009. "Ambush."
As nice as the springs were that afternoon, we soon had to leave.
In the room where we undressed earlier, our clothes were left nicely folded in three separate stacks. Washed, cleaned of any filth, and dried.
Putting on my cloak, it felt just like when it was first given to me by my mother. Smooth, clean, refined.
Cyril and I had several layers on to keep ourselves warm from the cold air outside. Lily meanwhile just had her regular outfit with her corset and her heavy cloak.
I guess she took the cold air better than the both of us.
Stepping out of the building and back into the alley, a carriage with two horses waited out front for us. Several individuals on horseback surrounded the carriage.
"Transportation and escort as requested sir." A man said, standing in front.
"Excellent." Cyril looked around the carriage. "Is this going to give us enough protection on the way there?"
"It should be enough, we'll have teams of two behind and ahead of us to warn us of any trouble coming our way." The man replied.
"Hmm... Very well. Let's depart."
"Please." The man opened the side door to the carriage, Cyril stepped aside allowing Lily and I in first.
Stepping in, the carriage was furnished in luxurious dark fabrics with a tinge in red all along the floor and seats. Warm, smooth materials.
"This is nice." I said, running my hand along the seat.
Lily sighed.
"It's not up to my standards." She said. "Our last one however was burned to ashes."
My stomach dropped.
"I'm sorry, burned?"
Lily nodded.
"Bounty hunters set it on fire to force me out, it worked, but I don't think they were ready for me."
She gave me a small sinister smile.
I blinked and remained quiet allowing her to continue.
"Cyril has been the main target for a few months. I want to hope this trip will go smoothly, but us walking through town likely attracted attention from someone."
"The men will do their best to warn and protect us dear." Cyril said, stepping in and sitting next to her.
"Warn us, at best." Lily scoffed.
Outside I could see the man from earlier step to the top of the carriage and soon the two horses at the front were pulling the carriage and taking it along it's course.
Lily sat against Cyril, looking out the window while Cyril looked to me.
"How are you doing? Vivian?" He asked.
How was I supposed to feel that this carriage was likely a target for bounty hunters and mercenaries?
"Nervous." I said.
"Just follow what we say and you'll be fine."
"I'm just... getting use to all of this is all. How do you two sleep at night?"
"I keep a pistol and a few blades within arms reach." Lily said.
Cyril laughed.
"I just rely on Lily for protection usually."
"Right..." I looked out the window as the seaport town rolled passed us.
We all sat there in silence as we went along the ride. The loud sounds of the town soon left us, following along a road into the woods.
It was quiet, minus the sound of the carriages wheels rumbling along the rough road.
"So... what is this base we are heading to? What's there?" I asked.
"It's our home, we have it well barricaded with walls, plenty tents and small buildings with the main building-"
"Sir! Madam!" I could hear from behind me, a small muffle from the man outside.
"Vivian." Cyril said, pointing to the small door behind me. "Open it."
I nodded sliding it open, a small enough opening that we could talk to the driver from our cabin.
Lily got up and sat along my seat.
"What is it?" She yelled.
"I see several men on horses ahead of us! They aren't ours. No warning signal-"
The man's sentence was cut short, the sound of bullets came through the carriage splintering wood.
"Cyril! Get down!" Lily lunged from my seat, pulling Cyril onto the floor and throwing herself on top of him.
I could feel my heart racing, the sound of more splintering wood along with distant bangs.
The screams of the horses could be heard and our carriage came to a stop, tipping forward throwing me against the wall and falling onto the floor next to Lily and Cyril.
"Fucking Goddesses." Lily sneered.
"Everyone okay?" Cyril asked.
"Fine." Lily said, not bothering to check herself looking to me. "Vivian? Uh oh."
"What is it?" I said as both Cyril and Lily were looking at me.
I could feel a sharp pain coming from around my left arm, a wet sensation running down my shoulder. Looking at it, I could see blood staining my white dress shirt.
"Oh..."
I got... shot?
"Vivian, look at me." Cyril said, getting up and looking directly at my eyes. "Don't panic, okay? We need to put pressure on that wound."
I could only nod as he tore a piece of fabric from the window blind and began to wrap it around my arm tight.
"Cyril, we need to get out of here now before we're surrounded." Lily said.
"Vivian is coming along with us." He said.
Lily shook her head.
"Either she can catch up with us, or stay behind. We are putting ourselves at risk staying here any longer. We need to go. Now."
Cyril tightend the torn curtain around my arm, then glared at Lily.
"Lily... Last I remember, you don't tell me what to do. Understood?"
