Discover L (Book 2) | Editing |

~~~~ It's Better This Way ~~~~

They landed a little further down the mountain, and Robbie transformed back.

"You ready?" L asked, patting the pocket of her bag that held the potions.

"Yeah, I suppose I better be," Robbie grinned.

L produced a small sphere of magic to light their way and they trudged up the mountain. Unfortunately it immediately began sputtering, fading in and out. L's brow furrowed, her magic was already being effected by the nexus. She raised her guard, having unpredictable magic made her more cautious, despite the attitude she'd shown Emrik. She didn't want her temper to be the reason Robbie got hurt, she'd never be able to live with herself.

Instead, she tested her abilities one by one to see how well they worked and from what she could tell, it was just her magic that was effected. That was good news, but left her more limited than she'd gotten used to.

"At least there are no Demons nearby," she reassured Robbie when she noticed him staring at the flickering light.

"Is the nexus doing that?"

"Yeah but don't worry, we're almost there."

They had a small section of mountain path to climb, it should only take a few minutes. L took a deep breath, soaking in the fresh air and open space.

"Glad to be free of the Elf kingdom?" Robbie asked tentatively.

"Yes, absolutely," L grinned, twirling as she took it all in.

"And you're not the least bit curious to find out why Bryce acted the way he did?"

L stopped twirling and turned back to him. "No, short of being possessed, there was no excuse for how he spoke to me. I don't care what he has to say, and I'm sure he doesn't care at all, his people come first and that's only right."

L stared up at the peak, the stone around her heart solidifying. "In fact, I should have forced this decision sooner, before things became anything too important. But it's fine, it's better this way, now we don't have to worry about the fu-"

A screech rang out suddenly, cutting L off and effectively ending the moment. She and Robbie spun to see what it was when a whistling sound shot through the air; something hit Robbie in the head and he fell to the ground in a heap. L attempted to raise a defence barrier, but her magic was weakened, it glowed briefly, faltered and went out.

She stood close by Robbie, circling so as not to be surprised again by these newcomers. They weren't Demons, that she could tell by scent alone. But it was familiar, she'd barely registered what it was when the sound of wings grabbed her attention. She looked up to see a cloud of shadows, overlapping each other on their descent toward her.

L knew now what the scent was, the Wyverns had returned and they'd brought friends, lots of friends. Each one screeching bloody murder like L had wronged them all somehow. They landed in a circle around her, apparently not wanting to get too close but still throwing insults her way. A few even flicked rocks with their wings, which L dodged easily. She noticed a large rock on the ground nearby, realising what they'd used to knock Robbie out.

She cursed and eyed the Wyverns, searching for the ones she'd faced the last time. They were the instigators of this little revenge trip and they'd pay for coming back.

"You've picked the wrong time to start with me." L called out to them, her anger rising with every beat of their wings.

"You'll pay for what you did to us, Keeper." A voice hissed inside her head, setting her teeth on edge.

L scoffed aloud, "I did nothing, you did it to yourselves. You could have just left quietly, you didn't need to make such a big deal about it."

The Wyvern shrieked, "We will make you pay, and then we will find that Leprechaun."

L rolled her eyes, she wasn't in the mood for this, and with her magic out of juice she'd have to get creative in dispatching them. She prepared her physical abilities, those that worked, and eyed each of the Wyvern.

"Bring it on."

She stood over Robbie, waiting for them to attack, and they didn't waste any time. They dove toward her at the same time, their mouths snapping threateningly. L was ready, amassing her anger and frustrations from the last few weeks, she chose her abilities carefully.

The first Wyvern reached her and she jumped aside, Vampire speed making it easier to stay out of reach of their talons. She lashed out with her claws, swiping a second Wyvern out of the sky. It screeched in response, hobbling away from her on bloodied legs. A third Wyvern came in too fast, crashing into her from the side. L went flying several feet, the ground scraping the skin from her hands and face. She hissed, staring down the Wyvern as a fourth and fifth followed her.

Their attacks were relentless. L dodged, dived and slashed her way around them, but she seemed to be more beat up than they were. And still they persisted, she would have to think of something fast or she was done for. She pushed off from the ground with her strength, flying over another Wyvern and scraping her claws down its right wing. Her ears rang from the sound it made, and it quickly retreated from battle.

However, even with those out of the fight, she was still badly outnumbered. There was nothing in her bag to help, and she couldn't summon any weapons. She would just have to keep going as she was, hopefully they'd keep being clumsy and give her more opportunities to strike.

She dodged the latest attack, though not completely, a searing pain split her vision and she fell to the ground. A wetness was trickling down her shoulder, splashing her face; one of them had caught her with their talons. She allowed her body to fall to the ground, laying motionless for several minutes. The pain centred her anger, she was done with this fight, it was time to end them all. She should have been in Paguea by now, these distractions and obstacles were getting tiresome.

L kept her eyes closed and listened to the Wyvern draw close, she was sure there were around four left fighting. They had to have assumed she was unconscious so she stayed as still as possible. Her shoulder pain would make things tougher, but this new plan had to work. She couldn't keep attacking and dodging like she had, it called for something different. She gathered what she needed and waited for them to get even closer, so close she could smell their rancid breath.

Just a few more steps, she readied herself when a loud, piercing shriek filled her ears. L bolted upright just in time to watch a Wyvern's body drop to the ground. A sword was sticking out of its back, and the owner of said sword was flipping through the air. He landed next to L and kneeled beside her, holding her shoulder gently.

"Are you alright? How badly are you hurt? I thought you were..." He stopped at the enraged look on her face. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

L scowled darkly, hopping to her feet. "Seriously, Bryce? Are you freaking kidding me?"