Violet Fire

For coming together so quickly, the rescue mission was well thought out. We met only a couple of guards and were soon outside of the city limits. I kept close between Damon and Alaric, afraid I would stumble in the dark.

“How come we didn’t take any horses?” I huffed, keeping my eyes on my feet.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Alaric shooting a sharp glance at Damon. “We didn’t have time,” he didn’t sound as if he were being entirely honest.

Before I could argue, my foot caught on a stone and I would’ve fallen forward without the two steady hands that took my elbows. I almost missed the look that passed between Damon and Alaric. Were they glaring at each other?

“Are you all right?” Damon asked me, still looking at Alaric.

“Perfectly fine,” I replied, wincing a little as their grips both tightened. “You guys can, uh, let me go now.”

They quickly dropped their hands and we moved on in tense silence. This was going to be a long night.

I hardly remember the next two days, other than constantly moving and getting very little sleep. Inteus let me ride on his back a few times, saving my aching feet. We finally stopped near the edge of the Great Wood: a sea of green and brown that stretched as far as the eye could see. Next to me, Inteus started shifting from foot to foot, his tail flicking back and forth.

“This is where we must part,” he rumbled, his gaze sweeping over our entire group, but lingering on me.

“Inteus,” Derek laid a hand on the centaur’s arm. “Come with us, Faerie is a safe haven.”

Inteus shook his head, smiling sadly. “I must find my daughter.”

“Then I’m coming with you,” I ignored the shocked expression aimed at me. “I made you a promise and I intend to keep it.”

“She certainly is spirited, isn’t she?” Inteus’ mouth formed a crooked grin. “We shan’t waste time then.”

The village wasn’t very far away, but we waited until it was fully dark before we left the shelter of the trees. We easily avoided the two guards on patrol, slipping into the village unnoticed. I tripped over a pile of shredded wood, biting back a curse.

James pulled me off the ground. “The wolves are getting restless,” he nodded at the wood I had stumbled over. “That used to be an outer wall.”

I brushed myself off as we crept forward. “Yet they only have two guards patrolling?”

James chuckled darkly. “Fewer to be killed if the wolves come back.”

I shivered and made a mental note not to ask James any more questions.

“The village square,” Inteus called softly from up ahead.

I peered around the side of a house into an open area of packed dirt. There was a small pen set up in the middle of the square, with a half dozen bound centaurs standing inside of it. Nearest to us was a centaur who looked to be about my age, with the same dark skin and white coat as Inteus.

“Hesperia,” Inteus kept his voice low.

The female centaur stirred, but fell back asleep. I glanced around, worried that the guards would sound the alarm. James scooped up a pebble and threw it gently at the pen, where it bounced off of Hesperia’s withers before smacking into the wood.

“Who’s there?” Hesperia’s black braid fell over her shoulder as she whipped her head around.

“Hesperia,” Inteus took a step into the square.

“Papa!”

I looked around for the guards once more before striding out into the open.

“Juliet,” I wasn’t sure who the warning came from.

I ducked into the pen just as one of the guards wandered into the square, yawning widely. I searched the square frantically, but everyone else was well hidden.

“Ain’t it a bit late for ya to be up, sweetheart?” the guard drawled.

I slowly lifted my eyes, but the guard wasn’t talking to me. His attention was fixed on Hesperia. Her eyes narrowed, but she didn’t answer him.

“Tis a shame you’re one ah them half breeds,” the guard’s thick voice made my skin crawl. “Ya sure would make these lonesome nights warmer.”

Hesperia took a half step back and the guard reached for the rope that connected her bound wrists to the wall of the pen. I barely managed to avoid her hooves as the guard pulled her roughly forward. His other hand reached out for Hesperia and I shot to my feet, ramming my elbow into his nose. His hand muffled the swearing as he reached to stem the stream of red pouring from his nose.

“So much for stealth,” Evanna huffed, appearing next to us.

“I improvised,” I replied, taking the knife Evanna offered and slicing through Hesperia’s bonds.

The others had already broken cover and were freeing the other centaurs.

“Is there a reason they took only females?” I asked Hesperia.

“You just saw the reason,” she replied wryly. “Excuse me.”

She pushed me out of the way as her powerful back legs crashed into the side of the pen. The wood splintered apart on the third kick, making an opening big enough for the centaurs to run through. Lights flickered on all around the square, and a horn sounded from the edge of the village.

“That’s the alarm,” Hesperia looked over her shoulder to make sure everyone was accounted for. “Come on!”

I took the offered hand, landing softly on her back. Villagers were starting to assemble with torches and weapons when the last of our company was sitting astride a centaur.

“Make haste!” Inteus called, leading the charge as we shot forward.

The streets leading from the square were narrow, forcing us to split up. Hesperia and I were the first ones out of the village.

“Come on,” Hesperia muttered, shifting and pacing as the others came one by one.

Inteus was the last one, pursued hotly by a band of villagers carrying torches and spears. One of the men let his spear fly, heading straight for Inteus’ back.

“Papa!” Hesperia screamed, lurching forward.

I felt a surge of energy course through me, and words tumbled out of my mouth before I fully realized what I was doing. The spear turned in midair, sailing back to its owner. A scream met my ears, but I couldn’t see what happened through my blurred vision. My head spun and the world tilted, I could feel myself falling, then nothing.