Flora’s P.O.V
Clay and I hid behind one of the forest giants at the very edge of the grassland, peeking from behind the trunk so as not to get caught. Clay’s pack was right behind us, hiding in the grass and behind boulders or tree trunks. We were ready to attack.
But what we saw happening in the open had us speechless.
Andre slashed at Ezra’s arm with a dagger and held a clay jar under the spray of blood. Ezra yelped in pain, but Andre didn’t care. He was collecting her blood, for the Blood Moon ritual.
“Stay here.” Clay warned me. “I’ll try to sneak up on him while he is distracted.”
I wanted to protest, but that was probably the only way to help Malachi and Ezra now. Clay’s scent had changed now that he was no longer a rogue, as had the scent of the rest of his packmates, but Andre would recognize my scent easily.
“Be careful.” I whispered.
Clay gave me a nod before lying flat on the ground and started crawling forward on his hands and knees, making as little disturbance on the grass around him as possible.
I looked up at Andre to find him switching over to Malachi, without even bothering to close up Ezra’s wounds. Malachi, however, was in way worse shape than Ezra. His clothes were torn and dirty and entire body was covered in black and blue bruises. Andre hadn't just detained Malachi; he had tortured him as well.
I clutched the bow in my hand tightly as I watched Andre slash the dagger across his arm, a bit too deeper than necessary. Blood gushed out of his wound and once again, Andre held the jar under the spray, collecting as much of his blood as possible.
Once he had collected enough blood, Andre moved closer to the altar in between the wooden poles where Malachi and Ezra had been tied.
“Goddess of the Moon,” Andre called out, holding the jar up to the sky. “Today, on the occasion of the Blood Moon, I present you the blood of true lovers. Accept their lives, their sacrifice as your gift and wake up your beloved from his eternal slumber. Accept this sacrifice and descend from your heavenly throne onto earth.”
With that Andre started to lower the jar onto the altar…
Clay jumped up from the grass and headed straight for Andre, pouncing on him with his claws extended. The jar of blood fell from his hands before it could touch the altar and onto the grass, spilling blood everywhere.
“Look what you did! You fool!” Andre hissed, slashing out with his claws, but Clay jumped back right on time. “I would’ve come for you right after the ritual, but you fools saved me the trouble.”
With that, Andre lunged at Clay, forcing him on the ground and several other wolves came running out of the woods and headed straight for the duo.
“Go! Now!” I yelled at Clay’s wolves and they shot out into the clearing, as if waiting for my command.
It was war. There was no way around it anymore.
The wolves clashed with each other, claws and fangs bared. Blood splashed everywhere. It was a horror I never wanted to witness but now I was in the center of it all.
Andre and Clay fought with their claws, and every time I saw blood on Clay, I felt my heart sink to my stomach.
Suddenly, a wolf jumped out from behind the altar and landed on top of Clay, biting down on his shoulder. Clay yelped in pain as blood dripped down his shirt, turning the dark green into black.
Adjusting my bow, I ran out into the open and shot an arrow at the wolf on Clay’s back. He went down almost immediately, thanks to the paralyzing poison.
Clay jerked off the dead weight and hurled the man at Andre, who sliced his claws through the man’s abdomen, not caring that he was hurting his own men.
But I got distracted halfway as two wolves came running at me from the distance. I kept shooting arrows at them, missing once before the next arrow embedded itself into the wolf’s chest, taking him down. The second wolf had come too close already for me to shoot my arrow, so I did the only thing I could. I took out the dagger that Ezra had given me, from my belt and slashed it across the wolf’s belly as it lunged at me for an attack.
Since I was already out in the open, I headed straight for Ezra and used my bloody dagger to cut through her ropes. I placed my hand on top of her gash and sealed the wound so there wouldn’t be any more blood loss.
“Flora…the last sacrifice?” Ezra asked, her voice faint but the grip she had on my arm was firm.
I lowered my head. I had failed her, failed my maidens in completing the ritual to call Artemis.
“It’s alright, Flora.” Ezra tried to comfort me even now. “It’s not your fault. We never knew if we could complete the ceremony or not. But you were able to heal the rogues. Come, let’s help Malachi.”
Since dwelling in guilt wouldn’t help anyone, I wrapped an arm around Ezra and we made our way to where Malachi was tied. Freeing him with the dagger, I healed the wound that needed immediate attention, but when I went to heal him further, he stopped me.
“Save your energy. The fight isn’t over yet.” He said, leaning against the wooden pole with Ezra by his side.
“Flora!” Clay shouted then, holding Andre down with all his strength, only a few meters in front of me. Blood flowed down his arm freely, but Clay didn’t show it on his face. He was counting on me to make the last move.
I took out another arrow from the quiver, finding out too late that it was the last arrow I had, and pointed it at Andre. If I missed this one, it would be too late.
“You can’t win!” Andre shouted back, smiling through bloody teeth. “Even if I go down, my men will continue fighting! There is no way you can win now! The Goddess has accepted the sacrifice. Malachi and Ezra are as good as dead!”
Shit! What to do-
A glow coming from the forest caught my attention instead and I felt my eyes widened in shock. It couldn’t be…could it? Right in the place where there were so many predators?
But there was no more time to think. This was the only shot I would have.
Stretching the bow string, I focused on the target as best as I could, chanting a prayer in my mind as I did so…and let go of the string.
The arrow shot past Clay’s head, heading straight for the woods.
Everything seemed to stand still for an instant and I watched the scene unfold with my heart in my throat. Clay looked at me with wide eyes, unsure of what to do.
Andre’s maniacal laugh cut through the silence, drawing our attention to him. He gave me a wide grin, as if he had already won the battle and spoke through his laughter. “You missed.”
This time, I returned his smile and his laughter cut off immediately. “Did I?”
“What?” Both Andre and Clay turned to look behind them, at the woods where I had shot the arrow and watched as the deer fell to the forest floor, blood sprouting out of its chest where the arrow had embedded itself.
“No…” Andre whispered in horror, realizing too late what I had done as thunder and lightning rumbled through the sky.
‘Goddess Artemis, the great Goddess of beasts, of the moon, of childbirth. Help us, Goddess. Help us in times of dire need. Descend onto earth and vanquish evil. This I pray to you with the sacrifice of this deer. Answer our prayers, Goddess Artemis.’
The wind suddenly turned into a hurricane and the sky just above the altar turned a bright gold.
“Clay! Move!” I screamed at him and he got out of the way just in time, before lightning fell from the sky…and struck directly at Andre.
A flash of blinding light filled the sky.