Avalyne Series 01: The Queen of Carleon (23 page)

At first, she thought it might be one of the sleepers tossing and turning. Melia, she, Keira and Arianne had come to learn during this journey, did not sleep well. The watch guard was often plagued with nightmares that forced her awake, wide eyed and panting in fear. She did not explain what she had frightened her so and they respected her silence on the matter. Besides, as they drew closer to the mountain, Melia was not the only one to experience nightmares because Arianne too seemed to be entertaining a few demons herself in her sleep. However, in this case, they all knew what was the cause of Arianne’s nightmares and did not pursue the matter.

At least Keira slept well.

When she heard the sound again, Celene knew that it was neither the wind nor her companions. It seemed alien against the night and did not feel natural. As it drew closer, Celene still had difficulty identifying it. If she did not know better, she would have thought someone was dragging something across the ground. Without the clarity of vision thanks to the snow falling about them, Celene stood up slowly, unsheathing her sword as she scanned the dark woods surrounding them.

They had not left the campfire burning because firewood was scarce and they were attempting to conserve what wood they could. Now that she heard the horses neigh their disquiet at the edge of their encampment, Celene regretted the decision for they needed the light.

‘Everyone. On  your feet now!’ Celene barked, waking them all with that one sharp demand.

Melia awoke first, her watch guard instincts bringing her swiftly out of her slumber as she reached for the crossbow that lay within easy reach of her sleeping place. Rolling onto her feet, she stood up ready to face whatever danger Celene had discovered to raise the alarm. Not far from her was Arianne who reached for the hilt of her sword, her eyes watchful of the danger now that she was aware of it. Keira was the last to rouse and her eyes darted about in fear as she tried to see what was coming at them.

‘What is that?’ Keira demanded trying to see through the darkness and snowfall.

‘I don’t know,’ Celene answered with a frown. She did not know what  was out there but it  was closing in on them.

Arianne listened closely. Now that she was awake, she could feel the peril closing in on her. ‘They are near.’ She said to no one's surprise.

‘They?’ Keira exclaimed, her voice cracking in fear. ‘There’s more than one of them?’

‘They’re all around us,’ Celene stated because she could hear it without the benefit of Arianne’s elven senses. ‘Arianne, light the fire and remain close to it.’

Arianne did not protest because Celene’s orders had kept her alive this far and she knew her limitations now her pregnancy was entering her four month. She could feel her son acutely now as it was with the way with elves and her fears for his life made her pay heed to Celene’s need to protect her.

‘Keira, go to the horses. If you have to get on and lead them away from here, do it.  We cannot afford to lose them.’ Melia added.

Keira nodded and hurried  towards the animals, now stamping their hooves in desperate need to be free of the place. Meanwhile Arianne hurried to the centre of their campsite to light  the fire as Celene had demanded. The queen worked quickly and felt the first hint of warmth from the newborn fire when the radiating glow of amber spread throughout the campsite. It lit just as the first of their attackers came into view.

It was almost the size of a horse and it moved with as much agility. All three knew exactly what they were dealing with the moment they laid eyes upon the creature. Its long body was covered in scales that glimmered with iridescent colours and its head was decidedly serpentine. It slithered across the snow covered ground and glared at them with ruby red eyes.  When it opened its mouth, two large fangs stood out from the smaller serrated teeth. It reached Celene first.

‘It’s a wyrm!’ Melia shouted as she took aim with her crossbow  and fired.

The bolt from the weapon struck the creature below the jaw and it turned sharply in her direction, hissing furiously at Melia in pain. The angry screech that tore through the air prompted Celene into action and she dashed forward, struggling not to slip on the snow as she rushed at it from the rear.  Celene's unsheathed sword led her charge and she came up along the side of the beast and swung. The blade sliced through the air before striking flesh. It took every ounce of her strength she had to penetrate its skin even with the force of the blow because wyrms were the young of wyverns. Had she faced it fully grown, there would be no way to penetrate its thick hide.

Nevertheless, this beast was young and Celene saw its blood spraying in all directions when she took its head from its body. The creature's cry of pain was cut short as its large body tumbled to the snow, blood pouring from the severed neck.

Unfortunately, its death cry brought the others.

Melia turned around to see another wyrm emerging behind her and she could hear another one approaching as well. Firing her crossbow, the bolt struck the oncoming beast in the face and forced it to rear up in pain as steel tore through its muscle. In the rear of her vision she saw Arianne being stalked by the other wyrm she heard but not seen. The queen showed herself to be no novice in defending herself and she quickly took the offensive, stabbing at the creature with her sword while moving with elven agility to avoid the snapping of its jaws. Her blade struck flesh and while the wyrm howled in pain, it did not retreat and held its ground, preparing to lunge at her.

‘Get out of its way!’ Melia shouted, prompted by a sudden flash of inspiration.

Arianne reacted to her warning by attempting to do just that when the wyrm reared its head and widened it jaw to spit something at her.  Arianne retreated, assuming the ejecta would be fire or even venom but what escaped the beast's mouth was a blast of icy cold air.  She jumped out of its path and saw that it not only extinguished the fire but froze it solid like a sculpture.

At least now they knew what had overcome those settlements.

Celene rushed forward attempting to help, slashing her sword about wildly to clear a path to Arianne. However the wyrms were encircling them, trapping them in the middle of the campsite as they unleashed their icy breath upon the three women like they were casting a net.  Celene dropped down to her knees, trying to keep out of the path of the creatures frozen breath but even without being assaulted directly, she was feeling its effects. The cold pierced her skin like needles and she was shivering beneath her cloak. Her fingers stiffening around the hilt of her sword.

