Redemption - Fourth Wing

33. Hurricane

Aifos' Pov
Apparently, last night Violet had decided to purposefully middle with the wards so as to allow the fliers to finally wield and be a step closer to be accepted within the war college, or, in case the acceptance would go sideways much like it'd already happened, to be able to properly defend themselves.
It was early morning, and I was in the infirmary thanking Sawyer for having shaped a new helmet for both Chex and I, when general Aetos came looking for me. He had a sneer, and in his eyes gleamed cold light.
I straightened myself up.
"Alagaesyan," he said, "General Melgren, in his nobility and generosity, has decided to forgive your outburst during the meeting with the Senarium and to give to you and to your dragons a second chance to prove yourselves. You are to follow the second years of Second Squad, Flame section, Fourth Wing to the outpost of Samara in order to reach it tomorrow. But while they can come back, you're told to stay there until ordered otherwise." A sly grin quivered on his lips, "The fighting there is rather... Intense, they say."
"I am a Shur'tugal. Where the fight blazes more brightly, I am meant to stay."
Then, I dipped my chin to Sawyer and stepped around the general.
-We are to fly to Samara,- I said to my dragons, -Meet me in the flight field.-
-At once, kid.-
After I gathered the sacks with the armours, the saddle and strapped the sword on my back, I joined in Violet and the others. Ridoc grinned at me, "Ehy there, lover-boy!"
"It seems we have the same destination," I said with a half smile.
"Why do you have floating sacks?"
"It's for my armours."
"Oh. Right."
In the flight field, Tairn was standing at the front, with Feirge shoved aside. Chex nipped at Andarna's straps, and I flung the sacks across Ronny's back. Then, I adjusted the saddle on Chex and clambered on him.
He shifted slightly, and twisted his head snake-like to sniff at my boots. I cocked an eyebrow at him, and he snorted at me.
Then, Tairn splayed his wings, and the ground shuddered when he heaved himself into the sky, Andarna's wings beating twice harder and faster to keep up with him. Chex immediately followed them suit, and I turned on the saddle to check that Ronny was behind us, and he garbled me.
Andarna flashed her teeth at Chex, who slightly dipped down.
The flight lasted twenty-two hours, and we flew past a burned corpse of a wyvern. The structure of Samara presented itself broken and barely standing, with nearly a quarter of it demolished much like the western ward; a wyvern must've definitely crashed against it.
When I slid off Chex's foreleg I stretched out my arms and back, and rolled my shoulders. The others looked worse for wear too, and Chex blew hot air on my hair.
The pale-faced, bloodied lieutenant of the outpost came to collect us, and I knew that he'd hoped for more seasoned Riders, instead of second-years.
Ronny shifted behind me, while the lieutenant read off the orders Rhiannon gave him. A frown pulled down his tired features, "They really gave the command of Basgiath to Aetos?"
"Yes, sir," answered Rhiannon.
"And he invoked Article Eight to send me cadets?"
"Yes, sir."
"Wonderful. Well, his intel is old. Fighting ended yesterday, and even if it hadn't, I'm not apt to sends cadets to battle."
"Not all of us are such," I said, and rolled back my shoulders when his eyes snatched on me. Relief briefly flashed in his eyes, and he quickly read the order again, "So, you must be the Alagaesyan."
"Indeed."
"I've heard many rumours about you. Is it true that you're bonded to two dragons?"
Chex flicked his tail behind me, and Ronny took a step forward. I nodded, "It is."
"I hope you know how to fight. You seem... Terribly young."
"I've been a dragon rider for eight years. Battles are no strangers to me, and to my dragons."
"I will hold you to it." Then, he turned and raised his hand to the fallen wall, "The biggest wyvern crashed through as the wards came back up, but once our perimeter fell, venin didn't need magic to get inside the post anyway. Nearly lost our power supply killing them off. We managed to repel them across the border, but the front is  just over the hill." He looked at the fliers, "The casualties are far worse beyond the wards."
"They always are," Catriona commented.
