Cruel fate
"This sucks." The snarl was spoken to no one in particular, though that was probably a good thing. Had anyone actually heard the rage and hatred in those two words, they would have feared for their lives.
Rachel twisted to glare at the shackles that held her to the wall and closed her hands on one of the chains, planting a foot against the wall as she pulled, straining to rip the steel from it's moorings. It was in vain of course, she wasn't strong enough to do that, but it helped lessen the pent up anger that had been building inside her.
She still didn't know all of what had happened. Once moment she and Draco had been swooping down to destroy the ballista on the south wall, the next he had been screaming in pain, his wings shuddering in reaction to the sudden agony before dropped from the sky. His landing had been far from graceful, sending her sprawling to the courtyard stones hard enough that she had nearly been knocked unconscious. Bruised and dazed, she had been roughly hauled to her feet by two guards, and despite Draco's weakened attempts to help her, she had been dragged off to the tower and thrown in chains.
The dragon, meanwhile, had been roughly chained to the courtyard stones, the bonds pinning all four feet, tail and neck to the ground so that he couldn't get enough leverage to break free. It had been cruel torture on the guard's part to throw her in here, where there was a window overlooking the courtyard, and the dragon that lay there.
A sigh left her as she went back to the window, staring down at him in the darkness of night as he thrashed in his chains again, a low snarl drifting up to her as he stilled again, the torches that lined the battlements bathing him in a soft glow. Oh gods, how the hell are we going to get out of this? I can't use my most powerful spell, it's lightning based, I'd fry myself in the process if I tried to melt the chains.... Despair sunk it's talons into her then, and she closed her eyes as she rested her forehead against the cold rock wall, fighting to keep her tears at bay. Not only am I going to lose him, but he's going to die at the hands of those butchers....
The rough grating of metal scraping on stone drew her attention back to the dragon, and she screamed when she saw a woman standing over him, a spear aimed straight for his head. Her voice echoed loudly, and she saw both jerk and look towards her, the distraction costing them dearly as Einon emerged from the shadows and seized the woman by her shoulders, ripping the spear from her hands. His voice carried clearly, and Rachel felt horror flood through her as the woman that she now knew was Aislinn turned from the young king, not even looking back as she headed into a dark doorway, Einon in close pursuit.
Her fist hit the wall with enough force to draw blood as Draco's roar of anger and despair drowned out Aislinn's last scream, and this time she couldn't stop her tears as she sagged against the rough windowsill. Only the familiar panicked call made her look up from her hands to gaze down at the dragon that was straining against his chains again, trying to raise his head to look at her. "Draco!"
"Rachel! You're alive!" Draco wrenched at the chains again, trying to at least get a glimpse of her. "I thought they had killed you! Are you alright?!"
"I'm fine!" she called, her voice cracking as she rested her forehead against the wall again, raising a hand to cover her eyes as she cried. "I'm alright...."
"Hey! Pipe down in there!" A guard outside her cell growled, glaring at her through the small barred hole in the door.
She snarled and bared her teeth at him. "Go to hell."
"Oh, is that so?"
Eyes narrowed, she turned so that her back was to the wall, watching as the guard unlocked the door and stepped inside. There was another call from Draco, but she ignored him for the moment, warily staring at the man in front of her as he sneered at her and drew a dagger.
"You should show more respect for your betters, bitch."
"That's witch you moron!"
Rachel jerked a little in surprise as the guard suddenly cried out and tried to reach for something at his back, blinking when he dropped to his stomach on the floor at her feet, the arrow that had hit him still quivering. Still startled, she darted her gaze towards the door and nearly cheered. "Erica!"
"Hey, having fun without me?" the other teen greeted as she ran into the room and grabbed the keys from the guards belt, hurrying over to free her friend. "Hang tight, I'll have you out of here in a minute."
"You're here by yourself?!"
"No way. Bowen, Kara and Gilbert are around here somewhere, and the rest of the rebels are storming the castle." One of the shackles clicked open, and she smiled grimly as she turned her attention to the other manacle. "Bowen's fighting Einon as we speak, but he can't hold him off forever, so we'll have to hurry if we want to go free Draco."
"No problems there!" The second manacle fell off, and Rachel took a moment to rub at her sore and bruised wrists before snatching the guards dagger out of his limp hand and running for the door. "Let's go!"
"Right behind ya! Though I'll have you know that you have a lot of explaining to do!"
"Later! Right now we have to hurry and--" The last of her sentence was cut off as she skidded to a stop, staring right into the face of a leering guard as a crossbow's arrow was nudged against her heart. "....no...."
"Rachel!!!!"
~*~
That was Erica! As the last echoes of the scream faded, Draco snarled and thrashed against his bonds, straining against them in desperation. Not her. Not the little dreamer.... This has to end! Sounds of a sword fight from above him made him twist to look out of the corner of his right eye, spotting Bowen and Einon up on the unfinished tower. "Bowen!"
Pain exploded in his head as he saw the knight club Einon in the head with a rock, and he clenched his jaw to muffle the roar that threatened to escape when that idiotic king fell off the tower, crashing through scaffolding and stone to land in the cistern below the castle. Stay down there for five more minutes you fool, then you'll know true pain. Frantic to end it all right then before he could lose his resolve, he painfully twisted in his bonds and ricocheted a fireball off the courtyard stones, sending it flying up to hit the final dragon slayer head-on before the brute could loose the arrow he had been aiming at Bowen. Hurry knight....
