Leaving the hapless, great city bare, looted and burnt, Dracon and his vast band forced through the foggy farmlands, directly along the dirt trade path.
He was going to find her. He will get her back and that unfortunate cur who took her was going to pay!
He kicked his horse, rendering it to gallop even faster and his crew tried to keep up with their ring leader. Feeling no pang of guilt of destroying such an innocent city, Salazar only had one person on his mind. The Bell ringer of Notre Dame.
He destroyed an entire army, looted a city and yet, he found himself disappointed.
The stolen hier he swore to keep for ransom had got away. He vowed to make sure that she remained unseen and believed to be dead. The final and last born of the royal family was to be kept secret from France until the correct timing came to be, but now the plot was beginning to fall downhill.
Dracon took care of the dunderheaded brigand who allowed her to get away that night. Because of that, that girl had witnesses carting her around to avoid him.
A swampy hill was where he stopped his horse. Dracon saw the flat lands of poor farms and wilderness reaching as far as the eye could see. He had to get her damn hide back well and unharmed in order to fulfill the deal he made with an ancient gypsy.
"Orders, sir." suggested one of his loyal men.
Dracon seemed to have been in deep reminince for a moment. "Take several scouts and over search the farmland. I know they had gone this direction."
Saying nothing, the brigand next to him rode away to carry out the order.
It had begun to rain hard, making the smoky air clean, but foggy. Only one light lit the dinginess.
Where he had found the Captain, they were stuck with the issue that Achilles had been stabbed through the shoulder. Blood gathered down into the murky puddles as Pheobus boldly took a dagger out, grimacing at the thought at what he had to do.
Though his arm injured, he was willing to do this himself.
"Stand back, John." he suggested."He going to start kicking."
His ward did so, respectfully.
Pheobus took a breath and held it in as he partially stabbed the dagger slightly into Achilles' shoulder. The stallion cried out loudly as his rider ripped through his flesh in order to get that spear out safely. He swung his hoofs about and kicked wildly and soon Pheobus had finished the torture. His poor, injured horse was free of that spear.
"That's a good boy..." calmed Pheobus, pressing Achilles to lay his head back down. "It's all right now."
Achilles huffed and breathed hard but he had trust in his rider.
"All right, John. Hand me the brand."
Kristoff carefully and frightfully took the handle of a broken livestock brand and slowly handed the burning hot iron to the Captain. Achilles' injury would prove fatal if it stayed open and vulnerable, so burning it closed and free from the air would heal it much faster. "Easy, boy. Easy."
Achilles saw the bright redness of the iron and jerked to try to stand, but he couldn't.
"Sssh..."
John tended to his mare as the torment came to a peaceful end.
"That wasn't love, it was cunning! She's a gypsy! Gypsies aren't capable of real love! Think, boy! Think of your mother!"
"It is I alone who you can trust in this whole city. I am your only friend."
"You are deformed and you are ugly. And these are crimes of which the world shows little pity. You do not comprehend!"
His one and only defender.
Quasimodo had never felt such abuse coming from that ghastly, horrible husk of a man. The only man who he thought...loved him, pitied him. All those wasted years. He was so naïve.
It was barely dawn and Quasimodo opened his eyes to the room they were allowed to rest in. He had the little girl in his arms, who was deeply and soundly asleep. At peace for once after all that terror and grief. He tenderly gazed down upon her as she slept. Oh, he was beginning to feel very protective over her. He was beginning to love her. Aurora Marie de Versailles, the future for this continent was lying peacefully in his arms.
"Awake already, are you?" spoke up that blind woman suddenly, all the way in the dark corner.
Naturally, Quasimodo was nervous about answering her. Instead, he got Rose more comfortable in his hold as she shifted in her sleep.
"Oh no, the boy's not speaking to me now?" she mocked him, mocking a heartbroken voice.
It all ended in laughter, unfortunately. Quasimodo frowned at her, rather hurt.
For one thing, he knew that being nasty back wasn't the answer. He had been taught well. Struggling a sigh to rid of the irritation, he softened up.
"I am… I am sorry to have bothered you." he gently sighed.
Agatha remained silent, as though in shock of the grateful voice that was aimed at her.
"What was your reason then? It isn't dawn just yet."
"I've…. Well…" Quasi struggled to speak.
"Well?" came her rough voice.
Once again, he began to feel uncomfortable.
"Well. I - I apologize to have been such a burden to…you." he said, quietly enough to not wake Rose.
He soon found tears rushing to his eyes when a flood of horrid memories of Frollo's treatment came to him.
"A lot has happened. I." the poor boy trailed off, needing to compose himself. "You…you would not care." he then changed his mind.
That poked at her interest.
"Would I not care?"
"You wished us to leave…. We meant…no harm, really. But, I…I should be used to that, I… I was always treated as an…undesirable." he said sadly, in a low-spirited tone.
Agatha was silent and she understood him. Yet, she didn't say anything else to him.
