Chapter 91 Survive

Chapter 91 Survive
Chapter 91: Scarlett

The silence was deceptive. I knew it.

The tension was growing right underneath even long after Willow walked out of our little prison. Something was happening.

I could feel it.

My heart was racing as I turned to Axel. He had that same light of panic in his eyes but just like me, he remained calm waiting for whatever was brewing to blow up.

The chains around my wrists burned with even more cold and the sound of water falling into a pit somewhere grew even louder...

And then it came. 

The first rumble of war.

At first, I thought it was just the earth groaning, but then it came again. This time, it was heavier.

"Scarlett!" Axel called just as the unmistakable sound of clashing steel echoed from somewhere outside.

I shifted quickly towards him, my heart ramming even faster with adrenaline and fear.

"What's going on— do you think they are here? I mean Greg?" I stuttered, clinging to him.

Even with his chains and battered state, I still saw him as my armor in these crazy times.

"I can feel our blood..." He hissed. "Aunt Emily is here."

My eyes widened as hope shut through me. "That means... Uncle Greg and Nathan are here too!"

My eyes moved to the jagged entrance and my racing heart already cried out for the next line of action.

"We should go to them." I mumbled and then turned to face my brother. "Can you move?"

His eyes glowed with determination as he held my knees firmly. "Willow will get to us faster than them... We need to make it difficult for her..."

His eyes left mine and moved around the old dilapidated room. "Can you move those stones?"

My eyes shot at the stones he was talking about in confusion. I didn't understand why he was asking for that. But before I could speak, he explained.

"I remember this room when we were little... There is an exit on the other side of the wall. But it's covered..."

The guttural howls of wolves in their war forms swallowed his voice, increasing the pressure of panic inside me.

But I heard his instructions.

"This was the throne room... Mum and dad forbade us from coming here whenever there was a meeting... But we found an old tunnel that connects to our room..."

As Axel's voice rose above the sound of battle around us, my memories flickered back to life.

I could see my mother's long hair as she stared at the maps in front of my father... It was the day everything got destroyed.

The day the humans attacked.

We were in that little tunnel, Axel and I. We heard that humans have taken our men. They had magic... One of us had betrayed us...

Willow was that betrayer. She sold us out for her own gains. For her own selfish revenge against my parents.

And now, she was back to finish what she started. But not anymore.

Axel and I were not going to fail.

Quickly, my head snapped to the spot where I remembered the tunnel to be and I ran towards it.

The ground shuddered beneath me with the force of bodies colliding, but I didn't stop.

I got to the first large piece of broken concrete and started dragging it out of the way. But they were just too large and heavy.

"Ahh!" I strained, pulling even harder. But it refused to bulge.

At this point, I was starting to feel something strange... And something inside of me just knew that Willow's shadows were getting stronger.

I had to move fast.

"Ahhh!" I screamed, straining again to move the boulder. But nothing happened.

"You need to tap into your wolf, Scarlett!" Axel called from where he was.

My head swept towards him and my heart sliced into two as it dawned on me that he was too far away.

He was bound and helpless, what if something happened to him?

Unable to help myself, I dumped what I was doing and started running back to him.

"Scarlett, what are you doing?" He asked with confusion swimming in his eyes as I returned to him.

"I am not leaving you in danger." I breathed. "If I am walking out of here, then we are going together!"

I lifted him off the ground, putting his weight over my shoulders. "Come on... Let's go. I will push the boulders faster when I know you are close..."

"You are fucking crazy!" He hissed, but didn't push me away.

With his help, I lifted him off the ground and together we limped towards the tunnel. Then I placed him on the ground and focused on pushing the boulders away.

It was still difficult, but I did what he said earlier. I tapped into my wolf.

"Come on... Ahhh!" I groaned, finally pushing one away.

My wolf stirred inside of me, giving me the strength I needed to push the rest of the ruins away from the secret passage, but it also flashed something else inside of me.

My heart squeezed and I became even more breathless than before.

I couldn't place a finger on it but it was a feeling... As if— like someone very dear to me was in danger...

My heart skipped, then hammered so hard, I feared I might have genuinely broken something inside of me.

I was at the last boulder now, but I could barely hold back as the unease grew even stronger.

Slowly, I pressed a trembling hand to my chest.

My heart felt restless, straining, as though it were chasing after something I had misplaced.

Something I couldn’t quite see. Yet the ache was becoming unbearable...

So much so that I almost stumbled—

“Scarlett,” Axel called, his eyes narrowing in panic. “Stay with me!”

But I could barely breathe.

Because in the chaos that was happening, I suddenly found myself searching for a single voice... a single presence I couldn’t name.

And the absence of this voice ached like a wound.

My chest burned, but my mind couldn’t catch the memory.

"Scarlett!" Axel roared with such urgency, my wolf instantly snapped from whatever trance we were falling into.

"Y— yeah?" I stuttered, blinking down at him.

He stared at me for a second longer than necessary, his eyes burning with worry, before he nodded. "We need to go. Now."

Despite his large injuries, he managed to stand upright when I zoned out. He grabbed my chains and started leading me towards the now opened tunnel.

It was small— much smaller than I remembered but if we crawled, we would fit.

"Go first, I'll come behind you," he said but my head was already shaking in disagreement.

"No... I should be behind so I can close the tunnel. I am much stronger than you are," I argued.

"You just zoned out on me, Scarlett!" Axel snapped. "There is no way I am going in there without you!"

"But—" my words were suddenly drowned as heavy steps filled the stone corridor outside.

Someone was coming.

Shit!

"Get in there now!" Axel hissed through his teeth.

Knowing that arguing was going to get the both of us caught, I hurried into the tunnel but made sure to pull him along with me.

Thankfully, the old cover we used was still functional and Axel made sure to pull it close after us before we stayed still.

The air grew colder and I knew it was one of the shadows long before we heard a howl and then Willow's voice.

"You stupid incompetent beasts!" She screamed. "They were right here! How did they vanish!?"

Soft howls filled the space once more as if the shadow was explaining itself to her.

Axel and I exchanged worried looks. But neither of us could move. If we did, she would hear the sound of the chains rattling and somehow, she could find out where we were.

So we stayed put.

"You were supposed to be watching them!" Willow shrieked and then there was a sickening slash.

Splattering followed and I could only guess what had happened as her voice echoed again, thundering through the walls.

"Find them! All of you, find them now!" The door banged close at that point and the whole room went silent.

I turned my eyes to Axel, but he subtly shook his head. "Not now..." He mouthed.

I nodded and we stayed put waiting for whatever was on the other end to leave the room.

But the longer we waited, I noticed Axel's breathing growing shallow.

His injuries were not healing. And the cut on his chest was starting to change into a strange dark color.

Goddess, no... Not my brother.

A lump sat in my throat as I shook my head to stop the tears.

"We need to move..." I croaked.

One look at me and he knew he couldn't convince me otherwise anymore.

"Okay, but let's try to stay as silent as possible," He whizzed.

A wave of dread flew over me but I nodded, swallowing it back.

"Okay," I whispered as I turned around and started praying inside of me.

'Goddess please... My brother has to survive... He is all I have left... Please save him...'

My wolf stirred as if it also felt my pain as we continued moving forward as slowly as we could.

It was hard but I couldn't stop.

Each wince Axel made were like tint cuts to my heart. Yet I had to make sure we got to the other side.

"Scarlett... That's the end..." Axel breathed almost with his last strength.

My own heart burned with relief as I finally kicked the small door open.

But just as we stepped out of the tunnel into our room, the door burst open, causing my already fragile heart to crash to the ground.

"Scarlett!"