Wylde Magic | Book 3

Sixty Six: Realms Divided

I woke up to an emptiness I had never felt before. Like my body was hollow. A shell that could move and breathe and talk, but was missing something essential that once filled it up.

Sitting up, my body felt stiff and resisted any motion. I was in a tent, something not unlike the tents we had set up with King Baeleon before the battle in the valley that killed him. The canvas walls were a soft yellow, and the floor was covered in blankets, furs, and pillows. Someone had burned sage in here recently, and there were parts of me that were covered in bandages and salves. I touched my leg where it had been skewered by ice, hissing as any pressure caused it to throb terribly. Nothing else was painful, just sore. Other than the bandaging, my body was covered in a long, soft cotton gown, black as the night and warm against the Wylde winter air.

Frowning, I realized how warm it was in the tent. There were limits to the capabilities of a canvas tent against the cold temperatures outside, but this was too much.

Forcing my limbs to move, I crawled on hands and knees across the soft furs in the tent until I could reach the opening. Moving my hand to push the flap open, I was met with firm resistance. Something solid was on the other side.

A warm rumble vibrated all around my tent. I pulled back the flap only to be met with a wall of black scales. They moved a bit as Spaulder inhaled, then let out a roar of triumph.

My eyes widened and I scooted back inside as the black scales moved around until one enormous eye could be seen outside the tent.

'You are awake, little one.'

My head was still in a fog, but I knew what had happened. Was it truly over? After this long, it was hard to accept, but I managed to crawl out of the tent and hold onto his neck.

"Spha-" The word caught in my throat as I began coughing. Mother, my throat was dry. I could hardly make a sound, let alone finish my words.

"Wren!" Schula was pushing around Spaulder's head to come to me. Relief flooded her face as she slid her arms around my neck.

"Schu-" Another coughing fit and Schula handed me a waterskin from her belt. I drank deeply from it, ready to empty the whole thing and find somewhere to fill it again.

"Caw!" From the top of my tent, a fat black raven left his perch and flapped down to rest on one of Spaulder's horns. I smiled up at him, the troublemaker was safe after the battle.

"Stars, you must be so thirsty. You were out for four days," Schula said.

I chocked on the water, but this time my throat was well enough to work for me. "Four...four days?"

She nodded, pushing a hand against Spaulder gently urging him to open up. "This one wouldn't let anyone near you but me and Purda."

Spaulder grumbled, snorting a puff of smoke from his nose to dust the top of Schula's head.

"Hey!" She protested, but Spaulder ignored her and began to uncurl from the tight ring he had kept around my tent. Once his neck and tail were out of the way, I finally got my first sight of the encampment after the battle. My jaw dropped at the progress four days could make.

Tents dotted the field, and mine was somewhere near the middle of the city where Teyber's command room had been. Not only tents, but permanent buildings were already going up. Simple things, but they were clearly built with magic from the elements of the fae. Roots and branches wound into simple structures, earth and stone were pulled up from below to make sturdy walls.

"Why didn't we do that before!" I exclaimed.

"The fae learned eons ago not to use our magic in excess during a war," Schula said. "Not all fae have your deep well of power to pull from. What if someone used up their power and then a battle began?"