Chapter Three

ANOTHER CHAPTER. YAY.

CHAPTER FOUR: The Midnight Angel

 

Quickly did I realize how horribly outnumbered the rebels seemed. There were about 50 of us, and the Deck attack had about 90 to 100. But out skill matched in their numbers. I watched the adults and teenagers fight with such power and skill that I had never seen. Even the children were assiting in battle by launching well-aimed stones at the enemy. There were birds, Tobias included, that were fighting too; swooping down, stealing weapons and bringing them to our rebels, and clawing at the faces of the Deck warriors, blinding some.

 

I did my own share in fighting that day. I didn't really remembering being a great fighter the last time I was in Wonderland, but I had somehow improved my abilities. When I glanced around, I saw Octavuis fighting. It was breath taking. I had never seen him fought before, because he was known for his brilliance and battle strategies, not for his fighting. He took out three guys at once. At once! It was extremely impressive.

 

"Ashton check the door!" Octavius called. I didn't argue. I assumed he wanted me to hold off any more people coming to kill us. I nodded and ran as fast as I could, running through the clanking of swords and grunts of the fight. My senses focused on getting me out of the tunnel as fast as possible.

 

When I came out, I only saw one person. He stood, his stance easy and relaxed. If I wasn't in Wonderland, the large, jaggedly shaped, feathered wings that spread from his back would have surprised me. When he turned, I felt my stomach instantly fill with butterflies.

 

He was beatiful.

 

His black hair fell in his face messily, shadowing his shining red eyes. He was tall, lean, but wearing an unfimiliar uniform. I studied it and realized he was fighting for the Deck. A smile spread on his face, and my stomach lept. He walked closer to me, his movements slow and steady.

 

"Is this the famous Ashton Cooper?" he asked softly, his voice gravely and low. I heard a bit of an accent, but I couldn't detect it. "What is she doing out in the open? Doesn't she know a Midnight Assassian when she sees one?" I gulped. Midnight Assasians were ruthless and deadly. They didn't care about emotions or other people, and they didn't have too. He leaned in, his breathe brushing up against my neck. "You're a foolish girl, Ashton."

 

I couldn't let him distract me. The Featherblade was called that for a reason. It was so light to me, that I could swing it with agility and speed. Other couldn't though, it was crafted for me only, so it's much heavier to others. I don't even know how Sherlock had carried it, it is so heavy. I swung with all my strenth and managed to scrape one of the assassian's wings. He shouted in pain and stumbled back, but quickly regained his pose and lunged at me.

 

His hands grabbed my shoulders and he pinned me to a boulder that was behind me. The stone came in contact to my spine, and I coughed at impact. I sliced my Featherblade after recovering whatever focus I could, and it grazed his arm, drawing a bit of blood. He didn't mind.

 

Something came into hard contact with my face: his fist. He held my shoulders tight against the boulder and whispered in my ear, "I will make sure that your friends die slowly, painfully. That fool John Hamish Watson is already beind tortured as we speak, and the stupid were-cat is next. I'll be shocked if they survive the immense torturing. Ashton Cooper, you will feel the bittersweet taste of revenge, I will make sure of it. And that bird of yours will be roasted on a spit soon enough."

 

"NO!" I screamed, driving my blade into his leg, and kicking him in the groin as hard as I could. He groaned and stumbled back. Blind rage filtered my thoughts and actions as I ran at him, and swiftly dragged my blade above his collarbone. He was a fallen angel, so these wonds wouldn't kill him, but they'd still hurt like hell. After a few swipes of my knife, he was on the ground, panting and groaning. I pressed my foot to his chest. "What is your name?" I said in a low, raspy voice, that even intimidated me.

 

When his breathing slowed, he choked out, "I'm Seth." My blade was just inches from his face, and he held his hands up surrender.

 

"Ashton, let him go," a voice called from behind. I turned to see Tobias swooping down behind me. He pulled his wings in and stared at Seth with narrowed golden eyes. "We've won. He's useless."

 

"Shouldn't we take him captive or something?" I asked, my voice more normal since I was adressing a friend.

 

Tobias shook his head, "No, let him go back to Prince Percy and tell him how the Princess of the Rebels kicked his sorry butt. I'm sure the budding king will get a kick out of that." When he finished speaking, I took my foot off of Seth's chest and stepped a few feet back.

 

Seth stood to his feet gracefully, for someone who did, in fact, just get his butt kicked. He walked up to me, and leaned in, brushing his lips against my cheek. I tensed, feeling blood rise to my cheeks, burning my face. When he leaned back, he let out a laugh and flapped his wings, launching into the sky. His flight was off, since I had slashed one of his wings when we were fighting.

 

"What was that about?" Tobias muttered, stretching out his huge wingspan and flying back into the tunnel.

