Chapter Seven

The night air smelled of honeysuckle and pulsed with the sound of crickets. Though all Faith could hear was the sheer madness, circling her, consuming her, swallowing her. She was weak, body in pain, muscles and bones torn apart, left in a bloody puddle of her own blood, and bile that came hurling out of her almost fully belly. Her eyes burned surrounded by blackness, by darkness circling her head in waves of exhaustion and terror. Only when her back hit the back of the balcony, did the chilly, night air, come down around her bare arms, shivering involuntarily, she gripped the in betweens of the white railing with blood covered fingers, only to cower when deep footsteps came towards her. Reveling the dark haired Cardin Crow, as he walked quickly towards her. ''Stop fighting me!'' he said, trying to pull her wrists towards him, her heels grinding into the stainless surface below her feet. He was in a precarious position, straddling the rail as he tried to lean himself over, following her every movement, till Faith was danling, glinging from the other side. His sharp fingers cut deep into her sides, causing her to scream out in sheer pain, in an attempt to hold onto her. ''Let go of me!'' She yelled pushing at him with one clean, available hand. But he was too strong for her, and in one swift motion, managed to haul most of Faith and himself, over the rail, just enough so the two of them had a couple more minuets before they would start to fall.

I'd never really thought this was how it was going to end for me. I'd hoped when it was my time, I would die, old, and successful in my bed. Surrounded by nothing but the people who cared, loved, and protected me. I should have known Cardin would have something to do with my death, I"d known him to long to not see it before. He was just that fast, to good at hiding, my senses were lost, the way he made me feel was something I only dreamed and desired for. She felt the rise and fall of each breath, then she felt the tears falling, rolling down her cheeks, as she eased into the railing, forwarding her body, with her available hand, she used it to slid down the side of her clothing, reaching into her belt, only to return with the dagger in hand. Faith let out a whimper, sobbing, unaware to the fact Cardin was still there, still able to hear her. As quickly as she could, she turned her head, running her eyes, till she could see him, till she could truly see him. Then she plunged the dagger into his chest.

She cried softly to herself, as his struggles of movement stopped. HIs eyes directed on nothing but her, stunned, as his lips parted, almost into a smile, a twisted smile, but a smile still. ''You just wouldn't stop!'' Faith shouted in sobs, her voice breaking more than she'd like. ''I couldn't let you hurt me, Cardin, I couldn't let you hurt me....'' It was the last struggle between life and death, in which death gained the victory, before she felt Cardin's hold on her begin to loosen, till she felt weighless. The images in her mind flashed into her, clawing and sharaping at her, the reminders of all the deceased reminding her of black blood.

Then she woke up.

No matter if it's easy or difficult to say goodbye, coming up with the right words can feel impossible. But whether she found the right words or not, she still had to say that word, that words to someone she truly felt connected too. Someone she felt she could be herself with, someone who didn't make her feel tangled and alone. For there was one difference between Valdin and Cardin. He could hug her goodbye, look at her smile, watch her eyes light up - all the things Cardin couldn't do from miles away. Her muscles were screaming and burning all at the same time, but her heart was causing her the most pain. The burning in her chest seemed to turn to stone just at the moment when a fireful breeze of wind traveled through her brown hair. Alias was next to her, the whole time. Seeming exhausted and probably felt some residant towards his commander, for the messed up hunting trip gone wrong. His first time out of base, and what happens? Kidnapping and drugging? None of that was ever how she wanted to train a newbie. His eyes looked a little drowsy, black circles surrounded his pale colored eyes, as visible white lines stained underneath his cheeks. His frame was tall, straight even as he walked, but before he could take another step, she slowed her pace, then placed his arm out, slowing him down.

''I need you to talk to me,'' she whispered. ''Are you truly okay?'' Faith bowed her eyes to the ground, as she awaited a response. ''I'm fine, commander, I've told you three times already. No offence, commander? But you don't need to worry about me. I can take care of myself.'' Alias's voice was sore, swore, and full of something that was clear he was hiding from her.

''Faith.''

''What?''

''Call me Faith, no more of this commander garbage. At the end of the day, that is who I truly am.'' Faith nodded her eyes guiding his towards her in a manner only shown by true kindness and caring. ''Alright? Faith it is.'' Alias smiled as he started picking up pace again, as he did, Faith followed. Walking alongside her friend, and survivor as the two engaged in conversation for most of the way, walking and walking till the daylight hours became more and more limited. ''I"ll have to assign a team out there. Someone will need to organize further protection for the camp, I won't allow an Arrow to even get close, let alone a pack of them reading themselves for war. We don't need any of that right now. Most of us are still trying to heal from the first attack.''