"Has Newhall been affected?" Maren asked tightly, "It's a small village on Stonewater River about half an-"
"I know where Newhall is. As of this morning report, it remains standing." Then, he turned to me, "Report said you've already been in this outpost."
I cleared my throat, "Yes, but I might've slipped through unnoticed."
"Interesting. Have you bunked with someone during your... Hidden permanence here?"
"Yes, I have."
"Then you should go there, if it's still empty. It's an order, rider."
"I shall," and with a curt nod off I went, the sacks and the saddle hovering behind me. My dragons took off the sky, and circled once around the outpost before landing next to the shrinking forest around it. I walked towards the southwest turret, ignoring the perplexed looks of the others, and slid in Xaden's old room.
I put down the saddle, took off the heavy belt, and rummaged in the sacks until I found the two helmets Sawyer had made, and brought them up and studied them in the moonlight. They were plain, but thick, and most definitely not from any Elfic steel, but my helmet sat on my head as snugly as any helmet could, and it would've been fruitless bringing forward any complaints.
-Sawyer did a good job,- I said, as I put the helmets back in the sacks.
-I'm glad,- answered Ronny, -Let's see if Chex agrees with it, too.-
I snorted a laugh at the memory of Chex hauntingly refusing to wear the armour I'd built on scratch for him, but my smile vanished when I heard the door cracking open and saw Violet pulling her squadmates one by one past the wards.
"The lieutenant said to find whatever space we could," she said, and I sighed, "Fine. Get in."
Somehow, we clustered in the room, and I found myself inching next to the small window, while Ridoc was stretched out on the floor with his daggers within quick grasp, and so were the fliers; Violet and Rhiannon had taken up the bed for themselves.
I shifted and pulled the knees up against my chest.
"As long as they don't stay for too long," I muttered to myself, and slipped into a light sleep, Heill beside my feet.
I was awakened by whispers coming from the two girls on the bed, and when I realised that they wouldn't quit chatting about the nightmare Violet had just dreamt I pushed myself off the window and rubbed my sore neck.
"You two are not as quiet as you think," huffed Ridoc as I silently stepped around him.
"What time is it?"
"Probably time for you to get up," I grumbled, and walked in the bathing chamber. After a quick wash-up, I cradled the wet locks that kept falling on my face in the same braid of before and called Heill to me, while I buckled the belt around my hips.
"Whoa!" Exclaimed one of the fliers, as he sharply withdrew at my hurtling sword, "Watch out with that!"
I opened the door with perhaps a little more strength than necessary, but my lungs were still a bit constricted upon the arrival of two weary Riders, either a captain and a major.
The major stopped next to me, "Are you the Alagaesyan?"
"I am."
"Lieutenant Degrensi wants you to patrol the area beyond the wards, but requests that you only bring with you the Alagaesyan dragon."
And before I could ask anything, they were already gone.
I went back and gathered the saddle, all the while with such a frown that the chattering of Second Squad swiftly fell into an awkward silence.
The reason behind that order was so glaringly obvious it was almost pitiful, and I realised that I hadn't read the order myself, and that as such I didn't know exactly what general Aetos had written in the parchment Rhiannon gave to the lieutenant.
-They want to pit us against a test,- said Ronny,
-To assure them of our loyalty,-
-Or to bring us to our knees,-
-All in one swift flight.-
-What?- snapped Chex, after Ronny and I had finished sharing the same thought, -How? I will not let it be!-
-And yet you must,- I said, -Stick close to Tairn and Andarna, and wait for us to get back.-
-And leave you two to go past the wards on your own? Never!-
-Have faith in us,- interjected Ronny, -Besides, Degrensi said that the fighting had ended yesterday. Should we be unlucky, we could meet only a couple of straggling wyverns, far from mortal enemies.-
-Or a whole riot full of dark wielders and their aberrations,- bit out Chex, -Who's the heedless lizard who bonded with that lieutenant? I must have a word or two with it!-
Ronny was quick to reach me in the battered courtyard, and I put the saddle on him. I'd just binded my legs when we ascended to the sky, and veered past the wards.
