I stared motionless at Rellen's corpse. The place where the axe hit now gushing blood with broken fragments of his skull stuck out. My heart sped up. My breathing halted. He's dead.

  Dormin pushed me down as another axe flew past where I once stood. Burying itself in a tree directly behind me before flying back into his hand.

  "Come, children." The words rolled off his tongue mockingly. Now that I could see him, he was huge. His armor barely fit over his body. "Allow me to educate you properly."

  Dormin threw blades at him that skipped harmlessly off his armor. His face went grim and the bandit chief smiled.

  "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Ragnar Atrocly." He said loudly, his voice laced with pride. My breath hitched at the mention of the last name. No–It couldn't be.

  Charlotte moved up fast, swinging at him with lightning striking with her sword. The attack connected in a flash of light.

  When my eyes adjusted, lightning erupted from her sword as she struck again and again at him dodging his blows and swings. Her movements were so fast I could barely follow them. Sword and axe connected hard sending small arcs of electricity and licks of flame out in every direction.

  “You fight well.” Ragnar said calmly as he threw his axe at Charlotte. She parried it, sending it flying into the ground. She lifted her sword in the air and brought it down fast to the ground. A bolt of lightning came crashing down at Ragnar who smiled at the incoming attack.

  The bolt hit with force that shook the ground. Rocks, dirt and dust all came swarming around me. I waved my hand at the dust straining my eyes to see the aftermath. Through the smoke, I saw Charlotte's silhouette. Then something moved behind her. Too fast.

  His axe ripped through her sword arm, Charlotte cried out, her other hand coming up to stop the bleeding. Ragnar walked up to her. His size over shadowed her completely.

  “Be proud. You fought well.” His voice low before wrapping a hand around her throat lifting her up out of the air.

  His hand was nearly double the size of her neck. Arrows flew at him from the trees and bounced harmlessly off his armor. One came towards his face that he caught midair and snapped it.

  "That's quite a good archer you have. I wonder how loudly he'll scream when I rip his arms off." He flexed his grip and Charlotte's face went red. I was suddenly moving up after him with my swords drawn. I lunged at him aiming for his head, he sidestepped and brought his knee up into my stomach. The air burst from my chest before he backhanded me away.

  "Consider that a warning Oren." He said before tightening his grip on Charlotte's neck.

  She kicked and punched him. Her eyes found me and Dormin. Her hand reached out towards us but her efforts were in vain as her last breath left her lungs and her arm fell. He dropped her dead. Her face was blue, as if life was squeezed out of her.

  My throat tightened. Another person I couldn't protect. More and more they pile up. Something in my chest cracked open.

  The shadow tendrils came without my permission. They coiled around Ragnar's legs and wrenched him off his feet. He hit the ground and was upright again in one fluid motion, his axes burning brighter.

  "Very well, you die next." He pointed his axe at me. My eyes widened as he jumped towards me. I rolled out of the way before something swallowed me whole and spit me out on the other side of the field.

  Trees I didn't recognize. I was on my knees in the dirt twenty feet from where I'd been standing, my hands shaking and my mind completely blank.

  Ragnar landed hard where I had been standing. Any later and I would be dead.

  What just happened?

  Ragnar scowled as his eyes found me twenty feet away.

  "Cowards, all of you." He spat.

  If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  He glanced at Dormin then swung hard. Dormin danced back with incredible efficiency, landing knives in the gaps of his armor wherever he could find them. Three more arrows soared from the tree line. His eyes caught them but it was too late — two bounced off his chest plate while one buried itself in his neck. He reached up and snapped it off without flinching. Blood ran down his collar and he didn't seem to care.

  I took the opportunity. I pushed off the ground and drove my sword through the gap in his shoulder, leaning into it with everything I had left. He didn't scream. His face twisted and he dropped to one knee, one axe hitting the dirt, his free hand going to the ground to steady himself.

  He spit blood. A thick, dark line of it hit the grass between his fingers.

  "You think you've won?" He looked up at me. His eyes weren't afraid. They were almost amused.

  I pointed my sword at him. My arm shook. My vision swam in and out — shapes bled into each other, the treeline blurring behind him. I could barely keep him in focus.

  Layla dropped from a nearby tree and landed beside me without a sound, an arrow drawn and aimed at his face from three feet away.

  Ragnar looked at her. Then back at me.

