Legend's Echo Chapter 03

The beast fell without a cry, and Robin barely managed to wrest the spear free from the now limp monster.  The other two screeched at her, their focus on the ragged defenders having dropped in the face of someone managing to kill one of their broodmates.  Robin didn’t care about that, she was more concerned with keeping the men around her alive long enough for reinforcements to arrive. 

The remaining wyvern flared their wings, pacing away from one another to create space.  She recognized the behavior from the time a starving wolf pack had attacked her caravan a few years back.  A hunting tactic to force prey to focus on one while the other moved to strike.  Most of the adventurers were down, and those that moved to join her weren’t in the best of shapes. 

“Well, isn’t this just fucked,” Robin muttered. 

The soldier beside her chuckled darkly, his left arm hanging limply.  “Unbelievably so, especially if The Legend fell along with that dragon.” 

“Haven’t seen it get back up since The Legend made it cry like a bitch,” Robin countered, not that she really felt all that inspired in the moment.  Looking death in the face had that effect on someone, especially those who knew the God of the Underworld intimately.  “That doesn’t change our situation, we’ve still got two giant chickens to gut first.” 

Seriously, all birds had to be of demonic origins, and what were Dragons but oversized poultry?  Hell, Robin bet they even tasted the same when cooked with some good hot sauce.  Actually, assuming the camp survived, they could probably do exactly that.

“True enough,” the man said with a chuckle.  “What’s two more dragonkin to fall today?” 

Robin could only agree that they had the right spirit of it, the real question was if they had enough left in them to make it reality.  It was one thing to rally around someone who looked like they knew what was going on, it was another to put that bravado to action.  She held tight to the spear in her hand, lamenting that she didn’t know more advanced combat magic in that moment. 

One of the wyvern seemed to catch her drifting thoughts of food and magic, lunging forward with drool dangling from its jowls.  Robin grit her teeth and adjusted the spear, bringing it up in a basic thrust.  The wyvern pushed itself aside and the steel tip brushed along scales.  Robin threw herself aside just as the talons would have taken a chunk out of her shoulder. 

Panting, she forced herself back to her feet and tried to raise that damn spear, only for her left arm to barely respond.  Flicking her eyes to her limb, they widened as she bit out a curse.  One of the talons had torn a fucking chunk out of her gods be damned shoulder. 

Magic flowed through her, and the wound began to close even as her reserves burned.  Internal spells were a little easier on the body, but they still benefited from a Foci.  Without her staff, Robin was forced to wrangle the raw currents into a suitable spell structure.  The magic burned even as it healed, and she couldn’t help but smirk at the gawking murder chicken. 

“That’s right bitch,” Robin said, smiling despite the pain as the blood ceased running down her arm.  Her eyes flicked down to the thin line cut into the beast’s gullet.  “Unlike you, I get better after I’m sliced open.” 

Sure, taunting the beast did nothing but bolster her own morale, yet that was what she needed when it was becoming increasingly clear that there wouldn’t be anyone charging over the hill to save them.

“Robin!”

She took a step to the side so she could keep the Wyvern in view and regarded the man that had called for her.  Donovan stood beside the horses, still pleading.  All the other healers had mounted up and several were already on their way.  They were fleeing at the first sign of trouble, not when they knew it was a lost cause. 

Cowards, one and all. 

If these were people—humans—they were fighting, they could probably manage to get away.  Adventurers hired to heal at a battle would be spared and their contract bought out in most cases, but these were beasts out for blood. 

“Go!” she yelled just as the Wyvern lunged.  Her spear flicked out, knocking aside the claw but at the cost of ruining her balance.  Thankfully she got her footing back before the damn lizard-chicken could do the same.  “These men won’t be enough to cover our retreat.  If we run now, we all die!” 

For all her snark, Robin knew how dire the situation was, and unwilling help was worse than none.  They could run, but she wasn’t about to roll over and die for nothing, not when there was still a chance. 

With a grimace, Robin’s former apprentice turned and began to herd the other healers away.  The once bright eyed boy spared one final look back, but she knew that this would be the breaking point of their relationship, assuming they both survived the coming days.

