Ambushed

We arrive at the dormant volcano it's on a hill and there's a path that leads to the base. Rin said on the way here that the path is the only way to the volcano, there's supposed to be some type of magic around the entire volcano that prevents people from entering any other way. We'll be camping at the foot of the hill along the path so well know if someone is approaching.

Rin and everyone else is talking about who will be on watch while the others are sleeping. Rin said I don't have to be on the watch for a couple of nights since it's my first mission. We get a fire started and lay our sleeping bags out, we spend most of the night talking and getting to know each other.

Half of the team uses magic, while the other half doesn't. Half of the team is long-range, while the other half is close combat. A few prioritize healing, some defense, others offense.

Trinity can use magic, she specializes in the wind which is great for defense and offensive, she also uses two daggers said with her wind magic and her daggers she can attack quickly and swiftly. The tall bulky guy uses a two-handed ax and doesn't have any magic. Marx is one of the healers he uses a bow so he's away from most of the fighting in case someone needs help.

"Skye." Rin stands in front of me as I sit on my sleeping bag. "Can I talk to you?" I nod before getting up; he leads me from the others and stops. The sunset so it's hard to see, but I can tell he's serious just by the way he was talking a minute ago. "Forgive me. I wish I didn't have to bring you here."

"It's fine Rin, honestly."

"You don't understand. We have no clue what we're up against, the others have been in the division since before I joined they have a lot more experience in combat than you do. You shouldn't have come out here."

"What do you think of me? Since you got the report since you read what I did."

He's silent for a moment. "It's not my place to say I'm your captain-"

"You're also my friend Rin."

He turns away from me and starts walking towards everyone else. "What I think of you doesn't matter. Let's get back to the group." Rin leaves me alone as he joins everyone else.

Why does it feel like he's hiding something from me?

I decide to join the group, those that are on guard split up while the others start going to sleep. I notice Rin and Trinity are away from us, they must be talking about something. I get covered up in my sleeping bag and fall asleep within a few minutes.

I feel something heavy land on me and jump up coughing and gasping for air. I look around frantically and see smoke covering the area. I look at what landed on me and notice it's Marx, my eyes grow wide and someone topples on top of me. I look around and see Rin. "What's going on?!"

"We're being ambushed."

"By who"

"I don't know, probably the ones that sent the letter to the king" He gets off of me and looks at Marx. "Is he breathing? Do you see any injuries?" I check his pulse, he still has one. I look him up and down and notice that there isn't a scratch on him, I look at Rin and shake my head.

"Orders, Captain?" Trinity runs up to us breathing heavily. "No one's attacked us, but this smoke is making everyone tired and weak."

"Use makeshift masks make sure it covers your nose and mouth. Go!" She nods before running to where the others are. Rin helps me move Marx off me so now he's lying in my sleeping bag; I cover him up before grabbing my swords. "Out of the three guards, he was the only one that was attacked for some reason, whoever attacked him is strong."

"How do you know?"

"How do you think he landed on you? Trinity and I were talking and the next thing we know we see him flying out of the smoke. It's heavy, Trinity has tried to clear it but her magic just isn't enough."

Rin and I walk towards the group and we get handed a mask, it covers our nose and mouth. Were all on guard with our weapons ready, we don't know when the attacker will show themselves but we need to be ready.

"Move!" Rin yells as arrows come hurtling towards us in all directions. Trinity runs out and starts moving her arms around creating a wind barrier around us, the arrows hit it and fall to the ground. Another girl stands next to her and starts doing the same thing creating a wind barrier, they look at each other and nod the barriers combine creating one big one.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

"Now!" Both of the girls make a pushing motion but in different directions, the barrier breaks through the smoke but only for a brief second. Though it wasn't long it did give everyone a chance to spot an opponent.

"Attack! Make sure they don't get the artifact." Just like that we all split up and go into the smoke.

I saw someone on the ground in front of me, I take the risk and throw my sword just as I throw my sword a dagger fly's towards me, I don't have a lot of time but I manage to dodge it for the most part only getting nicked in my arm.

I get pushed to the ground dropping my other sword and hear a familiar laugh; the smoke around him is so thick I can hardly see him. "Hello again my dear, Skye, we really should stop bumping into each other like this." I struggle to get out of his grip but it's no use he has me pinned down. I feel around for my sword and grab it; I stab into the smoke but don't hit anything. When I try to get up I can't, what's going on? "It's no use, thanks to my friends magic no one can touch us, but we can touch you. Funny isn't it?"

He holds a dagger over my face and I can feel his breath on me, he's right on me and I can't even land a hit on him. How pathetic. He takes my mask off and the smoke encircles me, I can feel myself getting weak. I can barely keep my eyes open. He takes his dagger and runs it down my face, I can feel blood running down the side of my face, but I just don't have the energy to call for help.

The assassin laughs as he keeps running his dagger across my face he then moves on to my neck, shoulder, and arms. "I've waited so long to do this. The kings will be so pleased if only Rin could see you now." The smokes effect is strong. Rin….was….right, I shouldn't have come or taken the test….I can't do this on my own. I can feel myself starting to passing out, the lack of blood and the smoke combined are just too much.

Then suddenly I can feel the assassin get off me, I open my eyes a bit and see that the smoke has cleared around me. "Skye!" It's Trinity, she runs to me and holds me up while trying to stop the bleeding. I look over to see the assassin lying on the ground; he's bleeding from his side as he holds it. "Are you okay? We need to get you to the volcano."

"Huh?"

"Can you get up?" I try to stand with the help of Trinity, after a few tries we start making our way to the volcano. The effects of the smoke having worn off, the loss of blood is making everything blurry.

"What about everyone else?"

"They're all out, even Rin. We all got ambushed I was the only one who was able to escape."

"Escape? Is that what we're doing? Leaving everyone behind?" Rin, I can't leave without him.

"No, we're doing-."

"You can't go there!" The assassin is struggling just to walk yet he's determined to catch up to his. He gets his bow and some arrows and starts firing them at us, luckily Trinity has a barrier around us so they all miss. "The kings will not be pleased." Arrow after arrow they all hit the barrier and fall to the ground as we keep walking to the volcano." "I have orders to kill her." He collapses on the ground.

"We'll go to the base of the volcano and then you're on your own, hopefully, you'll be able to walk on your own then too."

"On my own?"

She nods and I look behind us to see smoke still covering the entire area, I hope everyone else is okay.