| |
In the morning I found Midnight between Jonathan and Alec. “Morning,” Alec said. “Morning.” I yawned.
“Good morning,” Jonathan said. Why was he so cheerful? We ate breakfast, but I wanted to throw up my food. My head felt cloudy and I just couldn’t think.
Jonathan and Alec dressed in their uniforms. Jonathan looked good in uniform. Why am I noticing that? We exited the cave with Midnight and headed toward the village and The Dragon’s Cave. They didn’t say anything about me going with them. They knew they wouldn’t have been able to stop me.
Stefen greeted us. “Ah, you are here. Good. You will follow the others, they know the way. Eva, you go with that man there.”
I shook my head. “I am just saying goodbye.” He stared at me. “I was not chosen.”
“Oh. Ah. Yes. Right...” He nodded and left us.
“Fight well,” I said to Jonathan and Alec.
“What? No good luck?” Jonathan asked.
“It’s bad luck in my family to tell someone good luck when they are going to fight in a war.”
Alec shook his head. “Why? It’s not a bad thing.”
I will not cry. “Actually, it is. You don’t know how a battle will go, and your goodbye will be the last thing... the last thing... you tell them.” I barely managed to get the words out.
Jonathan nodded. “All right. So, go to the cave and—”
I shook my head. “I am not going back to the cave.”
Alec asked, “Where are you going then?”
I will not cry. “Midnight and I will wait here.”
From their looks on their faces, you’d think I suggested taking a bath in the mud. “You are joking,” Jonathan said, and Alec said, “It’s dangerous.”
I scowled at them. “I can defend myself, and it doesn’t matter if anyone sees me. It never mattered. I am not a wanted person.”
“Right. Thank you, Eva. Be careful,” Alec said, and then he did something that surprised me: he hugged me tightly. I will not cry.
“You know, most women cry when someone goes to battle...” Jonathan said. It was true. All around us, women were crying.
“Not me. You can’t cry when someone is leaving on a mission. You have to be brave and say goodbye properly because that means you believe in them.”
He smiled. “So, you believe in us?”
No matter how frustrated he made me, I did believe in him. “Always.”
He beamed.
“I am going to see which direction we are going to take,” Alec said and walked away.
“Huh? Why would he want to see what—” Jonathan kissed me. I did not see that coming either.
The kiss was like falling into a lake, but it ended soon. Why did I care? I shouldn’t be kissing him either. I scowled at him and he smiled. I saw the golden wings, but this time there was a halo too. What was happening? He ran after Alec. They disappeared into the crowd and moved outside of the town, leaving me alone. A girl with a cat. That was what I was. I sat on a rock. I cried. Midnight accompanied me with sad meows. They would come back.
I didn’t know how much time had passed. Hours? Minutes? I just sat there, trying to breathe, and gazed at the sun and the sky, watching it change colors. I knew it was past time to eat, but I was not hungry. Midnight gave me a fish. Yes, she could catch fish. What? You thought she could only eat fish? I cleaned and cooked it, and we shared it along with some bread I had in my pocket. I gazed at the sun again. A loud rumble came from the ground. What was going on? Demon? But demons didn’t usually pop up from the ground.
I looked around me. Spanish soldiers came from one side of the street and other people—I think Hope People from up the mountain—were on the other side. No one said the battle was going to be here. I was on my feet at once. “Run!” I yelled. People closed their stalls and ran to their homes to lock themselves in. I climbed into a tree in the woods, taking Midnight with me. I wanted to be able to see, and maybe that way I could help. I readied my bow.
“I see we had the same thought,” a voice said.
I looked toward where the voice came from. A young girl, not more than seventeen years old, was in the tree too. “You should run,” I said cautiously.
“You too, but you aren’t doing it.”
I looked at her. “I have reasons to be here.”
“I am here to help my mother. She got chosen.”
Women didn’t go to wars, so her mother must be the healer who was chosen instead of me. “I am sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.”
“Actually, it is.”
She stared at me. “How so?”
