1. To Hell With This

You know what? To hell with this.

The thought crossed my mind as I stepped in to block the sword. It was about to sever the baby's head, the blade an inch away from her throat.

Everything stood still. My comrades, or what I thought were my comrades, looked at me in disbelief, and even the baby stopped bawling her eyes out. No one seemed to know what to do now that I stood before the half-mermaid, including me. I eyed the door, but two soldiers slid before it. The window, then?

"What are you doing?" Someone finally asked.

"Living by my conscience."

A second of silence.

"Step aside, and we will pretend this never happened."

"No."

That being said, I grabbed the baby and jumped over the corpses of her parents. I rushed toward the window, ignoring the commander's yells, and forced my way out. The glass broke, and shards dug into my shoulder. But I didn't have the leisure to care. I needed to get out of here before the soldiers gathered to give chase. The king had dispatched a whole unit for this mission; more than a "few" men were around.

The village was in flames, and screams filled the air. I could hear people begging to be spared only to be mocked. From the corner of my eyes, I could see soldiers beheading the merfolk without an ounce of hesitation or remorse. Some were even smiling.

Were they human, or were they beast?

"Stop him!"

"Jeff has betrayed the great Empire!"

Great Empire my ass. Didn't have the time to retort, though. I had to run.

Holding the baby against my chest, I zigzagged through the corpses and the debris from the falling houses. Ashes hovered in the air, and the baby started to cough. Even I felt my lungs burn from the smoke. I couldn't imagine how hard it'd be for a mermaid, let alone for a half-mermaid this young.

Although the sun had started to set, the fire lit everything around me, and I felt like a trapped mouse. I was in the spotlight everywhere I went.

I turned a corner and heard something passing through the air. I instinctively dodge to the left. An arrow was now embedded into the ground where I stood a second ago.

I threw a glance over my shoulder. Oh great. Three archers were targeting me, their arrows aimed at my back. How funny. We laughed together yesterday, discussing our plans for the future and whatnot. Now, they were trying to kill me, no questions asked.

"Get him!"

In your dreams.

Rolling on the dusty ground with my hands on the baby's head, I avoided another batch of arrows. Then, I rolled on the other side, evading a certain death. A spear had fallen from the sky. It almost pierced my head, cutting a piece of my ear in passing. Warm blood ran down the side of my face, but I couldn't care less. I sprung to my feet and dashed toward the cliff.

Anyone from the Empire's army would recognize that spear. It belonged to a crazy man. I wasn't a bad fighter per se, but I'd rather jump into a troll's den than face him.

This coastal village was hell to navigate in. There was almost nothing to hide me from the archers' sight, and I soon ended up with arrows planted in my shoulders. Luckily, my legs were only grazed, and I could still run just fine. The problem was: where was I supposed to flee to? In front of me was a cliff, and down the cliff was the ocean. You could even hear the waves hitting the facade. They were trying to swallow the coast whole.

"What are you going to do now?"

A low, mocking voice resounded behind me.

"Jump," was my answer.

And I did just that. I might not survive, but the baby probably would. She was half-mermaid, meaning she was sturdy enough to survive the shock and breathe underwater. Unlike me.

Another round of arrows fell from the sky. I couldn't avoid them. All I could do was curl around the baby to protect her, and pain soon irradiated throughout my body.

Then came the impact of my back slamming into the water.

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Edited by Clozed! ♥