**RAYAN'S POV**
I struggled staying on my feet, luckily I was in a forest with enough trees for me to lean on for support. The blood flowing from my back had started soaking the waistline of my pants, the strength in my legs kept fading as time went by and my eyelids kept getting heavier and heavier.
The deteriorating condition of my body wasn't my concern my concern was finding Elena. Maybe it was the fatigue but it felt like I was walking for thirty minutes but still there was no sign of her or the men who were after her. These woods were silent not even the chirping of crickets could be heard. It didn't help that the forest itself had an ominous appearance, the faint moonlight passing through the leaves of trees didn't help in providing light. The forest was extremely dark and the silence was extremely loud that I could even hear my own heart beat.
"Elena!" I yelled.
"Elena!"
I kept yelling until my throat started to burn but no response and naturally my mind begun assuming the worst, images of Princess being captured sprung in my brain but my mind didn't stop there, no it continued assuming the worst scenario one was the men having their way with her or killing her and these last two were extremely vivid in my mind that it made me shut my eyes and winced as if I was in pain.
Strange I can feel blood spilling from the wound on my back, the cold night air made it throb but the thought of princess getting hurt made me wince. What's wrong with me.
"phew, someone looks like shit," I heard a male voice say behind me.
I quickly turned to see the two men behind me, the men standing behind me didn't bother me what bothered me was that I couldn't sense them approaching. Was the blood loss making me dysfunctional, no I've been through tougher scrapes than this so was it...
"so the armored bastard didn't make it," the mercenary said as a smile spread across his ugly face.
He turned to his companion, "so much for the dark order, couldn't even handle this nobody," he jeered.
Wait nobody, so they don't know that am the grim reaper's assistant, so the bounty placed on me it definitely has a description of me so when was it.. Oh fuck! It must be the day I left princess at the Aeneases the day I killed those mercenaries before heading back. I knew that there was a survivor who had seen me but to even have the descriptions I must be getting rusty.
"but at least he made sure he won't be able to struggle much," His companion added as the both unsheathed the swords from their waist in sync.
"that's right," he said as they faced me.
I straightened up my posture and placed my scimitars one facing in an upward position while the other was sideways. Doing this earned a laugh from the two.
"hmm still fighting when you can barely stand,"
I didn't bother answering, I just charged at them and let my blades do the talking. These two were all bark and no bite their coordination was trash and their swordsmanship was mediocre at best, it was almost pathetic that they thought they could beat me. In three minutes the two were disarmed, on the ground one missing an arm and the other missing a leg.
"huh all that talk only to be reduced to this," I said as I crouched to their level. A few droplets of their blood was on my face. "even if I was blind, lost an arm or a leg you two still wouldn't be a match. Now where's the girl?"
The one missing a leg was grabbing the bleeding stump as his face twisted in pain while the one who was missing an arm had a sinister smile on his face the moment I finished my sentence.
" oh you mean that blue eyed bitch, well you sure you still want her?" he asked as he made eye contact his smile growing wider and wider.
I didn't say anything, I just raised my scimitar and plunged it into his thigh, I felt the blade go through the bone straight to the ground as the man screamed out in pain. The veins on his neck were bulging out that you'd think they would burst. I started twisting the blade in his thigh.
"now where is she?" I asked as calmly as I could but the anger inside of me was enough to make me forget my fatigue and the pain radiating in my back.
"I don't know, I don't have a fucking map of this forest. All I know is we left her bleeding on the ground," he said out loud I don't know if it was the pain that that made him yell.
"oh you should have heard her screams, I enjoyed it, the feeling of her skin..."
I let go of the scimitar and punched him right in his nose so hard that my knuckle got numb, I couldn't let him finish his sentence not that I couldn't but I didn't want him to finish it. He fell down on his back his nosebleeding like a waterfall, I stood up walked to the right side and kicked him right in the ribs, I dropped on his sternum with my knee and I heard a crunch.
"yes dear husband," I heard her voice in my mind as I stood over the bastard.
His breathing was now more of a wheezing sound, I stayed on top of and with the hand that was free, I started punching his face with all my strength. The once silence forest was now echoing with the sound of flesh squishing and the sound of my punch connecting. I grabbed the hilt of the scimitar with both my hands and I started stabbing him, I kept stabbing him so much that his body was now unrecognizable the same could be said about me my entire body was bloody red.
After I was satisfied, I finally got off of him to see the other man crawling away in fear while leaving a trail of blood, he did cover some distance but it was still small, I pulled the scimitar from the man's thigh, this scimitar was cleaner than the one on my left. I took five steps and I was finally close to the remaining leg of the bastard.
I grabbed his heel and pulled him back to me, I raised my foot and stomped him as hard as I could on his back. He coughed up blood, as a whimper escaped his mouth, I bent down, grabbed his shoulder and turned him around so that he was laying on his back. I plunged both my scimitars at both his shoulders impaling him to the ground. He screamed out and tears came out of his eyes.
"where's the girl? Tell me where she is cause even I don't know what I might do,"
"I..don't.. Know," he said.
With those words, I lost it.
**ELENA'S POV**
I followed his orders and I ran, I kept running with our belongings even as my throat burned up and even as I was gasping for breath. I didn't stop but what was slowly eating at me was the thought of leaving Rayan alone to clear my mistake, I know that I wouldn't be much help to him but it still didn't sit well with me so I stopped running my hair stuck to my face and I bent down gasping for breath.
I was deep inside this dark, quiet and desolate forest, for the first time I was alone in a forest, I've always been with Rayan but now without him I finally realize how terrifying this place can be. I can't believe what was supposed to be a joyous day turned into this.
I heard the sound of footsteps approaching fast, I could hear that the footsteps belonged to more than one, so I ruled out against it being Rayan and I quickly hid behind some bushes and as luck would have it. I was standing on top of a small cavern wide enough to fit three people.
I silently slid down and hid in there as I heard the footsteps rush over me and pass. I was too afraid to leave my position so I stayed their for a while. I went through our bags and I found Rayan's sword, I took it out, it was heavy but with it in my hands it made feel safe funny, I always thought it was strange how Rayan clung to his blades and now am doing the same.
It felt like hours until I heard the sound of blades clashing together. He's alive, I muttered to myself, this joy that I was feeling right now was incomparable, the blades suddenly stopped and was replaced with the screams of the men.
I got out from my hiding place and followed the direction where the screams was coming from. I heard the sound of a drum being beat over and over as I got closer.
"tell me where she!" I heard Rayan ask but it was more of an order than a question. Boom!
"tell me!" boom
He kept repeating over and over and when I finally found him, he was on top of a man who had his scimitars embedded in his shoulders. Rayan was covered in blood from head to toe and he was punching the man face harder and harder.
Behind him was something that I couldn't even imagine. His face was a bloody, mash and his body had all his organs exposed. Seeing this made me throw up and the moment I finished, I saw Rayan looking at me his face covered with blood showed something I had never seen before. Relief and happiness.
He stood up from the man and staggered to where I was, it was as if he couldn't believe his eyes. He was now standing inches away from me, he didn't say anything, he just stood there and stared at me.
"fucking royal," he said, "always making me worry,"
Suddenly he fell down and landed on my shoulder.