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Rogues Paid Gold: Riffraff and Runaways Ch.12
Riffraff and Runaways is the first in (hopefully) a number of book-length stories in what I am calling "Rogues Paid Gold". It is a fantasy story taking place in a world that I have been working to develop for several years. I hope you enjoy it and are interested in going through the journey along with the characters.
Things are still in the drafting phase right now. This is by no means the final form of the chapter. Critique is more than welcome.
Other comments such as what worked and what you enjoyed are also a big help to the development of this project.
Chapter 1 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/47108770/
Chapter 2 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/48752162/
Chapter 3 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/49597363/
Chapter 4 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/52304327/
Chapter 5 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/53094343/
Chapter 6 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/54478623/
Chapter 7 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/54478880/
Chapter 8 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/56095422/
Chapter 9 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/56757393/
Chapter 10 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/57532738/
Chapter 11 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/59333072/
Chapter 12
Child Gambit
Amber swung wildly, her blade nipping hungrily at Kajo yet always coming up short throughout their deadly dance.
“Got nothin’ between yer legs?” She snarled. “Quit runnin’ so I can gut ya.”
With a desperate leap, she brought the blade down but struck only earth. Her body soon followed after Kajo’s tail smacked across her face. After skidding across the dirt, she scrambled up, eyes resting on her beloved sword now in the reptile’s clutches.
“Give. That. Back!” she screamed.
Kajo examined the massive weapon, giving a few mock swings before gripping it with both hands.
“Your strength impresses me,” Kajo said. “But I’ve seen children with more skill with a blade than you.”
“Quit flappin’ yer jaws ‘n’ gimme back my sword, ya malbrakken scatslug.”
Kajo’s voice devolved into an animalistic snarl. “I oughtta tear yer tongue from yer skull fer speakin’ such filth ta me.” He closed his eyes. Taking a breath, he returned to his previous composure. “But since you demand it…” Spinning around twice, he released the sword after the second rotation.
“Have it back!”
Amber dove away. Wind brushed her fur as the weapon flew overhead like a miniature cyclone to land around twenty paces away, leaving her alone with the giant reptile. Springing up, she dashed toward it with Kajo’s heavy steps growing louder with each second. She screamed when swiping claws tore her back open, collapsing and reaching for her sword. Her fingertips brushed the hilt, but Kajo gripped her hair and flung her away, sending new waves of agony racing into the fresh wounds as she landed on her back. Cursing and coughing, she struggled to lift herself up again, only to see Kajo already upon her. One scaly hand pressed against her throat. The other readied blade-like claws for the slaughter.
“Any final words of useless defiance?” Kajo asked.
Amber cast her eyes skyward as a shadow draped over the two combatants. “Yup,” she croaked, “stabbed up the scathole.”
Vlakas struck the ground mere meters away. Pressing himself against the earth, he rolled and flailed with crushed Mori carcasses falling from their previous iron grips. Kajo brought his arms up to defend against the thrashing beast but one of the random kicks knocked him away. Scrambling up, Amber scurried away from the unpredictable dragon. The stinging in her back flared, but grit teeth and the desire avoid becoming a smear across the earth spurred her onward to where the others gathered around Cade.
“That’s the extent of what I can help with.” Gabe released an exhausted breath as he played the final notes of his seventh Vivace. Or was it eighth? Tenth? On the outside, only the dried remnants of blood caking Cade’s fur and hair betrayed his former injuries
Amber ran up, pushing her way in front of Gabe to present her back to him.
“Fix this for me, will ya?”
Gabe hissed through his teeth at the dirt-encrusted lacerations. Wordlessly, he played the lyre, and Amber soon felt the warm sensation of the spell stitching her flesh back together.
Cade clutched his side, breathing through stubborn pain that remained despite the magic. “You sure you can’t do anything more? That monster cracked my ribs. I can’t fight like this. Your magic might as well have done nothing.”
“I’m sorry,” Gabe said. “Vivace can only heal what I can see.”
“Heh, that’s your only excuse?” Cade presented a dagger from his sash, huffing through his words. “If you cut me open, you’ll be able to see the damage, right?”
