FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The moment of truth for those of you that have been holding your breath for 3 weeks.

Chapter 12

The muffled jeering and booing of people around James was very audible and insulting to his ears. A large sack had been placed over his head as he was pushed along, tied in barbed cuffs to Roland, who too was sacked. He grunted every now and then in protest, but did no actions that would otherwise hurt himself or James in the process.

It was raining heavily upon them, the skies had grown to be a deep grey and the afternoon was slowly turning into night as the sun began to fall upon the horizon, making its final goodbyes to the world it cherished so.

A large stick was beat across Roland's back, causing him to lurch forward...ripping the skin around their wrists a bit.

James winced in pain, simply going with his partner's motions as he began to feel the forward motion again, following blindly to what he probably knew was a guillotine....the noose....or the bowmen. He had refused to give any information to Raiken in a chance to save his life...and to his surprise...neither did Roland. It made him proud to hear the rebellious outbursts from his partner....even though he was being tortured beyond imagining.

The only form of torture that they had done to James was make him listen to the anguished cries of Roland....and it almost had worked....if it werent for the general's impatience...he may have leaked a bit of information....

He felt his foot sink into a rather large pit of water, cursing silently under his breath as his foot came down with a loud and wet splash, almost tripping him.

"Are you alright back there boy?" Roland asked, seemingly a bit calmer than he should be, considering their final destination.

"Well...I can be many things...but I would be a fool to say that I think you dont know what you're doing...." James muttered back.

"Hah...you would be a fool..." Roland replied, sighing at the sight he saw before him.

Two large nooses hung from the hangman's post, already tied and fitted for two heads to go through them, it was only a matter of time......

"Do not fret boy....there may be some hope ........" he was cut off as a large boot kicked him in the gut. "Urgh.....yet!"

"Shut up you slack-jawed old fool!" a spectator jeered, but was put in his place by an armored guard, eyeing them both suspiciously.

He felt another tug on his cuffs, wincing again at the searing pain that it brought, his wrists already wet with his own blood.

It was then that he began to hear the announcer clear his voice, his foot feeling the wooden step of the place that he knew would be his end....

"It be the perfect time for an escape....I have some connections.......trust me....and I think....that you have a little bit of an edge here. Eh? The cascading devilry around us.....The rain you idiot!" Roland joked.

"Oh....." James replied, realizing the pure power of his own element around him....beginning to form an idea....

"These two criminals have been brought forth today as a public example to all! They have been found guilty by our wise council of Treason, and murder most severe! One of your own has been found guilty today...." The announcer boomed.

"Roland....your crimes of treason and murder are unacceptable, and have been hereby condemned to death by the hangman's noose. You singlehandedly slew nearly twenty of your own soldiers in a bloody feud that eventually led to your capture and sentence. You have also been found guilty of conspiring with the enemy as an act of treason. What have you to say for yourself and your crimes?"

"I am glad that I spilled the blood of each of those soldiers...and that I have the open mind to realize that this dragon is not our enemy..." Roland growled.

"Pity that you are the only one to share this philosophy...Roland...." the rather...round....announcer said, curling his mustache with a meaty finger.

"And you.....Dragon....have refused to give us any information as a prisoner of war... assisted in slaying our men....escaping from jail.... tainting the mind of one of our valued soldiers...Ruining our...prison room.... and-"

"You will feel remorse when you finally find out that we are not your enemy....." James growled.

"You will be silent, prisoner....Do you both have any last words? Last requests?" the announcer grumbled impatiently, tapping his foot on the wooden floor.

"Yes...I have one..." Roland said with a sly grin. "Can you lose some weight? You look rather fond of the lard."

"WHY I--" the announcer began to roar, his face flushed into a deep red, his fists balling up in anger.

"Enough.....it is time..." a deep voice said, pulling them both closer with a powerful grip.

Roland's neck was the first to be put through the rope, chuckling softly to himself as he felt his feet thump against a hollow sound, which he knew was the trap door beneath him.

At that moment, James felt the same thing underneath him....too bad his wings were broken....

The hangman wore a black chain mail vest, black leather trousers, and a sly grin upon his face, removing the cuffs from their wrists, giving them a slight feeling of relief, only to feel the ropes tightening around their necks once again, the hangman tying their hands behind their back with a rope he had lying on the ground.

It was then that James began to hear the loud booming of drums in the background...the beats ever so slowly beginning to grow in tempo.....matching the beat of his own heart each second.

"Alex......" James said softly....."I've.....failed you....."

It was then that the drums came to a loud roll, signalling their impending demise....

It all happened in a slow trance-like motion. The ropes around their necks and wrists were slashed by a woman with long, flowing hair and a curved elven blade, its edge singing in the air as it came down upon its marks. The loud roar of a dragon and lightning strikes caused an uproar in the crowd, causing screams and shouts of terror, including a sudden shout of fright from James, who was completely oblivious to what was going on.

"What the hell?!" James shouted.

Roland merely chuckled and drew a sword from the weapon rack nearby with a loud ring, following their savior. "Come on boy!"

"See without your eyes!!!!!" the feminine voice cried out, "You can do it!! Feel with your energy...see with your spirit...your eyes decieve and blind you...."

He had no idea what she meant....but when he heard this.....he felt a sudden surge of energy from within himself....feeling as if Aegis had just granted him another portion of his power....and as soon as it hit him, he felt a large flood of warmth and renewing energy hit him....and he could slowly make out the outlines of Roland and what appeared to be a woman with a large dragon fighting along side her....could it be....?

