Malik Piercing the veil

Warfrun

We met back up on the road. Our sudden appearance from out of the trees didn’t seem to matter to those making their way along the road. We clustered together keeping Drusilla, Valerian, the humans and Celestra in the center of the warriors. The fairies walked slightly apart from us. Jaquain kept looking over to us, making sure we stayed near them.

It was easier walking in a clear path. Nothing tripped us up as we staggered along. The other people made some movements constricted. Relic was careful to keep his weapons between us, as we both saw the people on the dirt bikes eyeing the sword at his side. The road curved to the right, we continued along it. After awhile we saw the gates of the town opening up before the trail. Those on the dirt bikes hadn’t been by in a while. Lining the gates were several armed guards. Most had bows along the tops, but there were the ones checking the horde of people as they made their way in that carried swords.

“Looks like a welcoming party.” Relic commented. I chuckled. He gave me a side ways half grin. We were nearly to the gates. So far nothing unusual had happened. I did notice more guards appearing, but that could be for several reasons. One; it could be a shift change, but it was so early in the morning that I didn’t think this was plausible. Another could be that they were coming close to the main gates as they made their rounds along the walled city.

These were simple reasoning, but the way they watched the crowd, I knew neither was correct. There were too many of the guards that seemed to be interested in the area surrounding us. As I realized this I heard the unmistakable sound of the dirt bikes making their way back to us. The engines were loud, but no bikes passed us. Looking up to the sky I called for the dragon to return.

Nike swooped down from the  clouds, heading right for me. My enhanced senses made out the twang of the bow string. Not even looking to see where the shot came from I raised my hand. The purple surrounded it. My fingers flexed out. To my surprise the color began to fade. The pain started near my gut.

“No!” I cried, doubling over, I tried to focus on the arrow heading toward the dragon. My eye sight wavered. Colored dots swam in front of my vision. I dropped to my knees releasing the magic. I knew it wasn’t strong enough to reach the arrow, or protect the dragon.

My cry alerted Celestra, whose hand shot forward. The silver beam hit the arrow a moment later. I watched as it turned the arrow to ash. Hands gripped my arms, pulling me to my feet. Celestra stood to the side with Relic as Kessler helped Anna keep me on my feet.

“Nike!” I called out. The tiny dragon landed on my shoulder. The weight tore at my side. I hunched forward putting more weight on Annalise as she tried to help me stand. Kessler’s hands were warm against my left arm.

“He isn’t healed.” Jaquain’s calm voice pointed out. He stood just behind the healer who watched me with haunted eyes behind Anna.

“I’ll be fine.” I pushed myself off of my partner. Taking the weight back onto my own legs had me swaying.

“He won’t get far like this.” Annox stated.  The dark man turned to look down the road. I looked behind us. Those on the dirt bikes were only a few people behind us. They were stopped on the side of the road, watching. They were seeing who was leading, who was the weakest, or even who they thought they could manipulate.

“Walk with me.” I told Anna, slipping my arm around her waist. “Annox take Ryliee and Kessler go ahead of us. Jaquain, Heiasha stay with Rennon. Relic fall behind, keep Celestra safe.” I whispered keeping my head down. The fairies were the ones I wasn’t sure if they would listen. Drusilla and Valerian moved with Relic. Anna curled one arm around my back.

The warriors moved out spreading through the crowd as I had asked. Kessler hesitated. He looked at us. “Mal, she can’t fight and hold you up.” He stated. Annox paused looking back at us. I gave them both a smile.