FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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CHAPTER 11

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My night with Travis ended as memorable as my first time. Neither of us got much rest, and both of us were exhausted and spent by the time we couldn't get it up any more. We managed to get a couple hours rest before the sun inevitably rose. The inn where we had stayed had a bathing chamber in the basement. Before any of the other guests woke up we headed down there to get washed up. The inn kept the tubs full of warm water in the morning so that guests and staff could wash up before leaving. The badger whose job it was to do this greeted us with a friendly smile as he hefted bucket after bucket of warm water over to the six baths.

The tub was deep and long, the water caressed my scales as I sank into it, finding its way into all the nooks and crannies of my body. Before hopping into his own bath Travis helped me to bathe. Taking a soap stone and scrubbing my back. It felt nice to get clean. Once we were both clean we said goodbye to each other. Travis headed home to spend time with his mate and I headed to the dining area for some breakfast.

The inn was quite at this time. A few furs who worked for the inn were busy going about their duties. Most of the other guest had yet to rise from their beds. Around the time I finished eating the others appeared and sat down at the table with me.

"Good morning Young Master!"

"Morning." I replied.

"Smells good in here!" Mantou grinned as he took his seat. "I'm starving!"

"Order what you want. This will your last chance for a home cooked meat for a while." Malnark said.

"Jovani is an excellent cook though!" Loire chimed in.

"Why thank you." Jovani bowed his head slightly in thanks. "But what I am capable of making is limited lacking a proper kitchen."

Once the others had eaten Malnark paid the bill and we prepared to depart. The drake from the store yesterday would be delivering our supplies shortly. We needed to get to the wagon and load our supplies. That wouldn't take long, and the others didn't need me to do that. I had something to do before I left.

"I will meet you later."

"Young Master?"

"What do you mean?!" Malnark barked.

"I have something I need to do before we leave." I said.

"You were the one who has been insisting we make haste!" Malnark argued.

"This won't take long." I assured him. "You should make sure that the wagons are ready to go at once!"

"Humph!" He huffed in annoyance. "I can't stop you. But I'm not happy about this!"

He may not be happy about leaving them to prepare for our departure without me, but I needed to go and see Zalamar. I had chickened out before. This time I would face him and free myself of the burden of that failure. I didn't expect him to forgive me. But I had to do this! And so here I was. Standing outside of Zalamar's restaurant. The place was busy as it always was. Furs coming and going constantly. I think he understood that what ever I was going to do could end in trouble.

I joined the queue of furs who were waiting to order. The place hadn't changed since the last time I was here; promising the drake I was about to meet that I would protect Rose. I can only imagine how he would react to seeing me. Most of those scenarios did not end well. But I needed to do this! Perhaps it was selfish of me. I had no idea of how seeing me would affect the drake. Feelings he had finally come to peace with would likely be dredged up and cause him some pain.

But making peace with him, at least conveying my deepest apologies to him was a step I needed to take in order to settle these emotions of guilt I felt over her death. I hadn't killed her, but in loving her I had reaped the vengeance of the drake who also claimed to love her. He was spiteful enough to ensure that if he couldn't have her then no one else would. She had been nothing more than a possession to him!

As the last fur ahead of me stepped away Zalamar looked up and smiled at me. He didn't recognise me with my hood up. His soft welcoming smile made what I was about to do that much more difficult.

"Greetings traveller! What can I get for you today?"

I lowered my hood and stared him in the eye. I saw the twitch of recognition, the slow fade of his smile into wide-eyed disbelief. I saw him reach for the knife next to him the moment before the snarl of rage contorted his muzzle. I took a step back, unnecessary as the swipe of the knife would never have struck me. But it was a sign of submission. I needed to convey to him that I was not here for a fight and standing my ground would not achieve that.

Everyone in the room with us was now staring as the usually calm and friendly Zalamar was threatening someone with a knife. No one moved to intervene. They were either too scared or stunned by the scene to be able to react.

"YOU!" He snarled. "How... why!?! I don't know how you can even dare to show your muzzle here after what you did!"

