Lavender & Fire

48. Deja Vu

Kahal jumped to the side as the male tried to stab him with a short sword, rolling onto the ground and coming to a stop on his knees and feet.

Rahn lunged for Daielle and tackled him to the ground, knocking his sword off to the side. Daielle quickly stood, with Rahn still attached to his back. She adjusted and wrapped her arm around his neck. "Just give it up." She grunted in frustration.

"Never." Daielle ground out between clenched teeth as he struggled to breath. He turned and slammed Rahn's back into a nearby tree. The air was knocked out of her lungs but she held tight. Even as he took a step to prepare for another backwards hit against the tree, she didn't let go. She knew she was close to having him knocked out.

She braced herself for another hit but instead her and Daielle both were knocked to the ground, off to the side. She looked up from the ground to see Kahal knockout Daielle with one strong punch to the face.

The guards swiftly grabbed Daielle and bound his hands before dragging him away.

After drawing in a deep breath, Rahn began to chuckle.

"Something funny?" Kahal said as he bent down beside her, extending a hand to help her up.

"Seems like we've done this before." She smiled as she grabbed his hand and let him help her up. As she stood, he placed his hands gently on her upper arms and looked down at her.

"Indeed, I believe we have." Kahal said softly, with a slight smirk. He lifted his hand up to wipe dirt off of Rahn's face and she realized how close they were standin while just staring at each other.

 "Your mask came off. We need to get out of this smoke." He said as he turned and they followed the guards and Daielle through the woods.

After several minutes, the smoke thinned out enough for better vision and they saw a large group of Qarthans fighting against the spread of the fire, Kietnan leading the group.

"Brother!" Kietnan ran over to them. "You're well?" He asked both of them, to which they both nodded. "Dran and the guards have the prisoners and the bodies on their way to the guards tower."

"I take it we have you to thank for the reason Daielle and his group stopped in the forest?" Kahal asked.

Kietnan nodded. "We were racing to combat the fire when we came upon them. Although, we weren't sure what was happening. I think such a large group of us surprised them and they froze."

"Good, brother. Good. See to it this fire doesn't spread to any homes or businesses."

"We're on it." Kietnan said before turning and rushing away.

Kahal and Rahn continued walking toward the grand hall before she began coughing again, more roughly.

"Come on." Kahal gently grabbed her arm as he changed their direction slightly.

"What are you doing?" She argued. "We need to help process everyone and sort through this mess."

"No, I need to sort through the mess while you get checked over in the medical ward."

"No, I'm fine. They need my help."

"You can help after you're cleared."

"This is fooli-" Rahn began but was cut off by a coughing fit that had her leaning onto her thighs, gasping for breath.

"You were saying?" Kahal quirked a brow muscle and crossed his arms with a smirk.

Rahn simply growled and stood to walk toward the medically ward.