Help!

Alaron hobbled along as best he could without the support of Dania or the halfling, the latter of whom was quickly darting away.

The Guardian's body hurt so much that it would have caused a lesser man to faint. He could feel the poison fighting against the magical water already in his body.

Right now what the Fates had given him was winning, but just barely. His non magical wounds were healing slowly, or at least that is what he was telling himself.

Alaron didn't have much choice but to believe. The woman beside him needed him. All that mattered to him was that Dania got to safety. He did not want to let Mairwen down...nor disappoint the beautiful woman currently stealing worried glances at him as he walked as quickly as his leg would let him.

"We can slow down and find a place to hide for a moment," Dania said with her eyes shifting between green and grey.

"I told you I am fine. I'm not a normal human, you know," Alaron had no idea why he suddenly felt defensive. He just didn't like the pity he felt coming from the person he just rescued.

"You are not a normal human, but you are human. Let me take a look at that leg..." Dania grabbed his arm as his step faltered, but the Guardian jerked away quickly.

"You can look at it when we get somewhere safe. Taran could wake any moment, and we are nowhere near far enough down the coastline. If you hadn't sent away Gandr, we would already be there." Alaron bit his lip. "I didn't mean that the way it sounded. I know why he had to go. It just makes things..."

"Complicated." Dania nodded.

"Just like everything else in my life." Alaron tore his gaze away from the woman and looked toward his goal. They were far from the tree line and even farther from the far-off outcropping of rocks which would be their sanctuary.

Alaron picked up his pace, pushing past the pain and tapping into his inhuman strength.

"Alaron," Dania called, her voice filled with worry.

Before the Guardian hated her pity, but her worry stirred something inside him that made him feel very warm. "I keep saying I am fine," he assured her.

"Not you, it's Taran!" Dania had been peeking over her shoulder repeatedly. Her constant torment from being Taran's captive had taught her to never turn her back on him. "He is waking up."

Although they were a long distance from the bat creature, one of Taran's wings had been jutting up above the many tents that separated him from the fleeing fugitives. But now it was gone. Which meant that Taran had been able to right himself.

And would be on the move any moment.

"Run!" Alaron wasn't sure at first where to run. The shore was open and easy access for the flying creatures. Even though Dania had warned them that Taran wanted to fly, both Renat and the siblings had deemed her success unlikely, especially with her stalling.

So avoiding an aerial attack had not been part of the tactics which Alaron had taken seriously. Even if he had, being able to move through the air when your enemy is earthbound is not something easily overcome. The Guardian needed to think quickly.

The solution he came to immediately made him shudder. No, it wasn't him, it was the ground which shook.

For at that moment Taran landed with tremendous force behind the pair of runaways, crushing tents about two arrow shots behind them. Having just awoken, he was still disoriented and uncoordinated, but it would not take long for that to change.

"Dania!" He roared.

The force of the crash knocked Dania from her feet. The woman felt paralyzed with fear. A sudden tug from the Guardian pulled her forward, forcing her legs to work as Taran recovered from his fall.

"None of your lollygagging," Alaron urged her. "We have to get to the water!"

The taunt helped Dania to shake off her terror. She launched into a full out run. Somehow Alaron was able to match her pace.

"The water? Do you mean to swim across the lake?! Or worse! Use that hideous satyr again?" Behind Dania's angry retort was a genuine question. If they weren't going to run down the shoreline--which would put her siblings in danger if Taran found the bunker--then what could they do?

Alaron coughed. His throat felt very tight but he ignored the pain and continued to run. "Polymedes is in an elven prison for now. I was thinking of a boat of a different kind..."

Dania opened her mouth to speak, but felt a rush of air behind her and instinctively fell to the ground. She barely missed Taran's reaching talons as he tried to pluck her from the ground.

The Guardian had felt the move as well, but had chosen to pull his sword rather than hit the dirt. The edge of his blade cut into Taran's leg, nearly severing his left claw from the monster's body.

The move did not come without cost. Alaron was hurled forward, taking out two tents as he was caught up in their fabric. The soldiers' tents had no solid furniture, so the Guardian rolled into a ball and was caught up like a swaddled child.

Badly injured, the bat creature screeched, his cry deafening Dania and her rescuer. Taran took to the sky momentarily to assess his wound, giving the woman a moment to check on her companion. He was nowhere in sight, but a wriggling mass of water-proofed fabric gave her a clue to his location.

She ran over to help him untangle. "Go on without me!" Alaron ordered her.

"I cannot. If you are proposing what I think you are proposing, it will require both of us to even have the slightest hope of working. Now get a moving on! No lollygagging!" Dania's fierce look as she untangled the knots around him made him wonder if she were repeating his words back at him out of anger or humor.

He smiled in spite of himself as he got the last cord free from his torso. Dania picked up one of the long wooden stakes with a determined nod. They set off again, watching the skies for another attack.

"Over there," Alaron pointed to a spot in the water. Peeking up above the lake's waves was a human-sized round tube.

Dania shook her head. "What you are suggesting is crazy," she said as unjudgementally as she could.

"Crazy times call for crazy measures..." Alaron was beginning to sweat from the exertion. Behind him, a trail of blood droplets scattered along the ground like bread crumbs. "What choice do we have?"

Dania had no response to that. There was no other option. What was worse, they had lost sight of Taran. He had flown into the sun and disappeared. A deep sense of unease settled between them as they grew silent.

Out of nowhere, a wolfish abomination darted from a tent. With a snarl she knocked Alaron to the ground. The crafty creature had woken but had decided to lay in wait for prey rather than seeking it out. With her slow, calculated breathing, the Guardian had not sensed her presence.

Alaron recovered and traded his sword into his cloak for a handful of muddy ground. As the wolf-woman snarled at him, the Guardian hurled the mud into her face. When she turned her head away, he hit her across her maw with a metal band wrapped around his knuckles. The wolf whimpered, her black eyes losing focus.

Before she could regain her wits, Dania shoved the tent spike into the wolf's eye. Reeling back, the creature roared, grasping at the offending object.

The female scientist pulled Alaron to his feet and the two began to run once more.

"Don't kill her. Let's go!" she said. The Guardian nodded. He had no time to finish the job, and even if he did, Alaron did not want to take the lives of more people than was absolutely necessary. They continued down to the shore.

Behind them, the wolf continued to scream and spout vicious threats, but for now, she had had her fill of injuries. Ambling off to tend her wounds, she was spared the fate of many of her comrades. At least for now.

When they reached the water's edge, Alaron spun around and scanned the camp. "Get inside! I'll be right behind you."

Dania waded into the water until it was chest deep. The front edge of the boat was just ahead of her, but she would have to swim to get it. In her dress, she was already feeling the weight of the water as it soaked into the thick fabric.

But she was so close. There was no stopping now. Dania kicked her legs and lifted her hand over head as she began her swim.

A shadow passed overhead. Dania gasped as a claw clamped around her raised forearm and lifted her dripping body high into the air. She cried out.

"Help!"