“Yes, just a quarter of a mile away. Luckily, the warrior Estocada promised us that he would delay the dragon. ” “Very good,” answered Alex, stepping to the door. “Wait! ” called the bird. “Don’t you think you should wait a bit longer before leaving? ” Alex turned around, already having known the answer to this question. “No, no I don’t. ” Slowly walking back down the road, I heeled, staying as close as possible. I hadn’t met a dragon that wasn’t friendly up to this point, and the thought of a giant fire-breathing monster wasn’t a pleasant one… but then again, I had Alex with me.
Before too long, we were outside of the village and into another wooded area. This forest didn’t seem to be all too different in the way that it appeared, but my intuition was screaming at me that something dark. something insidious.. “Tod? You look very tense… ” noted Alex, looking down at me. I glanced back upwards, unable to say anything. Nonetheless, it was more than obvious that this was the case. The forest had become dark for a second, but in no time at all, the shadow faded. Suddenly, a gust of wind hit us both from overhead. I looked up and saw that a dragon was flying over a hundred feet above our heads.
A dragon with a black cape. “RUN! ” screamed a male voice from behind, running towards us. Alex seemed to understand the urgency and responded quite well. We darted off, me performing a sprint at about fifteen miles an hour. To my astonishment, he was running as fast as I was, something I would have never imagined possible out of a human. I turned around for a split second. Behind us was a human in a thick furred coat. While he had some sort of crossbow in his hand pointed at the sky, that wasn’t the biggest weapon he had. His entire body was covered in knives, bolts, and and all sorts of ther varieties of weapons.
He was a walking weapons’ shop. However, hearing Alex’s footsteps ahead of me prompted me to turn around, and I joined him in our dash for safety. I heard the sound of leathery wings from above, and looking up, it appeared as if this dragon was following us. He had double horns that curved inwards like a ram’s, and solid graphite scales coated his body. His eyes burned with a red hue, and his wings were tipped in a sort of crimson color as well. Even though he was the size of a large horse, he was wearing a frayed black felt cape, which made him appear ten times his size. I wasn’t sure what to do.
So, making use of my vulpine instinct, I did as foxes would do. Instead of running in a straight line where he would obviously see me, I decided to take advantage of the forestry. I darted in and around trees, making my way under large bows and hopping over branches, trying to do all of the dodges I possibly could to throw him off of my tail. However, Alex, who was unable to do this, kept running in a straight line. Eventually, we both came across a river. It spread its length around us as far as we could see in both directions, and it was hoppy enough to cause anyone inexperienced to drown.
The dragon was going to see us unless we turned around, and that was a near impossibility at this point. We had to think fast if we had any intention of living. Looking around, I found a pile of leaves. I yipped at Alex to get his attention, and then found myself diving into the pile. He ran over and then looked up, getting ready to defend himself if need be. A mighty beating of wings came above the water as the dragon eased his way down, eyeing around at anywhere he could possibly strike. I looked out from the leaves at the dragon, early holding my breath, hoping he couldn’t detect me.
The man with the many weapons ran towards the river with amazing speed and agility, holding out his crossbow. “BLOODFLOOD! ” he screamed. Oh. So this was Bloodflood. The dragon didn’t respond, and instead sent a wave of some sort of orange gas out of his throat. Still racing towards the river, the human detached a small grenade-like ball of hide from a belt and threw it at the gas. The gas burst into flames, which the human used as a cover. He shot three arrows from his crossbow, attempting to get at least one good shot at the ragon’s hide. However, Bloodflood had better vision than the man had previously predicted.
He swiftly flung his wings downwards, projecting himself further into the air. This gust of wind had even affected the arrows’ courses, altering their flight into a more downwards-facing path, hiting nothing but the choppy river. Alex walked briskly up to the human, facing Bloodflood, and in a defensive pose. “Get away,” spoke the human. “You know not of my kind. ” Alex’s eye began to glow in its dangerous blue hue. Once again, he had begun to turn into the fearsome Thaddeus. His arms ere clenched and at the ready, both flowing with electricity. The second Bloodflood came back into view, he came charging towards the human.
