Strife Of The Scions
Page 6
She isn’t dead, she can’t be. I know that she’s somewhere here standing behind one of the trees and she’s going to jump out and start insulting me. Zaniyah isn’t dead.
I followed after him. The closer I thought I was to the exit, the more it was just another pathway, or a dead end. The maze stretched as far as I could see. My shoulder and back ached. My head grew dizzy. The only thing that kept me from going insane was the thought of Harrison getting to Zaniyah before I could.
In this section, the walls of the maze were twice my height. Either side was lined with impenetrable grey stones. Mosses and plants were growing in its cracks.
The only satisfaction I got from the journey was that even Harrison had no clue where Zaniyah was. I didn’t believe his story. He might be an incredible warrior but even the most incredible ones let information slip when they started panicking.
He’d told me to “get to Zaniyah”… If he’d killed her, he would have dragged her himself as a trophy to torment me with. So, while fighting, Zaniyah would have run into the woods trying to get away from him. And the blood on his sword must have been some animal’s. That meant we had met in the woods by accident and he wanted me to think that he had her captive or dead.
I used the wall as support, catching my breath. The sky was painted with a splash of orange and purple. I took a deep breath and started moving forward again, keeping the wall as my support. But, as I placed more pressure on a certain section, the wall started crumbling a little.
I reached for my sword and struck the wall in its weak point. “Aargh!” I screamed and the wall slowly broke little by little, till I could see the next wall on the other side. He could get her over my dead body. I would break them all down if I had to.
***
-Zaniyah’s POV-
“Ahh,” I wailed in pain. My head bled twice as much now as it had a few minutes ago. Not good. Thanks to Harrison striking me there, I was also dizzy. If only I could have killed him when I had the chance… He wouldn’t kill Aaron immediately—according to his plan—but, so far, not everything was going as per his request.
I tried to stay conscious, but I had been hit too hard. I cried as pain surged through me in pulses. Thud! I fell. Looking up at the evening sky, my vision blurred. My eyes grew heavy. I wasn’t going to die. I knew that, because Aaron was going to come and wake me up.
I still had so many things to tell him. I wasn’t going to go, not now. I’m just going to rest, I thought. As my eyes closed, the last thing I heard was the sound of walls crumbling.
• CHAPTER 21 •
I Win
My arms and shoulders burned. Every blow was heavier than the last. I didn’t know if I would have the strength to get through to the other side. My only thought was, I must save her. I must save her. I must save her—like a mantra.
Wall after wall fell, until I came to what must have been the one hundredth. The evening light dimmed, threatening to take away my vision, just to make things harder.
I heard someone wail in pain. “Zaniyah?” I said. I smashed through the remainder of the wall and ran as fast my tired legs could take me, trying to follow her voice. As much as I hated hearing her in pain, I was glad to hear her at all, it was all I had in order to find her.
As I ran over to the next wall, she stopped screaming. “No!” I shouted. “Zaniyah I’m here, please reply.” I screamed, took a turn around this one, but ended up being in front of another wall. “NO!” I yelled and broke down the wall. And then—
There she was, lying on the ground with her eyes closed in a pool of blood. “Zaniyah!” I bellowed as I slid towards her. “No no no,” I said checking her pulse.
She’s breathing. “Damn it, wake up,” I said, tears stinging my eyes. As I carefully placed her head onto my lap, I noticed that she was bleeding from her head. I removed my blue scarf and tied it around her head. “You’re going to be alright…it’s alright,” I reassured her or maybe it wasn’t her that needed reassuring.
I carried her in my arms, my temper rising with every step, and one thing on my mind: He’s dead. I felt a raindrop on my forehead. The drizzling morphed into wet thuds as water sped down. The only sounds I heard now was that and the roar of thunder.
If not for the flashes of lightning, I wouldn’t have been able to see where I was going. In the far-off distance, I saw a house—more like a mansion but not as big as the castle itself. I headed towards it, walking through the stoned pathway. As I reached the entrance, there was something—more like someone—standing in front of the door.
A white streak bolted from the black sky. “I see you’ve found her,” Harrison said.
“Touch her and you’ll know what’s worse than death,” I said.
“Ooh! is that a threat,” he said.
“Why don’t we just settle the old way,” I said, laying her down next to the wall, knowing that she didn’t have much time left.
“Finally we can see who the real king is,” Harrison said. He flipped his sword and approached. I did the same and tightened my grip around the hilt. We were now facing each other, drenched in rain water, standing on the stoned path that was filled with mosses.
