Heart of the Wild

Chapter 5

Cannon fire echoed through the city as blazing fires lit up the streets. Lord Darius Crowley had led his Northgate rebels into the city and were setting it ablaze.

Skye grimaced as she watched from the edge of Greymane Court before returning to the injured soldier at her feet. Aria had asked Skye not to join in the conflict and continue aiding with recovering the crops, but Skye couldn't just sit still while her city, her home, was burning--even though she didn't agree with Greymane.

Communing with nature so far into the stone city was difficult, but she did what she could. Skye looked up from the soldier as she heard Balfour's barking drawing closer. Her mother and father rode up on her uncle's horses and joined the loyalists.

Although the rebels were able to get a ton of firepower into the city, they were still being pushed back by the city's defenses--Greymane's men as well those who joined the fight with minimal fighting experience--to where only the main force in the Military District remained. A few bolder rebels managed to get into the three other three districts, but they either fell easily or were taken into custody.

Then, nonlegible shouting to the east and more cannon fire. The loyalists began to retreat and regroup in Greymane Court district. Skye scanned the area and found the king shouting orders to his men until she eventually found her parents pull back as well.

Caos erupted as the rebels came into view, Skye, a few of the younger harvest-witches, and the priests from the cathedral began to move the injured to a safer spot inside the building deepest into Greymane Court.

Out of the corner of her eye, Skye saw her parents fighting--Balfour remained at Kalea's side until she fired toward a group of rebels. A rebel with an old, but sharp, broken blade broke from the line of rebels and ran toward Kalea. Ban turned to him with rage-filled eyes, and a flame erupted from his's hand--not the orange flame Skye remembered when her father taught Darien before he went to Dalaran, but a sickly green. Skye watched in horror as her father extended his hand and the green fireball collided with the rebel. His black, charred body fell to the ground instantly.

The rebel force began to shrink more and more as the fighting continued, until Lord Crowley and the other rebel leaders became overwhelmed and were incapacitated. As the rebel leaders were dragged away, Skye came over to the rebel's body.

As she neared, she felt the darkness from this magic radiate off him. She turned to her father--who came up behind her quietly--her face hardened, but even he could see the fear in her eyes.

Ban reached out for her comfortingly, but Skye stood and turned her back on her father as she made her way to her mother to aid her with the remaining rebels within Gilneas.

Skye heard a familiar yelling coming from behind her in the ally before the bridge to the Military District, she quickly spun around and ran toward the yelling to find a dark-haired, balding man on his knee and a bloodied dagger on the cobblestone street with one of the king's men with his sword above his head ready to swing it into the man.

Skye called out for the guard to stop, and he lowered to sword slightly. She pleaded with the guard to spare her uncle as she bit back her anger until the guard lowered the sword completely and stood the man up by force to take him to Stoneward prison.

Her uncle's head turned back to meet Skye's eyes, she expected to see a poisonous glare, but instead received a thankful and weary hazel gaze.

~•~

Skye made her trek toward Aria's cottage, her only place of comfort after everything she's been through, and after the civil war things got much worse and splintering her once peaceful family and life.

She passed by the burned buildings and remains of the rebellion that ended a few weeks ago, but even with the leaders imprisoned, some of the rebels managed to escape, and there has been no sign of Adoette for those last few weeks.

Skye made it into the tip of the Northgate Woods where the eerily quiet cottage stood. The pine door hung open letting the cool air inside the darkened home, the wood dented with newer looking scratch marks from the outside like someone was trying to get in.

Cautiously, she stepped into the cottage, no candles were lit--or snuffed out recently--and everything was ordered. Every book was in place, the bed was made, even the dried herbs Aria had in small bundles on the fireplace mantle were untouched.

Skye clicked her tongue calling for Pepper to see if the cat was alright, but there was no sign of her.

Whoosh. A sharp pain grazed Skye's right cheek, a small knife stuck out from the wall with a thin line of scarlet at the edge of the blade.

Skye winced, she turned swiftly and found Adoette wielding one of the polished daggers she got from Capital City, the other sheathed in leather at her side. Adoette began reaching for her other dagger.

Skye said nothing, only murmured to herself and held a hand close to her cheek and called on the earth to heal her wound.

Adoette cocked a smile, "I should have known you would choose to ally with that tyrant of a king."

"Where's Aria?" Skye asked, her voice hard as removed her hand from her cheek, a dark smear of her blood remained one her cheek and her palm.

Adoette shrugged smugly then lunged at Skye driving her into the house, Skye dodged out of the way and Adoette had to take a second to turn back and face her again.

Skye glanced at the open door then back at her cousin who partially blocked the opening. The two daggers began their descent as Adoette made her bold attempt until Skye moved out of the way swiftly and dodged the blades as they came for her again as she slipped through the open space between her and her cousin to make it back outside.

Once out, Skye quickly made her way to the forest's edge as Adoette followed suit. Bringing her hands up, the Skye forced the thinner of the trees' roots to grab onto her cousin, which she broke out of quickly until she became overwhelmed and tried cutting the roots with her dagger.

Adoette called out and struggled as the roots began reaching her neck, but Skye still held on with teeth barred and hands in tight fists.

"Skye, stop!" Skye's features loosened as she heard Aria's voice next to her, but her grip on her cousin remained tight.

The clanking of plate and rattle of chain-mail drew closer behind the group as a couple of Gilnean guardsmen rushed over, after they heard screams. Skye explained everything and released her cursing, fighting cousin to the guards.

"Where were you? I thought you were kidnapped or killed by the rebels!" Skye exclaimed after the guards were out of earshot.

"Stormglen, there we complaints of missing livestock, and, from the looks of it, it was because of wolves."

"Wolves?" Skye lifted an eyebrow, "Silverpine wolves rarely even come in the peninsula, and even if they could now, they're usually only spotted in Northgate."

"I suppose the wolf population in the Blackwald is growing." Aria shrugged then glared angrily at Skye, "But that's not the point. How many times have I told you not to force nature to your will? I heard the trees crying out for you to release them."

"Well pardon me for trying to protect myself." Skye spat back.

"We'll speak of this later," Aria said sternly as she passed Skye.

Skye crossed her arms and let Aria pass, the thought crossed her mind to watch over Aria more closely by either her moving into the city or moving out here closer to her, but then shook her head as Adoette's words echoed in her mind,'I should have known you would choose to ally with that tyrant of a king.'

Does she think I betrayed her? How did she know where Aria lived, and what she's taught me? Skye asked herself, then straightened herself and turned back toward the city without looking back toward Aria's home, I only did what I thought was right.