Arrows kiss

**BING! BING! BING!**

The morning bell's final ring jolts me awake. Sunlight slices through the cart's canvas, illuminating floating dust motes and the mildew glistening on the wooden planks. Around camp, bleary-eyed mercenaries stumble about like reanimated corpses, rubbing temples and muttering curses.

I spot Aiden perched on a log, grimacing as he forces down another spoonful of that gods-awful porridge.

"Hi Aiden," I call, stretching the sleep from my limbs. "How's the morning treating you?"

He swallows with visible effort. "Better than some." A jerky thumb points toward a nearby oak where Julianne kneels, her entire frame convulsing as she vomits spectacularly into the bushes. "Told them not to challenge me to a drinking contest."

A snort escapes me. Julianne's answering glare is impressively venomous for someone currently worshipping the dirt.

I slump onto the log beside Aiden, who shoves a bowl of that cursed porridge into my hands. The sludge stares back at me, its surface congealing in the morning chill.

*"Make sure to enjoy it,"* Aiden says, grinning around his own spoonful. *"You'll need the energy for today."*

I steel myself. *Down the hatch.* The gloopy mess slides down my throat like a frog trying to crawl back up.

Julianne approaches, her face still pale but her stride steadier.

*"Hey Julianne,"* Aiden calls, *"ready for a duel?"* His smirk evil.

*"Yeah... no. Not today."* She collapses onto a crate, rubbing her temples. The admission sounding painful.

My spoon clinks against the bowl. *Two days without watching them spar.* The disappointment sits heavier than the porridge in my gut.

**"EVERYONE LISTEN UP!"**

The merchant captain's roar sending crows fleeing from nearby trees. His polished boots kick up dust as he storms through camp.

*"You all look like shit! What part of 'don't take it easy' slithered through your drunken ears?"* As punishment, we move out NOW! Get to your positions before I dock your pay!"*

The camp explodes into frantic motion. Julianne groans like a dying animal but hauls herself upright. Aiden winks at me as he tosses his empty bowl into the fire.

*No time like the present I guess.* I scramble after them, the captain's threats still ringing in my ears.

Hours crawl by in the creaking cart. With Julianne having confiscated my splinter—*"No more 'training' until you learn moderation,"* she'd growled—I'm left with nothing but the rhythmic clop of hooves and guards' grumbling.

I edge closer to the canvas flap, catching snippets of conversation from the escort riders:

*"Man, the captain's being a right bastard today,"* one guard mutters, rubbing sleep from his eyes. *"Barely got a bite in before we marched out."*

His companion snorts. *"I know he's always so tense. Like what bandits would be stupid enough to attack us."* He pats his sword hilt. *"With ten knight-ranked swordsmen we might as well have 'Screw Off' painted on the wagons."*

A third guard's voice cuts through the grumbling: *"Hey, look—we're finally clearing the forest!"*

I poke my head out of the cart

The caravan passes through the last veil of tangled branches, and suddenly—

**Light.**

Golden sunlight spills across an endless sea of wind-rippled grass, rolling over hills that rise and fall like a sleeping giant's breath. And there, far off in the distance, is giant stone towers catching the afternoon sun:

**Galespire.**

A heartbeat of stunned silence—then the caravan **explodes**.

*"YESS!"*

Rips from a dozen of throats at once. guards click their boots in excitement, even the horses seem to step livelier. After weeks of dark shadowy forests and horrendous food all cheer in relief

The leader whips his head around, his face flash from exhaustion to annoyance and then anger. *"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT KEEPING YOUR GU—"*

**Silence.**

An arrowhead glistens between his eyes. Time stretches as his mouth hangs open, the unfinished word still shaping his lips. Then—

**Thud.**

His body slides from the saddle like a sack of grain.

**"GET DOWN!"** Aiden's voice tears through the sudden chaos.

I don't think—just **move**, hitting the hard wooden planks of the cart.

**THOK-THOK-THOK!**

Arrows pepper the carts like deadly rain. Splinters explode near my face. Somewhere, near a man gurgles.

A breath of unnatural silence—then the world erupts.

**THUD-THUD-THUD.**

The ground trembles under approaching boots, the rhythm syncopated with panicked heartbeats. Then, the war cries hit:

*"GUT THEM ALL!"*

*"LEAVE NO ONE BREATHING!"*

Metal shrieks against metal. A wet *thwack*—someone's last gasp cut short. The copper stench blooms thick enough to taste.

My mind screaming to move but my limbs refuse feeling as if every muscle I have turned to stone while my mind screams:

*MOVE!. MOVE!!. MOVE!!!.*

Julianne's voice shreds the battlefield—a raw, guttural sound that detonates in my chest.

**No thought. Only motion.**

I'm at the cart's edge before I realize I've moved. The scene burns into my vision:

**Guards swinging at shadows and bandits with Bodies slumped in unnatural angles pouring deep red blood and finally my eyes locking onto Julianne on one knee, blood painting her armor, two bandits closing in**

**Crimson floods my sight.**

The image of her corpse—*lifeless, cold*—flashes behind my eyes.

**"NOOOOOO!!"**

My body **ignites.** Every step *tears* at my muscles, fibers screaming as I **surge** forward. An arrow finds my hand—*when did I grab it?*—and then I'm **airborne.**

**THUNK.**

The arrow buries into the first bandit's temple. His companion whirls—

**WHUMPF.**

His boot steals my breath, ribs *cracking* as I skid across dirt. Gasping, I look up—

**Our eyes lock.**

His widen. Mine **burns a dark crimson light that pulses from my irises, painting the world in blood hues.

His sword rises-a silver arc destined to split me in half-

SCHLICK.

Julianne's blade punches through his throat from behind, the steel tip glistening inches from my face.

"Forgot about me, you bastard?" she snarls, twisting the sword.

The bandit chokes, blood bubbling over his lips. His final word dies in a wet rattle:

"Biiii-"

The body collapses, revealing Julianne behind it-face streaked with dirt and blood covering one of her eyes.

The crimson haze bleeds from my vision—suddenly an ungodly amount of pain rips through me.

Every muscle **snaps taut**, burning like ropes of hot iron. My knees hit the dirt. The world tilts.

**Thump.**

Darkness swallows the edges of my sight. Distantly, I register my face hitting the cold ground.