Navia

There are many pleasant ways to being woken up. Finding a sword pointed at your neck is definitely not at the top of that list. At least, not for me.

I tried to scramble backward, and quickly discovered my hands were tied. Sitting up, I looked warily at my attacker, trying to undo the knots, but quickly finding that they were to tight. I whipped my head around, trying to find my friends. They were also all waking up, if the surprised and angry noises from both animals and people were any indication.

I glared at the guard, who withdrew his sword and sheathed it, looking unconcerned.

"Is everyone here?" I half-turned toward Tyler, keeping one eye on my captor. "Is everyone okay?"

"Shh," Tyler responded, "they're Conquerors."

I returned my gaze to our captors— I realized now that it was a small army rather than a few simple men. They each had a gleaming golden C on their breastplates. "Oh no. How'd they find us?"

Tyler shifted, wincing. "I don't know. They might've been following us. Can you figure out how to untie me?"

I scooted over, twisting my wrists and tugging at the knots around his hands. "Who was standing guard?"

"Me." Tyler winced again, and I noticed then the faint trail of blood from his hairline. "They knocked me out. When I came to, we were all tied up."

My fingers slipped on the knots, which were still tight as ever. I swore.

Tyler sighed. "It's fine."

I shook my head and started trying to undo it again, my wrists starting to ache from the strain. I surveyed the group to distract myself from the pain.

"Tyler!" Horror laced my tone.

He shushed me urgently. "What is it?"

"I thought you said everyone was here." I whispered, worried.

"I didn't... who's missing?" He twisted around, trying to get a better look, but stopped abruptly, air hissing through his teeth.

"Quit it, you'll hurt yourself." I chided. "Sabien. He's not with the group."

Tyler swore. "They must have dragged him off."

"What would they want with him?" I tried not to think of how it sounded. "Maybe he tapped into Eldya's powers, and is hanging around here, invisibly."

Tyler nodded, but he didn't look entirely convinced. "He'd give a signal, right?"

"Who would?" Zay interjected. She'd just come to, looking groggy. It quickly turned to anger though, as she assessed our situation.

"Sabien." Tyler and I whispered back.

"He's not with the rest of us?" She maneuvered into a sitting position, wiggling around to check. "Nope. Awesome. Love relying on the skinniest kid for our escape." She muttered sarcastically.

Tyler sent her a stern look, but Zay ignored it.

"Navia," she said instead, her voice lower, "they forgot to take the knife out of my boot. We can cut ourselves free if you can reach it."

I maneuvered down, my bound hands slipping in her left boot. My fingers brushed cool metal, and I pulled out a small dagger.

"Perfect." Zay grunted. "Now, could you—"

"Shhh!" Tyler hissed, his gaze fixed on something across the clearing.

We both froze. "What?"

"Look." Tyler nodded surreptitiously at a tree near the far edge of the clearing.

It's bark seemed to be... moving.

"There he is." I muttered, biting back a triumphant grin.

"Who?" Zay asked yet again.

"Sabien." We replied for the second time.

"Oh." Zay squinted, looking unimpressed. "Could you cut me free now?"

Tyler slid the knife from my hands as I continued to watch the tree. No less than two moments later, I saw a large branch vanish. The side of the clearing seemed to ripple as Sabien moved.

"So." A loud voice dragged me from my trance.

I looked up, taking care not to even glance in the direction where I knew Sabien to be hiding.

"I heard that you had just recently gotten hold of the Silver Wolf."

I looked around, trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from.

A tall figure stepped out from behind one of the soldiers. "I also heard that you were here, in Lonely Falls." The captain added, reaching up and pulling his black helmet off with his gloved hands.

Behind me, Zay gasped.

The captain was not ugly. In fact, he had an attractive face, with high cheekbones and narrow brows. His blonde hair stuck up in places, which reminded me of Zay's. His eyes, however, were an eerie yellow, his pupils dilated so much that they were no more than a black slit. He tipped his head to us, grinning wickedly, almost all his teeth on show.

Goosebumps rose on my arms. Something stirred in me. Disgust, maybe? Something about this boy— he looked nearly the same age as the rest of us— was deeply wrong. Inhuman, even.

