Chapter 63: Heavy sword
Blood grazed the horizon in beautiful patterns of red and purple.
The sun was setting in the west, just as it was supposed to, but a few clouds hanging lower than average reflected its light in holy streaks.
Illuminated like a crystal thrown into flames, the path beneath their feet had turned into a sprinkled road of gold.
Izaya and the knights had come quite far. At least as far as Izaya could tell. He had been out of it most of the time on their way to lord Hebaron's lands, but after riding a couple hours straight they had to have passed quite the distance, right?
The road was smooth, the weather starting to grow a bit colder, but nothing that Izaya couldn't endure.
For a passage of time Izaya had feared their road could have been blocked in multiple spots. Because considering the amount of strength and people needed to fell those trees he suspected a whole group of men to be acting in the shadows.
A shudder traveled down his spine when he imagined them turning the victim's bodies inside out- but at the end of the day, a few maniacs at work were the only plausible conclusion.
"This looks like a good spot," Carlyle suddenly announced. Having pressed forward he had overtaken Craigh in his leading position and led the knights off the path.
A clearing inside the forest, probably created naturally by countless travelers before, displayed before them.
"I agree," Lothar supported Carlyle's idea, already binding his horse to a nearby set of branches and emptying the bags with food to prepare.
"Wanna check for any nearby snakes, Crispin?" Craigh joked and Chester shot a glare towards the ginger. "Can you stop?" He scolded him with an actual hit to the head, but the sneer Craigh wore didn't fade.
Crispin merely rolled his eyes at the laughable attempt to make a fool out of him.
A piece of iron was pulled from Alaric's bag, and kneeling down next to a spot that appeared to have been used for a fireplace before, he struck it on a flint. "If you spot some, bring it, I heard it tastes like chicken meat," he added on the side, causing Karazam to cringe.
"You would eat a snake?" Disgust displayed in his expression as much as it was missing in Alaric's. "You wouldn't?"
"Not if I can help it," Lothar joked and carried their actual ingredients for a meal over to the flame that was slowly coming to life with the help of Alaric's gentle breaths. "Don't worry my queen we won't serve you anything grotesque," Lothar affirmed as soon as Izaya got off the horse and he couldn't help but snort at the light conversation.
"I appreciate the care," he thanked and Shizuo got off his horse as well.
It was a funny sensation. Having ridden that long Izaya's legs felt like jelly and a type of exhaustion he rarely felt clouded his mind.
He felt a bit sheepish and so he did what seemed most natural.
Glancing at the symbol written upon the back of his hand he closed his eyes for a moment.
The pleasant sounds of crickets and leaves rustling in a soft breeze filled the falling night. Memories of his siblings, of Shizuo and the knights filled his mind and within just a moment's time he felt the familiar sensation of magic surging in his veins.
Fast and comforting, the warmth traveled through his body and got rid of the soreness.
It was a well known sensation by now- pleasant and soothing as much as it could be, but the drain was still a side effect he happily ignored.
As long as it was possible to ignore that is- because as much as he could hide the exhaustion, he couldn't hide the sudden dizziness when his knee hit the ground.
"My lady-" Karazam noticed first and Izaya showed a quick smile, but of course Shizuo had already turned.
"Ah sorry, I just tripped," Izaya lied quickly. But it was a bad lie, considering there was no obstacle nearby.
He hadn't expected a short ride to be this draining-
Moving over, Shizuo was faster by his side than he was able to protest and a set of hands gently pulled him to his feet. "Are you good?" the king whispered, and Izaya smiled.
"I'm fine."
Doubt grazed Shizuo's expression and Izaya groaned. "I swear, I am. Don't look at me like that."
Shizuo's expression relaxed a little at the energetic reply. "Like what?"
Soft glare set in place the expression shown by his wife, Izaya sighed, "Like you don't believe me."
Right.
That wasn't his intention.
"I will try not to," he replied with a smile and words that sounded awfully clear.
Awfully. Clear.
All motion coming to an instant halt Shizuo's glance suddenly turned to stone. Same went for the knights.
No movement was to be spotted, no laughter, no smile to be seen.
And suddenly Izaya heard it. Or rather, he did not.
The crickets and other insects inhabiting the forest- they had stopped.
All of a sudden, all at once.
Without speaking a word Shizuo suddenly moved in front of Izaya and pulled his queen behind his back.
"Don't move," he ordered in a quiet whisper and Izaya's body froze on the spot. The order had been one not meant solely for Izaya it seemed, as the knights froze as well.
Swords drawn and stances tense they seemed ready to act at the slightest hint.
Shizuo's eyes traveled back and forth between his knights, the forest and Izaya.