He came from behind the counter which had separated us and was now standing a few paces away from me. Nothing now obstructing his path to me as his paw clenched tightly to the blade in his paw. He was literally shaking in anger. The look in his eye... he wanted me dead.

"I came here to apologise!" I explained.

"You think you can apologise for what you did! YOU GOT HER KILLED! YOU PROMISED TO PROTECT HER!!!"

He took another swipe at me with the knife in his paw. It was easy enough to avoid and the furs in the room with his were keeping their distance. The way he was swinging that knife around meant that anyone who tried to stop him now would likely get cut in the process. He was completely consumed by his anger right now! I hoped he would tire himself out so that we would be able to talk. It was obvious that he wouldn't be able to forgive me now. But I would at least say what I needed to say to him and be on my way.

He lunged at me with the knife. I stepped to the left and his blade struck the door frame. As he pulled the blade free I slipped outside. There was more room out here and it was less likely that someone would get caught in the middle of his rage fuelled frenzy. Should I disarm him? I could do so easily. He was not a trained fighter; his attacks were driven by anger and were clumsy.

"WHAT IS GOING ON OVER HERE!?"

I looked over my shoulder from where the voice came from. Quickly approaching were two furs, a Zangarian and a leopard who were wearing armour bearing New Zangars colours and symbol. Shit this was all I needed!

Behind them were four other dragons, their distinctive blue scales and sturdy build reminded me of the only other dragon I'd ever met who shared them. Vireon, the bastard drake who had killed Rose! Their armour was different from that of the Zangarians and the leopards. That likely meant they were Archilles dragons from the desert region to the North-West.

"CAPTAIN!" Zalamar pleaded. "It's him! He's the one who killed my Rose!"

"Rose!?" The Zangarian slowed and looked me up and down. "Do you understand what he is accusing you of?"

"I do." I nodded.

"Well then you will be coming with us. We have some questions for you."

He reached out to grab my arm but I quickly spun, ducked and leapt between the two of them before they could react and came to a stop a few yards away. My sudden action had surprised them and they both drew their swords from their hips.

"I'm afraid I don't have time to answer your questions. I came here to talk to Zalamar and then I will be leaving the city."

"I won't be allowing that. If you run I will sound the alarm. All traffic in and out of the city will be stopped. You won't be able to escape!" The Captain barked. "Now come quietly, and if we find that you are innocent of any crimes then you will be permitted to leave."

"I'm afraid I cannot comply." I apologised. "I have urgent business I have to take care of."

"Then we will have to detain you by force!"

The leopard was the first to attack. I leapt back to avoid the slash of his sword but as he raised his arm to take another swing I dashed forwards, grabbed his sword arm and twisted it in an unnatural angle. He cried out in pain but let go of his sword before I snapped any bones. Once his sword clanged loudly against the hard stone paving I struck him across the muzzle and flipped his him head over heel onto the flat of his back.

It was at this point the Zangarian Captain stepped in. I sidestepped his attack, grabbed his arm with my right and elbowed him in the head with my left, kicked the back of his knee and then punched him in the side of the head. He fell to the ground and groaned. The leopard scrambled up to his foot-paws again and attempted to catch me from behind. As he tried to grab me I spun to the side, slipping out of his grasp, and as I spun I leapt into the air and kicked him in the muzzle with my right foot-paw. His armour rattled and clanged loudly as he hit the ground.

I looked over at Zalamar who flinched in fear, dropping the knife he had been holding. I could sense the eager blood-lust of someone from behind me. I turned and located the source. It was coming from the biggest of the Archilles dragons who were standing and watching. The other three looked like they were escorting him. He was huge! At least eight foot tall and the quality of his armour told me he was someone of importance. Jovani had mentioned hearing a rumour about a party of Archilles dragons being in town for war talks. The wolves hated all dragons, not just Zangarians. It made sense that they would be causing trouble for the Archilles dragons to the North as well.

"General Kumar Sir!" One of the drakes with him exclaimed as the massive drake stepped forward to meet me.

"Stand down! If any of you interfere you'll regret it!" He barked at them. The three warriors looked dejected and powerless to stop him.

