Chapter 231
“You must be the hunter that was brought along with students. Care to enlighten me on the situation,” a voice said behind her. She had noticed the man when she’d found Alice but hadn’t cared to introduce herself before. Staying in her position, her arrow nocked and ready for action, she spoke up.
“My name is Katie Sirius... If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to know who I’m talking to before continuing,” the girl replied.
“You can call me, Gallant. I work here with the other three hunters. I have only started working with this group and I can’t help but feel the uneasiness in the air. That along with the fact that you fired three arrows straight at nothing,” the man said to her, trying to get around to meet her gaze. His mouth dropped agape when he saw that the girl he was speaking to was in fact closing her eyes.
“I wasn’t shooting at nothing and if you must know, the forest is full of rogues right now... You should have noticed the trouble the moment you realized there was no sort of communication,” she said to him.
The man took out his phone and tapped a few buttons to confirm what she was saying, “This might be a problem. Without communications, we cannot call for reinforcements... We are cornered.”
“Well, I understand all that, but that’s not going to solve our problem now, will it?” Katie responded. With a quick explanation of the situation, the man was caught up and in a far more accommodating mood. It was worse than he’d expected.
“We must find a way to get communications back up. There is a cell tower not so far from here. Hunters with the agility Prometheus gift would have no problem getting to it,” Gallant spoke up.
“Well, that would be the best thing right now. Although I don’t think it will be that easy,” Katie said thoughtfully before a screech reached her ear. The girl turned her ear to the sky and listened.
.....
“It seems there is one more talent amongst you. There are two girls in the field of blue. One of them radiates an aura, unlike anything I’ve ever known. However, she seems to have the ability to see through nature. It’s nothing like what you’re doing and she also seems to have the ability to control plants as well. I was graced with witnessing the field of blue open up when it did,” the Eagle spoke to her. Its majestic tone reminded her of the might of the creature she spoke to. Matching its superiority when talking was starting to feel more like a chore when it soared up so high.
“I’ll have to talk to her. Keep watching the battlefield for me from the sky,” the girl replied to the eagle. With a screech, the bird flew higher, gaining a better viewpoint of everything that was happening.
“So I wasn’t imagining things, was I?” Gallant spoke up when she was done talking to the Eagle.
“No, they weren’t. Might I make a request of you? Get me more arrows... All the arrows that you can find,” Katie said to the man with a smirk on her face.
Sensing the urgency in her voice, the man was gone from the roof in search of the best arrows they had in storage. The top floor of the hotel had a section dedicated to the hunters. Searching through Alice’s best stash of weapons, he was able to get his hands on three more quivers of perfectly sharpened grey arrows. They would have to do whatever task it was that the girl was going to accomplish at the moment.
........
When Honour was just about to give up on the dormant hunter on the roof, an idea began to form in her mind. She couldn’t believe what she was thinking about. It didn’t make sense when she thought about it, but looking at the girl’s position at the top of the hotel, she couldn’t help but think this girl was standing there for a reason.
“Well, can she help?” Lina asked her.
“I’m not sure... Hold on a second, Lina,” Honour focused her power on a few trees that obscured a straight line from the hunter to a rogue that threatened to attack a pair of students. The task was difficult and somewhat hard to do, but she eventually accomplished it by creating a small clearing through the canopy straight to the forest floor.
When she felt she couldn’t hold the opening any longer, she let go of it... A whistling sound filled the night, startling the girl and her friend. “What was that?” Lina asked her, looking about for any sign of the source of the sound.
Honour took one more look at the rogue she’d been trying to expose and just as she’d suspected, the rogue had been impaled by an arrow snuffing out its life with deadly accuracy. Looking back at the hunter, she saw Katie draw another arrow and pull her bowstring back... ‘Honour, with your help... this can end much faster...’ the hunter’s voice reached her mind.
The glowing girl forced her eyes open and snapped out of the oversight she’d been using, panting from the exertion... ‘How did she know I was the one that did that? Did she know I could do it all along? Does she know where I am? Did she stay behind because she knew I would be here and help her in this exact way...?’ Questions swarmed her mind in an attempt to make sense of what had just happened, but no answers were echoed back. Instead, hope lit up within her. If what had just happened could do so again and again, they could be able to bring this entire disaster to an end.
