22. Kieran

22

KIERAN

We didn't waste time packing, only grabbing a few essentials with the plan to make a quick exit. It was clearer than ever that we were not welcome here. I could practically taste the feeling of defeat that floated through our group, and I could hardly blame the others.

I hadn't realized until now how much hope I had pinned on the wyverns deciding to help us. I had truly thought we would have a chance against Alfemir with their help, especially after we'd made our way through their kingdom and saw how many wyverns actually existed within these mountains.

I supposed I shouldn't have pinned my hopes on something so far-fetched considering the past. Could I blame them for not wanting to be involved with the same individuals who forced them into this isolation? Absolutely not. But that didn't make this any easier.

Frustrated, I offered a small shake of the head and a sigh as we made our way into the large corridor that led to the exit of the castle. A not-so-small part of me was surprised when neither of his parents stood waiting for us at the castle doors. I would have figured they would attempt to convince their son to stay—or at least bid him goodbye. Instead, we were met with a group of guards that announced they would serve as an escort out of the kingdom.

If Niz was surprised by his parent's lack of appearance, he didn't reveal so.

As we exited the central courtyard and began down the main road once again, I couldn't help but notice how busy the streets were at this time of day. Much like last time, we were unable to blend in, drawing looks of curiosity and even caution. As we continued through the crowded streets, the looks of caution gave way to anger in some individuals, making me think the truth of our arrival and our identity had become more widespread.

I felt a sense of relief when no one approached us, allowing us to make our exit swiftly out of the kingdom. The entire time, I fought the urge to say something to comfort Niz. I knew nothing I said could change the hurt and disappointment his parents were causing him. He'd expressed his concerns to me the night before, before this morning's horrible interaction, so I had to assume his feelings had only amplified since.

I was also very aware that nothing I said would make the group as a whole feel better about our journey forward. Was there even a journey forward? It felt like we had slammed directly into a dead end.

"Where do we go from here?" I asked, our pathway slanting upwards toward the exit out of the kingdom. I pushed my body forward despite being exhausted, the descent down into the cavernous world of the wyverns arguably far easier than the one back out.

"Back to the Rebellion," Steele decided, calling back from where he walked slightly ahead with Gabe and Niz, the guards having left us at the end of city limits as we neared the main door. "We need to regroup and make a new plan."

I nodded in agreement, and no one protested. Even Bastian didn't bother trying to lighten the mood with a joke—his hand instead sneaking out to intertwine with mine.

"Who needs them anyway, we've got this," he finally said, unusually somber.

Ronan nodded sharply from my other side. I so badly wanted to believe them, but I think we all knew the truth. Without the wyverns' numbers, we stood no chance against Alfemir and their militia.

"Your Highness." The guards at the door opened the massive doors that served as a barrier between the wyverns and the rest of the world, offering us no other words of goodbye.

As we entered back into the cave system we had arrived through, I found myself feeling eager to see blue skies. I couldn't imagine living my whole life underground, not knowing what it felt like to feel sunlight on my skin. Then again—it wasn't truly the wyverns' fault that they were in this position—rather it was the angels of Alfemir. Like I said, I could hardly blame Nora for not trusting us.

After several minutes of making our way through the dark, I saw sunlight shining ahead of us at the end of the tunnel. I didn't hesitate to walk faster than normal, aching for the feel of the warmth on my face. I broke away, pushing past Steele, Gabe, and Niz and feeling relief as a blinding light hit my skin.

Instantly—and mostly without my permission—my wings snapped open, and I felt relief at being able to extend them properly. Their use hadn't been something we'd wanted to risk within the wyverns' kingdom limits.

"We may have to wait by the forest's edge until the next shift change," Gabe pointed out as everyone filtered through the mouth of the cave. "It probably won't be more than a few hours, but we don't want to risk guards spotting us, or worse, following us back down to the Rebellion camp."

I nodded in understanding as I took a running start and dropped off the edge of the cliff, my wings taking me skyward. I soared through the air and sighed happily as I dipped down toward the trees. The others joined me, and we started our journey toward the perimeter wall. But before we arrived, though, something caught my eye.

A flash of flames.

My brow dipped in confusion as I continued to glide above the treetops, sweeping a hard right so I could look over the spot where the flash of light had occurred. The mountainous divide—the space I now associated with Bash's horrendous past—was to the left of where I had seen the flash of intense light.

A second flash of flames.

Knowing that I wasn't imagining the fiery explosions, I didn't stop to explain myself to the others. Instead, I trusted my gut and darted toward the spot in question. Something was wrong. I didn't know what was happening, but I could feel that I needed to get there. Immediately.

A third flash of flames.

Flying faster than ever before, maybe even faster than the night Gabe and I escaped while stealing the dagger, I arrived on the scene within seconds.

What I saw invoked both rage and heartbreak.