Both Lily and I were quiet looking at him.
"Y-yes, of course." She said, looking away from Cyril.
I was taken aback from how Lily's tone suddenly shifted, much less Cyril.
...I've never seen him like this.
Soon we could hear several horses surrounding our carriage.
"CYRIL!" a man yell outside. "We have you surrounded, we have been ordered to take you in alive, if you come out unarmed, we will spare everyone on board."
Cyril clenched his fists.
"and did you spare any of my men?"
"..."
Silence from the man outside.
"Of course..." Cyril sighed, getting up from the floor.
Lily remained on the floor, not visible from behind the windows going for a storage cabinet under her seat. Pulling out two single shot pistols. She undid her cloak revealing two long daggers along her belt.
"Vivian... stay in here." Cyril whispered. "We'll take care of these hunters."
Lily remained still on the floor, keeping herself out of sight.
"Alright gentleman, you got me." Cyril said loudly, unlocking the carriage door.
"Come out slowly!" The man yelled. "Who else is in there!?"
"Just two women." Cyril shook his head. "One of them is injured, I commend whoever managed to kill my second-in-command."
"Both of you then, out now!" The man yelled.
Cyril sighed, looking at me.
"Vivian, can you get up?"
"Y-yes..." I said, getting up slowly. I raised my right arm, my left slumped down showing where the bullet hit.
I looked out the window to see six men in front of us, all with long range single shot rifles pointed toward us.
"Vivian... Forgive me." Cyril whispered.
"What for?"
"For what is about to happen."
Cyril grabbed me by my cloak and tossed me onto the ground. In an instant, he suddenly vanished. Several shots from rifles rang across hitting the carriage. Whizzing above me.
"Where did he—" The man yelling at us earlier immediately went silent, his throat was cut and blood ran down his neck.
"Shit! Keep your eyes open! He's using dark magic to hide himself!" One man screamed, pointing his rifle in various directions.
Another man screamed, he fell onto the ground showing several wounds along his back as his blood spilled along the ground.
"He can't use the spell for long." The previous man said. "Dark elves can only use their magic for a short time before becoming mad."
"Then how is he able to—" A shot rang from the carriage, a bullet impacted along the side of the man's skull. Killing him instantly.
Lily leapt out of the carriage, tossing her one pistol aside and shooting the previous man in the chest with her other pistol. He fell onto the ground screaming.
She took a dagger from her belt, tossing it with incredible velocity towards another man in the throat. She lunged at the last man with her other dagger in hand.
The man she faced was reloading his rifle as fast as he could, but it was too late as she stabbed him multiple times.
In seconds, Lily and Cyril managed to kill six men with ease. They stood there for a moment only for Lily to turn to me.
"Vivian!" She yelled.
"Huh?"
I felt an arm wrap around my neck, taking me by surprise as one more man was alive.
He pulled me up, with a pistol pointed to the side of my head.
"YOU TWO! WEAPONS ON THE GROUND!"
I could feel him shaking. Or maybe it was the both of us, all I know is I was one shot away from death.
Lily and Cyril looked at the man, with Cyril raising his hands. Dropping his knife.
"Sir... you are outnumbered. If you let her go—" Cyril said.
"Shut the FUCK UP!" He placed the muzzle of his pistol directly along my head. "Weapons on the ground, BOTH of you! Or this dark elf dies!"
Lily looked to Cyril, he nodded to her.
"Do as the gentleman says, Lily."
"Tch." She tossed her single dagger aside, still covered in blood from the last man she killed.
Cyril kept his arms raised.
"We're unarmed sir, please let her go."
The man shook his head.
"No... you are coming with me. Come with me and these two women will live."
Cyril shook his head.
"That's not going to happen."
The pressure of the guns muzzle began to dig deep into the side of my skull.
"C-Cyril, please..." I said.
"Vivian," Cyril slowly began to walk toward us. "Remain calm and listen to what I have to say."
"No, you two will listen to ME or she dies!" The man yelled.
Cyril sighed.
"Okay sir, you win." Cyril stopped, standing in the center between the man and I and Lily at the opposite end. "I'll go along with you, just let her go. Please."
Cyril looked directly at my eyes.
'The spell Vivian...'
I heard Cyril's voice, like he was whispering into my ear. But his lips weren't moving as he stared directly at me.
'Do it. This man is going to kill one us if you don't.'
The man with the gun let me go, shoving me aside as he pointed his pistol directly at Cyril's head.
"You son of a bitch." The man said. "You killed my comrades."
"We were just defending ourselves."
The spell...
