Tybolt grabbed the second wizard and yanked his arms behind his back, placing the cuffs on his wrists. The wizard began to mutter and Tybolt could feel the sting of magic roll around him. It didn’t matter if the wizards were aware that he was immune to their powers—they always tried anyway. And then they would try to spell the environment.
“Auriella,” Tybolt shouted. “A little help here!”
The wizard was still muttering and a loud crack echoed through the forest. Tybolt looked over his shoulder and leapt to his feet as a large pine careened towards them, it’s limbs snapping off as it crashed through the surrounding trees. Tybolt grabbed the wizard and threw him out of the way first, diving after him.
The pine slammed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dirt and pine needles. Apparently the wizard would rather be crushed to death than go to the Hold—can’t say that he blamed him.
The wizard squirmed forward on his belly like an inch worm, his mouth moving.
“Oh no you don’t.” Tybolt grunted. He threw himself on top of the wizard, pulling the gag from him back pocket.
“Tybolt!” Auriella’s voice rang through the trees.
The Wizard jerked his head to the side, looking for the owner of the voice, his lips moving again. Tybolt shoved the gag in before the he could finish whatever spell he was attempting.
“Over here,” Tybolt shouted back.
The man groaned and writhed beneath him, trying to buck Tybolt off, but it was too late. The Iron cuffs were restricting his magic and the gag prevented him from speaking enchantments—the wizard was just an ordinary man now. And Tybolt was a Hunter—stronger, faster and born to fight wizards.
Leaning back on his heels Tybolt coughed into the crook of his elbow, trying to free his lungs of the dust and dirt he had sucked in.
Auriella dropped out of one of the overhead branches with a flip, landing neatly on her feet. Straightening she looked at the fallen tree and then to Tybolt. “What happened here?”
He swiped his arm across his mouth and raised his eyebrows. “I was almost crushed to death. Thank you for your concern.”
“Hmm.” Auriella smirked. “I am glad you survived.”
“Clearly. Did you get him?”
“No. I don’t know what happened. He just—vanished.”
Tybolt felt the wizard beneath him relax. The traitor’s son had escaped. “Spawn of Asa,” he swore. “They can’t just vanish, Auriella.”
“I know that,” Auriella snapped. “One minute I was chasing him, and then next minute he was just…gone. I moved to the trees to check the area, but there was nothing.”
“It looks like we are stuck bringing back two instead of three. The King will be thrilled.”
“We wont tell him. Where is the other one anyway?” Auriella asked, looking around.
Tybolt jerked his head in the direction he had left the first wizard.
She leapt over the fallen tree whose trunk stood taller than her with no more effort that a normal man would have hopped a stream. She poked her head back through the branches dangling a pair of cuffs from her finger
[DW1]
. “Speaking of vanishing, it looks like yours just did.”
“Blood and bones! After he tried to kill us both with that tree he was chanting—he must have spelled those cuffs right off the other one.” Tybolt stood up, jerking the wizard to his feet. The man fell as limp as a rag doll—refusing to help his captures return him for the King’s punishment.