Footsteps sounded next to him, and Draco growled as he threw himself against the chains again. "Now it's you, Bowen! It's you that has to do it!" Did the knight hear the desperation in his voice?
"What are you talking about?"
Apparently not. "Even as the heart binds Einon to me in life, it binds us in death!"
Bowen dropped his axe next to him as he struggled with the lock of the chain pinning the dragon's head to the ground, a small part of him mourning the sword he had lost in the battle with Einon as he finally managed to wrench the chains free. Shaking his head at Draco's words, he stood and reached up to remove the bindings from around the dragon's blunt horns. "That's not true."
"You've seen that it is!" he growled, free to finally raise his head to face the knight. "Through the heart we share each others pains and power, but in my half beats the lifesource! For Einon to die, I must die!"
"Einon is dead!"
"He lives!"
Refusing to even contemplate what Draco was suggesting, Bowen snatched up his weapon and gestured towards the castle gates, where the sounds of a battle were drawing closer. "It doesn't matter. Don't you hear it? Our rebels have stormed the castle, alive or dead, Einon's beaten. We've won!"
"You will never win until Einon's evil is destroyed, and to do that you must destroy me!"
"No..."
Frustration gave birth to sheer desperation, an ache to finally have this nightmare over with. Let him go to the darkness instead of the stars. He didn't care anymore. "Once you swore your sword and service were mine! To call when I have need of you, to ask what I would of you! I hold you to your vow, Knight!" A coldness travelled down his spine, and his eyes widened as he snapped his head up. "He's coming! Coming to stop you. Strike before it's too late!"
Acting on reflex, Bowen whirled at the warning, his gaze darting around the courtyard until it fell on the broken shards of scaffolding that hung loosely, just above the gaping hole that Einon had made on his fall down to the depths of the cistern. He saw Kara sprint down the stairs leading there and lean over the edge to peer down into the darkness, her own eyes worried as she met his gaze and shook her head. Feeling fear edge into him, he turned and looked at the dragon again, the creature that he had hated for so long... the one who had turned out to be his greatest friend. "You are the last."
"My time is over. Strike!"
He shook his head slightly, torn at the dragon's words. "You are my friend."
Oh, another twist of the knife, Fates? Have my friend do the deed? His resolve wavered at the very real pain and fear in the humans gaze, but he clung to the knowledge of what Einon had done, of what he would continue to do if left alive. "Then as my friend... strike, please!"
A shudder went through him at the plea, and Bowen turned away, fighting the very real emotions that were welling up within him. "I can't."
"Then I will make you." Roaring, he lunged at the knight, ignoring the chains that bit deep into him at the movement. "Fight back dragon slayer! Defend yourself!"
Startled by the attack, Bowen could only shake his head, holding his ground when he saw Draco take a deep breath. Moments late, flames burst forth from the dragon's nostrils, and he fought the urge to recoil as the blasts went to either side of him, not even close enough to scorch him. Once the flames died, he glared at his 'attacker' and threw the axe aside, letting it skid across the slick courtyard stones.
"Pick it up!" He was about to loose another blast of fire when Kara's frightened gasp drew his attention, his eyes widening when he saw Einon, bloody and battered but very much alive, holding the girl to him, his sword at her throat. No...
Laughing in victory, the king looked from the dragon to the knight, grinning. "Move, and she dies."
I will not let you harm another one that I care for! Snarling in defiance, Draco wrenched his left claw free and savagely sank his fangs into it, delighting in Einon's scream of pain as he clutched at his own hand, releasing Kara and letting her escape. He caught Bowen's gaze in desperation as the knight ran to snatch at the axe he had tossed aside and rose his free claw to lift the scales that hid the jagged red scar over his heart, fully exposing the tender flesh beneath as Einon drew a dagger and ran forward. Let us end it....
As if in slow motion, Draco saw the knight, his friend, look from the oncoming Einon to him again, his eyes filled with such torn emotion that for a moment, the dragon almost lost his resolve. Then Bowen spun, the axe whirling from his hands, and he closed his eyes in a grimace of expected agony....
~*~
"Oh Gods, Rach, Rachel! Rachel?!" Erica's heart thundered in her chest with panic as she pressed her hands around the shaft of the arrow that was embedded in her best friend, her eyes clouded by tears as she tried desperately to stop the bleeding. Gods no... no... Frantic, she reached out and tore a piece of cloth off of the guard that was lying dead nearby, her own arrow buried in his neck, a mute testament to her rage at having been unable to stop him from harming her friend. "Hang on, c'mon, Rach, hang on..."
Hands shaking, she broke off most of the arrow shaft, afraid to pull the entire thing out lest she accidentally do more harm than good as she clumped the cloth into a ball and held it against the wound, sobbing at the weak cries of agony from the white-haired teen. "Rach, don't you dare leave me here! You hear me, you stubborn thick-headed idiot? Don't you leave me here alone!" The teens breath rasped in her throat, and Erica started shaking in terror as she watched her friend's skin turn ashen, the wound that she was covering starting to bleed a much darker colour at a much faster rate, signifying a deeper injury than even she had thought of. "No! Someone help me!"
Her eyes searched the battlements around
her as she prayed for anyone to find them, a villager, even a guard. "Please!
Someone help me!" Tears trailed down her cheeks in a torrent as she clenched
her eyes shut, her voice cracking with emotion. I want the power to
save her! I don't care where I get it! "Someone help me save her!!
Please!!"