Chapter 1: Wingless

Quickly, Leanne pulled her head back, as an arrow nearly hit her face. Her heart pumping, she pressed the little wyvern closer to her chest. He squeaked pitifully.
"I'm sorry, shh", she whispered and carefully stroked his head, "I'll take care of your wing, I promise. But right now you have to be quiet…"
She moved closer to the rock wall behind her and took a deep breath. The sound of steel on steel in her ears. The smell of blood filled her nose and Leanne prayed that it was just the young wyvern's broken wing. She had stopped the bleeding right in time, but before she could look at the wound otherwise, a group of bandits had jumped from the bushes and attacked. The group of mercenaries, that have brought the wyvern to her, pushed her into the nearest cave. There were many of these in Wyvern Valley, but Leanne still felt kinda trapped. As soon as one single bandit made it to her, she had nowhere left to run. And with the dragon in her arms, she couldn't even fight back without risking its life. He was too weak to escape any sort of ambush and the bandits were clearly after him. She had to trust those mercenaries to keep the two of them safe.

She let her head slouch on her shoulders and sighed. The whole reason she was here was to pick herbs. And it was the only time in years that she left Noelle behind, so the Pegasus could freely graze on the huge meadows near the village. Of course that was the time, he had to meet a group of mercenaries with a wounded wyvern.
They didn't get much time to speak, but they told her, that they had been wandering through Wyvern Valley for a few days already, because they were searching for something. But Leanne didn't ask for more information, because one of the males immediately presented her the wounded wyvern and asked if she knew the fastest way to the local healer. And what are the odds? She was the apprentice of said healer and decided to care of the dragon right away. After all, the people of Wyvern Valley often came to them, when their dearest pet lizards needed something. She knew what to do, although she didn't like wyvern at all. That the big black one, that accompanied the party, was keeping an eye on her didn't make the situation any better for her. But she couldn't just let the little one die like that. And she would have taken care of the wound perfectly if those stupid bandits hadn't appeared out of nowhere.

She had no idea how much time had passed, when it finally got quiet outside. Her knees still shaking she walked to the cave's entrance and risked a look.
"That must've been everyone."
Startled, she looked up, as one of the mercenaries reached her his hand. He had a calming smile that made her relax a litte, although the situation was totally bizarre.
"Are you alright?"
Her fingers grabbed the cloth around the wyvern harder, but she nodded and eventually took his hand.
"I'm okay. Nothing happened."
He easily helped her out of the cave without having to move the wyvern and Leanne thanked him with a sheepish smile. Carefully she walked back to the others and gazed over the battlefield. A few unfortunate bandits had no chance to escape and had been bound to a tree – she couldn't see the others anywhere. The redheaded mercenary girl snarled at them and apparently tried to get more information. Safe for a few scratches, most of the mercenaries seemed unharmed. Leane sighed in relief. She could never have forgiven herself if somebody got hurt, just because she wasn't able to heal them in time. Her staff-skills weren't the best, since her vulneraries would do much better – but it was better than nothing when focusing on a battle.
"I'll scout the area", the other woman suddenly said. She was a tall warrior with a slim body, but a heavy armor. Leanne had admired every move, since she met her, since it took quite some skill to balance the mountains with that weight on her shoulders. How did she even climb? One of the men, the masked one that the big wyvern belonged to, gave her a nod and took off into the air as well. Probably to search for other bandits from the sky. She had tried to do something similar on Noelle's back, but the hills and trees in this area made it quite hard to see far. The little one in her arms squeaked once more. Right!

