rested a hand on his arm.
  Drew gave her an appreciative smile, and this time, when he placed his other
hand over hers, she didn’t pull away.
  ‘Can I ask you something?’ Laura quizzed.
  ‘Sure.’
  ‘Why do you call me Ace?’
  He let out a laugh and glanced sideways at her, ‘remember when I tackled
you?’
  She rolled her eyes, ‘how could I forget?’
  ‘Well it was an ace tackle.’
  This time Laura burst out laughing, ‘are you serious?’
As they settled down, Laura turned to him, ‘it was a pretty good tackle.’
  He nodded, smiling, ‘yes. Yes it was.’
  They were interrupted by a screech. They were on their feet in a second,
turning to face the sound.
  Laura bit back a scream. Enormous bats were soaring through the sky, swooping
through the trees, their beady eyes locked on their target. Their mouths hung
open displaying a set of razor sharp teeth.
  They charged for Laura and Drew.

Laura and
Drew unsheathed their swords in unison.  
  The first bat was upon them in only moments, swooping over their heads and clawing
at their hair and faces’. Laura thrust her sword overhead at the bat. With
great satisfaction, she came in contact with its side and sent it spiralling to
the ground.

Drew swiped
at a bat soaring in from his left, slicing clean through its wing. He didn’t
have time to watch its dead body hit the water for yet another bat was
attacking him fiercely.
  They felt the splash of bloody water spray over them as they sent dead bats rocketing
into the water.

Laura ducked
as a bat swooped overhead. A second bat was already charging, its menacing eyes
locked on her. She stabbed her sword out in time to sever the bats neck, and
its lifeless body thumped to the ground. She ducked away from the claws of the
first bat, pulling her blade from the dead body. She swung it up and felt the
silver come into contact with the bat above. She didn’t see where its body
landed for another set of beady eyes were in her face, set on killing her.

As Drew killed
off another screeching creature, he chanced a look around, and wished he
hadn’t. They were completely surrounded.
  Like a bolt of lightning, a claw shot out, slashing open the flesh of his
arm. He cursed himself for allowing a moment’s distraction and, using his
uninjured arm, killed the bad with a single swipe.
  Then his sword fell from his grip and he stumbled forward as another bat attacked
him from behind.
  He wasn’t able to right himself in time and the bat clawed at his cheek as he
hit the ground.
  A flash of a sword swung through the beast and blood rained down over him. He
rolled out of the way as the creature hit the ground.
  He turned to see Laura, drenched with blood, extending a hand to him. He took
it gratefully and staggered to his feet, sword in hand.
  ‘Thanks.’ He said.
  ‘Any time.’
  The two took up their positions and held back the bats for as long as they
could.

‘There are
too many!’ Laura shouted as she sent another clawed creature swirling down to earth.
  Out of nowhere, a dagger imbedded itself into the chest of a bat that had unknowingly
come up beside them. Drew and Laura spun around to see the rest of their group
advancing on the beasts, swords extended.
Drew and Laura glanced at one another with relief. Then they plunged further
into battle.
  With the seven of them now fighting, the situation was under control in a
matter of minutes.

