𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐒 {spirit animals}

18. Guardians Awakened

If she died, Ylva would blame no one but herself.

In the most literal terms, she got stabbed in the back because she misheard Rae's warning and assumed the girl was taking lessons from a duck.

The pain was excruciating, and she felt herself draining from the blood loss. The katana sent shots of pain firing across her entire body. She needed Caspian and Varuna, now, but they were nowhere in sight.

Shen stood up, drawing his sword again as he faced the masked girl with the red hair, "Who the hell are you?"

But she didn't respond to Shen, didn't really even want to acknowledge that he was there. She turned to Ylva with a silent glare.

"You know, I recall talking to you the last time we met," She slowly stalked over, "If my memory serves to be correct, the last thing I said to you was to stray clear of the Greencloaks. And yet, here we are."

"Last thing I said to you was 'get a life,' so I guess neither of us kept our side of the bargain."

Shen raised his sword, but a harpy eagle swooped in from behind him and knocked the blade away from him. The bird gave a loud screech before flying over to land on Jacquelyn's shoulder.

"Calm down, Prince," Jacquelyn scoffed, "She'll live. I thought you guys had that magical healing bird, quit being so dramatic. You have my sword, which is the only weapon I brought today. So as of now, I'm not a threat to you, so play fair and don't threaten me."

Ylva gritted her teeth, "Phoenix, why are you here?"

She couldn't read the girl's expression under the mask as she spoke, "You really have no clue what's happening here do you, Hunter? What's really going on with the creature you seek to free, the Darkcloaks you seek to destroy?"

Struggling to remain conscious, Ylva managed enough energy to glare at her, "As if you do?"

"I pick my battles carefully, you know that," Jacquelyn crossed her arms, "I thought you'd also know the Greencloaks can't be trusted. If not for their faulty moral compass, then for their general lack of information."

Ylva had no clue what the girl was going on about. She had crossed paths with the masked girl before, briefly. Two mercenaries who ran into each other on a quiet night in Eura, where mutual respect was exchanged for a while before they headed separate ways. She wouldn't exactly call Jacquelyn a friend, but certainly didn't expect a literal knife in the back from her.

"What's going on here?"

Relief flooded through Ylva as she saw Rae return, Caspian right next to her. He ran to her side, crouching next to her and shifting her to her side to get a clear look at the wound. His eyes widened as he saw the extent of the injury and he glanced at his spirit animal. Varuna fluttered over from the sky, hovering next to her and chirping softly.

Caspian closed his eyes momentarily and when they opened again, a faint pulsing light was emitting from them like melted diamonds. Varuna also started glowing as she hovered next to Ylva, the song of a caladrius ringing through the air. small particles formed around Caspian, before the beautiful bird soared upwards, surrounded by frozen crystals.

He opened his eyes again as Varuna descended to hover next to Ylva, her feathers gleaming like light sapphires. Caspian reached forward slowly and gripped the katana's handle.

"Hold still," He whispered, Ylva nodded, holding her breath in as he slowly pulled the sword out while having his other hand at her wound. Ylva took a sharp breath and let out a piercing cry as he slowly pulled the sword out. It seemed to take ages before Caspian took the bloody sword and tossed it onto the ground. The wound slowly closed as the bird sung softly, and soon enough she was healed.