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Rogues Paid Gold: Riffraff and Runaways Ch.13
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 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/60390741/
Chapter 13
Crescendo
Kajo’s colossal frame blocked the descending Aridescan sun from view as he rose from the chasm, bathing Cade and his allies in shadow. Tendrils of bright red energy crackled along the reptile’s rippling body like lightning while it continued to grow. The metal mask once covering his face’s left side was gone, lost somewhere in the pit as it snapped off during his transformation. Its absence exposed a gruesome scar over the left eye that twisted flesh into a shape reminiscent of an M, sealing the lids shut forever.
The monster towered over the small band, his shadow extending and swallowing the land far beyond the shelter in which Daphne and the orphans took cover. Now clad in nothing but his scales, Kajo’s body lay visible from the chest up while his lower body remained within the gorge. He turned his head earthward to glare at Cade and the others who appeared as mere flies to his enormous eye, while speaking with a voice booming like nearby thunder,
“Now I’ll crush you like all who dare defy me. So decrees the king of the Outlands.”
Kajo’s fist slammed into the gorge’s wall. Violent tremors shook the battlefield, as if the very rock itself feared the looming colossus, knocking Cade off his paws. Unable to right himself against such convulsions, he could only whistle a frantic command to Vlakas as the ground crumbled away, sending all with him falling into the chasm. The dragon’s size stretched in obedience to Cade’s order, enough to catch each of his guildmates. Or so he hoped. Forcing his eyes to open, he scanned the tumultuous collage of wind, rubble and dragon. Thank Fortune. All caught.
But they still plunged among the remnants of where they once stood, and Vlakas’s body rocked with every piece of cliff that buffeted him. More than once, Cade found his perch shook to near removal as the detritus buffeted them about like swirling, churning whitewater.
“Everyone,” Cade called through a quiver in his voice that threatened to choke him. “Grab a spine and grip it like it’s your last gold coin. Vlakas, sky.”
The tumbling dragon flailed to right himself. With wings beating frantically, he managed to steer straight and lift to break the pull toward the earth. While rising, Cade began another whispered gratitude to Fortune before a sizeable piece of rock struck Vlakas on the neck, sending dragon and passengers tumbling and thudding into Kajo’s palm.
“Look at you now, weasel. Nothing more than insects scurrying among the dirt in my hand.”
Amber leapt from the fallen dragon, smashing rubble apart with infuriated swings.
“I’m sick of yer high-and-mighty chag,” she screamed, running full speed along Kajo’s palm and up his lower arm.
As she left, Cade took the chance to search for the rest of his guild, breathing out upon seeing Syrus, Gabe, and Elysia among the debris. Dazed, but not broken.
“Yer stupid voice gives me a headache.” Amber leapt up, threading her body between the gaps of Kajo’s fingers that clasped the arm she had been traversing. Racing along the opposite limb, she continued her tirade by hacking away at the arm with her sword even though the scales held firm against the blade.
“Instead o’ runnin’ yer mouth, how ‘bout ya use it ta scarf Pakra scat?”
Kiiiiing!
The sound of shattering metal reverberating off the canyon walls was nearly drowned out by Amber’s agonized cry. The dumbfounded fox halted, staring at the jagged remnants of her splintered steel through wide, damp eyes.
“My… baby. My beautiful baby…”
Kajo shut Amber up with a simple swing of his arm, sending her hurtling into the air. Cade let a curse escape under his breath as he watched her shoot into the sky like a loosed arrow. A series of whistles returned Vlakas to his usual small size and the weasel ran to Syrus, clutching up the dragon on the way. Gripping the wolf’s arm, he dragged him up and raced to the edge of Kajo’s hand. Ignoring Syrus’s protests, he leapt off with both in tow. Placing Vlakas below him, he let go and another set of whistles had the dragon’s swelling size catch him and Syrus out of the air. He scrambled up, ignoring Syrus’s shouts and steering Vlakas away from Kajo and in Amber’s direction.
Woom!
Kajo swatted at Vlakas as if he were a mere insect. Though it failed to connect, the great sweeping hand still created a mighty wind that rocked the dragon’s body and threatened to rip Cade from his back. With his perch lost, Cade clutched at Vlakas’s neck until his fingers ached while his paws met with empty air. Teeth grit together. Muscles screamed. At their limits. Finally, Vlakas leveled out, allowing Syrus to aid him back onboard.
“Faster,” Cade pleaded. “Shake the cobwebs from your brain and beat those wings.”
“Cade, why did you leave the children?”
He heard the snarl in Syrus’s voice but kept his attention on Amber in the distance. The small fox had begun her deadly descent.
“They’ll be fine, mate. It’s you I needed to worry about. That oversized scale dragger wouldn’t dare them. You’ll see.”
“That was before. There’s no telling what a desperate beast will do.”
“That desperate beast was still ready to catch us to prevent the kids from falling. I’ll gladly take an arrow if I’m wrong, but right now Amber’s in more danger than they’ll ever be around him.”
