Wylde Magic | Book 3

Sixty One: Melding Factions

The moment I locked eyes with my father stood still as though we had all of time to reconnect.

A heartbeat later, we were all thrust into action as our immanent future weighed down on the situation.

Nassir coughed lightly and I snapped out of my initial shock, running to his side. The horse my father rode was not so tall that I couldn't reach up and take one of Nassir's hands as Kaldor and Fandor quickly tired to ease the old fae's suffering.

"What happened to him?" I asked, my fingers already working on the small cuts of his hand and wrist. His eyes remained closed, either unconscious or in pain or both.

"We were skirting an area where DuVarick's army was pursuing something. I did not know at the time that it was Nassir," Kaldor began explaining.

Mila grunted, coming up next to me with Puko on her shoulder. "More like we were running away ourselves. But to answer your question, this one caused a landslide to escape his pursuers." 

I gasped, my eyes running over Nassir's cuts and scrapes. Many of them were already healing thanks to his fae blood, but there was such an overwhelming amount that his body must be ready to give out by now. And that was just the damage I could see on the surface.

"He did indeed evade the Winter court," Fandor added in his soft tones. "But as you can see, it was not without price."

"We pulled him free and the witches tried to patch him up as best as they could while we fled. It wasn't long ago, but he should be brought somewhere to rest," Kaldor said.

"And a better examination," Purda added. "He is fine for now, though we could do more for him in a better circumstance."

I scooted over and made room for the old healer to see Nassir, but she just shook her head. "Not here, child. Where have you set up this encampment you wrote of?"

"Yes, I just came from it." I turned to point the direction I had come from. "It's over..."

My hand fell as I saw the figures emerging from the trees. Thain and Teyber had come after me, and it looks like they just arrived. The serious look on Thain's face shouldn't have been anything unusual, but the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and goosebumps crawled across my arms. Suddenly, I wasn't so sure about the situation to come.

"Thainalan the Ravager," Fandor murmured. "After all this time, he yet lives."

Kaldor didn't take his eyes off of Thain. The gaunt look on his face gave way to sudden worry as my chest tightened. I had already talked to Thain about the elves, but I hadn't considered what Thain might mean to them. Baeleon's weapon would most certainly have been a force on the battlefield against them.

Fandor looked to me curiously, then to Kaldor. "Are we sure this is wise?"

Kaldor's eyes remained on Thain the whole time as the silence stretched while he chose his next words. Eventually he sighed, urging his horse to walk forward slowly.

"No, but we are already here. And..." my father turned his warm eyes to me. "If my daughter trusts him, I will too."

It helped ease my nerves a little, but I looked over my shoulder while I walked next to the horses. So many more had come. More elven children had come, now marveling at the lands that should have been their other home in the first place. The lands they know their ancestors were forced out of or slaughtered for. There were even more of them than there were witches, these numbers would bolster our forces immensely, and the magic of the witches with the element of surprise at the elven children would be a huge benefit.

But the thing that really stung about looking over the numbers of fighters from Eidelhein was that I could see myself in them. Lost. Torn in two by heritage and nature. Even if they didn't realize it on the surface, they were probably overloaded by the magical nature here. Eidelhein had a mild version of it, but there was something about the air in the Wyldes that made my blood...thrive. Did these people know it too? Did they even notice it? I had been told that few elves have magic, but I wondered if the Wyldes could awaken more like me.