Chapter 8.
"My Leader, with all due respect, I still have to say-"
"Naveron!" Lohengrin interrupted, and gave him a strict look. "We've been through this a couple of times so far, and I will not change my mind!"
They were at a cave, about half an hour of flight from Toemnir valley. In front of the blocked entrance of the cave, two Guards were posting day and night to make sure the cave's temporary inhabitant stayed where he was. For further insurance, the cave's mouth was blocked by a huge boulder, completely sealing the prisoner off the rest of the world.
The cave's unwilling resident was a Skrill, captured by Naveron and a Wing of Guards while he tried to sneak through the clan's territory alone. He was dragged here and tossed into the cave; fortunately the seven Guards plus Naveron himself quickly overwhelmed him without taking any major injuries.
When Lohengrin revealed his plan to Naveron, he was completely shocked. Despite Lohengrin's efforts to explain his reasoning, he still regularly tried to talk him out of it. However, since he could not provide an alternative which would offer the same amount of success, Lohengrin kept to his plan, and ordered Naveron to keep the secret between only the two of them.
Understandably, the Skrill was not content with his situation, and expressed his disgust with very colourful language, yet his complaints fell on nobody's ears but his own. As per Lohengrin's direct orders, he was kept separated and without any food or water for ten days straight. By the end of the tenth day, the Skrill inside was very quiet.
And now, Lohengrin was about to give him a visit.
"Open it." he ordered the two Guards, and they slowly pushed the boulder partially out of the way, grunting and growling in the process.
"I'll go in and talk to him. You stay outside unless I call for you, understood?" he asked, glaring at the three guards.
"Yes, my Leader." Naveron said smoothly, albeit the expression on his face gave away his discomfort.
Lohengrin slowly walked inside, and the Guards pushed the boulder back, to narrow the entrance. In the semidarkness of the cave, it didn't take long for him to find the Skrill, who was curled into a ball in one of the dark corners.
As Lohengrin approached him, he lifted up his head a bit, to see him. Ten days of starvation eradicated his will to resist, it was openly visible.
"Have you come to kill me?" he groaned. Despite his voice being calm, Lohengrin spotted the fear in his eyes. He decided to play along.
"Maybe." he growled "Although I think I may have a better use for you alive." He sat down, glaring coldly at the Skrill from above. "You do a small favour for me, and you can leave unharmed."
"Not interested." the Skrill said nonchalantly, and laid his head back to the ground.
In a fraction of a second, Lohengrin stood up, grabbed the Skrill's throat with his paw and shoved the dragon hard against the cave wall.
"Then, allow me to rephrase myself." Lohengrin snarled, tightening his grip on the Skrill's neck "You will do what I say, or I'll tear you into pieces so slowly, you'll be begging for death!"
"O...okay! Okay!" the Skrill choked.
Lohengrin gripped his neck even tighter, before letting him go. The Skrill fell to the ground in front of Lohengrin's feet, coughing and gasping for air.
"Wha... What do you need me to do?" he finally asked, avoiding eye contact with Lohengrin.
"I have a message for your clan's leader." He growled "You are going to deliver it."
"He won't be interested in any message of yours..." the Skrill mumbled.
"Oh, he will." Lohengrin said darkly. "He's going to love it."
Lohengrin walked out of the cave, and the two Guards pushed the boulder back to close it immediately. He turned towards them.
"Toss inside something to eat and then let the bastard out at dusk. Escort him to the outskirts of our territory; I don't want him flying around unchecked. He is free to go."
Lohengrin saw their puzzled looks, but they did not dare to argue so they simply nodded, acknowledging the order.
As Lohengrin began to walk away before flying back to the clan, Naveron accompanied him.
"So he agreed to carry your message?"
"I didn't give him much of a choice." Lohengrin answered.
Naveron let out a weary sigh.
"Is there any way I can get you to reconsider?"
Lohengrin gave a sharp look at him.
"There is not." he said sternly "One way or another, this affair will end in five days."
