❝ ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀ ꜱʜᴏᴜʟᴅ ʙᴇ ᴇᴀʀɴᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴏꜱᴇ ᴡɪʟʟɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴏ ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴀᴄʜɪᴇᴠᴇ ɪᴛ. ɪᴛ ꜱʜᴏᴜʟᴅɴ'ᴛ ʟᴀɴᴅ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏᴘᴇɴ ᴘᴀʟᴍꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴀ ʜᴏᴘᴇꜰᴜʟ ꜰᴏᴏʟ. ❞
After the Lyre crumbled to the hands of the Dragon-born Queen, Goddess-blessed Zofia is captured and taken up to the Nus...
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Branches and leaves reached out with spindly fingers to grab onto us as we fell towards the forest floor. They latched onto our clothes and hair and whipped any visible skin we had, leaving red marks that I knew would last for days. I didn't want to know how Stelni felt with her wings tearing through the branches as we went down. She flapped them occasionally, attempting to soften the fall, but it didn't seem to be working.
As soon as we reached the ground, Stelni turned so that she would take the brunt of the impact and then quickly pushed us into a bush for extra cover from the skies. The way she crouched beside me and watched for any signs of the guards we needed to lose reminded me of when Zofia, Larc, and I hid from Dragon-born guards who killed a woman from our village. When they let her fall to her death after she had told them everything she could.
My body started to shake at the memory and a reassuring hand fell to my arm as the sound of flapping wings grew closer. As much as it was comforting — the way her thumb slowly brushed my shoulder to give me something else to focus on — it was still the hand of a Dragon-born.
"Let go of-"
"Quiet. They're still in the area," Stelni warned as she removed her hand.
"What are we meant to do then? Wait here for hours?" There was no way that would work. We needed to think of something so we could sneak away.
"If that's what it takes to lose them, then yes. We will wait here for hours." Her eyes never left the sky as she spoke and she tackled me to the ground as a dark shape flew over us. Even as she pulled the foliage around us closer, I doubted it would hide the dark crimson of her wings.
"What if we get ambushed by a shadow creature?" Then not only would we have enemies in the skies, but we would have bloodthirsty beasts of darkness chasing us too.
"We won't if you keep your mouth shut," she hissed in a whisper.
"Like that's going to make a difference" I replied before keeping quiet. The weight of Stelni on top of me stopped being a nuisance after a while and became a shield — a heavy protective blanket. If we were going to get attacked, she would be the one to get hurt first. I kept my mind trained on that fact rather than the thought that she would also be able to escape quicker.
After what was indeed several hours — the sun rising to its midday position — the Dragon-born finally removed herself from me and stood, stretching out her arms and legs. "Alright, I think they're gone for now. They've likely gone to report what happened to the Queen and they'll be back later, which means we need to get out of here."
"Out of here and to Nusal to save my sister?" I asked, letting hope build in my chest as I got up from the forest floor.
"About that... I didn't exactly get the chance to ask about our current situation," she began to explain.
"No sister, no Lyre shards." I placed my hands on my hips and summoned the most stern look I could muster. If she fell through on this deal after stealing me away from Demornt Village, I was going to attempt to take her down no matter how skilled she was in battle.
