Ambushed

*One day till the Council of Kings*

He had left a day before in order to throw Averys off his trail. His party had come across a couple of monsters, but it was nothing they couldn't handle. Even if Averys sprung a surprise attack, Helios was more than ready to take him on.

Yam had already arrived in the Land of the Moon. He had taken extra care, choosing to use a longer route. Helios contemplated doing the same, but he wanted Averys to attack him.

Sol had advised him against it, urging him to avoid conflict until there was concrete evidence. Even as they journeyed, he sat beside Helios in his carriage, reminding him he'd need to keep his temper in check when they came face-to-face with the Crow King.

"You mustn't attack him when you see him," Sol said. "The Land of the Moon must not entertain bloodshed."

"Screw the rites!" Helios scowled. The Kings had agreed they would avoid all sorts of conflict as long as they were on neutral land. The Land of the Moon was supposed to be fight-free, a safe haven for anyone to run to.

"Do not stoop to his level, Helios."

Gritting his teeth, Helios felt his skin burning up. As much as he'd like to explode into flames and unleash his rage, he didn't want to kill his people.

"What will you have me do, then?" Helios slammed his fist into his thighs. "Sit through the council and listen to his bloody lies."

"Yes. For peace. You can take action after the council was been adjourned."

Helios laughed. Sol flinched slightly, shocked by the ugly, hateful sound that echoed inside the carriage.

"Fighting him now isn't wise, Helios."

Helios turned to face his friend. "He murdered Raijin. He killed one of us. Every single thing we fought for. Everything we've done up till this point, he's thrown it all away. I cannot just sit and listen to him lie about this. He must die."

Sighing, Sol shook his head. Helios scoffed and turned away. He understood what his friend was trying to say, but he just didn't care. Averys had bit more than he was allowed to chew. Someone had to put a stop to it at once.

The journey continued in silence, the only noise being the rolling carriage wheels. Helios could tell Sol was slightly annoyed, but he couldn't afford to care. He wanted to apologize, but that would mean he was agreeing to Sol's terms, something he knew he was never going to do.

Helios continued drowning himself in his thoughts, mudding through his murky rage. He would've gone on like that for the entirety on the trip if he wasn't interrupted by yhe carriage suddenly lurching over.

Letting his instincts take over, Helios enveloped Sol and himself in fire, reducing the carriage to ash in the process. Landing easily on the ground, Helios quickly got to his feet, scanning their environment.

To his left, he saw the coachman, a small, wiry man, sprawled across the ground with both horses that had been pulling the carriage dead on top of him. He dashed towards the man, hoping he could save him, but he slowed down almost immediately. The man was dead.

"What the hell?" Sol groaned, getting to his feet. "Where... What?"

Sol cursed, running towards the coachman. He pushed against the horses, forcing them off his body. "Can't you heal him?" He yelled at Helios, pressing two fingers against the man's neck.

"He's already dead."

"Yeah, I see that now," Sol grumbled. "What about the others?"

He had only carried a small force on the journey. Besides Sol and the coachman, three others had been escorting the carriage, mounted on horses. But now they were nowhere to be found.

"I'm afraid I have no clue."

Sol cursed again, this time slamming his fist against the scorched ground. Helios felt the same agitation building up in his chest. They were in an open field, with no trees, caves, or buildings in sight. So where the hell did his men go?

As quick as lightning, large talons swooped out of the sky, clawing at his head. Rolling away, Helios punched forward, releasing a stream of flames. It caught yje creature by its wing and sent it crashing down to the ground.

"It's a damn griffin!" Sol yelped, darting towards Helios. "No wonder we didn't hear them."

Helios scanned the sky for more, but there was nothing to see. "Gryffins could not have taken three of Ykurd's best fighters without them making as much as a sound!"

"Then what do you suggest happened to our men?!"

Helios said nothing. There was only one person he suspected, but he saw nothing leading to him. He looked around, desperately trying to find something. Anything that would make their attack make sense. The burning afternoon sun showed him nothing but his dead coachman and animals.

"What now?" Sol asked. "We're still a few hours away from the Land of the Moon. If we walk, it'll take much longer."

"I don't see another alternative, Sol," Helios replied.

Sol spat on the ground. "Averys is trying to tire you out before we get to the council."

"I suspect that's the case. He's the only one I can think of that can pull an attack like this." Helios clenched his fist, flames coating it.

"Why not just attack you direct?"

"Light versus shadow? I'll burn him to the ground," Helios chuckled. "He'd rather wait and kill me when I'm tired out."

"So we're playing right into his schemes," Sol concluded. "Would he really dare defile the neutral land?"

Helios looked at Sol. "He would do anything it takes to get what he wants. Anything."

Sighing, Sol crossed his arms. He knew the kind of man Averys was, but Helios guessed he didn't think the Crow King was as dishonourable as Helios made him look. If only he knew...

"What if we just headed back?"

"Then Averys will carry on butchering the other race behind our backs."

Sol frowned, looking defeated. Helios didn't blame him. Unfortunately, there was nothing around them that could assist them. His hatred for Averys only grew as they stood. When he saw the Crow, he would make sure he paid for everything he'd done.

"Well," Helios said, his back bursting into flames. Fiery wings unfurled, dropping fire on the ground as he stretched them out. "Let's be on our way."

Sol muttered a curse under his breath before he held on to Helios. Grunting, the Phoenix King shot into the sky, heading towards an event that would procure the greatest massacre Garnedal had ever seen.