I turned to face him and saw the crude smile on his muzzle. That smile was all I needed to know about this drake. He enjoyed to fight! His movements and demeanour showed his confidence about entering a fight with an unknown opponent. And after watching me deal with the two warriors behind me I had earned his attention.

He carried a massive lance across his back. Once he came to a stop a few yards away, pulled the lance from his back and rested the butt of the weapon against the ground and held it upright; it was as tall as he was. He was challenging me. If I drew my weapon I would be accepting the challenge.

"General Kumar!" The Zangarian Captain grunted behind me as he shakily pushed himself up from the ground. "You cannot put yourself in harms way! Let our soldiers deal with this!"

"I'm not doing this for you!" He smirked. "This is the first chance for some fun I've had since leaving home. I'm not going to pass it up."

He wasn't going to let me walk away from this fight. This was some bad luck! If I had just waited a few more minutes before going to meet Zalamar... no. There was no point dwelling on that. What's done is done and I was going to have to deal with this.

"I don't have any issue with you!" I declared.

"Fight me!"

"Why?!"

"You're strong. I'm strong. I want to find out which of us is stronger!" He grinned, beating his chest with his free paw.

There really was no getting out of this. It wouldn't be long now before another Zangarian patrol would come along and then things would really get out of paw. Should I run? But I hadn't managed to speak to Zalamar yet! I glanced over to the the doorway of his restaurant. He was still standing there, watching the scene play out. I turned to face Zalamar, the moment I did I heard the subtle chink of steel on stone. Instinctively I leant back and narrowly avoided being run through by the massive weapon!

Seeing I had somehow avoided his attack, he swung the weapon at me and attempted to use it as a club. I back flipped, the weapon passed over me. I back flipped a total of three times, creating some distance between me and the over sized drake, and landed in a crouch. As I looked up I saw him leap into the air and attempt to skewer me from above. I rolled out of the way, his weapon pierced the stone paving slab; turning it to rubble. He was faster than what I'd normally give someone his size credit for. But I was used to fighting opponents faster than him!

"You're quick!" He grinned. Surviving his attack seemed to please him. He pulled his weapon free from the ground and pointed it at me. "Now, fight me for real!"

"Fine!" I spat and drew my sword.

He wasn't going to let me speak to Zalamar or walk away from here without fighting him. I needed to deal with him before another patrol came along! Otherwise I would never be able to say my piece to Zalamar.

"That's more like it!" He chuckled in amusement.

My sword would not be able to make a dent on the heavy armour he wore, but if I aimed for the joints where the armour was its weakest... no that would be a bad idea. If he was a foreign representative then I should avoid injuring him too severely. Injuring him could cause a diplomatic incident, and compromise the war effort. I would have to beat him down into submission. I doubt I would have the time to tire him out, he seemed the type to have endless stamina despite the weight of the gear he carried.

He made the first move, just as I expected him to. I back peddled while dodging his thrusts. His weapon had an extremely long reach. I used my sword to knock his attacks aside enough to avoid being skewered. His relentless assault was reminiscent of Garr, but in comparison this drakes assault was not overwhelming at all.

As he pulled back his arm to thrust his lance at me once again he lunged forwards, and I dashed forwards in response. I lay blade of my sword against my forearm and used it to push his weapon aside. With his weapon pushed aside for the moment I leapt up, landed a foot-paw on his thigh and grabbed the back of his neck and drove my right knee into his muzzle.

My attack had an effect on the massive drake. He staggered back, his muzzle now badly bloodied, but he didn't fall. I dashed forwards, leapt up and drove both my foot-paws into his chest and pushed off, back flipping into a crouched position as he fell to the ground.

"Fuck!" He cursed as landed heavily.

"General!" His three guards exclaimed as they ran and surrounded him. Protecting him from further harm.

So long as I kept my distance I doubted that his guards would attack me. I turned to Zalamar once more and sheathed my weapon. But before I could take another step I heard a rapid clanking noise echoed up the street, which I immediately identified as armoured paw-steps. A few moments later a dozen armed warriors, all clad in armour bearing New Zangars symbol emerged from around the corner and proceeded to seal off the street on all sides around us. Four drakes strode forward, one of whom who wore a red cloak.

