I steadied myself with my hand against the trunk of the tall pine I was standing on, looking around. In resignation, I glanced towards the gardens, where Kaan was accompanying Veth, the dog sniffing around eagerly. Then I shifted my gaze to one of the little clearings near the shore, where we practiced for our first flying attempts not so long ago, where now the slender figure of Yanka moved around.
I let my hand slide down the bark, spread my wings a little and let myself fall a few meters, before soaring into the sky above the forest. It verged on a miracle to spot anything between the mass of leaves from above. But then I noticed something in the corner of my vision... the brighter, vast stain of the enormous willow among the darker trees...
Yes, that was the place that has become so special to me just yesterday... but something was wrong. I frowned. I was getting a strange feeling while looking at the gigantic tree, like my subconsciousness was registering some important detail, but I couldn't define it. I flew towards it a bit, letting myself fall gradually and suddenly wavered in midair. I hastily beat my wings stronger a few times to steady myself. Then I understood. The willow's twigs weren't moving at all, despite the rest of the forest swaying in the delicate wind. Like there was absolutely no movement of air around that single tree only...
I lowered myself even further, urged on by the strengthening conviction sparked by the memory of Yanka's words... I split the green curtains carefully with a hand. I didn't see anything unusual, but I felt like something was lurking beneath the living canopy. Something alien and hostile... I wondered what my next step should be, when something caught my eye...
Right by the massive, dark trunk, there was a feather... a brown feather, so innocent, and yet so ominous...
I had no doubts about what happened anymore. I took a few deep breaths to calm down, separated the twigs further and folded my wings completely to fall into the gap.
I didn't have the time to look around, when I heard a deep voice: "So you have managed to find me..."
I glanced to my left. The man was standing just around the willows trunk, his exquisite, dark blue clothing not mixing into the green of the surroundings very well. "I didn't expect you here so quickly..." he spoke again, turning to face me. "How did you know?"
"Even if I told you, I doubt you would understand," I answered coldly. "A piece of advice though... if you want to fool a Disciple, then don't mess around with the movement of air."
"Oh? And why would you give me such useful advices?"
"Why indeed... maybe I'll think of an answer if you tell me what you've done with Sril first?"
"He's resting somewhere else right now... say, did I even introduce myself? My name is Carath..."
"I don't care, where is he?!"
"You're so impatient... he's close," the man made a slight gesture with his hand and suddenly the clearing underneath the willow disappeared, swallowed by darkness. Even so, I still saw the magician standing in front of me, clear and unfaded... And then, above the irritatingly restless beating of my heart, came the sound of waves, smell of water and a breeze that caressed my wings. The last thing to return was vision, and I suddenly saw the shore of the lake, a narrow space between it and the forest on its western side.
When I turned to face the magician again, he smiled and glanced to his left. I involuntarily followed his gaze and my breath got caught in my chest.
There was a big, mostly flat boulder right at the edge of the water, the waves breaking on it with a silent hiss. On the moist surface laid Sril, unmoving. There was a little crimson trail going from his right temple down his pale cheek...
I ran up to him and immediately put my ear to his chest. I closed my eyes in relief upon hearing the soft heartbeat and the breath that matched the waves... But it didn't manage to soothe the rage. "What did you do to him?!"
"I was merely defending myself," his irritatingly innocent tone didn't help matters. "He came at me with the sword..."
"Well I assume he had a very good reason for that!"
"It was him who attacked first," the man took a few steps in our direction. "And as you can see, he's still alive, so..." I felt an inner voice telling me, that it would be good to at least listen to what he has to say, but there was something that stifled it.
I suddenly realized that I've made a fatal mistake by letting this man get close to us.
But I had to suppress fear. I had to protect Sril, whatever that might cost me. I stood up, getting between him and the mage, feeling something, that was unfamiliar to me until now. Like the fury in my chest was helping to clear the mind. I rose my hands slightly, starting to summon fire. To my surprise though, the flame appeared belatedly, sparking strangely between my fingers. Upon seeing that I came to my senses. The memory of Yanka's words suddenly broke through the scalding anger...
"Really...?" I heard the stranger's voice and lifted my head. "You will just end up like your friend, wouldn't it be better..."
