Chapter 11
When he awoke, Tasuki knew he was in trouble. It was just him and Miboshi, stuck in a dark, dank cell, with two guards standing by. A small window on the wall told him that the sun was just rising, the dark sky turning light blue with streaks of pink and orange. This was not calming his mood or making him feel any better. He was going to die soon. Unless he could prevent it.
It was silent and still in the cell, even as Miboshi slowly stirred and sat up, awake. The two didn't say anything to each other. A door creaked open from somewhere near by, and a heavy set guard walked over to the cell door, peering through the bars.
"It's time for you to die," he growled at the two. The barred door creaked open, and Tasuki let him self be dragged of by one of the two guards. Miboshi said nothing.
"I guess I had this day coming for me, didn't I?" Tasuki said out loud, sneering. "Didn't think it would come so soon."
The two were led outside, and down the cobbled streets, where people were filling up every space there was outside. Into the main town square they went, where already a large platform awaited the two, and a guillotine stood high above their heads. The crowd of people began to hiss and boo as the two were taken up to the guillotine. Tasuki shut his mouth, trying not to show that he was scared. There was no way that he was going to die here like this!
The two were blindfolded and thrown to the ground, where their arms were bound - except for Miboshi, as he only had one arm. They tied his arm fastly to his back, to keep him from moving it.
The crowd suddenly quieted down, and the old man was walking up to the platform, nodding his head, eyes flashing.
"This morning, I have good news to proclaim," he boomed out over the heads of the anticipating crowd. "The Lone Wolf King has perished! Replacements have been made! The future of the Wolf City has now come to be reality! Ladies and gentlemen, I want you all to meet . . . your new King, Hotohori!"
"WHAT?!" Tasuki cried. The crowd broke into a loud cheer.
From behind the old man, a procession came up to the platform. There Hotohori sat, transformed and robed in black, a crown sitting on his head. His eyes were full of haze, and it was quite clear that he wasn't all there. He had been drugged by the old man, and was now the King of Wolf City.
In front of him, leading the procession was Nakago, clothed in black. He, too, had a hazy look in his eyes. He did not seem to recognize either Tasuki or Miboshi as he led Hotohori up to the platform.
"A new general for our enemy has been made, too," the old man cried, and the crowd cheered some more.
"And now!" the old man shouted. "to end the lives of these two hooligans! This . . . bandit of the mountains, Tasuki, and his friend, the demon summoner, Miboshi. To the death with those two!" And the crowd cheered louder than before. Somewhere in the back, three people said, "Yay."
Tasuki and Miboshi felt themselves being thrown to the cutting board, where their heads were fitted into the circular slots. They were chained down, and then, their blind folds were taken out.
"What gives?!" Tasuki yelled. "Hotohori, snap out of it! You're not the King of this city! You . . . Nakago! What are you doing?! You're the one who killed the previous King, snap out of it!"
"What are you talking about?" Nakago growled. "Kill that one at once, guillotine master."
A hooded figure rubbed his hands together and said, "My pleasure."
"Nakago!" Tasuki screamed. "Are you listening to what I'm saying?! Snap out of it! Don't you remember your Priestess?! How she's in danger?! Remember Martha! She's waiting for you! If you continue the way you are now, you're going to upset her! You know you want to see her again, even if you don't want to admit it! Nakago, snap out of it!"
Nakago sneered at Tasuki, squinting his eyes. "I have no love."
"Hotohori!" Tasuki began shouting. "Hotohori, listen to me! Have you forgotten Kristin? Isn't that what you came here to the Wolfdom to get? Your beloved Kristin-sama?! Hothori! Please, snap out of it!"
"Nakago!" Hotohori ordered. "Will you put a stop to that bandit's useless ranting and raving?"
Nakago put up his hand, a signal for the executioner. Tasuki bit his lip, taking a last deep breath before the final blow.
There was a gasp from the crowd, followed by a scream. Tasuki opened his eyes. Miboshi was summoning a great demon, and the creature ripped the guillotine apart. He grabbed Tasuki by the arm, and ran off the platform.
"Get those two!" Hotohori cried. Nakago sent the guards after the two, as they raced down the crowded streets, trying to get away. Miboshi summoned a flying demon, and the two made their escape. As they flew high over the Wolf City, Tasuki began to rage.
"You idiot! We have to get Hotohori and the others back!"
"Not yet," Miboshi said. "Didn't you notice how strongly they are under the influence of those drugs? We have to find the root of the problem . . . or find something stronger still to break the spell. Plus . . . we don't know where the others are."
"We know that Mitsukake is back in that castle!" Tasuki cried. Why don't we get him, and he can heal the others out of the old man's spell?"
