The Legacy of the Alliance

Chapter 62

The next day, the rest of the team gathered in Zeke's tent for breakfast at an attempt to make him feel more included. If anything, it just made him embarrassed with Lyra and Celeste exchanging glances before looking at Zeke and Theo's interlocked hands and then giving the blond a knowing look or a quick thumbs up. Even Atlan and Val seemed to be in on the teasing - with their attention on Theo. And to think the new couple trusted those two to be mature...

After breakfast, the group managed to get Zeke walking again; even if it was mainly just balancing on his boyfriend. They all sat in a circle on the ground - the blond man sat on a log to reduce as much pain as possible. "We can't stay here for long. Maverick is coming after us and there's no way we can fight him again so soon." Atlan explained to everyone. The six of them dived into where they could go next and how they would get there; someone even suggesting they try and go back to their old home in the avian territory. 

They kept talking until Celeste shushed them all suddenly. Since they had been in this situation before, nobody questioned her and just listened. Rustling. In the trees.  They froze. Was this Maverick finally coming back for them? Theo slowly looked up around him cautiously. The mage almost missed the white blur staring right back at him. Noticing he had found them, the white blur whistled quickly before lunging at Theo. 

Now getting a closer look at his attacker, the mage realised that they were an avian; most likely an owl. They had scarily bright yellow eyes and traces of black in their short white hair. Without an ounce of hesitation, Theo allowed his arms to catch flame - keeping the purple fire small as a warning. This got them to back off and allowed Celeste to tackle the other avian. 

This was only the beginning. A demon with purple horns and black scleras leapt out from behind a bush and tried to swipe at Lyra with a longsword - only to be kicked in the stomach. Then, a centaur darted towards Atlan. Theo was attacked once again by a different avian and Val was ambushed by a yellow mermaid. They all fought until a deep voice ordered them to halt. A green skinned merman grabbed Zeke and held a loose arrow to his throat; his eyes examining each of them. 

Theo tried to lunge for the man with the arrow before the second avian yanked at his hair. "Get off- Zeke-" he panted.

"Theo! Stop struggling." Atlan ordered - getting an immediate response with compliance. "Who are you? Workers for Maverick?" the demon been pushed down to his knees, a firm hand on his shoulders from the centaur behind him.

"Maverick?" the owl chuckled. "As if! Aren't you all Maverick's goons?" their grip starting to loosen on Celeste's wings.

"What? Of course not! Who do you think hurt our friend?" Lyra nodded over to Zeke - though not getting very far because of the demon with the longsword having a strong grip on her long hair. "You guys revolutionary fighters or something?" 

The merman with Zeke as a hostage started to lower the weapon held to the blond man's throat. "I suppose we are." his deep voice echoed in their skulls. "I apologise for the harm caused." he stood up; snapping his fingers to signal his own friends to back off. 

"You wouldn't happen to be able to get us away from Mav, would you?" Val asked nervously.

"Of course! That is our job after all. We help enemies and victims of that vile man settle into a safe place for them to live." the yellow mermaid smiled warmly. "I'm sure our leader would love to have you all!" 

"Leader?" Theo speed walked to his partner; resting his hand on Zeke's shoulder. "Who are they?"

The deep-voiced merman seemed to be trying to make himself more approachable as a form of apology. "You'll have to wait until you meet her. She's always happy to greet new comers herself."

"One moment please." Atlan excused the group; gathering them all in a huddle by Zeke's log so he wouldn't have to move. "What do you guys think? We can actually live for once. No more running?" he offered. The team unanimously decided to tag along with the other group. "We will go with you."

The green merman smirked. "Good. I'm Cato. Just put Blondie on Marcus over there" he gestured to the centaur. "and we'll be on our way."