Book One Chapter Fifteen: Firefight in Libel

Nick and his friends escape Saja's prison and flee to the village of Libel. Saja finds them and attacks them at the inn. How will this battle turn out?

Chapter Fifteen Firefight in Libel: We exited the castle, and we advanced to the vast plain beside the castle. I looked back at the castle. It was small, nothing like the one that I was first imprisoned in. It was not even the same interior. Was this castle a decoy? We started towards a village to rest at an inn, at least that's what I hoped we were doing. We arrived at a village in a very short while. I recognized this town as Libel. I did not think that the castle behind us was Saja’s castle. It is right next to Libel, and we could easily stay in Libel and lay in wait for Saja and catch her by surprise. Saja would predict us making such an obvious move. The castle couldn’t be hers. She’s smarter than that. We approached the inn. We walked through the door. Inside the inn was pretty small. I saw a few tables in one room to the left, and to the right there were a few small rooms. The inn was two floors tall. The innkeeper behind the counter directly in front of us greeted us.

“Welcome to Libel’s inn! We offer a comfortable place to rest your head, for very cheap as a matter of fact!” The innkeeper said in a smooth voice.

The innkeeper was a young, pretty woman with smooth skin. She was slightly taller than me, she had short black hair, hazel eyes, smooth, finely rounded facial features and a kind voice. She was wearing a pale blue dress with a white apron.

“How much are the rooms?” Asked Carlos.

“Rooms are two Yentos each. Well? What do you think?” Asked the innkeeper.

“Yes, that sounds good. Thank you.” Carlos said.

Carlos placed a few rectangular coins that had a blackish silver color on the counter.

“Thank you very much! Enjoy your stay here in Libel. You rooms are on the second floor.” The innkeeper added with a smile.

“Thank you.” I said graciously.

I went to my room and sat on the bed. The room was small and simple, consisting of a bed, a toilet, a sink, a bath, and a mirror. I looked in the mirror and thought who am I? I had changed a lot in the last few months. Part of it was brought on by the time I had spent being Saja’s captive. Some other parts came with age. I saw deep bags under my eyes from lack of sleep. The thought didn’t surprise me because half of the last few months I have been a captive, or on a suicide escape mission, either or. I went to sleep happy that night. I woke up with the feeling of being watched. I looked around but saw nothing. I then heard footsteps. No not footsteps, shifting of weight. I saw my mirror move just slightly. I looked to the bottom of it and found a pair of legs. Adrenaline pumped through my system. Was Saja here to kill me? I could feel my old fear of Saja returning a little. I certainly did not fear Saja as much as I once did, but I still needed to face Saja a little more before the fear was completely eradicated.

 

I panicked.

“Who’s there?” I asked.

The person emerged, it was Luna! Confusion filled me. What was she doing in my room?

“Well, well, well, look who is awake!” Luna said teasingly.

Luna strode out from behind the mirror, she jumped at me with her hands out, going for my throat. I rolled off the bed.

"Woah! What are you doing?!" I yelled at her.

“I planned your capture and your so called rescue.” Luna told me.

“Why?” I asked, stunned. What was wrong with her?

“What?! Are you insane!?” I shouted at Luna.

“I am Saja’s most loyal advisor. My only error was ripping my gown on your furniture back on Earth.” She added.

“You…?” I said, remembering the torn piece of material that I found at my house. It was Luna all along?

She was from a different world, so of course her name didn't show up in the database when the police analyzed it.

 

Luna held up a gun that looked like Carlos’s gun, cocked it and pointed it at me.

“Join Saja now and you live.” She said.

I was bewildered. Did I hear her correctly.

“Why does Saja want me?” I asked.

"Saja will torture you mercilessly until you tell her where Tigiti is, and who the Chosen One is." She replied with a smile. Fear filled me at the thought.

“If you will not join Saja…” Luna trailed off.

She then motioned with the barrel of the gun to the terrace.

“Get on the terrace. “Luna ordered.

“What? You’re saying that I submit to you and join Saja where I will be tortured for information I don’t have, or jump off of the terrace?” I asked.

“Well, you have a third option.” Luna said hopefully.

“Really? What is it?” I asked her.

“I could shoot you right here and now.” Luna said with a nasty grin.

I did as I was told and got on the terrace, I tried to think of a last minute escape plan.

“On the railing.” She added.

I stood on the railing. She had the gun aimed at me.

“If you do not jump, you die.” She said.

I looked down. It was about 20 feet down. I would break both my legs and die for sure.

“If I do jump I die!” I shouted at Luna.

Luna chuckled.

“Yes, you are in quite the predicament. Now, choose how you want to die. Quickly now, or I will choose for you.” Luna said, gesturing to the terrace with her gun.

I was going to jump when I heard a clicking sound. I turned around and Carlos had another gun, identical to the one Luna was holding. He pointed it to Luna’s back.

“Is that so?” asked Carlos.

Hope flared within me. Carlos was going to safe my life for the second time since we met.

 

“Because I know that I can pull this trigger faster than you can shift into your wolf form and kill me.” Carlos added.

Luna glared at him.

“That may be so, but can you pull the trigger faster than me?” Luna challenged, gesturing to me with her gun.