"Don't move." Zay breathed into my ear. She shifted, accidentally nicking my exposed wrist with the dagger as she started working on the rope around my wrists.

I bite my tongue to keep from yelping in pain, noticing that, as the captain kept speaking, the air behind one of his soldiers seemed to ripple. You must be crazy! I wanted scream at Sabien.

Then, there was a loud crack and the Conqueror slumped to the ground, unconscious. The captain froze, turning slowly. Behind him stood Sabien, no longer holding the branch, but welding the sword he'd pulled from the unconscious man's sheath.

"This is your great rescue?" The captain scoffed, glancing at us.

"No." Tyler vaulted to his feet. "This is." Nearby, Charlie let out a bellowing roar. The bear burst free of his bonds and swiped at a Conqueror, taking them down with ease.

Zay leapt up as well, after pressing the knife into my hand. She released Xavier from passive state, retrieving yet another knife from her boot. Where did they keep coming from?

The soldiers stared.

"You fools!" The captain yelped, "get them!"

I rolled to my feet as Zay and Tyler launched themselves into the fight, hurriedly cutting the others free.

I released a sigh of relief as I cut Cerco free, and he nudged my hand gratefully.

"Get weapons if you can, anything works." Sasha was saying sharply.

In the moment I'd taken to check my wolverine, the clearing had erupted in a full out battle. I found myself facing a boy with a ferret. His helmet had been ripped off, revealing a black eye and a broken nose. His dusty hair clung to his face and he held his broken arm close.

"Please," the boy croaked, "don't hurt me."

I froze, knife still in hand. Cerco snarled beside me.

Sasha hurtled past. "What are you doing?" He yelled, "show no mercy!"

I looked back at the boy, into his terrified eyes. "Run."

He did, stumbling through the clearing and into the trees.

I turned away, looking around. I found Zay locked in battle with the captain. I ran over.

I tossed her my knife, because she'd lost her own. I guess she didn't have an infinite amount, after all. She caught it, turning back to the fight. But she seemed... hesitant. As if she didn't want to hurt him.

"Zay!" I stepped in beside her, slowly but steadily helping to drive the captain back.

She didn't respond.

Once at the tree line, the captain stopped fighting back. His irises flickered from yellow to black, pupils becoming normal. "Zay?" He whispered.

"Don't." She whispered.

He stumbled, his hands shaking. His irises returned to yellow, and his back went ramrod straight. "Fall back!" He called, fury in his tone. There was no trace of the frightened boy I'd seen a moment earlier.

The soldiers sprinted to his call, the wounded trailing behind.

Finally, the clearing was empty but for us. Niko's ostrich was limping, and Ryan's nose was bleeding, but otherwise we were mostly unharmed.

"We did it." Sasha spoke up. He sounded almost disbelieving.

Our faces slowly morphed into smiles.

"We did it!" Niko cheered.

The ecstasy died out quickly with exhaustion and paranoia, though, and soon we were packing up, hurrying to get back on our way.

We left the campsite, only slightly bloodier than when we'd found it, and started back to the ship. I ended up side by side with Sabien.

Are you okay? I wanted to ask, but instead I blurted, "are you crazy?"

He blushed, averting his eyes. "I had to do something." He mumbled.

I bit back a scold. "You could've gotten yourself killed." I said softly. "You can't die. We have to fulfill the prophecy." Also you're really nice and I don't want you to die. I added silently.

"Uh, yeah, sorry." Sabien chuckled halfheartedly. "For making you worry."

I blew out a breath. "I'm not mad." I said finally, finding it was true. "Putting yourself in unnecessary danger like that is... crazy."

He laughed then, an actual laugh, and the sound made my heart lift. "Maybe I am a bit crazy."

I couldn't quite keep my lips from splitting into a grin. Maybe crazy isn't too bad.

Hey hey hey! It's me again, your slacker writer! Hope you liked the chapter, blah blah blah. Anyway! You guys shipping yet? Cuz I know I am!

edit: 15/04/23
hbd Sabien! enjoy whatever this was :)
plotholes don't exist anymore
(im not in denial u are)
have a good day my worms xx