Broken Prince (The Broken Ones) (22 page)

Chapter 27:

Monsters

They stopped late in the afternoon to break
for food, having to travel into the forest to find water for the horses. Aro
ate quickly and then paced nervously. They hadn’t traveled far into the trees,
but a sense of unease kept her worried and impatient to get back to the
forest’s edge.

Garen’s low growl brought her up short.

Fey are near.

Turning slowly, her eyes searched within
the shadows of the trees. Finally she just turned to the others. Of course
everyone else but Bo knew where they were, though whether they used their
better sight, hearing or smell, she didn’t know. She found it irritating and
took a breath to push back the unexpected pain of being different, of not being
good enough.

Once she knew where to look, she found them
easily enough, tentative shadows just beyond where they’d stopped. Moving
forward, she ignored the warnings in her mind from the boys. When Kei appeared
silently at her side she ignored the angry look he gave her and kept walking.

This isn’t a good idea.

They aren’t attacking. They must want
something.

Stopping a short distance from them, her
eyebrows rose.
There are four of them. The same four?

Yes.

You could have said so.

Kei’s lips twitched at the irritation in
her mind voice.

Two of the shadows broke away, moving
forward hesitantly. As they stepped into the light she couldn’t help a small
smile. Their eyes were golden. Not glowing. Not red.

It appeared they had tried to clean up.
They’d bathed, and the woman’s long dark hair no longer hung in a matted mess.
The man’s hair was dark as well. Short, but long enough to curl a bit around his
small ears which curved up into delicate points. Their height and stature, even
their features to some extent, reminded her of Kei.

The silence grew awkward as they all
continued to examine the other. Kei’s hand moved to rest gently at the small of
her back, a quiet show of strength and support.

The Fey’s eyes followed the movement and
then turned to her.

"You are bonded?"

The surprise in his voice stole hers away. She
glanced at Kei.
How did he know?

"Yes," Kei answered.
All Fey
can sense a binding.

"Mated?"

"No."

The woman nodded slightly. "She is not
Fey." Her head cocked to the side slightly and she sniffed. "Yet she
has a faint scent of us." The Fey’s eyebrows rose as she looked to Kei
again.

Heat rose to her cheeks at what the woman
implied. To have someone’s scent all over them... "I am Arowyn. This is
Kei."

"I am Lissana, my mate Cano." She
turned slightly and gestured into the trees. "Our son, Aron, and his mate,
Meena."

Cano shifted restlessly. "We would
thank you, for what you did. You are…there is a prophecy. That we would be
healed." He glanced to Kei and then back to Aro. "That is you?"

Aro nodded and smiled faintly. "So it
seems."

They both smiled, relief easing their
stances. "We had hoped…" Cano began.

"We are sorry. For before,"
Lissana said softly. She glanced at her mate. "We have another son. If we
can find him, will you help him? Will you free all of us?"

It struck her then, the enormity of what
the prophecy actually meant. What it asked of her. She had no idea how many Fey
were left, but she did know how dangerous the endeavor would be. Not only
dealing with the wild Fey, but in fighting to not get lost in it herself. "I…"
She looked up at Kei and the intense pleading his eyes stole her words away. "I
will try," she said finally. "I have something else I need to finish
first."

Cano reached out a hand and Kei immediately
grabbed him by the wrist.

Lissana stepped forward, her hand resting
on her mate’s arm. "We would never harm her. Never."

Kei dropped his hand, but his face remained
hard.

The two Fey raised both of their hands
slowly. Each laced their fingers together, making a fist, and set it against
their heart. "On our honor, so do we swear," they said in unison.

Aro blinked at them, having no idea what
they were doing. However, Kei relaxed next to her and gave them a sharp nod.

"You should not stay long. The Vor are
about. They have split and are moving fast." Cano looked past them to the
others. "They will be attracted to the magic of your group."

Aro nodded. "Thank you."

The pair paused for a moment, Lissana
smiled slightly and Cano ducked his head, and then they slipped back into the
trees.

She stared after them, emotions conflicting
within her.

"Aro?"

Shrugging off thoughts of prophecy and Vor,
she turned and gave Kei a grin. "I’m fine. That was just…strange."

His golden eyes searched hers for a long
moment but he didn’t say anything. For once, she felt thankful he rarely did.

