Lost in the Crossroads

Seventeen - Witch Hour II (Alexandra)

It was pure chaos.

Just how many sacks of flour Abel found?And how the hell are they exploding without Abel detonating them? Alex wondered as her hands quickly and methodically handled Geneva’s wounds and occasionally, reminding the injured woman to keep her eyes open.

Even in the dark she caught sight of the perpetrator herself, flitting around the carts with throwing knives held tightly in her hands, apparently satisfied with the destruction and mayhem she caused in the enemy camp. The flashlight Abel was holding was thrust onto one of the Elves in the cage with an instruction to point the light on Geneva’s battered form.

The lack of broken bones still bothered Alexandra. She wanted to do a complete and proper body inspection but they weren’t in the right place and time. She bit back a frustrated growl.

“It cannot be open. The locks are –“ The Elven words were cut off with loud clang that made Alex flinched and Geneva blinked owlishly, eyes trying to make out the direction of the loud noise. Alex could feel the sweat from her forehead traveling down to her right cheek. The lack of adequate light made her all the more focus and nervous on her task.

“What?” Abel said. “What about the locks? It was poorly made.”

“They’re enchanted.”Another elf muttered.

“Really?”Abelone scoffed, clearly not interested. “I don’t think so. Anyway, can you move? You guys can get out, right? Good.” The soldier said, not giving the elves the chance to ask questions and started hacking the medieval locks off the cages with the sword from the knight on duty Alex had knocked out. Oddly enough, Abel looked awkward with the huge broadsword in her hands and she’d seen the woman handled many knives before. “Now, I want you to get down. Just crouched low. Try not to attract some attention. Just like that.”

A pause. Alex brought her attention back to their injured friend.

“Here’s the thing; we’re getting you out of this place. Don’t ask questions. We don’t have time for that. Just listen. I want you guys to run on the direction of North. That way. North is that way.”

A shuddering sigh escaped from Geneva’s lips from the sound of Abel’s commanding tone, eyes resolutely open.

“An extraction team was waiting for you there along with the Kael. Yes, Kael. We’re kind of friends. Anyway, women, children, and the injured first.” Abelone continued.

“Wait. I have to see the injured first.” Alex interrupted the shuffling of bodies as the Elves prepared to make their way to freedom. She needs to inspect them closer. Especially the children.

“No. We don’t for time that.”

Alexandra tried not to frown hard but failed. The desire to tend to their wounds was overwhelming. She wanted to help. She wanted to make sure they’re in the right condition for doing strenuous activities such as running for their lives from knights and bandits. Especially, the children. “But—“

“How’s Gen?” Abel asked, suddenly.

“Good.” Alexandra exhaled as Geneva’s misty eyes blink at her, relieved. Her heartbeat momentarily pick up for a moment in worry. “She’s good.”

“Keep her awake.” Abel ordered.

“I know.” The glared she sent on her friend was automatic.

“The prisoners are escaping!” Her heart lurched in her throat by that one particular shout amidst the cacophony of noises. Alex’s hand instinctively grasped her gun when two male elves flank her side. She relaxed noticing the one holding her flashlight.

“How may we be of assistance?”They asked and Alex’s heart broke from the sound of their voice upon closer inspection, rough and dry from dehydration.

“Hurry! The prisoners—!”The scream was cut off, making the Elves’ surrounding her snapped at attention. Their eyes warily search through the dark.

Alex got the feeling of what was that.

The pungent smell of something burning wafted through the winds.

“Alex, get moving!” Abel said. At the same time uncoordinated footsteps thundered through the clearing.

The sound of heavy metal armor and boots quickened her pulse. They’re enemies had regroup quickly. They’re coming. The Witch hour’s effect was fading. It will only be a matter of time before they were cornered.

There are still mages left. They really need to go. There was not time to argue if she really wanted for them to live.

“Okay.” Alex breathed out, trying to calm the erratic beating of her heart.

“I’m on it!” she shouted for Abel to hear. Her friend doesn’t answer but it was enough for her.

Sucking in a calming breath, Alex faced the Elves surrounding her and instructed them of what to do with the children and injured first. The Elves are quick to respond with her instructions.

She was honestly surprised they listened to her, expecting them to panic once they were out of their cages. Yet they were calm, obediently carrying out her orders.

This somehow strikes a chord in her. The Elves know this wasn’t the time to let panic and despair consume them. Her heart ache for them.

