Saving Elara

Kieran

I felt a sudden cold and heavy shadow falling over us.

I didn't need to turn around to know that danger was right behind my back. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the metallic glint of a heavy blade swinging downward, just inches away from my skull.

Instinct took over before my brain could even process the threat. I dropped my shoulder, spun on my heel, and launched a powerful kick straight into the side of the rogue's knee.

A loud snap echoed through the corridor as the rogue howled in pain and went crashing hard onto the wooden floor.

My heart practically jumped into my throat when I realized where he had landed. He had collapsed right next to Elara’s pale, unconscious body.

The rogue opened his eyes, blinked away the shock, and immediately saw her lying beside him. A twisted grin spread across his blood-stained face as he made a desperate attempt to reach out and wrap his filthy fingers around her collarbone.

"Get away from her!" I roared and delivered a swift kick to his wrist, knocking his arm away before his fingers could touch her skin.

I grabbed the rogue by his torn collar, digging my boots into the floorboards as I dragged his heavy body away from her motionless body.

The battle turned vicious instantly. The rogue scrambled backward on the floor, his desperate eyes locking onto his fallen blade.

He reached out, grabbed the hilt, and tried to swing it wildly toward Elara's legs. I lunged forward and kicked his hand yet again, sending the weapon spinning across the room.

It became a full-blown, relentless brawl.

The apartment was cramped, and the smell of copper and sweat filled the narrow hallway. Every single time the rogue saw a tiny opening or a gap in my defense, he didn't try to hit me, he would run straight towards Elara instead.

His relentless focus was terrifying.

I couldn't move Elara to a safer room while actively keeping a ruthless murderer off my back. Every second was a delicate, dangerous dance. I had to position my own body as a human shield, blocking his path every time he charged toward her.

He lunged toward her head but I caught him in a chokehold and threw him against the wall. He swept his legs to trip me so he could crawl past me but I stomped down on his ankle and dragged him back into the center of the hallway.

I traded heavy blows with him, taking sharp punches to my ribs and face, but I refused to let him step past me.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of brutal combat, I delivered a crushing right hook that shattered his jaw, followed by a heavy strike to his neck. The rogue went completely limp, falling to the floor like a sack of stones.

I stood over him while panting heavily.

My whole body was soaked and heavy, my clothes were drenched in a mixture of my own blood and far more of the rogue's blood.

I picked up the heavy, lifeless body of the rogue, carried him to the broken frame, and threw his body out the window into the dark alley below.

I then slammed the window shut, secured the latches, and locked the back door tightly.

I left Elara safely hidden behind the locked door for just a moment, then I rushed downstairs to check on my brothers and Louis.

When I reached the lower landing, the fighting was already coming to an end. Louis was kneeling over the final rogue, delivering a brutal, lethal blow that ended the fight instantly.

Louis wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned to face me. His eyes were bloodshot, they looked wild with adrenaline and pure terror.

He took one look at my bloodied shirt and froze.

"Where is my sister?" Louis asked, his voice shaking violently.

I swallowed hard, my throat feeling completely dry. I hesitated for just a single second to catch my breath.

That brief silence was enough to break Louis completely.

His face went pale, his knees buckled, and he sank toward the floor as a terrible sob ripped from his chest. He thought she was dead. He thought he had lost his little sister forever.

"She is alive!" I shouted quickly, stepping down the stairs to grab his shoulders. "Louis, she is still alive. She is just unconscious. She was stabbed in the side during the attack, but she is breathing."

The terror in his eyes turned into urgent action.

Without wasting another second, we rushed back upstairs, lifted Elara as carefully as possible, and sprinted out to the vehicle.

We drove like madmen through the dark streets of Blackridge, racing straight to the nearest emergency clinic.

The medical staff met us at the door, rolling her immediately into a trauma ward. The hours dragged on in absolute agony as we paced the cold hallway outside.

Eventually, the doctor stepped out and informed us that the blade had missed her vital organs. They cleaned her wound, stitched the tear, and moved her into a private recovery ward.

We all gathered around her hospital bed, staring at her pale, still face.

Jace leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest as he broke the heavy silence. "I don't understand it," Jace said softly. "Brielle said Damien paid those rogues to capture Elara and bring her back to him alive. So why were they trying so hard to kill her?"

I rubbed my bruised chin, remembering the desperate madness in the eyes of the monster I had fought. "I noticed it too," I replied quietly. "The rogue I fought up there was not trying to capture her. He had multiple chances to knock her out or drag her away, but every single time he moved, he tried to land a killing blow on her."

Louis was by the head of the bed, staring down at his sister with dark, hollow eyes. "There is only one logical explanation," Louis spat out bitterly. "Damien wants her dead. He wants to finish what he started with that poison. My cousin Brielle was probably lying to us all along. She set us up, warning us about a kidnapping while sending assassins to murder my sister."

I shook my head slowly, running a hand over my tired face. "Brielle might have betrayed Elara in the past," I said quietly, "but she was definitely not lying this time. She sounded genuinely terrified on that phone."

Before anyone could argue further, a soft, dry cough echoed from the hospital bed, instantly shattering our debate and pulling every eye directly toward Elara.