If gas wasn’t going to take care of him, his blade-like claws definitely would. Nevertheless, he wasn’t expecting Alex, who slung his worst lightning bolt towards his head. It hit his head with a reassuring ‘SNAP! ‘ as the dragon roared and turned around. He was injured and burned and no longer had the will to fight. “TAKE THAT, FILTHY WORM! ” screamed the human, laughing smugly. Bloodflood turned around for just a second. “You’re warranting slow death upon yourself, Estocada! ” the dragon screeched with the thickest Albion accent I had ever heard.
Alex turned around and faced the man. Is that your name? ” He sighed. “Yes, yes it is. Estocada Honorless. ” With a closer look at him, I was able to actually distinguish his facial features. He was a younger man with a chestnut beard. He had scraggly, unkempt hair that began at the roots as a dirty blonde and eventually ended up at the tips as the same chestnut as his beard. He was thoroughly tanned behind his hair, and while he looked like a young man, his face was well- ged and even wrinkled. “And? ” Estocada asked, “What is your name? ” “Thaddeus is what you may know me as,” he answered. “Ren!
Come out, it’s safe! ” I slowly peeped my head further out of the leaf pile and hopped out. Walking over towards Alex, Estocada looked down at me curiously. “A fox? ” he asked. “I thought those creatures were extinct in England for years! At least, ever since the traders came through and killed them all for pelts. Where’ve you been through with it? ” “Him,” Alex corrected, looking down at me. “I’ve been through a village or two without question. No one comes up to me, eciding to steal away my friend. There was a pirate who attempted who skin my friend, and I killed him.
Estocada lifted an eyebrow. “I see. So, what’s so special about your friend? Is he your father’s, or did you buy him for a large sum? ” Alex leaned in to his face. “You’re being rather distasteful. ” Estocada did not change his expression. “I was just curious. ” “And no, if I told you the truth, you wouldn’t believe me. He is a friend, and I’m trying to take him home. He is lost. ” “Whatever you say, Thaddeus… ” “How far away is Tara village? ” “Oh, an hour at the very most. Keep going due west from here, and if you see a single dragon, you’re heading the wrong way.
Am I clear? ” “Yes, you are very clear,” answered Alex, turning around and briskly making his way down the riverside, searching for a possible crossing point. “OH! THADDEUS! ” He turned around. “There is a bridge the other way, it doesn’t take all too long to get to it. ” Alex bowed, and altered his course. I swiftly followed, giving a grateful look towards Estocada. He gave a smile back at me, and even waved a bit. Just to confuse him while showing a friendly spirit, I picked up my right paw and waved back. He was a little shocked at first, his own head swimming a bit.
We walked a good fifteen minutes before we came across the weak wooden bridge thrown across the narrowest part of the river. We managed to cross it without all too much trouble, although the termite-ridden tinder seemed to be a little uncomfortable for both Alex and I. Alex was obviously too electrically powered to suddenly be plunged into water without notice, and I doubt I could swim with four legs. At the other side, the redundancy of the forest began to far surpass the sheer amount of beauty the woods attempted to boast. However, the loneliness warranted one thing for certain.
I barked while we were deep in the woods. Alex turned to look at me. “Yes, Ren? What is it? ” I wasn’t sure how to answer him at first, so I sat on my haunches and looked him in the eye. “I apologize that my story has had so many interruptions. Would you care for me to continue it, now? ” My tail began to wag as I gave a nod. He smiled down at me, and stopping himself, he bent over to pick me up. This was becoming a routine that I rather enjoying, being in this shape, in his arms, and bundled in a story… even though his story may have been grim and disturbing. Service to the city was what he asked.
