Marisa fell down next to her brother, crying.
Jack placed a hand on her shoulder but she shook him off, not wanting her friends sympathy.
Scott gave a rasping cough, trying to clear his lungs, and in the process, hacking up blood onto the teenagers staring wide-eyed at him.
“S-Scott?!” Marisa cried, flinging her arms around his neck.
He attempted a weak chuckle, giving Jack a pained smile over his sister’s shoulder.
They were thrown out of that happy moment by a blood curdling scream that ripped down the trail.
The body of a young woman in her mid twenties was thrown dawn the path towards them, landing in a puddle of blood at their feet.
Marisa shrieked, cringing further into the boy’s arms.
There was sharp, almost mechanical laughter and the king stepped into view, banging the hilt of his sword against his chest plate.
“La Vengeance!” He shouted, then again louder.
Jack took a deep breath, pulling down his face guard and picking up a discarded sword. “I’m going in again.”
“What!” Marisa reached after him, struggling to keep both her and Scott upright. “No! Jack stop!”
He brushed off her fruitless attempts to stop him and charged forward, nearly tripping over the weight of his sword threatening to pull him down
Unlike the king, who stood as tall and proud as the trees growing by the path, Jack moved as if one well aimed breeze could send him flying down the mountain.
The king laughed again, lifting his left armored left arm to deflect Jack’s swing, which only managed to make a dent in the mans otherwise perfect armor.
The block sent Jack flying backwards just in time for the mans right arm to come up, slamming his club against Jacks head.
He fell to the ground a short distance from the king’s feet, curling up after the first of the man’s kicks sent the air right out of his chest.
Marisa gave a strangled scream, tearing herself out of Scott’s grip and dashing to Jacks side.
Jacks eyes fluttered open, barely focusing on Marisa’s face. The fuzzy image only became worse when tears started welling up in his eyes.
She leaned forward, resting their forehead’s together, and breathed, trying to stop the tears from slipping past her lashes.
“Please god please. No, not him. Don’t take Jack. Not now.”
Jack tried to open his mouth, to tell her it would be fine, but the words weren’t there. Instead, he did the last thing he would usually do in this situation, he kissed her.
When she first felt his lips on hers, Marisa’s first instinct was to smile, but that soon turned into a full on meltdown, until Jacks hair was drenched with her tears.
Scott smiled at the two, but that turned to a look of horror when he turned away.
“Marisa!” He shouted, trying to make her turn around.
She did, her eyes widening as she scrambled for Jacks discarded sword, swinging it up just in time to strike the kings abdomen, the sword piercing through the soft exposed flesh and hitting his rib.
The king gave a howl of pain, clawing at the open wound on his side now spilling blood.
Marisa was drenched in it, the liquid turning her clothes a dark crimson red.
Then she laughed. Quietly at first, but gaining volume as the few around her still alive joined in, carrying the sound around the forest.
A sound that meant peace, a sound that meant solution.
A sound that meant freedom.
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