The keeper thrashed around as he noticed the attack, but Ahri held on like her life depended on it. Her strength, however, was not nearly enough to stay put in her improvised piggyback ride. He reached for her hand to remove the cloth, still way more awake than she hoped for at that moment.
Ahri knew he'd take her down, so her last action before he did was to bring her left hand to his head, and smash the glass against his skull. The shattering sound filled the room alongside the sweet smell of Ether, but it wasn't enough.
"You scum witch!" The still very awakened man shouted. She had heard worst, but it didn't keep her from backing away from him on her butt until her back reached the cold bars of the cell. A little squeaking sound let her know that Leah was there, but from the ground, there was little she could do.
The tall figure approached her with slow steps, enjoying the view of his escapeless victim. Or maybe he was a bit dazed by the ether, but not nearly enough to keep him from killing her on the spot. His head had a large cut, and his beard was dripping the contents from the broken flask, which made the view even more terrifying.
Ahri wished she were brave enough to stand up and face her executioner, but truth was, she turned around right before he bent to grab her. That meant she didn't understand why the room became scorching hot and was bathed in light where before only a torch lit the place. She definitely missed when the baby dragon behind her spewed a large gush of fire right into her attacker's face.
What she didn't miss was the way the man's beard and clothes caught on fire, stimulated by the incredibly flammable liquid that she had just poured on top of him. But his screams were loud, and Ahri knew there was no time to dwell on her luck, or on Leah's incredible sense of timing. While the man tried to deal with his fire-induced haircut, Ahri grabbed the keys and, on her second attempt, opened the cell.
She had hoped the dragon would pass as a baby in her lap if she wrapped her around the blanket she brought. But seeing her this close, she knew it wasn't an option. She was simply too big.
"We need to get out of here," she whispered, feeling weird for talking to a dragon once again. She tried to lift the winged baby, but she was too heavy and squeaked when she touched one injury. "I'm so sorry! Can you walk? Let's lock this bastard here!"
With faulty steeps, Ahri helped the dragon to the stairs and pushed her up the slippery steps. The human torch had extinguished the fire, but his face was coming off of his skull, so there was no way he would come for them in the near future.
As they reached the sacristy, Ahri knew their problems were far from over. Two of the poisoned knights were waiting for them, and despite their unsteady steps and ready-to-puke faces, their swords were as sharp as ever.
"Oh no, the dragon!" The slurped voice of one knight broke the silence. Altered and slow. Maybe she could outrun them, but she knew Leah couldn't run. Besides, the devotes wouldn't look past a dragon walking through the cathedral's nave.
"It's not a dragon, it's just a child, you moron," mocked the other one. Jesus, could they be so utterly crippled by the jimsonweed that they'd mistake the dragon for a kid?
Ahri looked down to check on the baby, and couldn't help the shriek that left her mouth. Holy mother of Jesus. By her side stood a child no older than five, naked as the day she was born and with far more scars than anyone should bear in a lifetime.
"Leah?" She called, still unsure if she wasn't poisoned with alkaloids as well. When the little girl nodded, Ahri forced her wits to come back to her.
Damn smart girl, or dragon, or whatever the hell she was. Ahri grabbed the blanket from her bag and wrapped it around her, pulling the girl to her lap. She moaned in pain, but didn't cry, and Ahri thought she was the bravest kid in the world. The knights were too confused to react, and one of them threw up on the floor.
Ahri ran back to the nave as fast as she could, jumping over the body of the third knight. The prayers were already over and most people had come out of the Cathedral already, but the priests at the door dismissed her as a sickling mother with her child and she was allowed out.
They reached an empty alley after a couple of minutes, and Ahri looked around to see if it was safe to stop for a while. Leah was lighter in her human form – how weird was it she had a human form? – but still weighted too much for a seventeen-year-old to carry around for long.
She placed the kid on the stoned street, and as she squatted to her level, bile rose to her throat. Angry tears flooded her eyes as she noticed all the scars and bruises on Leah's body. Her green dragon form was injured, but against her pale human skin, every cut was painfully visible.
To make things even worse, the kid saw her distress and reached up to her cheek to comfort her. Jesus, the kid was locked up and harvested for blood and Ahri was the one crying.
"Hi, Leah. I'm Ahri." She tried to go for a soothing tone, but it was crooked and odd in her constricted throat.
"Ahli," she tried to repeat her name, but her voice was low, and her face contorted with concentration.
"Look, we are going to walk for a bit now. I need to get us somewhere safe to treat you properly."
Her brows furrowed, and her big green eyes squinted, causing Ahri to realize she couldn't understand everything she said. The girl was probably four or five, and spent over a year trapped in the crypts of the Cathedral, if her calculations were right. At least that was when the healing rituals began.
Ahri grabbed one of her linen shirts and dressed the girl, so she wouldn't go around wrapped in a blanket. Her heart broke when she heard the constricted pain sounds as the fabric touched her skin. She searched her bag for something to ease her pain, at least until she could properly treat the wounds. All she could find were opium poppy seeds, so she quickly calculated the dose for a girl this small and had her eat them.
"Thank you, Ahli"
Oh God, she was not prepared for that sweet little thing by her side. Ahri had no experience with children, and to be honest, she wasn't looking forward to having it. But at that moment, looking into the too knowing eyes of a scarred kid, she knew she'd do anything to keep her safe. She kept thinking about it as they walked side by side through the streets of Lightbridge, heading south.
The walk was long, and in a desperate attempt to ease her own mind, Ahri looked up to the sky. The weather was always pleasant in the north, but that day was particularly beautiful. Both suns were up in the sky, and Leah was looking around in wonderment. It must have been a long while since she last seen the sky.
That small distraction was soon replaced by anxiety as the pair reached the shady tavern in the last street. She knew she had to deliver Eleanor's message to the tall bartender with strange eyes. After that, only God – and her mother – knew what would happen.
The tavern's clientele was majorly composed of hunters that would go to the southern forest looking for prey and knights who patrolled the border. A few families and merchants were also present, probably coming from neighboring towns to trade on Lightbridge's prominent market.
The girls sat in one of the more private booths, hoping not to attract too much attention. Strands of Ahri's now brownish hair kept falling on her face, a constant reminder she was on the run. She assessed the staff, trying to figure out who was the man her mother said would help them.
She ordered food so they wouldn't stand out. Leah didn't eat like a regular child, but she'd pass as a misbehaved brat rather than someone unaccustomed to her human form. Her eyes were scanning the bar when a man's voice interrupted Ahri's thoughts.
"Help, he's bleeding!"
People were already gathering around the front door where two soldiers carried a limping man that bled profusely on the tavern's floor. He screamed in pain, and it seemed like the soldiers were carrying him in the worst possible way for his wounds.
Ahri's first thought was to stand up and help, but she didn't. Something seemed odd. It was an instinct she always relied on and had improved with years of practice. To notice the signs beyond the obvious, to listen to that unknown string that pulled her to observe instead of act.
With a furrowed brown and rising unease, she looked around to see if she could find a reason for that feeling. A booth in the left corner of the bar, two men looking around. They weren't bothered by the bleeding man, and Ahri felt a chill climb up her neck.
After that, everything was so blatantly wrong that she wondered how it took her so long to notice. Knights were trained in first-aid, they would never ask for help in a hunter's tavern. Besides, their stares were harsh, almost as if daring to see who would stand up to help the bleeding man. Ahri clenched her teeth and brought Leah closer, sickened by what she had understood.
"Ellie always said her girl was smart," whispered a tall man who served her a beer she didn't order.