Mercy's battle

Part 8

Arthur pulled Sapphire closer to him as they stopped at a corner. he looked around to see the exit, Carts coming in at a steady, slow pace. he turned to face her.

"I am going to go first, after the next cart leaves follow." he ordered quietly. 

she nodded. he took a deep breath and ran crept to the edge waiting for the next cart to pass, his eyes stuck on the two guards playing chess. he slipped out to see Duli and Namli motioning them to hurry. he nodded and Looked back for Sapphire. she screamed and Arthur charged back in. two guards held her and were yelling at her, threatening to kill her. 

"Let her go!" Arthur yelled slicing them through before they could say anything else. 

she moved her body in time that he didn't cut her but ran both guards through. they dropped her and he pulled her closer to him, she clutched onto him tightly breathing hard as the two guards fell and died. she cried into his chest with fright, and he hugged her tightly shushing her gently. 

"I am sorry, we need to go." he answered softly before pulling his blade out of both the creature.s

the blades silver blade was now black with blood that looked like a goo. he whipped it off on one of the guards uniform before sheathing it. she nodded and followed him out of the mines, clutching his hand tightly, scared to let him go to far. Duli and Namli rushed to them. 

"We gotta go, the elves are leading the dwarves out." Namli answered. 

"Go with them, they will need all the protection you an get. i have to get to Niñeth, Sapphire go with them, they'll take you somewhere safe." he answered pulling her hand off of his. 

"you're not going with us?" she asked frantically. 

"No i am not, now go, the other guards will notice quickly. please, go." he ushered. 

Namli grabbed her hand and started to pull her away, she pulled her hand away. Arthur turned and started to leave, telling Duli to go straight there and as fast as possible. Duli nodded and hugged him quickly before Arthur turned and left. he walked away before he heard a yelp behind him, he spun around to see Sapphire wading through the mud to get to him. 

"Sapphire what are you doing?!" he snapped before wading over to her to help her. 

"I am going with you." she answered. 

he rolled his eyes and picked her up , caring her jerkily to the other side. he dumped her at the bank gasping and she pulled him out, he was so covered in mud it would have been impossible to tell who he was. he felt in his pocket for the familiar stone, he sighed feeling it there. Sapphire stood up and helped him up to his feet before looking around. 

"Which way?" she asked. 

"To the sunset." he answered. 

 she nodded and started off whipping the sweat and mud off. Arthur followed behind her trying to wipe off as much as the mud off as possible. the sun had started to set when they finally made it out. he found the nearest boulder and sat down on it, letting his sore mucles rest, he pulled Sapphire up next to him. she was breathing deeply and laid back. 

"Are we almost there?" she asked. 

"Not even close, we need to find the nearest town. there we can buy horses and food and clean water." he answered. 

she nodded and sat up, he smiled and stood, looking far into the east. she slipped off from the rock and he followed behind her, it took them two days to reach the nearest town, they were hungry beyond belief.  so when the bar tender placed a plate of food in front of them they wolfed it down, not bothering to chew.