"General Ral'var, Sir!" The Zangarian Captain I had defeated exclaimed as he struggled to stand to attention.

Ral'var. I knew that name... Malnark Ral'var. It was the same family name as Malnark! I looked at the drake the captain was addressing. He did bear a resemblance to Malnark. They must be related in some way. Cousins perhaps. But if I had New Zangars General here then I was in some amount of trouble now.

"Report Captain!!"

"We responded to a fight occurring here, and after refusing to be detained for questioning, this drake proceeded to assault us."

The General looked me up and down.

"So what makes you think you can assault my warriors, and well as a diplomat visiting our fair city?! Identify yourself!"

I stared him down, considering what I should and shouldn't tell him. Whether or not I should attempt to run. This situation was now completely out of my control. Fighting my way out was possible but would be bloody. Surrendering would waste too much time! Running would be my best option, but if what the Zangarian Captain had said before about sounding the alarm locked down the city then running was pointless unless the others got out of the city first!

"Young Master!"

I turned to see Jovani and Malnark standing on the other side of the line of warriors blocking off the street. The General also saw them and after a few moments made a motion with his paw telling his warriors to allow them through.

"Young Master are you okay!?" Jovani asked as he ran over to me.

He was making a bit of a fuss, and was a bit of frantic compared to his usual calm composure. The General and Malnark stared at each other with cold indifference for a few moments before their muzzles curled with subtle smiles.

"Good to see you again Jarred."

"You as well cousin. If I'm not mistaken the drake with you is Jovani?"

"It is indeed." Jovani smiled, now having fully regained his composure. He bowed his head. "It is good to see you are doing well."

"Thank you." He nodded his head. "Unfortunately I don't have time for a friendly catch up. I allowed you through because you seem to know this drake who assaulted two of my warriors, and a visiting diplomat!"

"Young Master!" Jovani exclaimed in shock as Malnark sighed and pinched his brow in frustration.

"I didn't start the fight with him!" I explained. "I just wanted to talk to Zalamar! But your guards got involved when they saw him attacking me with a knife!" The General was very quiet and his attention was focused on me entirely.

"Captain?" The General glanced at the Zangarian who I had attacked.

"We witnessed the fight and intervened Sir!" He responded. "Zalamar claimed that this drake was some how involved in the Vireon `massacrer from several years ago. He admitted that he was involved and we attempted to detain him for questioning."

"And he resisted?" The General asked while staring at me with an intense gaze.

"Yes Sir, he did!"

"I see."

"Now before I ask why you assaulted my soldiers, and resisted arrest, I would like to know who the hell you are!"

"My name is Malakye." I said.

"And I shall assume from the fact that Jovani there calls you 'master', that you are in fact an Anaris?" I stared back at him. He was both smart and observant. Somehow I didn't think mentioning my family name was going to be of any use to me here, but there was no point in denying it at this point. I nodded in confirmation. "Given your... unique heritage I can only assume that you are Kaldor's son."

"What of it?" I asked. His tone was not one that boded well for me.

"So Malakye would you care to explain why, you resisted arrest and then assaulted General Kumar!?"

"That's General Kumar!?" Malnark exclaimed. "Oh brother!"

"Quite! He is a well reputed warrior, who you seemed to have defeated without getting so much as a scratch!"

"If I may explain Warlord...."

"General!" Ral'var corrected Jovani.

"My apologies." Jovani bowed his head. "If I may explain General..."

"No you may not!" The General interrupted. "I'm sure he is more than capable of explaining this himself!"

"I have urgent business to take care of in Banuke." I stated through gritted fangs. He was starting to really piss me off right now!"

"Banuke?"

"Cousin. He states the truth. We are hunting down a dangerous fur!" Malnark explained.

"You do realise that Banuke is under wolven control?"

"We do." Malnark nodded. "This individual cannot be allowed to escape! Our last report has him heading towards Banuke."

The General looked at all three of us suspiciously. He knew we weren't telling him the whole truth. I had to trust that Malnark would be able to convince his cousin to let us go.

