The Air Out Of [Wattys2018 shortlist]

27

ONLY MOMENTS AGO, SCAR WAS PLACED IN THE SECOND ROW OF ATTACK, and everything was ready for the secondary charge into Avinian territory, but the huge delay clockwise was due to the overly compulsive Aspyn was busy switching around the front line positions.

"Remind me of the purpose of this attack?"

"Catch them off guard." She says in between switching Jess and Leo around. "Also, I think it's finally you four meet the infamous Avine."

Jess snickered slightly, letting her head fall into her hands. Scar's head whipped in her direction as her trembling figure shook out of laughter. "What's so funny?" Even Aspyn seemed the least bit intrigued to actually take a pause from her routinely switching.

"I love how Avine is this criminal mastermind gone rogue, but Lavine is a term for heroes."

"Honey, it's the opposite. Avine's name wasn't always like it is now. In fact, he wanted his name to be commonly misconceived as Lavine to increase popularity. He changed his name."

As usual, they took the charge with Jess and Aspyn at the front. Scar poised his weapon high in the air to begin shooting. Today, it was a crossbow. One that could take far ranges but strong and perfectly aimed shots as well.

He didn't know how long it's been, or how long left, but it had to stop, soon. It was the time that this popular fantasy finally ended. It hit him: This was the first time their group of five had ever so strongly agreed on a mutual subject.

It was time they finally took a splash of reality. The world was simply not fair. You either made it to the better half, or let yourself get pushed into the worse one, but it's not permanent, and an escape from reality to fantasy was never going to fix that.

Passion burned red in his eyes as thoughts surged back in forth, it supplied his adrenaline. The crossbow shot faster. Stronger. His running speed increased, he ignored the jostling pain in his calf or his heavy breathing. "No more will we be pushed around." He whispered. "It was never winning the war, or helping people that needed it." By now, the blabbering was continuous. The thoughts pounded on his mind, and he needed a release.

He caught up with Jess, who noticed his slight muttering. "It was always the reassurance it gave us." The crossbow went out of hand, it was sending shots through the air left and right twirling around in a dismantled manner. Jess caught him

"Scar, focus. It's okay. Breathe in - out. Come on, repeat after me." She whipped her hand and ceased fire. The crossbow stopped.

His adrenaline slowed, he whispered weakly. "It was always about reassurance."

Her smile faded. "Scar, are you okay?"

"Jess, let's be real. None of us are okay. We're trapped, it's finally a reality. But the worst part is, we had too many chances to escape."

"We were having too much fun. We loved it. The friends, the place, the escape. But now isn't the time to reminisce the what could have been. This is the time for now, and the time for dealing with Avine."

The panic inside him froze. Avine. It sent shocks up his body and nearly gave him the urge to turn around and run, or at least pretend to be doing something that hindered his ability to move. "There's nothing we can do now." Leo's voice enters.

"Leo." She whimpers quietly. He puts his arm around hers and smiles. Scar notices it, and for some reason, Leo's smile tells the others that everything will be okay. This nightmare, dream, or whatever you would call it would end.

But that wasn't now.

"Come on." He sighed, breaking the trance. "We gotta run to the main building while all the warriors and civilians are being distracted."

"Will Aspyn be waiting for us?"

"It's a possibility." Jess says, "But she didn't mention it, and it's unlikely to have slipped her mind."

They reached the heavily guarded building almost a second later. It was probably the easiest building to find in history, but also the hardest to get in. The three were hidden behind a sloppy bush predicting their next move when Aspyn joined them.

Her hair was frazzled and most parts of her hair had made it out of the sleek ponytail. She wiped the excess sweat beading on her forehead and watched the guard rotation. It was almost like playing a game of highly risky chess.

"Those two." She nods at the two guards perched before the walls of the gate. "Knock them out. The gate will have to open to send more warriors to fight us this early in the morning, I need you to run in and create the biggest push, while I find the keypad to unlock the bridge. As you can see, Avine went old school with the moat."

They did as such. First, Scar had taken the stance of knocking out the first two guards. They were completely unprepared. He was surprised, it was almost too easy. As expected, the doors opened to send out more warriors.

This was where Jess and Leo came in. Louis had not joined them and instead continued to search the Avinian territory with the Covian warriors. Almost immediately, the three were able to create a massive plunge, so that Scar nearly shouted the phrase, "Are you sure these are all the warriors in the palace?"

Aspyn rested her fingers on the keypad and quickly typed a complicated pattern. A noise in the background creaked, and slowly, the bridge was lowered from mid-air. Scar had to give it to Avine. He had a sense of dramatic effect, if not short of defense.

The Avinian palace looked much different compared to the Covian one. You could easily tell that the designer of such was almost rebelling against Covian patterns.

Also, it was pretty simple to navigate considering the fact that Scar was following Aspyn, who had a spy that had already given her the base plans to get to Avine. He had to thank Madrinay for allowing him to appear as informed later on.

Just like she had once before, Aspyn paused before the doorway, then, with all the might left in her body, she pushed it open, stomping inwards while the three followed behind her.

Avine looked almost amused to see Aspyn. In fact, as soon as she entered he was way into his own head to even bother to flinch. Not even for a second. He was perched upon a throne with a glass of red wine was in his left hand. His smile was terrifying, one of those expressions that scarred you for life. Neither awkward nor embarrassing, it looked as if it was pulled straight off a scene of the most terrifying horror movie. "Welcome to the Avinian territory." He smiled, cackled even. The greeting was not meant to be peaceful. It was clear to him that it was his game to play.

The door was slammed shut, blocking them from any means of escape. And only then did Scar realize the line of Avinian warriors surrounding the perimeter of the room. Two of which stood on either side of Avine's throne. He watched carefully as the warriors stood intact, their weapons within arms reach.

And at that moment, he finally understood the wits of Avine that Aspyn and Jett had spoken so highly of. He saw a clear picture in the eyes of the man directly across from him. I won't lose. Determination evident in his demeanor. Avine simply laughed harder.

They were surrounded.