Abandoned (Born From Shadows #2)

He felt like his heart wasn’t working anymore. Panic was pumping through it, not blood.

“What’s with the yelling?” Vivian asked now awake. Riley’s eyes were raking around the woods.

“She’s gone. My sister is gone,” he answered. “We need to find her.”

“What?” Vivian said and looked around. “Shit, where would she go?”

“You don’t think she went into town?”

“Freya isn’t stupid,” Vivian replied.

“Then where is she!” He yelled. Gods she was everything to him, he could not lose her. He needed to find her before someone else did.

“I can smell something weird…metallic…” Vivian looked at him in shock. “It’s blood.”

“Hers?” he wondered a million thoughts rushing through his head.

“I’m not a dog, I don’t know,” she snapped.

He ran a hand through his hair. “Let’s follow it,” he said and got onto Ida after quickly untying her reins from the tree.

“I thought we’d just stand around and smell it,” she sarcastically comments.

“This is not the time for your stupid jokes,” Riley snapped. “My sister is missing. She could…I need to find her.”

Vivian stepped up to him, considering her smaller frame the intensity in her eyes was clear to him. His rage matched hers. “I care about Freya.”

“Then stop arguing with me and help me fucking find her, we don’t have time for this,” he growled. Vivian turned away and started to follow the path of blood. Riley got onto Ida closely following behind her.

He didn’t notice the trees passing them by nor Ida’s pounding hooves against the forest floor. He could just see his sister’s face. The girl that had been with him longer than anyone else. He couldn’t let that picture in his mind be the last time he saw her.

Worry stripped away time. Riley began to pray to all the gods, yet even his belief didn’t help his fear.

Not her. Anyone but her.

It felt like every nightmare he had ever had was coming to life. He couldn’t fail her like he failed his other sister. Not again. He wouldn’t be able to go through that again.

Vivian began to slow.

“Why are we stopping?” he demanded. “We need to keep going, we can’t stop.”

“The town is right over there,” she stated. “That’s where the blood is coming from.”

“What are we waiting for?” he asked. “We need to get her.”

“You walk in there, you are dead. I walk in there I am probably dead. We are no use to Freya dead.”

“I don’t care, I need to get to her,” he responded.

“Riley, one thing I have learnt over my life is that…you can’t control everything. We stay here, we mourn, we live. We go in there, she is probably already…and we risk our lives for nothing. It hurts. I know it hurts, but we can’t do anything-”

“You know nothing!” he yelled in outrage. “You Elves act so above it all. Above emotions. Above pain. Above love. You live for so long you forget what it means to fucking live. Freya is my life, and if she dies I die. If I don’t try anything I am still dead, don’t you get that!” he shouted.

Vivian looked away in shame, he wasn’t sorry for yelling at her. He didn’t care as a tear rolled down her cheek.

He got off Ida, leaving the horse there as he walked towards the village that was hidden within the trees. He heard Vivian behind him whose footsteps were almost silent.

The village was surprisingly empty on the outskirt, however, he could hear loud noises not too far away. It seemed everyone was gathered for something, a ceremony. An execution.

Riley quickened his pace.

He could see the mass of Elves, all with their backs turned not noticing him. His human eyesight and hearing meant he couldn’t see or hear what was going on, but it was something worth cheering at.

Vivian gasped behind him. “Riley,” she whispered.

“Don’t talk to me,” he replied.

“Riley, they’re going to kill him…” she said.

Riley kept pushing through the crowd, no one was paying him any notice yet. Eventually, he got into a position on the side of the street and climbed up one of the trees with a low-hanging branch.

Only from there could he see.

In the main area stood Kayter with a knife of Kaddeian steel pressed against his throat.

Riley never really liked the Elf…but what happened next wasn’t right. He didn’t deserve it.

“Mortalisk var léya,” the golden-haired Elf shouted with the slide of his blade straight through Kayter’s neck. The healer fell to the floor. His eyes dilated as blood poured from his neck.

“No,” Vivian breathed just as a female scream cut through the chants of joy. He didn’t know how he missed it.

Standing not too far from the fallen body was Freya, her hands bound, her head bloody, her screams ignored. The Elf with the red blade walked over to Freya.

Never in his life had he been so scared. He didn’t think twice. Riley jumped off the tree and began to push his way through to the front of the crowd.

A hand-held onto his arm and yanked him back. He tried to release himself from the grip but to no prevail. “I need to stop them.”

“Are you willing to do anything for her?” Vivian asked.

“Yes,” he panted.

“I’m sorry. This is going to hurt,” she replied and tightened her grip on his arm. Her hand began to glow. It was like the air was being sucked from his lungs, his breaths became shortened, and his muscles weakened.

“What are you doing?!” he yelled. He looked around and saw the Elves collapsing to the ground in groups at a time.

“Get her now,” Vivian said her body and mind in extreme concentration. Riley released her grip, but he could still feel himself draining energy. “Hurry. If I hold them any longer, you die.”