CHAPTER 8-BLOOD IN THE STREETS

sorry this took so long!

Sharia had managed to slip her blindfold off and chew threw her bonds, but all of that made no difference as she was still locked in a cage. Since her cell had no windows she had no way of knowing how long she had been there. If meals were any indication, she had been there for three weeks. Although it had been a long time between meals, so it could have been longer as she was quite hungry. The light was dim as she made another claw mark on the wall behind her indicating what she believed was the twentieth day of her ordeal. She sat on her haunches and sighed, wondering if Psy had heard her telepathic plea. She was so malnourished by this point that any expulsion of energy would possibly kill her. She heard the far door open and figured it was meal time once again. The darkened figure approached her cage, but instead of opening the food slot, he opened the door.

She was quite shocked as he beckoned her out. She cautiously stepped forward until she was in the hallway with him. The torch he held was just close enough to him that she could tell whoever this was had a black hood hiding his features, even his species.

'A black hooded figure? I guess this is it...' she thought to herself as he led her down the long hallway.

The figure stopped at a door and confronted her, the slits in the mask revealing dark eyes, but nothing else.

"A-are you gonna kill me?" She stammered in fear.

"Hmm." Her captor chuckled amused as he raised the torch and cracked her over the head with the unlit end, rendering her unconscious.

XXX

"Psy, I think its time we tell Puff what we're doing. So far by ourselves, all we've gotten is thrown out of every seedy ale house we've tried to bluff our way into, and chased by drug addled hobo manweresmalls!" Zyrnoth said as Psy and Januz sat on the couch in their rather spacious guest room.

Psy sighed "I think you're right. We just dont know anything about the underworld of this city."

"Maybe you should just go home and quit worrying mom and dad." Said a voice from the window. Cloud was sitting on the open windowsill, much to their shock.

"Cloud? What are you doing here?" Psy asked jumping off the couch to pull his little brother into the room, closing the window.

"You think I would let you go on an adventure without me? C'mon!" he said with a grin, though the others in the room didn't share his enthusiasm.

"But we've been gone for three weeks! You've been following us the whole time? How have you been surviving in this city?" Psy asked

"Yup. When you guys would fall asleep, I just crept in through the window-which you should really start locking by the way- and snuck into the kitchen for food, I just slept on the roof. It wasn't very comfortable, but dad always said you aren't supposed to be comfortable on an adventure." The young dragon explained.

"Well this is great. We'll never find her with him tagging along!" Januz said.

"Whats that supposed to mean?" Cloud asked indignantly.

"He's right, we cant go traipsing around Warfangs seediest locations with a kid." Psy sighed as his brother folded his arms.

"You're only a few years older than me!" He fired back.

"Not like it matters, they won't let us in either." Zyrnoth stated bluntly.

A pause in the conversation allowed Puff to enter the room and stop upon seeing an extra dragon in the room.

"Wha...who is he?" Puff asked.

Realizing it was better to come clean and see if Januzs uncle could help them at all instead of continuing the lie.

"He's my little brother Cloud. He followed us out here because...we aren't on a break or anything, we're looking for someone who was kidnapped from our school."

'You've got to be kidding. I suppose I should have known this would happen, it was the only dragon school within 300 miles of Warfang.' Puff thought.

"Really? Thats tragic...so I don't suppose any of your parents know you're here?" he asked.

"Well...no. To be honest, they're probably worried sick." Psy said realizing that if Puff turned them in to Spyro, at the very least he would never leave the temple compound again.

"Speak for yourself, I don't have parents." Zyrnoth stated nonchalantly.

"Trust me when I say my dad will punish you like you were his own." Psy said, making Zyrnoth gulp in apprehension.

"This person you're looking for...does she have a name?"

"Yeah, Sharia...wait...how'd you know it was a she?" Psy asked.

"Dah...lucky guess! Besides, three strapping young lads like yourselves wouldn't have come all this way for a boy now would you?" 'Unless you were me...hehe' he thought to himself.

"Well, I'd like to think we would...but you're probably right..." Psy admitted

"Though the real reason is Psy's got a crush on her!" Cloud blurted out as Psy punched him in the shoulder.

"Ah, that makes a bit more sense...though why did the rest of you join him?" Puff asked

"What kind of friends would we be if we let him get stabbed in a dirty alley by himself?" Januz answered.

Puff thought about what was revealed to him, and although he was the one who kidnapped said girl and technically brought them here in the first place, he knew he couldn't let his nephew and his friends risk their lives by going after Marchino's thugs. Looks like it was time for him to go against his old master. But if word got out that he turned on his employer, he'd never work for organized crime again. He was in quite a tough position.

"If we don't come back with Sharia, we are so, sooooo screwed." Psy pled with their host.

Puff sighed heavily. He too was once young and reckless.

