For some reason that Valen certainly could not understand, Illaya seemed pleased by the arrival of the angry Highborn because she clapped her hands together with a quick cry of joy.
"Ah hah! I thought this was right, that you were the one, but I had to be sure, and just look at this! You truly are Bound, and you draw upon that power without even knowing that you do so. Astounding!" the First Ranger said. Just like that the anger left Valen, leaving him feeling almost empty and certainly tired. He fell back into his seat, even as rangers came rushing into the tent from another flap at the back end, weapons drawn and at the ready for any sign of danger.
"First Ranger Illaya! Are you alright?! The wyvern suddenly leapt over the tents and we thought -" one of the rangers began, his voice angry and largely unpleasant.
"Stand down, Second Bardus. I'm fine, and I was fully prepared for the wyvern to appear here the way that he did. I was testing something, you see," Illaya cut in, earning a scowl from the man she had referred to as Second. The man had his mask off, revealing a cleanly shaven man with the same dark skin common to the other Manidarians he'd seen so far. He might have been in his mid-thirties, and there were a lot of lines on his face that seemed to have come from a great deal of frowning.
It was obvious immediately that he was an overly serious man, and from the scowl on his face at the woman's words he did not enjoy the First Ranger's overly flippant behavior in front of potential danger. Honestly Valen could understand that, especially if she truly had just done what she had in order to see if Raenelir would come running.
One did not play around with angering drakes, after all. It was not something people often survived.
"Ma'am, I understand that you wish to deal with these people yourself, but we don't even know them. Could you not allow just a few other rangers to join you here, for safety's sake? I mean, in the Name of the Forger, you could have been killed by this beast before we had a chance to even react!" Bardus replied. This time, however, the look in Illaya's eyes could have cut steel and she turned it on her Second.
"Did you not understand me? Step. Out. Now. These are guests, not enemies, and I will not have us treating them as such. I am fully aware of the danger in a grown wyvern, boy, and I can assure you that these others pose no threat to me. Or do you doubt my skill as First Ranger now?" she demanded. At that, Bardus seemed cowed, flinching away and folding in on himself just a bit as he bowed low.
"No, First Ranger. I apologize. I am at fault and will leave immediately," he hurriedly replied, waiting only long enough for Illaya to give him a nod before he turned and left the tent, leaving only those who had been there before and Raenelir, who no longer seemed angry, but still had his head through the entrance of the command tent.
The exchange confused Valen even further, of course. Had Illaya just called Bardus a boy? He might not have been totally sure about her age, but there was no way that she was older than the man she had been speaking to... right?
"I apologize for that, as well as my outburst with you before, Valen. I simply know the importance of Naming to wyverns and took the opportunity to make absolutely certain that you are who I think you are. Now I can say with confidence that you are one of the Bound," Illaya suddenly said, bringing everyone's focus back to her now. Valen, though, needed answers now. To say he was confused at this point was an understatement.
"Look, I still have no idea what you're talking about I'm 'Bound?' What does that even mean and why is it so important to you that I am whatever that is?" he asked, doing his best not to sound like he was demanding anything from her, though he knew that he was probably failing in that. There was simply too much happening for him to be able to better control his tone, and he had a need to get some sort of understanding from all this confusion.
"I truly understand that you have a lot of questions, and you deserve some answers. For now, though, what is most pertinent to you is that we're going to protect you. In order to protect you, though, we also need your help. We would like you to come South with us, to Manidar, at request of the Iron Queen herself, Queen Irena Belstieri. There, all of your remaining questions will be answered in safety, I assure you," Illaya replied. Of course, that left Valen at even more of a loss than he had been before. By the Four, what was happening? Come to Manidar, at the request of the Iron Queen?!
Valen was so overwhelmed by now that his head was starting to hurt. That, combined with the exhaustion of everything else they had already been through that day and in the past month, it was all becoming too much. He needed rest and, as he looked around at the others for a moment, he reminded himsel that they did as well.
Yet he also knew they had to decide what they were going to do before they went to sleep, especially considering that they were still going to have dragon riders as well as regular Imperial Legionnaires on the hunt for them soon enough. Weighing all of his and Hera's options, he knew that staying within the Empire was probably too risky, not to mention that they might never have a chance to live the easy life he still wanted for them if they stayed here.
Because the life he wanted to live also involved living alongside Raenelir and Aevra and other wyverns, hopefully; caring for the wonderful creatures was all that he knew, after all. His brother Aiden might have been the one being raised to care for the Hatchery, but until he had lost it Valen had not known just how much he actually loved working with the beautiful creatures. Now not only was he aware of it, it was also a way of honoring the family that he had lost by continuing the Galar tradition of wyvern breeding and caretaking.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
If there was going to be any hope of ever picking up that tradition again now, he knew what he had to do. He just hoped that Hera would agree with his decision.