Does he mean... the same one that got me banished from the Kingdom?
"FUCK YOU!" The man yelled, stepping up to Cyril with his pistol. "Fuck the reward, I should just kill you now."
"Over my dead body!" Lily yelled.
The man pointed his pistol to Lily.
"That can be arranged you fucking freak!"
Won't the spell affect both him and Lily as well?
Is that a risk I can take?
"Dark Elves... Vampires..." The man said, shifting his pistol between both Cyril and Lily. "All your kind are cursed."
Cyril was right.
If I didn't do something, this man was going to kill one of us.
I whispered a few words in elvish. My eyes glowed with a purple aura and I held my right hand out toward the man.
and...
He dropped his pistol, falling onto the ground screaming in pain as he gripped his torso.
"What..."
Lily said, falling onto her knees. Gripping her chest. Showing she was in visible pain as well.
Cyril only stood there, the spell having no effect on him. He looked down at the man, with the man looking up to see Cyril giving an evil smirk.
"You can call us whatever you wish." Cyril said, kneeling down at the man. "Your left behind corpses will be the sign for your comrades to never make this mistake again."
As I casted the spell, I could feel a sharp pain moving along my arm that soon faded.
Then... the man stopped screaming.
He was dead.
Cyril immediately got up, turning around and wrapped his hand around my wrist..
"Vivian, stop."
I continued with the spell, staring at the corpse of the dead man in front of me.
...
I killed him.
Cyril's grip on my wrist tightened.
"Vivian! Stop now or you are going to kill Lily as well."
Doing as he said, my eyes stopped glowing and I stopped casting the spell.
I felt tears forming as they ran down my cheeks.
I took another life...
"Vivian... look at me."
Cyrils hands were along my shoulders and I looked up at him.
"You did this to protect us, understood? This is not your fault."
"U-understood." I said, nodding as I was crying.
"What..." Lily was panting heavily, remaining on the ground. "The fuck was that Cyril?"
Cyril went over to Lily, offering his hand to help her up.
"The gift our little Elf has." Cyril smiled, helping Lily up slowly.
I looked over at her, she looked like she could barely stand on her two legs.
I kept my eyes closed. I didn't want to look at anyone or anything, only focusing on my breathing.
"Vivian..." Cyril came back to my side, placing his hand along my shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"No... I... I just need a moment. Please."
Cyril lifted his hand.
"Take your time, dear."
"I take it this spell doesn't affect other dark elves?" Lily said, slowly walking up to us.
"I think being a vampire saved your life in this instance."
"I'm still half human." Lily coughed. "My entire body felt like it was being stabbed repeatedly, like my life was slipping away..."
"Sir! Madam!"
A man was running toward us.
Lily quickly grabbed one of her daggers off the ground, ready to toss it at him.
Before she could, Cyril stopped her, grabbing her by the arm.
"Hold on, it's one of ours."
Lily sighed, wiping her dagger along the shirts of one of the dead men and placing it back in it's sheath.
"Comrade, don't yell." Cyril said. "There could be more men around—"
"Where the FUCK were you!?" Lily yelled at the man, interrupting Cyril.
"I'm sorry madam, a few men came behind and shot at us. They only hit my horse fortunately, but they got my partner in the back of the head. I tried to save her... but. She's dead."
Lily shook her head.
"Right... Get over here."
"Yes ma'am."
The man walked up to Lily, smiling.
"I'm glad to see the two of you are alright, those guys were no match for the both of—"
Before the man could finish his sentence, Lily wrapped herself around the man. She bared her fangs and dug them straight into his neck.
"Lily!" I held out my hand, ready to seperate her from the man.
Cyril however stopped me, holding me back as the two of us watched her slowly drink the man's blood.
The man tried his best to push himself away from Lily, but he only grew weaker. Looking at the two of us terrified.
Lily continued, draining the man of his blood until he stopped breathing and tossed him aside.
"Feeling better?" Cyril said.
"Yes..." Lily wiped the blood off her lips with the sleeve of her shirt. "Moron had one job and couldn't even warn us of the danger coming toward us."
Cyril sighed.
"Right, we're taking these men's horses." Cyril patted me on the shoulder. "How's your arm Vivian?"
I stood there quiet.
...how was Cyril so casual about his girlfriend killing one of his own men?
Much less Lily killing someone who was on her side?
Was this what living in the Empire does to others?
"Vivian?"
I came back to reality, looking at Cyril.
"R-right, my arm...I think it's healed. The spell..." I muttered. "It... heals my wounds."
"..."
What did I get myself into?
— Written by Froey. —