'Well, we certainly scared the youngling,' Dyn'ad thought darkly as he fought against Herymi. Contrary to Ryraso's fear, he hadn't been about to harm the boy, thought he understood why the healer might have thought it.
'As long as we don't hurt him, everything will be fine,' Nel'os mused softly, fighting with Ryraso to keep him busy so Tai'ray could go through with the next stage of his plan. 'Fear we can fix easily enough,' he mused begrudgingly.
Tai'ray smirked at his mates' thoughts as he watched the two boys run off into the forest. Cowards weren't well thought of to the k'nairi but Eyeri was still young enough that he could get away with being scared. Dealing with the last human bodyguard, he could go through with his plan. He dived into the forest after the two boys, vaguely aware of Ryraso yelling as he was pinned by Nel'os, begging Tai'ray not to hurt Eyeri.
Ryraso was unable to follow after Tai'ray and defend his pupil, pinned down by Nel'os who was smiling at him like nothing was wrong with the world. Herymi was in a similar situation with Dyn'ad. "Let me go!" Ryraso demanded, grappling with Nel'os. "I have to..."
Nel'os managed to flip Ryraso on his stomach and lean over him. Forcing Ryraso's cheek into the rough undergrowth, twigs scratching his face. "Save Eyeri? Don't you think you would be better off behaving now so Tai'ray is less likely to hurt the youngling?" Nel'os teased darkly into Ryraso's ear. The feeling of his breath hot and clammy against Ryraso's skin, a sharp contrast to the cold night air.
The only other sound was of Dyn'ad and Herymi grunting as they fought, Herymi unwilling to back down. His pride as a huntsman was on the line now. Not that Dyn'ad was asking him to. Warriors the both of them, Ryraso thought darkly.
Ryraso breathed heavily from exhaustion as a tear ran down his face. "You'd actually let Tai'ray hurt him?" he demanded, struggling against the hold.
"You think he would? You think any of us would hurt a youngling who is yours?" Nel'os demanded back, his own tone a mixture of angry and disappointed.
Snorting, Ryraso finally managed to buck Nel'os off and roll to the side, grabbing a sword from one of the fallen bodyguards. He winced at the deaths of the men, hopefully, some had survived and were just knocked out. "We both know Nel'os that your mate isn't exactly sane at the moment. He hasn't been for a long time," Ryraso growled.
"And whose fault is that?" Nel'os snarled back, accepting the fact Ryraso wasn't going to just sit down and behave. Ryraso wanted a fight, and Nel'os was going to give him one.
"You're blaming me for his insanity?" Ryraso hissed, striking against Nel'os' own daggers.
"No, but you didn't help," Nel'os growled, tears of frustration rolling down his face. "You let it happen. You helped the void in his mind grow!" This was getting worse as the fight went on. Nel'os could only hope Tai'ray caught the boys soon before more damage could be done to Ryraso's relationship with the royals.
Tai'ray dived up and out of the tree, searching from above for signs of the boys. Aw'endo's wings were useless in the woods and it seemed he hadn't been smart enough to try to lift Eyeri up and fly away with him. Or possibly thought being in the undergrowth was a safer opinion given Tai'ray was the fastest, the Winglord mused darkly as he looked over the forest. It was easy to spot them, the two boys not exactly being subtle as they fled.
He dived down and landed in front of them, both boys giving a yell of fright. Eyeri fell over and Aw'endo looked ready to fight Tai'ray himself.
"Please Da, no," Aw'endo whispered, holding a dagger out with shaking hands.
Tai'ray looked at the dagger in his hand and felt a pain of regret in his chest. Even his son thought he was going to try to kill the human youngling. The human youngling who was crawling away backwards from them, his fear strong in the night air. Tai'ray walked towards his son, Aw'endo yelling before diving forward with the dagger. Tai'ray disarmed him easily and caught him in a hug. Aw'endo let out a mewl of horror but Tai'ray just kissed his cheek.
"I have to do this, Aw'endo," Tai'ray breathed, his eyes still firmly on the human crawling away from him. "It's the only way," he commented, in k'nairi, wrapping his wings around Aw'endo.
"You don't have to kill him," Aw'endo argued, clinging onto Tai'ray's robe.
"I'm not going to," Tai'ray reassured before letting go of Aw'endo to reach for Eyeri. Aw'endo still tried to stop him however, bodily blocking him from moving. Sighing Tai'ray grabbed the back of Aw'endo's neck and put him in a headlock. He quickly struck the boy on the lower back making Aw'endo squeal in pain and collapse to the ground. A move which would leave Aw'endo temporarily paralysed for a few moments, long enough for Tai'ray to do what he needed to do.
Eyeri whimpered as he watched his brother collapse. Seeing the dark shadow with glowing blue eyes step towards him, he scrambled to his feet. He tried to run away from the man, leaves crunching loudly under his feet as he tried to escape.
Tai'ray snarled and chased after him. Quickly reaching him and reached out to grab the scruff of his neck. His fingers hooked into the boy's cloak and dragged him back into Tai'ray's strong arms. With one powerful flap of his wings, they were up into the air. Tai'ray felt as the young human tensed. Eyeri went to scream but found a hand clamped over his mouth, Tai'ray moving his grip so he had a good hold on the young man not wanting to risk dropping the child. Tai'ray soared out over the forest and then in the direction of the others. He was growing impatient, he wanted this over.
"Hush youngling, no screams please," Tai'ray murmured into Eyeri's ear as he moved his hand from Eyeri's mouth.
Eyeri felt his stomach tense at the sound of Tai'ray's hoarse voice. Eyeri shivered as the cold night air moved over him, tears running down his face, too afraid to struggle on the risk of Tai'ray dropping him. Looking down at the forest beyond was not something Eyeri was enjoying.
It didn't take long for Tai'ray to arrive back in the clearing where Ryraso and Herymi were still fighting against their respective captors, standing back to back by now. "Stay calm for me youngling," he murmured to Eyeri, before pulling out his dagger. He placed it at the boy's throat, ignoring the frightened whimper at the action, pressing it close enough that it would be a visible threat, but not actually cut the skin. "Stop fighting now or the boy dies!" he yelled, the words seeming to echo around the clearing.
The humans froze, their eyes fixed on the dagger. He grinned darkly in satisfaction and landed gently on the ground. The young man in his arms whimpered in fear as the movement made the knife press closer for a moment and Tai-ray could feel him trembling. Eyeri even leant back against the Winglord, in an effort to put more space between him and the knife. Tai-ray allowed this, also keeping his arm around the boy's waist, supporting him. He couldn't tell if the boy had enough strength to keep standing at this moment and he didn't want to risk any accidents.
'Tai...' Nel'os whispered, his mates looked on, worried that he was going to hurt the little Namya. He would have been offended, except he had been fairly off hinge lately.
'Nel'os, Dyn'ad. I have a plan, one which did not in fact involve harming the little one,' Tai'ray murmured over the link. 'I promise.'
YOU ARE READING
Bird of a Wing (Bow 1)
FantasyA long time ago Ryraso worked for a race known as the K'nairi. When war broke out he was forced to leave. But the k'nairi don't let the people they view as valuable go so easily and a few years later, Ryraso finds himself back in their clutches. Fac...