I tightened my lips. “It should have been me. I am the best healer—no offense—and I wanted to go.”
She looked at me like I was crazy. “It still doesn’t make it your fault. Why would you want to go there?”
I won’t cry. “Because I could have protected them better.”
“Who do you want to protect? Your father?”
I couldn’t tell her that I didn’t know him. “My friends.”
She raised her eyebrows. “What about your family?”
I shook my head. “It’s a long story, but they are somewhere safe away from here. Get ready and fire when I tell you to. The red uniforms are Spanish. How skilled are you with that bow?”
“Um, a bit. I go hunting in the woods when we can’t afford food.”
“I see. Wrap your legs tightly around the branch so you don’t fall.” Meow. The girl points her arrow at Midnight. “Don’t shoot! It’s my cat.”
Her eyes widened. “You brought your cat here?”
I shrugged. “She could be killed down there.”
“You could have left her at home...”
“I don’t have a home here, little one.”
“That’s sad. You have seen the soldiers before?”
“They chased us. We got away. The king is crazy.” I summarized the whole situation.
When I finished, she smiled. “That’s what my father says. Where do you live now then?”
“In the woods.”
“You are not afraid or cold?”
“My friends are with me... and we have supplies.” I readied my bow. “Get ready.” I waited for her to copy my actions. “Shoot in the front lines before they rush. Now!” I shot one of my special arrows—a sonic arrow—into the middle of the Spanish. Their lines broke.
“Wow. How did you do that?”
I grinned and shot another arrow. “Keep shooting! It’s a sonic arrow. It makes a terrible sound, you can’t hear a thing, and then boom! Down they go.”
She continued shooting arrows while we talked. “When this is finished, you are going to tell me... where... to get them.”
I laughed. “You can’t. I make them. I will make you some if we survive.”
She shot another arrow. “Deal.”
The armies collided. I used normal arrows so I wouldn’t destroy the Hope People. I tried to spot Jonathan or Alec, but I couldn’t recognize them in the crowd. Were they even there? They had to be. More arrows hit the Spanish soldiers, and I looked at the other trees and saw more women with bows. And they said women couldn’t fight. If we won this war, it would be because of women. Another group of Spanish soldiers was heading this way from a different direction, but nobody had spotted them.
“Oh, no you won’t!” I shot an exploding arrow at them, and it took them all out.
“That’s great. I want that too. How many special arrows do you have?
“Enough but if they continue to show up like this, I can’t do much.” I heard a whistle from my right and turned. A woman in the next tree made a gesture to say “good job.” I smiled and we continued shooting arrows. Two more groups of soldiers entered the fight, and I shot exploding arrows at both groups.
An arrow whistled by my head and thudded into the tree trunk. It was a Spanish arrow. We had been spotted. More Spanish arrows whistled through the air, and I unleashed smoke balls to cover us up and give to the other women time to leave. “Come. We are switching trees.” I took the girl in my arms and Midnight hopped in her arms. I jumped from tree to tree until I settled on one. When we get into place, I saw the others had done the same thing.
The girl’s eyes widened as she grinned. “You are great. You should be the queen.”
I laughed and prepared to shoot another arrow. She reminded me of Ritta. “My name is Eva by the way. What’s yours?”
“Alicia.”
Midnight hissed. I looked down and almost had a heart attack. “Oh no.”
“Who’s that?” Alicia asked, having seen the object of my terror.
“It’s the Red Death. The Spanish’s best weapon and fighter. His armor, they say, is made out of the blood of his enemies, and that’s why it’s so red.”
Fear filled her eyes followed by determination. “How do we kill him?”
I shook my head. “We don’t. He can’t be killed. His armor is from steel that weapons can’t surpass.” I almost said he couldn’t be killed by mortal weapons but caught myself in time. The Red Death was a story in my world. The rumor was he had sold his soul for that armor and that he was unbeatable. The steel was not going to be beaten by mortal swords.
“So we can’t stop him?”
