Heir To The Iron Crown: Dyrith

41 - Fjörutíu og Einn

Expecting someone to not be upset over something that clearly upsets them is impossible. Telling someone not to cry over spilt milk is probably the worst thing to say to a person, at least in my opinion.

Because even though the milk isn't going to pour itself into the glass again, a person has every right to be upset.

Emotions seem easy to control when the subject in question is not you. But when you're the one suffering, the worst thing a person can say to you is, "Let it go. Cheer up."

Healing through loss is most definitely a difficult process, and a long one at that. Everyone heals differently, and you can't dictate how they should feel.

But that doesn't mean harming oneself or others is the way to go. Revenge is never healthy, and surely the path Bayo was on, wouldn't end well for him.

Bayo's brother, Femi, had died in battle, during which he could have died in any manner, but perhaps it was fate that he died at the hands of my mate.

Femi was Sgriosaire's toughest fighter, and Valente was ours.

There was no blame to go around. Sgriosaire attacked first, and both sides incurred casualties.

At that point in time, trying to explain these matters to Bayo seemed so far-fetched, even the idea in my head sounded insane.

Ima would agree.

The shock of finding out that Bayo was not only a pack member of Sgriosaire, but was also Femi's younger brother, never seemed to fully register, as I had other thoughts on my mind.

Presumably, just one.

Valente.

I could only think about my mate, and wonder how our powerful warriors were tied up and stared at their Alpha hopelessly.

Uselessly.

Any kind of reasoning would not work with this boy, and I couldn't sit around watching my poisoned mate slowly lose his life in front of my very eyes.

I scoured for options.

Ima was powerful, far more powerful than my own human form, but even then I wouldn't be able to take on the Sgriosaire and other pack armies alone.

I knew Quil was watching from a distance, but I wondered if she was powerful enough to help.

Whatever advantage I had as a Dryad was unbeknownst to me. I hadn't had much time trying to figure out how my 'powers' worked.

I couldn't will the forest around me to act in my favor. All I had learned was to accept from it, not to expect from it.

"He killed him!" Bayo said, bringing my attention back to him. "He killed him and showed him no mercy!"

He began to continuously kick Valente in the stomach, causing a sharp pain in my own, tears reaching my eyes.

"No!" I screamed, my arm extended towards him, just as a bright green vine erupted from the ground tying itself around Bayo's foot and yanking it, causing him to fall heavily on his back.

Everyone turned to look at me in surprise, a lot of them having a hard time figuring out what they had just witnessed.

They may think it was me that did this, but I knew it wasn't. It couldn't have been.

I knew Quil had helped, and I could still feel her presence, hidden and in waiting.

My backup.

Even though she had no reason to be.

Watching Bayo on the ground, struggling against the very alive vine, I realized Quil had bought me some time.

I glanced towards where I knew she would be, only to find her glaring daggers at Bayo's writhing form.

My headspace was cleared, and an idea made its way to the forefront.

An idea so desperate, I had to play it out perfectly for it to work.

I put my hand over my right pocket, and felt the shape of the small Haykadi vial underneath the cotton.

It's there.

I breathed out, and pulled the vial out of my pocket, my fingers wrapped around it tightly, just as Bayo finally managed to cut the vine off of him with the blade in his hand.

He got up, his anger evident on his face, his contorted features showing his loathing for everything that wasn't on his side in this strange forest clearing.

Unfortunately for him, his face turned to that of confusion the moment he saw me, or rather, my hand, palm facing up to show him the vial placed in it, identical to the one he'd just shown to me.

"What's that?" he asked, suddenly terrfied by the thought of his enemy possessing his worst weapon.

All I had was cloveroot, absolutely harmless. But he didn't know that, and that was good enough for me.

"It's what you have," I told him, placing the vial in between my index finger and thumb, shaking it and showing it to him the same way he had shown to me.

"Impossible," he said fishing out his own vial, taking a closer look at his bottle to compare.

I opened the vial slowly.

"I have no reason to live without my mate. I would rather die than-"

"No!" Bayo screamed.

Ah. He needed me alive.

Good.

I knew he probably did, his protest only confirmed my suspicions. If he had wanted me dead, he had ample opportunity to do so before now, yet here I was, threatening him with no one's life but my own.

I brought the vial close to my mouth.

"Let my pack members go. Let Valente go, or I'll drink this and this would all have been for nothing," I said.

"He's dead anyway," Bayo said, trying to maintain composure.

Trying to buy time to call out my bluff.

But I was unrelenting.

I needed to get Valente out of here and back to Fathilagt as soon as possible.

If Valente was poisoned by that Haykadi vial in Bayo's hand, the only two people that could save him now were Renee and Otto.

They could also figure out why the others weren't shifting, and why they weren't physically protesting in any way.

"You let him go, or I'll die too," I said firmly.

When I saw Bayo look unsure, watching Valente at his feet, surrounded by his bounty he'd now have to let go, I placed the opening of the vial on my lips, as if for good measure.

Just then, Alpha Alfie stepped forward, wearing the ever-present, evil-looking smile on his face.

His smugness bothered me to no end.

I was so focused on Bayo and Valente that I'd forgotten he was still there, watching.

Observing.

That was something he was very good at.

He walked up to me slowly, stopping before just a short distance away.

His eyes were lit up with mischief, and his smile was wide, almost creepy.

He looked at the tiny glass bottle in my hand, just before turning to look right into my eyes and ruining my entire plan.

His words were just above a whisper, yet I heard him loud and clear.

"Go on then.
Drink it."