Chapter 46 - The Waterfall

Evanna and Ronan looked at each other and simultaneously sprinted forwards, their weapons ready. Ronan dashed towards the two humanistic monsters Ger was fighting while Evanna charged towards the beast lurking behind the tree near Axel. As she approached, she sheathed her swords and grabbed Axel's throwing axes by his sides. The monster jumped down and crawled towards her, but she immediately threw both axes at its head; the first it slapped away with its pincer, and the second struck it in the eye.

The axe only seemed to make it angrier as it screeched and bolted towards her; she jumped and rolled to the side, grabbing her sword as she did so. Her sword blocked an incoming blow from the creature's sharp leg, just in time, the force nearly unbearable for her to handle. Instead of pushing into it, though, she relented her power and dove forwards as it fell forwards.

Evanna immediately struck out and sliced its neck open, causing black blood to spray on top of her. With a disgusted grunt, she jumped out of the way and looked to see how Ger and Ronan were doing.

Ronan evaded the monster's long arms that swiped its claw-like nails towards him. However, one nail caught him, scratching him across the chest. He realised his movements were a lot slower than they usually were, and his head began to pound with a headache. Yet the adrenaline kept him pumped, and he raised his sword above his head. Before he could attack the disgusting creature, it fell to the ground, with Ger's sword stuck into its neck.

They both sucked in a deep breath at the exertion it took before bursting out laughing at the situation. They looked in Evanna's direction to see that she took the brunt of Axel's weight as he stood up like a toddler unable to walk, his arm slung over her shoulders. His huge form seemed to make her walk slower, and the men could almost see her knees begin to buckle and shake. They ran forwards and took Axel from her.

Evanna breathed a quick thank you as she glanced at their surroundings nervously. She was worried that more creatures would come; either the ones that followed Cilv would return, or there were just others lurking in the woods.

"Go back to the river," She ordered. Ger looked at her confused but didn't question her; he could see the tension radiating from her. In that moment of assessing her, he also saw her lip and head was cut; he quickly looked away once Ronan was taking a slight lead ahead with Axel's dead weight. Evanna put her swords away and pulled the throwing axes out of the monster, making a loud squelching sound as she did so.

Evanna quickly caught up with the others in front of her while they helped Axel; she kept her guard up, glancing at their surroundings as she spun the axes lightly in her hands. If she didn't like swords so much, she might have opted for the small axes. She shook her head quickly at the passing thought and almost felt herself relax when she saw the gushing river ahead of them. The three ahead of her stopped; Ronan and Ger looked at her for leadership while Axel's head slumped forwards.

"That way," She tilted her head the way they originally went earlier. If the river wasn't so wide or wild, she would have suggested just swimming to the other side even with Axel and the condition he was in. Her body felt restless and uncomfortable with them still on this side of the river, but as they continued at a slow pace, they soon found themselves approaching a waterfall. Her eyes lit up, and a triumphant feeling settled through her as she saw a fallen tree just above the fall of the water.

Evanna walked around the three men and looked up at Axel; his eyes fluttered as though he was trying to wake up. Concern flashed across her features; she worried that the creatures had truly done something horrifying to him; her heart sank at the possibility, but she gulped down her trepidation and put his axes in place. She then went to the water and cupped her hands, bringing a puddle of water and splashing it across Axel's face.

He sputtered, and his eyes fluttered open, showing them to be red and veiny, as though he had not slept for weeks.

"W-what?" He stuttered.

Evanna smiled up at him and threw her arms around him, and screeched, "Don't scare me like that, you big bear!"

He half chuckled back with a confused expression on his face. But Evanna pulled back instantly and nodded at the guys, "Let's go."

"Right ahead of you, sister!" Ronan exclaimed; he already left Axel and was near the fallen tree.

Suddenly, loud whispers flew across the wind causing Ger and Axel to groan and clamp their hands on their heads. Evanna was shocked at how they were hunching over, she looked over at Ronan, but he was unaffected. She glanced around, looking for the source of the issue but could not see anything. However, an ice-cold shiver went up her spine, warning her that something was coming.

"Go!" She yelled, pushing Ger and Axel. Her push against Axel caused her to bump her head into his solid frame. Ger saw this, and with one hand still clutching at his head, he used the other to drag Axel along with Evanna still behind, pushing them. Ger could see the frustration and fear on her face; this made him stand back up properly and slap Axel in the face before pulling him by the shirt, so they were face to face.