Leanne stopped dawdling and walked straight back to her bag of herbs. Carefully, she put the wyvern down and made sure, that there was no mud to get in his wound. She would have liked to clean it first, but due to the circumstances, the bloody blanket must suffice. Without Noelle, the village was too far away to take him to the healer and it was easier to take a look at the broken wing right here and now. If she'd wait too long, the poor thing would lose way too much blood. It was unusual for wyvern to be this quiet. Especially, since the redheaded mercenary girl and the blonde swordsman had a heated discussion with the three bandits. Dragons would normally get nervous with all those sounds around them. Every time she helped Ben take care of a wounded or just sick wyvern, the dragons got quite aggressive and bit her more than once although she was just trying to help them get rid of their pain. But this little guy – either he was just a very silent type or he was weaker than he should be.
"How is he?"
The man from before – the one that helped her out of the cave – approached her again. Not without rolling his eyes when pointing at the other two. He leaned towards a stone and looked at the wyvern.
"I'm not sure", she answered, still focused on the wing. Apparently the young one got into a fight… Another thing that was highly unlikely to happen. Of course wyvern fought each other – on a daily basis actually. But since wyvern don't eat each other, those are just territorial fights. They would never attack the young. And judging from the small size of the lizard, this one wasn't even a year old…
"He seems weak", she added, because she was afraid, that her answer wasn't enough. That's what she did regularly. Either she said too less or too much… She searched her bag for a few herbs and vulneraries that would work on wyvern, but since Noelle got hurt during their trips quite often – for such a graceful creature, her Pegasus sure was clumsy – she always had something to reduce the swelling.
"You seem to know your way with wyvern", the man said, still watching her caring for the wing.
"Oh, we have tons of them here in Rosanne", she explained, "And Ben – you know, the healer. He loves dragons. So instead of focusing on healing humans, he always takes care of their mounts too. So I've seen wounds like this quite often."
He snickered a little.
"You don't sound very content with that."
Her face got a little red. She tried so hard not to show…
"Yeah", she answered shyly, "Actually, they scare me…"
They were aggressive, some could spit fire and they would always attack anything that goes against their way. They were dangerous…
"But that little guy…" She softly pet his head. „I think I like this one."
"As long as they're little, they're cute, huh?"
Leanne shrugged.
"That", she nodded, "And the fact that he hasn't bitten me yet."
"Well", a smile grew on his lips, "He probably realised that a beautiful flower like yourself should never be harmed."
Leanne froze for a second, before she bursted into laughter.
"What?", he seemed a little irritated, "Was that too much?"
"Way too much", she answered and cleared her throat to stop laughing. She should really focus on the wyvern right now… There was no time for idle chitchat.
And apparently, the mercenary girl thought the same.
"Inigo!", she cursed, grabbing him by his arm, "When you're done flirting, you could come help us."
"O-okay!", he answered sheepishly – not without flashing another smile at Leanne's direction, "I have feet you know, you don't have to pull that much…"

Leanne rolled her eyes, after she had successfully taken him back to the bandits. It was weird enough, that there were bandits around here – especially since there has never been anything of value in this area. Except for the wyvern of course, but even if they were poachers – why would they go for a little one? The adult wyvern would be much more valuable to them – or at least that's what Ben had told her. She could hear a strong pair of wings landing near her. The masked man probably returned. He took a few steps in her direction, but said nothing. Instead, she just noticed his shadow glooming over her, while she tried to put a bandage around the dragon's wound, without damaging the wing any further. The bone would probably not grow perfectly back, but as long as the little one would be able to fly, she was content. Just as she finished the last strap, she noticed another, smaller wound on the wyvern's back. A silvery substance was pouring out of it.
„What… is that?", she whispered – more to herself than tot he man next to her. She turned the wyvern around a little to take a better look. How could she not have noticed that?
The Wyvernrider took her question as an order to kneel down and take a look as well. Carefully, Leanne examined the wound. It was hard to tell, since the wyvern was still so small, but she had a bad presentiment.
"Please let me be wrong", she murmered and looked to the man next to her, as if asking for reassurance, "But could that have been an arrow?"
His lips narrowed to a small line, before he nodded.
"I seems so."
So the bandits must have gotten the dragon before. Was he able to escape then? But how would he be any worthy to them, if they killed him? Dragon flesh was inedible to humans and he was way too young for his scales to have any value. And if they wanted to ride it, after it was grown, they should never ever damage its wing. More importantly, since Walhart was defeated, there hadn't been any poachers in Wyvern Valley. She could not believe this…
"Is that the arrow tip?"
The man pointed at the silvery patch on its back.
"No", Leanne shook her head and took a handkerchief to get the liquid off. She looked at it warily, until she noticed that her white handkerchief turned blue. She knew that colour too well…
"What's wrong?"
The Wyvernrider must have noticed her resentment and frowned.
Leanne took a breath.
"That's poison", she answered quietly. It took her some time to take in her own words as well. "The arrow was poisoned."
Of course the wyvern was unusually weak! And here she was, trying to heal his wing instead of the more important wound! Damn it, she had seen so many of these during the war, she should have noticed it immediately!
"Quick!", she wrapped the wyvern in her cloth again to make it easier for them to carry, "We have to go back to the village immediately. I have no antidote here."
He was surprised at first, but stoop up pretty quickly, when she started searching her bag for her flute. They would never be fast enough on foot… So hopefully Noelle would hear her… She found the flute in the shape of a shell and blowed as hard as she could. A shrill sound made the other three jump in surprise, but Leanne didn't mind them and looked straight to the sky. Noelle wasn't that far away… It should only take her a few more minutes to get here…

But Noelle didn't come.

