Redemption - Fourth Wing

41. Ambush

Ronny's Pov
When dawn broke, we were already high up in the sky, and currently flying towards Basgiath, where Chex and I would break off from the riot and head to Samara.
Aifos was still a bit sore after last night, and was draped over my neck to doze off, despite the fact that they believed that Chex was more comfortable than me to sleep on.
This flight was easy, and when we reached the broad outlines of the Academy the others glided down to the flight field, while Chex sped up and led us straight to the Vale, -I know a shortcut.-
Aifos was awake by now, and curiosity sparked in them at the sight of Chex's home, so they bent left to take a closer look at the Black Den, -That's... Huge.-
I slowed my wingbeats, and Chex followed Aifos' eyes, -It's my Den, and it's the largest, yes,- Then, after a turn, -Do you know that the Blue is the second biggest, and the Green is the most crowded? I don't know if I would live in the Green; perhaps in the Blue. Absolutely not in the Orange even if Tairn says that the Orange is the one most sunbathed, but it can't be, because its dragons are terribly snarky. Never liked them. Like, for example, when Darna and I went flying near their ground one of them just spawned behind us and kicked us out! Sgaeyl had half a mind of burning my sister and I and the orange dragon all in one breath.-
-Well, something similar happened to us, too,- said Aifos, -Do you remember it, Ronny? When we tried talking to the Menoa Tree?-
I chuffed, -Unfortunately for me, I do. Tina's Rider has rarely had clever plans.-
-Why? What happened?- Chex asked as we dipped our wings right. Aifos' chuckle was self-conscious, and they scratched their nose, -Elsie had the idea off the top of her head to go talking to the Menoa Tree, of which ancient Elvish ballads say that she used to be the fairest Elf around before her metamorphosis in a tree. Anyway, I don't remember why I went along with Elsie's idea, but ever since Saphira burned up her roots the Tree can't stand us Shur'tugals, so we got our asses handed too.-
-And worse for wear the Elves threatened to banish us from the Dur Wendervalden after all this ordeal- I added, -Firner had to vouch for us.-
I still remembered the reproachful glare the green dragon had dared toss at me that day, although Tina was standing next to me, and it'd been her Rider's idea in the first place. I made sure to answer him with a pointed snap of teeth.
-Who's Firner?- Asked Chex as he caught a warmer breeze under his wings. Spring had already come, and the days lasted longer now.
-The first dragon to have hatched in the days of peace, and he's bonded with the Elf Queen,- I answered, and Aifos chuckled lowly, -Yeah... It was the most embarrassing day of my life.-
I snorted, -I told you not to follow your friend.-
-Oh, come on! How could I have possibly known what would've happened?-
-You would've had you listened to me.-
-I didn't think it would come down to that!-
-But it did, nevertheless.-
I twisted my head snake-like and caught them rolling their eyes. Chex huffed amused, -Thankfully here the trees are just trees, and not some old had-once-been lady.-
We went on flying, and it took us more than a half a day to reach the outpost; when we could catch a glimpse of its broad outline, our wings were heavy, and the wind was starting to be of resistance to us.
However, there was an overall tension in the minds of Riders and dragons alike which put us in high alert, and we sharply spun into a circle above the fortress.
My mind and Aifos' hurtled forwards, past the wards, until we picked up fear and resignation and the gleefulness at killing of our enemies.
-A patrol is surrounded and cornered,- Aifos said, -It stands no way of survival.-
-We will not turn our backs into any fight,- I snarled, -We fly.-
So with a deep breath they straightened themselves up and reached out to the gems, only to find out that half of them had already been used up and last night they hadn't replenished them. At their flash of worry, I picked up speed despite the ache of my back, -We have to do without.-
As we flew, Aifos thickened the shields around us since we were short of our usual armours, even though I had a feeling they wouldn't last long: we would use up all of our energy into the fight, and I feared that the journey would take a toll on us.
Quickly enough we pierced past the wards and tracked down the Riders through our minds; smoke billowed from the burned Poromish town, and the screams of dragons and wyverns alike told us we were in the middle of the fight.
Blue daggers hurtled towards us, and Aifos stretched out their hand, "Letta orya thorna!" The weapons skidded to a halt, and with a flick of their wrist they sent them skittering all around us.
A Red dragon flashed by, and a Green one rushed to his help.
-Above you!- yelled Chex, and I propelled myself forward and clashed the wyvern's bluefire with my copper one; then, I dug my teeth in its shoulder and rammed my back claws deep in its belly. Its tail slammed in my tight, and the scorpiontail nicked my scales, and it might've slipped through hadn't it been for Aifos' shields.
