CHAPTER TWO: The Attack
1006 Words
Aria knew it wouldn't be easy to leave Cassie, so she slipped some herbal sedative into her drink.
She watched from behind a rock as Lucas stood at the altar.
Her heart lurched.
She wanted to walk in there and tell him she couldn't go through with the mating ceremony, but she couldn't.
She couldn't stand the thought of saying that to him, so she left without any goodbyes.
Comforting herself with the thought that when she returned, she would spend every day trying to right her wrongs with him.
"What took you so long?" Enzo asked, his lips squeezing into a frown.
"I was saying my goodbyes," she answered, almost bored.
"Shall we begin?" one of the elders added quickly.
Aria and Enzo glared back at him. "Interrupt again, and I shall escort Aria to the gates with your head."
Elder Jeffrey, the man who spoke, whimpered like a child, bowing as he trembled.
Enzo turned back to Aria. "Kneel, child."
He dipped his fingers into the bowl next to him, painting a stain of blood on Aria's forehead. "May the Moon Goddess be with you."
After the ritual, the elders and Priest Enzo escorted her to the gate of the cave. "If it gets too hard, return to us. We can survive a few more years the way we are," Priest Enzo whispered into her ears, patting her back softly.
Aria lifted the gate's barricade and stepped outside the cave.
The last time that barricade was lifted, warriors went out of the cave to fetch food for the clan members. None of them returned, and that made Priest Enzo ban any movement outside the cave.
The people were too bereaved and scared to disobey, either way.
But here she was, on the other side of the cave, heading east, in search of restoration.
Her feet mashed against dry leaves. Crickets filled the night, dancing to the rhythm of the wind. Aria exhaled like it was the first time in a long time.
Her lungs filled with clean, fresh air devoid of sweat and the metallic scent of blood that wafted around in the cave.
It was almost dawn, and she still hadn't stopped or rested.
A branch cracked in the trees around her. Aria stiffened, sensing the presence of another.
"Reveal yourself," she roared, drawing an arrow and placing it on the string of her bow.
The cracks continued—footsteps approaching from behind a large tree, slow and heavy.
Her grip around the arrow tightened as the steps drew closer.
There it was—a Dragergen, face to face with her.
Aria's jaw dropped.
The creature stood tall, staring down at her, its eyes bulging, its muscles as thick as tree trunks.
Another of its kind walked out from the same path, standing beside the first.
The first giant creature roared. Aria shot her arrow into its mouth.
The arrow went through and fell to the ground, leaving a hole.
Aria watched as flesh bubbled around the wounded spot until it was completely covered.
The giant reached for her, spreading its palm to scoop her off the ground. Aria drew her sword, completely slicing off its hand.
The creature staggered back. Blood dripped from Aria's sword; its metallic scent masked the once-fresh leafy air that filled her nose.
She ran toward the creature, her sword dragging on fallen dry leaves and stones.
In a speed of light, her body hit the tree trunk on a far end of the forest. The second giant had sent her, rib-crushingly, into the tree with a flick of its palm.
She watched again as another hand popped out from the exact spot she had just cut. It regenerated really fast.
Her bones cracked beneath her skin. She let out a loud growl, her fingers stretching in length as she shifted to her wolf form.
Sprinting off again toward the giants.
This time, she was sent miles off with one hard kick from the second giant.
She landed on the sidelines of a charred road.
Blood oozed from her shirt, spreading around her back.
Shifting back to her human form, she coughed, and blood poured from her lungs. She let out a weak grunt, her eyes fighting against the darkness that threatened to envelop her.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Cassie's words re-echoed in her ears.
A tear slipped from her eyes as they sealed shut.
............
"Hi!" A lady waved her hands over Aria's face.
A loud ring echoed in her ears. Her vision split into blurry images, and her brain felt like it was about to jump out of her skull.
"Can you hear me?" the voice came again, sending jolts of loud waves through her ears.
Aria closed her eyes and reopened them. The face before her became a tad clearer. The beeping sound from a machine next to her continued.
"I told you she wasn't dead," the lady turned to speak to someone else in the room.
He grinned and nodded, his gaze resting on the resuscitated lady.
"I'll go get the doctor now." Gigi ran out of the room.
The ringing in Aria's ears continued.
But the comfort of silence that lingered after Gigi left was almost magical—and that ended as soon as she returned, chattering with the doctor from the doorway.
"What is your name?" the doctor asked, after he was done with all the physical examinations.
Silence stretched in the room.
Gigi raised crossed fingers and closed her eyes.
"A... Ar... Aria," Aria said.
The doctor nodded, scribbling something on his notepad.
"Aria, where are you from?" he asked, still scribbling.
Aria's gaze shifted to each person in the room—from the doctor to Gigi to Vincenzo, then back to the doctor.
"I don't know." Her lips quivered slightly as she spoke.
The doctor looked over his notepad, meeting her gaze.
Gigi gasped, covering her mouth.
Forehead creased, "Do you remember anything from before now?" the doctor asked again.
She blinked hard. "I remember my name."
- Writer