Rose awoke and saw just how sad he was. Worried for him, she gave a soft tug to his collar to get his attention. His expression changed once he gazed down at her before sweetly swiping a strand of brown hair out of her tired face while warmly giving her a smile. She smiled back and snuggled against his chest, closing her eyes once more.
Agatha wasn't able to see the kind moment between them, but she did have a mark of yearning over her face after he fell quiet.
Quasimodo wrapped Rose further and tiredly closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep again.
His head was pounding, even more than it did before. Since they fled Paris, he hardly worried about his own health. His heart still hurt tremendously when he recalled all those memories. His entire life was within those walls. Why Why did it have to happen? What do they even want with her? he desperately prayed deep in his heart as he felt sleepless again. During his fervent prayer, the bell ringer couldn't help but let a few tears escape.
Agatha, who still remained in her dry corner across the cramped room, had a deep look of remorse on her face when she heard him hold back a quiet sob. It was a gentle sound, but it told her that the boy was deeply hurt.
Apparently, she did drink far too much than she should have. Mostly when she goes too far on spirit, she would say the most terrible things without thinking clearly. Sighing, she brushed all her ratted hair our of her face before commiting herself to give an apology to him. He was hurt enough to start weeping, which was a start for her. Her rudeness had reached its peak. He fell suddenly quiet. Now she had to wait.
Being a lonely one all her life, she despised when she offended any young man her age in any sort of way to make them dislike her. She was certainly giving a good first impression on him.
It was dark. It was dingy and the cart had not been stopped since they have been captured. The kid in his straw cage sat, sitting as much as he could while trying not to nod off. Now was no time for sleep.
As for Djali, he had not given up on breaking out of his crate, but physically, he was nowhere near as strong as he was before. Panting, he gave a last attempt to kick, but he didn't make a dent and sat down with his two tired front legs shaking from exhaustion. So far, the crate door was splintered from his kicks and dented from the strength, yet, it was still shut. It seemed to only lack one more strong strike and maybe, just maybe he would get free.
His babe was too frightened to move that much and he, along with the pig and her piglet and the chickens, he knew their painful fate was close at hand.
Djali believed different. In the one crate behind the younger goat, one of the yelping and whining mysterious creatures stuck its nose out, sniffing the cold morning air. The kid looked back and saw that little nose and found it frightfully familiar. Getting closer because of mere curiosity, he discovered that those three pairs of glowing eyes to belong to a predator. Once again, another nose stuck out at the kid, making him bleat in alarm and cower in the corner of his cage.
Those yelping creatures were wolves; three frightened little black wolf pups were huddled together in the small space of their crate, whimpering. The smallest of them wore a collar of white yarn and the other older two had none. To the rogue's dismay, they kept howling and the poor pups received a hard hit to their box.
"SHUT UP! Er, I'll skin ya righ' now!" one of the pirates fired and the poor pups fell silent. "I am certain we'll get a fair penny for those three..."
"Aye, we be'er, after all the trouble to get 'em!"
Once the pirates fell silent, Djali got ready to kick the box open. Straightening his position, the goat gritted his teeth and lowered his head. Then, with a sharp bleat, he swung his hind hooves into a bone breaking kick and the crate soon had a splintered open hole in it.
"Damn goat..." growled one of the rogues and beat at the top of Djali's box. "Shut the hell up!"
Djali froze when he grabbed the attention of their captors and cringed when that pirate snapped, thinking that he saw what he had done to the crate.
When it was quiet again, Djali relaxed and looked back at the shattered wood hole, grinning with relief.
The hole was almost big enough for his size. Maybe if he squeezed through, he could go and free the others. The kid, on the other hand, laid curled in his cage, depressed until he heard the sound of splitting wood and perked up with high hopes. Djali was almost out and free, his hind hoof was just wedged in the broken opening. He began to quietly pull as much as he could while not making any noise. With one little yank, his hoof slipped out and he snuck behind the straw cage of nervously clucking chickens.
Right after the goat had freed himself and hid, one of the rogues looked out at their booty with the little wolves still whining with fear. The younger one was peering out at the chicken cage where he saw his guardian hide behind. The Spaniard looked away finally, granting the escaped goat a chance to get to his plan. The sooner they get off this carriage the better since Esmeralda and Quasimodo could be far away already and now their chance of finding them was slim enough.
No more delays, that was the plan. The second after getting his chance, Djali silently tip toed to the his young one, who was prone to bleating out with joy. The mother pig and her baby both watched on with hope and despair, snorting desperately. The chickens continued their nervous clucking, looking more alert as ever before. Djali began to roughly chew through the sticks and straw of his kid's cage, tearing a hole in it. If only his cage was this simple.
Meanwhile, unknown to the thieves, as the stolen cart passed, one animal was spying on the loot. More than one, in truth.
In the light of the dawn, when the sun wasn't even in sight, these undistinguished black forms shot out of the brushes and began to chase the carriage.
The moment Djali freed his young, the three little wolves behind them began whimpering with excitement. The two goats looked out to the road and saw the four menacing forms dash up to the carriage. The next horrible thing that came was a sound. An awful, painful sound. They were swift and then they were silent.
