Chapter 115 The Warriors arrive 2

Chapter 115: Chapter 115 The Warriors arrive 2

Talia’s POV

I did not wait for him to recover. I raised the dagger and pointed it at his chest.

"Come on," I said. "I am right here."

His shock turned to rage. His face twisted, and his lips pulled back from his teeth, and he snarled like an animal.

"You will pay for that," he said. "I will tear you apart."

"Then come and try," I replied coldly.

He lunged.

He was bigger than the others, and stronger, and faster. His claws came at me in a blur, and I could barely block them. I raised the dagger to deflect his strikes, but he knocked it from my hand with one sweep of his arm.

The dagger flew into the grass, and I could not reach it.

I was unarmed again.

He swung at my head, and I ducked. He swung at my chest, and I twisted away. He swung at my legs, and I jumped over his arm.

But I was slowing down. My arms were heavy, and my legs were trembling, and the wound on my back was burning with every movement.

He was not slowing down or getting tired, he was getting faster.

"You are tired, little girl," he said. "You cannot keep this up forever."

"I do not need forever," I said. "I just need long enough."

He laughed and lunged again.

I stepped back, and my heel hit something hard, like a rock. I almost fell, but I caught myself at the last second.

The rogue saw my stumble, and he smiled. "This is the end," he said.

He raised his claws to strike.

Then I heard shouting and a loud sound that represented a war alarm. "To the border, everyone."

I looked up.

Warriors were pouring out of the pack house gates. At least a dozen of them, and they were all running across the open field toward the forest. Jax was in front, and his face was hard with fury. Silas was beside him, and Cain was behind them, moving like a shadow.

They did not see me, so they ran past with speed through a different path into the forest. But the warriors behind saw me.

They saw the rogue standing over me with his claws raised, and they started running faster.

"Help her!" one of the warriors shouted. "Now!"

The warriors drew their weapons and charged across the field. Their feet pounded against the grass, and their voices rose in a battle cry. "Over there! Our Luna is over there!"

For a second I felt hope in my chest, but they were too far away.

The rogue raised his claws higher, and I knew they would not reach me in time.

I looked at the dagger lying in the grass a few feet away, and knew that I would never make it without a distraction.

I looked at the rock beside my feet. It was small, sharp, and heavy enough.

I bent down quickly, grabbed the rock, and swung it at the rogue’s head with every ounce of strength I had left.

The rock connected with his head, and there was a crack sound. He bent down, and groaned in pain as blood ran down his face.

I used the distraction to pick up the dagger again, and I ran up to him. But he looked up and stretched out his claws.

"I will end you, little girl," he yelled.

He ran toward my direction as well, hoping to end me easily, but I dived under his arm, slashed his knee with the dagger, stood up, and slit the side of his neck with the dagger.

His eyes went wide, and blood flowed from his neck. Then he fell to his knees, and his face hit the ground, and he stopped moving.

I stood over him, breathing hard, with the dagger still in my hand. Blood dripped from the dagger onto my fingers, and my whole body was shaking.

I had killed the third one.

I had killed three rogues.

The number “three” echoed in my head. Three lives were gone, because of me, and I had saved another life. I shook my head, and pushed the thought away because there was no time to feel, and no time to think. Only to survive, to protect, and only to make sure Finn got home alive.

The warriors stopped running. They stood at the edge of the field, staring at me with their mouths open and their eyes wide.

No one spoke, and no one moved.

They had seen me fight, they had seen me kill, and they had seen me win.

I dropped the dagger and turned away from them. I walked back to the fallen log where Finn was hiding, and I knelt down beside him.

"It is over," I said. "You are safe now."

His eyes were bloodshot, but full of tears. "Luna... you are bleeding."

"I know," I said. "But I am still standing."

I looked back at the warriors. They were still staring at me, and still frozen in shock. But I did not see Kaelen.

I knew he was still somewhere in the forest, and in the chaos of the battle, still fighting.

He did not know I was here, and he did not know I was hurt.

But I knew that he would find out soon enough.