The Wyvern's Gift

Chapter Eleven

The camp fire exploded. The flames spread across the campsite, licking up the tree trunks. They all snapped their heads to the side as a second wave of fire spread in a straight line. Lilac wings wafted the smoke into a whirlwind.

"Isra!" Haelyn shouted. The hand on her ankle tightened and she yelped. Kris was still pulling her despite the growing fire. She tensed her legs and kicked her restrained right leg towards her left shoulder on the ground. At the same time, she swept her left leg at his shins. The pull unbalanced him and her kick knocked his legs out from under him. As soon as he was on the floor she rolled to the side as far as she could.

A set of slender hands wrapped around her upper arms and dragged her further bag. "Keep still," Weylyn whispered when she began to struggle. He fumbled with her wrists until he got his hands on the manacles and less than a minute later they dropped to the ground. "Get the weapons." He shoved her towards the burning tents while he made a dash for Yophiel.

The knight was doing his best to duck and dodge around the swords being swung at him. His bound hands slowed him a bit. One of the swords managed to catch him on the arm. It clanked against his armor but it had hurt hard enough to stagger him. Yophiel dropped to one knee and rolled to the side in time for Weylyn to slide in behind him and grab his wrists.

Haelyn ran between the growing flames and fighting. The tents were nearly burnt to just frames by now. She could see the hilt of Yophiel's greatsword peeking out from a pile. Her bag was there alongside it with Evander's sword and Wren's bow. She grabbed the greatsword and dropped it immediately. The fire had turned the hilt into a hot poker. Even if she could have fully lifted the massive weapon, her hand would be burned to the bone.

Cradling her singed hand to her chest, Haelyn pulled her cloak free from her shoulder and wrapped it entirely around her hand and arm. The warmth from the blade still seeped through but she managed to toss the blade away from the largest clump of fire. She bit her lip and searched around for anything that would cool it down enough for Yophiel to grab.

Suddenly, a torrent of water splashed over the ground and the sword. "Don't just stand there, get clear," Wren shouted. The sword unbalanced him as he lifted it. For a man that was used to hunting quietly from the shadows, the greatsword was like strapping a boulder to his hand. He steadied himself and grabbed his bow and quiver before running to Yophiel.

The sounds of swords clashing grew louder as people managed to arm themselves. The first body hit the floor and put out a small patch of fire. Isra hadn't been adding to the fire since Yophiel was freed. Her wings still sent things into a frenzy every time she flew past.

Kris's hand wrapped around Haelyn's upper arm and he pulled her back towards him. His breath was hot against her ear as he whispered to her. "You haven't won this. He'll be dead before you can get back, and then we'll come back for you." He shoved her forward at an advancing Weylyn and scurried off into the trees. The remaining two ran off in opposite directions and left the small group alone in the slowly burning campsite.

"Are you alright?" Weylyn asked Haelyn. He tucked his knife back into his boot after he helped her stand up straight. In the fight, he'd managed to gain a cut across his chest near his left shoulder and a growing bruise on his ribs on the same side. He winced when he raised his left arm but shook it off.

"Yeah, just fine," Haelyn muttered.

The flames around them began to die down as Evanna worked her magic on them. Trees creaked as if about to topple over. It would take years before this part of the forest was back to what it was before.

The tired group crowded around the much smaller and very contained campfire. Haelyn and Evanora were taking turns looking over injuries, of which there were thankfully very few. Evander had gotten the worst of it from missing an easy parry. The tip of a sword had sunk into his leg. He was already nearly asleep after Haelyn had given him something for the pain.

Yophiel and Wren had brushed aside a more thorough inspection so they could inspect the one casualty from the attackers. They'd pulled off his gloves and face coverings and found nothing out of the ordinary. The only marker on him, like on Kris, was the silver medallion on his cloak.

"Why bother hiding their identity at all if they were just going to kill us?" Wren wondered.

"Could they be defectors, people from Runia helping the Cathian's?" Weylyn called. "Maybe they didn't want the court mage recognizing them." He relaxed back against his pack. His left arm was slung across his waist to minimize how much it moved. The cut on his chest burned every time his shirt brushed against it.

Evanora shook her head. "I wouldn't have recognized their faces, I'm terrible at that to begin with. Did any of them look familiar to you?" she asked Haelyn.

"Why would they?" Wren asked, looking back over his shoulder.

"Oh you didn't know? Halyn here is infatuated with the prince, and Evanora just confirmed she lurks around the castle to catch glimpses of him," Weylyn said. He smirked and pointed out Haelyn's scowl.

Across the fire, Evanora snorted as she tried to hold back a laugh. She failed and doubled over with tears streaming down her face. She caught Yophiel's amused glance and laughed harder. "Are you going to tell them, or should I?" she asked between giggles.

Weylyn looked between them with furrowed eyebrows. "What's so funny? I feel like there's a very crucial part of this joke that someone hasn't told me."

Haelyn sighed. The vein in her forehead throbbed in time with her pulse. "I'm not in love with the prince, he's my step brother. My mother is the King's current wife," she explained. "She married him when I was twelve."

They were all quiet except for Evanora's laughs that slowly died away. Weylyn finally broke the silence. "Does that make you a princess?"

"Absolutely not, I don't have a drop of royal blood in me," Haelyn said firmly. She curled into a ball and huddled against Isra's warm side. "Why would I want to be a princess anyway? Do you have any idea how many rules they have to follow? The years of training to sit still and not cause a problem?"

Wren scoffed. "You would have failed at that immediately." He ducked his head to avoid Yophiel's hand smacking his head. "Alright, whatever. I'll take the first watch, the rest of you should sleep. We'll need to be extra alert now that we know there are people out there watching us. We need to reach the second nest before they do, or hope these wyverns are able to drive them out. Then we'll only need to grab the flower and go."

"You say that like it's no big deal," Weylyn muttered. "Oh, just the wyverns, not a problem." He continued to grumble to himself as he lay down and pulled his cloak tight around himself.