Gabe stared at the dagger, “Seas and skies! That’s insane. What if that makes things worse?”
“Then heal ‘im back up n’ do it again,” Amber said. “Wish I could stay ‘n’ watch ya get sliced up, but I got a sword ta git back ‘n’ a spitscorned giant ta slay.” Without waiting to hear any objections, she dashed off across the cracked earth.
Syrus produced his own dagger with a sigh. “Best let a ranger handle the job.”
Aided by Gabe and Elysia, Cade groaned through the agonizing process of removing his leather cuirass before lowering himself on his back. Rolling up the meshed garb underneath, he presented his fur to the wolf.
“Just like cleaning a kill for the fire, eh?” he said with a quavering laugh.
While the two youths held Cade still, Syrus sliced a long chasm along the weasel’s pelt. Through teeth clenching on his rolled-up cloak, Cade howled out his agony. Elysia winced at the horrible sound, but she bravely held fast to her job through it all. The work was quick. Like all good rangers, Syrus knew his weapon and wielded it well. He soon had the cavity held open with his hands, exposing two cracked ribs and one snapped in two.
“Can...can you see the situation?” Cade’s words were ragged as he breathed through the torture.
“Yes,” Gabe said, “hold on. I’ll fix you right up, I will.”
The warmth washing over Cade’s torso offered welcome relief. After the ribs had been mended, Gabe cast multiple Vivace on the muscles and flesh of Cade’s wound, stitching the gash back together with nary a scar remaining.
Cade sat up with a lengthy exhale. “Well done. That brute would have us slaughtered seven times over if you weren’t here.”
“Right,” Syrus said. “So, what do we do about that reptile?”
“He’s unstoppable,” Elysia said.
“I might have something figured out.” Cade placed his arms around the two young ones, drawing them it. “And you two will be the key.” Cade turned to Gabe, pointing at Vlakas who still preoccupied Kajo. “Do you think you could calm the big idiot down again. I’ll need him out of the way for this to work.”
Gabe nodded. “If I can cast another A Tempo, that’ll do the trick.”
“What do you want me to do?” Elysia asked.
Cade beamed as he revealed his strategy. “I need you to slap Kajo with one of your spells every time you get the chance.” He moved his arm to point his finger dramatically to where the land suddenly stopped in the distance. “Toward that gorge.”
Vlakas reeled back from Kajo cracking his jaw with a swift uppercut. He retaliated with a swipe of his own, grazing Kajo’s chest as he backstepped away. Amber advanced while the Hyosangrian pressed a hand against his split scales, but Vlakas’s mad lunging and swiping after their shared opponent forced her back on the defensive.
“Git in my way again ‘n’ I’ll gut ya before relievin’ myself in the open wound, ya overgrown snakespawn!”
Vlakas paid the foulmouthed fox no heed. He rushed Kajo, mouth open and neck stretched out with teeth ready to close around the lizard’s body.
“You’re not bright, are you?” Kajo said, holding the jaws open while they struggled to close against his monstrous strength. “Let me remind you of what happened last time.” He jumped back, allowing the teeth to snap shut in front of him before delivering a double-fisted blow against the dragon’s head.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack! Crack!
Vlakas received no mercy from the torrent of blows.
Taking her chance, Amber charged, but Kajo’s tail swept her off her paws. After she hit the dirt, the muscular appendage landed atop her back, trapping her against the ground with its crushing pressure.
Kiyaaaa!
Kairi descended like an arrow with talons aimed for Kajo’s face. He dropped to all fours, leaving her clutching empty space with a beak clack of disappointment. Once upright, Kajo prepared his claws to strike as the raptor dove once more. His prey fell within reach when…
“Shout!”
Jerking his head down, he saw Elysia standing below him before her spell pounded against his body like a mighty fist to his abdomen. He flew back, skidding against the earth and landing several meters away. Laying there, he took painful gasps, trying to restore the breath robbed from his lungs.