 

I gulped and felt my face cool off. What was that?! He just tried to kill me and then he comes up and kisses me? I was majorly confused as I turned back and walked into the tunnel, making my way back to the place where the battle orignially started. The rebels were celebrating their victory with food and music, cleaning up all the weapons and unwanted body parts that were scattered around the floor. The children were running around and singing as their parents laughed and talked about the Deck's defeat.

 

Octavius walked up behind me and tapped my shoulder. "What happened?"

 

I turned to face him and shrugged. "Just a Midnight Assassian. Nothing I couldn't handle." He gave me a glance that showed me that he didn't believe that was all that happened, but he nodded and patted my back, then started to walk away.

Something came to mind. "Octavius wait!" he turned and looked at me. "The fallen angel told me about Watson. He said that he was being tortured right now. Wildcat is next. We have to save them!"

 

Octavius signaled to a room I vaguely remembered: the rebel's meeting room. I had only been there once, when I first met Octavis. "Shall we?" I gulped, nodded, and walked past him into the room. There was a large stone table in the middle and chair surrounding in. I took the chair at the head of the table and said nervously. I thought about what they were doing to Watson, and felt sick. Sherlock would kill me himself is Watson didn't make it.

 

Then I thought about Wildcat. Her real name was Haylen, but being such a rare breed of were-cat, she earned Wildcat as her new name. She was the only friend that I had that was a female in Wonderland, and I deeply appreciated that. Wildcat was really sweet and kind, but she was also fiercely protective over Hatter and me.

 

Some 'rebel officials' walked in and took their seats after Octavius entered. I quickly told them about Waton and Wildcat and Hatter and the others. I told them about what Seth told me, and they all stared at me in outrage. They loved my friends; they were always there for the rebels even though they weren't officially a part of them.

 

"We must save them!" a general, Adam Doyle snapped.

 

"Yes, shall we talk about strategies?" Octavius said, "We can send one group to attack from behind and another to attack from the front. Soilders will be occupied and a smaller patrol can sneak in and rescue the captives. How does that sound, Ashton?"

 

I thought a moment. "Well, Seth was a Mightnight Assassian. We can assume that the Deck will have more than one, so it would be safer to go through underground, instead of facing them head on with a patrol. How exactly will we get all 389 of our people back, along with getting Watson, Wildcat, Hatter, and our dragons?"

 

Octavius smiled. "They've known that we'd be getting them soon. They're all ready to get out of that place and go." He glanced around. "Does anybody have any other ideas?" No one spoke. "Alright, we'll set off at sunset. Let's organize the patrols." We all stood and Octavius started organizing groups to take an underground path to get into the castle that the rebels had made months ago.

 

I walked out of the room and went into the main area, where adults were saying goodbye to their children and several teenagers were getting ready. I walked over to them.

 

"I'm Ashton." I said. A girl with pixie-cut black hair and blazing amber eyes looked at me.

 

"We know." She shoved her sword into her sheath. "Why did you come back?" She snapped bitterly, grabbing a small pack and fastening it onto her belt with quick motions.

 

I stared at her. "What do you mean?"

 

"You already ruind Underland once. Are you coming back to do it again?" She growled. A boy with smoky gray eyes and long blonde hair put his hand on her shoulder, giving her a warning look.

 

"Adrianna. . ." he muttered, then gave me an apologizing look. "Sorry about her. I'm Riley. We are all glad you're here to help, Princess of the Rebels. We are truely grateful for your services, even though some of us," He shot Adrianna a glare, "don't show it."

 

I smiled. "Thanks, Riley. Are you two on the rescue patrol with me?"

 

Another girl came up and shook her head. Her hair was long and light brown, and her face lit up in innocence with dark, chocolate brown eyes that shone at you. "No, we're in the distraction patrol. We'll be there to escort you all out when you get the others." She raked a hand through her hair. "I'm Marnie. Good to see you here to help, like Riley said."

 

"I'm glad to help." I said, and Adrianna huffed. Marnie rolled her eyes and after giving them another smile, I turned and walked to Octavius when I felt someone tug on my dress. I looked down to a little girl clutching a stuffed bear. I kneeled down and smiled at her. "Yes?"

 

"My mommy and daddy got taken away," she said softly, her dark hair falling in her face. "Please save them."

 

I nodded, my heart breaking inside my chest. I pulled her into a hug, and she dug her face into my shoulder. "I will. I promise I will."

 

Author's Note

*GASP* Two chapters in ONE DAY. That's magical. This was fun to write XD I hope you guys like it, and if you have any feedback at all, please feel free to leave a comment and such.

Songs for this chapter:
~Break - Three Days Grace

UntilNextTime
-Jenna