On of the wyrms slithered forward, lowering its head so that it could envelop her in cold. Using  the sleet on the ground, Celene threw herself forward, sliding past it and driving her blade into its side as she moved. Ripping open its flesh, its  hot blood hissed against the snow as it bellowed in agony and tumbled to the ground, its elongated body going slack. 

Arianne saw Celene’s efforts to reach her and soon realised that the Lady of Gislaine was busy enough trying saving her own skin without coming to her aid. Recovering her balance after she had avoided the attack of the wyrm nearest her, she remained on her feet without slipping across the sleet thanks to her elven nature.  The creature had lunged at her and missed but was determined to her. Twisting around on its slithering belly, it sidled toward hers, leaving circular groves in the snow. When it neared her, it flicked its massive tail like a whip, trying  to knock her off her feet.  However Arianne jumped up, allowing it to pass beneath her.

Before she could land however, the beast lunged again and Arianne retreating in order to escape its fangs when something snagged her foot. She fell heavily on her behind and saw the wyrm closing in on her. Scrambling backwards desperately, she raised her sword just in time to see its jaws widening for the kill.  Forcing her weapon between them, she held her blade poised between its jaw and her body.

She could see down its gullet and knew that all it had to do was blast her with its icy breath and she would die just as the other poor unfortunates in those frozen villages. The wyrm regarded her for a second, its eyes glaring at her malevolently when suddenly; something drew its attention from her. It retracted its head from before her and screeched angrily.

It was Keira!  The lady of the Green was waving a flaming piece of branch before her.  In the darkness of the night, the light from the amber flames seemed  to fill the whole world and Arianne let out a sigh of relief as she recovered her senses. Taking advantage of the distraction provided, Celene came out of nowhere, jumping on a small boulder in the middle of the campsite to make a running leap onto the wyrm's back. 

Once astride the beast, Celene's legs coiled around its serpentine body to keep it from throwing her off. Like any unbroken horse, the wyrm bucked hard to dislodge her but Celene remained seated.  Raising her sword above her head, she gave the creature no quarter as drove the blade into its skull. Its utter a short scream of agony before it went limp and fell lifeless  to the ground.

Arianne would have thanked Celene except she was running towards Melia.

Melia’s skill with the crossbow almost rivalled Aeron with the long bow, Arianne thought as she saw the Easterner fire bolt upon bolt at the wyrms stalking them. She had managed to keep two of them at bay but she was fast running out of projectiles. Arianne could see the worry in her face as she continued to strike fatal wounds in the wyrms coming at them.  Soon, she would be forced to rely upon her sword and Arianne remembered Melia saying she was nowhere as proficient as Celene in its use.

One of the wyrms covered in bolts was still determined to have the watch guard despite its companion writhing in pain from the numerous wounds. The wyrm blew its deadly breath at Melia who barely avoided it and while a rock had served Celene well, another behind Melia gave her no advantage. It bore the full brunt of the wyrm’s breath, freezing so quickly it shattered, sending jagged shards in all directions. Fragments of tiny shards sprayed over her and Melia fell, landing on her side trying to avoid the worst of the barrage.

Her crossbow tumbled from her hands as she fell and Melia scrambled quickly towards the sword within reach to defend herself.  The wyrm prepared to make its kill as it slithered towards Melia and Arianne had only a second to act before it took her life.  Throwing her sword like a spear, Arianne watched the blade fly through the air and pierce the beast in what would  have been its neck. Driven by the force of her throw, the sword did not stop travelling until it was buried to the hilt in wyrm flesh.

The wyrm attempted to screech but could not manage it since what passed for its vocal chords was severed. By this time, Melia had recovered enough to thrust her own sword into the belly of the beast and spilt its innards unto the permafrost covered ground when she retracted it.

For a few seconds, no one spoke as they stood amongst the carcasses of the creatures that had almost killed them. All were still stunned by the fact that they had survived the onslaught. Celene had dispatched the wounded beast that had attempted retreat when Arianne was saving Melia’s life. Just as Keira had returned after securing the horses some distance away to save Arianne's life in turn. Somehow they had repealed this latest attack and they had done it together. 

For the moment at least, Arianne sensed the danger had retreated even though it was not entirely gone. It still loomed over them but she knew it emanated from the darkened mountain range they would soon be required to enter.

‘Are they all dead over there?’ Celene asked Melia as the duty of ensuring the wyrms were dead not merely wounded was concluded.

‘Yes,’ Melia answered a she retrieved her crossbow bolts from the dead carcasses. It was grisly work and she had no wish to be any closer to the fledgling wyverns but there was no other way for her to replace them and she needed them now they were nearing the end of this quest ‘They will trouble us no more.’

‘I heard of these wyrms when I was a child,’ Celene declared, grimacing as she scanned the grisly scene in front of her. Already the snow was starting to cover the bodies and in an hour or two they would be little more than buried mounds of white.  ‘I thought they were long dead!’

‘The last time these creatures were seen was during the Primordial Wars,’ Arianne explained. Now that the danger was over, she was just as astonished by the presence of these wyrms. ‘They were thought to be destroyed with Mael!’

‘However they have come to be here,’ Celene declared, ‘These wyrms have been born recently. We should not have been able to penetrate their hides with our weapons. If what I remember of wyverns is true, wyvern scales are harder than iron. The only way to kill a wyvern is to pierce its belly because is the only place it is vulnerable.’