Cade returned to the more urgent matter, shaking away the seed of doubt by focusing on Amber. Wind whipped against him while he berated Vlakas, shouting for him to surpass the speed which he knew full well was his limit.
“If you let Amber die, I’ll leave your hide in that gorge when we’re done. You hear me? Good. Almost…Nest of serpents!”
Amber dropped below the Vlakas’s altitude just as they reached her previous position. Cade heard the fox’s snarling profanities reach his ears for an instant before her screaming faded away with her shrinking form.
“Get the lard out of your tail. Vlakas, dive!”
Vlakas dipped his snout before the rest of his body followed. Folding his wings against his sides, the dragon darted towards his plummeting quarry. The wind stung Cade’s face like lashes, pelting and biting against him during the freefall. Through eyes almost forced shut from the vicious blustering, he located Amber once more.
“Right, Vlakas. I shouldn’t be putting my trust in you, but I have no other choice.” Cade fought to speak, straining his throat to hear himself over the howling wind. “Get in close. Closer. Almost there…Now clutch!”
A single scaly hand shot out, enveloping Amber’s waist within its claws. Liberated from her peril, she immediately redirected her aggressive tongue up at the weasel.
“You know, Amber,” Cade called, leaning over to peer at the fox. “I did so miss that lovely voice of yours. Why don’t you grace me even more by using it to show a little gratitude?”
“Gratitude? For yer mange-bitten hide? Wouldn’t need savin’ if ya never crawled out from between yer mother’s legs, ya miserable pile of scat. We coulda left this chagshack weeks ago. Been free of the runt ‘n’ each other by now. But no. Ya had ta stay ‘n’ get us tangled up with a spitscorned giant.”
Cade looked out into the distance at Kajo’s overwhelming frame. “So, this turned out to be more perilous than initially thought. That doesn’t mean we should give up, right? I should think you’re not about to take that scaled scoundrel’s treatment all curled in a ball, are you?”
“Bleedin’ right,” Amber replied before sending a projectile of saliva down to water the parched earth.
“Then let’s hasten back to the kids,” Syrus said.
Cade steered Vlakas around so that they flew back towards the giant lizard. “Right. Regroup. Think of a plan. There must be way to take him down. Even mountains fear the wind and rain.”
Gabe and Elysia stood safe on solid ground. True to Cade’s suspicions, Kajo had brought his hand over the sand before tilting it, allowing the two children to slide off. Both now joined the monstrous reptile in peering through the waning sunlight hoping to catch a glimpse of Vlakas
Elysia clapped her hands, furrowing her brow when the radiant heat from the sound-harnessing magic never came.
“There must be something we can do. We can’t just stand here being useless. If only I could use magic again. I’d show that lizard.”
“Don’t know if your Shout will do any good,” Gabe said. “He’s like a walking mountain, he is. Wait. I see them!”
Vlakas flew low, gliding over the sand, past the orphanage and heading for the two children. Kajo grabbed for him, forcing Cade to change course and dart Vlakas to the right. The reptile changed course just as quickly. Raking his claws across the ground, he clipped the dragon’s wing, sending Vlakas and all aboard tumbling into the dirt. As Kajo prepared his next fatal attack, a familiar shriek echoed off the canyon walls. Crimson feathers darted out of nowhere at him as Kairi let loose her ear-splitting war anthem with beak and talons ready. She dove at the giant, forcing him to ignore Vlakas and bring his hand in to fend off the angry bird that swarmed him like a stubborn gnat. Dodging and dipping, she mocked Kajo’s swiping claws, beak and talons seeking his vulnerable eye.
With teeth gritting and body throbbing, Cade tried to stagger up from the daze. The groans of Syrus and Amber behind him gave way to the shouts of Elysia and Gabe who dashed to meet them.
“Are you alright?” Elysia asked, reaching the weasel and clutching his arm.
Cade grimaced and rubbed at a shoulder. “Not as bad as I could be, thanks to Syrus’s bird.” He checked behind him.
Vlakas shook his head, snorting away his disorientation while Amber, freed from the dragon’s hand by the fall, was already up and storming over to him with her broken sword in tow.
“Right. No time for lazing around. Everyone on Vlakas. We need to be up in the air where that giant can’t reach us.”
“Runnin’? That’s yer swell plan?” Amber pointed the jagged remains of her blade at him. “How we gonna pay that giant scatswallower back for dis? Fer dat matter, yer what got us in dis mess. How ya gonna pay for dis? Not enough ya rob me of one sword? Ya had to go do it a-bleedin’-gain!”
“Don’t blame me for your lack of control,” Cade retorted while climbing onto Vlakas’s lowered neck and helping Gabe aboard. “Now kindly get on while we have the pleasure of Kairi’s distraction.”
As if the fortune sought to spite him, no sooner had Cade finished his sentence than the displaced air from Kajo’s swipe buffeted the raptor. The stunned bird plummeted away Elysia dashed forward, putting herself in the path of the falling Kairt and catching the bird as if she were a large ball. Both arms clutched feathers, and she fell backwards, landing on the dry earth with a grunt.
