The Dracones

A couple of days went by, and Trayvon never returned. Gracial assured me that he’s safe and she’ll keep an eye on him. She told me he needed to make some choices, as to what they could be remained a secret. Why is it impossible for this kid to open up to me? Even telling me how his day went is a struggle. I guess he just doesn’t want to get attached since he’s so insistent that I’m going to die. On the bright side, most of my leg wound has closed up. I can walk on it more easily and move it, but it’s a struggle.

I’m just waking on the fourth day when I hear something odd. The sound of something grating against rocks. When I open my eyes I scream and roll off the bed. Alienis’s claw is coming through my window. Is he trying to make it bigger or something?

“Alienis, what are you doing?” I screech as I stand up.

He stops and sticks his eye against the window. “You’re alive! Naked but alive.”

“Of course, I’m alive.” I hiss as I pull on some pants. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I couldn’t reach you. Neither could Gracial. Trayvon is in trouble. The Adversantem have found him.”

“Of course, they have, the idiot,” I mutter under my breath. I grab my gear and shove it through the window. I slide on my knives and place them in my belt after putting on a breastband and top. For Trayvon, I grab my green sword. He probably left unarmed as always. I strap on my bow and arrows and climb out the window just in time to hear Freiah yell after me. Alienis takes off as soon as I’m on his back.

It’s not pretty when we make it to Boulders Rock. The Adversantem have Trayvon surrounded. Gracial is on the ground, tied up with several people holding ropes around her. I can see the blood from fallen bodies up here. I get out my arrows and fire into the heads of the twelve surrounding Trayvon. There are more but they have run for cover under Gracial. I swear. Alienis swings lower, making two pure black dragons fly at him. I flip off his back since he’s close enough to Gracial and land on her back.

“Hold still.” I snap at her when she starts trying to move. I cut the ropes and jump off her so she can help Alienis.

When on the ground I look around. There are ten Adversantem standing. Okay, this is going to be tough since I have nowhere to hide. I stand in a defensive stance when they fan around me. Should have thought this more through. “Trayvon,” I say in a hard voice as I take a step back when they get closer. They all smile sickening grins while their hoods shadow most of their faces. Weapons are drawn while they take another step simultaneously.

“He-Here.” He gasps, touching my leg when I take a step back. He’s beaten to a pulp and lying on the ground. I can see fainting scars on his body. He must have been unconscious before I got here. That’s why they were surrounding him, so he wouldn’t escape. They probably discovered what I have. Trayvon’s blood is only a temporary effect.

“Can you fight?” I demand. I sure as Dawn cannot take them on by myself. Not with my injuries.

“I can try.” He stands up next to me.

“Good.” I hand him my sword. “I can’t do much,” I warn him. “Not with my injuries.”

“Okay. I’ll go first, we can switch off then.”

“How about we work together for once?” I suggest as I put my back to his. Now we can have more angles covered. “Talk to me,” I instruct.

“Left!” He shouts as he moves. I go to my left to cover his other side. I grab the Adversantem’s arm and pull him in, my knife sliding into his skull. I yank my knife out as I toss the body back.

“Front,” I tell him when one charges at me. I grab the Adversantem’s arm and turn him. Trayvon grabs him and slits his throat. We keep up the pattern until they’re all down, most of them dead.

“What happened?” I demand from him as we step apart. I can scarcely breathe as I stand on my shaky legs. The knife wound in my stomach is trying to rip itself open and spill the contents of my body onto the floor. I look at him and see not a scratch on him. He healed himself the lucky bastard.

He pushes his burgundy hair out of his eyes. He looks me over, his eyes lingering on my previous injuries. “Are you okay?”

“Fine. Trayvon, what happened? Why didn’t you come back?” I touch his arm and look at him. “You had me worried.”

A slow clap makes us look toward the cliff. I swear as I see Mikal standing among the corpses of his fellow men. “Bravo Kit. You do have a heart.”