"Ok tell you what, I'll search for her tonight, and if I can't find her, I'll try to vouch for you to your parents, but you have to go back to school tomorrow. Understand?"

"Yes..." they answered in unison.

"Good, now get some rest, its almost high moon."

XXX

Marchino had been quite busy these past few weeks. He had the artifact successfully reverse engineered and redesigned for use by manweresmalls, and had given the order to release all those held for ransom by his crime syndicate, as kidnapping and extortion were small game compared to what he had in mind.

The well dressed crime boss walked over the catwalks above his factory assembly line as one by one a new weapon of unimaginable devastation was released upon a fragile and unsuspecting world.

Another manweresmall approached him from the other side of the catwalk with a clipboard, waiting for Marchino to acknowledge him.

After a few seconds of standing there, he spoke up.

"Sir, we already have enough made to arm our hit squads to eliminate the other crime syndicates. Shall we proceed with the plan?"

"Yes. Make sure they know to spare no one." He ordered.

"Yes sir. By tomorrow, there will be no criminals in all of Warfang."

"Good. Schedule a town meeting in the city center. I'm sure the people will want to know of how their governor rid their beloved city of the scum of Warfang." He added.

XXX

Sharia's head was pounding like...well like someone had hit her with the unlit end of a torch. Sure she was dead, she opened her eyes and focused on the starry sky above. Realizing she was in fact alive, she sat up, putting one paw on her aching head. She felt a sizable lump on the left side of her skull.

"Ahh!" She withdrew her paw as soon as she touched it. Soon her attention was focused on her surroundings. She was in a dirty alleyway in a large city, though where she couldn't be sure. The large stone buildings towered over her as she got to her feet.

"They let me go..." She whispered aloud. Had her parents come up with the gems to pay for her release?

'No, otherwise they would have given me back to them...right?' she wondered.

Regardless, she quickly decided to get out of that dingy alley and onto the road a few feet away. It must have been late as the street lamps cast their glow onto empty streets.

Her stomach rumbled loudly as her poor diet during her captivity had done little to assuage its constant cries for food. Down the street she heard the clatter of plates and goblets. A few blocks away she saw the lights of what appeared to be some sort of dining hall. She could smell the food from there and before she knew it she was walking towards it.

The closer she got the more the scent of that delightful food beckoned her onward.

She was about a block away when she noticed a group of well dressed Manweresmalls gathered outside the hall.

A few glanced at her but they appeared far more nervous as they talked in hushed tones among themselves. She took no notice of them as she entered the eatery.

She noticed there were similarly dressed manweresmalls drinking ale, some of which appeared drunk. All however appeared as though they had been in their fair share of scraps.

"What's a girl your age doing out at this hour? Its a welcome change from the normal clientele I get in here." A voice from behind the bar asked. She climbed up onto a chair and sat resting her forepaws on the wooden bar as an elderly barkeep sized her up as he cleaned a goblet.

"I...I was kidnapped. Can you tell me where I am?"

"Kidnapped? My word dear that sounds terrible! Do you know who did it?"

"No...I never saw a face or heard a name...But about where I am..."

"Oh yes, you're in Warfang, south side. This humble tavern is Edgars, and I, am Edgar."

"Huh...I've only heard of this place...the city, I mean." She said, her stomach grumbling loudly.

"Looks like you could use a hot meal."

"Thats the truth...but I dont have any money..."

"Not a problem, it's on me." The kindly old bartender said.

She was taken aback by his kindness.

"R-Really?" she stammered.

"Of course my dear! I can't in good conscience, let a young one like yourself go hungry now can I? Besides, believe me when I say you are a welcome sight for someone who's patrons are mainly criminals."

"If you know they're criminals, why do you let them in?" She asked as he set a plate of lamb in front of her, which she eagerly began eating.

"Gems are gems. Without them I'd be out of business." He answered.

He left her to her food as he tended to others across the bar.

After she had got done eating, she waited for Edgar to come back by when she heard the door slam open.

Everyone in the room jumped as they all stared at the group of eight manweresmalls standing in the doorway. The others in the bar stood up and some drew a variety of weapons from chains to clubs to daggers. Sharia was sitting silently at the bar and noticed Edgar also stopped in his tracks. She recognized them as the same ones standing outside the bar earlier looking rather nervous.

The mole who led the group that burst into the bar smiled an evil grin.

"You're outnumbered pigs, what on earth are you smiling about?" One of the manweresmalls confronting them barked.

"Just a bunch of dead manweresmalls." The lead one said, pulling from his breast pocket of his coat a small metal and wooden device that fit comfortably in his hands but took both hands to hold, as did the rest of his colleagues.

"The governor sends his regards!"

Then all hell broke loose right in front of Sharias eyes.

Well, not only is Marchino a criminal, but he also runs the city! absolute power absolutely corrupts after all. what hell was released? next chap has all the answers!