“Do us a favor ‘n’ keep yer mouth shut,” Amber scolded Cade while scrambling onto Vlakas. “Would hate ta get the upper hand ‘n’ lose it ‘cause ya couldn’t keep yer rotted tongue chained.”
Syrus bounded to Elysia, scooping her from the ground and heaving her over to Cade before climbing atop the dragon himself. The mouse held Kairi out to him, and he frowned at the sight of Kairi’s disheveled plumage.
“My poor brave girl,” he said, holding the still-dazed bird close. “What did that brute do to you?”
Cade looked up, grinning at the huge yellow eye glaring blazing hatred down at them. “Can’t do anything further now that we’re back with the young ones, it seems. Best take our chance while it’s good. Vlakas, sky.”
With a push off the ground and the beating of wings, the dragon took them all into the air, spurred forward by Cade pushing against his horns. The weasel let out a laugh of victory. They survived. Now they just had to get away and think up a plan. They could-
His laughter caught in his throat when Kajo’s hand shot out at them. Impossible. He steered away, just barely missing the giant’s fingers, but their opponent wasn’t deterred. Again and again, he swiped at them, rocking the passengers with each near miss. Cade worked Vlakas like a farmbeast plowing the fields. Dipping, swerving, rising, he called upon the very limits of the dragon’s ability simply to evade the never-ending assault of titanic grasping claws.
“Take it easy,” Cade called, swerving Vlakas into an evasive dive. “I’ll have you know there are kids aboard.”
“You hide behind them like cowards. Rest assured, they will survive long after that dragon’s bones have become dust between my fingers.”
Lunging, Kajo caught Vlakas around the middle, clutching his body like a plucked pear. A quick set of whistles from Cade interrupted the dragon’s panicked cries, igniting the black scales once more with the emerald gloss that swept over Vlakas’s expanding body. The dragon grew further. Further. Far surpassing the width of even the giant’s hand, Vlakas wrestled the fingers away, taking his escape on rapidly unfurling wings and fleeing his tormentor.
“Curses.” Cade bared his fangs while Vlakas fled further into the distance and out of Kajo’s range. “We need to stop playing defense and find a way to launch an offensive tactic.”
“Why not have the dragon fry that monster?” Amber asked.
Cade remained silent.
“Weasel, I’m talkin’ to ya!”
“He can’t. Alright? I’ve never gotten him to breathe fire. Whether he’s too stupid to figure it out or he’s incapable doesn’t matter. He can’t.”
Amber’s mouth hung halfway open, and she gave a few speechless grunts before her usual demeanor returned. “Ya no good, shifty scat smear. Ya always talked a big game, threatening ta roast people with this idiot. Ya tellin’ me those were all empty threats? What good is a dragon that can’t bleedin’ breathe fire?”
“Saving your tail for one thing.”
“What do we do?” Gabe said, tucking his lyre away after administering a Vivace to perk up the tiring dragon. “How do take him down? Surely you have a plan, right, Cade?”
“To tell the truth, I think we’re bested,” Cade said. “Unless there’s some spell you know that can help?”
Gabe thought before casting his eyes down. “The few spells I know won’t do anything against him. Bards aren’t known for their offensive magic.”
While the two deliberated, Elysia placed her palms apart and faced them inward. Concentrating, she blocked out the voices and wind around her, focusing only on her own humming. Nothing at first, but a light tingling soon spread over her hands before increasing to a slight warmth.
“What about Shout?” she asked. “That spell I used to knock Kajo into the pit.”
Gabe shook his head. “I told you already, Elysia. Shout won’t do anything. The amount of force it creates will only be a slight breeze to him, if that.”
“What if we could increase the impact somehow,” Cade said. “Focus on one area instead of sending that invisible whatever it is out with reckless abandon?”
Gabe shrugged. “Maybe. But how do you suppose we do that?”
“We’ve got a bleedin’ problem!”
All heads snapped to attention in response to Amber’s warning just in time to see Kajo launch several large objects in their direction. The bodies of multiple Pakra hurtled at them like a catapult’s payload, their imposing masses threatening to fell Vlakas from the sky before he could dive.
Elysia rushed forward. Clapping her hands together, she wove the sound quickly, forming a manageable network of energy before shooting her palms out in front of her and proclaiming the spell in a volume unnatural for one her size.
“Shout!”
The recoil sent the mouse reeling into Syrus’s arms, her hat taking the opportunity to fall and swallow her head. Striking against the bodies of the airborne beasts, the Shout dispersed them, breaking up their clustered formation. The piteous lowing of the doomed animals faded into silence, their bodies whizzing past the dragon into the beyond or falling into the mouth of the monstrous earthen fault.
“That horrible tyrant!” Gabe pounded a fist against Vlakas, his voice choked with the lump that formed in it.
