CHAPTER 20: Life saving return
The group pushed into the building as Fergus and Farkle remained on the second floor, reluctant to jump through the ladder hole. As Charming's forces were doing circles in the distance, like a pack of wolves smelling out their prey, there was anxiety in the air between Shrek and Fiona. Twart and Blay were long gone, meaning that the orges and the others were all by themselves this time around. They were contemplating as to which one should be the one to catch Fergus and Farkle.
"Wait...maybe I should do it?" Shrek said, feeling like he'll make it a quicker process.
Donkey was trembling as he stood in the doorway. Not being able to see beyond the walls of this building as to where the knights were was scary; they could be ANYWHERE in ANY given distance. He ensured that his dronkey kids were inside with him.
"Maybe you should, then..." Fiona said, stepping back to allow Shrek to stand directly below the ladder hole.
The ladder itself is far too fragile and as a result, risky for Shrek to use; it has a high chance of breaking apart should it be used. As a result, he left it on the ground floor of the building, just laying there as it descended into a useless piece of wooden material from this point. Shrek could see the glaring shiny green heads of his two orge sons, just looking down from the hole as they were trembling. As Shrek started jumping up and down in an attempt to possibly catch onto the hole that the ladder was initially attached to, Fiona noticed that he was clearly losing his stamina at a much quicker pace than usual.
"Oh Shrek, you've been putting more on, haven't you?" she laughed, breaking away from the worried persona briefly.
"Well Fiona, I'd be in shape if I could actually run around a bit more?" Shrek replied, raising his green orge palms up into the air as he did so.
The pressure of beating the clock was starting to get into the mindsets of both Fiona and Shrek. They needed to get Fergus and Farkle down before it's too late. Fergus was the first one to sit right at the edge of the hole, where his legs were dangling from from the top, and Shrek began reaching his arms up in a bid to grab his son carefully. Suddenly, though, Fergus had slipped off of the edge and through the hole, albeit coming within a scary distance of nearly slamming his orge head off of the sides, right into Shrek's hands. He quickly but carefully handed Fergus over to Fiona, before placing his focus onto Farkle, who was much much more reluctant in making the jump.
"Imagine what Twart and Blay would do?" Donkey asked.
"THEY AREN'T HERE, DONKEY..." Shrek replied, out of the stress going through him.
"COME ON, FARKLE, JUMP DOWN, I'LL CATCH YOU..." Shrek yelled, with Farkle sounding whimpy and scared.
Suddenly, though, the tiny orge closed his eyes before jumping directly through the hole. Once again, he managed to go through it with ease, but unlike Fergus, Farkle didn't come close to slamming his head off of the edges of the hole. Shrek caught him, in which the orge felt relieved upon the realisation that his two kids are finally safe. He had told them never to do anything like what they just did again, especially given the circumstances that everybody in the group is in.
"Alright, we've got them, let's get out of here quickly!" Donkey said, which was surprisingly followed instantly by Shrek and Fiona.
They ran to the outside, exposure to the sky above and the Duloc castle in the distance, but Donkey, being in front of the 'line' if you will, had looked over towards the area near the behind vicinity of the wooden building, and instantly, he could sight about 12 or more knights just moving around in basically circles. This prompt him to alarmingly turn to Shrek and the rest as they ran to him.
"OH NO!" Donkey yelled, with Shrek and the rest acknowledging what he's seen.
But it looked like the knights were already a step ahead of them.
"QUICK, GET TO THE FIELD!" Shrek yelled, with his voice only causing the knights to sight them, and in turn, run over to them with their horses.
The sound of running hooves began trailing them in what sounded like a circled-vicinity, but nonetheless, they ran and sprinted as fast as they possibly could, as the knights were closing in and basically racing to get in front of the field before Shrek and the rest had a chance to enter it. It was too late. The horses were fortunately, for the knights, able to outrun Shrek's speed by quite a bit, and as a result, about five of them, instantly sliding out their gigantic, steel swords, acknowledging that Shrek is a big orge, had stopped in front of the sunflower field, just near the cabbages. Fiona held onto Fergus and Farkle tightly as the two orge kids covered their heads into their mum's shoulders. They were petrified. Donkey and Puss backed up, as Donkey's ears were down.
