The hunter’s terror filled voice faded as the beast carried him high up to the sky, westward.

  Ava gasped. A bow and arrow formed in her hands from seemingly thin air. She nocked the arrow, drew the bowstring, and aimed.

  “Stop!” Charles exclaimed. “You’ll shoot Robert!”

  “He’s gone already-“

  “He’s not.” Alaric cut her off. “She doesn’t want dead bodies – those are useless to her.” His gaze turned towards the cliffs. Something – the Witch – beckoned him there. “She wants thralls, servants.”

  “Alaric!” Sarah’s voice echoed as she ran out of the church, with a small group in tow. Jason was right behind her, tightly holding onto one of the swords they brought back. Her son – Arthur – stood by the entrance, his fingers clutched around the woven sheet half covering the empty doorframe. “What happened-“

  Before she could finish her question, yet another screech echoed through the night. Arthur screamed in response, flailing his arms as he ran towards his mother. Sarah spun around. “Go back inside, don’t come out here-“

  Jason suddenly jerked his neck to the side, and up. His eyes widened. “Down!” He shouted as he pushed Sarah to the ground and crouched next to her.

  The beat of large, leathery wings filled the air. Shadows blocked the starry sky as more of those creatures flew over them, their sharp claws outstretched in an attempt to catch their defenceless prey. The half a dozen or so people who had run out after Sarah screamed. Some tried to draw their swords from their sheathes, while a few immediately gave up and dashed back towards the church. Screams of terror filled the air as panic took over rational thought and erased any chance they had to defend against these creatures.

  A shadow snatched one of the two men running back to the church. His terror filled scream sent a shudder down Alaric’s spine.

  “Stop running around!” Ava shouted at the top of her lungs. Her bow drawn, she kept one of the creatures in her gaze as it dove towards Sarah and Jason. As it reached the lowest point of its flight, the young girl released the arrow. A thud sounded as the creature fell to the ground, an arrow sticking out from beneath its chin. Flailing around, it struggled for air.

  Jason stabbed it in its eye with his blade, then immediately let go of its hilt in disgust. His eyes wide, he fell on his back as he tried to step away from the bloody head of the dead creature.

  “Arthur!” Sarah’s voice pierced through the air, filled with primal fear. “Give him back!” She ran after one of the ascending creatures. “Arthur!” her voice cracked. She kicked the ground, running past Jason and Charles, her gaze solely focused on the creature, and the little child carried off.

  Two young women – Harriet’s granddaughters – ran towards the church. As one of the creatures descended towards them, the one with the long, crimson hair pushed her sister to the side and jumped down. A pair of sharp claws caught her shoulders before she made it. A scream escaped her lips.

  “Victoria!” Her sister’s desperate shout couldn’t drown her own pained scream. A second creature descended towards her sister amidst the chaos.

  Alaric kicked the ground and tackled the young girl before she could get up fully. He lay on her, covering her with his own body as the bat flew over them, its sharp claws brushing against his back.

  Ava nocked an arrow and released it, aiming for one of the ascending creatures, only for it to lose its trajectory from the wind created by another bat’s flight. She gasped and threw herself to the ground to avoid its extended claws.

  The creature harmlessly flew past her, unable to reach her as she lay in the grass. It beat its wings once, changing direction towards its next target. It’s claws reached forward just as Charles spun around. An audible gasp escaped his lips as the hit of the creature’s claws emptied the air in his lungs.

  “No! Let him go you fuck!” Ava shouted, scrambled on her feet, and nocked yet another arrow that didn’t reach its target. The creature carrying Charles joined the half dozen other creatures flying away with their captured prey. With that, the last of the creatures had flown off, leaving the people wounded and lost.

  Jason had somehow caught up with Sarah and tackled her at the edge of the Hallowed Ground. She was kicking and screaming, trying to escape Jason. Her voice cracked, her screams became unintelligible and primal.

  Alaric pulled away from the young woman. She lay on her back, eyes wide and filled with tears. Her gaze lingered on his face for a moment before she curled up and started crying.

  Ava threw her bow the ground before falling on her knees. “Fuck!” She breathed out, her voice broken. She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, then pushed herself back up, took the bow and let it vanish in her grasp. Her gaze scoured the still panicking people until it landed on Alaric. Her shoulders dropped with bitter relief.

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  He met her gaze before turning around to look at everyone else. Clara stood at the entrance to the church, her eyes wide. Ava watched him, waiting for him to say something. Sarah had stopped struggling, she was crying now, tightly holding onto Jason’s arm.

  “We need to save them.” Ava’s words were meek, but loud enough to draw everyone’s attention. “We can’t let them die.”

  ***

  “We have to go after them.” Sarah’s voice shattered the silence.

  They had gathered inside the church – to hide, and to make sure no one ran off somewhere without anyone else noticing. Their numbers had thinned considerably.

  “Charles was taken, as was Arthur, Victoria,” Alaric counted those who were taken by the large bats. “Eric, Reuban, Lochlan and Avery too.” His shoulders dropped. Without Charles, the people were in a panic. They whispered to themselves, cried and despaired. No one was really paying much attention to his words.