“Truer words never said,” Cade lamented. “But I might have something brewing in my head after all.
Something to finally pay back old Kajo for the lovely trouncing we’ve been getting. From what I’ve seen, Elysia’s spell spreads its punch over a wide area, correct?”
The deer nodded.
“If that punch is spread out in exchange for area of effect,” Cade continued, “the spell’s strength is probably dispersed throughout. But if we were to compress the width…”
“The smaller area would hold greater power,” Syrus finished.
Cade tapped his forehead with a finger. “You’re as sharp as your arrowheads, Ranger.”
“And what exactly is the asinine plan?” Amber pointed her broken sword at the weasel.
“I’ll distract old leatherhead with Vlakas.” Cade turned to Elysia, holding his palms to her as if casting Shout before crossing his hands together to make a small hole between the thumbs and index fingers. Raising them to his face so that his eye peered at her through the gap, he continued. “And I want you to try and cast the spell from a small space like this rather than from the palms. Think you can do that?”
Elysia frowned. “I can try.”
“Good. I want you to hit him in the bottom jaw. On the side. It’ll be just like driving a fist into it. I don’t care how big you are. A pop in the jaw like that will bring you down. Game, set, match. Come on Vlakas.”
Cade steered the dragon around to face Kajo, but upon seeing the giant reptile again, Vlakas fought and writhed against Cade’s control, refusing to fly any further.
“Come on, you big idiot,” Cade said. “Now’s not the time to get your scales out of sorts.”
No good.
Cade called back to Gabe. “Kid, hit this softhead with that spell you used earlier. That anger one.”
“Right, one Agitato as requested.”
Gabe strummed quick notes of rapidly increasing pitch, ending the brief intense tune with a single, near simultaneous pass through every string. A deep red mist erupted before him before wisping ahead like smoke on the breeze, seeping into Vlakas’s head and saturating his brain.
With bloodshot eyes set on Kajo, Vlakas shook the sky with a wrathful roar before shooting ahead, dragging Cade and the other passengers along in his quest to deliver retribution unto the Hyosangrian. Distance closed in mere moments, and Vlakas descended upon the subject of his blind ire like a spear of lightning hurled from blackened clouds.
Bathed in emerald light, Vlakas extended his size and readied his claws like cruel daggers. He flexed his limbs, catching the reptile’s chest and hooking into him. Kajo’s hand struck against his head, but the claws produced fine work, drawing blood and raking through the tough leathery hide. Far from sated, Vlakas lunged his serpentine neck with lethal teeth aimed at the titan’s throat.
Snapping shut, he sank his teeth in, puncturing through the scales on Kajo’s hand that intercepted the attack. Bone crunched against the combination of mighty jaws and savage teeth, forcing a roar of rage and pain from Kajo at last. A second hand gripped, pried, and clawed against the dragon, but Vlakas held on like a parasite, the full expanse of the berserk beast encompassing Kajo’s entire torso.
“If the kid’s gonna shoot, she better do it quick.” Amber’s warning came between clenched teeth that held the hilt of her broken sword while her only arm clung to one of the dragon’s ridges. “All ‘is rampagin’s gonna toss us off at this rate.”
As the two behemoths clashed, Elysia took position. Held stable by Cade, she clapped her palms together, manipulating the sound before forming her hands like she had been shown. Taking aim through the small hole, she set her sights on her target and tried firing the spell. She felt the recoil push against her limbs, but nothing happened. Missed. She prepared another, taking aim and yelling out the spell’s name just as Kajo gripped against Vlakas’s neck. The resulting shock rocked Elysia off target, sending another Shout into the endless sky.
Huffing, the mouse pushed up the brim of her hat. With another clap, she sought out Kajo’s jaw once more. Vlakas’s struggling grew frantic, his roars cutting off and trailing off into choked gurgles with the giant hand squeezing tighter around his neck. The violent thrashing dislodged Gabe, sending him yelling and tumbling down the dragon’s back. Kairi shrieked from her perch, talons dug securely around Syrus’s pauldron. With speed like a lightning strike, the wolf shot his hand out to grab Gabe’s wrist. The deer looked into his pale green eyes with gratitude while his hooves still dangled over the foreboding drop into the canyon.
“Hate to pressure you, kid,” Cade called up to Elysia, “but we need that spell now.”
Amber’s scream assaulted the young mouse’s ears next.
“Now!”
Elysia released the Shout, firing the invisible projectile that sought out its target with speed surpassing even the swiftest of arrows. Up. Up. Up it flew until…
PAK!
The crack against Kajo’s jaw bounced off the rocky walls of the gorge. His head jerked to the side, and his neck twisted sharply. As brain crashed against skull, the grip on Vlakas loosened, freeing him for flight once more. Like a grand spire crumbling at the base, the monstrous body fell back and struck the ground, carving out a new width to the already massive canyon. With a tremendous impact that sent the surrounding land into convulsions, the king of the Outlands lay still, lost to the grip of unconsciousness.