Noises, surging in the darkness of the forest, seemed to approach the soft light of their fireplace and Izaya's eyes stuck to the rim of their clearing.
And then they appeared.
Eyes in the midst of darkness-
"Craigh," Shizuo ordered and before Izaya knew it he found the ginger bear towering next to him with his sword drawn and a grunt. "At your service."
And with that all hell broke loose-
Charging right into the direction of darkness the knights rushed forward together with Shizuo.
Screeches resounded, yelling was to be heard and the harsh sound of metal hitting flesh and bones traversed the air.
Izaya couldn't tell what was going on- all he saw was darkness, his vision blocked by the bright light of Alaric's fire.
But all too soon the commotion moved and an uncanny silence returned to their camp as the knights fought off whatever it was that had been about to attack.
"What is that?" Izaya whispered after silence returned to the campside.
Craigh had stayed behind, and the unspoken order Shizuo had spoken obviously regarded Izaya's safety as he refused to move even a step away from his queen.
The ginger was still tense, but visibly less now that the noises were starting to relocate.
"Wolves my lady," he replied in honesty and Izaya couldn't help but show astonishment.
Wolves?
"They are huge- more like monsters," he breathed, and Craigh followed up with laughter.
"True wolves aren't anything like the dogs you see people tame in the villages. Some exceed the size of a grown man like me," he announced, and Izaya duly noted that entering a forest on his own was never going to be an action he was going to take.
"Hard to believe," he added, but it was true.
He saw.
The height of those eyes- for a second he thought he was facing humans.
The fire crackled and the fighting noises in the distance grew even more quiet as the knights had probably taken care of most of their assaultors.
"Don't worry my lady," Craigh assured quickly, "I'm sure our commander has already taken down most of them and will return with their bodies for din-"
Blood-
Grunts-
Eyes-
It happened in a flash-
Too fast to react, too fast to even speak-
Izaya's eyes barely followed his knight the second that gigantic jaw closed around the ginger's head-
"No-!"
Blood splattered everywhere-
Teeth spiked with death pierced skin in places no one wanted it to be penetrated-
A clattering sound accompanied Craigh's sword as it was pushed away by the harsh impact of the wolf now trying to gnaw down the knight's head.
Craigh tried to pry the bastard off his body, his palms pierced by teeth in the process of trying to keep that damned jaw open as it tried to bite his face.
Fire from the pit was what came to Craigh's rescue as the monster's tails caught some of it in the assault.
A quick howl of what must have been pain forced the creature to leave off Craigh for a single second and the knights took the chance-
Quickly he rolled to the side, heavy breath shook his frame and his hands shook against the ground-
Craigh wanted to move, but he was not fast enough compared to the monster.
It turned, ready to jump the knights again and Izaya spotted the sword. Craigh's sword, too far out of reach.
And before he knew it he dashed across the clearing-
The metal was heavy, ice cold to the touch-
"CRAIGH-!" Izaya yelled at the top of his lungs and threw it with all his existing strength-
Just in time-
Because the second that wolf rushed for Craigh's face the ginger's brought down his sword.
Whimpering howling immediately filled the air as the monster's eyes had been cut from his face-
And Izaya-
Suddenly dizziness assaulted his senses at the worst timing possible- Was it the terror? The rapid movement? The exertion?
He didn't know-
All he knew was that all of a sudden he couldn't breathe-
The ground came rushing towards his knees faster than he was able to react-
Dizziness assaulted his mind and with a quick glare towards his hand he tried to use the spell-
He tried to think of anything positive- but how? Right now- His mind was too agitated to work-
And suddenly the wolf turned.
Craigh was still on the ground, and as if having noticed that Izaya had been the one to turn this battle and responsible for the missing eye it turned-
And charged.
Izaya saw it- his breath stopped-
The jaw ready to bit off his head, protected by nothing, rushed for his face-
But Craigh was faster.
Decapitated in a clean sweep the head of the wolf came off its body on the run-
Blood painted the ground in red, as well as Izaya's dress as the unhinged jaw rolled into Izaya's direction and stilled.
Harsh panting sounds filled the air as Craigh's knees sank to the floor.
The sword he had decapitated the wolf with was rammed into the ground as additional support as his shoulders heaved.
Blood was streaming down his head, his shoulders-
He looked towards his queen and froze-
Izaya was looking at the head next to his body- the blood, Craigh- he wanted to help, wanted to get up, but his body was hearing none of his orders as it refused to give up on this vicious sensation of breathlessness.
He was suffering.
Noticing that he was in obvious distress the ginger moved over, way faster than anyone would have expected him too with a body injured like his.
