Chapter 39: Wyvern Attacks

She was strong. She was ridiculously strong.

Thirty minutes later, he had set up camp. It consisted of a bedroll, a small fire and his backpack.

He had cleaned the rabbits he’d caught earlier— and was now roasting them in the fire.

The meat was good. Better than anything he’d eaten all day. But then again, he hadn’t eaten all day, he reminded himself. He ate alone and in silence, staring into the fire.

He thought of her. Of Isolde.

Would she be doing okay?

He wondered whether she was thinking of him

The thought of the way she’d looked at him before he left. The feeling of her still lingered in his memory.

He smiled. Just a little.

Then he banked the fire, lay down, and got ready to sleep. His sword was within reach as he dusted the bedroll to be sure it was safe inside.

DAY TWO

He woke before dawn.

The fire had burned down to tiny embers. The forest was still asleep, but teeming with life. He ate a quick breakfast of leftover rabbit, drank from the stream before checking his gear to be sure he had all he needed.

Then he moved deeper into the forest.

The morning was already quite productive.

He tracked a Dire Bear through the woods. It was old but still dangerous. He killed it with a single strike to the heart, using Lightning to close the distance before it could react.

Then he found something strange. A creature that looked like a cross between a lizard and a hawk. It perched in the trees, watching him with intelligent eyes as he killed the Dire Bear. When he was done and approached, it shrieked and dove at him, talons extended.

He dodged. Cut it down. It fell in a shower of feathers and scales.

He heaved a heavy sigh, trying to catch his breath before he continued. He couldn’t forget why he was doing this.

By midday, he had added three more kills to his count.

He stopped near a small waterfall to rest and clean his blade. The water was cold and clear. He drank deeply, then sat on a rock and closed his eyes.

The forest was peaceful here. Quiet.

Maybe a little too quiet, he told himself.

He opened his eyes.

The birds had stopped singing.

No. Something was wrong and he could feel it in his bones

He could feel a crushing pressure in his chest. Something was definitely wrong.

He looked up just in time to see several thousand year trees exploding into the afternoon sun.

A Thornback Wyvern crashed through the canopy like a falling mountain, destroying everything in its wake.

It was massive. About forty feet from snout to tail. It had scales like iron plates with spines stretching along its back that glistened with poison.

Emeric’s chest was pounding something fierce as this nightmare creature came crashing down.

It roared. A crushing sound that shook the air by its weight.

The sound shook the ground, causing birds to scatter from every tree within a mile. The waterfall trembled and Emeric could feel the vibration in his bones.

He dove to the side as the wyvern’s tail whipped through the space he’d just occupied. A tree trunk behind him exploded into splinters of no less than a thousand pieces.

He rolled, getting his balance as he stood up and drew his sword.

The wyvern turned, its eyes locking onto him.

And then the system pulsed.

---

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ]

[RESONANCE DETECTED — TARGET’S CURE]

[CURE REQUIREMENT PARTIALLY UNLOCKED]

[CURE — THORNBACK WYVERN HEART]

[STATUS: INGREDIENT ACQUIRED? NO]

[LOCATION: AZURE MOUNTAINS — CURRENT PROXIMITY DETECTED]

[ADDITIONAL CURE COMPONENTS: █████████████████ █████████████████ █████████████████]

[ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS REMAIN LOCKED]

[DIRECTIVE: ACQUIRE THE WYVERN HEART. ONE OF THE COMPONENTS NEEDED TO CURE YOUR TARGET.]

---

Emeric stared at the notification, spacing out for longer than he could afford. His heart was pounding furiously in his chest now.

He had been hoping to escape. He was way too weak to take on a thornback Wyvern.

But he had to do this. There was no way around it now.

He had to do this for Isolde.

This thing’s heart carried one of the cure components.

He had to kill it one way or another.

For her.

The wyvern let another ear defeating roar rent the air before it charged.

Emeric had never fought anything like this before.

He was stronger now. Much stronger, but this was still leagues above what he could handles

He flexed his hands against the hilt of his sword, trying to come up with a plan.

The wyvern was faster than its size suggested. That was one thing he had noticed in all the thrashing around. The sheer weight of its tail, whipped through trees like they were twigs. Its spines shot through the air like ballista bolts, roaring as it charged through the dense forest.

Emeric used his wind ability to deflect the spines headed in his direction as others scattered in the forest around him.

He activated lightning around his body, enabling his movement.

The world blurred around him as he moved, faster than he’d ever moved before.

The wyvern was in close proximity with him now. That was not good. That was not good at all.

It slammed its tail, barely missing where Emeric had just stood. Dirt and stone exploded outward, creating a giant hole.

The ground where he’d just been stood a small crater from the weight of the force from its tail.

If I get caught with that, I’m dead.

If I get caught with anything at all, I’m toast.

Emeric barely dodged as it snapped at him. He ducked swiftly, the jaws closing in on empty air. The teeth were as long as his forearm.

It swung a claw, and Emeric instinctly attempted to parry the blow. The impact sent him flying backwards, as he hit a tree. The trunk cracked behind him.

He couldn’t breathe. The wind was knocked out of him.

His ribs maybe have broken.

His vision blurred trying to get up as fast as he could.

The wyvern was advancing.