The War for Eventyr

27 | The Fall of Eventyr

Trygve knew the Leafborn's improvised army had been split in two. According to Ormr, Har would be headed to the perilous cliffside border to face off against Shadowborn warriors, ones far more prepared for the fight. He couldn't go and help him, not at the same time as searching out the landbridge.

Stopping in his tracks, the moonlight glared down at them through the barren branches. Dagny nuzzled him, an understanding nod proceeding all words. She was selfless, brave. She didn't hesitate to help him fix the mess he'd made. A true hero. His heart panged as he uttered the same words his mother had told him, knowing he wouldn't be able to live with himself if she didn't make it back safely. "Be careful."

She rolled her eyes and scoffed, taking off across the woods in the opposite direction. Trygve turned his eyes to mountainous wall towering on the other side of the Leaf Skulk, the side that looked over the fjord, but not without a rocky and dangerous climb. According to the bits and pieces he and Dagny gathered from Ormr's words, the covered entrance to a secret pathway connecting it to the Shadow Skulk lay somewhere along the stone.

The night dragged on as he raced along, ever slowed by his throbbing injury, and his eyes searched through the darkness. A soft pink hue touched the ground beneath his paws, dawn peeking over the horizon. Black clouds still swirled in the sky. The wind had stilled, the thunder had ceased, but an eerie thickness still hung in the air.

And finally, he found it. A small tunnel hidden in the crevice of the rocks, and he squeezed through it, just big enough to fit a single fox at a time. Passing through a dark cave, he hobbled toward the open ring of light on the other side. In the fading moonlight, glinting waters stretched along the valley in both directions, and a horrible growling sound met him from the front.

A mass of bristling, snarling and thrashing fur crowded the land bridge. His eyes focused on the limp and lifeless forms in between the paws of fighting foxes. But he shut it out, and he took a deep breath. He had to be brave. He had to stop this.

Trekking forward, careful to duck past snapping jaws and flying claws, he made it to the center of the fight. There, he saw them, an icy blue-furred fox locked in battle with Ormr. He only guessed that it could be the Shadow Queen. And not far from her tail were more pale foxes. His gaze met one with a single, bloodied eye, and he traced the newest scars on her muzzle with a bristling anger.

Baring his teeth, standing up as tall as he could on his long and clumsy limbs, he shoved between the two skulk leaders. Trygve faced them both with a fierce glare.

"You have to stop this, Ormr!"

His eyes widened in disbelief. "Trygve?" A glint of fury flashed in his gaze, scanning Tree's injury then the look of sheer determination on his muzzle. He shook his head. "Get out of the way, kit," he snarled. "You don't know what you're doing."

The Shadow Queen scoffed from his other side, her breathing labored with exhaustion. Blood dripped from wounds in her pelt. "Letting children fight your battles now, are we Ormr?"

There was a mischievous snark to her tone, at the same time scornful and teasing. Like the two foxes knew each other.

Ormr growled again. "You can't stop this, you naive fool. This battle's been brewing longer than you've been born. Laine's always had it coming."

A hum of confusion filled Trygve's throat, and he watched the queen's muzzle sink, a look of guilt twisting into a scowl.

"You're one to speak about children," he sneered, "when Skadi there has fought your battle so far. And your own kits, well they're hardly the image of perfect." He cocked his head and stalked closer, shoving Trygve out of the way. "Do they even know? That their mother is a fraud?"