Shards of Felwyn

Varren's Wrath

"You display such stupidity in battle." The Prince spat, leaning into Lysander's blade with all of his weight, sparks cascading to the ground as the weapons screeched against one another. "It makes me sick." Varren spun around with titanic force, swinging the midnight black blade upwards, flinging Lysander's scimitar from his grip and onto the stone, too far away to grab. The Prince's momentum carried him through his swing, using the other half of his attack to parry Elias's falchion, knocking the armored boy several feet backwards. The air whirred, slicing open Lysander's arm and leaving a defined gash in Elias's femoral plate.

"Lysander!" Cosmo called out from the sidelines, helpless. He tried casting the most powerful spells he knew, desperately crying out the incantations as Varren slowly encroached upon his cousin's cowering form. Each was easily consumed by the Prince's armor, leaving Cosmo feeling hopeless.

"Your arm must be causing you great pain." Varren spoke bitterly after deflecting an attack from Elias as though it was nothing more than squashing an insect. Each time, the Prince swung with calculated precision and deadly force, the strange disturbance in the air caused by his attacks threatening to rip Elias's armor to shreds. "Allow me to put you out of your misery."

"Eisio!" Lysander cried from the ground, outstretching his wand and firing an icicle in Varren's direction. The armor glowed again and, in an instant, the icicle was gone.

"You will stand as proof that not a soul will defy Lord Galdernad and live to see another day." The Prince deflected yet another of Elias's attacks, throwing him to the ground with a single sword swipe. The strange attack from Varren's blade made a terrible screech against his armor before Elias fell to the ground. Pointing the tip of his sword at Lysander's neck, Varren smiled. Molniya had already begun charging the Prince, sheer rage in her eyes. Cosmo, thinking back to their escape from Trovvs, had other ideas in mind.

"Ernet." The spell of levitation left Cosmo's lips as he scrutinized Lysander's scimitar, still laying in the shadows several feet away. A wisp of purple energy crept across the ground as Molniya battled with Varren, his sword no match for her powerful scales. The energy absorbed itself into his cousin's weapon and, with an enormous amount of effort, the scimitar lifted itself from the ground. Die, Varren. Cosmo thought with malice as he sent the sword flying through the air, aiming at the Prince's neck.

Upon seeing the attack, Molniya leapt out of the way, leaving Varren to take the full force of the attack, the scimitar slashing through his side, leaving an enormous gash. The Prince cried out in pain and he fell to the ground and held his wound, blood dripping from his hip.

"Everyone! Run!" Cosmo yelled. His companions were already struggling to their feet. Dashing over to his position on the ground, Cosmo helped Lysander up and over to their temporary camp, where they scrambled to put as many things as they could in their bags before sprinting away at top speed.

Even then, the battle was not over. An arrow lodged itself into the ground, missing Cosmo's foot by inches. The Dilonwyr had begun to pursue the four, running at a speed that belied their human form. An awful feeling settled in his throat as he realized that outrunning them would be impossible and, in the state Lysander, Elias, and Molniya were in, fighting would not be a good idea. Feeling queasy from mana sickness and exhausted from travel, Cosmo's eyes darted from side to side as the mountains dropped around him and were replaced by decaying peatlands.

Sprinting to a nearby forest hidden in the shadowy distance of the swamp, the four tucked themselves away in the underbrush, their faces pressed against the slimy muck below them as the Dilonwyr skulked around the trees, searching for them. An hour passed in the woods as the four laid with their faces in the mud, not daring to breathe. Eventually, the sound of retreating footsteps reached Cosmo's ears and, when they could no longer be heard, he stood and wiped off his now dirty clothing.