Wild Justice
Summary: Valter was out searching for Ephraim and instead found a lone wyvern rider. A dark, scarred past lingers around her and something plagues her. What is she trying to fulfill?ValterxOCxEphraim
Three: Matter of Life and Death
YES!! Three people reviewed! That made me so very ecstatic! Since you took the time to review, compliment and critique my story to make it better and more realistic, it is my turn to reply.
Emblem: From all the reviews I had in all my stories, yours is the longest. But it's not a bad thing, not by a long stretch. After reading your review, I must say I was very tempted in hitting myself over the head with a book over all the errors you pointed out, especially Valter being out of character. My monster army mistake was another thing I wanted smack my head against something. Thank you for reviewing and voicing out your opinions on my story, it'll help me write the following chapters better!
MeowSap: Thanks for the compliments; I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter. Funny thing is I really haven't fully decided how her name should be pronounced (sad, isn't it?). Both you and Emblem noticed my grammatical errors (many do) and pointed out some of the same things. I've corrected them all (to my knowledge) and hope it works out.
Kobrelaire: Yeah, I'm not too worried about the lack of reviews I've received. Sooner or later I'll get a bunch. Thank for reviewing.
A/N: From reading both of Emblem and MeowSap's reviews I went back to the two chapters, edited them and replaced the crummy ones with the new and improved chapters. Check them out if you like and see if they're any better (I hope….:sweat drop:).
Text:
"Speech"
Thoughts
Flashbacks/Lyrics
Disclaimer: Zecilys belongs to me. Eroniz belongs to me. The story belongs to me. Nothing else belongs to me.
"Time for us to have some fun with our new friends, Eroniz. All set for obliteration?" Her wyvern roared gleefully while she let loose her wild, freakish battle cry. For better or for worse, they plunged straight for the undead with berserk minds.
"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you."-Nietzsche
So this is where they landed….
Inside the woods, Valter scouted the area where the wyvern rider and her mount had crash landed. By the tracks of her wyvern, it appeared they had some sort of battle with something from the forest. Looking closely at the attacker's prints, Valter recognized them immediately. Revenants. Three of them. He didn't know how fresh they were but it wasn't too long ago when the battle began. He turned to his mount, Slivegio, who was busy sniffing the air for the wyvern rider and the wyvern's scent.
"Found them yet?" Slivegio didn't respond, signaling a "no" to the Moonstone. While his mount was trying to find them, Valter looked back at the ground and at the tracks left by the female wyvern rider and her wyvern. Judging by footprints, it looked like they were trying to head out the forest without being seen.
How clever... It appears she is worthy prey after all….
Abruptly, Slivegio snorted through his nostrils and grunted loudly to get Valter's attention. Annoyed, the Moonstone turned around toward his mount and said, "Well? Did you find them or not?" His wyvern nodded lazily and then pointed at the revenant tracks with his tail. He not only smelled out the wyvern rider and her mount, but the undead as well. "How close are the revenants?"
Slivegio was about to respond when an unearthly battle cry reached their ears. It echoed through out the entire area, scattering all inhabitants back to their lairs and chilling them to bone. Except for Valter. The yell reminded him similarly of his nature and his spine tingled with excitement. That cry was defiantly human and it had to belong to the female rider. There was no other explanation. He quickly got on Slivegio's back and urged him to fly out of the woods and follow the two scents. If he was right, she and her wyvern were probably just about to fight some revenants, but how many, he did not know. He hoped by the time they found them, she hopefully would be alive. After all, he had some unfinished business with her.
As his mount skyrocketed up out of the forest and into the sky, Valter knew it was only in a matter of time before he and Slivegio found the female rider and her wyvern. The wind began picking up and sky darkened slightly but it went unnoticed by the Grado general. All he was thinking about his prey, the prey that will surely be quite entertaining. Valter licked him lips, savoring the hunt that was coming to a close. The fun was about to begin.
The steel lance crashed down on the skull its tenth victim and gave it a final whack to the chest before the revenant exploded. Wyvern claws shot out of the blue and slashed two revenants into ribbons at the same time. Dragon-like jaws chopped down on an unlucky creature and tore it apart. Even with all of their efforts, more revenants just kept popping up.