“You can’t, but I can.” I grinned. You stay here with Midnight and don’t come down for any reason. Understand? If Midnight comes down, you don’t. You stay in here. If they start shooting at this tree, you change tree. You know how to jump, right?” She nodded. “That one is near you. Don’t choose a tree that’s too far away from you, or you will fall. Promise me that you will stay here.”
She nodded. “I promise.”
“I will take care of that chunk of metal now.” I jumped and landed on a soldier’s shoulders. The soldier yelped. Luckily, it was one of the Hope People. “Sorry.” I started jumping on peoples’ shoulders, using them as a bridge.
I landed into an empty space near the Red Death. There were no soldiers within several feet of the Red Death. Even the Spanish were afraid of their weapon, the Red Death. A soldier was coming toward the Red Death—it was Jonathan. I shot a sonic arrow toward the Red Death, and he turned toward me.
“Who dares to challenge me?” the Red Death boomed.
Everyone nearby ran. Jonathan saw me and yelled, “Run! Get out of here, Eva!”
I ignored him. I wasn’t taking orders from anyone. “I do,” I yelled.
“Ha! A woman? You should have stayed at home cooking and cleaning.”
“You shouldn’t have sold your soul.” With my knife in my hand, I ran toward the Red Death.
“You can’t kill me with any of your mortal weapons and certainly not with a petty knife,” he bellowed.
He was in for a surprise. My knife was not a mortal knife; it was magically enhanced. The story I knew said that the Red Death had a weak point. It was time to find out if that was a myth or truth. Before he could blink, I ran to him, climbed up him like a cat, and I stabbed him on the top of his shoulder.
“Ow!” he yelled. He tried to catch me, but I was moving constantly and always changing places. I stabbed him again and again in the shoulder.
The Red Death growled, “You insignificant insect. You can’t kill me. Nothing can kill me.”
Stabbing him in the shoulder had no effect yet. Sometimes a legend was just a legend. I made the blade of the knife cold like ice and stabbed him again.
He yelled and screamed like an animal being slaughtered. “What did you do?” He tried to catch me, but he couldn’t move his arm now. I gave a final blow and he started to wobble. I jumped down and he fell to the ground, and his armor melted. Beneath the armor was a short man, shorter than me, like a child. There was the deadly weapon of the Spanish: a short man that could harm nobody.
Jonathan reached me and stared at me in surprise. “How did you do that?”
I smiled. “Poison and a legend.”
“Remind me never to make you mad again.”
“I don’t think that can ever happen.”
“What legend?”
He didn’t know the legend? “The legend about the Red Death?” He shook his hand. “You don’t know it? My mother used to tell me and Ritta legends and stories of true facts so we would know what to do when we met them.”
He took my hand. “You should get out of here.”
“Out of here? You came here. And it wasn’t what you said you would do.”
“I know, but we met them in battle, and they started running toward here. We had to save the city.”
I scowled at him. “Oh. You had to save us, you leave and now you have to save us. That would have never happened if I was there.”
“Eva! You have to get out of here.”
“So, do you.” I ran and climbed into the tree Alicia was in.
“You were amazing.” Alicia grinned. “How did you kill him?”
“Poison.”
“That was great. Who was the boy you were talking to?”
I sighed. “One of my friends that has the habit of breaking my nerves into pieces.”
She giggled. “My mom says that if two persons argue it means that they care for each other.”
It was like I was hearing Ritta. Like I needed any more reminders of my confusion.
We shot arrow after arrow and I let little Alicia shoot some sonic arrows, but we were very careful not to harm anyone from our side. The battle was almost over when I spotted some soldiers in shiny black armor.
“Who are they, Alicia?”
“You don’t know?”
I shook my head. “They are not Spanish.”
“No one seems to know where they are from, but they came from the mountains. The legend says they breathe poison, and from wherever they pass, the land withers.”
Maybe another sold his soul to the Devil? What was going on? Did they gather all the supernatural and powerful forces to defeat us? Why? Did they think we were not human? “Anything else I should know? Any weak points?”