-Should we be ready for a trap?- I asked, while scanning the eerily empty surroundings with my mind.
-I'm afraid we should.-
-Lovely.-
But, despite the fact that we searched every corner of both sky and land, we only picked up on the barren wasteland, characteristic after any battle. Yet, Ronny's body was tight between my legs, and his wingbeats were almost unrythmic in their tension.
Because of it, my own shoulders were rigid, and my own body kept twitching of its own volition.
The wind tasted of storm.
It was a sudden thing.
Chex tumbled a scream in our headspace, -Tairn is in distress! Go help him, please!- and Ronny dipped down a wing and sharply spun around, his tail flicking behind him to level us.
-Where is he?-
-Above Newhall!-
-We're two minutes out!- I yelled, then stretched out my hands, "Vindr, moi und flauga nosu nios tapula!"
(Wind, I order you to fly us faster!)
A sudden tailwind rushed behind us, and Ronny adjusted his wings so as to catch it with the outmost perfection. My hair slapped at my face, now utterly unbraided.
-Spotted him,- said Ronny, and I ceased the wind while he drew back his wings and hurtled us against one of the wyverns who were circling around Tairn.
He dragged it down with us, his jaw locked at the base of its neck; then he debowled it with a couple of deep thrusts of his backclaws, and shoved it away.
As he flung us back up, I stretched out my mind until I could feel the rest of the dragons, many minutes out and blocked by other wyverns.
I truly hoped none would dare harm Chex.
-Head in the battle!- Ordered me Ronny as he closed his left wing and rolled left until his tail slammed against a grey neck and his spikes tore it apart. The world spun, and I grasped the pommel.
Lighting flashed and thunder boomed.
A wyvern came up behind us, and with a spell I snapped its wings. Ronny collided against another one, and we both winced with shared pain when it dug its claws in his sides. Ronny shivered under me, and with a sharp, "Heill, ganga fram," I cut off the beast's jugular and Ronny could kick it off.
"Waise heill," I said, while he quickly ducked away when Tairn rolled back and smashed his killer of a tail straight up against a grey jaw.
I tightened my hold on Heill, and the wyvern in front of us splayed its maw wide.
"Skolir nosu fra brisingr!"
Sizzling blue flames parted around us, and Ronny pumped his wings and slashed at the enemy's throat.
Then he dove down, and I glimpsed a brown dragon digging his teeth in the neck of the wyvern we'd just wounded.
-Chradr is here,- Ronny told me, before arching his neck and breathing out fire towards another one. While it was blinded by the smoke, he aimed for its left wing and shredded it with a brutal bite and a sharp shake of his head. He pulled, and it wailed in pain when the translucent membrane of its wing was torn off in spluttering blood. The bone snapped, and Ronny shoved it away.
But then, I could feel the wind shifting around us, and Ronny's eyes grew even more narrowed than what they usually were as he jerked his head high up and to the right, -Hurricane incoming!-
He immediately snapped his wings closed, and after I quickly sheated Heill I tried to take control of that hurricane, but it was already spell-bound and I could feel myself straining against it too early for my liking, despite taking up some of the energy stored in the gems of the belt.
I had to break the spell.
Ronny roared when all the three of us got whisked by the hurtling hurricane, and I grappled on the pommel for dear life. Everything passed by in a blur, and I closed my eyes shut against the stinging wind.
But suddenly we got shoved away, and the bindings on my legs were the only things keeping me on my seat. Ronny splayed his wings wide, and I tried to come up with a spell, but the whiplash was too harsh, and the mountainside too close to us for any kind of effective manoeuvre.
-Hold on!- Shouted Ronny, right before he twisted his body around and his right side clashed against rocks.
His wing broke upon impact.
Then his temple slammed.
Ronny!
I felt the bond snapping apart.
Gone.
Ronny was-
Gone.
Gone!
Gravity pulled us down, and with a tearing scream my power rushed everywhere, past the sky and to the stars; it cracked the mountain, and boulders crumbled down, and they hovered above me for a moment, then got shot around and split the bones of the remaining wyverns.