“And that’s how it feels, leatherhead.” Cade flashed his teeth in satisfaction as he swaggered alongside Elysia. “About time the so-called ‘king’ was brought to his knees.”
Gabe ran up to join the others with Syrus trudging in from behind. “A Tempo went off without mistake this time, it did. Thanks to Amber giving a chance to cast it on Vlakas safely.”
“Hear that, Amber,” Cade said. “Your complete failure of an attack did some good. No need to feel bad about that tail hug.”
The small fox jumped upright. “If yer dragon didn’t ‘ave room in ‘is skull fer birds ta flit about, I coulda focused on the lizard instead o’ worryin’ if my tail would git carved, wouldn’t I?”
Cade shrugged off Amber’s retort and whistled for Vlakas who lumbered to his master, back to his old carefree demeanor until Kajo’s voice shattered the brief victory. Yelping, the dragon shrunk down and scrambled up Cade’s body to retreat into his hood, refusing to come out.
“I put you at death’s door, weasel.” Now upright, Kajo slowly stormed toward the group, glowering at Cade. “How dare you stand in my way again.”
Cade shrugged. “Don’t blame me. These kids are responsible for that. This one turned your beating into nothing more than a bad memory. And I’m sure you noticed the girl? The one that knocked you flat on your tail? So, I ask you, ‘great king’, are you going to do anything about it?”
Syrus gripped his daggers. “You’re outnumbered. Surrender, before any more needless harm is done.”
Kajo’s steps never wavered. “I didn’t claw my way up to rule this land only to have it taken from me by a bunch of rabble.”
Syrus’s fur rose in response to each heavy footstep planting itself on the ground. As he approached, the Hyosangrian appeared even more immense than before. The menace in the air continued its crescendo, reaching its climax when Kajo lunged forward with a roar.
Steel flashed in response. Cade thrust his longsword, but Kajo stopped it short by gripping the blade. Ignoring the blood trickling from his armored palm, he pulled in and clutched Cade’s face with his free hand. He slammed him against the ground while his mighty tail kept Syrus and Amber at bay. Claws, fists, legs, tail, he utilized every part of his body to overcome his odds. Amber, Syrus, and Cade met with the hard, unforgiving earth on several occasion, but whenever one fell, those remaining on their paws acted quickly to quell any further assault.
Gabe strummed his lyre without end, playing the all-too-familiar tune of Vivace on a continuous cycle as he stayed a generous length away from the fray. Every time one of his comrades fell to Kajo’s formidable resistance, he said an inward prayer that the damage was not too much for the basic healing spell. An empty sensation akin to hunger coursed throughout his body. He couldn’t keep casting without respite for much longer. This battle had to end soon.
Beside him, Elysia weaved a Shout several times, but every time she tried to aim, one of her companions stepped in the way, leaving the spell’s energy to fizzle out. What if she hurt them by mistake? Or worse. No, they needed her. Gathering her resolve, she clapped her hands together to prepare another spell.
Amber brought her blade down, but Kajo sidestepped it after denying Syrus’s daggers by sending him away with a simple backhand. The lizard grabbed the fox’s ankle and took her small frame off the ground before hurling her at Cade, reuniting both with the dirt. He then set upon the still staggering Syrus, flashing his claws in the retreating desert sun. With desperate shrieks, Kairi descended on him with talons raking, but a second backhand caught her in the side. Careening to the ground, she lay still but breathing.
With no one immediately able to aid Syrus, Elysia ran in, hands charged with a Shout as Kajo dealt a swipe across the wolf’s cuirass that brought him to his knees. She put herself between him and the ranger, halting the descending claws a hairsbreadth from her body. Her eyes met Kajo’s own, burning with ill-tempered defiance.
“Move!” Kajo growled, his arm affixed in place.
Elysia answered by sending the spell crashing into Kajo’s body. He braced himself, but the force still knocked him back a few feet, leaving him staggering for balance. Before Kajo could fully right himself, another invisible blow slammed into his face. Though weaker, it still managed to increase the distance between him and Syrus by a fair margin.