"Zalamar!"

The elderly drake jumped and quickly approached. He had been standing in the doorway of his restaurant watching everything unfold. He seemed extremely nervous, and made sure to stand with the General between myself and him. He was obviously scared of me. He must realise now that I could have easily disarmed, and even killed him when he had attacked me.

"General Ral'var S-sir! Jovani and Malnark?"

"It is good to see you are doing well Zalamar." Malnark smiled.

"You can catch up later!" The General barked. "Zalamar, did you attack this drake?" He pointed at me.

"Y-yes I did!"

"I've known you a long time Zalamar, and have never known you to raise a paw to anyone! Why did you attack him?"

"He was the one who got my Rose killed!"

"Rose?"

"General." One of the three warriors standing nearby stepped forward. With a nod from the General the large armour clad bull began to speak. "Rose was the young dragoness who was killed during the Vireon massacre."

A flash of recollection crossed the General's eyes. He looked at Zalamar and then at me as memories of the incident came back to him.

"Thank you Frederick." The bull nodded, saluted and then stepped back. "Now then I think I am getting a better picture of what is going on here. You knew the young dragoness known as Rose?"

"I did."

"Were you in anyway involved with the incident that led to her death and the death of nearly two dozen other furs!? Including one Archilles dragon by the name of Vireon?"

"I was."

"Well now, that is most interesting. I have a lot more question for you. My warriors will escort you to the dungeon until I have time to question you properly."

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline." I stated bluntly.

"Young Master!" Jovani hissed. Obviously not liking my objection.

"Cousin please! We have no time to waste here! We must hunt down the fur we are pursuing before they do any more harm!"

"If they are heading to Banuke then they can cause as much harm to the wolves as they like for all I care! You can pursue him if you wish, but it will be without the company of your comrade! Not until I am done questioning him!"

"Jarred! Please!" Malnark pleaded.

"I'm not staying here!" I growled.

"I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter!" The General countered. "I'm not going to let you leave until this entire incident is resolved to my satisfaction! Once your innocence is proved, then you may leave."

But the truth was I had assaulted two of his warriors, and I'm sure that the fact that I assaulted the diplomat who attacked me in self defence was not going to go down well either. I was guilty of a crime and I would be locked up for how ever long that crime warranted under New Zangar law. The curi'nakra would be allowed to roam free that much longer. If we fell behind too far we could lose their trail entirely! I couldn't allow myself to be locked up!

"Malnark, Jovani. Go meet up with the others and go ahead without me. I'll catch up." I unhooked my travel cloak and handed it to Jovani.

"Young Master!"

"Malakye are you really going to..."

"Go on ahead. If they sound the alarm then the city will be locked down. I'll buy you time to get out."

"You really are as stubborn as your father!" General Ral'var snorted. "GUARDS!"

In an instant every warrior around us drew their weapons and were standing ready. This was not going to be an easy fight. But it was the only option I had to get out of the city with the supplies we needed.

"Go now!" I barked at the two of them.

They were hesitant, but they knew that I was not going to change my mind on this. I know that Jovani wanted to stand by me and protect me, and while he would be a valuable ally in this situation, when the time came to escape the city he would only slow me down. They nodded and took off at speed towards the wagon. The soldiers didn't attempt to stop them as they ran past. I was their target, not them.

"So... you're a Warlord and Master bender at your age? That's quite impressive." The General smirked after looking at the markings on my shoulder guards which had been hidden beneath my cloak. "Quite an impressive set of armour you have as well. But I don't think you can defeat every warrior here!"

"I don't plan on beating all of them, but I will if I have to!"

"You truly are your fathers son!" He snorted. "BLOCK THE STREETS! MAKE SURE HE DOESN'T ESCAPE! THE REST OF YOU ARREST HIM! I WANT HIM ALIVE!!!"