"But the risk-"
"I appreciate your concern but there is no other way out which offers the same amount win-loss ratio!" Lohengrin cut him off, almost shouting. "I am well aware of the risks; I thought it over again and again in the last weeks. It's either my solution, or going on an all-out war to drive them off. And I am not going to send anyone to their deaths unless there isn't a single other option left."
"Then send someone else to do it! Every Guard has sworn to protect the other members of the clan, and give their life for it if necessary! I volunteer to go instead of you!"
Lohengrin took a deep breath, to calm himself down.
"Naveron." he began patiently "You seem to forget that I have also sworn to protect everyone, by whatever means necessary. I am not trying to take your responsibility; I am trying to fulfil mine. I am going to do this. Period. I don't want to hear any more objections, am I clear?"
Naveron raised his head, and gave a final, resigned sigh.
"Yes, my Leader."
"I do not need your approval, Naveron." Lohengrin said calmly "The results will convince you. But I do need your cooperation."
"You can count on me, Lohengrin Valdr." came the answer. Lohengrin could still sense the First Guard's uneasiness, but he was willing to help him.
And that's all he needed for now.
The hunting party returned, bringing the fresh food home for those who could not provide for themselves for some reason: Furies too old to hunt anymore or still too young to begin, expecting mothers, those who were on patrol... There were always a few who welcomed the chance of a free meal, and the hunters were assigned to help with this, and so were treated with high regard.
And Lyara found the appreciation well worth any extra work. Seeing the grateful smiles of the old ones, or the cheering youngsters always warmed her heart. This was one of the main reasons why she chose to be a huntress, and never regretted it.
She was sitting a few steps back from the others, watching them eat when Lohengrin walked to her.
"I'd like to speak with you privately, if you have the time."
"Of... course." She said in surprise, narrowing her eyes upon seeing the determination his face.
She couldn't fail to notice the unusual tension in her friend's voice. And that scared her as well, as Lohengrin never seemed to be in doubt or uncertain when he dealt with clan matters. There must be a problem of some sort.
She followed him, as they walked away from company, until Lohengrin finally stopped in a small grove.
He turned around to face her.
"What's wrong, Lohen?" She asked with concern, going ahead of him.
"I'd like to ask for your help. I have planned out a way to get rid of the Skrills once and for all, and I'd like you to accompany me along with Naveron, the day after tomorrow."
Lyara could do nothing but blink for a few seconds.
"You... you know you can always count on me" she finally began "but I'm not exactly the best fighter around-"
"You don't have to fight at all." Lohengrin said quickly "I just need you to accompany me. Please, there's no one else I trust nearly enough to ask this."
"Just... what is this plan of yours?"
"I'd... prefer to explain everything when we are on our way.
Lyara gave a questioning glare at him as she tilted her head sideways a bit.
"So, you're basically asking me to follow you blindfolded, and offer my help to do something I'm not allowed to know yet.
Lohengrin felt his throat tightening, as he sank his claws into the soil in nervousness.
"Well... pretty much." he admitted.
After a few moments of thought, Lyara finally spoke up.
"Alright, count me in."
"Umm- Seriously?" Lohengrin's eyes widened in surprise. He'd expected the need of more convincing before she caved in...
"Hey." Lyara said softly, taking a step closer to him. "It's not like I've ever let you down..."
"That's true." Lohengrin smiled at her.
"And I have no intention of beginning it now." she smiled back "Although I hope this plan of yours is a darn good one."
"Trust me. If it works out, everyone will be very happy."
"And if it doesn't?"
"That's not an option." Lohengrin stated. Now that his plan is in the motion, there was no stepping back now. All of the responsibility was on his shoulders from this point, and he will go through this, by any means necessary.
"I have no intention of starting to let others down either." he said, voice filled with solid determination.
Two days later, as the sun was about to touch the horizon, its rays found three Night Furies sitting impatiently in a clearing surrounded by the biggest forest on the territory of Clan Toemnir.
"What are we waiting for, exactly?" Lyara asked with constrained calmness.