The Elves were already moving as soon as her instruction was finished. One was gingerly carrying Geneva in his arms while some carried the injured and children, slinking carefully in the dark.

Thank God. Elves are fast runners. Alex wasn’t sure if it was desperation or their normal running pace but they were quickly getting closer to the forest. She doesn’t have enough time to measure the extent of abuse in their bodies and she could hope only they were taking it easy.

The occasional gasp of pain and curses serves as a reminder that Abel was behind their group, successfully holding off their pursuers in the dark clearing.

The dark forest was already on their reach when Alex looked back, searching in vain for the silhouette of Abel. Instead, her eyes caught something in the dark, sparking from a distance. Like a flicker of flame.

What on earth?

It's getting closer. The sound of crackling prominent.

A sense of fear struck her for something unknown prompting her to shout a quick command.

“GET DOWN!”

The Elves thankfully sensed the urgency in her voice as they obeyed her command and a column of fire shoot through the air, lighting the dark clearing with its fiery brilliance. Fire crackled threateningly above their heads.She couldn’t help but gape at the sight of the fiery column, panic and terror boiling hot in the pit of her stomach. The whinnies of the terrified horses echoed in the woods, further adding fear in her system.

Memories of the past flashed in her eyes, of merciless explosion everywhere. Their house burned down. Dead people placed carelessly on the ground. Fire and screams everywhere. The scent of rot and burning ozone in the air.

A shiver wracked her entire body even with the wave of heat blasting through the chilly air.

“It seems like you have forgotten what happened to your village.” A man spoke eerily after the fire dissipated.

“The little fire you caused is nothing compared to ours.” Another male spoke.

Alex has to blink a few times when suddenly the clearing was dramatically illuminated by a light on a staff from one of the two men standing in front of the assembled knights. The bandits are oddly not present.

They’re must be the mages. She concluded on the two men in front of the group. She might not be an expert but the white robes the two are wearing were surely different from the armors the knights have.

She heard the nervous shifting of the Night Elves behind, clearly wary of the men but she also felt them bristled with the reminder of their village. Ruined village.

Her trembling hand tightened its hold on her gun, mind swirling in various thought of what to do in their current situation.

Would she be able to deal with them?

Oh god no. Her mind reeled.

Should they run?

Yes, they should. A huge part of her scream.

She glanced back at the grim faces of the Elves behind her. They really should.

“Archers!” A man wearing full on shining armor, probably the Commander, shouted and the assembled knights moved to give way to the archers. If only the mages didn’t shoot a column of fire at them, Alex would have snort at the sloppy show of coordination from the archers he called. They were clearly nervous. If it was because of their scare tactic or the fact that they were in the Land of the East, she wasn’t sure.

Yes, Alex, search for the silver lining in the clouds. A voice that vaguely sounded like Abel sang in her head.

This whole magical and medieval thing was starting to mess with her head. Since when did Abel became a part of her conscience? Was her friend even qualified as one?

Where is that woman, anyway? Her eyes wildly search for her friend that was somehow missing in action.

“Return to your cages or we will force you!” The Commander of the Knights said, voice billowing in the dark night.

The archers move to prepare their bows and arrows. Just as Alex’s heartbeat started to pick up again.

She bit her lower lip. They can’t run. She can’t risk any of them getting hit by that fire again, those arrows or anything the mages could throw at them. Nor they can return. No way in hell she’ll let them return in that cages starving and dehydrated on the destination of god-knows-where.

“Stay where you are.” She ordered, racking her head of what to do. Her brain was traitorously giving her nothing.

“And yes, I’m talking to you Elves.”Alex continued, once again catching their nervous shifting.

“What do you propose to do?” The same feminine voice that caught her attention in the Elven cages asked. “We cannot run with the mages after us. Even if we could, we cannot hope to win against the caliber of magic their mages have.” A pinch expression marred the almost ethereal face of the Elven woman.

Alex found the woman strikingly familiar as she stood by her side. The feeling has been nagging on the back of her mind ever since she caught sight of her.

“Indeed, you cannot. Now, be a good elves and return to your cages.” The Commander gestured to the cages with a confident smirk on his face that Alex wanted to wipe off with the butt of her gun.

“No.” Alex answered for them. Thank God, her voice came out as firmer as she thought even with her knees light trembling and mind incapable of thinking a way out. God, she can’t give up on them. Not when freedom was close with her friends waiting for them. Besides, the notion of her being caged like an animal sends a repulsive shock in her system.