The cycle continued. Elysia clapped and weaved sound wildly, pelting Kajo with Shout after Shout, driving him further and further from her friends. With each cast, she boldly rushed him down as her companions cheered her on.
“Seas and skies, Elysia, you have that monster on the ropes, you do.”
“Make that bleedin’ brute hurt!”
“Ha! It appears my suspicions about you were correct, savage scales. You can’t do a thing about these kids.”
Cade looked on, heart racing with hope as Elysia drove Kajo ever closer to the mouth of the immense gorge. With one final Shout, Elysia sent him backwards once more. With heels contacting empty space, the reptile teetered at the edge of the earthen maw. Unable to right his balance, Kajo tilted backwards, plunging earthward with a defeated roar.
Elysia collapsed to her knees, panting. Droplets of sweat snaked their way down her face while she shook in place. Cade and the others ran up to her, Syrus kneeling and taking hold of the young mouse as she rested her head against his body.
“I-I was so angry.” Elysia’s voice was quiet amidst the rhythm of her heavy breaths. “I didn’t want to…see you hurt…anymore.”
“You did well, Elysia,” Syrus said, helping her to stand on shaking legs. “She’s overexerted herself.”
“Gabe, a little Vivace to perk her up a bit, if you would.” Cade said.
“I’m getting close to the dregs myself” Gabe said, playing the last notes of the spell. “Here Elysia. This’ll help with the weakness. Though, it’ll take a bit before you can weave sound again.”
Elysia thanked him once her legs stopped quivering, and the group converged together, basking in the glow of their victory.
“We’d have been done for if it weren’t for you kids.” Cade gave a wink to Gabe who responded with swelled chest and beaming visage. “Fortune sure smiled on us with you two.”
Amber spat on the ground and planted her sword into the earth, leaning on it as she scratched the inside of one large ear with a claw. “That guy deserves that bounty. Hope it’s still up for snatchin’ when we deliver ‘is corpse. If we busted our tails for nothin’, I’ll be fit ta rip somethin’ apart.”
“Right.” Cade said. “Jailed or dead, we still rid the Outlands of that tyrant. Don’t worry. I’ll make quite the case for us. I suppose we’ll need to retrieve the body, though.”
Kiyaraaaaah!
Things are still in the drafting phase right now. This is by no means the final form of the chapter. Critique is more than welcome.
Other comments such as what worked and what you enjoyed are also a big help to the development of this project.
Chapter 1 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/47108770/
Chapter 2 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/48752162/
Chapter 3 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/49597363/
Chapter 4 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/52304327/
Chapter 5 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/53094343/
Chapter 6 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/54478623/
Chapter 7 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/54478880/
Chapter 8 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/56095422/
Chapter 9 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/56757393/
Chapter 10 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/57532738/
Chapter 11 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/59333072/
Chapter 12
Child Gambit
Amber swung wildly, her blade nipping hungrily at Kajo yet always coming up short throughout their deadly dance.
“Got nothin’ between yer legs?” She snarled. “Quit runnin’ so I can gut ya.”
With a desperate leap, she brought the blade down but struck only earth. Her body soon followed after Kajo’s tail smacked across her face. After skidding across the dirt, she scrambled up, eyes resting on her beloved sword now in the reptile’s clutches.
“Give. That. Back!” she screamed.
Kajo examined the massive weapon, giving a few mock swings before gripping it with both hands.
“Your strength impresses me,” Kajo said. “But I’ve seen children with more skill with a blade than you.”
“Quit flappin’ yer jaws ‘n’ gimme back my sword, ya malbrakken scatslug.”
Kajo’s voice devolved into an animalistic snarl. “I oughtta tear yer tongue from yer skull fer speakin’ such filth ta me.” He closed his eyes. Taking a breath, he returned to his previous composure. “But since you demand it…” Spinning around twice, he released the sword after the second rotation.
“Have it back!”