Lighting flashed, and the bluish streak twisted away and back up in the sky when my mind clashed against it.
Ronny
Was
Gone!
-My love!- screamed Chex, -My love, he's still breathing! He's alive!-
We'd reached the ground by now, and as if he had heard Chex's plea, or my voice, Ronny heaved in a shaky breath.
My heart trembled a beat - alive.
He was alive.
However, my rage remained.
-Who?- I bellowed to everything and everyone around me, -Who dared hurt my partner of heart and mind?-
"So, you must be the Alagaesyan."
My eyes whirled towards the dark wielder who'd just spoken.
"Theopanie will be so glad to finally be acquainted with you. Apart from Sorrengail, you're the only one bonded to an irid-"
I clenched my hand into a fist, and he started sputtering. Then, I raised my fist up, and sharply swung my arm out; the venin followed the movements of my hand, and got slammed against the mountain with such a force the rock cracked again and all of his bones split.
Both Tairn and Chradr were laying senseless next to the cliff, and I narrowed my eyes on the silver-haired dark wielder standing in front of Violet and Garrick; she must be Theopanie.
The hurricane must've been hers. Perhaps even the lightning.
"I'll let you keep both of your dragons while giving you what you want most in the world," she said, most probably to Violet, "Control and knowledge."
Although I hadn't follow through the whole conversation, I understood that she was after the seventh breed, and my jaw flexed.
None would dare hurt Chex, too. Not after they'd already injured Ronny.
Theopanie didn't wait for Violet's answer and turned to me, her eyes as crimson as blood, "And for you, little Alagaesyan, peace and acceptance."
I tore apart the bindings around my legs and slid off Ronny's uninjured side, the tip of Heill pointed towards her, and I twisted my face in a glower, "Und ono ero dauthleirk kona."
(And you are but a mortal woman.)
She reared her head back, and her eyes flared in anger. Tairn's wings twitched.
Then, copper glimmered high up, and I watched with dread as Chex roared out and dove down towards us. Fire sizzled in his throat, but a wyvern slammed against him and threw him off course. A cry was torn off from my throat, and the world spun around me, "Eka ethgri frehor abr vandr-fodh Skulblaka!"
(I invoke the death of the dragon ill-marked!)
The wyvern wailed, then crumbled down, but the act of calling up death itself without the means of any cause weakened me so that I had to use up the whole energy stored in a gem of the belt.
Chex splayed his wings and regained balance, but his eyes snapped towards the wyvern hoisting up Theopanie. He breathed out fire at it, which was much bigger than him, and he shifted, ready to chase them down, but I yelled at him not to, -Don't! It's too dangerous!-
-They hurt you both!-
-I said don't!-
He snarled, then pivoted down and landed next to me. I stumbled at the tremble of the ground under his talons, and he immediately prodded me up with his snout.
-You're shivering,- he whispered gently, -You almost burned  yourself out.-
I'd just laid my hand on his cool scales, when the bond with Ronny flickered with life, and he groaned in pain, -Kid...-
"Ro!"
I pushed myself off Chex and reached out to Ronny, but my head swam and I slid on my knees. He blinked slowly, and rumbled, -Kid, my wing. It's most definitely broken.-
-Your wing, right,- I said a bit haltingly, and Chex gave me a bit of his energy. I walked up to the broken wing, closed my eyes and murmured the spell; Ronny hissed and flicked his tail at the pruning feeling, and my breath trembled when the last bone was sealed intact.
"Ehy Aifos!" Called up Garrick, "Can you patch up Violet too?"
"Yeah, I'm coming," I huffed, but I wobbled and had to lock my whole muscles in order to keep standing. Chex snapped his teeth at a freshly awakened Chradr, and Ronny wobbled to his feet, while I reached the other two and knelt next to Violet.
Her kneecap was completely shattered, and her ligaments were so utterly torn she would've had to lose her leg weren't it for magic. I splayed my hands above her wound, and absorbed the energy from the second gem.
