‘
Oh probably in the same manner as Dare does with you,’ Celene replied promptly.
Melia exchanged a knowing glance with Keira before retorting,
‘I am starting to feel very sorry for
both
these men.’
********
Their progress was slow.
As they cut their way through the ancient wood, they continued to be assailed by thorns, branches and rocks that seemed to find skin to tear no matter how well they thought they were covered. Celene continued to charge ahead, hacking her way through the barrier until she felt the exhaustion in her bones become almost unbearable. However, she forced herself to continue, refusing to surrender to the weariness she felt. Blinking away the sweat that stung her eyes and refusing to acknowledge the multitude of cuts to her skin, she took comfort in the fact that she was not alone in her misery.
The others were suffering as must as she.
Glancing up at the sky, she saw that night was descending and she knew they would have to think about finding camp soon. However, she saw nothing ahead of them that could serve the purpose and they needed it to be defensible because the wyrms had come from this mountain and they would be seeking them out this night. Without no idea how many of the things they might have to face, Celene was acutely aware of how vulnerable they were at this moment.
She brought down her sword again when suddenly the blade sliced through so easily, she might have been trying to cut parchment. The force of her blow disintegrated the section of her thicket as it completed its arc. It took but a second for Celene to process what she was seeing and immediately stopped short.
‘
Everyone be still!’ She ordered.
As they froze in their tracks, Celene scanned the terrain before them and could only see petrified trees, the thicket ahead of them, partially covered in ice and the jagged mountains flanking them on either side. The only way to run was back they came. The thicket itself seemed different, less alive if such a thing as possible and Celene stepped forward again, tapping her sword against the briar and saw it crumble further.
Like brittle glass.
Almost on cue, she heard Arianne speak.
‘We are in danger, something is here.’
‘
The thicket is brittle,’ Celene announced, ignoring Arianne's portent of doom because she had already reached that conclusion.
‘
We’re in their nest aren’t we?’ Melia said, recognising the characteristics of the ruined towns they had seen earlier.
‘
Or very close to it. Draw your swords, if you have not done so already.’ She ordered.
She
heard the slide of metal behind her as swords were unsheathed and knew they had to escape the confinement of this thicket if they were going to survive an ambush. Moving through the briar with renewed purpose, this time she was able to shatter them easily because of their frostbitten state.
Celene worked tirelessly; aware that behind her, both Arianne and Keira were grasping their weapons tight, in readiness for attack should it come before left the thicket. Melia was undoubtedly scanning the hills about them for any signs of movement so she could concentrate on what was ahead. Above the blanket of twilight had descended and Celene knew from the tension in Arianne’s face that the creatures were coming. She simply could not bring herself to say it.
Very soon, they reached the other side of the thicket and though they were grateful to have crossed the wood, the shadows that stretched over the hills provided no relief for there were too many places for the wyrms to suddenly come upon them. Then without warning, she heard the familiar sound that preceded the battle the night before, the loud, continuous scraping against the dirt of something dragging itself across the ground.
‘
Take my shield,’ Celene said as she handed Arianne the shield she had found no use for until the appearance of the wyrms the night before. Before setting their horses free, she had taken the gift from her father Yalen for this very purpose.
‘
You will need it,’ Arianne muttered as Celene thrust the object into her arms.
‘
Not as much as you,’ Celene retorted and turned her eyes to the direction of the sound that was closing in on them. ‘Use it Arianne,’ she said firmly. ‘Use it to protect yourself. You carry all our futures within your body; you must protect the child even at cost to us.’
‘
Do not ask that of me!’ Arianne cried out in dismay. ‘I would do anything for my child even give up my life but I won’t allow any of you to die for me!’
‘
That choice is not yours to make,’ Celene stated firmly, needing Arianne to understand that whatever feelings she had towards her friends, they were a necessary sacrifice if the greater good was to be accomplished. ‘This is for the good of Avalyne.’
‘
Can this wait?’ Keira shouted as she looked about her apprehensively at the source of the slithering sound she could hear.
‘
There!’ Melia barked, pointing to a crack in the rock concealed by shadows that was much wider than it appeared on first sight.
She had no sooner said those words when the first wyrm made its appearance, its cold breath chilling her face as it slithered quickly towards her, displaying amazing agility for a creature without limbs. She leapt out of its way and landed on the ground to avoid being frozen to death, the jagged rocks on the ground biting painfully into her elbows and her knees. Trading her sword for her crossbow, she held onto the weapon through the painful manoeuvre and though she was certain she had lost more skin in the process, rolled onto her knee and took aim. The bolt from her crossbow struck the creature’s belly and it uttered a gurgling sound of pain.
The creature’s cry attracted the others out of their hiding places and the women soon found themselves surrounded. Melia fired another bolt at the wyrm for it was far from dead. It sidled towards her to exact its revenge. Running forward instead of retreating, she swerved at the last minute and leapt towards a protruding rock. Using her foot to bounce off it, she carried out a minor feat of acrobatics to land behind the beast. Taking advantage of its momentary confusion, she loaded her crossbow and fired another bolt deep into his body and stopped it for good. Unfortunately, just as Melia had taken advantage of the creature’s confusion, the other wyrms took advantage of
her
distraction and closed in.
‘
Melia!’ Celene cried out at seeing the watch guard’s predicament and was already running to her defence. Narrowly avoiding being sideswiped by the tail of another wyrm of a tail, she jumped up and let it pass beneath her, meeting it head on when she touched the ground once more. The creature hissed at her, its fangs bared.
‘
Celene! Drop!’ Arianne ordered.
