Jesika and Rowan arrived back in Querencia a few days later and Jesika flew her dragon towards Audric's manor, while Rowan made his way to the farmlands. As he landed, he saw that Darryn and Aquila had already started fighting the knights slaving the civilians, fighting alongside Rowan and Aquila's parents. Rowan ran to their side as a knight behind Aquila raised his sword to strike her back.
Rowan slid in front of him just in time, blocking the knight's sword with his own.
"You guys didn't waste no time, did you?" Rowan yelled at the two as he fought the knight.
"I can't believe she actually was able to tame the dragon!" Darryn yelled back.
"So proud of my girl. I, for one, knew she could do that!" Aquila added.
Rowan slit the knight's throat, turning to Aquila and Darryn. He flashed them a quick smile. "I'm glad you guys are okay."
They smiled back at him, Aquila knocking a guy back with her sword without looking. "Right back at you, Rowan."
They refocused their attention on fighting the knights, barely ever missing a beat. After an hour, they were surrounded by ten fallen Grumor knights. Without warning though, a knight came charging at Rowan, his sword raised. Before the knight could strike though, Kronos tackled the knight to the ground, ripping the knight's face with his sharp claws. Rowan looked away in disgust but felt a little bit of pride inside him at his brave beast.
***
Aethelinda easily set fire to Audric's manor, and it wasn't long until the roar of another dragon filled the sky. Jesika rose higher in the air to see Audric on his own dragon, just as Rowan had guessed. Jesika and Aethelinda, circled the enemy dragon in the air, measuring the dragon up. The dragon was almost the same size as Aethelinda, only a little bit smaller. Jesika could tell from the red coloring of the dragon that it used fire. Good thing Aethelinda could use fire, ice AND water.
Audric and his dragon turned sharply on them as they finished circling him, fire coming out of the dragon's mouth. Before the fire could get anywhere close to Aethelinda, she met the dragon's fiery breath with water, dousing the flames midair. Jesika leaned forward and Aethelinda followed her physical command, swooping down on the dragon to swipe at its head with her talon-like claws. Audric's dragon bellowed its protest, whipping its head away. Jesika watched Audric tug his dragon's head, and his dragon complied, aiming its fire at them. Jesika shrieked as Aethelinda quickly dove, dodging the dragon's breath.
Audric and his dragon were quick in pursuit, right on their tails. Aethelinda turned sharply, opening her mouth to allow her icy breath to hit the dragon. The attack was effective, ice creeping up the dragon's wings, forcing it to lower in the sky. The dragon turned its head, blowing at its wings, easily melting the ice. Jesika huffed in frustration and swooped in to claw at the dragon once again, stopping the dragon's efforts at recovering. She noticed Audric glare at her a short moment, before the dragon rose, grabbing Aethelinda with all four claws, pulling her down a spiral towards the ground.
Jesika looked down at the ground quickly approaching, Audric's dragon still clinging to Aethelinda, clawing away at her scales. If I stay on, I'm going to have a head on collision with the ground, she thought to herself in a panic. She closed her eyes tight and made a decision she hoped she wouldn't regret. She let go of Aethelinda, allowing herself to fall the rest of the way to the ground. She had no idea how many feet she fell from, but she soon felt her body hit the ground with a painful thud that knocked the breath out of her.
She opened her eyes just in time to see Audric jump as she had and the two dragons crashed into the ground together, before rising into the air to continue to fight, nowhere near as affected by the impact as Audric and Jesika were. Still panting and feeling her muscles protesting, she forced herself to stand, using her sword to push her up. Audric hobbled towards her, his sword raised, his hands trembling. He was bloody and beginning to bruise and Jesika could imagine she looked no better.
She forced herself to straighten, raising her own sword as Audric stepped closer, glaring at her.
"You know my dragon is going to win against yours, Audric. Give it up."
He rolled his eyes. "Your dragon might be superior, but your ability to fight doesn't begin to match mine. And that is where the real victory lies."
Jesika laughed despite herself. "And if I die? My dragon will only kill you once she's done with your beast."
His eyes darkened, his jaw clenching. "I've worked too hard, waited too long, pretended too much to give up now. That's just a risk I'll have to take!!" he yelled, running towards her to strike.
Jesika quickly jumped out of the way and was quick to block when he turned on her, striking wildly at her once again. He continued to try and get a hit on her, bone chilling hatred in his eyes. He swung over and over at her, tears falling in a rush from his eyes. She struggled to see through her own as she blocked his relentless and powerful strikes.
"You're a murderer!! And a hypocrite!! You deserve to die in hell for what you did to me!! I hate you!! You took everything from me!!" Audric yelled, each sentence between strikes. She frowned in confusion and was caught off guard when he swung one really powerful strike at her.