‘How did you
guys find us?’ Drew asked as the blood stained group formed a circle by the water’s
edge.
  ‘We could hear the screeching from camp. We followed the sound.’ Stella said,
wiping the blood from her face.
  Laura huffed, ‘how the hell were they able to see us? I thought bats were
blind? How did they know to attack?’
  ‘I suspect they had demon blood in them, giving them sight. They were
probably ordered to attack by the Wicked.’ Leo said, crouching by the creek in
the hopes of washing the gore from his hands, however the murky water was thick
with blood and fallen creatures.
  ‘Let’s go further upstream and clean up.’ Stella said, moving in the
direction of the waterfall.
  The others followed, leaving Laura and Drew by the creek.
  ‘You were good out there.’ Drew said.
  She shrugged. ‘I was mostly swinging my sword around wildly and hoping I’d
hit something.’
  He laughed, then winced as his arm brushed his side.
  ‘Here, let me look.’
  Holding his arm gently, she inspected his wound. It was terribly deep, there
was no doubt about that.
  Out of nowhere, a voice became present in her mind.
Heal him
, it
whispered. The world around her seemed to blur, her mind instructing her on its
own accord. All she could see was Drew. Unable to stop herself, she placed her
hands over the cut.
  ‘Ace, its fine. Stella will fix it.’ Drew said, but Laura wasn’t listening.
  Her eyes closed, her hands remaining firm on his arm
Heal.
The word was pulsing against her eyelids, in her mind, through her
body. She willed the word into being. Into action.
  ‘Laura…’
  Her eyes flew open. She stared at her knuckles, then removed her hands from
his arm. She gasped with fright, stepping back abruptly.
  His cuts were gone. Not even a scar remained.
  ‘How…’ Drew trailed off, unable to draw his gaze from his healed skin.
  ‘I don’t know. Oh my god, what was that? What did I just do?’ Her heart was
beating wildly, her breath raspy and uneven.
  She was overwhelmed with panic. She had just healed a wound that only stitches
and salve could fix.
  ‘Ace, it’s all right.’
  He reached out, drawing her to him.
  ‘I… I don’t know... I’m afraid. What… what else am I capable of?’ She whimpered.
  He held her firmly in his arms. ‘Don’t be afraid. You have a gift Laura, and
finally it’s starting to show itself. As soon as we find your mother I’m sure
that she will clear all of this up. You will be okay.’
  Laura nodded into his chest, then pulled back slightly.
  ‘Can we go get cleaned up? I feel quite disgusting actually.’
  He laughed, ‘of course.’

By midnight,
everyone had cleaned up and fallen asleep by the fire. Well, almost everyone.
  Laura sat cross-legged, staring into the flames, too wound up to sleep. A
whirlwind of thoughts consumed her.
  She couldn’t wrap her head around what she had done. She had
healed
Drew.
How? How had a single word beating in her mind become so powerful?
  She raised her eyes to find Gemma was awake, eyes trained on the fire.
  ‘Is everything all right?’
  Gemma moved to sit, ‘just worried about Caspian.’
  ‘I hope he is safe,’ Laura whispered. ‘I hope they didn’t capture him. I hope
he just followed them then lost their trail and is now searching for us.’
  Laura let loose a sigh after Gemma didn’t respond. ‘It’s because of me he’s
in danger.’
  Gemma rose her eyes to Laura’s. ‘
Because of you?
This is all because
of you!’ She hissed, gesturing around her with her hands. ‘We would all be back
at the manor, safe, alive, un hurt, if you hadn’t come along. You took
advantage of everyone here. They were all to kind too say no to helping you.
But I saw through it. I warned them. Now look where we are? Huh? Running from
authorities. Running
into
danger. Caspian is gone, possibly
dead
.
Grace was nearly killed. That Flyer was too. And Delilah
was
!’
  The way in which Gemma spat out the words in a hoarse whisper was frightening.
  Laura was taken aback at the outburst. Then it dawned on her. Everything
Gemma said was true. It
was
her fault. She had dragged them into
her
mess, and now they were facing such awful danger
because of her
.
  ‘I wish you had never come. I wish you would leave us alone. At least then we
would be somewhat safe. This isn’t our war to fight. It’s yours and your mum’s.
You are the one they want.’
  ‘I’m sorry Gemma. I-‘ Laura choked, ‘I never wanted any of you to be dragged
into this. I was selfish. I
am
selfish.’
  She removed her gaze from Gemma and rose to her feet. She had continually forced
herself to stay strong. But as she secured her bag on her back, she knew it had
all been an act.
  She wasn’t strong. She tried to be for the sake of her father’s memory. For
the sake of finding her mother. For the sake of herself. But she wasn’t.
  She turned away from the fire, from Gemma, and left her companions behind,
knowing this was the only way she could protect them from being hurt worse than
they had already been.
  She had to do this. She had to find Caspian and return him to his friends. It
was the only way to set things right.
  She knew roughly which direction the Lost City was in, so set off, using the
light of her torch to guide her.