Lohengrin narrowed his eyes.
"He's here."
Both Lyara and Naveron began to look around, but couldn't see a thing.
"Who is here-"
A low, grumbling voice filled with hatred answered her, which didn't belong to any Night Furies.
"I am."
Three Skrills stepped out from the forest. Their pale scales turned orange by the rays of the setting sun, and with their eyes beaming in an orange-red colour, they seemed more like fire-daemons. Lyara jumped back, baring teeth towards them.
"LOHEN, WHAT THE-"
"Stand down Lyara." Lohengrin growled in a peremptory tone. "This thing is between him and me."
"The boss worm is right!" the biggest of the three Skrills barked. "He's got bored of his life, and offered me everything else with it, so I..."
"So you will shut your filthy mouth, because nobody cares about your laughable attempts to be threatening." Lohengrin interrupted, earning a furious glare from him "The deal is the following: we solve our disagreement with a duel. If you win, my clan will move away from these lands and hand it over to you. If I win, your clan will go away, and never bother us again. You are the challenged one, you can state your rules, according to the Code of Honour. The two witnesses from both sides will oversee the fairness of the spar.
The huge Skrill eyed him full of hatred for a few seconds.
"Alright." he began "Hear my rules. No flight, no fire. Claws and fangs only." his mouth curled into an evil grin "And the fight is to the death."
Lohengrin swallowed tensely. He suspected that he can't avoid this.
"So be it." he growled.
While Lohengrin was talking to the Skrill, Lyara stepped to Naveron.
"For the love of the Spirits, what the heck is going on?!" she asked.
"This is exactly what it looks like." He answered.
The short answer made Lyara even more horrified.
"Naveron, you can't be serious! This is madness, if he loses, we lose everything! What kind of idiotic plan is this? Don't tell me you approve-"
"I do not approve one single word of this plan." Naveron cut her off "But I have no room to manoeuvre. I tried everything to convince him, I even offered that I'll take his place and fight instead of him. Nothing worked and if we publicly show any protest, it would discredit this whole endeavour. Our fate now lies within his paws; if he wins, we will finally have peace, after spending decades in the shadow of this threat. If he loses..."
"He DIES! And the rest of us have to abandon the place where our ancestors lived for thousands of generations!" she tried to cry out loud with keeping her voice unheard by the Skrills.
"Then we will start again, somewhere else. The Clan will live, and that's all that matters."
"How can you be so cruel and-"
"These were his words, Lyara. Not mine."
Lohengrin and the Skrill leader were circling each other slowly, while the four witnesses receded aside, to the edge of the forest around the glade.
Lohengrin had to resist the urge to smirk about how easily predictable the Skrill's behaviour was. He knew he couldn't resist his offer. And even with all the limitations he made, the fight was more than even. The advantage the Skrill had in a fight like this was his size and strength advantage. His longer claws, fangs and spikes all around his back and tail made him a seemingly much more dangerous opponent, than a common Night Fury.
But even if the Night Fury had the clear edge in the air, the Skrill forgot about a crucial thing: Night Furies have four legs, while the Skrills has only two. They walk and run on the ground by using the large claws on their wings. Although this method serves it's purpose, it also makes them ungraceful compared to a Night Fury, who can bounce in circles around them.
Lohengrin watched his opponent's movements with narrowed eyes, analysing his build, searching for any exploitable weaknesses in his armoured scales. This wouldn't be an easy battle, as a Skrill literally had spikes everywhere.
The Skrill chose this moment to begin his first attack: he let out a ferocious roar and charged at Lohengrin. He just stood there, waiting for the attack, as the Skrill made a long jump to close the distance between them...
Then Lohengrin jumped and twisted himself around, hitting the Skrill with his tail while he was in the air, sending him on a collision course with the ground. The Skrill rolled out his fall and got up in one smooth movement, getting into position again. Lohengrin dashed forward, but his blow was fended off by a wing, forcing him to alter his course and loop forward to evade the countering swipe. He landed hard, rolled to the side and got up.
