Betrayal and murder

The two rocks slid away from each other, dragging the soil along with it and revealing a dark entryway.

"I guess that we just have to go inside," I said.

"Let's not wait any longer."

Vigilantly, we trudged inside the darkness. But as the passage was only wide enough to fit one person, we formed a line and with me leading the way, our group walked through the eerie silence. The walls were encrusted with cracked stone tiles and they were in parts engulfed in a layer of moss. My foot stepped on the humid floor and immediately, the way of the wind was alerting me that there was movement in the walls.

"DROP DOWN NOW," I yelled.

Without wasting a second, we all dropped to the floor on our stomachs as square shaped holes in the walls appeared and flurries of arrows were shot out of each shaft. Even though most of the projectiles passed over our heads, it was inevitable that some of them would hit us.

An agonizing scream echoed throughout the passage; however, none of us could look around to find out who had been shot as our arms were wrapped around our heads in a desperate attempt to protect our most vulnerable areas. After what seemed like an eternity, the attacks ceased and we could finally stand up, everyone except Martin. The latter was still on the ground, squirming in pain. He had been struck, but thankfully, the arrowheads had not made it far into his back.

Slowly, Adriana pulled them out one after the other while making sure to press down on the wounds to prevent any unnecessary blood loss. Her expression saddened as she laid eyes on Martin's scrunched up face that displayed his suffering. Loud groans were let out as blood spewed out of the open wounds and the smell of iron permeated the air around us.

"This isn't even the first test. Are you sure that we'll be able to make it through?" Adriana asked Charlie.

"Yes don't worry, this is just a slight incident."

Lucas wrapped bandages around Martin's torso before lifting him up; even though he was struggling to walk, he bore with the sharp pain and pushed forward. Using the way of the wind, I was able to detect several traps before even getting close, but some of them slipped through my radar. My leg hit a tripwire that sent a wooden log into the side of my body, but thankfully, I braced for the impact and was left with minor bruising.

"This feels like hell," I said.

"Bear with it, we must be close."

We had nearly lost hope, but at the end of the dark tunnel, we saw light! Without any care in the world, we practically ran to it. Two torches on either side of a wooden door were producing the light that we observed.

"How great, a door! There must be something fun behind, most certainly not another set of traps!" I said.

I pushed open the door with all of my might as the rusty hinges rendered the task practically impossible. Something was off. The door required a key, but it was already unlocked. I made my way inside first. After taking a couple of steps, I turned around to see Charlie wearing a sinister smile on his face.

"Come Charlie, Let's join him," Lucas said as he grabbed his arm.

Lucas looked down to see his clothes soaked in blood. He did not even have time to react and before he realized it, Charlie had pierced through his abdomen with a dagger. Lucas' pleading face stared up at the assailant.

"LUCAS! CHARLIE, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?" I yelled as I rushed towards them.

My body struck an invisible barrier which caused me to fall on my back; without wasting a moment, I got back on my feet and attacked the barrier with all of my strength, but my efforts were in vain. The adrenaline coursed through my body as I erratically tried to find a way out.

"Don't force it Jett, this isn't personal. I have nothing against you and you're truly a good person."

"RUN LUCAS."

Lucas looked up at me and displayed a warm smile as if he had already accepted his fate. Upon seeing my closest friend in such a vulnerable state, I clenched my fists and peered at Charlie with a vicious gaze.

"Th-Thank you for everything- I hope that in my next life, I'll have a great friend just like you-"

Before being able to continue his sentence, he closed his eyes as his body thumped the ground lifelessly. I called out to him several times out of desperation, but I was only trying to cope with his death. Adriana and Martin could not believe what was going on and stayed frozen in place. After controlling his emotions, Martin lunged towards Charlie and launched a strike.

His fist was aiming for the head, but his opponent dodged and launched a powerful counterattack that connected successfully. Seeing that her friend was losing, Adriana could not be a by-stander and joined the fight. She unsheathed her dagger and slashed at him as a feint to set up a sneaky stab to the stomach, but just before the tip of the blade could touch him, Charlie kicked her arm away before landing a precise cross to her torso. Her body was sent tumbling back and hit the wall as blood flowed out of her orifices.

I was still shaken by the loss of Lucas; the memories and fun times we spent together raced through my head, however, I had to get revenge! Charlie had made a grave miscalculation if he had thought that I would stand still after watching my friend get killed in cold blood. In my current predicament, I was of no use as I could not directly participate in the fight; so instead of staying idle, I decided to at least help the duo in the only way that I could.

"Work together guys, overwhelm him in both directions and aim for his entire body. Don't give him any room to breathe," I yelled.

"Oh, so you decided to become a teacher. How interesting!" Charlie said while still smiling like a madman.