They walked back to the others. They’d
gotten very little out of the packs, and everything had been loaded back onto
the horses already. Bo and Prince stood next to the small pool of water,
letting the horses have one last drink before they headed out again.

Leaves rustled in the wind and Aro paused,
her muscles tensing.

The birds had gone quiet. Her head snapped
around, hands going to her daggers as something crashed through the woods. The
rustling grew louder.

There was no wind.

The horses ears flicked forward and they
both raised their heads. Rearing suddenly, they scrambled wildly back from the
pool. Bo and Prince fought to keep a hold of the reins.

"Run!"

Aro whirled around to see Cano sprinting
through the trees.

"Run!"

The horses panicked further at the
screaming Fey rushing toward them. A rein snapped and Bo’s horse spun and
bolted. Prince struggled with his, and then gave up and danced away as the
horse reared again, deadly hooves kicking at his face.

Aro spun, eyes searching the forest, the
pounding of the fleeing horse for a moment drowning out the strange rustling
sounds. Dark shadows flowed toward them, the rustling became louder. Her eyes
widened at the strange creatures scuttling toward them. Drawing her daggers as she
turned around and around, her breath caught in her throat. They were
everywhere.

What they were, she had no idea. The bodies
hung low to the ground, shiny and black. Skinny legs jutted out from the sides.
The sound she’d heard was a mix of them moving through the fallen brush and the
legs brushing together. They reminded her of crabs, but much larger than any she’d
ever seen. The smallest had bodies the size of her head, the largest were twice
that. Her eyes shifted to their strange tails. They curved up from their backs
and hung over the top of their bodies, ending in a long lethal spike.

"What are they?"

"Vor," Cano said quietly.

She turned to him, surprised he remained.
The panic had left him now. He stood stiffly, poised to strike, eyes darting
back and forth. "Where is your family?"

He started and stared at her for a moment. "Not
far."

She paused a moment. "Do they need
you?"

He glanced away, which was answer enough.

"Go to them."

"No, you must be protected."

"Go," she snapped angrily. "Fight
with your family. I will fight with mine."

His eyes went over her shoulder, and then
he nodded. "Fight well, Arowyn. We will return if we can."

As she nodded his eyes slipped immediately into
a glowing red. Fangs grew from his mouth, claws shot out from his fingers. Then
he was gone, sprinting back the way he’d come, dancing through the strange
creatures, crushing some, slashing through the tails of others.

She and the boys were circled now. For some
reason the creatures paused, only their tails moving, darting forward and back
as if itching to attack and impale them.

"Stay close," Bo said behind her.

She looked over her shoulder. He and Prince
had their swords out. Garen stood next to him, his fur bristling, ready to
fight. Kei stepped to her side, eyes red and claws clacking together.

"No running now, I guess," she
said quietly.

"We would not make it far,"
Prince replied.

She knew what he didn’t say, that it was he
and Bo who wouldn’t. They were the slowest, had the least stamina.

"We need to steal less skittish horses
next time," she muttered.

Bo snorted and she grinned over at him.

They were family, they would fight
together. Her eyes went out to the enemy before them.

Perhaps they would die together, too.

Rhee-En, the Vor are here.

Chapter 28:

The Little
Things

When her eyes met Prince’s, her amusement
vanished. Though not as haggard as he’d once looked, his paleness and dark,
tired eyes worried her. Her mouth opened, and then clamped shut as he suddenly
strode forward.

Stopping abruptly before her, his hand rose
to cup her cheek. She stared up into his eyes, not understanding what he was
doing. Something dark and burning replaced the tiredness, making her stomach
clench. She couldn’t help leaning into his hand a little, but stopped short of
closing her eyes and sighing.

She locked her eyes on his, even though she
knew he would see the love she felt for him.

A moment seemed like an eternity, yet
neither said a word.

Bo cleared his throat and she jerked as
Prince dropped his hand. His eyes remained on hers, searching them for
something.

"Stay safe, child."

With just a few words, he ruined everything.

Anger welled up inside of her. Grinding her
teeth in frustration, she stepped back and turned away from him. "Don’t
call me that."

Kei glanced at her, his red eyes flashing
in fury, and pressed his lips together tightly when he saw her face. He whirled
around to face Prince.