  “We have to go after them. I’m not leaving my son!” Sarah shouted. She motioned to get up, but Ava pulled her back down on the woven grass mat.

  “I’m not leaving my brother there either.” Ava gently said, tightly holding onto Sarah’s arm. “But we need to go together – not rush in blindly.” Her gaze turned to Alaric. “What do we do? You know what to do, right? You have a plan, don’t you?”

  A cold shiver ran down his spine as everyone’s gazes turned on him. “N- I mean,” he stammered, trying to summon the courage to speak up. “We need to get everyone back, I agree with that. But we can’t rush into things.” His voice cracked. How could Charles look at these people and speak so confidently? He just wanted to make himself small. “We are tired and wounded. We need to rest and recover. Be prepared.” He needed time to think. “Clara,” he turned to his sister. “Please start healing everyone who got wounded. We can’t risk infections.”

  “Right!” Clara started on her feet.

  “The rest of you, try to get some rest – if you can’t sleep, lay down. Let your body rest. We’ll leave at dawn, so prepare for that. We’ll go over the plan before we leave.”

  “No!” Sarah pushed Ava away and got up on her feet. Tears wet her cheeks. “I won’t wait that long, Arthur needs me-“

  “He needs you alive!” Alaric cut her off with a voice louder than he intended. “Not dead and forgotten because you blindly rushed into the Witch’s castle in the middle of the night!” He breathed out, trying to calm his racing heart. “We go in the morning, when her creatures are asleep, and she’s too, hopefully.”

  “What if you’re wrong?” Someone asked. “She’ll kill them by then!” Someone else shouted. “My sister!” “My friend!” “My husband!”

  They were panicking. Fear spread like a wildfire.

  God, what do I do?

  He clenched his fists. “Do you just want to rush in now and die? You’re useless to them dead!”

  “But-“

  “What will you do now?” Alaric glared at the people. His fists were clenched.

  What the hell do you want me to do?

  “You don’t even know where the bloody castle is!” His voice was loud. Too loud. But he didn’t care as he spat out his next words, his heart racing, the rush of blood deafening him. “She’s a witch! She has magic, she can and will try and control your minds. We have to go when she least expects us – and I bet she expects us to rush to her now.” He took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. “Hopefully, bats won’t be awake after dawn. And considering she woke up after dusk, there’s a good chance she’ll be asleep too.”

  “What if she kills them?” A meek voice rose. It was Elizabeth – the twin sister of the abducted girl. “Are you sure she won’t?”

  Alaric nodded. He could only hope he seemed at least mildly confident. “She wants servants. Not corpses. She made that much abundantly clear.” He instinctively touched his arm and winced. “Now rest for a few hours. We’ll go fast, save everyone, and get out. Make sure you can keep up – all of you.”

  ***

  Armed with swords they took from the castle, the group set out shortly before dawn. The eastern sky was slowly lighting up, hues of blue and pink slowly spreading across the skies, hiding the stars. The fog that lingered south of there slowly began dissipating as the first rays on sunlight touched the ground.

  They walked with a fast pace. Alaric and Ava were at the forefront of the group. Sarah and Clara followed right behind them. Jason, Elizabeth, and the few others who joined trailed a few steps behind.

  “So you can create weapons?” Alaric finally asked the question that had been in the back of his mind since he first saw Ava use her ability.

  “I can store them.” Ava shook her head. “And make them come to me when I want.” She raised her hand. A small butter knife appeared between her fingers, then vanished. “It’s neat, that’s how I carried all those swords back.” She bit her lips. “My brother didn’t want me to tell anyone at first. Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.” Her gaze turned downward. “We’ll save him, right?” Her voice was but a whisper.

  “Of course.” God, I hope we make it in time. “We’ll make sure everyone is safe.” He glanced back over his shoulder towards Clara. We have to make it in time.

  “She can heal.” Ava followed his gaze. “What about you? My brother was sure you had some sort of ability too.”

  He grimaced. “No, I’m just a normal, run-of-the mill guy.” He shook his head with a frown. A part of him wished he had some sort of ability – something he could use to protect Clara, Ava, and everyone else. Something that would help him stand up against the Witch. Yet another part of him afraid – what Clara and Ava had were incredible powers. Inhuman powers. Is it really a good thing?

  They soon reached the path leading up the cliff. As they gathered at the bottom, everyone’s chatter came to an end. “We’ll be quiet and quick from now.” Alaric kept his voice low. “Keep your weapons in hand and try to avoid the Witch if you see her. She can and will charm you, muddle your mind and make you surrender. Don’t try and fight her alone – draw her out into the courtyard.” He turned his gaze towards Sarah. “Ready?”

  She nodded, tightly grasping the leather belt attached to the rifle hanging over her shoulder. “I’ll get her.” Her eyes burned with hate and determination.

  “Let’s go then. Everyone knows their job – don’t do anything reckless.”