"My lady-" he called, and looked at his commander's most precious person in unfiltered horror.
The dress was a mess, there was blood everywhere and his queen's chest was heaving in obvious distraught.
Eyes squeezed shut Izaya tried to calm himself.
Calm-
Calm-
But the smell of blood was a heavy stench too hard to ignore-
Craigh looked oddly out of it too, probably unsure what to do- that was his fault-
If he hadn't distracted him with stupid questions then he might have seen the creature coming-
"Sorry, just a moment," Izaya heaved and suddenly Craigh unfroze and a stoic expression took over.
"Forgive me, my lady," he announced shortly, and lifted Izaya off the ground as if he weighed nothing more than a dry autumn leaf.
Quick steps were taken to the side of their camp and a stone, almost meeting Craigh at belt height was approached.
Carrying his queen away from the slain corpse and the stench he carefully put him down onto the single spot that was not stained by blood.
It was an easy action, and nothing too helpful, but enough for Izaya to draw a clear breath.
The stench was gone, the air clear, and Izaya breathed.
Wiping at his beard wearing the color of even deeper red Craigh blinked away some blood stemming from an ever bleeding wound on his forehead.
"Better?" he asked after a while when Izaya managed to use the rune correctly and his breath evened out.
A quick nod was given as he assured Shizuo's knight. "Better."
"Sorry for acting on my whim, it won't happen again," Craigh apologized and Izaya shook his head with a snort, "I'm glad you did. Feel free to act on your whim any time you feel the need to."
His heart was still beating out of his chest, and he suspected Craigh's was too after that unwelcomed surprise, but exactly because of that the words spoken held so much comfort to them.
Amused, Craigh held back a grin as he shook his head, "Rather not, my commander might just behead me for that."
Glancing towards the dead creature Izaya swallowed shortly upon seeing its full size.
Now that the body was limp and lifeless it was easier to grasp and even more horrifying than before.
"Where did it come from? Don't they hunt in groups?" Izaya asked, and Craigh's eyes narrowed as he looked towards the creature as well.
"Usually they do. It's the reason I let my guard down like that-" a short pause was forced onto the knight as he heaved.
There was blood everywhere. Only now Izaya realized just how many injuries the knight had sustained and his hand jerked.
"Can I try something?" he requested, not daring to touch the man without permission.
The rune was on his hand, but in theory shouldn't he be able to use it on others by pressing it onto him?
It was nothing but a silly idea, and Craigh seemed quite suspicious of Izaya's actions as well.
Unsure because of the church and the knight's aversion to anything connected to it he showed nothing but doubt.
If he was as close to Shizuo as Izaya had seen they probably shared the same doubts, but in the end he closed his eyes nonetheless.
"Go ahead," he replied, and so Izaya did quickly, before he changed his mind.
The wound on Craigh's head were gruesome. Bitemarks edged their way into the sides of his skull. One particularly close to his eyes seemed especially painful.
In order to respect the queen and not overstep a boundary Craigh gallantly closed his eyes.
Ironically Izaya did as well.
Positive thoughts. That was what he needed.
Compared to before when his mind had been a rushed mess he was able to think clearly and so the familiar feeling of magic coursing through his body returned with just as much positivity and warmth as he remembered.
But this time it didn't stay.
As if having recognized Izaya's intentions, the warmth only stayed for a brief moment before leaving through his palm.
A grunt of surprise was given as soon as it did by Craigh, and Izaya focused even more on executing his spell as well as he could.
It were a few seconds at most that he managed to sustain, and draining ones at that, much more than usual.
Stopping more because he was forced to, than because he wanted to, Izaya gave a soft sigh as a wave of dizziness disrupted his mind.
A moment of regret formed in Izaya's mind as he opened his eyes. He had been of the impression that he hadn't been successful.
But he was wrong.
Astonished as much as he could be, Craigh touched his face left and right. The bleeding had stopped and the wounds itself even seemed to have healed by at least a few days' worth-
Pride and gratitude lingered in his expression as he smiled at Izaya.
"Not bad for a lady," he laughed in nothing else but pure admiration and a kind of pride that Izaya never felt before suddenly filled his chest.
He did it.
He healed someone else with his spell.
to be continued~
xD Be honest, who thought I was going to kill off Craigh? xDDDDDDD I mean it's not like I wasn't considering the idea, but at the end of the day I love the guy too much to give him such a pitiful end xDDD
Alright, I promised blood, I promised death and I promised action- I think I nailed them xDDDDDD Even if it was just the wolf that died xDDD
Also the chapter ended up being much longer than I intended lmao So yeah, see you next week when this continues xD 3