The Heroes of Avalon

Long Live the King

Iza woke up with her hands tied together by the fire.

"No! Stop! Please," she cried out. It was all too familiar for her liking. The scars on her back roared in agony as she thrashed around.  Her skin on her wrists chaffed and started to bleed. She could hear the people in her past laughing at her as they took away everything from her. It had been awhile since she last time she lived out the incident in this much detail. 

"Calm down," Nathson ordered. Iza looked up at her capture. That's right it happened nine years ago. She has changed since then for the better and the worse. It would never happen again. Her back ached as she sat up and did her best to fix her hair. 

"You made it out alive," Iza noted. "I'm guessing that girl didn't. Had you listened to me you could have saved us both some trouble." Nathson sat down and ignored her.  The flames of the fire flickered casting odd shadows across his face. Iza wished the circumstances were different because he was an attractive man. 

Maybe if he wasn't drunk that night they could have left  together. Nathson would have never had to meet Martin and Iza never would have been poisoned. They would have made love to each other and went their separate ways only to be reunited years later. "One more time," Nathson would have begged.  Iza sighed at what could have been.

Nathson pulled out the  stolen papers stashed under his shirt and laid them out on the ground. Although it was dark Iza recognized what they were. 

"Are you trying to overthrow your government," Nathson asked. He didn't have to, he had all the proof in front of him. "And what happened at that house? When I found you that mage was dead and the Gavin guy was gone."

"Jumping straight to the big questions, huh?" Nathson glared at Iza. He didn't have time to play 'dodge the question'. It was now or never. 

"Iza," Nathson warned using her name for the first time. He said it differently compared to others. They would pronounce the z heavier than I whereas his I was stronger. 

"I don't know what happened I can't remember anything after you left," Iza spoke honestly. The fact that Gavin was still out there somewhere had her concerned. 

"Are you trying to overthrow your government," Nathson repeated. 

"Here," Iza untied her fur laced cape and let it drop to the ground. "A Zankens wings aren't entirely useless you know. When we die the gods grant them the power to fly again and that's how we go back to the heavens. Without my wings I'm stuck here."

Nathson was taken back by the scars at first. They were big and nasty and she had chosen to keep it that way. Was it a reminder? That's how his people saw each scar they got. Warriors would never try to cover something as grand as that up. He himself was  covered in scars. 

Nathson lightly traced the scars with his fingers. Iza got goosebumps but she wrote it off as the cold. She never had butterflies in her stomach like this before. It had always been lust before, but this was different. It was softer and purer. 

"You should let me heal you," Iza broke the silence. She turned around to face Nathson. He cut the ropes tying her wrists together. She grabbed his arm where he had his deepest cut. Her fingers ran over his skin like he did hers before beginning the healing process. She took her time. When was the last time she healed somebody knowing she would get nothing out of it?  

"So what does your wings have to do with the royal family," Nathson asked. He watched her heal him intently. She was so gentle compared to when he first met her. 

"The royal family get to return to the heavens no matter what. If I become royalty it won't matter if I have my wings or not." Iza finished with that wound so she moved on to a small cut he had on his chest. She could feel his chest start to slow along with his breathing. She scooted closer to him. 

"Then why not marry one of the royals?"

"My parents are a disgrace. They would never let me marry." Her breath was hot on his neck and he had to remind himself not too long ago she drove a knife into his leg. It was no way to start a relationship. Despite the wound on his chest being healed she kept her hand there. 

"It won't be an easy task. Dare I say impossible considering you can't kill anyone. Remember?"

"I will find away. I always do." The two of them locked eyes and slowly began to lean closer to each other. Their lips were almost touching when Iza said "your turn. Why are your armies at the south border?" Nathson sighed and pulled away. Had she been using him this entire time?

"A different day, Iza." He laid down with his back towards her. Iza picked up her cape and put it back on and laid down her self. The two of them fell asleep. In the middle of the night the fire ran out and woke Nathson up. He got more wood before going back to sleep. 

It was just before dawn when Iza woke up from a nightmare. She took deep breaths to calm down. She got up to look for water. She wondered about the woods. It was daylight by the time she found a small stream. She washed her face and hair.

She was crouched down by the water when she saw the shadow of someone behind her. She grabbed a rock and spun around to hit them. Nathson grabbed her hand spun her back around and covered her mouth. She struggled until he pointed at a large grizzly on the other side of the stream. He let her go.

The bear was massive. On four legs it had to be at least six feet tall. Its coat was dark brown and thick. It had a tan patch on its right side in the shape of a butterfly.

"Shit I think I know that bear," Nathson said. He crouched to the forest floor and pulled out his long sword. Iza didn't waste time to hide in the bushes with him. Thornes pricked her skin not that it mattered. Once again the two of them were close to each other. 

"How do you know a bear," Iza questioned. An eagle swooped down from the sky and landed in front of the pair. There was a snap of a branch behind them. They spun around to be face to face with a man in his early thirties. His skin was tan and his facial features were heavily angled. He had tribal tattoos covering his arms. He grinned ear to ear. 

"Nathson, we have some unfinished business." The man pulled out a dagger from his coat and thrusted it at Nathson. He dodged and grabbed the man's arm and twisted it to where he was pinned down. 

"King, you sure do have one hell of a way of coming at the worst times," Nathson grunted. The eagle raged out and started pecking at him. He tried to swat it away and King was able to get out of his hold. Nathson's sword fell out of his hand but he quickly picked up King's dagger. The two men stood up ready to fight. King was weaponless. 

King smiled as if he knew a secret know one else did. He put his fingers to his mouth and let out an echoing whistle. The bear from before came charging to protect her master. She leaped over fallen trees and bushes. Her glossy fur blew in the wind and time slowed down for Nathson. He held up the dagger despite knowing it wouldn't do anything to help him. 

Right as the bear went to attack it fell and King let out a scream an agony. Nathson sword was impaled in the bear. Iza stood behind it with a slight frown. The eagle went for her eyes but she pulled the sword out of the bear and cut off it's head. Iza wiped the eagles blood off of her face and turned to King who screamed lounder. 

"I don't like to believe in stereotypes, but greeting someone by trying to kill them is savage doing you think? King, was it," Iza said. Nathson stood there in silence stunned. King shook as he stood up and went after the Zanken girl. Nathson held him back as he thrashed again his grip. 

"You can't kill the dragon!" King kept repeating the phrase over and over again. Suddenly blood seeped out of his mouth. Nathson pulled out his dagger and let King drop. Iza and Nathson gazed into the others eyes as the held a blood soaked blade. 

"We're even now. I saved your life you saved mine," Nathson broke the silence.

"What dragon is he talking about?" The words were bitter against Iza's tongue. The Warriors had been acting strange for a year now. Could think have something to do with it.