Amber dove away. Wind brushed her fur as the weapon flew overhead like a miniature cyclone to land around twenty paces away, leaving her alone with the giant reptile. Springing up, she dashed toward it with Kajo’s heavy steps growing louder with each second. She screamed when swiping claws tore her back open, collapsing and reaching for her sword. Her fingertips brushed the hilt, but Kajo gripped her hair and flung her away, sending new waves of agony racing into the fresh wounds as she landed on her back. Cursing and coughing, she struggled to lift herself up again, only to see Kajo already upon her. One scaly hand pressed against her throat. The other readied blade-like claws for the slaughter.
“Any final words of useless defiance?” Kajo asked.
Amber cast her eyes skyward as a shadow draped over the two combatants. “Yup,” she croaked, “stabbed up the scathole.”
Vlakas struck the ground mere meters away. Pressing himself against the earth, he rolled and flailed with crushed Mori carcasses falling from their previous iron grips. Kajo brought his arms up to defend against the thrashing beast but one of the random kicks knocked him away. Scrambling up, Amber scurried away from the unpredictable dragon. The stinging in her back flared, but grit teeth and the desire avoid becoming a smear across the earth spurred her onward to where the others gathered around Cade.
“That’s the extent of what I can help with.” Gabe released an exhausted breath as he played the final notes of his seventh Vivace. Or was it eighth? Tenth? On the outside, only the dried remnants of blood caking Cade’s fur and hair betrayed his former injuries
Amber ran up, pushing her way in front of Gabe to present her back to him.
“Fix this for me, will ya?”
Gabe hissed through his teeth at the dirt-encrusted lacerations. Wordlessly, he played the lyre, and Amber soon felt the warm sensation of the spell stitching her flesh back together.
Cade clutched his side, breathing through stubborn pain that remained despite the magic. “You sure you can’t do anything more? That monster cracked my ribs. I can’t fight like this. Your magic might as well have done nothing.”
“I’m sorry,” Gabe said. “Vivace can only heal what I can see.”
“Heh, that’s your only excuse?” Cade presented a dagger from his sash, huffing through his words. “If you cut me open, you’ll be able to see the damage, right?”
Gabe stared at the dagger, “Seas and skies! That’s insane. What if that makes things worse?”
“Then heal ‘im back up n’ do it again,” Amber said. “Wish I could stay ‘n’ watch ya get sliced up, but I got a sword ta git back ‘n’ a spitscorned giant ta slay.” Without waiting to hear any objections, she dashed off across the cracked earth.
Syrus produced his own dagger with a sigh. “Best let a ranger handle the job.”
Aided by Gabe and Elysia, Cade groaned through the agonizing process of removing his leather cuirass before lowering himself on his back. Rolling up the meshed garb underneath, he presented his fur to the wolf.
“Just like cleaning a kill for the fire, eh?” he said with a quavering laugh.
While the two youths held Cade still, Syrus sliced a long chasm along the weasel’s pelt. Through teeth clenching on his rolled-up cloak, Cade howled out his agony. Elysia winced at the horrible sound, but she bravely held fast to her job through it all. The work was quick. Like all good rangers, Syrus knew his weapon and wielded it well. He soon had the cavity held open with his hands, exposing two cracked ribs and one snapped in two.
“Can...can you see the situation?” Cade’s words were ragged as he breathed through the torture.
“Yes,” Gabe said, “hold on. I’ll fix you right up, I will.”
The warmth washing over Cade’s torso offered welcome relief. After the ribs had been mended, Gabe cast multiple Vivace on the muscles and flesh of Cade’s wound, stitching the gash back together with nary a scar remaining.
Cade sat up with a lengthy exhale. “Well done. That brute would have us slaughtered seven times over if you weren’t here.”
“Right,” Syrus said. “So, what do we do about that reptile?”
“He’s unstoppable,” Elysia said.
“I might have something figured out.” Cade placed his arms around the two young ones, drawing them it. “And you two will be the key.” Cade turned to Gabe, pointing at Vlakas who still preoccupied Kajo. “Do you think you could calm the big idiot down again. I’ll need him out of the way for this to work.”
Gabe nodded. “If I can cast another A Tempo, that’ll do the trick.”
“What do you want me to do?” Elysia asked.
