Isle of the Damned

Conflict

The men continued to circle us as it started to rain heavily. As I observed them I noticed they all had the giveaway black clothes and tattoo that came with pledging allegiance to Seth. The tattoo consisted of a small x just above the right eyebrow. They also had what I can only describe as soulless eyes and foul faces. Honestly, they looked terrifying. 

"Look at this lot, eh. Camping out in the middle of nowhere"

"So defenceless."

"Easy kills."

"Easy to t*****e too."

Maniacal laughter erupted from the group of men. It was getting hard not to panic, all their voices and faces seemed to blur into one ungodly symphony. There was no escaping this.

Suddenly they stopped to a halt in unison to and I was staring at a sour-faced, grey-haired man. He had a gruesome scar that went all the from the lining of his hair, over his eye and ended just in line with his lips. Black, soul-sucking eyes stared at me. In the pit of my stomach, I knew he was pure evil. This was the true monster. Not us.

"Look at the little girl tryna act all big and mighty with that sword. It's kind of cute... In a pathetic way," He mocked. 

My panic subsided and anger set in. I did not train in the battlegrounds along with my warriors to simply be tossed aside like this. I was going to show him that I was not someone to be messed with. A plan formed in my brain.

"Hey, you listen here...," James started but I stuck my arm out in front of him, causing him to stop what he was saying.

"You're right, I am just a weak farm girl. Please don't hurt us. We haven't done anything wrong," I said, feigning innocence to which he responded with a menacing chuckle.

"We don't care if you're old, a woman, a child or a dumb dog. All we care about is having fun and you look like you'd be an entertaining toy," he snarled with a creepy look contorting his face. 

"Please sir, don't do anything to us. My mother said there's always some good in people," I pleaded with big eyes, taking a few cowardly steps towards him. I knew the others would be highly confused but they didn't say or do anything to contradict me, thankfully. 

"You're mothers a stupid cow then," he laughed, "When I'm through with you, I'll see to it that you're broken in more ways than one."

"But sir, I'll give you all the m-m-money you want. I'll even work for you if it means not hurting my friends. Please have mercy, you must h-have some," I quivered, acting as afraid and as harmless as I could. My body was hunched in and my head was tilted down as I continued looking at him with pleading eyes. I took a few more steps towards him so that he was just more than an arm's length away.

"Tell you what deary, we'll take all the money you have, kill all of your little friends and then take you with us but we won't kill you. I would call that mercy enough... although I bet you'll be begging to end your miserable existence within days," he pedantically said with a smirk as he looked down at me from his horse. 

Before he could say or do anything else I quickly pulled up my sword and stabbed him in the stomach. I saw the shocked looked on his face before I pulled out my sword. His body suddenly slumped as it became completely void of life and then fell to the floor. That was my first ever kill but it certainly felt right. He was foul and wretched.

"Get them!" one of the men shouted, his voice booming through the forest. 

The men jumped off the horses to attack and within seconds they were running towards us with their weapons. Suddenly, everything turned into chaos. swords were flying and shouting erupted in a matter of second. I prayed for my group and prepared to charge myself. 

 A young-ish man came flying towards me. I jumped to the side as his sword came flying towards me. I lifted my sword as he regained his balance. As we faced each other his face twisted itself with hate. 

"We're going to do everyone a favour by killing you, you're a f*****g b***h," he growled. 

"You won't ever be able to kill me. I'm probably a better fighter than your measly self ever will be," I retorted venomously, "I'll make sure that you never take a wasteful breath again."

I swung my sword, aiming for the chest. He managed to block the attack to which I tried again. I admit he was a decent fighter, he'd managed to stop me from killing him thus far. However, it was time to stop playing with my food. I knocked his sword out the way and proceeded to kick him where I knew it'd hurt. He fell over backwards. I took the opportunity to stare victoriously at his demon-like eyes as I drove my sword into him. 

As I turned round to help the others I saw a large man who was standing just in front of me now, swinging his sword. There was no way I could react in time. My body froze, adrenaline-pumping around and a sickening feeling setting in my stomach. This was it. 

As I stood in shock, with his sword only centimetres away, his body suddenly crumpled to the floor. Standing behind him was Ava with a bloodied dagger. She looked shocked at what'd she'd done but I could also see that her posture was strong and sturdy. She may not have the training but she was certainly a warrior. 

I let out a deep breath and a thank you. I rotated to assist with the others but I soon saw there was no need. All the fighting had ceased, all the corrupt men lay dead on the floor, some in awkward angles and some covered in blood. It was not a pretty sight. 

I scanned everyone assessing what had happened as I felt the rain considerably ease up. They were all still alive which I was extremely grateful for although I noticed Evader and Alvaro were very much banged up as they'd only been in the other fight last night. James looked a little aghast but certainly well. Myla seemed pleased with her killings and completely fine. And of course, Ava was still beside me, looking proud of herself. I let out a sigh of relief, no one was seriously injured, although we were all soaked and the twins were not in the best of shapes. 

"Let's get changed, dried up and head straight to the next place. I'm certain that these men weren't sent by King Seth to hunt us as they didn't care who we were or where we are from. I believe that was an awful coincidence. We certainly do not want to run into the actual hunting party. It's likely they will be in larger numbers and we simply do not have the force to fight against it," I said quickly, not wanting to stay out here in the open much longer. My heart was beating a million miles per hour and I would've killed for a warm bed. 

The rest nodded, unsure of what else to say. We got changed, packed up and headed off in search of our destination. What surprises lay ahead, I did not know but I was almost certain that we weren't done with them yet.