Chereads / Dragonfire / Chapter 25 - (25) Bandit Attack

Chapter 25 - (25) Bandit Attack

"Let go! Let go of me!" Diana shrieked as she struggled against the man that was currently wrestling her on the ground.

Roxane heard a growl emanate from deep inside her throat. She felt a tug at the end of the rope and she was brought down to the ground once more.

"Where the f*ck do you think you're going?" The hideous man that was holding onto the end of the rope said and he jumped down from his horse. He approached her while holding onto the rope as she quickly got back up from the ground.

"You're pretty strong for a b*tch aren't ya?" His dark eyebrows knitted together as he used the weight of his whole body against her to reel her in. She dug her heels and threw her own body to the side, catching the man completely off guard.

The rope burned through his hands and he dropped it to the ground while shouting out a string of curse words.

She led the rope off of her and ran towards the shrieking Diana as she thrashed against her captors.

"Get away from her!" She heard herself yell, a sound a mix between her normal voice and that of a beast. The men around Diana looked up just in time to see her eyes change and they were able to shout a few things before Roxane pushed the main man that had his hands on Diana.

The both of them fell backwards, their bodies slamming into each other as Roxane lashed out with her hand. When her hand connected with the man's head she heard the sound of his neck snapping as it bent at an abnormal angle.

She quickly got up from top of the now dead man. Her cat like eyes went to Diana as she looked back at her from her position on the ground. Roxane realized she must have also been knocked down when she had charged at the other man. She was glad that she didn't seem like she had gotten hurt, but the men weren't done with them yet.

Roxane shot over to stand in front of Diana, her eyes shone dangerously as she lowered her stance. Her nose crumpled up as she growled toward the rest of the men who had gathered around the two women with their weapons drawn.

"She's a monster!" She heard the voice around her exclaim. "That bastard Jeb didn't warn us!" Although she didn't understand who Jeb was, her mind flashed with the image of the mercenary leader they had spoken to just the other day. He had sold them out.

She gnashed together her teeth as a warning whenever one of the men tried to get closer. Her hands were twisted in what looked like human claws and she so desperately wished she had taken the chance when the men weren't near them to transform. Her dragon claws would have been able to cut them all down. Though that also ran with some risks of hurting Diana.

"Roxane!" She heard Thatcher's voice ring out and her head swung to the side and saw him on his horse. He held a blood stained sword in his hand.

She felt relief fill her whole body, but it was extremely short lived.

Her shoulder was thrown back with so much force that it took her breath with it. The pain that blossomed on her shoulder came rushing over her. She didn't have time to register the feathered shaft that was lodged into her shoulder as another one hit to her stomach and made her topple backwards.

She heard Diana's hysterical screams as she called out her name, but the pain she was in clouded her mind. She whimpered as she writhed on the ground. With one shaky hand, she grabbed hold of the wooden arrow in her stomach.

She screamed when she pulled it out of her, but she did not waver.

"Roxane!" Diana was at her side now, grabbing onto her and taking her into her arms. She sobbed uncontrollably when she saw the copious amount of blood streaming from Roxane's open wound.

"No no no no." She repeated the same word over and over again as she pressed down on Roxane's stomach with her pale hand. "This can't be happening." Her hand soon became stained with blood.

Roxane felt herself slowly begin to fade even though she hadn't bled that much. She heard the sounds of combat from somewhere off to the side, followed by Thatcher's grunts. It could only mean he was locked in battle trying to fend off the remaining bandits.

"Roxane stay with me, please don't close your eyes!" Diana's wide green eyes came into her view, looking down at her with a look of pure desperation written plainly on her ashen white face. Then she was taken roughly by her arm.

"Get up!" One of the bandits pulled her away from Roxane. She lifted one hand up to grab hold of Diana in one last attempt but she was kicked down by the man. She yelped out in pain as his boot connect cleanly with her temple.

A stream of liquid began to pour down her face. No doubt blood.

"No!" Diana screamed once more, flailing with her all might as her hand extended out to try to reach her. "Roxane!"

This was it. She thought. This is how she was going to die.

She was far too weak to be able to transform, and she didn't think she could without hurting Diana. There was no hope for her, but she hoped Thatcher would be able to save her friend.

She heard the deafening roar of thunder before she felt it. Magic.

The man that had taken Diana from her was thrown backwards as a flash of lightning crashed through him, creating a large hole in his stomach. Then the man fell down, dead.

Roxane peered over to the side and Diana did the same. Her eyelids floated down as she watched the welcoming sight of the violet-eyed wizard. His black robe fluttered open over his clothes as he ran towards Roxane. A blast of lightning erupted from his palm and knocked into another one of the bandits as his eyes never left her.

She was turned around by Diana's small hands. Roxane smiled weakly with her eyes closed as she felt the warmth of her friend envelope her.

"Open your eyes! Please, open your eyes!" Diana was inconsolably shaking. Her cries reached Roxane as her consciousness was fading deeper and deeper away. The dark abyss kept pulling her further away even as she fought to keep herself from completely being taken away.

"Let me hold her." She felt a new pair of arms around her. They belonged to someone much stronger than Diana. He cursed underneath his breath as he moved her body to inspect her wounds.

"They coated the arrows with much more poison than a normal human would need."

"Poison?" Diana shakily asked.

"Thatcher can finish the rest of them off. Come here, I'll need your Holy Powers if we're to save her."

The rest of their conversation went unheard, as she lost the battle with her own mind. Roxane felt her head sink into the man's arms and the rest of her body followed. Just like that, she was gone.