"I’ll be glad when you’re home. Then
you’ll stop hurting her."

"I would never hurt her," Prince
said fiercely.

Kei shook his head. "You can’t make up
your mind. It’s not that hard," he said bitterly. "You love her or
you don’t."

"Things are not so simple."

"Aren’t they?"

Heat rushed to her face. This wasn’t
happening. Not here, not now. Such a distraction before battle could kill
someone.

Straightening her shoulders, she raised her
chin. "Protect Prince," she said flatly.

"Aro," he said sharply.

She refused to look at him. "That was
the deal. We’d get you home. Now isn’t the time to argue."

"You are such a–"

"Here they come," she interrupted.

The creatures began to scuttle closer,
darting forward and back. Suddenly they moved, a dark mass pressing to
overwhelm them.

She stomped and kicked at them, surprised
at how easily she could knock them away. The spikes were another matter. Despite
twisting away, one sliced down her calf. At least it hadn’t impaled her leg.

Run, we will deal with them.

Aro snorted at Rhee-En’s delayed response and
sliced at a tail.
A bit late for that.

Why are you in the forest? I warned you–

We’re near the border,
she snapped at the Were. Dodging another
spike, she spun and sliced. She really needed to get a sword. The daggers were
much too short for this sort of opponent.

What do you face?

They look like crabs, with spikey tails.

How many?

She didn’t answer for a moment.
Enough,
she thought finally.

What else?

What do you mean what else? This is quite
enough.

They rarely run alone.

The words sent a chill down her spine.
Nothing
else.
She remembered the other Fey then.
There are four Fey fighting
near us.

With you?

Against the Vor, yes.

Are they wild?

Not anymore.

Rhee-En paused.
We will speak of that
later. Where are you?

She snorted.
I don’t know.

We will find you.

She didn’t reply to that. They would or
they wouldn’t, she was too busy to worry about it.

Bodies crunched under her feet and she
stumbled into Kei.

"Spread out," he growled.

She nodded and took a moment to glance at
the boys. Bo and Prince stood back to back. With their swords, they were able
to keep up with the creatures pressing against them. Kei was right though, they
all stood too close together.

Garen, Kei, we’ll circle out farther.
The thought had barely left her head and
the two broke away, tearing into the seething mass of black.

A smile tugged at her lips as she followed.
It proved easier to fight as she spun and darted through the creatures. Not
standing still, she moved too fast for them to strike her. Garen tore through
them, claws slashing through tails and body, teeth ripping off tails as he ran
by.

Bo cursed loudly, but she couldn’t spare a
moment to look.
You good?

I’ll live.

Springing forward, she pushed harder. Soon she
became lost in the dance. The sounds of the boys’ snarls and growls and curses
faded away. Spikes slashed her legs. Blood dripped down, pooling in her boots. She
fought on until her heart laboured in her chest and her arms grew heavy with
fatigue.

A clawed hand caught her as she stumbled.
Righting herself, she blinked to clear the blur in her eyes. Kei remained
beside her.

Take.

She shook her head and stumbled again.

A flurry of claws appeared before her. Kei
cleared the few in front of them and then he whirled to face her. His clawed
hand carefully, but forcefully, grabbed her chin. His red eyes met hers. "Take."

Understanding jolted through her and
without thinking she pulled. Power and fury flooded into her, spreading
strength and energy through every limb.

Before his eyes could change he jerked away
from her. "Good."

Renewed, she pressed forward to fight
again, but paused as her eyes roamed the forest.

Broken black bodies scattered the forest
floor as far as she could see. She hadn’t realized they’d all been moving. Staying
in one spot left too many carcases, bad footing to fight on.

Garen sprang past her, teeth tearing into
one of the few remaining creatures.

Her eyes sought Bo and Prince and her
breath caught as she saw Bo down and shirtless, Prince wrapping his leg with
cloth.

She ran over to him and crouched by his
side, resting a hand on his bare shoulder. "How bad is it?"

He grinned up at her. "Just a scratch,
pup."

Prince jerked on a knot and Bo sucked in a
sharp breath. "It went straight through. We need to get it cleaned."
He stood and jerked his chin behind them. "The pool is not far."