Cade beamed as he revealed his strategy. “I need you to slap Kajo with one of your spells every time you get the chance.” He moved his arm to point his finger dramatically to where the land suddenly stopped in the distance. “Toward that gorge.”
Vlakas reeled back from Kajo cracking his jaw with a swift uppercut. He retaliated with a swipe of his own, grazing Kajo’s chest as he backstepped away. Amber advanced while the Hyosangrian pressed a hand against his split scales, but Vlakas’s mad lunging and swiping after their shared opponent forced her back on the defensive.
“Git in my way again ‘n’ I’ll gut ya before relievin’ myself in the open wound, ya overgrown snakespawn!”
Vlakas paid the foulmouthed fox no heed. He rushed Kajo, mouth open and neck stretched out with teeth ready to close around the lizard’s body.
“You’re not bright, are you?” Kajo said, holding the jaws open while they struggled to close against his monstrous strength. “Let me remind you of what happened last time.” He jumped back, allowing the teeth to snap shut in front of him before delivering a double-fisted blow against the dragon’s head.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack! Crack!
Vlakas received no mercy from the torrent of blows.
Taking her chance, Amber charged, but Kajo’s tail swept her off her paws. After she hit the dirt, the muscular appendage landed atop her back, trapping her against the ground with its crushing pressure.
Kiyaaaa!
Kairi descended like an arrow with talons aimed for Kajo’s face. He dropped to all fours, leaving her clutching empty space with a beak clack of disappointment. Once upright, Kajo prepared his claws to strike as the raptor dove once more. His prey fell within reach when…
“Shout!”
Jerking his head down, he saw Elysia standing below him before her spell pounded against his body like a mighty fist to his abdomen. He flew back, skidding against the earth and landing several meters away. Laying there, he took painful gasps, trying to restore the breath robbed from his lungs.
“And that’s how it feels, leatherhead.” Cade flashed his teeth in satisfaction as he swaggered alongside Elysia. “About time the so-called ‘king’ was brought to his knees.”
Gabe ran up to join the others with Syrus trudging in from behind. “A Tempo went off without mistake this time, it did. Thanks to Amber giving a chance to cast it on Vlakas safely.”
“Hear that, Amber,” Cade said. “Your complete failure of an attack did some good. No need to feel bad about that tail hug.”
The small fox jumped upright. “If yer dragon didn’t ‘ave room in ‘is skull fer birds ta flit about, I coulda focused on the lizard instead o’ worryin’ if my tail would git carved, wouldn’t I?”
Cade shrugged off Amber’s retort and whistled for Vlakas who lumbered to his master, back to his old carefree demeanor until Kajo’s voice shattered the brief victory. Yelping, the dragon shrunk down and scrambled up Cade’s body to retreat into his hood, refusing to come out.
“I put you at death’s door, weasel.” Now upright, Kajo slowly stormed toward the group, glowering at Cade. “How dare you stand in my way again.”
Cade shrugged. “Don’t blame me. These kids are responsible for that. This one turned your beating into nothing more than a bad memory. And I’m sure you noticed the girl? The one that knocked you flat on your tail? So, I ask you, ‘great king’, are you going to do anything about it?”
Syrus gripped his daggers. “You’re outnumbered. Surrender, before any more needless harm is done.”
Kajo’s steps never wavered. “I didn’t claw my way up to rule this land only to have it taken from me by a bunch of rabble.”
Syrus’s fur rose in response to each heavy footstep planting itself on the ground. As he approached, the Hyosangrian appeared even more immense than before. The menace in the air continued its crescendo, reaching its climax when Kajo lunged forward with a roar.
Steel flashed in response. Cade thrust his longsword, but Kajo stopped it short by gripping the blade. Ignoring the blood trickling from his armored palm, he pulled in and clutched Cade’s face with his free hand. He slammed him against the ground while his mighty tail kept Syrus and Amber at bay. Claws, fists, legs, tail, he utilized every part of his body to overcome his odds. Amber, Syrus, and Cade met with the hard, unforgiving earth on several occasion, but whenever one fell, those remaining on their paws acted quickly to quell any further assault.