Next, both of the men were pushed off the carriage by something. The sound after was a violent struggle. The chickens began to flap around in oblivion and the pigs squealed in fright as the fight died down.
Two wolves took on the men, snapping at their legs to make them stumble. It all fell deathly quiet again.
The tired mare pulling the cart panicked and started into a gallop, going off road. The goats had to leap off in time before the horse tripped and stumbled into a heap nearside a tiny marsh between two trees. The two goats fled and hid in the thick bushes next to the cart path. Then they both witnessed that the entire pack of wolves, about twenty five at most, came running after that cart, snarling and barking.
The pigs got away easily after the crash and so did the mare that snapped her axels from the cart and disappeared. But the chickens weren't so fortunate and were taken as a well deserved meal for the pack. The puppies were still trapped in their crate and ten of the pack members were digging their claws into the wood, trying to pry it open. The little ones inside were crying immensely now, rendering the adults to get more violent with the crate. It took a few harsh moments but the crate was opened and the puppies scampered out in a haste, going into the protection of their mothers. With their pups back and safe, the pack began to run off back into the wilds before one young males caught the scent of some prey, besides the chickens they found.
Tempted, he followed that scent to where the goats were. Moving through the grass, he cornered the two easily and snarled at them. That signal brought the rest to surround the goats mercilessly. Djali got protective and stood over the kid in a final attempt, glaring up at the wolves with hatred. Lastly, there came the Alpha and his white female with one of the pups in hold and they both had quaint collars of single strings of yarn, both white, including the pup's.
The rest of the pack members back off when the Alpha investigated the eavesdroppers. Djali snarled, ready to take on a fight, but the Alpha merely twitched an ear, unimpressed, as it seemed, until this high pitched sound went through the air suddenly.
The pack had heard this sound and in an instant, they ran in unison out into the fields. The Alpha reared his head upward and howled low and loud as the rest fled into the wilderness. Djali was certain that they had intended to devour them, so confusion was the first thing that hit.
He and the kid exchanged glances, finding that sound truly odd. Those predators slayed the men who caught them and didn't take them as their spoils as they did with the chickens. What was that awkward sound?
Quasimodo was finally awakened unpleasantly when his lungs felt as though they were closing shut and tight. His eyes were tearing and could barely open them up. The room was filled to the brim with smoke and he came to realization instantly that the inn was on fire. There were no words at all from Esmeralda or the Priest, not even the blind, Agatha. His greatest worry was Rose, with the fact that she couldn't breath at all and covered her face completely to spare her from suffocation.
So far, already, the poor girl was coughing painfully and as she did she clutched him with all the strength she had. Agatha groped for the window and shoved it open. The horrid cries of the people below flowed in which rendered Esmeralda to quickly shut the window again. She had caught a glimpse of the raid and saw that it was the Spaniards.
"Are you INSANE?" the blind coughed, enraged. "We're gonna die in here!"
"They'll see us! We'll surely get caught! We need to find a way back to the crossroads!"
"THERE IS NO OTHER WAY!" Agatha truly lost her temper this point and it would have gotten worse if it wasn't for the smoke that had them weakened.
Quasi listened to what she said, but he was already feeling lightheaded. They had to get out and time was wasting away.
"Esmeralda..." he wheezed. "Take her, quick!" he ordered and she took Rose as he went to the door. It would not open…. The knob had melted.
He backed up from it when he saw smoke rising from the bottom. Again, he had a insane option in mind.
"What is he doing!?" Agatha wailed, trying to conceal her coughing.
"Quasimodo!"
Against their wishes, he so foolishly ran at the door and the door swung open. Greeting them was a great wall of flame. His reward of acting so rashly had given him a burn when a bit of fallen wood had nearly landed on him. But he didn't care. The inn was going to collapse! Thinking fast, the hunchback spied a shattered window down the narrow hall.
"Follow me! This way!" he called to those behind him before he ran down the hall to the shattered window.
As the flames got bigger and stronger, Agatha, who lagged behind, fell faint so suddenly just as Quasi was assisting the three others out that window. When he saw her lie there, he gaped in horror before he dashed back in to retrieve her before she got scathed.
"QUASIMODO!" cried the gypsy with the unconscious Aurora in her arms, but the heat had become so intense that she had to recoil.
"NO!" yelped the Archdeacon when he saw the boy go back in.
Quasi ran to Agatha's still body and scooped her up into his arms and ran back to the window with her just in time. The flames reached the very spot where she fell. Once he met the others out on the top of the second floor roof, they all found that they were trapped. But, the Esmeralda saw a top of hay of a livestock pen below and made sure everyone were close together as the flames shot out of the window behind them.
"Everyone, jump!" she cried and they all followed suit as soon as he leaped off with the girl in a tight hold.
Almost all at once, they landed on the hay roof and it splintered the moment they hit it. They all fell through and landed in the murky waste of the pen. After they leaped off, the inn began to shake and snap. In an instant, the second floor caved in, having the building lose half its size and it continued to burn fully.