King of Darkness and The White Flame

Chapter 11

The time grows closer and nobody seems to be moving. I was told only the 16 of us that are here were allowed to cross. The rest needed to be left behind. I still have no idea how to make sure of that without letting someone in on this plan. I cannot trust anyone. Well, that isn't entirely true. I can trust Lilith, but she'll never allow me to kill or m**m anyone. I know that for the war, we'd packed bombs. Perhaps, when nobody was looking, I might use one. 

"We need to start moving." I tell Lilith and Jessie, who are sitting around a fire that Bear and Atticus just made. Ranger was patrolling the forest perimeters with a few other soldiers that were with Jessie. "There is really no time to be sitting around fires. Get your things," I start picking up people backpacks and walking toward the forest ahead. If memory serves, there should be three rows of trees and then the wall. Hopefully there aren't many fallen trees ahead to walk over. Lilith might be slow trying to get over the tree stumps. 

"What is your hurry?" Lilith gets up and almost trips. She tries to catch up to me. "It's getting dark, the wall isn't far. I'd like us to be through the wall before the sun sets."

"Ok, I suppose that makes sense." she calls everyone together, and since the sun is already starting to set, they all race to catch up to me. I'm already at the entrance of the forest. I stop to check how far they all are. They're all close. Just beyond, I see Hunter. He'd just exited the other forest. My nerves kick up as I wait to see who else is behind him. I see no one. Very strange. I'm running out of time. I turn and head into the forest. The rest of my company not far behind. We cross the three rows of trees quite easily with very few fallen stumps in our path.

"There's the wall." I whisper to myself. I feel my anxiety kick up a notch. I'm so close. When I reach the wall I cross over and wait for everyone else. One by one they all cross over the wall. Everyone but Lilith. I count everyone. Then count again. I search their faces and still don't spot Lilith. It's getting darker and I know my time is up. I go back through the broken hole in the wall. I have to see where Lilith is, or else all of this isn't worth it. 

"Jo, where are you going?" Jessie calls behind me.

"Lilith! Where is she?" I ask him in return.

"Uh... has anyone seen Lilith?" Jessie asks around him. Through the mumbles and groans we hear "no's" Jessie's face is filled with panic. 

"I need to find her." I tell him.

I run back as fast as I can. Faintly, not far from our path I hear "Help!" I race over and see that Lilith has fallen into a shallow hole. 

"I've hurt my ankle." she says from the ditch. 

"Everything ok here?" Hunter says next to me. "I saw you running, thought something must be wrong. I came to help." He explains. Only then does he spot Lilith in the ditch.

"Oh! Lilly! We'll get you out in no time." Hunter's tone and nickname for her grinds me up the wrong way. I'm so enraged I'm not thinking rationally and want to push him in the ditch instead. Then I hear a crow cry. And I realize the time. The shadows of the trees become longer, almost shielding the light of the moon who had just appeared above. Lilith screams.

"What?!" I turn myself around in a circle to see if she spotted something behind me. I thought they might already be here. 

"A spider!" she screams again and tries to get up but ends up falling back down again. "We need to get her out of there." I tell Hunter. 

We both reach in. Hunter pulls Lilith by her one hand and I pull her other. The crow caws up above our heads and this sends a chill down my spine. They're close. I can smell them. 

"We need to get out of here." I tell Hunter. He must sense my fear because we both yank as hard as we can. Almost sending Lilith flying and falling on top of us. We scramble and I have Lilith under her left arm, while Hunter takes her right. Lilith limps and we assist in getting her through the hole as quickly as possible. I hear a snap behind me and realize this is my chance. Hunter and I hand Lilith over to Bear, who decides to pick her up and carry her. That's great. I think. They'll be faster.

"Run ahead with the others." I tell Hunter. "Don't look back and don't ask questions. Get as far from this wall as you possibly can." He's about to open his mouth to ask something, when we both hear a low growl. He nods his head frantically and joins the group. I watch as he ushers them on to move faster. I take three explosives out of my bag. Pull the pins out of each of them and lay them at the foot of the wall. This should send the wall and all of the trees nearby crashing down and blocking anything from crossing. I run as fast as my feet can take me. When I've reached the group we all hear a loud BOOM!!! 

People scream and run faster. When the debris had stopped falling and we'd all gotten as far away from the wall. I turn back for the first time to see if I had been successful. In the distance I see that the wall was completely blocked. Nobody else can cross over into the wilds. Not the monsters, nor the people I had sent Hunter to tell that we'd found a way through. My mission was complete. I'd left those people to die. I'd saved my Lilith. I should feel happy or even just relieved. All I feel is remorse. I feel sick. 

"Are you ok?" Hunter asks "You look pale Your Highness."

Just when I'm about to dismiss his accusation I turn to my left and toss the contents of my stomach on the ground. Nobody else sees or hears anything as they all forge ahead. Hunter and I are the only ones walking right behind the group. He tries to help me but I shoo his hand away. He hands me a cloth instead. I wipe my mouth and take a sip of water. Great. Now I'm officially just like my mother, who's responsible for killing the masses.