The three warriors who had been standing behind him this whole time, the bull and two Zangarians dragons, drew their weapons and attacked the moment the order was given. The bull swung his massive battle axe at me and I leapt back to avoid the blow, the axe struck the ground with a loud clang. I drew my sword and blocked the sword of one of the Zangarians, pushed it aside and struck him in the muzzle with a punch. I sidestepped the other Zangarians attack, swung my sword down atop his as it missed and struck it near the hilt. The blow knocked the sword from his grasp. I leapt, spun in the air and drove the heel of my right foot-paw into the side of his muzzle.

I landed in a crouch and raised my sword just in time to black the bulls massive axe from cutting me asunder! He pressed down on me with all of his weight and strength. I lashed out with a kick to his left knee. As he fell forwards I threw a punch which connected, and connected hard. The bull rolled onto his back, his muzzle bloodied and his eyes glazed over as I had knocked him out with that single blow. I leapt up to a standing position in time to block the remaining warriors sword. I pushed him back and lashed out with a kick to their midsection and knocked them back further.

"That's enough!" The General ordered. The Zangarian warrior didn't attack again and was waiting for the order of his superior. "I'll deal with you myself!"

"Don't think you're going to leave me out of this!" General Kumar, the giant Archilles dragon declared as he sauntered over with his weapon in paw.

"General, you should not be getting involved. If anything were to happen to you..."

"Fuck that! You think I'm not going to take part in a fight against him! He's already laid me out once, and I've never lost a fight to the same fur twice!"

The general sighed. I knew as well as he did that there was no way he would talk him out of participating.

"Very well. But please be careful!"

"Just back me up!" He snarled as he lunged at me with his lance pulled back to strike.

I leapt to the right to avoid his attack and General Ral'var was upon me in an instant, with his sword poised to strike. I was barely able to parry his attack in time. I leapt back to create distance and already Kumar was attacking once more. His lance missed me by mere inches. I ducked down and spun round under his outstretched arm and swept his leg from under him and caused him to fall. I raised my sword to block Ral'var's attack.

I managed to create some distance between us, but Kumar was already scrambling back up to his foot-paws. They were both impressive fighters, I was suddenly wondering just how long I could drag this fight out before they would get the better of me. I hadn't used my nen yet, but once I did that I know the General would use his as well. His armour bore the symbols of a master fire bender.

Ral'var blocked my attack, shoved my blade away and immediately spun on his heel. As he lowered his stance I knew exactly what was coming. I somersaulted over his blade as cut through the air where my knees had been. I twisted in the air, landed facing the opposite way and back flipped towards Kumar who was now back up to one knee. He saw me backflip towards him and used his lance as a shield, my foot-paws connected with the solid steel weapon and I pushed myself off, shoving Kumar back to the ground and propelling myself over Ral'var. As I leapt over General Ral'var I planted one foot-paw on his shoulder and somersaulted through the air.

"I've had enough of this you insolent brat!" Ral'var sneered after he stumbled forwards.

He drew on his nen and placed his right paw at the base of his swords blade. Embedded in the hilt of his sword was a large Firris stone*. His paw ran the full length of the steel, covering the blade of his weapon in fire he had drawn from the stone. With his blade now engulfed in flames he readied his sword with a look in his eye that told me he didn't care if he killed me. He was simply determined to end this fight on his terms. In response I drew on my own nen, keeping it within my body and not allowing the bubble to form around me.

He swung his sword in broad strokes, a long whip of fire grew from his blade and sliced through the air with each movement of his arm. I raised my arm and created a nen shield and blocked the fire whip from reaching me. This kept up for a few moments until I felt the nen of two other benders flare up behind me. When I turned to look it was the two Zangarian warriors who had escorted the General here. Their swords where now ablaze just as the Generals was. They sank the first few inches of their blades into the ground. The General ceased his whip attack and like the others sunk his own sword into the ground.

I realised too late what they were up to. Before I could react the flames from the swords shot along the ground, encircled me and three large streams of fire rose above my head to form a large fireball. It was a trap!

"THROW DOWN YOUR WEAPON AND SURRENDER OR I WILL DESTROY YOU!" General Ral'var barked.

"Now that's cheating!" General Kumar chuckled. "But I'm not going to complain. Just so you know boy, once he's done with you I'm going to make sure we settle our fight once and for all!"