"Careful boy!!!!" Roland shouted, cutting down a knight that had raised a mace to him, his blood spewing from his torso profusely.

In that moment, a roar of agony.....anguish.....anger.....and yearning was heard loudly, causing a powerful tremor in the ground, the castle beginning to split in half as a deep canyon divided it, a very angry earth dragon had arrived with Aura, the wind dragon, who was beginning to cause a powerful tornado, destroying anything and anyone in its path, except James, Roland, Alex, herself, the mysterious savior and her companion.

The color of the tornado quickly went from a brown to a deep red as it picked up and slew a large group of soldiers that were attempting to fight off the golden dragon and his electrical powers, shooting out a wave of electric charge from his maw.

"Alex!!!!!" James shouted, making out the form of his mate.

"Not now James.......she has gone beyond the Alex you know....she is in a bloodlust state...leave her be...." Aura said soothingly, controlling the tornado with her mind, her voice resonating in his.

The canyon continued to widen, nearly a hundred soldiers having lost their lives to its seeminly unending depth...

It was then that he felt a dark..presence swiftly approaching him, turning to see a towering figure behind him, ready to impale him with his zweihander.

"JAMES!!!" Roland cried, sprinting towards him.

James instantly became attuned with the water around him and blasted Raiken away, his body thudding against the castle wall, his sword flying from his hand.

In that moment, he took the advantage to freeze him in place, his mind focusing on his grasp over the element, but Raiken's sheer strength was preventing him from freezing him completely against the wall.

In a power flux, he felt his own body being blown backwards by what felt like a fireball to the chest. A magi had come to Raiken's rescue, only to be sliced down the middle by his mate's sharp talons.

In the confusion, Raiken retrieved his sword and charged towards Roland, his sword held at his side, its tip digging through the earth as he ran.

Their blades met with a shower of sparks, repeatedly clanging against each other.

Left, Right, downward parried by upward slashes, back slashes.....including a lucky strike by Roland, his blade sinking through a gap in the plated armor and into his auxillary region.

Raiken gasped in pain for a moment then brought down the blunted side of his blade upon his attacker, knocking him to the ground out of sheer force, having parried the attack with a shield.

At that moment, James picked up a discarded mace and slammed it against Raiken's dark helmet, dazing him long enough for Roland to get back up to his feet.

"Give up....you've lost..." James shouted, twirling his sword in his hand.

"Never underestimate your opponent...." Raiken growled evily, blasting them both away with a powerful dark flame, searing Jame's scales and Roland's face, his skin bubbling.

"Eaghh!!!!" Roland cried, clutching his face.

James could no longer feel his legs, his upper body the only thing he could move. He wondered if one of his legs had been broken, but it no longer mattered to him as he saw the towering figure of Raiken standing over Roland, his sword in hand and the tip pointed downward.

His soul almost exploded with energy at that moment, the rain suddenly dissapearing from the skies as a deep rumbling began to shake the earth, a dark shadow falling upon them all. Soldier and allies both looking up to the sky.

Before them loomed a wall of water, easily twice as tall as the castle itself, the silence only foreshadowing what was about to happen.

"Take cover!!!!!!!" Alex shouted, diving with Aura cluched to her chest into a alley, the woman mounting her dragon and taking to the sky. Roland simply laid there in agony.

The wave came crashing down upon Raiken directly, forming itself into a pointed tip as it came down with the pressure to kill a full grown dragon, his dark blade flying out of the stream and piercing the chest of an unlucky soldier, killed instantly.

As the powerful tidal wave diminshed in power, so did the numbers of the surviving knights as they were washed away into the canyon, never to be seen again. Raiken, however, was not washed away, breathing heavily on his knees as he removed the shield barrier that he had placed around himself magically.

"WHAT?!" Alex roared.

At that moment, his entire body was lit up in smoke and electricity as he was struck by a well-aimed lightning strike from the gold dragon.

Raiken fell to his side, defeated, his body lacking the ability to move....his vision blacking out as he slipped into unconsciousness....a deathly chill beginning to grip at his body.

James struggled to get to his feet, but the sheer amount of power that was required to cause the tidal wave sapped his strength, and instead he fell face first forward into the mud, almost falling over into the crevice himself.

Alex saw this and gently picked him up in her talons carrying him away from the ruined area and up against the wall, eyeing him in mental agony...she could have prevented this...

"Alex...my dear......I.......I......" James began to say, but slumped to the side as he passed out from exhaustion, his mate's eyes tearing up as she curled around him protectively as the battle continued....the ground growing crimson with the blood of their enemy... it was then that they began to hear the war horns from the neighboring garrisons, reinforcements arriving like a disturbed anthill.

"We must flee!" the woman shouted, flying swiftly from the scene with an unconscious Roland in her arms, Aura quickly speeding after her.

Alex took him in her paws and flew after them, but roared in pain as a fireball slammed into her side, breaking a couple of her ribs as the true power of the castle was unleashed, javelin and blade throwing devices firing their lethal weaponry at her.

Because of her size, it was difficult to dodge the hellfire, and to her disadvantage...she did not dodge them all....her pain nothing compared to the thought of her mate dying...she woulf not give up.

As she flew, she began to hear the singing of a blade behind her head, but it was quickly dismissed by a gust of wind from Aura, sending the blade spinning in an awkward direction.

She landed upon the gold dragon, despite its uneasy glance at her, and began to create gale-force winds, causing the projectiles to lose their trajectory and miss them entirely.....after a few more hundred yards, they were finally safe. They swiftly rose through the stormy clouds, and dissapeared from any threat that would arise from then on.... they were safe.....for now....