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 can be found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/60390741/
Chapter 13
Crescendo
Kajo’s colossal frame blocked the descending Aridescan sun from view as he rose from the chasm, bathing Cade and his allies in shadow. Tendrils of bright red energy crackled along the reptile’s rippling body like lightning while it continued to grow. The metal mask once covering his face’s left side was gone, lost somewhere in the pit as it snapped off during his transformation. Its absence exposed a gruesome scar over the left eye that twisted flesh into a shape reminiscent of an M, sealing the lids shut forever.
The monster towered over the small band, his shadow extending and swallowing the land far beyond the shelter in which Daphne and the orphans took cover. Now clad in nothing but his scales, Kajo’s body lay visible from the chest up while his lower body remained within the gorge. He turned his head earthward to glare at Cade and the others who appeared as mere flies to his enormous eye, while speaking with a voice booming like nearby thunder,
“Now I’ll crush you like all who dare defy me. So decrees the king of the Outlands.”
Kajo’s fist slammed into the gorge’s wall. Violent tremors shook the battlefield, as if the very rock itself feared the looming colossus, knocking Cade off his paws. Unable to right himself against such convulsions, he could only whistle a frantic command to Vlakas as the ground crumbled away, sending all with him falling into the chasm. The dragon’s size stretched in obedience to Cade’s order, enough to catch each of his guildmates. Or so he hoped. Forcing his eyes to open, he scanned the tumultuous collage of wind, rubble and dragon. Thank Fortune. All caught.
But they still plunged among the remnants of where they once stood, and Vlakas’s body rocked with every piece of cliff that buffeted him. More than once, Cade found his perch shook to near removal as the detritus buffeted them about like swirling, churning whitewater.
“Everyone,” Cade called through a quiver in his voice that threatened to choke him. “Grab a spine and grip it like it’s your last gold coin. Vlakas, sky.”
The tumbling dragon flailed to right himself. With wings beating frantically, he managed to steer straight and lift to break the pull toward the earth. While rising, Cade began another whispered gratitude to Fortune before a sizeable piece of rock struck Vlakas on the neck, sending dragon and passengers tumbling and thudding into Kajo’s palm.
“Look at you now, weasel. Nothing more than insects scurrying among the dirt in my hand.”
Amber leapt from the fallen dragon, smashing rubble apart with infuriated swings.
“I’m sick of yer high-and-mighty chag,” she screamed, running full speed along Kajo’s palm and up his lower arm.
As she left, Cade took the chance to search for the rest of his guild, breathing out upon seeing Syrus, Gabe, and Elysia among the debris. Dazed, but not broken.
“Yer stupid voice gives me a headache.” Amber leapt up, threading her body between the gaps of Kajo’s fingers that clasped the arm she had been traversing. Racing along the opposite limb, she continued her tirade by hacking away at the arm with her sword even though the scales held firm against the blade.
“Instead o’ runnin’ yer mouth, how ‘bout ya use it ta scarf Pakra scat?”
Kiiiiing!
The sound of shattering metal reverberating off the canyon walls was nearly drowned out by Amber’s agonized cry. The dumbfounded fox halted, staring at the jagged remnants of her splintered steel through wide, damp eyes.
“My… baby. My beautiful baby…”
Kajo shut Amber up with a simple swing of his arm, sending her hurtling into the air. Cade let a curse escape under his breath as he watched her shoot into the sky like a loosed arrow. A series of whistles returned Vlakas to his usual small size and the weasel ran to Syrus, clutching up the dragon on the way. Gripping the wolf’s arm, he dragged him up and raced to the edge of Kajo’s hand. Ignoring Syrus’s protests, he leapt off with both in tow. Placing Vlakas below him, he let go and another set of whistles had the dragon’s swelling size catch him and Syrus out of the air. He scrambled up, ignoring Syrus’s shouts and steering Vlakas away from Kajo and in Amber’s direction.
Woom!
Kajo swatted at Vlakas as if he were a mere insect. Though it failed to connect, the great sweeping hand still created a mighty wind that rocked the dragon’s body and threatened to rip Cade from his back. With his perch lost, Cade clutched at Vlakas’s neck until his fingers ached while his paws met with empty air. Teeth grit together. Muscles screamed. At their limits. Finally, Vlakas leveled out, allowing Syrus to aid him back onboard.
“Faster,” Cade pleaded. “Shake the cobwebs from your brain and beat those wings.”
“Cade, why did you leave the children?”
He heard the snarl in Syrus’s voice but kept his attention on Amber in the distance. The small fox had begun her deadly descent.
“They’ll be fine, mate. It’s you I needed to worry about. That oversized scale dragger wouldn’t dare them. You’ll see.”
“That was before. There’s no telling what a desperate beast will do.”
“That desperate beast was still ready to catch us to prevent the kids from falling. I’ll gladly take an arrow if I’m wrong, but right now Amber’s in more danger than they’ll ever be around him.”