The knights departed off of their horses, gigantic swords in hand in order to keep Shrek and his wife in order, as another bunch of knights had surrounded them behind; they were cornered off, literally. Donkey, though, feeling like he should at least try and solidify his place as Shrek's true best friend, suddenly barged out from behind Shrek as he seemed to take on a more firm stance than usual.
"WATCH MAH BABIES, SHREK!" Donkey yelled, with his dronkeys looking as petrified as Fergus and Farkle at the sight of their dad running into his death, basically.
"N-NO, DO-" Shrek was caught off guard by one of the knights charging over to Donkey to tackle him down, and instantly, the knight kept both his elbows down onto Donkey.
"D-DONKEY!" Shrek yelled, which had prompt him to pull out that wooden pole that Fiona had found inside the building.
The dronkeys were emitting whines of cries. They didn't want to fly, because they acknowledged that these knights are dangerous, and their dad is literally being taken hostage by one of them.
"Put that down, orge..." the middle knight said, as he and his companions held out long, shiny and sharp swords to the direction of the orge, "someone could get hurt..."
"DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME, KIDS! I'M OKAY!" Donkey struggled, with the knight getting a firm grip of Donkey, which had caused Donkey to stop struggling rapidly to get out.
"Leave now while you can...and then your daughter will go with you..." the knight added.
"H-Hold on Shrek, maybe we should LISTEN to him?!" Fiona said, thinking that it's for the better if they leave now, in exchange for Felicia.
Shrek still held the wooden pole straight out to the knight, which he was reluctant in using due to the fact that the knights behind him and his family and the ones in front could easily inflict some serious pain either way, and potentially, a slaughtering with those bigger-than-usual swords.
"Hahaha, smart orge..." the knight said, with a chuckling raised-up eyebrow expression.
"NO, DON'T BUY IT, SHREK! JUST-" Donkey was cut off from the knight forcefully and aggressively keeping him down on the ground by pushing his elbows down into his sides to keep him from getting up.
Shrek was trembling significantly.
"Oh come on, this doesn't have to happen...but all my king wants is for you to take your family and GO..."
Prince Charming, in the carriage, still, was approaching the direction of the wooden building where, much to him imminently knowing, Shrek and his family are being held to surrender. Charming once again looked down at a disturbed Rumpelstiltskin next to a trembling Felicia, both of which had their hands tied up against the walls of the carriage. As Charming looked out of the window of the carriage, he could suddenly notice a thick shadow, in a giants form, moving over the ground nearby, and it moved past the rapidly moving carriage of his with speed. He instantly knew who this was, and once he saw the direction that it was flying in, he wanted to turn away, because he knows that it's got a friendship with Shrek in particular.
"No, NO, TURN AWAY! TURN AWAY!" Charming yelled, to the knight controlling the horses, who instantly obeyed.
Felicia and Rumpel instantly perked their faces up to the direction of the window next to Charming's head, who felt like he wanted to tease Felicia in particular about moving further away from Shrek. He knows that Shrek is nearby, based on what he's just seen, but he's turning away now because, from past experience, that particular thing had culminated his defeat back at Far-Far-away, and if he's in it's vicinity with Felicia and Rumpel in his grasp, they'll both most likely be saved; the exact opposite of what he wants. Whilst his 40+ knights are still scattering the land, one of his group of knights have found Shrek and his family, and they've been put in a vulnerable position; Charming intends on going back to that area when he feels it's safer to do so without the risk of Felicia being saved.
He smirked at her in particular, fully intent on not letting her go back to Shrek.
"LISTEN SHREK, JUST BECAUSE WE'VE GOT THESE THINGS HERE, IT DOESN'T MAKE US INVINCIBLE...JUST...DROP THEM AND THINK ABOUT THE SMARTER THING!" Fiona yelled, as Shrek was under immense pressure.