She just barely blocked it, grunting as she stumbled back from the force of the hit. As she stared into them while their swords were binding, she wondered to herself where such an intense hatred could come from. What did Querencia ever do to him?
The moment didn't last long, as Audric backed away, striking her side as her mind still swarmed with questions. She doubled over, gasping at the sudden pain. She heard him laugh as he poised his sword to come down on her neck, to end her life. At the last possible second, she blocked him with her sword, pushing him with the last of her strength, knocking him to the ground.
Her own body fell forward, exhausted and wracked with pain, the adrenaline no longer covering the damage. Before either of them could rise to fight even more, Aethelinda came flying towards the ground, pinning Audric. Jesika crawled over to them as Aethelinda opened her mouth, preparing to kill Audric with her fire. Jesika felt tears came rushing to her eyes at the terrified look on Audric's face. Memories flashed through her mind of all the times he had been there for her, all the times he had been a shoulder to lean on. She couldn't let that go. Not yet. Not until she got some answers. With a voice she thought she had lost, she screamed:
"No!!!!"
Aethelinda halted, closing her mouth and looking at Jesika as if to say, "what now?"
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Audric took this moment of distraction to begin to run away, but Aethelinda growled, easily knocking him back to the ground. He laid unconscious a few feet away from her dragon. Jesika let her head fall forward in the grass, panting violently. Aethelinda let out a loud, mournful bellow.
After several long minutes, she felt consciousness slipping away from her, her body going limp.
***
Rowan, Aquila and Darryn and their parents had moved away from the farmlands, continuing to fight the enemy. Suddenly a loud thudding came towards the trio. They whipped around, fear gripping them at what could be approaching. Relief flooded over them at the sight of Rocky running towards them, Frankie flying right behind him. Rowan shot his friends a grin as he mounted his griffin. Darryn and Aquila mounted their own beasts, before turning on the rest of their enemies.
The knights that had just been confidently fighting suddenly looked terrified, slowly inching away. Rowan laughed.
"Attack!" he yelled. Their three beasts followed his command, Frankie opening her mouth to envelop them in fire, Kronos tearing the knights apart and Rocky eating away at their flesh with his sharp teeth.
It wasn't long until their enemies had been thoroughly mauled by the beasts. High off their victory, they stormed into Wimborne, only to be met by a group of ten small Cerberuses. That is, small in comparison to their usual gargantuan size. These Cerberuses were still the size of horses. The three collectively swore under their breaths. They were outnumbered.
The Cerberuses began to approach, showing their teeth, snarling and growling, gnashing their teeth in a threatening manner. Rowan shook his head, poising to attack, ready to fight even if it led to a loss. Before any of them could attack though, Aethelinda came sweeping in, her roar surrounding them with its power. She opened her mouth, breathing fiery judgement down on the Cerberuses. The Cerberuses yelped, running off as the dragon quickly followed after them. The trio let out a relieved sigh at the removed danger.
Their relief was cut short though when they reached Audric's manor. Audric's dragon lay unconscious on the ground, claw marks all over it from Aethelinda, ice encasing its wings. Laying a few feet away from the dragon was Audric, looking just as bad as the dragon. The cause for their concern though was Jesika. She laid unconscious like the other two, her face burrowed in the ground, blood pooling beside her.
Tears rushed to Aquila's eyes and she screamed as she ran to Jesika's side, kneeling beside her. Rowan and Darryn followed slowly, still finding it hard to believe what they were seeing. Aquila carefully and gently rolled her over and leaned down to lay her head on her chest. At the faint, almost imperceptible sound of her heart beating, Aquila let out a relieved and pained sob, her head going limp on Jesika's chest as she wept for her best friend. Darryn and Rowan watched her silently for a moment, their hearts breaking with hers.
Finally, Darryn sighed heavily, knowing he needed to take action. He kneeled down and reluctantly started to pull Aquila away. She let out another loud sob, not wanting to leave Jesika's side. Darryn's heart broke even more but he tightened his grip, and she allowed him to pull her away. Rowan went to Jesika's side and began to attend to her, allowing Darryn to hold Aquila close and comfort her.
He rocked Aquila in his arms as he watched Rowan take off his shirt, only flinching a moment at the brisk, cold air. He ripped a bit of it apart, then kneeled to wrap it tightly around her waist where the cut was. He slipped the torn shirt back on and looked up at Darryn.
"That's really all I can do. There's no telling what other injuries she might have taken on," Rowan said, regret filling his tone.
Darryn nodded. Kronos came to them, kneeling down, offering his back. Rowan carefully scooped Jesika into his arms, grunting a little since her height almost matched his. He mounted Kronos, holding onto her tightly. Kronos took off into the sky, quickly making his way to the clinic.