"It wouldn't!" I lashed the anger at him within my words for a change, so it wouldn't go into my magic instead and this time the flame sprang to life without hesitation. I sent it in his direction without thinking much... and realized my mistake a split second too late. There was a light forming in my enemy's hand as well, but a light of a different kind, something like wisps of pure energy circling his palm. He made a quick motion with his fingers and suddenly something akin to a mirror appeared right in front of him. I was only able to stare in terror, as my flames met the smooth surface, reformed into bright wisps as well, as if his magic was absorbing mine, and then it was hurled back at me with the full force of my own anger.
I instinctively shielded myself with my left forearm and wing, which wasn't the smartest decision either... Some nasty impulse ran through my body, spreading from the space just below the leading edge all the way to my legs. I bit my lip as I fell to my knees, holding my left shoulder with my right hand. It went completely numb, just as my left wing did, suddenly hanging at my side in an unnatural position...
"I like this trick, I admit..." said the mage as he came a few steps closer again, "but was it really necessary to force me to use it? Your wings are powerful, but as long as you're in my reach, they can only fly to a certain height... that is defined by me. So why don't you just calmly listen to what I have to say, since you're so conveniently immobilized?"
When I saw the mage raise his hand again, I just squeezed them shut, completely horrified, ready to give up...
... and then a familiar, crystal-clear ringing reached my ears from the direction of the forest. "Yanka..."
The silent prayer got answered... and there were a few things that happened almost in the same moment.
To my surprise, I noticed the man standing before me lowering his hand... then something red caught my eye between the tree branches slightly above his left shoulder. Next, I had to turn my head away, because a blinding red flash came from somewhere, but definitely wasn't caused by my opponent. When I was able to open my eyes again, I went completely speechless.
Yanka was standing between us, with her back to me and Sril, shielding us both with her own body. And...
... she had wings...
Majestic, deep-crimson at the top, fading to a pale scarlet further down, covered with gorgeous, ruby scales...
The man took a step back. He obviously didn't expect the third Disciple to appear right at this moment and completely out of nowhere.
"Leave," she said silently, but her tone intolerant of any objection. "If you value your life, leave and never dare to return to this place."
"Isn't that nice..." the mage's voice was calm again. "Now all of the Disciples have awakened. Still, I don't think you stand a chance against me, considering your powers have just started developing, so..."
Yanka just smiled mockingly. "Well, if you're prepared to have one or two things damaged in the process, I will gladly watch you test that theory..." She lifted her hand and traced a wide semi-circle above her head with it. Her fingers left behind an impressive arch of bright flames. They started flickering above her head, crackling menacingly. "Leave," she repeated.
The mage frowned, but didn't move. "How..."
"I'm sorry, that's not the answer you were supposed to give me!" with one flick of her wrist Yanka sent the flames flying his way before I could stop her.
And the same way it did tonight, a sudden wind picked up, causing us to shield our eyes from the frantically dancing leaves. When we looked again, the man was gone, one single brown feather remaining in his place.
Ignoring the still remaining numbness, I shakily got up and sat at Sril's side again. He was still unconscious, but somehow he just looked like he was simply asleep now...
"I think he will be fine," I felt Yanka kneel beside me and felt her delicate hand touch my shoulder. "Are you alright?"
Her gentle voice, completely devoid of the earlier anger, erased the last remainder of tension in me. I slumped, leaning my forehead against the cold rock by Sril's side, completely exhausted. I was almost ready to cry from the relief...
I just breathed slowly for a few moments, before speaking quietly: "Yanka..."
"Yes?"
"Just now... how did you... when...?"
"When did I suddenly develop to this level?" she asked gently, as if wanting to spare me the trouble of voicing my thoughts. "To be honest... the 'draconic' part of my nature has already awoken quite some time ago. Being a druid makes it easier for me to handle any kind of magic, so the magic of the Disciples quickly became something natural to me as well... still... even now I sometimes fear, that it might not be enough..."
"Then why..."
"Why did I keep it a secret? I wanted to use it as an element of surprise in case something like that just now happened... I suspected, that someone would be observing our actions and I wanted him to get an impression, that he shouldn't have a big problem with getting rid of us..."
"But... I don't think it was this man's intention to really hurt us..."
"Sorry?"
I suddenly felt Sril stir a little and lifted my head weakly. His eyelashes fluttered delicately and I finally saw those green eyes, with the shadow of unconsciousness dispelling from somewhere deep inside them.
My tired mind identified it as a sign, that everything was alright again. The last thing I managed was a faint smile, before my eyes slipped shut and I fell into an exhausted sleep, drained of any thoughts or visions...