I took a deep breath. He moved towards me, then increased his speed with each stride until he was running. I anticipated his jump and skidded underneath him, kicking his dominant leg and making him fall, but he picked up his balance faster than I thought.
He thrust his sword to the right. I didn’t see it coming. I felt my left cheek slice open, hot and cold at the same time. I thrust my blade forwards and steel clanked against steel. As our swords clashed against each other I tried anticipating his next moves, but he let go of the force making me stumble forward.
“Arghh,” I wailed, as he cut my back. He must have found some spot where the armour wasn’t thick, because it lit that area up with pain. I’m not giving up. I spun around, regained my stance, and ran at him. My blade hissed through the air.
He’s more skilled than I am, but the one thing I’ve learned is that his stamina is low. I can’t fight him head on and win but I can tire him out. “You’re not going to be the king,” I screamed, trying to make him talk. “You can’t put a crown on a clown and expect him to be a king.”
He growled and struck harder. Yes, he’s falling for it. I kept dodging, blow after blow, but still his sword kept coming back for more, slicing my arms and legs. into contact with my skin.
Harrison stumbled, just a little, blowing air. When he attacked again, his strikes were slower. My turn… I took a deep breath and started charging him until he was on the ground.
“Now,” I said, bringing my sword down to his chest. “I’ll give you a choice.: either die or rot in prison.” I looked directly into his eyes, glaring.
“Kill me,” he responded.
• CHAPTER 22 •
You Have to Remember
I entered the house, carrying Zaniyah in my arms. The sky cleared and the sun rose. The house looked abandoned but right in the middle was a post with a green flag at the bottom. This must be it.
I raised the flag up onto the pole and it started waving in the morning wind. The after effects of battle started surging through my body. I was overcome by exhaustion and collapsed onto the floor.
***
“Aaron!”
I heard mom’s voice, I slowly opened my eyes to the light coming from the window.” Mom?” I asked.
“You’re finally awake,” she said as she pulled me into a hug, “Man! How much I missed this warmth!”
“Ow! You’re hurting me m—” I bit my lip, “Mrs. Valequez.” I could feel her hold her breath.
“Yes I’m sorry,” she said, dejected.
“How long have I been out?”
“Three weeks”
“Oh!” I said. That’s when I remembered… “Where’s Zaniyah, what happened to her?” I started panicking. The last thing I could remember was her closed eyes and slow breathing.
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“She’s fine, Aaron,” Mrs. Valequez said.
“No, I have to see her,” I said. I needed to see her. If anything had happened—oh god! I wouldn’t forgive myself.
“Aaron!” her voice shot up. “You need to heal completely.”
“Mom,” I said looking at her, making her see the desperation in my eyes. “I need to see her, please.”
She looked at me for a few seconds and sighed. “She’s on the third door, if she isn’t there she might be in the balcony.”
I rushed to Zaniyah’s room but there wasn’t anyone there, so I went to the balcony. Still no one. Where is she? I tried to all the doors on level three, but she wasn’t there anywhere. I yelled in frustration but then it hit me that Zaniyah liked to do something to keep her mind busy.
I ran outside the castle and to the practice lawn. There she was, standing in her usual jeans and loose tee doing sword techniques “Zaniyah,” I called out from where I was standing.
She turned, and I ran up to her with a goofy smile plastered on my face. “Hey,” I wave. “How are you? How’s your head.”
She looked confused for some reason. “Hi, and yes I’m doing fine, my head is relatively better.”
“Awesome,” I breathed a sigh of relief. “I must say you have amazing health to recover so quickly, even before—” She started inspecting me. “What do I have something on my face?”
“No,” she said. “You don’t have anything on your face, but um who are you?”
My smile fell. “Come on, don’t kid!”
“I’m serious,” she said. “I really don’t know who you are.”
I was expecting her to suddenly just say she wasn’t kidding but nothing… She really looked like she didn’t know me. “You really don’t remember me?” I asked, shocked.
“No.”
About the Author
Rohini Menon spent half her life thinking about writing her first book and the other half about publishing it. Her hobbies include drawing, writing and, most of the time, surfing the internet for new music.
She is the only one in her family who was able to overcome writer’s block and write to tell a tale. She lives in India with her parents and little brother.
Her latest release, Strife of the Scions, is a number #1 bestseller. (Hey! who says it can’t be?)