"NO, SHREK, FELICIA NEEDS YOU..." Donkey yelled, with the knight above him finally sliding out his sword to pluck it against his throat. "GET THEM WHILST YOU'VE STILL GOT A CHANCEE!"
It didn't seem to phase the knights that a Donkey could talk, or that a cat is walking in boots.
"What's it gonna be, tough orge? I won't wait forever...we won't...and neither will my King?" the knight said, referring to Prince Charming.
Shrek was angrily gritting his teeth at the knight as he kept the wooden pole pointed directly at him, getting all sweaty as it dawned on him that he might very well be forced to be taken down. Suddenly though, the entire vicinity of this place began shaking, like an earthquake. Whilst Shrek's apprehension of seeing Charming for the first time in ages, potentially with Felicia, the rest of his family were looking up to the sky as the shaking continued.
"S-SHREK!" Fiona yelled, realising what's about to come.
Shrek looked all around, as he could sense the source of the earthquake like shaking. The knights all began looking at each other, concerned, and the knight in front of Shrek looked back at the group as Shrek had an even better idea in mind in the midst of being close to being captured.
"FALL DOWN WITH ME!" Shrek yelled, prompting everyone to fall down to the ground, catching the knights by surprise as they stood there, getting worried by the shaking.
Suddenly, it sounded like a volcano was interrupting amongst the gigantic shaking. Whilst Shrek and his group had fell down, covering themselves, the knights all looked up in shock; specifically, the knight holding Donkey down to the ground with a sword as Dragon suddenly made her gigantic body visible within a close proximity.
"RETREAT! RETREAT!" The front knight yelled, as a shower of flames were suddenly being pummeled upon their direction.
The wooden building was caught on fire, not intentionally, but Dragon knew that these knights were intentionally trying to cause him just from seeing her husband being sworded down to the ground. They all retreated, getting through the flames in thanks to their armour, as she managed to leave Shrek and the rest without any sort of fire. Suddenly, the entire atmosphere felt hot, as if the sun was a walking distance away. The knights all whined, like little children, as they retreated in their groups back from the flames to return to Charming. Shrek, Fiona, and the lot had all carefully looked back up to notice that all the flames were suddenly disappearing, due to the grass being extremely thin. The knight who was holding Donkey down had retreated along with his companions, prompting him to instantly run over to his wife the second she landed.
The group stood up, slowly but carefully, as it dawned on them that Dragon didn't come alone; absolutely not. Pinocchio and the Three Little Pigs had all joined her; they realised that Shrek and Donkey had basically vanished, which had prompt her into searching for them.
"HEY BABY!" Donkey yelled, with Dragon lowering her large pink head towards him to briefly kiss him.
"Y-You you did get the kids, right?" Shrek said, as he was still cautious from all the flames just now.
"They're right here, hunny, don't worry.."
"SO UH, ARE YOU GUYS GONNA COME ALONG, OR NOT?!" Pinocchio yelled, from the top of Dragon.
"I-I can't believe we were just nearly burnt..." Shrek said, realising that Fergus or Farkle could have been burnt just now.
"Shrek, we've just gotta go on Dragon now, our intention to save our own daughter has just been made ten times easier...just...appreciate it, alright? we would of been toast if it wasn't for her..."
All the dronkeys had flew around their mother, feeling relieved and calmed, especially after Charming's knights had nearly captured them just now. As the group began walking towards Dragon, who smiled at them all, Shrek turned back around to stare at the burning building. He...he just wanted his daughter back. God knows, in his mind, the state that she's in, being in the grasp of Prince Charming and ALSO Rumpelstiltskin. They began walking back towards Dragon as the flames had helped increase the hotness of the air by a ton, which made it feel like a summer day. Nonetheless, they were just saved, and now, they're fully on their way to Duloc.
About ten minutes later, Charming, being surrounded by Felicia and Rumpelstiltskin on his left and right, holding his sword in his two hands, was staring at the windmill building as it was burnt to a crisp; it was just as he suspected, it was that Dragon. He arrived here with the certainty that that Dragon wouldn't be here, in which she no longer was. One of the knights in front of Charming, as Rumpel and Felicia were also studying the windmill building, began patting himself as he was boiling in his armour from all of the heat.
