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Scott kicked his legs forward, elytra folding to his back, and slashed down, sword in hand.
The man he had attacked fell back. Blood split the air. Cutting back, Scott turned. Looked around. The other empire was attacking his people. Some of his soldiers had fallen already. Too many of his soldiers. This other empire had to pay.
Lunging forwards, he slashed for another one of the attackers. Wheeled to slam the blade of his sword deep into one man’s chest. They lunged for him. Ducking, he slammed his elbow into their sternum. Wheeled and drove the blade into their stomach. He met their gaze. Twisted his sword. Panicked hazel eyes held his, dulled. Then, they dropped back. Scott turned. Lunged forwards. Attacked another man.
He was born for this. Raised as a soldier. Born for fighting and battling and killing. That was who he was, that was how his parents had raised him. His father had been one of the best enchanters, his mother was a strategic genius and had commanded the respect of nations. Her mother spoke with as much power as anyone else in their land. As for her father…well, Scott inherited his grandfather’s wings. Hopefully, that was the only thing that Scott inherited from him.
Something slammed into his back. Stumbling, Scott turned. Found someone lunging for him already. Pain struck through his side. Mouth falling open, Scott rammed his shoulder against theirs. Slashed his sword up. They slumped down. Immediately, Scott stumbled back. Throwing his wings out, he jumped into the air. Flapped fiercely to try and get himself off the ground. Crashing against a tree, he slammed his back into the trunk. Took an unsteady breath. Then, he swept his sleeve back, looked down at his communicator.
Quickly, he typed in a message. Just a couple words. Behind him, there was the sound of a crossbow loading. Come on, faster. There was a glint of silver in the corner of his eyes. The message sent. Throwing his wings out, Scott took off.
Behind him, there was a twang as the bolt released.
+++
“Where the—where is Scott?”
Jimmy glanced to the side as Lizzie shot by, trident in hand. Raising it, she slammed the trident down into an attacker’s skull. Blood stained the water, and Jimmy turned just in time to snatch a harpoon from hitting him in the ribs. “No clue! He was supposed to be here ten minutes ago!” He yelled back.
“What, so he just ditched us?” Lizzie demanded, looking over at him. Shrugging, Jimmy stared at her for a moment. Then, Lizzie’s eyes flicked over and then widened. “Jimmy, move!” She shot forward and pushed him out of the way.
She screamed in pain, the water around them shaking, as she took a harpoon to the middle.
Jimmy grabbed his trident and threw it. The points smashed into the man’s throat, he triggered the loyalty and snatched it back. Stared at the soldier as they collapsed. Then, he dragged Lizzie onto his back. Glanced around. They had chased off the worst of the attackers. Many of the axolotl-like Charybdians were swimming around, massive webbed claws clawing at the rocks and shoving them forwards. Bared, shark-like teeth gleamed in the water as they ripped threats apart and defended the villagers living in the town. The Charybdians were huge sea serpents, axolotl-like with fins around their faces and spikes down their spines with webs in between. Their scales came in shades of deep cobalt blues and emerald greens, with leathery undersides and sharp white claws. They were wild creatures once, Lizzie came into her powers by taming them, and now they had a fleet of massive beasts that could destroy anything that stood in their way.
So, grabbing Lizzie, Jimmy hurried towards the Kingdom of Mezalea.
They needed to find Joel, and they needed to move fast.
+++
They found Joel in the castle in Mezalea, and immediately they teamed up.
Slowly, slowly, they worked through the different kingdoms. Fought the enemy forces back until they finally began to retreat. Sure, there were casualties. Several times, Jimmy spotted Joel kneeling in the fields with some of the Mezalean soldiers, holding one of his men’s head in his lap and stroking bloody hair out of their eyes as their time came. As they moved through blood-streaked fields, they kept checking in on the other kingdom leaders and also finding their people. Already, some of the leaders were trying to take care of putting things back together. Pearl had gotten several of her students to go to each of the kingdoms. To start working on putting houses back together. They had…there was a lot of work that they needed to do. A lot of work for the future. For now, though, they needed to find Scott.