Leanne tried to call for her one more time, but nothing happened.

Damn it!

What was the fastest way to get to Ben's house from here? Her eyes searched her surroundings for any sort of clue, but no matter, which route they'd take, it was too long. Then, she noticed the big, black wyvern… Carefully she took a step in its direction, causing the dragon to turn around and look at her.
"Do you think, you could take him to the village?", she asked the Rider, who had picked up the little wyvern.
"Sure."
"Good." Sie wrapped her bag around the black dragon's neck, "Ben will know what happened, when he sees this. It's not too far when you're flying."
She turned and showed him the direction.
"You see that big mountain? It's called Ripper Tooth. Ben's hood is right behind it. You can't possibly miss it."
„Alright", he nodded, „But someone hast o carry him."
He pointed at the little wyvern in his hands and looked at Leanne expectantly.
"Not me", defensive, she threw her hands in the air, "I can't."
It was hard enough for her to even tough his dragon, she could never fly with one.
He raised his eyebrow, but Leanne had no opportunity to explain herself, because Severa pushed her aside.
"Give it to me", she sighed, "I'll get crazy, if I have to stay with those idiots any longer."
Leanne took a breath in relief, while the others climbed on the dragon's back and took off.
"If you get to the village, just ask for Ben!", she explained, "Everyone knows him."
The Rider nodded, then his wyvern took a turn and flew away, getting faster with every flap. Leanne was left behind, her arms close to her body and sorrow straining her heart.
She could just hope, that all would turn out well…

"I'll tell ya! We were attacked by bandits ourselves and thought, it was you!", one of the men told them.
Inigo and the other Swordsman did not seem to be very content with that answer. But seriously, it didn't take an expert to tell, he was lying. She hadn't heard such a stupid excuse in ages… Bad enough, that they had nearly killed the wyvern…
"You!", she darted and dashed off towards the tree, „Are you responsible for this?"
She pointed at the sky, where the two mercenaries left with the dragons just a minute ago.
But the three didn't get, what she was talking about…
"We're not responsible for anything!", the right one hissed, "We're searching for our friend, ya hear that!"
"Don't bother", Inigo sighed, "It's no use talking to them."
"Down, swordhand", the other male grabbed his own arm, "The powers of evil are slain. Though, my hunger for vengeance is not stilled!"
Leanne was confused to say the least. She looked at him with a frown, but he didn't even notice her presence.
Instead, he unsheathed his blade and pressed it to the bandit's throat.
"Now tell me, warrior of evil or feel the consequence! Are you at fault for the young wyvern's suffering?"
"W-Wait a minute!", the man answered in shock and tried to escape, but the tree on his back destroyed his plans.
"Speak!"
He pressed his sword down with more pressure and a small trail of blood slid down.
"I-isn't your friend more important?", he asked.
"Our friend?", Leanne folded her arms, „What do you mean?"
"Kjelle", Inigo murmured and turned around, "She hasn't returned yet."
"What are you implying?", the Swordsman seemed to lose his patience, „What happened to her?"
"Should I go search for her?", Leanne suggested, but to her surprise, Inigo shook his head.
He opened his mouth to answer, but before any sound could leave, an arrow rushed into the earth right at his feet. Leanne threw her head around to look for the enemy and noticed the second arrow just in time to jump to the side. She took her lance and rushed forward to fight, when suddenly the ground under her feet gave in. With a last scream, she fell into another cave…

Author's Notes:

And that's that.
Hallo everyone and thank you for reading this litte story.
I'm very sorry, if my english hasn't been too well, but you see - I'm not a native speaker. This is not meant to be an excuse, since I'm writing this story in english to learn more about grammar or useful vocab. I justnoticed by writing this, that I use way too many adjectives - which never occurred to me before. I tried to ex them out, when I noticed, but I'm preeetty sure, that there are tons of them up there.
So - if you noticed something, don't be afraid to tell me, since I really want to exercise my english and get at least a little better with it. ^^
Or, of course, if the problem isn't language-wise, feel free to tell me anyways. Maybe one of the characters was OoC. (I did try reeeally hard with Owain, but failed miserably haha)
Anyways... that's it from me~ Thanks a lot for reading this und have a wonderful day~

Byebye
Val

PS: Is that actually how it should look like, if I format it? I still don't quite understand, how this website works. ^^'