Ronny assisted me with the spell, which I was constantly checking and repeating given my tiredness until we deemed it good enough to be said outloud.
I found myself humming a soft tune, as I sealed back the ligaments and brought the kneecap in its original position. It took me a bit longer than usual, and when I ceased the spell my hands were slightly shaking.
Then, Ronny swivelled his head to Tairn and the ground shuddered with the strength of his roar. Chradr coiled his tail around Garrick and pulled him away from us.
-Why did you break off from your riot and fly in enemy territory all on your own?- He growled, and Tairn narrowed his eyes. Ronny had left open the bond, and so through him I could listen to the snarl of the black dragon, -Don't act as if you weren't doing the very same thing you're yelling at me for.-
-I have a seasoned Rider on my back. You have not.-
-The hurricane happened nonetheless.-
-It's said that you're reckoned as a general among your kind, and yet you allowed your Rider to entangle you in a trap set up only for her. That's a mistake only youths can make, if we want to survive as long as we can in this war.-
-Civilians were in peril. We are not cowards.-
-Nor foolish. And yet, here we all are.-
Tairn's teeth snapped inches away from Ronny's neck, and Violet's face blanched, "Tairn!"
I rubbed my temples, a headache most definitely coming in, -Ronny, don't ire him.-
But I wasn't given any satisfactory answer.
In fact, Ronny tightened his body, his wings drawn tight against his flanks, and his tailtip twitched. His shoulders rippled, but Chex slammed himself against his chest and harshly shoved him away before he could throttle Tairn.
Ronny stumbled back, and Chex splayed his wings, then twisted his head back and under his right wing so that his flames could engulf Tairn's forelegs, -Enough! You're acting like hatchlings!-
Now that I was half sure that those two would not rip each other to shreds, I staggered on my feet, and helped Violet up. She frowned up to Tairn, then turned her eyes to Garrick, still with his dragon's tail around him.
"You'd better go now," she said, "Before the others will come."
"I would if this hot head of a dragon let me go," he protested, and with a snort Chradr disentangled his tail. Garrick rubbed his sides, and while muttering to himself he mounted up and the pair took off to the sky.
I wondered how he'd managed to reach us this quick from halfway Navarre, and I thought that Violet must have the answer, or else she wouldn't have prodded Garrick to leave before he would've been seen by the rest of the riot.
Ronny grumbled low in his throat, and Tairn swished his tail, but Chex rolled back his shoulders and bared his teeth.
Tairn curled his upper lip, his eyes steady on Ronny.
-That's enough, both of you,- thundered Chex, -You are both over one hundred and yet you act like hatchlings!-
-We heard you the first time,- rumbled Ronny. Chex snapped his teeth, -I'm being serious. You almost died today! And yes, perhaps Tairn shouldn't have broken off, but Violet asked it to him because she wanted to save lives, and he's the fastest.-
-Such lives were lost nonetheless.-
-But they still tried! Isn't it what makes a Rider? The will to save innocents?-
-Perhaps so, but had they fallen, the amounts of future casualties would've skyrocketed terribly. They're one of the greatest bonds of their generation. They ought to be more careful.-
Tairn said nothing.
"This is war," I said, lowly, "People die. Dragons - die. We can't save everyone."
Chex sought out my eyes, and a bitter surprise, or disappointment, perhaps, rippled through his elegant features.
I couldn't hold his gaze, and my nails scratched softly the palm of my hand free from Heill.
"We are riders," snapped Violet, "What we don't do is stand by while civilians die. And before you ask, every single dragon and gryphon agreed."
"It couldn't have been otherwise."
"Don't tell me that your Alagaesyan riders wouldn't have done the same."
I jerked my chin up, and my face twisted. Then I forced myself to lower my shoulders, and to sheathe Heill on my back.
"You should be going back to wherever it is that you have to go to," I said, "You did your bit here."
And with that, I got on Ronny's back and Tairn followed us with narrowed eyes. Chex hesitated, then rubbed his snout on his guardian's neck and caught up to us.
The flight back was silent, almost heavy.