She nodded. “But I don’t think you can do it. It’s just a legend after all... They say that if you cut their heads off and torch them they will stay dead. Otherwise, they will come back to life.”
“That’s too easy.” I smiled. “Stay here. You promised,” I reminded her.
She nodded and I jumped once again. The soldiers fell around the black knights; some of the legend might be true. I came across Alec.
“Eva. What are you doing here?”
“No time. Do you have any spare swords?” He gave me one. “Wish me luck.”
He stared at me. “Why?”
“I am not good at sword fighting, and cutting off heads is not one of my good points.”
“Which one?”
I pointed to the black knights. “Don’t touch them and don’t get closer than you have to so you can cut off their heads. Understood? You will die instantly if you touch them, and we will lose precious time.” He nodded. “Just cut off their heads.”
I stabbed the Spanish close to me while he ran toward the black knights. I had an advantage over the soldiers because when they saw I was a girl, stopped to look at me, and then I struck. Meanwhile, Alec swung his sword faster and faster, lopping off the heads of the black knights. He yelled, “Done,” And ran back to me. Even though Alec had cut off their heads, their bodies remained standing. I shot an exploding arrow that passed through each of their bodies and ignited them.
“There was something wrong with these knights.”
“Selling your soul to the Devil is a bad thing.”
“I guess it is. Why are you here? I mean, I am sorry, I know it’s not according to plan but—”
“But I have to save you again just like always. Do I have to yell at you too?” He shook his head. “Good. Stay alive. Both of you.”
He smiled. “Yes, Madam.”
I ran back to the tree and climbed up. Alicia grinned. “That was pretty clever. Is that your other friend?”
I nodded. “He doesn’t make me mad. He’s very kind and helpful.”
Spanish soldiers were still coming, so we continued to shoot more arrows. An arrow came our way, and I put my arm out to intercept it so it wouldn’t hit Alicia. Don’t ever get hit by an arrow—it hurts.
“Are you all right?” Alicia yelled.
“We have to go.” I took her and Midnight, and I jumped several trees. I landed on one that already had a resident in it.
“Are you all right?” the woman asked.
“Yes. Can you take care of her while I introduce myself to the soldiers shooting arrows?”
“Yes, I am her aunt.”
“Great.” I looked at Alicia. “Don’t forget your orders and take care of Midnight—my cat.”
She smiled. “She has a lovely name. I remember my orders, and I will take care of Midnight.”
I jumped to the ground and I healed my hand a little. I spotted the archers and I took them down, one by one. Almost no one was left; our combined powers were working.
“Eva. Are you all right?” I nodded to Jonathan. “You saved us with your arrows. I didn’t know you were that good. I thought Alec was exaggerating.”
I smiled. “It wasn’t just me. All the women of the city have taken positions in all the trees.”
He laughed. “If we win, it’s because of you.”
“Duck!”
“Where? Keep it away from me!” His gaze darted around.
Unbelievable. He fights soldiers and he’s afraid of ducks? I pushed him to the ground and shot the soldier behind him with my arrow, and he fell. “You are being stupid,” I said.
“If we win, it’s because I am being stupid?”
I scowled at him. “Yes. No. Ehh... You are out in the open.”
“And you are not?” He scowled at me.
“No. I have the trees and my guard is up.”
He smiled and we went back to fighting again, and then someone yelled, “It’s over. There isn’t any Spanish left.”
Jonathan turned to me and smiled, but his smile melted. “What is it?” He gave me a hard push, and I crashed to the ground. I sat up and took a deep breath. “How dare you—”
Metal glinted in the light as the soldier behind Jonathan stabbed him. “No!” Jonathan had pushed me away to protect me, and now it was my turn to protect him. I ran to the soldier and stabbed and kicked him. He laughed at me, so I stabbed him again, but that wasn’t enough for me. He had stabbed Jonathan, and he would pay, so I slit his throat. I am not usually that vicious with humans. Attacking my friend is a capital offense. I ran toward Jonathan. “No, no.” I searched my pockets for something to heal him. I had to heal him.