“You’re not an elf.” The mage with the lighted staff observed. A pause and his eyes narrowed. “Then you must be the witch we have been hearing about.”

This time, it was the assembled of knights that shifted in alarm and confusion. Alex could actually feel the Elves heads snapping to her direction simultaneously.

To think such a simple word, one their world recognized as an insult made the people of Gaia afraid.

It made her wonder if she does look like a witch. So far, she saw normality on her face on the mirror not some old crooked and witchy face matched with an enormous mole on the tip of her nose.

Maybe, the Maleficent-kind of witch? Does she even look like one?

Nevertheless, she doesn’t have magic to be considered as such. The thought passed through her head the moment she caught sight of Abel slinking between two tents, a male elf trailing behind her.

What the hell?

They were hidden from the sight of the assembled knights and mages but close enough to the Archers. Who is that with Abel?

“Are you the witch who killed the bandits in the EmberWoods?”

“No.”

That was totally Abel but she was not a witch. Alex thought, focusing her gaze back to the mages.

“Then how do you explained the Elves escaping from enchanted locks and cages, the death of our comrade with a single hole in his head, that piercing sound and the voices in the forest if you are not a witch and doesn’t have magic?” The mage advanced, his staff threateningly pointed at them pulsing with something she could only identify as magic. “Do you take me for a fool?”

Alex ignored his questions, glancing at Abel’s hidden form as her friend took aim and pulled the trigger without so much a warning.

The gunshot rang loud in the clearing, echoing through the woods and making all those who was unfamiliar of the weapon literally jumped from the sound.The mage fell dead with a thud, splattering blood and brain tissues on the ground. His companion eyed his body in shock, light flickering from his staff.

Slowly, the remaining mage lifted his head to look at her. Like he was blaming her.

“Shoot her!” The Commander shouted, stepping back with wild eyes. His face contorted hideously under his helmet in anger and terror. A finger pointed at Alex.

Why me? She thought indignantly, her body tensing for the incoming arrows.

It never came. For the strings on the archers’ bows snapped simultaneously as they pulled, rendering their long-range weapons useless. The Archers stared dumbly at their broken bows, eyeing each other with trepidation.Abel’s side plan had made some sense to her now.

“Well, use your swords and kill the Witch!” roared the Commander. The knights took a moment before they started marching, swords and shield on hands. Their movements quickly turned to outright stampeding.

“O’ light grant me the power—!” Alex’s eyes snapped back on the direction of the other mage chanting. The light on his staff pulsing. She tried to point her gun on him but with all the knights stampeding on their direction and the distance between them, the bullet won’t hit him.

She slowly took a step back. Mind blanking for moment. The beat of her heart synchronizing with the rapid footsteps of the knights.Their movements were so much alike in the movies. A rallying force of shining armors and swords. Seeing it in real life was terrifying.

“Lex, what the f**k are you doing?!” Abel’s voice snapped out of her trance.She never noticed the woman popping out of her hiding place with her gun pointed on the remaining and still chanting mage. She couldn’t hear him anymore. “Get moving, dammit!”

She didn’t need to be told twice. “Everyone, run!” nor the Elves.

Once again, gunshot rang in the air. Darkness engulfing the clearing and halting the knights on their pursuit.

Alex mentally cursed as she was forced to adjust into the dark once again. The crescent moon escaping from the river of clouds above them provided a little light in the dark. Uncertainty and dread was thick in the moonlit clearing.

“Keep moving!” Alex urged, huffing in and out. Her eyes strained in the dark, flashlight traveling from one silhouette to another but mostly focusing on Geneva’s carrier. God, they were really fast. The only reason she could keep up with them was their daily morning jog and Kara’s competitive streaks.

The trick about fighting mages was they needed to finish their magic before it can unleash hell on their opponents. According to Kael, the mage who finished his magic first wins. He had warned them to stay away from any mage’s path because once their magic was finished, they’re dead. She vaguely remembered Abel snorting at his warning and told him that if they’re talking about speed in battle, nothing can beat a bullet in the head. Oh how she loved Abel’s ability to find a simple solution to a complicated problem.

They reached the forest, elves scrambled quickly with unbelievable adaptability in the dark forest that she envied. The low hanging branches smacking on her forehead and scratching her cheeks to emphasize her humanity.

A chill traveled up to her spine as shrieks and screams of terror echoed through the woods. Alex could also hear something snapping and cracking around her. It sounds familiar. Ominously so.