“Mikal.” I breathe as I face him. How many times do I have to kill this bastard? “How’s your throat?”

He grins. “You tell me.” Hands clamp around my throat the exact moment his eyes un-focus. Trayvon’s strong hands lift me in the air while I try to breathe. I look at him. His face is dark, and his eyes hold malice. There is a sick grin on his face while he tightens his grip.

“Trayvon.” I gasp. My hands are trying to claw at his thick arms, but they’re getting nowhere. “Trayvon don’t.” I choke. “You…fight.” I’m running out of air fast. I force my hand to move and reach for my belt for a knife. I cut his cheek, but he still holds my neck tightly.

I lock eyes with Trayvon, making him look at me. “Fight.” I gasp. “You won’t hurt me.” I try my best to sound strong with those words as he’s strangling me, but I’m failing miserably at best. I stab the knife into his bicep making him drop me. I gasp as I lay on the ground while Mikal walks over to me. He’s drawing his knife. The only thing in reach of me is my sword. Come on Kit.

I grab Mikal’s leg as I grab the sword. Quickly I yank his leg out from under him. As he falls I stand and point my sword into his neck, ready to be rid of him for good. Fear is in Mikal’s eyes as he stares at my tired angered expression. Right when I’m about to drive it through his throat I hear Trayvon coming up from behind me. I quickly do a side spin and hit the back of his head with the hilt of my sword. He drops to the ground at my feet, where I try to resist hurting him.

By the time I’m focused on Mikal again, he’s on his feet. He has his sword drawn as well. “You might be good with a bow Kit, but I’ve trained all my life with a sword. You’ll lose this.”

“Ha.” I bark. It sounds strong but I’m barely standing at this point. I can’t keep this up long. Even my taunts are weakening. If I fight him I’ll be in major trouble if he has backup.

Mikal steps closer. “Then let’s play.” He says with a grin. He steps closer and moves quickly toward me. I sidestep and block his blow, barely missing my waist. I disengage him and cut his arm as I step back.

He touches his wound and grins. “Impressive but it looks like I still have the advantage.” He goes for a hard blow and locks swords with me. His face is an inch from mine. My entire leg is screaming and protesting the amount of added weight. “You’re still injured, my wounds are healed.”

“Good for you,” I say through gritted teeth. The asshole.

He licks my face. “I’m going to have fun with you.”

“You wish.” I push against him and stomp on his foot. I flip through the air and land behind him. I turn in behind him and slice his back with my turn. He turned into it and quickly knocked my blade away, blood in his eyes. He’s out to kill me now. I make a strike for his unprotected left torso and end up locking blades with him again.

He moves my blade with his as I try to disengage and grins at me. “You know I’ve never seen your sword skills. All you use is that bow.”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t know how to use this.” We start fighting again. He’s fast and I’m injured. This does not play out well in my mind. Just when I make a mistake and step back when I should have turned he disarms me, knocking me to my feet. Blood lust is clear in his eyes as madness shines through his manic smile. In a split second his eyes unfocused as a grunt escaped from his lips. He falls to his knees, then to the ground.

Trayvon is standing behind him with a bloody blade. He looks at me with wild and surprised eyes. “Kit!”

I smile at him and shake my head. “You moron.” I gasp when my body tries to kill me for my recent abuse of it. Roars and fire tear through the air, nearly catching my hair with flames. We look up to see Gracial and Alienis heading toward us. They’re shouting in our heads that it’s time to go.

“Let’s go.” He says quickly, holding his hand out to me. I take it but lose my balance as my limbs fail and blood races from my head. He catches me and pulls me into him to steady us.

“Thanks.” I breathe. “I needed that.”

He chuckles. “Let’s go. We can talk later.”

Is that before or after he disappears again? “Sure,” I say with a tight smile. Alienis lands quickly. I get on him before I can voice my remark and am immediately taken away to a safer place.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.