"Oh well...try next time..." the knight said, prompting Charming to give off a scary stare at the knight, in which he was very subtly and quietly growling.
"I'll uh...I'll go and check the carriage..." the knight said, noticing Charming was angry.
That was funny for Rumpelstiltskin and Felicia, who were smiling at the fact that the knight had clearly backed off the second Charming gave off a threatening stare. They didn't know why it was funny, but it at least helped their moods brighten up in the midst of being under Charming's capture.
"Your majesty..." another group of knights said, from behind, prompting Felicia, Charming and Rumpel to turn around.
"Here...we've found some more potential enemies...they were rallying Shrek and the guys you wanted before..." they said, throwing both Twart and Blay into the open.
"Aha...nice of you to drop in..." Charming said, walking over towards them as Rumpel and Felicia remained by his side; the fear of what he'd do to either of them from a misstep caused them to remain firmly by his side, "you were so helpful to my knights last night, hey? well guess what, you can be useful to me now..."
"Oh, we've found you..." Blay said.
"Oh listen, don't waste my time with admiration..." Charming said.
"Uh, excuse me? I wasn't referring to YOU.." Blay added, blatantly, turning to look at Felicia, prompting Charming to look at her too with a raised-up eyebrow.
He suddenly walked directly to the front of both Twart and Blay whilst staring at Felicia. He swung his sword up, and pointed it like a staff, with the blade in Twart and Blay's direction. They backed up ever so slightly as Charming glared back in their direction.
"Where are the orges heading?" he asked, keeping the sword still.
There wasn't a response from either of them, with Rumpelstiltskin's heart suddenly beating faster upon the realisation that he's sensing that Charming's about to potentially kill them for not providing an answer. His senses were true. Charming suddenly raised the sword up into the air, prompting Rumpelstiltskin to make something up to save their lives.
"W-WAIT...STOP..." the little dwarf said, causing Charming to move his sword down from the air, "Shrek uh...they said something about an army or something, and how they're gonna uh...go to Duloc to uhm..." he was making this entirely up, "a-attack you, which is why they're going there?"
"A-An army?" Charming asked, nodding back at Twart and Blay, signalling for Rumpelstiltskin to move back to the side.
Twart and Blay raised their shoulders up at Rumpelstiltskin, with faces that were saying 'you've just made it even worse'.
Rumpelstiltskin, trying to save their lives, may have accidentally worsened the whole situation by lying to Charming about there being an 'army' at Duloc to 'attack' him.
"Thank you, Rumpel...you know what? I'm happy that these two things here got to see some genuineness...before they DIE..." he clicked his fingers.
All the knights dragged Twart and Blay away, as Charming called for their death. Rumpelstiltskin charged up directly to the side of Charming to get him to stop.
"N-NOOO!" he yelled, with Charming rapidly walking over to Rumpel.
Charming stared over him, before he suddenly sent the back of his hand flying like an arrow from a crossbow in the air to collide harshly against the cheek of Rumpel, emitting a gigantic, echoing clap-like sound the slap was that hard.
"OHH!" Rumpel yelled, as Charming's hand collided harshly with the slap.
Rumpelstiltskin looked down at the ground, as he held his cheek in absolute pain as the colour of red began soaring on his face. Charming ducked down to him, as if he didn't even do anything, with a hand on the dwarf's shoulder, prompting Rumpelstiltskin, with teary eyes as he was crying from it, to look back up.
"Think about your alignments, Rumpel...you're either on mine..." he paused to place his hand onto Rumpel's chin, to force him to look at the direction that Twart and Blay had been dragged in, "or theirs..." after a few seconds, Charming stood back up, letting go of Rumpel's skin as his eyes were shiny as he was crying from the pain.
Felicia was even more scared, and just seeing someone being assaulted like that had caused her to feel funny; seeing people deliberately hurt made her feel weak and vulnerable.
"Alright, GUARD...it looks like we need to gather up some more followers...we'll be heading down the route of an entirely new invasion, I imagine..." Charming said, with a huge smirk on his face.