That was all he asked of me. Of course I agreed, but I may have turned his request down if I knew the consequences of my choice. ” I gulped. “His definition of ‘service’ was forcing me to join the Anti-Mueto Defense Force. In the European cities of Amsterdam, Luxembourg, and Berlin, there were constant attacks from the surrounding mueto villages. These attacks were for good reasons. Muetos hate their human creators. The humans create the muetos in their laboratories, and after they are mistreated and abused, the lucky ones are sent out to rude villages in a struggle to survive.
The unlucky ones… I would not like to speak of. ” “Without any knowledge of these mueto villages or how they worked, I was given a military training and the proper equipment to subdue the constant attacking. We were sent out in Brittany, a small European town bordering French Albion. I was intended to be stationed there for a week. In that time, I was commanded to murder many innocents. However, I defied orders during my first assassination. ” “There was a mueto girl who had come across my path. I was commanded to kill her for she had given supplies to the French Albionese.
However, as I lifted my weapon and viewed her face, I could not pull the trigger. Her blue eyes seemed to reflect my own. It was at that moment in which I realized that I was a mueto myself. I had gone through the same pain and hurt as these people, and my fate was inevitably the same as theirs. “I went AWOL. Turning on my peers, I refused to fire at the girl. In exchange, they would kill me. My anger boiled up to its brim, and finding my true enemies at last, my powers began to spark for the first time. I lifted my hands and sent lightning at their hearts, stopping them instantly.
Looking down at my hands, I was horrified. Their blood was on me… and while I had spared the lives of the muetos that day, I had not the lives of the human soldiers. ” “The villagers saw the lightning and could not, at first, believe the humans had disappeared so easily. So, a few of the elders traveled up to the mountain we were found on to thank to warrior who used lightning. They found me, and believed that| was a god disguised as a human. They asked for my name, and I knew that I could no longer be Alex… therefore, I was dubbed their ‘courageous heart’ and defender. I became known as Thaddeus.
This was one year ago. ” He stopped. In the near distance was yet another village, this one a rather large one. Alex took a deep breath, enjoying the smell of wood fires. I sat on my haunches and took a deep sniff as well, the hearty scent pleasantly refreshing me. Looking over this village, it reminded me of Normandy. There were a few more ruins in this town such as rusted cars and asphalt roads, but many newer huts were constructed as well. The biggest difference that I noticed at first was the demographics, since everyone in the village seemed to be human. “Tara,” sighing Alex, simply restating the word to himself.
Stay close to me, I do believe that we’ll be through this village in no time at all. However, it is getting rather late… We will find a room here. Is that okay? ” I nodded and kept on, staying close to him. It was truly remarkable how similar all of these villages were, each of them using the same type of materials for home building and the people even wearing similar clothing. Even the people had the same oddly concerned expressions, as if each little detail was either fun or the most important things in their lives. Seeing no other way to possibly find lodging, Alex did the first thing that came to mind.
He went up to the door of the first house he could find, and knocked on the door, me sitting politely at his heel. A middle aged woman came to the door and opened it. “Hello, ma’am? ” he asked. “How can I help you? ” questioned the woman, a little wary and speaking a thick Albionese accent. “I need to find a place to stay for the night. I am a traveler through this land. ” “There’s an inn up the road… ” she answered, looking at his eye. “But I wouldn’t stay for long. The inn is owned by Lorenge Honorless. ” “Lorenge…? ” “He is an undercut and tends to charge people far too much. ” “An undercut… ” he repeated distastefully.
Madam, where is this inn? ” “The biggest brick building in town, a few streets north from here. Ask others and they will tell you the same. I have children to attend to, speak to him yourself,” she finished, closing the door in his face. Unscathed by the vagueness of the directions, Alex decided to look for this inn. The thought of having his lodging free priced too highly didn’t seem to give him the best mood, but the determination was enough to keep from questioning. The sun was going down, filling the sky with the colors of burnt clay and royal purple. However, within a half hour, we no longer had to worry about night; we were at the inn.