“Eva. Eva, look at me.” He took my hand. “It’s all right, I have been saved enough times, and I have been given enough second chances. You can’t save me every time. Just tell me why do you hate me so much?”
I started to cry. “I don’t... hate you.” I sniffled. “You just do stupid things and take stupid risks. How do you want me to react? I care for you and I don’t want you to die.” Tears streamed down my cheeks and wouldn’t stop.
“Don’t cry for me. It’s all right,” he said in a weak voice.
“It’s not all right,” I yelled.
“You are pretty when you are angry,” he said, and then I felt it. His eyes continued to look at me, but I knew that I had lost him.
“No!” I yelled.
Thunder and lightning tore the sky apart and rain poured down. I couldn’t stop crying. Was the rain my tears? I didn’t know. I felt warm. Shouldn’t I feel cold? When you lost someone, didn’t your heart become cold as ice? I watched my hands. They were turning silver. What was happening? My hands touched Jonathan’s chest wound and it disappeared. What happened? My hands were their normal color once again.
Alec ran over. “Eva! What happened?”
“He’s dead,” I said and started crying again.
Alec touched Jonathan’s chest and then his eyes widened. “Eva. He’s still alive.”
“But he was stabbed and then he was dead.”
“His heart still beats.” He placed my hand on Jonathan’s heart and I felt a weak thump, thump and froze. He is alive?
“What does he need, Eva?”
Alec’s words brought me back to reality. “Can you raid Stefen’s shop? I need all the herbs you can find.”
He smiled and ran toward Stefen’s shop. Alec returned with a basket containing all the jars, and I chose the correct ones, made what Jonathan needed, and gave it to him. I sat back and watched for any changes in Jonathan’s condition. “I don’t understand. He was dead.”
“I believe you, but maybe a miracle happened.”
A miracle... humans believed in miracles. Why couldn’t I believe it, then? I was a good healer. Couldn’t I tell the difference between a person who was alive and one who was dead?
Alec cut branches from a fallen tree, and we made a bed with the leafy branches. We didn’t want Jonathan lying on the ground. “Can we move him now?” Alec asked.
“Let’s—” a cat yowled and startled me. I had not seen any other cat here except for Midnight. I looked for her and saw a Spanish soldier had stabbed her in the leg and had his dagger raised to stab her again. “Stop. Stop hurting my cat,” I yelled. I had almost lost Jonathan, and I didn’t know if he would make it. I would not allow anyone to take my cat from me. “I said stop hurting my cat!” Everyone turned to look at me, but I didn’t care. I ran in front of the soldier and put my knife to his throat. “What did she ever do to you?”
“I am hungry. I will eat cat,” he said. How cruel. “You. Will. Not. Touch. My. Cat.” I kicked him and stabbed him, and when he was unbalanced, I stepped back from him and threw my knife, which split into three knives that stabbed him. I turned to Midnight. “Will you do the honors?” She gave him a huge scratch on his face, and he fell. “You will never think of eating a cat again. Not now, not ever.”
I picked up Midnight and walked over to Alec and Jonathan. I fed Midnight some medicine and bandaged her leg.
“Wow. No one shall attack your cat again after that,” said Alec.
I checked on Jonathan. “He breathes, but I didn’t heal him. He must rest and we shall see.” I did not save him, or did I?
“He will be all right, Eva, and you do what you can. We should be grateful...”
Why am I not grateful? “I almost got him killed... he tried to protect me from someone that came from behind. If I hadn’t been so busy talking—”
“But we heard the ‘it’s over’ speech. We all let our guard down. It could have been anyone... don’t blame yourself.”
But I do. I am a witch and I should have sensed him coming. I heard a groan and turned toward Jonathan who opened his eyes.
Jonathan groaned again. “What did I miss? Did we win?”
Alec nodded. “Yes. And no Spanish soldiers are left.”
Jonathan smiled. “You killed the last one?”
Alec shook his head and smiled. “The last one was killed by a girl and a cat.” Jonathan laughed and tried to get up. “You killed the last one? You are making us look bad.”
