Both she and the beasts heard it. The larger one salivated as it readied another charge. Dawn grimaced as she braced for the impact. The crack was even louder this time and the tree started to buckle. Dawn quickly shifted gears. She stood up on the tree branch and extended her wings. Not having a chance to prepare, they painfully tore through the back of her dress. She fought through the pain and pushed off, pumping the wings as hard as she could.
There was no way she could make it up through the canopy so instead she made for a branch on the largest tree she could find. She smacked her wings painfully against the trunk as she landed, but she kept her balance. Her wings now hurt more than ever before, but she had found a solid perch!
Oh, that was not fair! The smaller of the two kartivalds started slowly climbing the tree! She didn’t know they could climb trees. Dawn screamed and called as loudly as she could, “Llewellyn!” Oh, now she wished he had been spying on her! “Llewellyn!” she blared again, louder than before almost making her hoarse. As panic threatened to take control she dug down deep inside of her. Someplace where things always kept hiding, much deeper inside than her beautiful wings, something bubbled up from inside and out came a roar! The ferocity of the roar caught the climbing kartivald by surprise. She was not prey! But what caught Dawn by surprise was that as she roared, she heard her own voice buried in that roar calling her uncle a third time, and it echoed throughout the woods.
A sharp thunderclap heralded Llewellyn’s arrival. Encased in a sparkling blue flame he winked into existence at the base of the tree. His eyes flashed with primal anger and narrowed to slits like that of a wild cat. A blue flash of a sword coming and going brought the smaller beast to its end while the other, much larger one spun to engage. It may have outweighed Llewellyn by ten to one, but Dawn was pretty sure he could have dropped the brute bare handed if he had wanted. Of course, that would have been playing fair, and Llewellyn had absolutely no interest in playing fair. Four blindingly quick blue flashes dispatched the beast almost twenty feet away from him.
Dawn let go of the breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding and fluttered down out of the tree. She quickly retracted her sore wings and ran towards her uncle. As she closed, she was both relieved and frightened: he looked like a man possessed! Llewellyn had to be nearly hyperventilating; she wasn’t even sure if he was in any condition to talk.
Llewellyn dropped to his knees with one hand on the ground and strained his senses. With eyes shut, his ears twitched and nostrils flared as he licked the air. Suddenly he spun and dashed into the woods, ten steps later Dawn could tell he’d found his mark as another kartivald screamed. Almost as quickly as he had departed, Llewellyn was back at Dawn’s side.
She couldn’t hear him say a word but knew almost instinctively that they were now all gone. The road was safe.
Llewellyn scooped up Dawn in his arms and suddenly the whole world faded out in a shimmer of blue light. Briefly she caught sight of massive ancient machines orbiting around them in a shimmering netherworld while closer in, an immense arsenal of weapons floated as well, all just out of reach. She could just make out a ghostly glow of her own wings behind her when the world faded back just as quickly and they found themselves in the kitchen of the house.
Llewellyn collapsed to the floor exhausted and hyperventilating for certain.
Dawn knelt by him and cradled him crying, “Thank you! Thank you! How did you do that?”
Panting and starting to fade he countered, “How did you call me?”
Shocked, her head swam, “I don’t know… I just had to!”
Trying to laugh as he tried to control his breathing, “Well, I just had to as well…”
Dawn hugged him tight, “Thank you, Father .”
And with that Llewellyn passed
There was no way she could make it up through the canopy so instead she made for a branch on the largest tree she could find. She smacked her wings painfully against the trunk as she landed, but she kept her balance. Her wings now hurt more than ever before, but she had found a solid perch!
Oh, that was not fair! The smaller of the two kartivalds started slowly climbing the tree! She didn’t know they could climb trees. Dawn screamed and called as loudly as she could, “Llewellyn!” Oh, now she wished he had been spying on her! “Llewellyn!” she blared again, louder than before almost making her hoarse. As panic threatened to take control she dug down deep inside of her. Someplace where things always kept hiding, much deeper inside than her beautiful wings, something bubbled up from inside and out came a roar! The ferocity of the roar caught the climbing kartivald by surprise. She was not prey! But what caught Dawn by surprise was that as she roared, she heard her own voice buried in that roar calling her uncle a third time, and it echoed throughout the woods.
A sharp thunderclap heralded Llewellyn’s arrival. Encased in a sparkling blue flame he winked into existence at the base of the tree. His eyes flashed with primal anger and narrowed to slits like that of a wild cat. A blue flash of a sword coming and going brought the smaller beast to its end while the other, much larger one spun to engage. It may have outweighed Llewellyn by ten to one, but Dawn was pretty sure he could have dropped the brute bare handed if he had wanted. Of course, that would have been playing fair, and Llewellyn had absolutely no interest in playing fair. Four blindingly quick blue flashes dispatched the beast almost twenty feet away from him.
Dawn let go of the breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding and fluttered down out of the tree. She quickly retracted her sore wings and ran towards her uncle. As she closed, she was both relieved and frightened: he looked like a man possessed! Llewellyn had to be nearly hyperventilating; she wasn’t even sure if he was in any condition to talk.
Llewellyn dropped to his knees with one hand on the ground and strained his senses. With eyes shut, his ears twitched and nostrils flared as he licked the air. Suddenly he spun and dashed into the woods, ten steps later Dawn could tell he’d found his mark as another kartivald screamed. Almost as quickly as he had departed, Llewellyn was back at Dawn’s side.
She couldn’t hear him say a word but knew almost instinctively that they were now all gone. The road was safe.
Llewellyn scooped up Dawn in his arms and suddenly the whole world faded out in a shimmer of blue light. Briefly she caught sight of massive ancient machines orbiting around them in a shimmering netherworld while closer in, an immense arsenal of weapons floated as well, all just out of reach. She could just make out a ghostly glow of her own wings behind her when the world faded back just as quickly and they found themselves in the kitchen of the house.
Llewellyn collapsed to the floor exhausted and hyperventilating for certain.
Dawn knelt by him and cradled him crying, “Thank you! Thank you! How did you do that?”
Panting and starting to fade he countered, “How did you call me?”
Shocked, her head swam, “I don’t know… I just had to!”
Trying to laugh as he tried to control his breathing, “Well, I just had to as well…”
Dawn hugged him tight, “Thank you, Father .”
And with that Llewellyn passed
Similar Books