“So it was Katie...” Lina chuckled.
“Yeah, it was... I don’t know what to think of her yet, but for now... I’ll work with her to bring this to an end. Stay by me, Lina,” Honour asked her friend.
“Well, it’s not like there is anywhere else I can go. Besides, I don’t think I would be much help out there,” Lina replied.
“And that’s the way you should be Lina,” Honour said to her. The girl didn’t understand what her friend meant by that, but when her eyes began to close, she chose against asking her what she was trying to say.
Honour’s mind exploded with the entire scene of battle before her, “I see someone’s finally ready.” Katie’s voice came into her mind. It was more than the girl’s voice. It was as though her entire presence had made itself available to her. Honour could feel the tension in the girl’s muscles... Her eagerness to put down the rogues that plagued the forest, “Don’t mind how many of them you expose to me or if you mistakenly expose one of our own to my line of fire... I will only shoot down the enemy.”
“I know what I’m supposed to do, Katie. Just mind about playing your part,” the girl responded.
It was as though the air in the forest went totally still once Honour focused... all the wolves in the forest felt it... Something was coming... Sandra stopped running and looked in the direction of the rogues that were now visible to them. It was like they’d completely gone slow in her vision. She wasn’t quite sure yet what was happening to her, but she was glad it was happening. However, this was something else.
Even with the boost in speed that she’d received, something worse was about to happen. One that she would not be able to follow... Just then, the girl noticed the trees lurch violently letting in numerous paths of moonlight... Streams of light filled the forest floor turning it polka-dotted... That’s when the air was filled with the sound of numerous whistling arrows. She’d heard the same sound at the beach earlier.
The other wolves in the pack came to a stop as they watched arrows break through the forest roof and strike the incoming rogues. They rained down in torrents, taking down rogues at a rate none of them could believe. Not a single arrow missed... and they all struck to kill... Red arrows at first and soon the colour was different... Grey... They all watched as the rogues that had previously struck them with fear were brought down with barely any effort.
The shifting of the trees was a cause for panic, but with how fast the arrows hit, the wolves began to feel as though the arrows were causing the violent plant movement as well.
“Everyone is to return to the hotel at this moment,” Katie’s voice filtered into the mind link.
......
Honour sat up breathing hard as exhaustion racked her body. She’d used a lot of her concentration and power to pull off Katie’s requests. Once the will of the hunter had got a hold of her, she’d had no choice in how she controlled the trees. It was as though Katie was controlling her power through her just from her intentions alone, “Your sister... She’s scary.”
“What? Katie can be kind and warm when she wants to be...” Lina replied.
“I won’t be fooled by that kindness ever again. She ended the entire battle just that easily and might have even taken control of me in the process. Just how much blood lust does one need?” Honour wondered to herself, shuddering at the emotional state of the hunter that had controlled her powers just moments ago. The forest was free of the attacking rogues... There wasn’t a single one left to terrorise her pack.
A few cries of pain still lingered about the mind link and they drew the girl in. “Lina, let’s go tend to those that have been injured,” Honour announced, the trees in the clearing making way for them to leave. The girl shifted into her white wolf and began the run back to the hotel with her friend on her back. As they ran, Honour felt for their pack and subconsciously guided them to a path that she created with the trees, parting them to create one straight route back to the hotel.
Before they knew it, the pack was running together with one common destination. Those that had been too injured to run rested on the backs of others. At Katie’s speed, they had caught up to the rest of the pack without anyone ever noticing they had been behind. A black wolf came up next to her, “Where have the two of you been?” Cole’s voice sounded in their mind.
“We were in a field on moon lotuses... Honour had me take her there,” Lina replied indifferently.
“Well, I’m glad you’re safe. I’m sure Drake would have had my head if one of you got injured,” the royal replied, “In any case, I hope that’s the last we see of them. Katie did what she said she would do... She got rid of all of them.”
“Did she tell you that herself?” Lina asked him.
“No, she didn’t. Is that supposed to mean something?”
“I think you already know what that’s supposed to mean. Considering she was able to tell that there were rogues around far before anyone saw any sign of them, I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet...”
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