Cade returned to the more urgent matter, shaking away the seed of doubt by focusing on Amber. Wind whipped against him while he berated Vlakas, shouting for him to surpass the speed which he knew full well was his limit.
“If you let Amber die, I’ll leave your hide in that gorge when we’re done. You hear me? Good. Almost…Nest of serpents!”
Amber dropped below the Vlakas’s altitude just as they reached her previous position. Cade heard the fox’s snarling profanities reach his ears for an instant before her screaming faded away with her shrinking form.
“Get the lard out of your tail. Vlakas, dive!”
Vlakas dipped his snout before the rest of his body followed. Folding his wings against his sides, the dragon darted towards his plummeting quarry. The wind stung Cade’s face like lashes, pelting and biting against him during the freefall. Through eyes almost forced shut from the vicious blustering, he located Amber once more.
“Right, Vlakas. I shouldn’t be putting my trust in you, but I have no other choice.” Cade fought to speak, straining his throat to hear himself over the howling wind. “Get in close. Closer. Almost there…Now clutch!”
A single scaly hand shot out, enveloping Amber’s waist within its claws. Liberated from her peril, she immediately redirected her aggressive tongue up at the weasel.
“You know, Amber,” Cade called, leaning over to peer at the fox. “I did so miss that lovely voice of yours. Why don’t you grace me even more by using it to show a little gratitude?”
“Gratitude? For yer mange-bitten hide? Wouldn’t need savin’ if ya never crawled out from between yer mother’s legs, ya miserable pile of scat. We coulda left this chagshack weeks ago. Been free of the runt ‘n’ each other by now. But no. Ya had ta stay ‘n’ get us tangled up with a spitscorned giant.”
Cade looked out into the distance at Kajo’s overwhelming frame. “So, this turned out to be more perilous than initially thought. That doesn’t mean we should give up, right? I should think you’re not about to take that scaled scoundrel’s treatment all curled in a ball, are you?”
“Bleedin’ right,” Amber replied before sending a projectile of saliva down to water the parched earth.
“Then let’s hasten back to the kids,” Syrus said.
Cade steered Vlakas around so that they flew back towards the giant lizard. “Right. Regroup. Think of a plan. There must be way to take him down. Even mountains fear the wind and rain.”
Gabe and Elysia stood safe on solid ground. True to Cade’s suspicions, Kajo had brought his hand over the sand before tilting it, allowing the two children to slide off. Both now joined the monstrous reptile in peering through the waning sunlight hoping to catch a glimpse of Vlakas
Elysia clapped her hands, furrowing her brow when the radiant heat from the sound-harnessing magic never came.
“There must be something we can do. We can’t just stand here being useless. If only I could use magic again. I’d show that lizard.”
“Don’t know if your Shout will do any good,” Gabe said. “He’s like a walking mountain, he is. Wait. I see them!”
Vlakas flew low, gliding over the sand, past the orphanage and heading for the two children. Kajo grabbed for him, forcing Cade to change course and dart Vlakas to the right. The reptile changed course just as quickly. Raking his claws across the ground, he clipped the dragon’s wing, sending Vlakas and all aboard tumbling into the dirt. As Kajo prepared his next fatal attack, a familiar shriek echoed off the canyon walls. Crimson feathers darted out of nowhere at him as Kairi let loose her ear-splitting war anthem with beak and talons ready. She dove at the giant, forcing him to ignore Vlakas and bring his hand in to fend off the angry bird that swarmed him like a stubborn gnat. Dodging and dipping, she mocked Kajo’s swiping claws, beak and talons seeking his vulnerable eye.
With teeth gritting and body throbbing, Cade tried to stagger up from the daze. The groans of Syrus and Amber behind him gave way to the shouts of Elysia and Gabe who dashed to meet them.
“Are you alright?” Elysia asked, reaching the weasel and clutching his arm.
Cade grimaced and rubbed at a shoulder. “Not as bad as I could be, thanks to Syrus’s bird.” He checked behind him.
Vlakas shook his head, snorting away his disorientation while Amber, freed from the dragon’s hand by the fall, was already up and storming over to him with her broken sword in tow.
“Right. No time for lazing around. Everyone on Vlakas. We need to be up in the air where that giant can’t reach us.”
“Runnin’? That’s yer swell plan?” Amber pointed the jagged remains of her blade at him. “How we gonna pay that giant scatswallower back for dis? Fer dat matter, yer what got us in dis mess. How ya gonna pay for dis? Not enough ya rob me of one sword? Ya had to go do it a-bleedin’-gain!”
“Don’t blame me for your lack of control,” Cade retorted while climbing onto Vlakas’s lowered neck and helping Gabe aboard. “Now kindly get on while we have the pleasure of Kairi’s distraction.”
As if the fortune sought to spite him, no sooner had Cade finished his sentence than the displaced air from Kajo’s swipe buffeted the raptor. The stunned bird plummeted away Elysia dashed forward, putting herself in the path of the falling Kairt and catching the bird as if she were a large ball. Both arms clutched feathers, and she fell backwards, landing on the dry earth with a grunt.