''Sounds like a good plan, Faith, just makes sure you warn them, for there could be more at stake. Meaning since there are gods living in the forest with us, who knows what else there could be out there, lurking, just waiting for someone to slip up and be out alone, at night.'' Alias's voice seemed to be shivering, almost shaking as his words escaped in small gapes of breath. Her mouth appeared to fill with honey, spreading with a top layer of tree-spa, keeping her silence, and keeping the truth locked away deep inside herself.

''I don't mean to sound distrusting, but I wonder if they've started planning their next attack? You know, since we left?'' Alias's question just about pushed her right out of her skin, as she stared past his direction. Slumping her gaze back down, her eyes pushed away from him, relaxing till she responded. ''No, Valdin promised me no attacks, no war. He said he'd take care of everything. He wouldn't go against me, I"m sure of it.'' She spoke confidently.

''But how can you be so sure? You only just found out they are living on Earth with us, how can you be so sure he wasn't just buttering you up, to get your trust then betray us?''

''Because Alias, I like to think I still know this planet. I like to think I still can read people, and Valdin doesn't strike me as a person befitting the Arrows. I don't believe he'd want to see any harm come to us, or the others. Besides, if he had some masterplan up his sleeve, he might have just decided you weren't worth it, and kill you!? But here you stand, alive and pretty much well.'' Alias nodded, seeming willing to agree to anything so long as it meant they get back to the base, still alive and well. By the confidence in her voice, she could see she was getting Alias to agree with her. She could see by the way his expression shifted, that she'd been able to pull on his heart strings, she'd made one believer, now that just meant explaining everything to the others, and convincing them all to agree to sharing an alliance with the gods. Especially Cardin Crow. Snapping into unbelievable disgust towards the thought of Cardin, Faith found herself stopping just half way past the forest trailing. She felt her eyes go wide, as she felt her fingertips trembling, shaking, then her shoulders shivered from the sudden breeze of cold. ''Faith?'' She gasped, escaping with a few large, breaths of fresh, cold air, before crying out when the tip of an arrow tore through her. She whimpered, letting out a painful sob, as she dropped. She heard Alias calling out to her, but her heart and head hurt much to badly to be able to form a response. Her vision swam horribly, till she felt blankets of snow being brought down upon her. There she laid, motionless, her body letting out small twitches and her heart going into survival mode, just to keep her alive. ''Commander!'' Another flying arrow went over his head, following up with two more, forcing Alias to his hands and knees, eager to get to her side, eager to do anything to stop the arrow from ripping into her flesh. more than it already had. Her mind swam into the dark place. She knew she was there when she saw Cardin, standing above her, his still, black, coal, eyes gleaming at her in twisted breaths of blood and souls. Cardin Crow was her grim reaper, and he'd come to collect what was meant to be his.

Her soul.

''Now maybe you'll pay attention,'' he said as he threw the end of the arrow he held, down towards her, then it came down, tearing into her stomach, the sound of ripping skin altering her to take another breath of oxygen. ''Betrayal is such a bitch, isn't it, Faith?'' She heard Cardin's dark twisted voice again, his touch grinding into her arm, with cold, clammy, skin, that lingered till she saw another figure, emerge above her. She had to shift her eyes to be able to see them, but when she did, the drums in her chest, fell silent.

''Bastard, how could you work with them?!'' She wanted to shout at him, to threaten him, to get up and fight him one on one. But the biggest thing holding her desire, strongly, she wanted to kill him. Cardin had allied himself with an Arrow. An Arrow befitting the face of a human, lime colored eyes, and a body designed to kill. The jewel he wore, was orange, meaning a lower class fire element. Though she had never truly witnessed an orange jewel on an Arrow before, she was smart enough to realize what the color orange stood for. ''How could you....'' She said weakly, ''How could you betray me like this - how could you betray everyone back home like this? Have you- have you no shame.'' The sound of something crunching just below her chest, told her more pain was yet to come. A part of her knew before the pace could quicken. One of her ribs was probably broken, and it didn't look like to much longer till the others would be as well. She'd managed to escape the horrible pain, but just for a moment, just for a minuet, did the storms in her brain, ease down, the pain in her chest and stomach from both arrows, giving her peace only to force a awful realization in her mind.

She was going to die soon.

