The Kidnapped Prince

Wyverns

Bad luck, indeed. Sir Bedivere's last words before the company began riding no sooner left the knight's mouth when an ear-splitting screech cried out. The company of knights, ladies and squires leap upon their horses and begin riding hard.

With any luck, they will make it out of this unscathed. But this is not such a day for luck.

The company has to stop every so often to let the horses breathe and drink. And when they rest, wyverns swoop down. Screeching and clawing at the company. It's not until Lady Rhoslyn scares off the third wyvern with her staff that the company clue's in that they need light to fend off the winged beasts.

Then they realize the wyverns only attack at night or dusk. Rarely has one attacked during the day when the sun is semi-bright. The company adjusts and ensures they have torches on hand in case of an attack.

Their strategy seems to work. And it does for a time until the wyverns become smarter. Start employing tactics a trained grand master would think to use. They begin blowing out the fire with their wings. The same can be said for campfires.

SCREECH

The company jolts awake.

Lady Rhoslyn scrambles to find her staff in the pitch black of night. Not even the embers of their fire provide light. Lady Rhoslyn stumbles to her feet and concentrates on lighting her staff up. The crystal flickers. Another few moments go by, and the crystal erupts with a blinding light before flickering down to candlelight.

A wyvern screeches, beating its wings to back off. The knights take a breath. Then the damned beast flies back around. This time with a friend.

Sir Bedivere yells for Lady Alys to get the torches lit. The younger lady gets to work. She grabs the flint and steel from her pack and begins trying to light a torch. Out of all the knights, she's had the most luck lighting the fires hence why it's her job.

With a torch-lit, she manages to easily light two others. She passes one to Sir Percival and Galahad. Lady Alys unsheaths her sword and swings the torch at the low-flying wyvern.

As chaos continues to erupt, Lady Rhoslyn keeps concentrating on making her magic flow. The young lady steps out of the way of a swooping wyvern. She jabs it with her staff. Magic flowing to the end and blasting the wyvern. The winged beast goes crashing into trees. It doesn't get back up.

The dead wyvern's mate backs off the second Lady Rhoslyn is able to stabilize her light in the staff. The knights relax momentarily. Then they wonder who was on watch.

"Lady Rhoslyn, Sir Percival. You were on watch," Sir Bedivere rounds on the knight and lady. He's not about to hold back because she's a woman. Oh no, not after the company almost died. "How did this happen?"

Lady Rhoslyn grits her teeth to keep her words inside her mouth. The torches flare with the sorceress's emotions.

"It's not Rhoslyn's fault she's ...how did we fall asleep?" Sir Percival starts but ends with a question. As if unsure how. This has never happened to him before. He's stayed up on countless watches before. This shouldn't have been a problem.

The commander has stayed up with less sleep the previous night several times before. Even Gahris has done it, and he's not yet a knight.

Lady Rhoslyn yawns as she speaks. She leans on her staff for extra support. "All I remember was talking about...courting and who we think should court. The next thing I know, I'm waking up to screeching,"

The young lady glances at Sir Percival briefly. She darts her eyes away when she makes eye contact with the knight.

"That's pretty much how I remember it," Sir Percival nods. Lady Rhoslyn's recount is pretty much how he remembers it, even if she flubbed who they should court.