Celene dropped to her haunches without question and looked up just in time to see her shield flying over her head and towards the wyrm. It spun through the air until it met flesh and bone and then still kept going. The wyrm did not even have time to cry out when the shield hit the rock wall behind it with a loud, metallic clang. The wyrm’s reared head tumbled away from its body, spurting blood that Celene scrambled away to avoid. Getting to her feet, she saw Arianne giving her a brief glance of acknowledgement before they turned their attention to Melia who was attempting to fend of the two remaining wyrms.
Arianne came up from behind the two creatures and swung her blade in a wide arch over her shoulder, bringing the sword down upon the midsection of the wyrm. She put all her strength into it and drove the blade through its flesh until it came to a halt against the ground. The wyrm writhed in agony, its frantic hissing reaching fever pitch when she split it in half. Suddenly a blast of cold enveloped her body and Arianne felt her senses overload with the biting sensation of ice.
The cold was paralysing and for a moment, she was rooted to the spot unable to move. It penetrated the layers of clothes she wore, made her feel as if the points of a thousand knives were raking across her skin. She felt her bones turn to ice beneath her flesh and
her lips began to quiver as the rest of her shook uncontrollably. Through the fog of pain, Arianne heard Celene’s frantic voice calling after her when she somehow ended up on the ground.
‘Arianne!’ She felt Keira’s hand around her arm, dragging off the ground to her feet. The woman of the Green ushered away from the fight, leading her behind some rocks away from the view of the wyrms so she could recover from the cold. Once they were crouched out of sight, Keira started rubbing her arms rigorously to generate heat through friction.
‘I am unhurt,’ Arianne managed to say through her chattering teeth. The cold was unpleasant and her body was racked with shivers but it was not permanent. Even now, she could feel the warmth returning to her limbs as Arianne continued to rub her arm. She could feel the blood flowing through her body as the biting sting against her skin faded away thanks to Keira’s ministration.
‘
Did I not tell you that you should have kept the shield?’ Celene joked when as she and Melia found them a short time later.
Around them, the remains of dead wyrms lay against the ground. Arianne knew that they had prevailed against the assault because these wyrms were young and driven by instinct and inexperience. Had any of them encountered the creatures when they were fully grown,
none of the women would have been fortunate enough to escape the experience alive. Nevertheless, these wyrms had destroyed whole communities and Arianne did not take the achievement of defeating them lightly.
‘
If I had not used it,
you
would not be here to be so smug,’ Arianne retorted with a grateful smile that her friends were unhurt. Mostly.
Celene was about to respond when suddenly the ground beneath trembled with a shudder that silenced them all immediately. Around them, grains of dirt were shaken loose from the rocks and pebbles skittered to the ground, clacking loudly against the rocky ground as it sparked upon impact. A low rumble corresponded with each new
rumble, like the approach of thunder as a storm grew closer and closer. The sensation of imminent danger came so quickly upon Arianne that it almost choked her with and any ill effect she had suffered from the wyrm earlier was forgotten because she knew what was coming.
‘
Run!’ Arianne cried out.
But they had run out of time.
The creature that emerged from the cracks in mountain was no wyrm. In comparison to these, the wyrms were small and insignificant, this beast was not. This was a wyvern, fully grown, with powerful muscles rippling beneath the iridescent scales that would have been beautiful to watch if you one was not the source of its fury, with claws and teeth. The wyvern’s red eyes swept across the terrain, taking in the sight of its dead children before turning her serpentine head towards those who was responsible for the slaughter.
For an instant, none of them could do anything but stare at the massive beast with their mouths open in frozen horror. Only when it took a step towards them, were they forced into motion. Melia raised her crossbow and began firing at the creature. The first bolt that flew through the air struck the creature in its side had little effect. Even a formidable piece of steel was not going to penetrate a wyvern’s scales. The cold wyvern shrugged of the bolt as if it was rainwater on its back and Melia watched with growing fear as the metal bolt clattered impotently to the ground.
Aim for its belly!’ Celene shouted and wished she had a bow and arrow for those were weapons useful for an enemy such as this.
Melia nodded mutely and resumed her efforts. Taking careful aim with one of the few bolts she had left and let it fly at the wyvern. The projectile flew through the air and this time, could not be as easily discarded. The bolt struck its belly and though it was not enough to bring down the beast, it was successful in provoking the beast’s fury and it opened its mouth, preparing to vent the full torrent of its rage.
‘GET BEHIND ME!’ Celene ordered the others as she held up the shield between them and the wyvern. Celene had no idea if it would hold. The shield was made of dwarf iron mined from Iridia, the hardest known substance. Whether or not it would survive the wyvern’s cold breath was a mystery she wished she did not have to find out this way. As Keira and Arianne took refuge behind her, Melia jumped out of its path when a blast of ice scrambled behind as the blast of ice came forth from the creature’s widened jaws.
The steel iced up in her hands and became so cold that it was almost impossible for Celene to maintain her grip but it did not brittle or shatter and that gave her the determination to continue. A sudden scream from Keira made Celene peer over the shield to see that the wyvern’s enormous head looming towards them, its jaws wide open. However the Lady of Gislaine was having none of it. Instead, she swung the shield wide, slamming the iron edge into the side of the wyvern’s head. She expected it to be disorientated enough to allow them time to escape.
The action had won them no more than seconds and Keira pulled Arianne into a gap between the mountain and another tall boulder capable of providing them with a temporary hiding place.
‘
We've got to run for it!’ Keira exclaimed. ‘Did you see where Melia went?’