When they got to Rivendell, they couldn’t find him. He was just…he was gone. He wasn’t anywhere there. It was like he had just disappeared.
Growling, Joel kicked a nearby barrel. It dropped to the ground and shattered, the wood too weak from the smoke and rain streaking the air. Walking over, Lizzie gently touched his shoulder. They shared a glance, and Joel took a slow breath. Scowled down at the bloody cobblestone roads. “Where is he?” He demanded sharply. Lizzie rubbed her thumb across his shoulder. Both of them shared a glance. Pushing past them, Jimmy glanced around.
Already, there were people putting their town back together. Most of them were bruised and bloody, working hard to try and make sure that they were able to put their home back to what it had been before. They needed to fix it, they needed to put everything back again. That was how life was. They needed…they had to just move on. That was that.
Sighing, Jimmy looked to Joel. “Maybe we shouldn’t kick things over.” He suggested. When Joel scowled at him, Jimmy nodded at the surrounding villagers. “They’re already having a hard enough time, Joel. Let’s find Scott and get some answers, alright?”
Pausing for a second, Joel exhaled sharply through his nose. Narrowed his eyes. Then, he glanced to the side. Spat out, “Fine.” Then, he stalked towards Scott’s own place. “Come on. Let’s find him.” Nodding, Jimmy shared a glance with Lizzie, then followed Joel to Scott’s home. They made their way across the cobblestone steps. The spatters of blood across the stones caught his gaze. Frowning, Jimmy looked to Lizzie. She was frowning, too. Nervously, actually. Gritting his teeth, Jimmy looked back up ahead. Frowned and hurried a little faster. He caught up to Joel, Lizzie hurrying along beside him to do the same thing.
The blood trailed up the stairs to the doors, and Jimmy shared a glance with Lizzie again. Then, he pushed Joel to the side. Slipped over to the door and reached for the handle. Settled his hand down and tugged at the brass. Then, he opened the door, glanced at Lizzie and Joel before slipping inside. He left the door open behind him. Walked in and glanced around.
The floorboards were smeared with blood. Face falling, Jimmy glanced at the others. Took a slow breath. “Scott?” He called out. There was no response. Looking back, he ordered, “All of you stay here, keep your weapons drawn. I’ll call for you if I need you, but otherwise just let me worry about it.” Pearl nodded, and Lizzie tugged at Joel’s arm and stepped forwards. Held his gaze.
“We’re going with you.” She announced sharply. Shrugging, Jimmy hurried further into the house. Looked around.
“Scott? Scott!” He glanced around. Gestured to Joel. “Okay, okay. Let’s get—Joel, go upstairs. Check his bedroom. Lizzie, uh…I don’t know. Do what you want. I’m going to go and check out his storage area. Just—just in case.”
There were bloodied footprints on the floor. Hurrying over to the storage area, Jimmy glanced around. Left his hand on the nearby frame of the stairs as he glanced around again. Took a slow breath. The smell of blood was…stronger here, somehow. A sort of heavy metallic reek sat in the air. Swallowing, he hurried down the stairs. Glanced to the side.
He found Scott.
The king of Rivendell was lying sprawled on the floor, facedown and prone. His arms were stretched in front of him, his head was turned to the side slightly. Since he was right next to the furnaces, it looked like he had a burn on the side of his face. “Scott.” He whispered softly. Hurrying over to him, Jimmy crouched down and touched his shoulder. “Scott?” Gently, he shook the man.
There was a weak groan from him. Frowning, Jimmy took a slow breath. Rubbed Scott’s shoulder again and then looked over his body. Slashes and blood cut through Scott’s body, through his clothes. On Scott’s other side, his hand was coated in frostbite. He’s burnt and frostbitten. This isn’t good. Jimmy glanced over. Paused. Inhaled slowly.
“Lizzie, Joel! Come down here, now!” He ordered. Within a few moments, both of them were there. Lizzie’s eyes widened. Meanwhile, Joel stood there, frozen. Stared at Scott. “Joel!”