Aro helped Bo stand and pulled his arm over
her shoulder.

"I’m fine," he grumbled.

She snorted as she started them walking and
he limped. "Just a scratch? I have scratches and I’m not limping."

"A deep scratch then," he
amended.

They reached the pool and started cleaning
up as best they could. Garen stuck his snout in the water and swished it
around, snorting when he finally pulled it out.

They taste horrid.

Aro chuckled and sat, debating how to go
about dealing with the multiple slices on her legs. Some were deep and she was
fairly certain she had a few chunks of flesh missing in a couple of spots. With
the horses and their packs gone, she wasn’t sure how to tend them. Unlike Bo, she
rather wanted to keep her shirt on.

Kei paced around them, claws clicking.

"Can you not stand still," Prince
snapped.

She looked over at him, eyebrows raised. "He’s
keeping watch, there might be more."

He turned to scowl at her and then froze.
His gaze shot back to Kei. "Why would you give her more? What are you
thinking?"

A groan escaped her. Though Kei had given her
very little of his power and fury, there must have been enough for her eyes to
take on the familiar magical glow. Probably not red, but even the mild yellow
would alert Prince to what they’d done. Human’s eyes didn’t glow with an inner
light.

"I was tired. He didn’t give me much."

Prince whirled on her. "That matters
not! Magic is not something to be taken lightly. I understand it is how you
will help the Fey, but this was not necessary."

Anger pulsed through her. Springing to her
feet, she resisted the urge to tie his mouth shut. "Don’t tell me what to
do."

"You never listen anyway."

"Why should I? Because you care about
me like I’m your child," she mocked. "You’re not my rotting father!"

"This temper of yours!" He raised
his hands to his head like he wanted to pull out his hair, snarling in
frustration. "And you cuss like a soldier!"

She stared at him incredulously. "What
exactly do you think I am?"

Bo slapped his palms loudly on his thighs
and leaned forward. "And that, is enough of that," he said sharply.

Aro pressed her lips together tightly.
Frustration made her grind her teeth together. She wasn’t done. She wasn’t near
being done, with all the things she wanted to say.

While you’ve been fighting, something
comes.

She looked over at Garen and let out a deep
breath, trying to calm the anger inside of her. Prince just made her so furious!

Garen turned south and she followed his
gaze. For a moment, she saw nothing, but then she heard it. Something cracked.
Looking higher, she saw a tree sway and then fall. A chill ran down her spin.
What could possibly knock down a tree? The ones in the forest were not small,
rising high into the air with trunks thicker than she could wrap her arms
around.

"Rot," she muttered, eyes locked
in the direction of whatever approached. Her thoughts whirled. Should they stay
and fight or try to run?

Her legs began to ache and she glanced over
at Bo. Running wasn’t an option. Leaving him behind wasn’t. Yet the creature
didn’t seem to be moving too quickly, perhaps they could get away. Unless it
wasn’t the only thing out there.

Her fight with Prince forgotten, she looked
to him. "Thoughts? Fight or try to move as quickly as we can?"

Prince also looked to Bo.

The man in question snorted. "I can
move, but I’ll hold you back. I imagine the horses are long gone?"

Yes,
Garen answered.
They are not near.

"I worry there is more out there. Or
whatever comes can move faster than it has been. How intelligent are these Vor?"

"It depends on the type. These,"
Prince kicked at a carcass. "Not very."

"It reminds me of the battle of
Tennen, though." At Bo’s blank look she continued. "First wave was
thousands of barely trained men, but the numbers took their toll and weakened
their opponent for the stronger, but smaller, force to come. It’s a simple but
easy tactic."

"Where did you learn that?"
Prince stared at her as if she had grown an extra head.

"I’m quite certain I’ve told you I had
tutors," she said, rather offended.

"I assumed it was in history, or–"

"More womanly things," she
interrupted harshly.

Bo drew his sword and tested his leg. "We’ll
fight. The Vor," he added roughly, shooting a look at her, Kei and Prince.
"Not each other."

Pushing the anger down showed her what she
struggled to hide. Fear. She didn’t want her boys to get hurt. Losing them…

Forcing a small, embarrassed smile, she
nodded to Bo and then turned to face the approaching enemy.

Losing them wasn’t an option.