The result was the exact mirror of their starting position, being a few metres away from eachother, exchanging menacing glares.
"You're not as weak as the other worms." the Skrill grinned at him "I'm gonna enjoy killing you."
"And how?" Lohengrin shot a sarcastic smile at him "By making me laugh to the death? You couldn't even touch me, you overgrown inbred son of a newt!"
The Skrill's roar seemed to shatter the trees as he charged towards Lohengrin with surprising speed. Knowing that the time for warm-up, taunting and probing each other is over, he dashed forward to meet his opponent's advance.
Lyara watched the brawl with jaws dropped in her horrified amazement, as both dragons attacked, blocked, evaded and attacked again in a bizarre frenzy of a dance, sometimes moving so fast around each other that she was barely able to follow. No unnecessary movements, no falter from either one.
What made Lyara even more scared is that she saw her own awe mirrored by Naveron's expression. He was a trained, battle-hardened and experienced Guard, one of the best fighters the clan had to offer. He found comfort in intense fights, but here he was gasping at their leaders' battle.
"I can hardly believe what I see." Lyara whispered.
"Leaders are no ordinary dragons." Naveron commented "They possess knowledge way out of our reach. I saw Siegfried in fight; it took six Skrills to take him down. Lohengrin isn't a tad less dangerous."
Lyara silently watched how Lohengrin spins away from a swipe, letting it miss him only by a few centimetres, then continuing his turn and kicking the Skrill in the side with a hind leg.
A shiver went down her spine as he realized that this Lohengrin is fundamentally different from the one she once cared for as a brother. Her brother hated fighting and couldn't stand the sight of blood. He was easy with laugh, and eager to explore the world, together with her. Now he was... so much more and less at the same time. Ever since he came back, he was calm, distant, weary with the weight of responsibility, which he wouldn't have had to bear for decades, had the circumstances been different. His youthful enthusiasm vanished, and a cold determination took its place. Seeing him lasting more than ten seconds in a fight like this would've been impossible before. During his years of training with Elder Zorhen, he went high above any regular Night Fury. And he used all of his might for the benefit of others, not hesitating for a moment to put his own life on the line, if he has the chance of saving more by doing so.
This duel crystal clearly proved how much he cared about the lives of his clan members.
"Can... he win?" she mumbled hoarsely.
It was Naveron's turn now to stay silent.
"I can see what Lohengrin is trying to do..." he finally began "He's trying to tire out the Skrill by dancing around him and occasionally making a few lighter hits and cuts. But the problem is, that the moment his concentration breaks, and makes one wrong step, he's in for a serious injury. He has to let the bastard close enough, but those spikes on him are extremely dangerous. They are a lot sharper than they look like."
"From here the fight seems pretty even..." Lyara said hesitantly.
"True, until one of them makes a mistake." Naveron mumbled darkly. "We have to trust Lohengrin. We have no other choice."
As the fighting went on for what seemed like hours, and the Skrill showed no sign of weariness, a glimpse of fear appeared inside Lohengrin. He threw in every trick he knew; he even used his mind to fasten his reflexes. As he directed more and more energy towards the fighting, making it more and more ferocious with each passing minute, his other senses started to blur. It was like descending into a kind of mental state: every impression, effect and feeling he experienced was all about the fight, nothing else mattered.
What caused some surprise to him is that the Skrill seemed to have similar mental powers, which made him able to keep up the ever so quickening pace. With a sudden idea, he reached out with his mind, to see if he can scan him and figure out what he's planning...
And he felt a powerful jab inside his skull, as if someone had shoved a claw into his brain. The bastard sensed his approach and went into a counter attack! He quickly retreated and bolstered up a mental barrier to shut out the pain...
When his leg slipped, and that was just enough. The Skrill dashed forward and launched a swipe coming from below. Lohengrin tried to jump back to avoid it, but he was too slow.
