Parallel Crossroads

Chapter Six

(Iris's POV)

    It was her turn to get flustered but she hid it well. Her eyes were cloudy and her mind was probably in some faraway place, making up ways to kill me in case I did something stupid. I wouldn't, but just in case I did. To say the least, I was impressed by how tense she was. Not in a good way. 

    "That's where you've made your mistake," said Eden, voice low and cold, "The Cortes clan, though we take on the same last name, isn't a family. We're soldiers under the command of our lord, Cortes, and whomever he decides is fit to be his heir." 

    "B-but," she smirked at me and shook her head. 

    "But what?" I glared at her, biting my tongue. 

    She got me and she knew it. Of course, I wasn't used to arguing with people so...her win was assured. "But nothing, we're less than ten minutes away from the river, and then it's a quick trip to the Johnson territory!

    "I-"

    Before she got the words out, a massive explosion hit her from behind. Shrapnel and all kinds of debris slammed into my chest, including Eden as she was blown into me. 

    Her back was riddled with wounds and burns from the explosion, even her under armor was burnt into a thin sheet of fabric. 

    "You're supposed to be dead..." our attacker chuckled from above us, "Guess my pathetic excuse for daughter...is nothing more than a soldier who can't even perform  simple execution." 

    "Lord Cortes..." anger boiled beneath my skin, itching to break out and beat him to death, "She's your own blood! What the hell do you think you're doing?" 

    "She's a disgrace," he replied, taking a step forward into the light, "Not that a Johnson would understand." 

    "I understand that you and my father used to be best friends until you decided power was more important and abandoned him!" I growled, placing Eden on my shoulder and bracing for a fight, "You chose to live a life of violence and dishonor, so in your shame, you decided to bring your bloodline to hell with you!" 

    "How dare you address me, Lord Cortes, so blatantly," his eyes narrowed and pure fury radiated off the tree- straight at me, "You will suffer for your disrespect." 

    Taking that as my cue, I took off running the opposite direction of Lord Cortes. The bushes scraped my legs painfully and the terrain was anything but flat, but I found my stride and gained ground. Lord Cortes, however, had much more experience and was gaining ground. His laugh like wild dogs, about to catch its dinner. 

    "I-Iris..." I almost jumped as Eden whispered to me, her voice soft, she must've barely come out of unconsciousness, "You went the wrong way." 

    I looked around the unfamiliar landscape and internally shot myself. Of course, I'd be pinned the wrong way, I basically ran myself back to the Cortes's camping grounds. 

    Before I could say anything, Eden pushed herself off my and got on her feet, looking around warily. "You won't make it to the river if you continue running that slowly, Lord Cortes could easily be right on top of us right now."

    "Yea...where did he go?" I replied, looking in every direction.  

    "I'm right here," his cold voice answered before a thunderous blast came from in front of me, and everything went dark.