I heard the flapping of wings again. This cannot be good. Saja flew up to me at eye level and pointed a gun at Carlos. I didn’t flinch away from Saja. I wasn’t going to give Saja the satisfaction of knowing that she scared me even now.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Saja said with a slight smile, kind of like the one she had on when Micheal had the gun to my back at Kao's Cuisine.

Saja's gun was the same as Luna’s. These guns must have been standard issue guns on Ectoclis.

“Drop the gun or he dies.” Saja said, motioning to me.

Carlos looked at me, then back to Saja and Luna. They both had their weapons trained on him now. A quick idea hit me. Seeing as neither Saja nor Luna were aiming at me, I had a fleeting thought based on the insane will to live that I possessed at that moment; This was my chance.

 

I was now standing on the railing, so I was a foot away from Saja, her wings were flapping quickly. I looked to her, and quickly lunged at her. I grabbed her in a bear hug, restraining her wings.

“Look out below!” I shouted.

Saja began flailing in the air.

“What are you doing?!” Saja yelled at me.

We both plummeted to the ground. We landed a few seconds later with Saja on the bottom, cushioning my fall. I rolled off of her. I had to find a weapon. I heard gunfire from my room, twenty feet up. I ran into the inn’s lobby. The innkeeper was behind the counter.

"What can I do- Say, did you not already check in?" The innkeeper asked me.

I ran at the counter and jumped over it.

“Hey! What are you doing?” The innkeeper shouted.

I ducked down underneath the counter. I found a stake under there! I wasn't expecting that! I only wanted some cover, and to hide from Saja. This stake must be for if a vampire tries to get a free room by force or something. I grabbed the stake silently and pulled it off of the shelf. I heard Saja's footsteps coming from the direction of the door.

"Where is he?" Asked Saja.

"Where is who?" Asked the innkeeper casually.

I liked this girl.

"The young man that came in her a second ago, you couldn't not have seen him, unless you are blind." Saja challenged the man.

 

I glanced upwards and saw that the woman had her hands raised, probably because Saja had her at gunpoint.

"Tell me where he is. Now." Ordered Saja.

I did not want this woman to die. I leaped out over the counter, still clutching the stake and I jumped out from over the counter, surprising Saja. Saja must have thought that I was going for her with the stake, and she dove out of the way. Using this opportunity, I ran upstairs to my room. I did not go for Saja because she surely would have shot me, and the staircase to my room was closer to me than Saja was. I heard more gunfire from above me as I got closer to the top floor. I opened the door and found Luna behind a wall, and Carlos was behind a wall on the other end of the room. They were angled so that they could only shoot each other if the other peeked out of cover. Luna saw me and shot at me from her cover, out of Carlos's sight. Fear invaded my system and I jumped out of the way. I landed behind the bed, out of Luna's sight. I saw Luna peek out slightly, and Carlos took aim and fired. I heard Luna scream. She ducked back into cover, clutching her bleeding arm.

            “You…Little…” Luna said through gritted teeth.

 

            Saja burst through the door. Carlos took aim at Saja and fired, but Saja used vampire speed to get into cover with Luna. I rolled out of the way, and I ran across the room to Carlos and got behind the wall with him. I still had the stake. If I got close enough to Saja, I could end this. I heard footsteps down the hall. Now that the gunfire had stopped, I suppose the king and queen wanted to know what had happened. Before I could shout at them to not come in, they entered. They both realized what the situation was fairly quickly and ran into cover with Carlos and I.

"Luna! What the devil are you doing!?" Demanded the king.

Luna peaked out and took a shot at us. The bullet flew through the wall next to the king's shoulder.

"I am no longer you're daughter!" Shouted Luna from behind her cover.

"Luna! Please do not do this! You can redeem yourself!" Yelled her mother, the queen.

I heard Luna laugh. She was despicable. Even when her parents were offering her redemption, even after she had shot at them, she had the audacity to laugh at them.

"I am with Saja! And I always will be!" Yelled Luna.

I expected her voice to be a little shakier because of her gunshot wound, but it was clear as day.

 

Saja then ran out of cover and unleashed a barrage of semi-automatic fire from her pistol. Luna was right behind her with her own pistol. The wall we were hiding behind was almost torn apart by the rapid gunfire. I ducked downwards, so as not to get shot in the head. I heard Saja and Luna jump off of the balcony, but not hit the ground. I peeked out to see the two flying across the night sky. Carlos took aim and fired at them, but they were out of range. He shot twice more, then reloaded.

"Cowards!" He shouted after Saja and Luna.

I threw the stake out the window after Saja, but it fell short. I was steaming with anger. Not only were we letting Saja escape, but Luna had betrayed us. Luna, my friend, had betrayed us. She was very convincing before her betrayal. I didn't suspect a thing.

 

This wasn’t good, but we had to make do.

“What will we do now?” asked Lauren.

“We stick with the plan. We go to other small towns and villages and gather up rebels. Then we advance upon Saja.” The king said, now he was more determined than ever, and frankly, so was I.

"So does this mean that you are with us?" I asked Carlos.

He nodded.

"I suppose it does." He said, flipping his black hair.

Author's Note

Please Tell me what you think :)