She knew death would come for her before the others could learn of the truth. But the saddest thing of all, would be the look on Valdin's face when he learned the news of her passing. Would he shed a single tear for her? Would the others at base morn as their leader, as their commander? or mourn her as Faith Collins, the girl she'd been before taking the title as ''commander''

''I'll let you in on a little secret,'' She heard Cardin's voice whispering closest to her, shredding the darkness she was to be swallowed up in, creeping into the fragile cracks of her mortal bones, as she searched his features. Fury and anger seemed to be twisting into something fierce on his face, beckoning till the edges of his face was covered in shadows, as he gazed at her from the dirt. She slipped her fingers free from the roots, and from the dirt, eager and hopeful, somehow. someway, she'd find her dagger there, awaiting her. If she managed to find it, surely she just might make it out of this alive. But if she didn't, she might just have to plan that reunion with her parents, earlier than expected. ''You're going to heaven.'' Cardin was laughing now, laughing at her misery, at her pain, and at the cold rattling her bones.

''I appericate you trying to make me feel better, you asshole, but I"d feel much better if you didn't lie to me.'' Faith felt snapping pain crumbling all around every inch of her face. This whole time, this entire time, she'd been living a lie. For years, the biggest lier around, had been herself. And now, thanks to today, she finally recognized that to be the truth. She'd been telling herself the slaughtering of her parents was indeed helping her to grow stronger, to better train that little sixteen year old, she'd once been, when this all started. But now, the slaughter of her parents, of her home before the camp, wasn't strengthening her, the truth was, it was destroying her. She was her own downfall, her own worst enemy. She'd been her own enemy this whole time, and only now did she truly see it.

''Lie still! Fine, stay like that then, I'll try not to make things worse for you, Faith.''

Suddenly her mind rolled, the dark colors that had once plagued her from inside, felt softer. And her eyes felt less cloudy, as she felt the warmth circling, addreline being the reason for the drum's melody she heard next. She smelled blood and metal, her mind spun, till her eyes were rolling back into her skull. Her mind was spinning, violently, spinning as did her eyes, rolling back and forth in trailed circles of undiscovering patterns, nobody was able to follow. As sick as she felt, with nausea wavering through ever inch of her, she wasn't invisible to the sound of a thick pair of boots, leading loud and heavy footsteps over to her. Breaking and tearing apart small branches that lay underneath his feet, her mind stretched something wider, as creamy, gold, with edges covered with sparkling hazel, appeared, working the way past her vision. The gold remembered her of wet, just produced honey. How it smelled of heaven, the taste so sweet yet sore, how her taste buds would be overtaken by the powerful sweetness, she could feel everything inside her cheeks and around her gums. Now clearlier than day itself, Faith pushed herself to her feet, a harsh attempt at first, but she'd still managed to stand up, using the rest of the strength and might she had cooked up inside herself, she felt her raw muscles stretch, pulling and yanking till they were doing everything they could to get her out of there alive. In an attempt to flee, in an attempt to escape, alive. She escaped into a run.

The chilly cold air, fell broken all around her. The wind were fair attempts clouding her vision. Everything felt overwhelming as she told herself to keep on going, to keep on running, forward, anything but backwards. The way her muscles stung. The burning pain swimming through her chest, plashed and throbbed, forcing her to bite down as hard as humanly possible upon her bottom and top lips. Her jaw tightened as she was forced to push down any and all pain she felt consuming her insides, consuming and plauging her mind, as the only thing she knew she should be focusing on was to keep on running. Run, to get as far as she could from the hunters who wished she'd died. Who wished Valdin and the others had murdered her, just like the commander wished she had done to the Arrow teen. Hot, burning warmth slid up and down her pale, sickly white skin, taking in the orange light of the warming sun against her skin, till all she could make out was well placed, decoritate, furniture instead of green trees, and bushes she was expected to bare witness too. A bed. A silver, steel, illumion safe plastered to the wall, just bearable to her side vision. The sudden pinch of warm body temperature filled her from the comfort of the bedding all around her. A strong pair of arms wrapping around her bare shoulders, told her craziness. Either she was losing her mind, losing her humanity, or she'd passed out, only to find herself taken in by kind, caring strangers. But as she played with that thought more in her mind, she wasn't sure this to be possible. The first couple weeks since the slaughter, since the first encountering with the Arrows, no other survivors aside from the ones all discovered still alive, in her parents village, had been found. No one ever came to the base looking for shelter. So she'd assumed there was no one else. No one else still alive out there.

She found herself seated cross legged the next time she opened her eyes. She was sitting up, legs crossed, a single strapless bar glued to her chest. Confused and panicked, she pulled herself forward, breaking from the arms around her, breaking from the grip. Turning slowly to the right of herself, eyes taking in the selfish glare of the boy she thought she would never see again. At least not for a while. ''Never again, Faith.'' He whispered, her voice smelled of pain and bleach, his breath smelling of something other than the sweet snack of cinnamon buns he reminded her of, though no one knew of the way he made her feel, at least no one she liked to talk to about it. ''Never, ever, do that again!'' His voice was louder this time, arms tightening, grips hardening.