  "Finish the job, boy." His voice was steady. Commanding. Like he was still the one in control. "You came here to kill me didn't you? So do it. Stop shaking and do it."

  I looked at him. Really looked at him. On one knee, bleeding from his neck and shoulder, one axe in the dirt. He was enormous even like this. His breathing was labored but his eyes were sharp, fixed on me, waiting.

  My sword didn't move.

  Every part of me was failing. My legs burned. My vision kept sliding in and out of focus. The sword felt like it weighed twice what it had an hour ago. I didn't know how I was still standing.

  But I raised it.

  The tip hovered over him. My arm shook so badly I could barely keep it level. Ragnar looked up at me — not afraid, just watching, those sharp eyes reading everything I was trying to hide.

  "Oren." Layla's voice was tight. "Do it now."

  I could do it. I knew I could. That wasn't the problem.

  The problem was the sound. The sound Damian's blade made when it went through my father's neck. How fast it had been. One motion and a person was just gone from the world like they'd never been in it.

  My arm locked.

  Ragnar smiled slowly. He'd seen it happen in real time.

  "Ha." Low. Almost to himself. "You're no assassin, boy.”

  Then Dormin and Layla's voices hit me at the same time.

  "Take cover—"

  I looked up.

  A barrage of arrows crested the hill. Dozens of them, black against the sky, arcing downward. The remaining bandits had regrouped on the ridge.

  Dormin grabbed Layla and pulled her behind a tree. I stood there. My legs wouldn't respond. My body had spent everything it had and there was nothing left to spend. The sword dropped from my hand.

  I collapsed.

  The ground hit me hard and I lay there staring up at the arrows falling like rain. I thought about my father. I thought about Charlotte. I thought about how she looked when he dropped her. Blue faced and still, the life wrung completely out of her.

  More and more they pile up.

  An arrow found my arm. The pain was sharp and immediate, shooting up through my shoulder and into my chest. I gasped. The world tilted.

  And then the cold came.

  Not the pain. Not the dirt or the sound of the bandits or the arrows still falling. Just the cold — smooth and dark and quiet, rolling over me like I'd been submerged in still water. It felt like the only honest thing left.

  It swallowed me whole.

  ● ● ●

  Rellen’s blood in my mouth. Charlotte's hand reaching for me. Father's dead body on the floor. Images of Ragnar and Damian circulating. These people are monsters. This life I boldly walked into was filled to the brim with people who did not care. If I don't get with the program soon. The words faded as my ears heard leaves ruffling.

  I woke up fast. My arm throbbing hard, blood escaped from my bandages that surrounded my arm.

  “Wha? Where am I?” I leaned forward surveying my surroundings. Deep within a forest it seemed. Dormin leaned against a tree eating an apple with a knife. His eyes looked red like he'd been crying. He looked at me.

  “About damn time. I was beginning to think you were dead. Layla almost left with you.” He said, biting into the apple hard.

  He knew it and so did I. We had him but I froze.

  Layla landed next to Dormin. Her bow slung across her back, but her quiver was empty.

  “Nothing. No movement at the camp and no enemies in sight. They took their bodies though.” She said making a fist. She turned around and looked at me hard.

  “This…this is your fault, if you hadn't frozen. We could've avenged them. Us four have been a team for three years now. Charlotte was like a sister to me… and Rellen..” Her voice faltered as a tear appeared but was quickly wiped away.

  Dormin stepped up and held her close before telling her to keep watch.

  “Don't listen to her, she forgets this is your first mission.”

  “No, she's right. We could've won.” I said putting my head down.

  Dormin sat down at the fire before adding logs and a few branches.

  “Listen man…you've got serious talent. Your shadow magick could own the battlefield. I saw it earlier. Practically teleporting and how the shadows obey your emotions? Can you imagine what you can do with a few years of steady training?” he said while I sat up. I remembered how it saved me twice. If it hadn't I'd be dead.

  Dormin stood up.

  “Can you walk? We have a long trek back to the Society and not to mention whatever punishment Damian sees fit for us failing.” I stood up, my legs still a bit wobbly. He called out to Layla who landed behind him before shoving past me and walking ahead of us.

  “Yeah, let's go.” I said.

  As we walked, my thoughts drifted to Damian. I'd see him soon. Punishment or not, Father’s death will not go unanswered.