Another snapping lunge was sidestepped, and Robin sent a probing stab in retaliation.  Neither strike amounted to anything and the pair resumed their slow circling.  That finally allowed Robin to catch a glimpse of the other battle down the ridgeline, and what she saw was enough to take the wind right out of her lungs. 

The horde had broken the line, and were currently tearing into the backline support.  The leaders of their expedition were attempting to rally, and it looked like it just might work.  The numbers were in their favor, and the big one wasn’t anywhere to be seen.  That didn’t help her right that moment, however.  

As if the wyvern understood, it started making a rattling noise that was too much like laughter to be coincidental. 

“Yeah, you’re going to be chicken wings,” Robin muttered.  “With all the hot sauce.” 

The second wyvern perked up at her words, then hissed and charged towards her while ignoring the winded soldiers.  Cursing under her breath for tempting the Fates like that, Robin pushed a thrum of magic through her as she shut her eyes and let it free.  The drain nearly brought her to her knees, but the simple lamp spell could be overcharged to great effect. 

If that crafty bastard that taught it to her were still alive, she might have thanked him. 

Her eyes opened the instant she cut the spell, and her spear thrust forward despite her protesting limbs.  She screamed out, forcing everything she had into the strike, and nearly cheered when the spear bit into the wyvern’s neck.  She wrested it free as swiftly as she could, her tired limbs needing her to brace a foot on the bleeding beast to manage the task. 

Just as it popped free Robin was knocked aside by what felt like a rampaging…  Well, it was obviously the damn wyvern that did it.  She tried to move, but she was met with burning nerves that painted a pretty grim picture for her chances.  She began to channel healing power into the injuries, but there were so many and she was already straining just to manage that much. 

Her vision swirled as her head throbbed, but she could still make out enough to tell that the last wyvern was coming for her to finish the job it started with the rest of the adventurers.  Hell, it still had a bit of entrails hanging from its jowls from some poor sap.  It was almost funny how she’d been talking about eating one of the beasts and now this one was about to make a meal of her.  Yeah, that’s what she got for mouthing off when in danger, it never ended well.  She should have learned after pissing off that one muscled bastard, but he really was compensating for his tiny dick! 

Oh yeah, there was a snarling beast about to eat her, best to think of something pithy to say before she met the gods or whatever.

“I hope you get food poisoning.” 

Okay, so not the best last words, but she didn’t have it in her to be wittier about things, especially when the thing about to kill her wouldn’t appreciate them.  

Robin shut her eyes and said a silent prayer to whatever being cursed the world to be as fucked as it was, and promised that she would shove something up their ass for the trouble before they managed to send her to whatever eternal torment she had earned. 

Fucking hell, they would probably just send her back as a healer again, it wouldn’t be any different from damnation.  She considered keeping her eyes closed, but what the hell, if she was gonna get eaten, she was at least going to watch it happen for as long as she could. 

Yeah, that was a completely healthy thought… 

Right, dying, she should probably focus on that. 

The wyvern raised a taloned claw towards her, then was replaced with a shower of crimson speckled gore that rained down upon her.  First of all, neat.  Second, was she actually alive?  Well, plans change and all that, the gods could deal with her barbed tongue later, but what had saved—

Boots squished through the ruined body of the beast and Robin’s eyes fell upon their armored form.  Not a speck of skin shown as they stopped over her broken body and she could almost imagine the smirk on his lips under that damn helmet.  Sure, some of the metal was scorched, but nothing appeared to have been damaged beyond the superficial.  Grasped in one hand was a spear that put her pilfered trinket to shame, complete with an ornate gem affixed just below the head of the thing.  The other held a tower shield that looked more scrap than shield, yet it still held enough integrity to serve in a pinch.

“You did well,” The Legend said, his voice reverberating within the helmet.  He reached out a hand, the offer of help implicit.  “Rather impressive to see a healer do battle.” 

Robin’s heart fluttered at the praise and she let out a groan.  Just what she needed, a return of the gods-be-damned crush on the most eligible bachelor in the land short of actual royalty.  So, despite the pain she was still in, she took the man’s hand and apologized to her future self for having to deal with these stupid ass feelings that she now had to put up with. 

Again.