''Cardin?''

Faith's eyes were full of confusion she wasn't trying to hide this time. She felt herself choking on her feet, till tears started waddling up in her tired, destroyed, sorrowful eyes. ''It's okay, commander. What you were experiencing was just what doctors call as a ''Fever Dream'' Nothing but small illusions created by your own subconscious to play games with you, to make you see things that aren't really there. You are safe now. You and Alias are safe, back at the base, where you both belong.''

''I don't understand any of this.'' She said honestly.

''i know, darling.'' Cardin whispered his hand on the back of her head, pulling her as he was shielding her from everything and everyone. If there was one thing Cardin tried to understand, it was how to comfort. ''Why am i undressed?'' She suddenly asked catching Cardin off guard, till her head was bowed away from him, coming back up for air and sweet air, as she collected Cardin's voice through his eyes.

''I"m sorry again, my darling. But you insisted nothing was better than that.'' Cardin smiled. ''When I carried you back here, you were so out of it, you proceeded to rip all your clothing off! Lucky for me, I managed to stop you from ripping apart my hunter's jacket, before you could have your way with the soft material.'' He wined. ''I only gave that to you to wear, I fully intend to wear it again.'' He said.

''So, what your saying is? You didn't even try to stop me from undressing in front of you, nor did you see anything wrong with this picture? I'm sitting here on your bed, only concealed by my strapless brar and a pair of lacy underwear?!'' Faith wanted to shout, to scream something so furious at him, it would send him away, eager and greatful for the chance to rethink everything. ''The thought never crossed my mind, darling. I'm sorry if i've done something that upsets you, but I honestly didn't see the harm in it? You've undressed in front of me before, remember? Please don't tell me you need me to relive the moment with my words?'' He chocked. Faith felt a shiver of the flames of anger climb up her spine, rattling her bones from the inside to the outside till her gaze dropped from his sight to the white covers below. She sat straighter than usual, Cardin's stare glued to her, as she swore a part of her was missing the warmth of Valdin. Her jaw clenched and she was on her feet, standing, bare feet, the fluffy carpeting of the floor underneath her and tickling her toes. ''What're you doing?'' Cardin asked. ''Come back to bed.''

''Humph,'' she gasped as she was pulled back towards him, the softness from the bed, leading back around the bottom of her knees, as unlike with any strength from him before, this time she felt pain. Rage settled into her, curling her faces and sending all types of swear words she knew into a long list in the front of her mind, as she shouted. ''Cardin!'' Her eyes laid upon him with nothing but unsealed anger and darkness. ''Oh, no you don't!'' He bared his teeth, hissing violently. She ran her elbow into the air, knocking it right into his face, till he shouted out in pain. Her vision bared with smoke and ash cleared, becoming clearlier and more aware than she ever had before, as she crawled from the spot on the bed, to the floor, where she used her knees to get to her footing. Huffing and puffing from lack of oxygen, she heard the sound that came with loud, musty, footsteps. Reaping towards her from behind, she turned, spinning her head to stare past her shoulder, as she smiled. A part of her melting at the sight of Valerian Crow.

''What's going on in here?!'' He asked.

A cold chill crept up her spine as she pushed herself against him. Face against his chest, till his arms wrapped around her back, eyes confused, but a smile pulsing with unbelievable amounts of warmth and safety, in the moment, Faith couldn't think of anyone else she'd rather be with right then. ''Take me to my own room,'' she chocked. ''Please.'' Valerian nodded but remained silence, aside from a small usually angered expression sharpening towards his older brother, who sat sill on the bed, eyes wide, lips strengthened. ''Go back to bed, love, you still have a fever.'' Cardin's words made her sick inside, which felt unusual and strange, for all those times, at his very sight, she thought warm and precious things of Cardin Crow. Now, she wasn't so sure. ''Please.'' She whispered again as Valerian held her all the way past the flooring made of wood, past the dirt and mud of the forest flooring, and to the left side where a cabin looking building complelty built of wood, string, and mud held together like glue, stood. ''You don't need to explain to me right now,'' Valerian told her. ''Just concentrate on getting some sleep.'' Her frame pressed against his, till she pushed herself from the warming surface of him, using up all the strength she had to get into her bed. Vanishing underneath the covers, as she felt Valerian's stare bleeding through the white, old, sheets. Bathed in candlelight, Faith finally managed to get herself to sleep.

''I don't want this world, without you in it. Without you, nothing else matters.''