Mated To An Enemy

Ashleigh ran down the hall without a second thought.

She had to stop it and prevent the Dark Queen from accessing the full power of the ley line.

‘You’re being reckless!’ Lily shouted in her mind.

‘There is no more time left!’ Ashleigh shouted back. ‘If I don’t stop her now, we lose everything!’

‘And if you get yourself killed before reaching her, you will stop nothing!’ Lily growled.

Ashleigh knew she was right, but she was so close. If she could stop the Dark Queen here and now, this would all be over. The war, the mutations, the death and destruction that seemed never-ending.

No one else would have to die. Families would be reunited. Bell and Galen, she and Caleb.

She swallowed and pushed ahead even harder.

There was a light ahead, a doorway of some kind. Based on Alpha Cain’s writings, this was the entrance to the mound. The way to the end.

She summoned her blades and ran with all her might. Faintly behind her, she could hear someone shouting, but it didn’t matter. She wasn’t going to stop now.

Ashleigh burst forth into the mound. There was a slight dip down into the room. Then, as she saw it coming, she leaped into the air and landed several feet away. As she straightened and caught her breath, she looked around her, seven sets of eyes all staring back at her.

She had jumped directly into a group of bat creatures. They stared at her momentarily until two charged forward, gnashing their teeth and swinging their arms wildly.

Ashleigh was able to block the attack with ease. She jumped at the first one, cutting the throat of the creature as she then used its body to propel her toward the other. She stabbed at this one with both of her blades. Tearing away at the flesh of its chest until it crumpled to the ground.

Five left.

Ashleigh straightened up and charged at another of the beasts. It swung at her. She could barely duck underneath the sinewy arm and avoid the taloned fingers. Dragging her blade across its thigh, she then turned and stabbed it in the lower back repeatedly until it let out a cry and slumped forward.

Four left.

She caught sight of her next target. She began to charge when the shriek of one of the others caught her by surprise. The sound hit her ear painfully, then from the other side, another shriek.

Ashleigh clenched her jaw and fell to one knee as the two beasts continued to shriek together at her. She held her head tightly as she tried desperately to fight off the pain in her ears.

The beast she had intended to attack stalked forward. It raised its arm up high, intent on slashing her open.

Ashleigh’s heart beat in her throat, and panic began to spread over her body. She could not regain her senses enough to move out of the way. If she didn’t do something, she would be at the mercy of this monster.

Suddenly a blurred movement from above moved past the creature, and one of the shrieking bats abruptly stopped and let out a gurgling groan. The pressure that had held Ashleigh in place began to ease. And then the other shriek was cut short, and a wet thud below her drew both her attention and that of the monster standing before her.

Between them was the head of one of the bats.

Now free from the paralyzing pain in her head and ears, Ashleigh quickly got to her feet. Then, thrusting her arms up and driving her blades under the chin of the bat in front of her. She continued to press further up until the creature went limp.

Ashleigh allowed her weapons to fade, and with them, the creature’s body slumped to the ground. She looked down at the felled beast and grinned.

“There was one more, you know?� Alice’s irritated voice called out.

Ashleigh turned around to see Alice sitting on the shoulders of the final bat. She held it beneath the chin as the creature tried desperately to throw her off. Finally, Alice tightened her grip and threw her body forward, rolling herself and the beast to the ground while twisting its neck and severing its spine.

“Impressive,� Ashleigh acknowledged.

“Stupid!� Alice shouted, shoving the body off of her and standing up.

The look of anger on Alice’s face was a surprise to Ashleigh. She had seen many expressions on this woman, but almost all had some playfulness or sarcasm. But this just seemed like pure anger.

“Myka told you that there were multiple enemies in this room, yet you still charged out here like an idiot!� Alice shouted. “What if I hadn’t gotten here in time?!�

Ashleigh furrowed her brows in confusion. She knew that she had been reckless, and yes, Alice had saved her, but why was she so upset?

"I won't apologize for trying to save my people," Ashleigh began to reply defensively. "I was doing my duty. Iâ€""

Alice stepped forward and got uncomfortably close to Ashleigh as she interrupted her.

“Just because you see honor in a battlefield death does not mean that the pain of your loved ones will be lessened at the loss of you,� Alice said sharply. “I promised to bring you back. Alive. You and Myka both. I will not let you make a liar out of me.�

Ashleigh swallowed, unsure how to respond. Part of her wanted to argue, and part of her wanted to say that Alice was just looking for a way to look good in front of Axel and Corrine. But most of her wanted to apologize.

Something in the intensity of Alice's angry glare sent a sharp pang of guilt directly into Ashleigh's heart.

Ultimately, she couldn’t say anything as they were not alone for long. Soon they were surrounded by at least ten creatures. Bats, a few frog things like the one that had attacked the caravan, and small goblinesque things. Ashleigh had no idea what those had started out as.

Alice and Ashleigh each summoned their weapons and automatically lined themselves back to back.

“You can yell at me later,� Ashleigh said. “Looks like we’re going to be busy for the moment.�

“It’s a date,� Alice replied.

Alice looked out at the beasts lined up to attack. Behind them, even more, were gathering. But even further than that, she saw something else. Something far more disturbing.

Two of the bat creatures walking with Myka held between them.

“Myka!� she screamed out, but her voice was drowned out by the roar of the monsters that surged toward her and Ashleigh.