I slashed at his flanks with my foreclaws, and gravity started already dragging us down; Aifos broke its wings, and I shoved it away and turned right. Chex was on a wyvern's back and was currently swinging his Swordtail deep in its wing membranes, his jaw locked firmly in the nape of its neck.
Aifos bent left, so I followed the shift of their weight and snapped my teeth inches away from a grey tail. Annoyed at the fact I hadn't caught it, I quickened up my wingbeats, but the dark wielder atop the wyvern's back saw me and conjured up a blue flame.
"Skolir nosu fra brisingr!"
Fire rushed past us, yet in the meantime the grey beast had twisted itself around and we slammed against each other. We shared the same height and width, so I had to duck my chin and beat my wings on its head as hard as I could, while Aifos snapped its calves. Its screech was maddening, and it dug its wing talons in my shoulders, despite which I managed to wrench it off me and invert our position. But while I was pushing it away from me the dark wielder somehow managed to jump on my back, and latched her hand around one of my middle spikes.
With my tail as leverage I performed a steep back roll and fell in a sharp dive, but she held on nonetheless, so I splayed my wings wide and pitched left.
In order to hold on she tried digging a dagger in my flank, but her strength was up to the point that Aifos was already using up a gem to hold up my shields, so I told them to lower them.
-You're tiring yourself too much too soon. Lower my shields. A flimsy dagger does not scare me.-
They gritted their teeth, and when the dagger effectively sank in my side I refused to even flinch. Instead, I flipped myself on the side of the venin, and Aifos grew fed up with her and broke her fingers and arm.
She fell, and I caught a glimpse of a fallen Brown dragon.
I was quickly gaining altitude and Aifos was scanning the sky for Chex, when a wyvern bigger than me dashed from behind me and caught us by surprise. Its talons slashed a hole in my right wing, and while I was trying to find my balance it swept below me and gripped me by my throat. Aifos and I shared a scream of pain, and I clawed at its flanks, but it only tightened its hold around my jugular.
-Jierda theirra kalfis!- yelled Aifos, but despite the snap of bones it held on. We were falling rapidly, and I did my best at kicking it away from me or trying to wrench off its fangs with my foreclaws, but it didn't budge.
I felt Aifos' rage scalding their mind, which bolted all around us and pierced every venin's mind.
-Don't!- I heard Chex yelling, -They'll drain you!-
But they ignored him, and immediately found the creator of this wyvern; their drumbeat was serrated, but I couldn't sustain them with my mind, not as critically wounded as I was. The wind was howling under my wings, and I kept slamming my tail and left wing on the wyvern, but it only hardened its bite.
I bellowed my frustration, and blood poured out more on my neck.
Then, golden scales glimmered on my peripheral sight, and I could only watch as Chex fell on the wyvern above and latched his maw in the nape of its neck. His talons wounded its eyes, and his Swordtail slashed as much grey scales as it could, but to no avail.
The pain around my wound was growing, and my strength was lessening. Shouldn't Aifos manage to take control of the creator, I didn't have much time.
I just hoped Aifos would live for Chex.
-You will not!- Screamed Chex, -You will live!-
-I cannot. It found the jugular, and the impact will shatter my bones.- I groaned in pain at its doubled strength on my neck, and forced my eyes to hold Chex's furious golden, -Leave me, or else gravity will take you, too.-
-I will not leave you! You will live!-
And then, almost as if Aifos had heard this, they chained up the dark wielder's conscience and the wyvern slackened its death grip immediately. Chex hastened away when it tumbled down, but when I tried to splay my wings wide, the wind rushed past the hole in my right, and I kept falling.
Chex slammed his shoulder on me and did his best at holding me up, but I was too large, and he was too young, and Aifos was caught among the channeling of every venin in the sky.
Aifos would never forgive themselves if Chex died because of us. Neither would I.
-Break the bond,- I rasped, -Aifos and I won't make it.-
-No! Never! You will live!-
-Break the bond!-
-No!-
-Chex, be sensible for once!-
We were gaining speed, and the impact was soon to come.
Chex's elegant snout twisted with resolution, and his mind recalled my very own power months ago with which I'd sealed back the wardstone and he said to himself that Aifos was his mate, and I was their bonded, -And what is theirs is mine to have.-
He wrapped his talons and wings around me, and curled his mind deep within himself; the sky and the winged ones were just a confused blur, and my blood was smearing the golden of his scales, and I had little to no strength left.
His mind engulfed mine, and magic thrummed in its every corner and crack, -Waise heill!-
I squeezed my eyes shut, but rather than the annoying, pruning feeling this spell would always give, this one was warm, and soothing, and I wouldn't die today.
