Chương 75: Chapter 74- A Timely Arrival

Boom. A fountain of splinters blew through the smoky air as the front door flew across the room, ricocheting off the bar counter to embed itself into the wall opposite with a crash. A brilliant emerald green and cobalt blue missile streaked across the room as Eli's opponent collapsed with a gurgle in a welter of blood as a young wyvern burrowed her fangs into his throat, and tore ribbons of flesh from his chest with her claws.

A roaring battle cry reverberated through the room as a giant bear of a man whirled through the room, limbs and blood flying as cleavers spun through the air, and Cooper booted a man into the wall. A stream of arrows arced through the air over Eli's shoulder one after the other as Sasha stepped through the doorway, squinting through the smoke in the air, each punctuated by a grunt or a gurgling sound.

Seeing that Cooper had the front of the room handled, Eli spun to check on Astra, not trusting the connection in his mind, wanting to confirm it with his own eyes. His heart buoyed with joy to find her, worse for wear and bleeding from a dozen wounds to match his own, but whole and gloriously alive and she wrenched the tip of her blade from the skull of one last man with a grunt. The radiant smile on her face made his heart sing, and they laughed together, and as one screamed a roar of victory.

Eli reached for her, and as he folded her into his arms he breathed deep. Past the blood, sweat, the burst intestines, emptied bladders and bowels, the choking smoke, and below the thick sharp musk in the air of the fear wafting from the piles of dead men, he could smell her. Sunshine and wildflowers. As the scent that so reminded him of hearth and home filled his senses as he blocked the rest out, he felt whole.

The calming feeling helped slow his heart and as the adrenaline fled and his pulse slowed, the room began to spin and, unbeknownst to Eli, the final point of his stamina ticked to zero. The enhancement the system had brought to his body left him, and his muscles sagged as the weight of the battle seemed to land on his shoulders all at once, he smiled one last time before collapsing at Astra's feet and passing out.

Cooper's POV Cooper grunted, wiping his cleavers on a rag from his belt before sheathing them and taking in the scene around him. The inn was well on fire and the whole place looked like a slaughter house, limbs and offal scattered everywhere and bodies stacked like firewood. He turned to his commander, " You all right there my Lady? What the-" He lurched forward to catch the lad as he collapsed at Lady Emberholdt's feet, but was too far away. He winced as the man's head bounced on the floor, " Is he ok?

Are you ok?" Lady Emberholdt smiled up at him, " Right as a hearth flame Mr Cooper! Well no, we both are about 10 steps from death's door, but we shall survive. Do not worry, he just exhausted his health and stamina, a little healing and he will be back on his feet." Cooper gave her bloodspattered visage a wary look, " As you say my Lady." He glanced around the place, easily two dozen bodies if not more, he gave a low whistle, " Feck me, just you and the Lad?"

Lady Emberholdt looked up from where she was crouched by Eli's body consoling the wyvern as Tiamat made a plaintive mewling sound, " He is all right Tia, just tired. You did good, you made it in time." She stood, grimacing as she gestured at the bodies of her guards, " Aye, they got the drop on Craft and Hastert, and damn near got me too if it was not for Eli. Blasted a hole in the man's chest before he did more than nick my neck." She stiffened and froze, " Wait."

She started shuffling around kicking around bits of broken furniture and fallen limbs, " Fuck." Cooper arched a brow, the Lady never swore, maybe once or twice in the entire time he knew her. He stepped forward, " Lady Emberholdt, this building is coming down any minute, we need to get you and the lad out of here and search the bodies for evidence before it falls in.

We came running like demons from the Abyss when Lady Tia started screeching up a storm and took off into the night, but if this place collapses on you Lady Blackhall will have my head." Lady Emberholdt continued to kick around the floor scrabbling for something, Cooper stopped nearby wringing his hands. His Mother told him to never put a hand on a Lady, Lady Emberholdt was nice but you just never knew with nobles.

Either way if she didn't leave he was going to have to drag her out, " My Lady, please just let me know what you are looking for and I will have the men retrieve it."

"We need to leave. Now." Lady Emberholdt huffed and shook her head, " No.' Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. She held up a hand as she continued to kick aside debris, "It is too important, just give me a moment, please." He sighed and waved at Sasha to fetch the rest of the men, and he watched and she made her way across the floor tracing their boot prints, until she reached the lad and rolled him over checking under him.

Something must have caught her eye as she opened one of his hands, and breathed a sigh of relief. She shook her head with a little smile before muttering under her breath, " Should have known he would not drop it." She rubbed the wyvern on her head, "Come on Tia, time to leave." Lady Emberholdt turned to Cooper, " Could you carry him for me please? I do not think I could lift a spoon if you put a blade to my throat much less this big oaf."

Cooper gave her a gentle smile as the ceiling creaked ominously, " Aye my lady, no problem." Anything to get her out the door. He gently scooped up the lad, after sticking his blades back in his sheathes for him, and since the Lady had already headed for the door, he figured a quick peek at whatever she had been frantically looking for couldn't hurt. As he uncurled the man's hand, he had to choke back a laugh as a grin spread across his face. Good on ya my Boy, Good luck and fair winds.

