Rylan's Heart by Serena Simpson

thought but there were others who were walking around, looking behind the rocks on the field, or turning over dead bodies to see their faces.
    The ones they were looking for were in the last group. Instinct pulled at her making her more nervous whenever she saw a warrior standing. An internal clock went off in her head. Time was ticking.
    “Rylan.” She pointed to a group of three males crouched down over a form on the field.
    He nodded to her. They were the ones and they were looking for her.
    “What do we do?”
    “I want to get as close to the end of the field as possible. The further away we get before we fight, the less chance we have of others interfering.”
    She nodded. None of it was making sense to her, but she couldn’t argue because she was here.
    Rylan took her hand as they stepped out from behind the boulder. She was still dressed in the outfit she had worn to the office, but unfortunately her clothes were ripped and torn as well as bloody. At least she had some on. Ryan was wearing a pair of jeans and a tee but they were under dressed considering what everyone else was wearing.
    They stuck out like a sore thumb. She kept her eyes lowered as they walked across the wide field. A few warriors looked at them and went back to eating or checking the dead. They were going to be…
    A shout went up over the field directed at them. “Halt.”
    Who said ‘Halt?’ Aviana asked herself as her footsteps picked up to stay in step with Rylan.
    “Stop them.” She turned her head to see that the three they wanted had spotted them.
    Rylan grabbed her hand and started to run, dragging her with him. She bit her lip and pumped her arms not wanting to fall behind. Her legs raced and her heart beat faster, but they were almost at the edge of the field. Every cut felt deeper as she ran and the blood flowed a little faster as her head felt lighter. Refusing to give up despite the state of her body, she focused on Rylan.
    The three others were chasing them. It might have become a free for all but several of the males sitting down stood and met all challengers except for the original three. Rylan came to a stop.
    “We fight here.”
    They were on the edge of the battlefield with a forest behind them. Sounds came through the trees making her more nervous. She hoped this battlefield didn’t come from her mind; there were better places she would have rather fought.
    Her three attackers stalked her. They were wearing grins that said it was all over for her. She glanced at Rylan but his natural assurance in his skills was shouting come closer and die.
    “All we want is the girl,” one of her kidnappers said.
    They were all tall, well over six feet, blonde and tattooed. There was something about them that kicked at a memory she refused to acknowledge.
    “She’s not available,” Rylan stated coolly.
    “You know what we are, Arbrin, give her up.”
    “I know what you’re supposed to be and this isn’t it. Going rogue disgraces you and today it will cost your life.”
    The first kidnapper threw a ball of fire hitting against a shield Rylan threw up.
    “Imagine a glowing shield surrounding your body, Aviana.”
    “While you’re doing that we’ll be carving up her.”
    They reached into a void that appeared and pulled through the little girl she saw earlier with the pig tails.
    The girl screamed as the second kidnapper pulled out a knife and sliced her leg. She knew that scream; it slammed into her with the force of a hurricane—Mckayla. Aviana screamed and tried to rush them. Rylan caught her.
    “It’s not Mckayla. She’s not real.”
    “Her screams sound real to me.”
    The third kidnapper pulled a knife and stabbed her in her chest.
    “You’re next and you’ll die just like her, screaming.”
    Aviana fell to the ground sobbing. A part of her died when she saw that little girl die.
    “She’s not dead, believe me.”
    Nodding, she wiped her eyes. They killed her daughter. She would never be the same again, but she