A twenty centimetre long wing-claw caught into the base of his neck, raking scales, tearing flesh and drawing blood as it went upwards. Luckily, Lohengrin raised his head when he jumped backwards, and that saved his life. Instead of his throat getting torn out, he got away with a long gash trailing from his chin, going along his neck. The wound wasn't deep, but it bled badly.
The Skrill gave no time to think, he swivelled to hit him with his spiky tail. Lohengrin ducked to avoid it, only to be kicked in the face by a hind leg. He was flung to the side, skidding on his back a couple of metres, then saw the Skrill making a jump right at him, moving in for the killing blow.
Lohengrin snarled and jerked upwards to kick the Skrill right in his lower belly, while sinking the claws of his forelegs into his chest. The Skrill flung off and tumbled into a few bushes behind.
Lohengrin rocketed to his feet, panting and hissing wildly as he tried to get himself together. His earlier focus was long gone; his mind was filled with pain from gashes and bruises all around his body. He growled as he spat out a mouthful of blood, along with a broken tooth. It will grow back...
If he lives to see the next day.
The Skrill dashed out with a lengthy jump, using his wing to beat off Lohengrin's defending paw, and sinking his teeth deep into the long outer bone of his wing.
"LOHENGRIN!" Lyara screamed desperately.
The bubble that kept the outside world out, burst, as Lohengrin locked his visage with Lyara. In the brink of his defeat, he saw his friend's fright and despair as clearly as stars in the cloudless night.
The weight of her worrying look seemed unbearable. She's facing the death of her best friend. She's dreading the foresight of a ruined future. She's seeing a nightmare turning true...
The mere thought of this snapped something inside Lohengrin. He felt his blood boiling as a previously unknown, uncontrollable rampage stormed right through him, eradicating his self-control and igniting his soul with a hellish fire.
A tremendous roar of pain and rage rippled out from his throat, as he jumped forward around the Skrill with his wing still in his jaws. He was so fast, the Skrill couldn't even blink as Lohengrin went up, using a foreleg to slash the Skrill's leg, right at the knee joint. In the air, Lohengrin felt his trapped wing yanking him back, swinging him over to land on the Skrill's back. Taking full advantage of the situation, he used his own weight to push him to the ground. The Skrill's injured leg gave in and he collapsed, while Lohengrin pushed his head into the grass with one leg and curling the other one under the Skrill's neck, placing his claws right against it. A final, horrified growl of realisation escaped the Skrill's throat, blunted by the wing in his mouth.
With one forceful, sideways swipe, it was all over. Lohengrin felt his wing let go by the jaw of the Skrill, as the red-orange light from his eyes slowly dimmed away.
Still panting heavily, with his heart hammering inside his chest and pure adrenaline rushing through his veins, Lohengrin walked off from the remains of the Skrill leader, in the direction of the two other Skrills. As they saw the bloodied Night Fury approaching him with a flaming glare of wrath, they began to cower before him.
"You." Lohengrin's voice boomed, baring teeth at them "Take away your dead. Part ways from him properly. And be gone from these lands forever in one day, or you will all share his fate!
The Skrills were so terrified, they didn't dare to look at him, just mumbled something obediently and crawled out from his way crouching low, proceeding to get the broken remains of their late leader.
Lohengrin sat down, showing his back to the Skrills, even after they left. He tried to control his breathing to calm himself down and stop his trembling, but without much success. He stirred as he felt a gentle touch at his side. Forcing himself to tear his glare away from his blood soaked paw, he looked up to see Lyara and Naveron beside him.
"Lohen!" Lyara cried in a concerned tone "You're bleeding, we have to get you back to-"
"I'm fine." Lohengrin groaned. "I... just feel so... tired."
He saw Naveron jumping in front of him, saying something. His hearing went away as his eyelids grew heavy. He began to lean to the side, as his legs went weak and buckled, unable to support his own weight anymore. He faintly sensed Lyara rushing to him, and bending to keep him up...
Then the world went blank, and empty.
A/N Cliffhanger!
Oh, I hate them too. ;)
As always, Ask, Comment, Review!
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