"We can't," Miboshi said. "He's probably been drugged as well."
"That's right," Tasuki said, claming down a bit, "they did drug him as well, I was there when they were talking about it. Then . . . what do we do?"
"Wait until nightfall," Miboshi said, "and we sneak back into the castle. We have to find a way to break those spells! Listen, you know I was out at the moment . . . what did the old man say he was going to do with Chichiri and Tomo? They would be the ones who would know how to counteract spells, Tasuki!"
"Lemme think," Tasuki said. Then, after a while, he shouted out, "Damn it! That old man never said what he was going to do with those two! He just said that they were going to be his!"
"I don't like the sound of that," Miboshi said. His demon circled, and they landed in the woods just outside the city. "We'll just have to sneak in and hopefully, we can find those two. They might be the key to breaking the spells holding Hotohori and Nakago!"
What did happen to Tomo and Chichiri? The two followed the old man cautiously, preparing themselves for any unexpected attack. The old man lead them to a room, where two tables sat in the middle, and shelves full of books and strange bottles of multi-colored liquids. Paper littered the floor. The old man went past the two tables, to the back of the room. There, a curtain hung. He pushed it back, and a large bubble was seen.
"This is where I see my visions," the old man said. "Would you like to see your precious Damsels in Distress?"
Tomo growled a bit at this. The old man did not wait for an answer. Color began to fill in the large bubble, and soon, an image came to focus. First, they saw Kristin, stroking her long hair, her face pale. Laying besides her feet was her oboe. She looked rather battered, and very gaunt. Next, they saw Martha, who's face was tear-stained. She sat in the far corner of her cage, twirling the edge of her dress. She had a whimper in her voice, and her face was down. Next, they saw Caitlin, was leaning against the steel bars, playing with her fan. Next, they saw Kailein, and Tomo made a strange noise. She had her knees drawn up to her chin, and she was rocking back and forth, her face gaunt, and her hair in an awful state.
"My baby," Tomo whimpered.
"Not now," Chichiri said.
Finally, they saw Makiko, who was playing with her dradle. Chichiri gasped. Makiko still had her dradle? He wondered why she hadn't used it. She could easily summon a demon . . . but no, he remembered. She couldn't summon demons yet. Just the giant cheez it.
After that, they saw a very disturbing picture of Katie and Phil, walking through the forest, hand in hand.
"Ugh," Tomo said, "we didn't have to see that."
"Please," Chichiri said, "I have enough bad mental images, no da."
The bubble turned blank, and the old man turned on the two.
"Please, sit down," the old man said.
"Where?" Tomo asked, looking around. "There's no where to sit."
Just then, chains from the ground grabbed the two, and they were picked up into the air and violently slammed down on to the two tables. The chains tightened around them, binding them to the tables.
"What's this?" Chichiri cried.
"As you see," the old man said, his voice grave, "I am a well respected person in this castle, and I hate it when my authority is lowered by others. Thus, I must have the most powers of anyone, even the King himself. I control him, you see. He is my puppet, and I am his master. I am going to do the same to this new Hotohori, and your friend, the general. Likewise to Mitsukake. The others shall be killed, and as for you . . . I shall be gaining your powers to expand my own."
"You can't do that!" Chichiri cried. "I won't let you, no da!"
"You wanna bet?" the old man cried. He lifted his hands to the ceiling, and the chains squeezed around the two even tighter. Tomo gasped for air, he could barely breathe.
"I have something for you . . ." the old man said to the two. He went over to one of the shelves, and picked up to identical bottles. One had a red potion in it, the other was blue. He went to Tomo first, and forced his mouth open, pouring down the blue potion. Tom ogasped, sputtered and began to scream. "I can't believe you just did that! That. That's the answer to the question I was given at the bridge, isn't it?!"
"In fact it is," the old man said. "that old man was my brother. He was giving you a hint, dear boy. Of what was going to happen to you very soon. Your powers of illusion are going to be taken away from you and I shall receive them very gladly."
Tomo felt pain in his stomach, and shut his eyes tight, turning his head to one side, trying not to throw up.
Next, the old man forced the red potion down Chichiri's throat. Chichiri licked his lips and said, "Hmm . . . that was good, no da. Was that the same stuff you gave Tomo?"
"Completely different," the old man answered. "Cherry flavored . . . it allows me to take away your magic powers, and more. . ."
"Uh-oh, I don't like the sound of 'and more'," Chichiri said.
"Rest in peace, my friends," the old man said. "As soon as I have received your powers, I shall have you executed along with your other two friends. Ta ta for now!"
And the two were left alone.
Meanwhile . . . yes, that's right. The Damsels were sleeping. Just sleeping.