I put my hand on Jonathan’s chest and pressed him back to the bed. “You will never do such thing again!” I stood and put my hands on my hips. “And you will not stand until I said so. Are we clear?”
He nodded and I saw I had scared him. Good. Maybe he will stop and think before he goes idiotic again. I turned to walk away, and Alec said, “Where are you going?”
“To help more people.” As I walked away, I heard Alec talking to Jonathan. “Seriously, what were you thinking? You are not going to make her like you that way, I can assure you.”
I helped people who needed it, but I didn’t speak to anyone. The other healers were nowhere to be found. When I healed people, they smiled, and when I saved people near death, they were grateful and said I was an angel. But I am not an angel. I am a witch who can no longer control her head or her heart.
“Mommy. Mommy. That’s her. That’s the girl who saved me.” Alicia was walking with the other healer. The two approached me and the other healer said, “Thank you for saving my daughter, and it should have been you. In the selection, you were not selected, but you did the job anyway and in a perfect way. Why didn’t you insist?”
I shrugged. “Thank you, but fair is fair.”
“Did Stefen know you were the best?”
I nodded. “I and my friends warned him about the threat, and he took action.”
She raised her eyebrows. “You did all those things, and he didn’t select you anyway? That’s rude.”
I shrugged again. “We are women in a world of men... What to do?” I was too tired to have any conversation, and it seemed she understood that.
“Alicia told me you live in the woods. Do you want to stay with us? Until you want to leave, that is...”
“Thank you, but one of my friends was injured and...”
“Then you can all come. We live in the blue house.”
Alicia asked, “Is he injured very badly?”
“He can’t walk yet, but I think it’s mostly pain.”
Alicia jumped up and down. “You can come, and we will take care of your friends, and you will make me the arrows you promised.”
“I will go and tell them, then.” I went to Alec and told him about the offer.
“That’s great. But what about our things?” Alec asked.
I gathered the basket with Stefen’s herbs and Alec helped me put Jonathan on my back. “I will go get our things once I leave him at the house. And give him Midnight, he has cat duties.”
Jonathan protested, “I have a name, and why do I always have cat duties?”
“Oh. When you were calling her ‘the cat’ was that nice? And the answer is because you are injured.”
Jonathan scowled. “Next time, Alec, you get injured.”
Alec and I talked while I took Jonathan and toward the blue house. We attracted a lot of attention. A girl carrying a boy was not a common sight.
“How come you weren’t injured, Alec?” Jonathan asked.
“Because I am smarter than you,” Alec laughed.
When we reached the blue house, Alicia greeted us at the door. “Come in. Oh. You are very strong. How can you carry him?”
“I just can,” I responded.
“This way,” Alicia said and showed us upstairs to a room big enough for three people. The walls were blue with waves painted on them. “What are your names? I am Alicia.”
Before the boys could give their real names, I said, “This is Lex and the injured is Jo.”
“Are you going to use my name?” Jonathan whispered.
“No.” He threw his hands in the air.
“I like the waves,” Alec said, obviously changing the subject before Jonathan and I started arguing.
“My mom drew them.” Alicia grinned. “She is an artist.”
“Eva draws too,” Jonathan said. Did I detect a tone of pride in his voice? “How come you get to keep your name?” Jonathan whispered to me.
“Because I am not a wanted person. You are. Lucky you.” I whispered back.
Alicia beamed. “Really? Wow. You are a healer and a fighter and an artist. Is there anything you can’t do?”
“Fight with a sword.” She laughed, and I put Jonathan in the padded chair in the corner. “I am going to get our things. You two stay here, and you have cat duties.” I put fingers to my lips and I hoped they understood they must not say too much. I walked out of the room.
Before the door closed behind me, Jonathan said, “The girl just doesn’t like to be saved...”
No, I didn’t and I hated losing friends, but I still didn’t know what had happened with Jonathan. If Ritta were here, she might know what happened. “Ritta,” I yelled in my mind, hoping she might hear me.
