Kill Me First to Get You

---Katherine---

We sped out of the hills, but our pursuers were hot on our trails. As the path widened, Aaron urged his horse forward until we were riding side by side. "Aaron, do you have my bow?" I shouted over the wind. He nodded, gesturing towards his magical satchel on his back. "Do you think you can take them down?"

Aaron nodded, his gaze steely. "I won't let them catch up to us. I'll give you Charles, and then I'll stop and take aim."

As our two horses drew closer to each other, I made sure Christina was holding onto the reins tightly. I clamped my legs tightly around the horse, and then slowly let go of the reins to receive Charles. Aaron's left leg rubbed against mine every few seconds, but even at such close proximity, the bouncing up and down as we rode made it difficult—and dangerous—to pass Charles between us.

Slowly, Aaron extended his arms towards me, Charles enveloped in them. I secured my arms around the obviously-frightened child and slowly retracted my arms when I felt that I had a good hold on him. Aaron didn't let go until Charles was halfway onto my horse. "Kath, go on ahead. Don't wait for me. They'll have to trample over my dead body to get to you!"

"Be careful, Aaron!" I urged my horse to go ahead as Aaron slowed down and stopped entirely. I didn't go too far, in case he needed back-up. Aaron turned his horse to face our oncoming pursuers. Two of the masked horsemen were far ahead of their comrades and charging towards Aaron at full speed. There was no time for Aaron to pull out the bow and notch an arrow.

I watched anxiously over my shoulder as Aaron let loose a battle cry and charged towards the horsemen, brandishing his sword. As they approached, Aaron made a gesture with his other hand. A strong gust of wind rose up from nowhere and yanked the two men up from their horses. They kicked and shouted as they were held in midair.

Then Aaron killed the wind, and the two men plummeted toward the ground. As they fell in front of Aaron, I saw Aaron's sword flash in the sunlight. Arcs of red flew in the air, and then there were two dead bodies on the ground.

There were still three pursuing horsemen. Since they had seen the whole act, Aaron wouldn't be able to catch them by surprise with the wind. Instead, Aaron swung his bag in front of him, pulled out my bow, and notched an arrow. He waited until the first rider was about fifty meters away, then took aim and let the arrow fly. The person toppled off his horse, an arrow sprouting from his throat. Aaron strung another arrow onto the bow and aimed at the second horseman. He tried to dodge, but the arrow still hit him in the chest. He, too, fell off his horse and stopped moving.

The last horseman was smarter. He took out his sword and advanced slower than his friends. He deflected the first arrow. The second arrow embedded itself on his arm, but that didn't stop him from charging towards Aaron.

There weren't that many arrows in the bag. Aaron drew what was possibly the last arrow and took careful aim. I slowed my horse down and began to turn back. If it came to it, I will run back to aid Aaron and have the children escape.

Twang! The arrow shot out, straight and true. The horseman tried to dodge, tried to deflect, but it buried itself between his eyes. He was dead before he hit the ground. Aaron sat up tall on his horse, the rider and steed standing horizontally across the dirt path as if blocking us from the menaces coming our way. Looking at him from the back, I was suddenly moved at how he was willing to stand in between any danger and me. His strong, broad shoulders reminded me of my father, a great man whom I've always looked up to and admired. 'Yeah. No longer a boy, but a man.'

Indeed, as the afternoon sun cast its rays diagonally across Aaron, the light and shadows coupled with the flat landscape made his tall, masculine contour stand out. I was suddenly infatuated with that silhouette, the form of a man conveying strength, bravery, and loyalty—all admirable traits.

Just as I was lost in my thoughts, Aaron turned his horse back around and galloped back to me. His hair was tousled from riding against the wind, his eyes were sharp, and his expression was just beginning to soften from grim determination. There were fresh blood splatters across his clothes.

"What are you looking at?" Aaron pulled his horse to a stop beside mine.

I blinked, waking up from my daydreams. 'Snap out of it, Katherine. It was just his silhouette. You don't even like him that way.' "N-nothing. Just trying to see if any more people were after us."

"Why did you stop, Kath? I thought I told you to take the children and run." Aaron slung the bow across his back.

"There's no way I'd leave you to fight off any attackers by yourself. After everything that had happened, after everyone else—" My throat tightened as our friends' tragic endings crossed my mind. "I refuse to lose anyone else. I can't lose you too."

Aaron nodded understandingly. His eyes were soft as he said, "But Kath, that's exactly why I told you to run. Like I said, they're going to have to kill me first to get to you. I would lay down my life if it meant you could get away safely."

My breath hitched in my throat. I could see the sincerity in Aaron's eyes, and I didn't doubt for a moment that he meant every word he said. I was captivated by his soft gaze, and I found myself falling in them. For the first time, I began to question how much I liked Aaron—and whether it was purely platonic. My heart rate increased, and my thoughts spiraled down another rabbit-hole of overanalyzing. What if…?

Aaron was smiling at me now. I blinked a few times at him before smiling back. "Aaron, I would do the same for you."

I think we could've spent all day sitting on our horses and smiling at each other, but Charles piped up. "That was so scary! I thought the bad people would get us for sure!" He sounded like he was about to cry.

Aaron and I turned our attention to the children. "Aw, it's alright buddy. All the bad people are gone now." Aaron comforted the frightened child as I passed Charles back to Aaron. "You and your sister have been so brave."

"Yeah, you two are so brave. I think I would've started crying for sure if I experienced this when I was your age." I agreed. "Thankfully, Aaron was able to defeat all the bad guys. By the way, Aaron, I'm impressed with your archery skills. I guess what Matthew taught us came in handy, huh?"

The name rolled off my tongue without thought; yet the simple seven-lettered word triggered a flood of memories, all ending with sadness and pain. I snuck a look at Charles and Christina to see if the name elicited any negative reactions. Fortunately, it didn't.

Aaron cast one last look toward the empty road behind us, and then back at Charles and Christina. "I'm very glad I was able to improve my archery skills. Let's go before any more weird masked people decide to come kidnap you two."

As we resumed our journey and Aaron rode on ahead, Christina looked up at me with a knowing smile: "Do you like Aaron?"

"What?" I didn't comprehend what she was saying.

"Kath, do you think Aaron is handsome?"

I was confused by her question. "Well, he is pretty good-looking—"

"Aaron, Kath thinks you're handsome!" Christina shouted towards Aaron's back gleefully. I quickly covered her mouth with one hand and scolded her for talking nonsense.

"What's that? Did you say I'm handsome?" Aaron looked at me oddly over his shoulder. Charles peeked around Aaron's side and made a silly face. My face flushed.

"No, I said you looked like a pig. Now shut up and focus on the road, dimwit."

Amidst the children's laughter and Aaron's retort, we galloped down the road toward our next destination.