Of course he would. He was obsessed with fighting. But right now he wasn't my biggest concern. Right now I was trapped and if I so much and flexed my nen in a way that they didn't like they would engulf me in flames with the aim to kill me. Such a move could work, even against a trained fire bender. This attack used the combined nen of three master class benders, it would not be easy to overpower them in my current situation. If I wanted to escape unharmed then I would need to use the spirits power to do so.

I closed my eyes and focused on the spirits power deep within me. I peeled apart the mental barriers that kept it from flowing freely through my body just enough to allow a portion of it through. The moment the power began to course through me I didn't hold my own nen back at all, I allowed it to flow freely and form a bubble around me.

The General and the others didn't miss the change in my nen and immediately unleashed their attack. I raised my paw to the surface of the fireball and pushed back with all my might. The nen barrier I used to hold back the fireball held, but I was slowly pushed down to my knees as they tried to crush me under it. My nen bubble was now fully formed and was as wide as the street! My nen bubble combined with the spirits nen began to suffocate the nen link that allowed them to control the fireball. A few moments later the large fireball was now completely under my control, the ring of fire on the ground below me faded away as my nen pushed theirs back. I stood back up, holding the fireball above me.

"How did he!?" I heard one of the drakes behind me say while the other cursed.

I stood there with my eyes closed, my nen bubble allowing me to see everything within its boundaries perfectly within my minds eye. Zalamar was there as well. Cowering within the doorway of his shop. The General and the others were momentarily stunned after I had managed to not only counter their attack, but take control of it. This was the only chance I was going to have to speak to him.

"On that night..." I began. "...after we left you. Vireon attacked us. I tried to fight them off and give Rose a chance to escape, but there were too many of them! He caught us... he took my knife, and sunk it into her chest."

"Enough of this! Seize him!" General Ral'var yelled.

I channelled the spirits nen into the fireball and in a moment it grew in size and the flames grew hotter, and began burning blue. The sudden change stopped everyone in their tracks. I channelled my nen into thin tendrils over the ground and through the air, allowing the blue flames to follow them, surrounding everyone nearby with the flames. So long as they didn't move the flames would not touch them. The crowd which had gathered nearby gasped and shrieked at the display of power.

"When that blade sunk into her chest..." I continued, "her eyes met mine and I felt this terrible power for the first time!" I growled. "I used it to punish everyone who had helped that bastard hurt her that night. I spared no one!"

I opened my eyes and met the the two generals gazes. They both flinched, my eyes would now be glowing bright red from the spirits power. I turned to Zalamar who also flinched when he met my gaze.

"I'm sorry I was not strong enough back then to protect her! It will always be the single greatest regret in my life." Zalamar was in tears now. He fell to his knees, clinging to the doorway for support. Whether his reaction was out of fear of me, or from my apology I couldn't say, but I hoped it was the latter.

"He's a fuckin' demon!" General Kumar cursed.

"I'm no demon!" I rebuked. "But I am hunting one! And for that reason alone, I must leave now!"

I allowed the fireball to evaporate into a large cloud of embers, the streams of fire surrounding everyone did the same now I was no long sustaining them with my nen. Before anyone could react I spread my wings wide, and with one mighty flap thrust myself twenty feet into the air. I heard the commotion my sudden flight caused down below. I flipped and twisted my body in mid-air so I was facing South and then used my wind bending to shift the current of air flowing through my nen bubble to propel me forwards to meet up the others. A few moments later a horn sounded out, and echoed through out the city. Nearly a dozen other horns sounded out in response. The alarm had been raised, the city would be locked down.

I flew over the walls, most of the archers were too shocked to see me flying by to take a shot before it was already too late. I followed the Southern trail, hoping I had given the others the time they needed to get out of the city. It wasn't long before I spotted them. I lowered my altitude so I was flying just a few feet above the wagon and landed on top of the crates of supplies it carried. Loire and Mantou startled when I landed but breathed a sigh of relief when they turned and saw me. We didn't stop, we needed to create as much distance as we could in case New Zangar sent a hunting party after me. I wasn't going to be able to return to New Zangar without facing the consequences of my actions for a long time to come.