When he awoke, Tasuki knew he was in trouble. It was just him and Miboshi, stuck in a dark, dank cell, with two guards standing by. A small window on the wall told him that the sun was just rising, the dark sky turning light blue with streaks of pink and orange. This was not calming his mood or making him feel any better. He was going to die soon. Unless he could prevent it.
It was silent and still in the cell, even as Miboshi slowly stirred and sat up, awake. The two didn't say anything to each other. A door creaked open from somewhere near by, and a heavy set guard walked over to the cell door, peering through the bars.
"It's time for you to die," he growled at the two. The barred door creaked open, and Tasuki let him self be dragged of by one of the two guards. Miboshi said nothing.
"I guess I had this day coming for me, didn't I?" Tasuki said out loud, sneering. "Didn't think it would come so soon."
The two were led outside, and down the cobbled streets, where people were filling up every space there was outside. Into the main town square they went, where already a large platform awaited the two, and a guillotine stood high above their heads. The crowd of people began to hiss and boo as the two were taken up to the guillotine. Tasuki shut his mouth, trying not to show that he was scared. There was no way that he was going to die here like this!
The two were blindfolded and thrown to the ground, where their arms were bound - except for Miboshi, as he only had one arm. They tied his arm fastly to his back, to keep him from moving it.
The crowd suddenly quieted down, and the old man was walking up to the platform, nodding his head, eyes flashing.
"This morning, I have good news to proclaim," he boomed out over the heads of the anticipating crowd. "The Lone Wolf King has perished! Replacements have been made! The future of the Wolf City has now come to be reality! Ladies and gentlemen, I want you all to meet . . . your new King, Hotohori!"
"WHAT?!" Tasuki cried. The crowd broke into a loud cheer.
From behind the old man, a procession came up to the platform. There Hotohori sat, transformed and robed in black, a crown sitting on his head. His eyes were full of haze, and it was quite clear that he wasn't all there. He had been drugged by the old man, and was now the King of Wolf City.
In front of him, leading the procession was Nakago, clothed in black. He, too, had a hazy look in his eyes. He did not seem to recognize either Tasuki or Miboshi as he led Hotohori up to the platform.
"A new general for our enemy has been made, too," the old man cried, and the crowd cheered some more.
"And now!" the old man shouted. "to end the lives of these two hooligans! This . . . bandit of the mountains, Tasuki, and his friend, the demon summoner, Miboshi. To the death with those two!" And the crowd cheered louder than before. Somewhere in the back, three people said, "Yay."
Tasuki and Miboshi felt themselves being thrown to the cutting board, where their heads were fitted into the circular slots. They were chained down, and then, their blind folds were taken out.
"What gives?!" Tasuki yelled. "Hotohori, snap out of it! You're not the King of this city! You . . . Nakago! What are you doing?! You're the one who killed the previous King, snap out of it!"
"What are you talking about?" Nakago growled. "Kill that one at once, guillotine master."
A hooded figure rubbed his hands together and said, "My pleasure."
"Nakago!" Tasuki screamed. "Are you listening to what I'm saying?! Snap out of it! Don't you remember your Priestess?! How she's in danger?! Remember Martha! She's waiting for you! If you continue the way you are now, you're going to upset her! You know you want to see her again, even if you don't want to admit it! Nakago, snap out of it!"
Nakago sneered at Tasuki, squinting his eyes. "I have no love."
"Hotohori!" Tasuki began shouting. "Hotohori, listen to me! Have you forgotten Kristin? Isn't that what you came here to the Wolfdom to get? Your beloved Kristin-sama?! Hothori! Please, snap out of it!"
"Nakago!" Hotohori ordered. "Will you put a stop to that bandit's useless ranting and raving?"
Nakago put up his hand, a signal for the executioner. Tasuki bit his lip, taking a last deep breath before the final blow.
There was a gasp from the crowd, followed by a scream. Tasuki opened his eyes. Miboshi was summoning a great demon, and the creature ripped the guillotine apart. He grabbed Tasuki by the arm, and ran off the platform.
"Get those two!" Hotohori cried. Nakago sent the guards after the two, as they raced down the crowded streets, trying to get away. Miboshi summoned a flying demon, and the two made their escape. As they flew high over the Wolf City, Tasuki began to rage.
"You idiot! We have to get Hotohori and the others back!"
"Not yet," Miboshi said. "Didn't you notice how strongly they are under the influence of those drugs? We have to find the root of the problem . . . or find something stronger still to break the spell. Plus . . . we don't know where the others are."
"We know that Mitsukake is back in that castle!" Tasuki cried. Why don't we get him, and he can heal the others out of the old man's spell?"
