Page 37 of An Arrow to the Heart

The night had fallen deathly still.

They were all dead.

All of them.

The men who’d threatened their lives only seconds ago, now all lay in piles on the ground. Nothing more than charred remains, the mountain breeze already carrying the ash into the wilderness.

The only thing on his mind now was Sylvie, and his eyes searched the area for the dragon. As he looked to his left, he saw her there beneath the trees. It was the Sylvie he knew, she was in her humanoid form, standing on the moss-covered forest ground, entirely naked.

He raced toward her and without an ounce of hesitation he threw his arms around her, bringing a hand to her face, caressing her, carefully checking her for injury before he kissed her.

“You are so incredible,” he whispered against her lips.

She was shivering now, and he suddenly remembered where they were as he pulled his overcoat off himself, biting down at the pain of his shoulder at the movement. He placed it over her, placing his scian in her hand as he told her to wait there whilst he scanned the area where the horses had been for their rucksacks. Thank the mother they hadn't yet attached them to the horses before the ambush, for the horses were long gone. He grabbed them, slinging them over his good shoulder. He needed to get them out of here before the auction ended and the alarm was raised. To his surprise, the sound of the events that had unfolded outside hadn’t reached the inside hall, where the others had been gathered.

He got back to Sylvie, who had remained exactly where she was overlooking the charred remains. She looked as though she was in shock, he wasn’t sure how to help her with that, but he’d figure it out. Right now, they needed to go, “come on, we need to get out of here,” he said, taking her hand gently and nudging her to follow him into the darkness of the woods.

They walked for what felt like an eternity, the only source of light the moon that shone high above them. He wanted to get her as far away from the outpost as possible. His gut told him that once those gathered for the trades came to realize what had happened, they’d scurry back to their hiding holes. Afterall, they were all out for themselves, they wouldn’t be bothered about anything but their own safety. Still, as a precaution he led them away from the roads that led to the outpost. The terrain was tough going, and he worried for Sylvie, walking on her bare feet but he felt they had little other option.

He spotted a small clearing just back from a stream they’d just crossed, it looked as though it had been used as a campsite by wanderers in the past. The moonlight illuminated the damp pine needles, moss and bracken that lined the forest floor, as though inviting him to rest there. Ardál thanked the heavens as he got to work setting up camp. He left Sylvie sitting, still stunned in silence on the mossy ground. He managed to scurry together some dried wood and bark, and began building a fire. The heat from it was a welcome respite.

The injury to his shoulder was increasing in pain, he’d snapped the ends of the arrow earlier with the intent on delaying his need to tend to it. The ache served as a constant reminder but he pushed through to set up the small tent he’d packed with him. In instances like these he was glad to always be prepared, not that he’d ever been in circumstances like these he chuckled to himself. Because if he didn’t laugh, he’d cry. He was relieved to find that Sylvie had packed similarly, in preparation for the unknown as he took out her clothes and brought them to her.

“Get these on you and come closer to the fire, we’ll have you warmed up in no time,” he said, his tone soft and gentle. She did as he said, usually he’d be sad at seeing her putting clothes on but in this particular instance he felt nothing but relief to see her finally becoming more lucid as he brought one of the unfurled bedrolls around her.

Feeling as though she was okay for the moment he decided to take a minute to rest before tending to his wound, he was sure Sylvie would have packed all sorts of supplies he could plunder but he winced at the pain of his shoulder.

“You’re hurt,” she said suddenly, her eyes trained on him. She studied him intensely, her face carved with worry.

“It’s nothing,” he said, lying of course as it hurt like a bitch and it was taking all his might not to weep before her.

“Is that an arrow sticking out of your shoulder?” she demanded, her eyes widening.

Ardál grimaced at the mention of the arrow but stayed silent for he didn’t want to lie to her.

“You are such a fool,” she said as though she suddenly remembered all that had happened in the last hour, her tone much more like the one he had become so used to as she rushed over and knelt before him, “you threw yourself in front of an arrow.”

“It was aimed at you. I’d do it again.”

“You know arrows can’t penetrate dragon scales right?” she said with a soft chuckle as she brought both her hands to his face, the softness of them had him leaning into her touch.

“Well, no, I didn’t know that. Though I guess that makes sense….,” his thoughts began to trail before he caught himself, continuing, “still, I’d happily take an arrow rather than see you hurt. Even if the arrow bounced straight off you.” He began to laugh, and she joined him.

“I really am a fool aren’t I?”

“You are, but you’re my fool,” she said softly then kissed him. And all the pain in the world didn’t matter then because he was hers.

“Now, let me have a look at that shoulder will you.”

He relaxed his shoulders and winced as he sighed, “alright.”

She treated his shoulder swiftly and gently, just as she had his knee, “you were lucky, it went cleanly through, not hitting anything major. It should be okay.”

“I am lucky,” he said so low it was almost a whisper, “I’m lucky because an arrow in the knee led me to you.” he said before kissing her full of longing.

He pulled away, placing his hand along her jaw, looking into those beautiful eyes as he said, “I love you Sylvie. Anytime I close my eyes it’s your face I see, you are the air I breathe, I don’t want to be apart from you. I want you, all of you. Because I’m so in love with you and I have been for a while now.”

He couldn’t not say it to her, he couldn’t hold back how he felt any longer.