Wings

Chapter 13

Just as Finn started to nod off, Heather roused him from his nap.

"What th-" he began, but she put his hand over his mouth and pointed to a sleeping 'Bella' and a sleeping 'Vance,' hoping he understood.

"Hey," she said, tucking her messy blonde hair behind her ear.

"Hey."

Heather felt her cheeks redden, praying that he couldn't see because it was night time. "I haven't looked at that leg of yours since we ate those stupid berries..." 

As if she'd asked him to do so, Finn extended his leg for her to look at. It was looking better.

"It looks a lot better," she whispered. 

"Feels better too," he nodded and sat up cross-legged in front of her. She sat down as well.

"Dragon dung is known for healing properties!" Heather chuckled.

"Shut up," Finn rolled his eyes but still grinned back.

"So what's this magnificent plan of yours?" he asked.

"What magnificent plan?" She acted bewildered, but it was unconvincing. He gave Heather a 'really?' look. She laughed and spilled out the whole plan, whispering it quietly to him.

"Well first, I want to find out if they are evil or not. Then if they're evil I want to see if they have any majik. And if they do, well, we give them the rest of the Molgrath berries and them I get my powers back and you can shapeshift again!"

"Okay..."

"Also, don't fall asleep, just in case they think we're sleeping and they're evil so they create an evil plan."

"Jeez," he replied. "You've got this all worked out haven't you?"

"Yeah, pretty much," she grinned and lay down, pretending to be asleep.

Not long after, Heather stiffened as Finn's toe poked her, jabbing her in the knee with his nail. She opened her eyes and glared at him, but the voices distracted her.

"We should capture them now," someone said, a little too loudly.

"No, Vachna! if we do it now it'll be obvious! We need to gain their trust! Then we can capture them," someone else protested.

"Sounds like a plan," the first person, Vachna, agreed, but they didn't sound happy.

So they ARE evil, Heather thought. Knew it... But do they have some sort of majik? 

She sighed internally and drifted off into a light slumber.

* * *

Finn woke up, looking straight into the deep, sparkling, aqua eyes of Heather. He let out a little "Ah!" of surprise and she chuckled.

Phil was already roused and Finn was 100% sure that he knew their plan.

"Did you hear anything?" he asked Heather, but she just gave him a puzzled expression. "Last night." 

"Oh. Yeah," she said quietly. "They ARE evil after all." The two were still asleep but Finn guessed that she lowered her voice just to be safe.

Phil was skewering a Powk with his talons and putting it on the open flames, but then realised something, so he took it out and breathed a plume of fire onto the large bird, blackening it.

"Breakfast is ready," he cried casually, as if the two groggy kidnappers-to-be were their friends.
Finn got up and  walked over to Phil to collect his share of breakfast.

Phil saw Finn approaching and ripped off a leg of the Powk, placed it on a flat piece of bark and handed it to him.

Finn's mouth watered at the smell but he didn't begin eating. He slipped some Molgrath berries to Phil and explained to him what to do with them, Phil nodded and took the berries, smearing them on 'Vance's' and 'Banghr's' share of meat, explaining to the two that it was a berry marinade.

They began eating before anyone could say "Hyswæ."

The bird was tender and delicious and was devoured in minutes.

During the meal, Finn and Heather kept glancing at each other with 'have you noticed anything?' and 'do you think it will work?' looks. They had to keep a close eye on 'Vance' and 'Bella,' now that their lives were at stake. 

As soon as the gang had finished eating, Heather and Finn left Phil in charge of 'Vance' and 'Bella,' going off to do some combat training.

Heather used her bow and crafted a sword for Finn to use. She was thrilled when she found her magic had come back to her. Finn had turned into a wolf, playing like a cub, barking and running around in circles with joy.

After hours of combat, they made their way back to the campsight...

...only to find their dragon friend tied up next to Heather's beloved Melanie-

both with blades held at their necks.