Assistant to the Villain, #2
Apprentice to the Villain
by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Contents
Chapter 77
Overview
Trystan returns to the manor in the middle of a losing battle and discovers that the Valiant Guards are not only conquering the estate but also stealing the female guvre. His weakened magic leaves him unable to save her, deepening his sense of failure and revealing the enemy’s cruelty.
Gideon risks himself to keep the male guvre from being killed, but his act exposes him to execution as a deserter. Evie’s apparent arrival, marked by the dagger that saves Gideon, shifts the battle’s momentum just as Trystan’s forces are on the brink.
Summary
Trystan reaches the manor as the Valiant Guards are close to overtaking it. He jumps from Fluffy before the dragon fully lands and joins the Malevolent Guards, while Blade is responsible for getting Evie and the others somewhere hidden and safe. Trystan wants his allies beside him, but he prioritizes their safety over a battle that is already turning against him.
Trystan fights with fury, but exhaustion and his weakened magic limit him. The Malevolent Guards are outnumbered and forced backward toward the manor’s rear doors. When Trystan sees that the grate to the guvres’ enclosure has been opened, he realizes the Valiant Guards are targeting the creatures.
The Valiant Guards drop noxious smoke into the enclosure, use a large net, and haul the sedated female guvre out onto a cart. Trystan tries to reach her with his dwindling mist and physical force, but too many knights block him. The female briefly opens one eye and whines toward Trystan before she is wheeled into Hickory Forest, leaving him anguished and helpless.
The male guvre staggers out after his mate, still affected by the gas. Trystan sees a spear-loaded catapult aimed at him, but Gideon Sage reaches it first. Gideon tackles the knight operating it and diverts the shot; the spear still clips the male guvre’s wing, sending him crashing to the ground as the cart carrying the female and their unborn disappears into the forest.
The male guvre’s cry of despair affects everyone in the courtyard. Gideon is then knocked down and pinned by Valiant Guards, who call him a deserter and prepare to execute him for betraying the king. Trystan sends his magic toward Gideon, but it is too slow to save him.
Before the sword can fall, the attacking knight is struck in the back by a silver dagger and collapses. Gideon smiles and tells the surrounding guards that they have now met his sister, revealing Evie’s intervention at the critical moment.
Who Appears
- Trystanfights desperately at the manor, but weakened magic leaves him unable to save the female guvre.
- Gideon SageEvie’s brother; diverts a spear from the male guvre and is nearly executed.
- Evie Sageapparently intervenes with a silver dagger, saving Gideon at the chapter’s end.
- Female guvresedated, netted, and abducted by Valiant Guards while carrying an unborn young.
- Male guvrestaggers after his mate, is wounded by a diverted spear, and cries in despair.
- Valiant Guardsking’s forces overwhelming the manor, abducting the guvre, and trying to execute Gideon.
- KeeleyMalevolent Guard seen fighting and retreating as the manor’s defenders are pushed back.
- Bladetasked with landing Fluffy safely and keeping Evie and the others hidden.