Sunlight struck us as Octavia opened the doors to the courtyard. We ducked behind some crates, hiding until our eyes fully adjusted. When they did, we peeked over the top only to find the missing human guards roaming the space between us and the wall. They centered around the gates, our only method of exiting. We could find no trees or ladders to make our own path; if we had, they wouldn't have worked anyway. The hillside was cleared of all but a few spare trees, giving ample visibility to everyone. We could make out a little over a dozen human guards from our position. Even one was one more than I was confident in fighting, even with Octavia on our side.
Next to me, Octavia cursed. Quietly but furiously, she asked, "What next, genius?"
My response was heavy with doubt."I have some friends on the outside."
She gave me an unimpressed stare from where she crouched and gestured to the wall. "Enough to deal with them?"
"...maybe." They'd proven to be able to handle themselves, but I was unsure of how they would fare against other trained individuals. Octavia rolled her eyes.
"Umm…I don't think it's going to matter." Aurora piped up from her spot on my back. She raised her hand from its spot around my neck and pointed back towards the castle on our left. Octavia and I followed it to see a group of armed guards marching our way. We cursed, rising from our crouched positions, and sprinted across the courtyard and into the sparsely treed hill. We twisted our way through the branches as fast as our feet could carry us, pounding over roots and carefully maintained plants. The commotion raised the guards' attention by the wall, and a few more individuals split from their spot, helping their fellow guards hunt us down.
Arrows whisked by our faces, blocked somewhat by the trees we'd chosen to hide in. One grazed my arm, and I winced, nearly dropping Aurora. Meanwhile, the thumping of the boots behind us grew ever closer to our backs. Octavia skidded to a halt underneath a willow tree, feet sliding on the fallen leaves. I followed suit. The drooping branches starved off the worst of the arrow fire but would do little to save us from the guards following us.
"We're trapped." She commented, readying herself in a defensive position. I stuck close to her back, clutching Aurora tightly as she shifted on my back, stretching for a better view. The two groups of guards surrounded us quickly; arrow cover dying out altogether. Luckily, it seemed the mage was too arrogant or afraid to have human mage guards.
There was a lull, for a moment, as everyone waited for someone else to make the first move. Leaves rustled beneath Octavia's feet as she shuffled forward, the gunshot starting the race. Absolute pandemonium broke out around us as noise and movement erupted from all sides, a kaleidoscope of total chaos as people shouted and moved. I attempted to keep close to Octavia, losing her in the never ending sword swings. On my back, Aurora was a lifesaver, yanking on my hair like a horse to send me narrowly stumbling out of unseen sword paths.
We dodged and ducked in a dance I hadn't quite grasped. How did anyone survive fights like this? I'd step from the path of one sword and into another to the rapid drumming of my heartbeat. Mistimed dodges stung at my extremities as enemy blades nipped and bit at me.
A sharp, biting pain in my calf, and I fell forward onto my knees, nearly dislodging Aurora as she clung to my shoulders. Someone yanked her desperate arms from my back, sending me staggering onto my butt. I flung myself around, attempting to grab her outstretched hand, missing it by mere inches. She yelled something, her voice fading into the chaos as the guard slung her over his shoulder. She clawed at his face with one hand, to no avail.
Her other hand lifted, something in it glinting in the sunlight. I dragged myself back onto my feet to see her slam the raised hand between pieces of the guard's armor. He staggered, dropping her to clutch his side. She yanked a small dagger out of him as she fell, her face wild. Aurora yelled and gestured furiously at my left as the guard dropped.
A silver blade glinted in the corner of my eye as I threw myself back onto the ground. The blade kissed the tips of my hair as I twisted to view my attacker. Landing roughly on my back, I crab-walked backward as fast as I could, slamming into a tree. He caught up in only a few footsteps, lifting his blade above my head to deliver the final blow.
I closed my eyes, cringing and bracing myself for death as time stretched into an eternity. Metal clanged on metal. When I didn't feel the pain of my inevitable death, I opened my eyes a little. A dark shadow blocked the enemy sword, shaking with the effort of pushing it back. Faust had finally found me. As the guard withdrew his weapon, Faust dropped the tip of his sword and then stabbed it forward, piercing through the guard's neck. The guard tipped and fell to the ground.
"--Hayden!" time exploded back inwards. Unsteadily, I stood on my feet. With Faust and August's help, the flow of the battle shifted, but not the tide. While Faust battled with the guards, I helped Aurora back onto my back, wary of the knife in her hands.
Aurora and I stuck next to Faust for the rest of the battle, watching as a few guards fell, unmoving, to the earth. A second wave of guards drew closer, led by a familiar figure.
"I should have known you lot would be the cause of all this." Rude stepped out from behind the trees a few yards away, his initial approach lost in the chaos of battle. He strode to the soldier Aurora had stabbed, unbothered by the noise and movement around him. With a whistle, he bent down to peer closer at the body. Rude looked back up, eyes widening as he caught sight of the knife in Aurora's hand. He kicked the guard and said, "I'm impressed; I didn't expect you to be able to take anyone out."
Aurora tensed on my back, bristling with anger. I shared the sentiment, anger flooding in a burning wave through my chest.
Octavia, carving her way back to us, was the first of us to react, "Rude!" she shouted, irritated. She opened her mouth to say more but was forced to stop and dodge a sword swipe.
Rude's face flushed red with rage. "That's not my–" he stopped himself, then took a deep breath, clenching and unclenching his clawed fists. My hands gripped tighter around Aurora's legs.
"Nevermind." A cruel glint entered his eyes, flicking over us briefly before resting on Octavia. Like a cat ready to pounce, his tail flicked back and forth.
He would have been better off going for Aurora and me.