Shaking his head, Joel ran over. “Right. Right.” Lizzie and Joel dropped down beside him, and Lizzie helped Jimmy roll Scott onto his back. Weak breaths left Scott’s mouth, his lips were slightly parted and he was gasping for air. His face was burnt on one side, reddened and blistering. His other ear was frostbitten. Whatever was happening to him, he was definitely having issues. Major issues, too. “I—I don’t—I called him a coward.”
“That doesn’t matter right now.” Turning to him, Jimmy ordered, “Joel, go get Pearl, Gem, and Shubble. They’ll know what to do when it comes to healing. Tell Joey and Fwhip to go and get some form of transport. We need to take him to the nearest medical center that’s still built up and still able to properly treat people. That’s what matters the most, alright?” Joel nodded, turned and sprinted away. Turning back to Scott, Jimmy stroked some of his hair out of his face.
Scott groaned weakly. His eyes fluttered. Slowly, they opened, and he tipped his head to the side. Inhaled slowly and sort of…frowned. His eyes narrowed a little bit, and then he coughed. “Jimmy?” He mumbled, blood welling up in his mouth. Frowning, Jimmy touched his cheek.
“Scott? Scott, what happened?” He rubbed Scott’s shoulder. Leg shifting, trying to push away from the pain, he let out a slow groan. Whimpered again. When he reached up a hand, his fingers twitched. There were footsteps in the front of the building, and then Gem, Pearl, and Shubble appeared. Already, they had their healing potions in their hands. Pearl’s face dropped when she saw Scott, and Gem hurried to Scott’s side. Immediately started touching his chest. As she did, Scott’s chest caved in under her fingers, and he winced. Jolted.
“Sorry, sweetheart. You have floating ribs.” Gem frowned and started touching him in more places, checking his wounds. Already, her eyes were beginning to get some of that magical glow, narrowed slightly as she continued. Coughing, Scott tipped his head to the side. Turned and looked at Jimmy. His eyes suddenly sharpened.
“The people. How are they?” He demanded.
“They’re alright. They’re rebuilding. We just need to worry about you right now.”
“No.” Scott shook his head. Tried to push himself up. Quickly, Shubble and Pearl pinned him down. Moving over, Jimmy settled Scott’s head in his lap. “No. I need to protect them. I need to save them.”
“They’re fine, Scott.” Blinking, Scott stared at him. Swallowed. Then, he sort of shuddered. His head fell back into Jimmy’s lap, into his hands. His eyes closed, and he went limp. “Scott? Scott. Hey,” he shook Scott weakly. There was a rasp to Scott’s breathing, but he was breathing. Reaching out, Pearl touched his arm. Jimmy met her gaze, while Shubble and Gem worked on patching Scott up.
“He’s going to be alright, Jimmy. I promise.” She said. Blinking, Jimmy looked back down to Scott.
In his arms, Scott didn’t move.
+++
Scott looked…very tiny and pale in the hospital bed, and Jimmy didn’t like it.
Head tipped to the side, oxygen mask strapped to his face with the plastic fogging up on each exhale, Scott hadn’t moved in a recent time. His arms were rested across his stomach. He had an IV in one arm. There were dark circles under his eyes, and he was—he just didn’t look well. Reaching out, Jimmy touched Scott’s arm. Scott’s eyes fluttered a little bit. Opened and then drew over to Jimmy. His eyebrows pinched together a little bit.
“Rivendell…” He forced out softly.
Smiling at him, Jimmy touched his arm. “They’re alright. They’re going to be just fine, we’re watching over them. You protected them, okay? You did just fine.” Swallowing, Scott coughed once. Inhaled and slowly nodded. His eyes fluttered a bit. Then, he looked down. Grabbed onto Jimmy’s hand.
Coughing, he shuddered and then closed his eyes, smiling and rubbing a thumb over Jimmy’s knuckles. Then, he passed out again. Looking at him, Jimmy smiled. Shook his head.