The day of the plan was upon us. Logan shook me awake in the early hours of the morning, and after a large breakfast, we left camp, taking everything with us. We didn’t plan to return to the same camp, knowing that it was near to the Career’s base. Despite the loss of our fifth member, we were a relatively strong team. Minerva’s ankle had mostly healed, and so she was able to run. When I asked her grudgingly what her weapon of choice was, she swung a sword skilfully in front of my face before attaching it to her belt. Logan took some wire that Clementia gave to him and planned to set a special trap that left the victim of it hanging upside down from a tree. Clementia wielded her axe fearlessly, and her slingshot enabled her to attack from a distance. And I, the final member of our team, equipped myself with six excellent throwing knives, and one special one for if it came to hand to hand combat.

And so, with me in the lead, we marched valiantly to the Career camp. The plan was to surround it from two different angles, with Clementia and Minerva going into battle from one side, and me from the other, whilst Logan set the traps for any of them who tried to run away on my side. I hoped that maybe one of the Careers might be out hunting, or they could be sleeping. Cowardly as it was, I wanted to kill them before they had a chance to fight back.

To my relief when we arrived, Roger was not present at the camp. Avery, Biff and Cerebus were crowded round the campfire I had seen the previous day, and seemed to be paying little attention to their surroundings. Grinning at their stupidity, I drew my first knife, and readied myself to throw it. Across the camp, I could see Minerva and Clementia preparing themselves to charge. Minerva kept shooting anxious glances over her shoulder. Maybe she wasn’t as fearless as she let on.

They were waiting for my call to charge, so I held up three fingers to count down.

3…This is it.

2…Time for revenge.

1…It all rests on this.

We charged. But something wasn’t right. The Careers had all calmly got to their feet and were poised for attack. Trying not to be put off by this, I tossed my first knife. It hit Cerebus square between the eyes before he was able to react. He fell to his knees with a howl of pain, but clambered straight back up again, blood pooling into his eyes and mouth. He stumbled slightly as he ran at me, and I sent my second knife straight in to his shoulder. I was aiming for his heart, but with him moving it was difficult to get the angle right. So instead of throwing another knife, I charged at him, knife at the ready to kill him. He was only armed with a wooden club, so if I could get rid of it, I thought I might have a chance. But his brutish strength was a little worrying, and as we collided, I felt the full force. Nevertheless, as we grappled on the ground, I managed to wrench the club from his hand by stabbing him in the hand first, and whack him round the face with it. He was knocked unconscious after a few blows, his face mangled and crushed from the attacks. Removing the knife from his shoulder blade, I finished him off with a jab to the heart. As I left his body behind, I heard the sound of a cannon. Clementia was in a headlock from Avery, but where was Minerva? I didn’t have time to worry though, as Biff was making an advance on Clementia. I sprinted harder and reached him just in time to trip him. He fell on his face, but grabbed my ankle and dragged me down to the floor with him. I landed hard on my nose and for a moment, my vision went black. In the distance, I heard the sound of wailing. I knew who it was.

“Clementia,” I screamed through the pain in my head. I clambered to my feet, the world spinning, but knife at hand. Without a second thought, I jammed it in Avery’s leg. Through the wobbles in my vision, I saw her stumble backwards, letting go of Clementia and she fell to the floor in a heap. Avery’s sobs rang in my ears, and I held up another knife.

“Leave now, or I’ll kill you!” I screamed. “And you, Biff! Get out of here, or I’ll kill you!”

I could tell they were pondering taking me down right then. But I was sure Biff was in a similar state to me after his fall, and Avery was obviously in agony. With reluctance, they stumbled up the hill in the direction I had come.

“Clementia!” I gasped, going to her side. Through the blur, I could see the blood spilling out of her stomach, staining the ground and her top. Blood as red as her hair. So bold against the white of her delicate skin. I heard her cough and a warm spray of gore hit my face.

“I can fix you, I will, I’ll fix you!” I said unconvincingly.

“Raven…”

“I just need time, I need time…”

“Yes, Raven. Time that we don’t have. Now listen to me,” she begged, grabbing my face with both her hands “Take care of yourself. You can do it, you can win. And you were right. Right about Minerva. She betrayed us. They knew we were coming.”

“I don’t care, just don’t leave me, please,” I pleaded, my tears falling on her face. And through it all, she smiled.

“Do one thing for me. Get Logan and write me a note. Like you did for Kai. Then set fire to my body. It’s what I want.”

I nodded. Clementia coughed gruesomely again and she let out a little sob.

“Dying is scary, Raven,” she whispered. I stroked her hair off her face and swiped away her tears. There were no words that I could find that might console her.

“I love you,” I whispered back.

“I love you too, Ray. I love you too. I wish you all the happiness in the world. Can you…give this to my mother and father?”

With trembling hands, she removed the necklace she wore from her neck and pressed it in to my palm.

“Goodbye, Ray.”

“Bye, Clem.”

Her eyes closed, and her eyelids fluttered slightly. And then she smiled and her body went limp under my touch. I pulled her wavy her on to her shoulders and placed her hand over her heart. At last, she looked at peace.

It was then that it hit me hardest. Like a punch to the stomach, I fell backwards so that I was sat rather than knelt on the floor. I lay down and curled myself up.

“Logan!” I cried feebly with the last of my energy. It didn’t matter, though. I knew he’d hear me and come running. Seconds later, his figure appeared over the hill of the quarry. I saw him draw back, having seen Clementia’s body, the blood and the state of me. He hurried to my side and rocked me gently.

“Shh. Shh. Don’t cry…”

His words did little to comfort me. My chest ached with the loss of another friend. I couldn’t handle the pain anymore, but I had a promise to fulfil. I dragged myself to my feet, my legs feeling heavy and my vision clouded with the thudding of my head and the tears in my eyes.

“She wants a cremation,” I said “And we should leave her a proper note.”

Logan had his notebook out in a flash. The poem that came to mind for Clementia was not a cheery one, but the force behind it made me think of her. I wrote:

You are a doll in the Devil’s hand,

He crushes your soul to sand,

But the winter winds are almost nigh,

And soon you will be free to fly.

As Logan finished his note, I allowed myself to look at Clementia one final time. Her lips, so perfect and plump, hair that anyone would be jealous of, and beneath closed lids, eyes like the brightest blue sky. I pressed my lip to her temple and whispered things to her sleeping body that I’d never have been able to say to anyone else. How scared I was. How lonely I felt. How much resentment I had for the path I was to lead, one without Logan and with a man that I didn’t love. And as I talked, she smiled. I could hear her telling me that I was doing the right thing. That she was going to miss the relationship we had briefly shared. Then, Logan was holding my hand and time for sorrow was over. Logan lit one of the precious matches that we had and threw it over her resting body. The fire struck her hair and for a moment, she was ignited in such beauty, that it took my breath away. But as the flame engulfed her body, I flinched as it took away the pretty face I’d envied since the moment I met her, and replaced it with something more sinister, something grotesque. But through it all, her face still smiled.

We watched until we could watch no longer. The hovercraft awaited overhead to take the body away, but it was obvious they didn’t know what to do with the body after what Logan and I had done. Logan’s hand was still firmly enveloped around mine, but his grip was so tight my hand had gone numb. In grim despair, we headed away from what had been the Career camp.

It was just the two of us.