"We can't," Miboshi said. "He's probably been drugged as well."
"That's right," Tasuki said, claming down a bit, "they did drug him as well, I was there when they were talking about it. Then . . . what do we do?"
"Wait until nightfall," Miboshi said, "and we sneak back into the castle. We have to find a way to break those spells! Listen, you know I was out at the moment . . . what did the old man say he was going to do with Chichiri and Tomo? They would be the ones who would know how to counteract spells, Tasuki!"
"Lemme think," Tasuki said. Then, after a while, he shouted out, "Damn it! That old man never said what he was going to do with those two! He just said that they were going to be his!"
"I don't like the sound of that," Miboshi said. His demon circled, and they landed in the woods just outside the city. "We'll just have to sneak in and hopefully, we can find those two. They might be the key to breaking the spells holding Hotohori and Nakago!"
What did happen to Tomo and Chichiri? The two followed the old man cautiously, preparing themselves for any unexpected attack. The old man lead them to a room, where two tables sat in the middle, and shelves full of books and strange bottles of multi-colored liquids. Paper littered the floor. The old man went past the two tables, to the back of the room. There, a curtain hung. He pushed it back, and a large bubble was seen.
"This is where I see my visions," the old man said. "Would you like to see your precious Damsels in Distress?"
Tomo growled a bit at this. The old man did not wait for an answer. Color began to fill in the large bubble, and soon, an image came to focus. First, they saw Kristin, stroking her long hair, her face pale. Laying besides her feet was her oboe. She looked rather battered, and very gaunt. Next, they saw Martha, who's face was tear-stained. She sat in the far corner of her cage, twirling the edge of her dress. She had a whimper in her voice, and her face was down. Next, they saw Caitlin, was leaning against the steel bars, playing with her fan. Next, they saw Kailein, and Tomo made a strange noise. She had her knees drawn up to her chin, and she was rocking back and forth, her face gaunt, and her hair in an awful state.
"My baby," Tomo whimpered.
"Not now," Chichiri said.
Finally, they saw Makiko, who was playing with her dradle. Chichiri gasped. Makiko still had her dradle? He wondered why she hadn't used it. She could easily summon a demon . . . but no, he remembered. She couldn't summon demons yet. Just the giant cheez it.
After that, they saw a very disturbing picture of Katie and Phil, walking through the forest, hand in hand.
"Ugh," Tomo said, "we didn't have to see that."
"Please," Chichiri said, "I have enough bad mental images, no da."
The bubble turned blank, and the old man turned on the two.
"Please, sit down," the old man said.
"Where?" Tomo asked, looking around. "There's no where to sit."
Just then, chains from the ground grabbed the two, and they were picked up into the air and violently slammed down on to the two tables. The chains tightened around them, binding them to the tables.
"What's this?" Chichiri cried.
"As you see," the old man said, his voice grave, "I am a well respected person in this castle, and I hate it when my authority is lowered by others. Thus, I must have the most powers of anyone, even the King himself. I control him, you see. He is my puppet, and I am his master. I am going to do the same to this new Hotohori, and your friend, the general. Likewise to Mitsukake. The others shall be killed, and as for you . . . I shall be gaining your powers to expand my own."
"You can't do that!" Chichiri cried. "I won't let you, no da!"
"You wanna bet?" the old man cried. He lifted his hands to the ceiling, and the chains squeezed around the two even tighter. Tomo gasped for air, he could barely breathe.
"I have something for you . . ." the old man said to the two. He went over to one of the shelves, and picked up to identical bottles. One had a red potion in it, the other was blue. He went to Tomo first, and forced his mouth open, pouring down the blue potion. Tom ogasped, sputtered and began to scream. "I can't believe you just did that! That. That's the answer to the question I was given at the bridge, isn't it?!"
"In fact it is," the old man said. "that old man was my brother. He was giving you a hint, dear boy. Of what was going to happen to you very soon. Your powers of illusion are going to be taken away from you and I shall receive them very gladly."
Tomo felt pain in his stomach, and shut his eyes tight, turning his head to one side, trying not to throw up.
Next, the old man forced the red potion down Chichiri's throat. Chichiri licked his lips and said, "Hmm . . . that was good, no da. Was that the same stuff you gave Tomo?"
"Completely different," the old man answered. "Cherry flavored . . . it allows me to take away your magic powers, and more. . ."
"Uh-oh, I don't like the sound of 'and more'," Chichiri said.
"Rest in peace, my friends," the old man said. "As soon as I have received your powers, I shall have you executed along with your other two friends. Ta ta for now!"
And the two were left alone.
Meanwhile . . . yes, that's right. The Damsels were sleeping. Just sleeping.