Laura walked
for an hour before settling into a nook at the base of a tree and falling
asleep. She didn’t dream, though, and when she woke at dawn, she set off again.
  The cold of the early morning bit at her skin and she shivered as she walked,
rubbing her arms furiously.
  She focused on her steps, one foot in front of the other, and eventually as
the sun began to rise higher into the sky, she started to warm up.
  Her hair was a tangled mess, hanging loose down her back, the hair tie lost
somewhere along the track, and her face stung where bushes had scratched her.
  She walked with her arms around her body and her head down, realising that
she was now moving uphill.
  At midmorning she stopped to open one of her ration packs, choosing to snack
on dried biscuits and butter. She gulped down the last of her water, hoping she
might stumble across another creek somewhere soon.
  As she continued up hill, the weight of her bag and weapons set in, and each
breath grew shorter and raspier. She tried to pace herself, but it only made
her lungs weaker. Each step proved to be harder than the last.
  She wasn’t the fittest, and although she had managed to keep up over the past
days, the walking combined with the lack of sleep was starting to take its toll
on her.
She rubbed her eyes as her vision blurred, and pushed on. She glanced up.
Surely
I’m nearly there. The top must be close now.
But she was faced with more
bush.
  Her vision blurred again and she swore she could see plants floating in the
air. She closed her eyes and her mind was filled with a swirl of greens and
browns. Then, she collapsed.

‘What do you
mean you told her to leave?!’ Shouted Stella.
  Gemma didn’t flinch, ‘this,’ she gestured around her, ‘this is all her fault.
We are safer without her. We’ll be better off.’  
  ‘Gemma, this is not her fault at all! The Wicked did this! It’s not just
about her. This is something much bigger than we could have ever guessed. There
is a threat of war against the entire Enchanted race!’ This time Stella was
gesturing around her. ‘And we are all in danger, we are all going to be
affected, no matter what! Yelling at Laura, making her leave, was not going to
change that.’
Leo placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder, calming her instantly.
  ‘How long ago did she leave?’ He asked, eyes resting on Gemma.
  She shrugged, ‘it was around midnight.’
  Stella lost it again, ‘MIDNIGHT?!’
  Leo rubbed her back, but it didn’t have the same effect, ‘Stell, I’m sure she
would have stopped to rest along the way. She hadn’t slept at all. She
shouldn’t be too far. It’s only 6, if we get going now, we may catch up to
her.’
  Grace, Drew and Logan arrived then, the fire out and their bags packed. The
second they saw Stella, they knew something was wrong.
  ‘Laura is gone,’ Stella said bluntly.
  Their face’s paled.
  ‘What are we waiting for? We have to get going!’ Grace said, horrified.
  ‘Why would she leave?!’ Logan demanded, only to receive a glare from Gemma.
  Drew was already running.
  ‘Drew!’ Leo shouted and the rest of them hoisted their bags onto their backs,
taking off after him.
  The further they ran, the slower they became as exhaustion caught up with
them. Eventually they slowed to a jog. Only Drew managed to continue at a run.
He was in the lead, almost too far ahead for the rest of the group to see him.
  It was midmorning by the time they arrived at the mountains base. They didn’t
shout for Laura. They were too afraid it would draw unwanted attention.
  But they all knew there was another reason why no one bothered shouting.
  They should have undoubtedly caught up to her by now.
  Which only meant one thing.
  The Wicked had found her.

Laura awoke
to the sound of rustling leaves and chirping birds. She sat up and glanced
around, exhaustion still consuming her. But the end was close, she could feel
it.
  Soon, she would obtain the answers she needed. Soon, she would discover clues
to the Wicked’s whereabouts.
  Stupidly, the idea that maybe the Lost City
was
their hideout hadn’t
occurred to her.
  The idea that the coal left out was a trap to lead her to them hadn’t
occurred to her.
  The danger that was right in front of her had not occurred to her. Not until
she suddenly saw figures ahead, running straight for her.
  That was when those thoughts arrived, growing ever present in the forefront
of her mind.
  She was too weak to fight, too tired, and too inexperienced. She was
outnumbered ten to one.
  So when two Wicked launched themselves at her, latching onto her arms, she
was too shocked to react, and instead of thrashing free and running, she gave
up and fell limp in their arms.
  Something was forced against her mouth and nose.
  Then the world went black.