If I could find the leader of this group and kill it then maybe they'll crawl back to where they came from. Lets hope that happens; I don't know how much longer Eroniz and I can take this!
"Eroniz? Can you sense the leader anywhere? A creature with a higher level than the rest of these monsters?" She banged a few more revenants out of their way so her olive wyvern could catch the scent of leader of these grotesque monsters. While Zecilys was busy fending off the creatures, Eroniz took in a whiff air and inhaled the aroma deeply. Zecilys's emitting body odor, forest wood, and the freshness of the trees, the clustering, morphing precipitation in the sky, the foul, reeking scent of revenants and bonewalkers, and the strange, musty smell of a darker, superior being…. Eroniz sniffed the air even deeper, searching for the owner of such a smell and where it was hiding. There…there it was again…this time it was a lot stronger and he could easily track the odor down to its exact location. …He found it. An entombed, hiding at the end of the mob, between a couple of pine trees along the south side of the mountain.
A revenant, sensing the wyvern was off his guard, aimed for his head with its rotten claws and lunged out. Zecilys was preoccupied with other revenants and dodging arrows from the bonewalkers to notice it. As the revenant reached out to slash Eroniz's neck, something from behind picked it up and tossed it aside. It flew and splattered to the ground like a broken, disregarded doll. The wyvern's tail swished back and forth, taunting the rest of its foe to make the same mistake that previous one had made. Despite the situation they were in the middle of, Zecilys allowed herself to crack a grin. The tables have been turned.
"Did you found the leader, Eroniz?" Her mount nodded and the grin widen further. It was time to pay it little visit to the head of this monster squad.
"Finally…found you," Zecilys said between breathes. The entombed started blankly at her and began to advance. Zecilys and Eroniz switched into the defensive position and waited for the entombed to strike first. They wanted to see how the fiend would fight against them.
The entombed raised its sharp claws up and brought them down in eerie speed. Zecilys shifted her body to the opposite side of the claws and Eroniz did the same. To be extra sure that the claws wouldn't hit them; Zecilys brought her lance in front of her and slanted it sideways. The entombed's claws rammed into the steel lance and it recoiled from the wyvern rider and her mount. The assault failed.
"My turn." And the turquoise haired rider and her olive colored wyvern attacked. Zecilys crashed her steel lance against the shoulder blade of the entombed and Eroniz slashed at it rotting skin with its own claws. The entombed lashed back; this time managing to cut through the skin of Zecilys's left leg. She winced at the exploding pain shooting up in her leg and grind her teeth to force the agony back. There were no more vulneraries left in her bag and what were left were a javelin and the steel lance she was holding right now.
Next time when I go into town I need to stock up and earn some more gold. If, of course, I get out of this mess.
She hit the entombed again with the lance and the snapping sound echoed through out the mountains. Now the entombed would have to attack with a splintered shoulder bone.
"C'mon, fiend, do your worst," jeered Zecilys, trigging the creature to assault again. The entombed's claws lashed out; Eroniz flapped his wings out and flew upward and out of harm's way. While they hovered over the rotten fiend, Zecilys aimed her weapon-with the tip down-at the entombed's head. "Dive!" she hissed and her wyvern obeyed.
An olive torpedo spiraled down at the unsuspecting entombed. As the blurring streak narrowed in on the creature, the human and wyvern scent attracted it to look up. It saw the enemy coming but a fatal error nonetheless. The monster swiped its claws at Zecilys to prevent the attack but it was futile even as one clawed hand grazed the bicep of the rider. Nothing could stop this final charge.
The tip of the lance split through the entombed's face, slicing the skull and brain. Crushing all the obstacles, the steel lance poked itself out of the other side of the head. The creature made a gurgling sound and went limp. The carcass dissolved in an instant. Zecilys smiled in satisfaction at her lance in which the tip had monster flesh wrapped around like a cobweb. They were victorious.
Finally…it's over….
Suddenly, a sharp, stabbing pain erupted inside of her, causing a gasp to escape from Zecilys. This agonizing pain…where had she felt it before…it seemed to be slowly sucking her life away….