I... I can't speak for everyone here," Valen began, turning to look at Samuel and Simon as he spoke. He could not tell what they were thinking from their expressions but regardless he pressed on, turning his gaze instead to Raenelir, then Hera and Aevra, before once more looking at Illaya. He still didn't like the way she had just tested him and Raen, but right now she was also his only hope at maybe getting out from underneath the boot of the Empire.
"But I think that, if Hera agrees, she and I and the wyverns will come with you. Honestly? I don't know what other choice we even have, now. I was hoping we might find safety in Lakevale, but... that didn't happen. As long as you mean it when you say our questions will be answered when we arrive, on your condition that we... meet the Queen... then fine. We'll come."
As he finished speaking, Valen looked over at his sister, hoping that she would be in agreement with his decision. He felt relief flood him when he saw her steadfast stare meeting his own gaze. She gave him a single nod that said everything he needed to know. Then he turned his attention to the twins as Samuel spoke up, looking as if he were about to ask something he did not want to know the answer to.
"There... there's really no way for us to get back into Lakevale, is there? To find out what happened to our dad?" Sam asked, his voice sounding quiet and resigned even as he spoke. A look lingering somewhere between pity and frustration spread across Illaya's face then, saying enough.
"Not right now, no. We haven't been able to contact Orik at all, though to be fair today has been quite chaotic. What we do know is that there were definitely survivors from the events of your rescue mission, some in the form of prisoners and some who managed to flee into the city without being captured by Imperials or falling to dragon-fire. With Ravas Velitarii overseeing things, it's only a matter of time before the most prominent surviving members of the Children will be at risk. That means the two of you, certainly, as well as your father, Orik... you get it," the woman answered him. Samuel seemed to grow more and more exhausted as Illaya spoke, as though he were actively resigning himself to the fact that they might have just lost their father.
Valen could certainly understand that pain.
Simon, however, appeared to realize that there was more to what Illaya was saying than she had been able to get out just yet. He reached a hand over to his brother and shook him by the shoulder, getting him to refocus on her before she continued.
"That does not mean that your father is dead, however. I very much doubt that Orik would have risked putting him very close to the front lines of the action, not when he is the most skilled leatherworker the Children can count among their number. He's too important a craftsman to risk in direct conflict. And I can assure you, our people in the city will do their best to get survivors out of Lakevale and South to the safety of Manidar as quickly as they can. If your father is alive and we can get him out of the city, he will make it to Midaras eventually as well," she finished. At this, Samuel seemed to regain some of his fire, and he sat up straighter in his chair. The twins looked at each other for only a moment before Simon spoke up, answering for both of them.
"Well then, I guess we'll go with you as well. After all," he began, pausing to look at Valen and Hera with a wry grin that seemed a bit forced, but was still his best attempt at changing his mood, "at this point it's obvious that the two of you would be hopeless without us, so far from home and danger all around. Besides, now that the four of us are together again, we can't just go and leave yet, can we?"
Valen appreciated his attempt at humor and it brought a light smile to his own face as well. He had to admit, having the twins along would make him feel less alone. Though he had not seen them in many years and it was obvious that much had happened to the Romaris in the years they had been apart, their friendship seemed to have remained intact.
Valen and Hera could use some more friends these days.
"Very good! I'm glad to hear that," Illaya declared, smiling once again as she strode over to the main entrance into the large tent, where Raenelir still had his head pushed inside. She reached out a hand as she walked up to him and, before anyone even knew what was happening, had pushed into the soft spot at the base of his neck, the same spot that Valen had used when they first found the Highborn in the mountains to try and calm him down long enough for their Matriarch, Maelienas, to subdue him.
Valen's jaw dropped.
Raen's entire body went limp and the wyvern plopped to the ground, reptilian eyes wide in surprise as he went down. Illaya chuckled at the stares she was getting from them all.
"I did say I was aware of the dangers a wyvern posed, did I not?" she asked before striding past Raenelir to exit the tent, leaving them all to stare after her in complete shock.
"Uh, please remind me never to get on her bad side," Samuel finally said aloud. The four of them broke into laughter then, even as the Highborn began to recover and retreated from the tent, clearing the way entirely so that they could exit as well.
As they left the tent Illaya stood waiting for them, with Raen apparently having leapt away from the woman to reassess her. Valen saw him watching, saw that he was not looking at Illaya with any hint of anger or defensiveness in his eyes. Instead, he saw something akin to curiosity or confusion in the wyvern's gaze. He had to admit then that the woman was more of an enigma than he would have liked.
An enigma that was their only chance at getting away from the Empire.
We're preparing a couple of personal-sized tents for your use. Valen, Hera, Ranger Layne here will show you to your tent. Samuel, Simon, Ranger Hedrick will show you to yours. Get some rest. We'll wake you soon enough, and then we'll be on our way," Illaya said, gesturing to two different rangers that stood at attention on either side of her. Valen nodded his assent and moved to follow Ranger Layne as the masked warrior gestured for them to follow, Hera close on his heels.
As they walked away, the First Ranger called out one last time, her words following them to their tents.
"Manidar awaits!"