Gabe strummed his lyre without end, playing the all-too-familiar tune of Vivace on a continuous cycle as he stayed a generous length away from the fray. Every time one of his comrades fell to Kajo’s formidable resistance, he said an inward prayer that the damage was not too much for the basic healing spell. An empty sensation akin to hunger coursed throughout his body. He couldn’t keep casting without respite for much longer. This battle had to end soon.
Beside him, Elysia weaved a Shout several times, but every time she tried to aim, one of her companions stepped in the way, leaving the spell’s energy to fizzle out. What if she hurt them by mistake? Or worse. No, they needed her. Gathering her resolve, she clapped her hands together to prepare another spell.
Amber brought her blade down, but Kajo sidestepped it after denying Syrus’s daggers by sending him away with a simple backhand. The lizard grabbed the fox’s ankle and took her small frame off the ground before hurling her at Cade, reuniting both with the dirt. He then set upon the still staggering Syrus, flashing his claws in the retreating desert sun. With desperate shrieks, Kairi descended on him with talons raking, but a second backhand caught her in the side. Careening to the ground, she lay still but breathing.
With no one immediately able to aid Syrus, Elysia ran in, hands charged with a Shout as Kajo dealt a swipe across the wolf’s cuirass that brought him to his knees. She put herself between him and the ranger, halting the descending claws a hairsbreadth from her body. Her eyes met Kajo’s own, burning with ill-tempered defiance.
“Move!” Kajo growled, his arm affixed in place.
Elysia answered by sending the spell crashing into Kajo’s body. He braced himself, but the force still knocked him back a few feet, leaving him staggering for balance. Before Kajo could fully right himself, another invisible blow slammed into his face. Though weaker, it still managed to increase the distance between him and Syrus by a fair margin.
The cycle continued. Elysia clapped and weaved sound wildly, pelting Kajo with Shout after Shout, driving him further and further from her friends. With each cast, she boldly rushed him down as her companions cheered her on.
“Seas and skies, Elysia, you have that monster on the ropes, you do.”
“Make that bleedin’ brute hurt!”
“Ha! It appears my suspicions about you were correct, savage scales. You can’t do a thing about these kids.”
Cade looked on, heart racing with hope as Elysia drove Kajo ever closer to the mouth of the immense gorge. With one final Shout, Elysia sent him backwards once more. With heels contacting empty space, the reptile teetered at the edge of the earthen maw. Unable to right his balance, Kajo tilted backwards, plunging earthward with a defeated roar.
Elysia collapsed to her knees, panting. Droplets of sweat snaked their way down her face while she shook in place. Cade and the others ran up to her, Syrus kneeling and taking hold of the young mouse as she rested her head against his body.
“I-I was so angry.” Elysia’s voice was quiet amidst the rhythm of her heavy breaths. “I didn’t want to…see you hurt…anymore.”
“You did well, Elysia,” Syrus said, helping her to stand on shaking legs. “She’s overexerted herself.”
“Gabe, a little Vivace to perk her up a bit, if you would.” Cade said.
“I’m getting close to the dregs myself” Gabe said, playing the last notes of the spell. “Here Elysia. This’ll help with the weakness. Though, it’ll take a bit before you can weave sound again.”
Elysia thanked him once her legs stopped quivering, and the group converged together, basking in the glow of their victory.
“We’d have been done for if it weren’t for you kids.” Cade gave a wink to Gabe who responded with swelled chest and beaming visage. “Fortune sure smiled on us with you two.”
Amber spat on the ground and planted her sword into the earth, leaning on it as she scratched the inside of one large ear with a claw. “That guy deserves that bounty. Hope it’s still up for snatchin’ when we deliver ‘is corpse. If we busted our tails for nothin’, I’ll be fit ta rip somethin’ apart.”
“Right.” Cade said. “Jailed or dead, we still rid the Outlands of that tyrant. Don’t worry. I’ll make quite the case for us. I suppose we’ll need to retrieve the body, though.”
Kiyaraaaaah!
Category Story / Fantasy
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 50 x 50px
File Size 22.6 kB
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