"It protected you?" Roland squeezed harder around his sword’s grip. "This creature stole you and put your life in danger." Rahan edged closer, snarling as he did.
"Don’t hurt him, father. He’s good, I promise." Roland looked at his daughter and saw the truth in her eyes. He looked back at Rahan, who was now leering around the cave, glimpsing each person.
"He’s been protecting this." Sofia reached into her blouse and pulled out an emerald pendant. "He likes me and wants to keep me safe."
"I don’t care what it wants." Roland said, lifting his sword. "We’re leaving together. The beast can stand aside or die." Rahan growled at this obvious challenge, and his throat began to glow, although he wouldn’t use fire with Sofia so close.
"Please, stop." Sofia reached for her father’s hand, grabbing it gently. "He won’t hurt us if we don’t hurt him."
Suddenly, from behind, a figure emerged from the shadows. It was Vera, wielding her axe high in the air and then bringing it down above Rahan’s ankle. It bit hard into his flesh, slicing into his tendon. A feral screech boomed through the cave as the wyvern turned to identify his assailant.
"Die, you fiend!" Vera shouted as she lifted her axe again. She hacked down with another savage slash, cutting deeper into Rahan’s leg and causing him to release another wail.
"No!" Sofia screamed, "You can’t!" But the damage was already done.
Before Vera could swing again, Rahan twisted his neck and snapped his teeth around her head. Her body fell limp, and her axe made a clanking noise as it dropped to the stone floor. Rahan swallowed and turned back to Roland, who stood there horrified.
But Illian did not hesitate. He raised a javelin and hoisted it into the wyvern’s neck.
"Kill it!" he commanded. Those who remained lunged from the rocky shadows and began thrusting their steel into Rahan’s hide. Roland pushed Sofia back behind the boulder.
"Stay here and wait until it’s done."
"You can’t." Sofia begged.
"I must." Roland charged ahead, rolling under the beast’s tail as it kicked and bit at the humans surrounding it. Vera’s hound gnawed at Rahan’s wounded leg until it was flung away into the surrounding dunes. Illian drew his sword and began slashing at the wyvern’s wings. Sofia wept behind the rock as her father jostled under the beast and plunged his sword upward into its belly.
Rahan howled before knocking Roland away with his winged arm. His sword was hurled into the rocks as he fell to the floor. Rahan then swept his tail around, knocking the surrounding warriors back into the cave walls before lurching toward Roland.
Now gravely injured, Rahan advanced, making the deep, rumbling growl Sofia knew all too well. As he stepped closer, Roland could feel the heat from his breath enveloping his body. It felt as if death itself were surrounding him.
Then a revolving axe came flying in from the peripheral area, boring deep into the wyvern’s eye. Rahan thrashed and cried out as he sank away from the pain. Roland sprung to his feet, rolling again under the livid creature to seize his sword from the rocks. The wyvern’s head swerved back, blindly snapping the air as its left eye was now gouged.
Roland ducked under Rahan’s clasping teeth before plunging his sword upward behind his jaw and into his brain cavity. Rahan’s eyes widened as the spark of his life began to fade.
"Enough!" Sofia roared, but it was not truly Sofia who spoke. It was the fierce, penetrating voice of an incensed woman. "You will cease at once!" she bellowed again. Sofia was now levitating in the air with her eyes and the jewel around her neck glowing a vibrant green. She hovered closer to the wyvern, who was now breathing his last breath.
"I will save you, dearest son." She lowered herself and pressed her hand against his forehead. A wave of green radiance formed around his body, and his wounds began to heal as his life was restored. "You will not resume fighting, Rahan. Fly to me, away from this place. We will heal together." She rested her palm on Rahan’s head as she shed a tear. She looked up into what seemed to be a far-off place. "When you are ready, child, you will come to me. Until then, live your life with your father." The woman shifted her gaze to Roland. "For it is a violation to withhold a child from a loving parent. Now, leave."
And the woman released her possession of Sofia. She fell to the floor, feeling weak and confused.
"I—" Sofia paused, struggling to produce words.
"It’s alright. Don’t speak." Roland said as he reached for his daughter. He found his horse, lifted her over its saddle, and then mounted it himself. "Let us rid ourselves of this place. Come, our duty is done." Roland said as he spurred his horse forward. He turned to see Illian sauntering out from the rocks and clutching his ribs with his right arm. "Good throw, captain. I owe you my thanks." Illian nodded, mounted a horse, and followed them from the cave.
"Come now, dog!" he yelled, and the hound rose from the dunes and sprinted out behind them. The few who remained assembled their weapons and gathered any horses they could find. It was hard to tell if they’d actually won, but they were grateful to still be alive.
As they descended the mountain, Sofia looked up and smiled, seeing Rahan soar away under the golden sun. One day, she knew she would return to learn more about the Dragon Mother and to see her wyvern friend again.
Until then, she was thankful just to be back with her father and returning to her family’s homestead, where she could work, play, and listen to her father’s wonderful stories.
THE END.
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