“Do us a favor ‘n’ keep yer mouth shut,” Amber scolded Cade while scrambling onto Vlakas. “Would hate ta get the upper hand ‘n’ lose it ‘cause ya couldn’t keep yer rotted tongue chained.”
Syrus bounded to Elysia, scooping her from the ground and heaving her over to Cade before climbing atop the dragon himself. The mouse held Kairi out to him, and he frowned at the sight of Kairi’s disheveled plumage.
“My poor brave girl,” he said, holding the still-dazed bird close. “What did that brute do to you?”
Cade looked up, grinning at the huge yellow eye glaring blazing hatred down at them. “Can’t do anything further now that we’re back with the young ones, it seems. Best take our chance while it’s good. Vlakas, sky.”
With a push off the ground and the beating of wings, the dragon took them all into the air, spurred forward by Cade pushing against his horns. The weasel let out a laugh of victory. They survived. Now they just had to get away and think up a plan. They could-
His laughter caught in his throat when Kajo’s hand shot out at them. Impossible. He steered away, just barely missing the giant’s fingers, but their opponent wasn’t deterred. Again and again, he swiped at them, rocking the passengers with each near miss. Cade worked Vlakas like a farmbeast plowing the fields. Dipping, swerving, rising, he called upon the very limits of the dragon’s ability simply to evade the never-ending assault of titanic grasping claws.
“Take it easy,” Cade called, swerving Vlakas into an evasive dive. “I’ll have you know there are kids aboard.”
“You hide behind them like cowards. Rest assured, they will survive long after that dragon’s bones have become dust between my fingers.”
Lunging, Kajo caught Vlakas around the middle, clutching his body like a plucked pear. A quick set of whistles from Cade interrupted the dragon’s panicked cries, igniting the black scales once more with the emerald gloss that swept over Vlakas’s expanding body. The dragon grew further. Further. Far surpassing the width of even the giant’s hand, Vlakas wrestled the fingers away, taking his escape on rapidly unfurling wings and fleeing his tormentor.
“Curses.” Cade bared his fangs while Vlakas fled further into the distance and out of Kajo’s range. “We need to stop playing defense and find a way to launch an offensive tactic.”
“Why not have the dragon fry that monster?” Amber asked.
Cade remained silent.
“Weasel, I’m talkin’ to ya!”
“He can’t. Alright? I’ve never gotten him to breathe fire. Whether he’s too stupid to figure it out or he’s incapable doesn’t matter. He can’t.”
Amber’s mouth hung halfway open, and she gave a few speechless grunts before her usual demeanor returned. “Ya no good, shifty scat smear. Ya always talked a big game, threatening ta roast people with this idiot. Ya tellin’ me those were all empty threats? What good is a dragon that can’t bleedin’ breathe fire?”
“Saving your tail for one thing.”
“What do we do?” Gabe said, tucking his lyre away after administering a Vivace to perk up the tiring dragon. “How do take him down? Surely you have a plan, right, Cade?”
“To tell the truth, I think we’re bested,” Cade said. “Unless there’s some spell you know that can help?”
Gabe thought before casting his eyes down. “The few spells I know won’t do anything against him. Bards aren’t known for their offensive magic.”
While the two deliberated, Elysia placed her palms apart and faced them inward. Concentrating, she blocked out the voices and wind around her, focusing only on her own humming. Nothing at first, but a light tingling soon spread over her hands before increasing to a slight warmth.
“What about Shout?” she asked. “That spell I used to knock Kajo into the pit.”
Gabe shook his head. “I told you already, Elysia. Shout won’t do anything. The amount of force it creates will only be a slight breeze to him, if that.”
“What if we could increase the impact somehow,” Cade said. “Focus on one area instead of sending that invisible whatever it is out with reckless abandon?”
Gabe shrugged. “Maybe. But how do you suppose we do that?”
“We’ve got a bleedin’ problem!”
All heads snapped to attention in response to Amber’s warning just in time to see Kajo launch several large objects in their direction. The bodies of multiple Pakra hurtled at them like a catapult’s payload, their imposing masses threatening to fell Vlakas from the sky before he could dive.
Elysia rushed forward. Clapping her hands together, she wove the sound quickly, forming a manageable network of energy before shooting her palms out in front of her and proclaiming the spell in a volume unnatural for one her size.
“Shout!”
The recoil sent the mouse reeling into Syrus’s arms, her hat taking the opportunity to fall and swallow her head. Striking against the bodies of the airborne beasts, the Shout dispersed them, breaking up their clustered formation. The piteous lowing of the doomed animals faded into silence, their bodies whizzing past the dragon into the beyond or falling into the mouth of the monstrous earthen fault.
“That horrible tyrant!” Gabe pounded a fist against Vlakas, his voice choked with the lump that formed in it.
“Truer words never said,” Cade lamented. “But I might have something brewing in my head after all.