She gasped, tripping on an upturned root. Shrieking shrilly when something rough and prickly slithered on her hands, rickety sounds filling her ear. The scent of wood and dirt wafting in her nostrils.

“Holy Mother of God!” Alex exclaimed standing upright, shaking off dirt and whatever on her hands and clothes. The hair on the back of her neck was on standing ovation. She focused the light of her flashlight on the moving roots on the ground, extending towards the dark clearing where the screams are the loudest. The moving roots formed a barrier or some sort against their pursuers.

“God, Kael.” She breathed out, heart beat wild. It was a good thing the Elf was on their team.

“ALEX!” the sound of her name echoed through the woods. By the high pitch sound, she easily recognized it from Kara. Her heart leaped despite the loud noise.

“Simmer down, Kara!” She heard Dein snapping on their youngest. “You’re making too much noise!”

“Lex!” Tabitha came out skidding on her right, haggard and panting. Her friend’s flashlight focused on her face, making her squint her eyes. “Are you okay? You’re good, right?”

Alex nodded, not trusting her voice at the moment. Her heart was clenching painfully. It felt like she's going to have a panic attack which was ridiculous, she was already safe. They were already safe.

“Where’s Gen?” Kara asked, once she and Dein jumped out of the bushes. The youngest give her a quick body check, having satisfied with the lack of injuries she nodded and step away.

“Concussed with a broken arm. She got hit by a Golemn.” Alex reported, feet moving automatically on the direction of Geneva’s carrier. “First aid has been given but still I want to make sure. She should have broken more than an arm with the impact.” She hissed, feet marching towards the body of their fallen friend.

“A what? No wait, don’t answer that. I don’t really care at the moment. Have she been unconscious?” Dein asked, hurriedly following behind her. So does, Tabitha.

“Not that I know of.” She bit back another frustrated growl. She had been neglectful on her friend’s condition because of the life-threatening situation. It was unacceptable.

“She has been in and out of it.” A male voice said. “Barely aware of what was happening.”

That was then, Alex noticed the Elves gathered around them, silver eyes fixated on them and waiting.

Her flashlight traveled on their bodies, from the torn clothes, busted lips, bruises and wounds. She stopped, “We need to get to the camp and start treating their injuries. We can’t stay here.”

Dein hesitated for a moment, fingers twitching with the urge to check up on Geneva. A feeling Alex could deeply sympathize with. “This way.” Dein quickly swerved movement stiff and hurried to the destination of their camp. She didn’t look back.

“Fen was waiting there with the horses.” Tabitha followed suit. “Come on. Women, children and the injured first.” The tall woman urged, catching the indecisiveness in the Elves.

“They’re my friends. As you already know, we’re here to help you.” Alex said for the sake of courtesy and to ease their wariness.

“You’re a witch.” One said.

“Who says?” Kara asked, already frowning.

“Kara.” Alex admonished. She quickly turned an apologetic look on the Elves.“You got it wrong. We’re not witches.”

“You lie.” Another said.

Oh god. What is this? Was it really hard to believe that they're not witches? She doesn't want to waste any more time arguing about their specie when Abel was out there still fighting. Worry gnawed deep in her gut. She was well-aware of what Abel was capable of, a highly trained soldier who fought and survived in the front-lines but it was not enough to ease her.

People die everyday.

“We don’t have time for this.” Dein hissed, head whipping on their direction. “If you got a problem with us then take it on Kael. He’s the one who asked for our help.”

There was wariness in the Elves' eyes. Like they were expecting them to be lead on a trap. Irritation rose, entwining deeply with her worry. What is with this people? She understand they got issues at the moment but God, don't they know help when they see it?

A beat, enough to simmer her irritation to anger.

Alex bit her lower lip, utterly tempted to throw something to any of them.

And then, the eerily familiar Elven woman stepped forward. “Witches or no. They are our saviors. If my son deemed them worthy of his trust so I shall.” She continued moving forward, bare feet swiftly skimming on the rough ground like it was water. “We must hurry. Our enemies might reach us.”

Alex stared at the woman. No wonder she looked so familiar.

Kael's mother. They do look alike. So much alike.

"Lex!" Kara snapped at her, making her jump. The youngest was already helping an injured Elf.

"Shit." Alex cursed her nerve-wracking brain, already moving to help out.

She sent a prayer above for Abel's return, alive and still in one piece. As always.