A small wyvern, in bright shades of purple and blue, was struggling desperately to escape two uniformed soldiers that were cornering it. One of them had launched a hook that had caught the baby in its wing as it tried to fly up and away, tearing at the soft tissue within its webbed limb. A painful cry broke from it as the other soldier tried to herd it back toward the first with flames, searing its scaled skin every time it moved too far in the opposite direction. Holy fuck.

I didn't hesitate to act—my dagger was instantly out of my backpack and slicing through the air toward the angel holding the ropes to the hook. It hit him directly in the chest and far faster than the time with the guard on the perimeter wall, the small hilt glowed with runes and the soldier exploded in flames, instantly falling away. The ropes went loose and the wyvern tried to push upward and away, taking advantage of the distraction.

"Who the—" The second angel didn't have a moment to react before my dagger appeared back in my hand and I launched myself toward him, aiming right for his chest.

I grunted as he let out a battle roar, pulling his sword out to attempt to hit me. The steel of his sword met my dagger for a flash of a second, and the force of the impact reverberated through my frame before I disengaged. Flying out of the way, I avoided another swing of his sword and began looking for the small, wounded creature he was after.

"Shit." I cursed, noticing two simultaneous problems—the first being that the baby wyvern was falling, the heavy hook caught in its wings weighing it down. It was clear as day that it wasn't an adult in miniature form, as the creature was half the size of myself—no, this was just a very young wyvern. So what was it doing out here?

The second problem was the approaching flight of six soldiers, yelling out commands at the sight of me.

Dodging the soldier who had traded in their sword to instead shoot flames toward me, I dipped down in the air and sped toward the baby wyvern. Sweeping them up in my arms despite their sizable weight, I flew as fast as I could in the opposite direction of the soldiers, trying to maintain some distance between the threat and us.

I winced as I pulled the hook out and a pained cry left the small wyvern's throat, watching as the skin around the hook sizzled—as if acid was dissolving the hide where the hood had punctured it. Tears welled in my eyes, my gaze seeking out the second of the two individuals responsible for this—fury pulsating in my chest.

I would kill him too …or maybe I wouldn't.

Maybe I wouldn't need to, because it appeared my men already had it handled. Pulling the baby wyvern close to me, trying to keep the seared skin from pressing on my chest, I watched in awe as my men met the soldiers head-on in defense of the small wyvern.

My eyes widened as Bastian targeted two of the men with his magic. Their blood seeped from their skin in rivers, instantly turning them into dried-out corpses left hanging in the air. In a clap of what sounded like thunder, their bodies snapped in half before dropping toward the forest floor.

My ears absorbed the clash of battle swords as Gabe and Steele met three members of the assaulting force. I relished in the sound of Steele's sword slicing through one of their throats, instantly decapitating the soldier. These Alfemir soldiers were no match for either Steele or Gabe on their own, let alone together.

My nose twitched at the sudden scent of burnt flesh as Ronan drew a gigantic dragon from the mass of shadows that grew around him—black flames eliminating the three individuals left. The creature burned them to a crisp, leaving them to disintegrate into ashes in mid air.

In seconds, it was over. A complete, victorious slaughter.

I swallowed down the hollow victory at their fast and swift defeat, because in my grasp was an injured baby wyvern. One that was beginning to struggle—shifting its wings back and forth in a panicked motion as I winced, trying desperately to hold onto them. Despite clearly being a child, they were big enough to dislodge my hold.

I was suddenly thrown back by the force of it, only stopped by Gabe who caught me mid air. As the wyvern dropped, unable to use its injured wing, Niz appeared out of thin air, catching them in his claws before soaring upwards and back in the direction of the caves.

The kingdom would surely have someone who could help him. While we weren't as quick as Niz in his full form, we followed as fast as we could, tears welling in my eyes at the limp form of the smaller wyvern in his claws.

"I don't understand. Why are they even close to the Northern Forrest?" I called out to the others. "Is that how they normally tame beasts? If so—that is so fucked up." I refused to believe that Ronan would ever be part of something like that.

"Nothing about that was normal!" Ronan yelled over the wind rushing past us. "None of them were Beast Tamers, and they were physically hurting the wyvern—submission techniques for taming are allowed, but a hook? Absolutely not. I have an idea what they were doing, so that is bad fucking news for everyone involved."

"What do you mean?" Gabe asked.

"If they're forcibly taming wyverns, or attempting to, then they're actually enacting a plan I heard about years ago. I assumed it would go nowhere, but clearly they're now implementing it. Likely because of the recent attack and realizing how powerful the fallen are. Seeing Niz be so successful in battle probably only bolstered that thought process, so now they're taking drastic measures to even the playing field."

Which meant that every wyvern was in potential danger now.

"They would capture the small and young to demand the subjugation of the older," Steele spat through clenched teeth.

Before I could comment further, we landed on the cliffside by the entrance as Niz shifted back, laying the unconscious wyvern on the ground. Changing into clothes Ronan provided, he easily lifted the wyvern back up, careful to not hit the injured wing, and carried it into the cave without hesitation. We followed, but I couldn't help but stare down at the wyvern in dismay.

I just had to hope that we weren't too late.