Darryn looked down at Aquila as she continued to cry heavily into his chest. "Aquila, we have to keep fighting. This war is far from over."
Aquila moaned in protest at his words. Before he could continue to encourage her, a voice spoke near them:
"Actually, there really isn't a war left to be fought."
Darryn's head jerked up to see Sir Reven. "Sir Reven! What do you mean?!"
Sir Reven grinned. "Aethelinda has wreaked havoc on Grumor's knights, either killing them or driving them out. What's left of their army has retreated back to their own kingdom."
Darryn's jaw dropped and even Aquila responded, her crying stilled.
"You're serious? They're all gone?" Darryn asked, his tone breathy with disbelief. Aquila slowly pulled away, sitting down beside him, looking up at Sir Reven.
Sir Reven nodded. "I'm serious. There's still work going on though. Mostly just releasing captive beasts and taking care of people in the hospital. We're also working to help those who were enslaved or forced out of their homes to return to their previous lives."
Darryn took a deep breath, then turned to look at Aquila. She returned his gaze.
"Are you going to be okay?" he asked.
She bit her lip but nodded. "Yeah. I'll be alright. I just want to go home and stay with Jesika at the clinic."
Darryn nodded. "I'm going to help the knights with the recovery efforts, okay? I'll stop by to visit you and Jesika soon."
Aquila nodded. She stood slowly, mounting Frankie before flying towards the clinic. Darryn stood after her, turning to Sir Reven.
"You ready?" Sir Reven asked. Darryn nodded. "Then let's go."
***
Jesika woke up in a small, white room smelling strongly of medicinal herbs. She looked to her right to see Rowan sitting beside her bed, gazing at her. She tried to sit up, only to gasp sharply in pain and sink back into the bed.
"You're going to need some physical therapy before you'll be able to move like you used to. What even happened to injure yourself like you did?" He said quietly.
Jesika groaned, closing her eyes. "I jumped several feet from a falling dragon."
A low chuckle that was devoid of humor came from the man beside her. "How did that happen?"
She shook her head. "Long story. Why do I need physical therapy? Can't they just dunk me in the healing fountain again?"
"Unfortunately, that only works for things like the skin. Stuff that goes deeper, like the bones and muscles, can't be healed by the fountain."
She sighed heavily. "I almost wish you had just replied with 'I don't know'," she grumbled. He chuckled again, a little lighter this time. "How long have I been unconscious? How long have you been sitting here with me?"
"A little under an hour. Though I'm afraid, you've been unconscious quite a bit longer than that. When we arrived at Audric's manor and saw you, you were lying unconscious on the ground..." Rowan paused before adding quietly: "Aquila was really torn up when she saw you like that..."
Jesika's heart clenched at his words, remembering now everything that had led up to her passing out. Tears came to her eyes as fear threatened to devour her whole. "Did... did we... win?" she forced herself to ask, despite being terrified of hearing the answer.
Before Rowan could respond, the sound of the door being thrown open, jolted Jesika, her eyes opening wide. She looked up to see Aquila in the doorway. Tears flooded Aquila's eyes and Jesika's heart wrenched at the sight. She wished with everything in her, that she could get off the bed and run towards her and wrap her up in a tight hug. Instead, she could barely lift her head to look at her.
Aquila was hesitant to come in, the tears falling freely now. Jesika waved her inside, her eyes pleading with her. Aquila came, wrapping her arm around Jesika's neck and hugging her gently, crying into her shoulder.
"I'm... so glad... you're okay..." Aquila looked up at her, her light brown eyes glazed with sadness. "I thought you were dead."
Jesika sighed, leaning her head against Aquila's. "I'm alive. Wish I wasn't at the moment, but I'm alive." Jesika moved away a little, looking into Aquila's eyes again. "Where is Darryn? Is he alright? How are your parents? Did Audric get put away? And... did we win?"
Aquila smiled. A real, genuine, happy smile. Jesika smiled back, the familiarity of it bringing hope to her heart. "Our parents fought alongside us against Grumor's knights and, yes, they're alright. Audric was taken away by Darryn and Sir Reven. They're locking him up in the most secure cell in Querencia. And as for the battle? Yeah, Jes. We won. Aethelinda either killed or drove out all of Grumor's army. Everything's going to be okay. Thanks to you."
Tears came rushing to Jesika's eyes. Earth shaking, happy tears. Tears of intense relief; that finally the mystery of her parent's death had been solved, the real murderer had been locked away and her kingdom was going to be okay. She felt like she was dreaming. Like any minute she would wake up, in front of Audric's manor and all of this would be gone.
As she looked at Aquila's smiling face though, she knew for a fact that this was real. They had won.