"Get it together! We are nearly there! Look! You can rest once we leave this dam place!" He yelled in his face. It seemed to do the trick as Axel also stumbled forwards in a slight jog. Evanna turned around, jogging backwards as she searched the forest. Her back and now her front was as cold as ice, almost making her think her lips had gone blue. As soon as she saw the men get on the tree trunk, she sagged in relief.

That was until she saw the invisible sheet cover them from view. The last she saw of them was their figures walking across the tree. Evanna bolted forwards, ready to get on the tree; as she took her first step, she felt something yank her by the shirt and pull her back before being thrown to the ground. When she looked up, she saw Scarecrow's imposing form, his cruel smile still in place with his eyes burning into hers.

"Hmm, we were interrupted earlier. Your friend has no manners. We were having such a nice conversation about what you were.." He trailed off. Evanna looked around and could see the other faceless creatures looming in the shadows.

"Oh, don't worry about them. They know you're mine. They're just my back up in case you have any more tricks up your sleeves. So, where were we?" He put his slender fingers on his chin while Evanna lay on the dirt at his feet. She began to rise, but his smile dropped, and he smacked her in the face. Her head swung to the side, and she blinked.

Her heart began to race as realisation hit her; she genuinely didn't know how to get out of the situation. Scarecrow was a strong being, and even if she did somehow get away, there was the rest of the faceless behind him, ready to pounce under his orders. She lifted her head and looked him straight in the eyes, which made him laugh maliciously.

Scarecrow grabbed her by the shirt and threw her again, causing her to land next to the river, with her hand flung out. The sight of the river gave her motivation to not give up; her escape was so close she could almost feel it. Turning onto her back, she began to get up again, but Scarecrow pulled her by the shirt and continuously punched her in the face.

"I don't actually care anymore what you are. You have angered me too much!" He roared before sending another punch to her face. Evanna struggled to get her mind working, the punches were making her groggy, but he stopped for a single second to switch hands after he saw his white skin chaffing. It took that second for Evanna to grab some dirt on the ground and throw it in his face. He screeched at the intrusion to his eyes, rubbing them quickly.

But that was all the time she needed; she booted him in the stomach and then his face. With the small distance between them, she grabbed her dagger from her boot and jumped up before spinning around, ready to leap onto the tree. Until she was kicked in the back, sending her forwards and hitting her head on the tree.

"Enough, playing. Time for me to eat," She heard Scarecrow's voice from behind. He spun her onto her back, the force making the back of her head hit the trunk of the tree with a loud thud. She waited for him to get closer, then when his face was inches away, she whipped out the dagger and crushed it into his eye. He flailed back, screeching. Evanna immediately jumped up as the creatures bolted for her. Turning around, she leapt forwards, unconcerned if she was on the tree or not.

She crash-landed on the tree, causing her to wheeze out from the sudden hit to her ribs. She stayed like that, face down for a moment, trying to calm her breathing and her heart. That was until she felt a hand grab her by the ankle; she screamed and tried holding onto anything on the tree as she was being pulled back to the other side. She rolled onto her back and saw Scarecrow, his eye a bloody mess, with black liquid running down his face. He sneered when he saw the fear on her face. 

That snapped her out of screaming, and Evanna kicked him with the other leg in the nose, she then pulled the other dagger out from her boot and swiped forwards aiming for his neck, but he was quick to see what she tried to do and jumped backwards. With that, she scrambled back on her bottom, shuffling on her hands and feet, away from the monsters. As she did so, the transparent sheet slowly fell over them. The last she saw was Scarecrow's menacing features.

Evanna placed her dagger back in her boot, wincing as she did so before collapsing on her back, her breathing ragged. She began to wonder where the others were, but at that moment, she needed to breathe and relax her muscles before moving forwards. The adrenaline still pumped at a rapid pace through her body, along with pain shooting all over her. 

Taking a deep breath in, she braced herself and sat up. She looked down and noticed that if she fell to one side, she would drop with the rest of the water that flowed there. She suddenly felt a little dizzy; looking down, all she could see was mist covering the bottom of the falls.

"Raven! What are you still doing there?!" Ronan shouted from the other side of the river.

Moving her eyes away from the drop, she began to stand up carefully. She knew her balance was excellent, but fear began to ripple through her; she wondered if that was what Axel felt all the time about heights. However, Evanna knew it was her body's way of being too alert after all the fighting she had done. She kept her hands out to steady herself, but a vibration made her stop in her tracks, and another smack to the tree made her stumble forwards.

Her eyes went wide when she realised something had grabbed the tree and began pulling it towards the side of the river where Scarecrow and the faceless were. She was being pulled towards them at a rapid pace.

"Raven!"

Evanna didn't think twice before taking a leap of faith and jumping to the depths of oblivion.