The Crown's Entrapment

Meanwhile, making their way back home had been an easy affair for Calypso and Aurelia. After a fair bit of traveling, they finally reached the border between Ebodia and Cordon. It didn't take them as long as the first time they passed through there on their journey, but that didn't mean that everything from there on would be smooth sailing.

Indeed. Right when they least expected it, they found themselves ambushed by the worst group of people that they could've ever imagined would try and get them. Truly, fate had it in for them as Calypso cursed his atrocious luck.

[It's not your fault they came here, you know,] Axel pointed out.

[I know, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't have been careful,] Calypso inwardly growled. [They could've gotten the jump on us! I wouldn't have even caught them coming if it weren't for the downwind helping me pick up their scent!]

"Helion's here," Calypso growled as he halted his horse, then Aurelia who was right behind him as he raised his fist to stop the entire group.

"Helion? You mean-"

"Quickly!"

Without even thinking about it, Calypso turned his horse around and went into the nearest woods. Behind him, he let out a small sigh of relief as he heard Aurelia and her warrior-servants trail behind him. He knew that his mate still possibly had a lot of questions on her mind, but those didn't matter right now.

What mattered most was that they survived. Anything else would have to come secondary.

"Helion?!" Aurelia yelled out just behind him. "Helion's army got this near our borders?!"

"Look, I don't know how, but they're here!" Calypso grunted, his ears and nose working overtime to try and determine where exactly their enemies were currently going. "And I'm pretty sure they're specifically targeting us!"

There was simply no other explanation. They weren't traveling with anybody else nearby, and they were currently in the small buffer zone between Cordon and Ebodia that would serve as the perfect place for Helion to move around with a bit more freedom.

"Dammit, just when we're about to reach Cordon too," he heard Aurelia grumble under her breath. "Where are they?"

"They're just outside this forest, I think. We'll have to try and ride deeper before we think of our next move," Calypso replied, hoping that his senses weren't failing him. "Have your warrior-servants slow them down."

"Right!"

Hearing Aurelia's response, Calypso hoped that the two warriors that were with them would be enough to cover their tracks.

Gritting his teeth, the two of them used the cover of the trees to hide their attempts of escape, hoping that the thickness of the brush would at least help hide their tracks long enough to shake the enemy off their scent.

"They're getting closer!"

"What?!" Calypso yelped in surprise. He didn't hear the sound of hooves moving closer, so how were they gaining on them? "Are you sure?!"

"See for yourself!"

Turning his head around, his eyes briefly looked towards Aurelia's terrified face before he turned his gaze further back. His eyes widened when he saw a cloud of dust being kicked up into the air, the definite sign of a horde rapidly approaching them without even so much as a sound.

"What're we going to do?!" Aurelia asked in a panic. "We can't outpace them!"

Calypso hissed through his teeth as he rapidly went through his options. Clearly, the warrior-servants didn't slow them down. The forest wouldn't last for long, especially if it wasn't even slowing down their enemies' rapid advance. Looking down, their horses were also getting tired, having only been bred for traveling as opposed to being actual war horses.

In the span of a few seconds, Calypso got his answer.

"Get off your horse," he ordered, his tone taking on a more serious tint as he got off his mount.

"What?" Aurelia skeptically asked. "Why?"

"We'll use them as bait," he quickly explained as he helped her get down. "We'll be traveling using my wolf form for now. It'll be faster and quieter."

Seeing her nod, Calypso took one last look at their general area before enacting his plan. Hopefully, they've managed to put enough distance between them and the enemy as he gave both horses one painful lash. With a loud neigh, the two horses bolted away from them, possibly giving the enemy a false lead while they themselves went ahead in the exact opposite direction of the horses.

Without even thinking about what would happen next, Calypso shifted into his wolf form, his body taking on a sleeker and faster form before he anxiously waited for Aurelia to climb onto his back.

"Go."

Hearing her signal, Calypso burst forward, his legs rapidly moving to get as much distance between them and the approaching horde as possible.

[This is bad,] Calypso grunted. [I can feel them coming closer still.]

With his heightened senses, he could only listen and feel their surroundings as he ran. He knew that they would get caught at the pace that the enemy was going. And sure enough...

*RROOOAAAGGHH!*

Taken by surprise, Calypso could barely twist his body out of the way as a shadowy figure jumped out from the nearby tree. It went by so fast that he didn't even see what it truly was.

"Calypso!"

He heard Aurelia shout out to him in warning just as two more figures lunged at him from the shadows. This time, however, he was unable to dodge as he felt his stomach being slashed open.

"URK!-"

Hearing Aurelia getting hurt irked Calypso to no end. Raising his head, he could barely see the enemy descending upon her location. Normally, he would've already taken care of them, however, his own wound wasn't one that he could simply walk away from. He was bleeding, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to properly fight like this.

[But you can still defend her, right?!] Axel asked with a feral grin.

[Damn right, I can!]

Still in his wolf form, Calypso didn't care that he couldn't even properly see what he was getting into. Lunging ahead, he used his massive form to shield Aurelia from the coordinated attack, arrows, and blades digging into his flesh before he quickly took used his mouth to hoist her onto his back and bolt away.

"C-Calypso?"

He would've smirked at how Aurelia sounded, but with his wounds taking its toll on him, the only thing he could focus on was getting them to safety.

Stumbling onto what hopefully looked to be a hidden cave, Calypso limped before he fell on the ground, his ears still focused on trying to hear the army's location as they hopefully passed them by.

"Calypso, you're bleeding..."

Under normal circumstances, he would've been screaming out in pain right about now. However, seeing as Aurelia sounded so worried about him, he couldn't help but flash her a wolf-like grin as she hovered over him.

'Now that's a dramatic exit,' he inwardly chuckled before he completely passed out.