Something to finally pay back old Kajo for the lovely trouncing we’ve been getting. From what I’ve seen, Elysia’s spell spreads its punch over a wide area, correct?”
The deer nodded.
“If that punch is spread out in exchange for area of effect,” Cade continued, “the spell’s strength is probably dispersed throughout. But if we were to compress the width…”
“The smaller area would hold greater power,” Syrus finished.
Cade tapped his forehead with a finger. “You’re as sharp as your arrowheads, Ranger.”
“And what exactly is the asinine plan?” Amber pointed her broken sword at the weasel.
“I’ll distract old leatherhead with Vlakas.” Cade turned to Elysia, holding his palms to her as if casting Shout before crossing his hands together to make a small hole between the thumbs and index fingers. Raising them to his face so that his eye peered at her through the gap, he continued. “And I want you to try and cast the spell from a small space like this rather than from the palms. Think you can do that?”
Elysia frowned. “I can try.”
“Good. I want you to hit him in the bottom jaw. On the side. It’ll be just like driving a fist into it. I don’t care how big you are. A pop in the jaw like that will bring you down. Game, set, match. Come on Vlakas.”
Cade steered the dragon around to face Kajo, but upon seeing the giant reptile again, Vlakas fought and writhed against Cade’s control, refusing to fly any further.
“Come on, you big idiot,” Cade said. “Now’s not the time to get your scales out of sorts.”
No good.
Cade called back to Gabe. “Kid, hit this softhead with that spell you used earlier. That anger one.”
“Right, one Agitato as requested.”
Gabe strummed quick notes of rapidly increasing pitch, ending the brief intense tune with a single, near simultaneous pass through every string. A deep red mist erupted before him before wisping ahead like smoke on the breeze, seeping into Vlakas’s head and saturating his brain.
With bloodshot eyes set on Kajo, Vlakas shook the sky with a wrathful roar before shooting ahead, dragging Cade and the other passengers along in his quest to deliver retribution unto the Hyosangrian. Distance closed in mere moments, and Vlakas descended upon the subject of his blind ire like a spear of lightning hurled from blackened clouds.
Bathed in emerald light, Vlakas extended his size and readied his claws like cruel daggers. He flexed his limbs, catching the reptile’s chest and hooking into him. Kajo’s hand struck against his head, but the claws produced fine work, drawing blood and raking through the tough leathery hide. Far from sated, Vlakas lunged his serpentine neck with lethal teeth aimed at the titan’s throat.
Snapping shut, he sank his teeth in, puncturing through the scales on Kajo’s hand that intercepted the attack. Bone crunched against the combination of mighty jaws and savage teeth, forcing a roar of rage and pain from Kajo at last. A second hand gripped, pried, and clawed against the dragon, but Vlakas held on like a parasite, the full expanse of the berserk beast encompassing Kajo’s entire torso.
“If the kid’s gonna shoot, she better do it quick.” Amber’s warning came between clenched teeth that held the hilt of her broken sword while her only arm clung to one of the dragon’s ridges. “All ‘is rampagin’s gonna toss us off at this rate.”
As the two behemoths clashed, Elysia took position. Held stable by Cade, she clapped her palms together, manipulating the sound before forming her hands like she had been shown. Taking aim through the small hole, she set her sights on her target and tried firing the spell. She felt the recoil push against her limbs, but nothing happened. Missed. She prepared another, taking aim and yelling out the spell’s name just as Kajo gripped against Vlakas’s neck. The resulting shock rocked Elysia off target, sending another Shout into the endless sky.
Huffing, the mouse pushed up the brim of her hat. With another clap, she sought out Kajo’s jaw once more. Vlakas’s struggling grew frantic, his roars cutting off and trailing off into choked gurgles with the giant hand squeezing tighter around his neck. The violent thrashing dislodged Gabe, sending him yelling and tumbling down the dragon’s back. Kairi shrieked from her perch, talons dug securely around Syrus’s pauldron. With speed like a lightning strike, the wolf shot his hand out to grab Gabe’s wrist. The deer looked into his pale green eyes with gratitude while his hooves still dangled over the foreboding drop into the canyon.
“Hate to pressure you, kid,” Cade called up to Elysia, “but we need that spell now.”
Amber’s scream assaulted the young mouse’s ears next.
“Now!”
Elysia released the Shout, firing the invisible projectile that sought out its target with speed surpassing even the swiftest of arrows. Up. Up. Up it flew until…
PAK!
The crack against Kajo’s jaw bounced off the rocky walls of the gorge. His head jerked to the side, and his neck twisted sharply. As brain crashed against skull, the grip on Vlakas loosened, freeing him for flight once more. Like a grand spire crumbling at the base, the monstrous body fell back and struck the ground, carving out a new width to the already massive canyon. With a tremendous impact that sent the surrounding land into convulsions, the king of the Outlands lay still, lost to the grip of unconsciousness.
Category Story / Fantasy
Species Unspecified / Any
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File Size 26 kB
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