With a forceful heave I switched up our position, and my back and spikes took out a chunk of the clock tower of the town; then, Chex twisted his slender body around me, and I levelled myself up and flung forward despite my laboured breath. My mind surged upwards, found Aifos' fading one and shielded it until they managed to scramble back within their natural borders, and they could finally draw a raggedly loud breath. Chex's wingbeats were faltering from the tiredness after the spell, so I stretched mine out and brushed the underside of his.
A Blue Swordtail flew past us, -Retreat! It's an order! Retreat!-
She was Degrensi's, and we fastened a messy retreat, and when we were back in the safety of the wards hovered among us the acute bitterness of defeat.
When we landed in the courtyard, Aifos slid off me and crumbled on the ground. Both Chex and I worriedly took in the grayish hue of their skin, and the trembling of their hands; they bowed their head and dry-heaved, and Degrensi, who was performing a check up on the survivors, walked towards them. Chex snapped his teeth in warning, and the lieutenant dropped his eyes to the ground.
"I just want to help them."
He narrowed his eyes and grumbled, but allowed Degrensi to kneel next to Aifos and pull back their hair, "You just need to rest up a bit, and then you'll be as good as new."
He looked even gauntier than last time, but there was such a gentleness in his eyes when he looked at Aifos that I remembered he had a daughter of roughly their same age.
He rubbed their shoulders, and they slowly nodded.
"Come on, let's get you inside. You should eat something to replenish your strength."
He hoisted them up, and they gave us a quick, tired smile to which Chex purred low in his throat before following Degrensi back in the outpost.
We watched them until we lost sight of them, and then I brushed my wing on Chex's, -Come, I'll hunt for you a stag.-
I snatched the youngest and softest, and laid it down in front of Chex. He thanked me with a flick of his tail and immediately ripped off its ribs. I ate my couple of rabbits, and watched the sun gleaming on Chex's golden scales.
I thought that magic suited him.
-You did remarkably well on the battlefield,- I said, and he raised his eyes from the prey, -I didn't know what else to do.-
-Not many dragons at such a young age have managed to bow magic at their command. Saphira is one of the few, and now, you are such too.-
He lowered his eyes, and grew thoughtful, -As far as I know, no Navarrian dragon has ever performed a spell before. I am the first.-
-We are magic,- I said, slowly, -Perhaps is because of our bond, or because of your Den. It could be both.-
-It could be.- He tore off a leg and ripped a good chunk of meat, -Do you think we will ever find them? The others of my kind?-
-The sky is as endless as the horizon. We found each other, so why not hope for something alike?-
-Darna doesn't believe in hope.-
-But do you?-
He took his time, and then watched me as I started cleaning off a bone, -Ever since I woke up from my Sleep, I kept hoping that you two would find me, and you did.-
I stayed silent, waiting for him to voice his doubts.
-The Sleep led me to my mate, and to their bonded,- his eyes flickered to me, -_We were meant to be, but I am in no way bonded with those of my Den. So what if it's never meant to happen?_-
-I never believed in destiny. We are dragons, and we shape the world. Not the other way around.- My voice grew stern, -Most of the Riders have powers because of us. Never forget that.-
He held my eyes for a couple of heartbeats, and then we went on with our lunch.
We found out in the upcoming week that Aifos needed a couple of days to get back in shape, and they were still paler than usual when they called us to go on the first patrol since the ambush.
Their mind was nervously scanning the sky, and  they remembered the time when they'd got ambushed in Helgrind and got strapped on the wall of its deepest cell. Their magic was whisked away from a gem carved in their wrist cuffs and their mind was drugged and they didn't know if Elsie was chained up or dead or alive; an egg of Ra'zac rolled and cracked in front of them, and it was a stark knowledge the love these horrible creatures had for human meat. So, only with sheer desperation they tugged at their chains and split the skin to the bone in order to get free. They kicked the egg and broke the hatchling's neck with their heel, then hid on the shadows until the armless and legless High Priest came hoisted up by his slaves, and fighting against the pain they flung their arm and wrapped their chains around all of his slaves' neck, and Elsie barrelled in just in time to save them from the mental attacks of the High Priest.
The clouds above Poromiel were as grey as the day in which Aifos had dragged the High Priest's corpse despite their shattered wrists, and cut off his head and impaled it in front of the entrance of Helgrind; they had damaged their wrists up to the point that they couldn't hold Heill for a whole week and a half, and Elsie had to learn everything again since she'd lost an eye as she fought her way to her friend.
It was then that I voiced an oath in the Ancient Language that no matter the world, Aifos would never be chained up again.