As Elias drifted back into consciousness, he ached all over and was consumed by thirst. He felt like he had run a marathon and then rolled down 20 flights of stairs. He swallowed thickly as his mouth was parched, and a soft familiar voice spoke, " You lost a lot of blood, so you will be severely dehydrated, hold on let me get you some water."

A set of light steps drifted away and came back and as he felt the mouth of a waterskin pressed to his lips, he gulped the cool fluid greedily before coughing and croaking out, " Thanks Astrid, where is Astra, is she all right?" A gentle laugh, " Aye she is, two peas in a pod I swear, all she did was ask about you too. She shouldn't be up and walking around, but she will be right back, your Tia chased off the moment you woke, and my gold is on her fetching the Lady."

He tried to open his eyes, but grunted as the lids pulled painfully." Now just hold on there, the dried blood is sealing them shut." A cool wet cloth was pressed to his face, and after a moment he took it from her and scrubbed the gunk from his eyes, before sitting up and looking about with a groan as Astrid protested, " Now see here, I thought you were one of the sharp ones, you're not ready to move around yet. It is an Ancient's blessed miracle you both are not dead as it is.

Eli chuckled, " Don't worry I'm not going anywhere, they are on their way." He was sitting on a patch of grass under the central grove as Astrid tended to him and a few unfortunate patients that Eli recognised as residents of the Inn. He looked over and found the place was still a roaring inferno, so he couldn't have been out long. There was a stream of soldiers hauling out bodies and laying them out in rows in the grass, and an impromptu fire brigade corralling the fire to save the neighboring building.

Given they did not seem to be putting much effort into putting out the fire, they must have written off the building already. Shame, the place was growing on me. Eli grunted and scanned the bodies and the patients, not finding who he was looking for, he coughed again and asked Astrid, " The Hostlers, did they make it out?" She smiled back at him, " Aye, from what I can tell the only deaths were the arseholes you and the Lady butchered.

Apparently the two of you were enough to hold the attention of their entire group, lucky for the rest of them." He let out a sigh, " Thank god, there was no way to make it into the kitchen to check on them, we were drowning in blood in there." Astrid snorted, " Please Eli, no one expects you to fight off a whole patrol with two people and still rescue the civilians, you did well. Now no more blood talk, there are children around." Brother. Brother!

Eli turned just in time to catch the Tia missile as she launched into his chest and wriggled into his lap trying to squeeze him to death with her little arms, while chittering a nonstop stream of chirps and trills. I brought sister-astra! I was so worried! I heard anger and blood and I was scared. I kind of yelled at Cooper a bit, well a lot, and then I flew so fast, and I could smell, fire, and blood, and soooo much blood.

But I couldn't get inside so I had to wait for Cooper, and he kicked in the door and I got the bad guy, but there was so much blood, and you were bleeding and sister was bleeding, and then you fell asleep, and then …. Eli laughed and snuggled the little wyvern, " Slow down Tia, I'm all right, Astra's all right, we are all right." He looked down and gave her a proud smile and she looked up at him with misty eyes, " You did so good Tia! You did the best you could and it was plenty."

She whimpered in relief and he shushed her and stroked her spine, as a familiar voice approached and chimed in, " That is right little Tia, the hero of the hour, saving the day in the nick of time." Eli smiled as he looked up into the face of a tired Astra smiling down at him, the joy in his heart swelling anew as he felt the gentle warmth in the back of his mind glow a little brighter in response. He reached up to squeeze her hand, " It's good to see you." She smiled back, " Aye, it is good to see you too."

They gazed into each other's eyes for a long moment, reveling in the newfound sensation of the other's emotions, before a shout in the distance led Astra to break the gaze with an exasperated sigh, " Sorry Eli, I need to get back to the search efforts. There is no one missing, but we need to check through the bastards to see if we can figure out who they are and where we can find them." She tossed a scrap of cloth in his lap, and he swore under his breath after unfolding it to find a familiar sigil.

Astra gave him a sad look, " Aye, my thoughts exactly." She turned to look behind her for a moment before turning back, " I need to go take care of a few things. Do not go anywhere you still owe me dinner, and I intend to collect." She stopped for a moment to give him a smirk, " Probably the worst first date ever." Eli grinned and gave her a wink, " Maybe, but the company was excellent. Probably the best dancer I've ever met."

Astra barked out a laugh, before wincing and gripping her ribs, " Shameless, I will return." Eli watched her limp off for a moment, Eh it wasn't too bad to start with. As he thought back through the events of the night he bolted upright, he started checking his pockets, running his hands all over his clothes in a panic, before he heard a small noise behind him. Eli turned and Astrid reached into a pouch and handed over a cloth wrapped bundle, he opened it and sighed in relief as Astrid laughed."

Cooper said to hold onto that for you with his regards, and that he wishes you the best of luck." Eli smiled, " Thanks, but I think I may not need it."