Poison! That fiend's claws were poisoned!
"This is terrible." she murmured to herself, looking down at her wounds. The first mark the entombed gave her was deeper than the second-that one was merely a graze. The wound on leg was pretty deep and she already lost a lot of blood before and after this battle.
Not good at all. If I don't find an antidote for the poison I'll die! That wouldn't be the only problem she'll have.
"Eroniz," started Zecilys but stopped short. Was it just her or was she seeing two skies? Oh great, the poison is starting its affect. She blinked to regain her focus but her vision become blurry. Her senses turned numb and her body sagged forward due to complete exhaustion and taxed-out muscles. Zecilys's brain spun around and around, her visual turning fuzzy and she felt herself being thrust into a realm of darkness.
Eroniz watched his mistress fall forward on his neck and slipped into unconsciousness. Eroniz wasn't surprised, they had been battling these disgusting beings longer than he expected and both of them had their fair share of wounds. Still, there was something more than those two wounds then what that monster gave her. He twisted his head around slightly and got a glimpse of Zecilys's wounds…and a fairly familiar toxic smell. …Poison. Now everything made more sense. His rider not only fainted from the amount of blood loss but also from the affect of the poison. If she wasn't cured with an antidote soon—
"What are you going to do now that your rider has collapsed?" Eroniz whirled his head around, immediately recognizing that voice. It was the voice of the other rider, the pale faced man. He growled menacingly, daring his new enemy to come closer. There was no way that man and his wyvern would harm his mistress, they'll have to kill him first in order to take her! He fixed his fighting stance, preparing for the stranger's assault.
"If you fight me, your rider will surely die. The nearest town is miles away and you'll never make it in time. However…the Grado Palace it nearby, close enough to where she might survive." The olive wyvern eyed the man suspiciously, knowing full well what he was saying. The man wanted to take Zecilys to the Grado Palace and in order to do that, he, Eroniz, must hand her over to him. "I won't harm her for now; I just simply want to know why she's here. It's quite suspicious to see a lone wyvern rider in Grado. So what's it going to be?"
Eroniz knew what had to be done. There was no possible way around it. Just by smelling him he couldn't trust this man but what choice did he have? If he refused to allow this man take Zecilys to the palace the poison would surely kill her—
Reluctantly, the wyvern bowed his head down low, showing the man that he placed Zecilys's life in his hands. The general smirked and got down from his saddle, walking on over to Eroniz and his fallen rider. The man carried Zecilys over the threshold and placed her on his wyvern. After getting back up on the saddle and securing Zecilys in front of him so that she wouldn't fall off, the general motioned for Eroniz to follow. Both mounts expanded their wings and flew upward, Slivegio in the lead and Eroniz right behind.
Everything was in place. The only thing he had to do now was get to the Grado Palace rapidly, find Riev or another healer to cure the poison that was now coursing through the veins of this female rider.
Valter looked down at the rider in front him. Already he could tell the poison was slowly taking its affect on her, her skin was beginning to resemble his own. And her wounds…they would have to be taken care of next. After fighting those revenants by herself for about seven minutes or more and dealing with blood loss and poison, the Moonstone wasn't at all astonished when she finally collapsed on her wyvern. It was to be expected. Plus, that made everything much more easier.
It wasn't before long when Grado Palace loomed in the distance. Seeing that the other wyvern had noticed it too, Valter commanded Slivegio to quicken the pace and his mount flapped his wings harder to increase the speed. The other mount did the same. All that was left was to get the castle without any hindrances and save the girl before death claimed her. No sense having her die during questioning.
The race against time began. The wheels of fate were turning once more. It became a matter of life and death.
Valter's being the hero? Gasp! Let's just hope they make it on time to save Zecilys and that the cliffhanger doesn't kill you…. :insane laughter fills the air: Till then, review!
A/N: If Valter was OOC again, I apologize. During the part with Eroniz deciding whether or not he should hand Zecilys over, I wasn't positive if Valter would just snatch Zecilys away or taunt Eroniz into giving her up to him willingly when her life's at stake. I figured he would do the ladder because it adds a big bonus when your victim gives up something precious to them to you.
