For this story I am using charecters from one of my novels. All rights to these charecters are mine and mine alone. This is a work in progress.
I glanced around the wall of rock, tightening my grip on my staff. Lichen tickled my nose, but I didn't make a sound, my eyes flashing back and fourth like a cats'. I silently scanned the ravine, searching for what I knew could not be seen.
With the moonlight dancing across my silver-blue skin, my saphire eyes glowed hauntingly as I slid to a low crouch. My bare feet dug into the rich soil, the scent of grass filling my nose. I looked up to a small outcrop, no more than a foot deep and more than twenty yards off the bottom of the gorge, the metalic rock glinting in the night. I closed my eyes, picturing the ledge as I tried to concentrate. Every bit of my being I put into the teleportation, without warning feeling more tired than before. I suddenly felt the ground underneath me dissappear, as well as the stone and the touch of grass. A weightlessness overcame me, and I flicked my eyes open in time to see a midnight-blue smoke slowly engulfing me.
Then I was on the cliff edge, once again scanning the valley below. I felt a smile at the ease of my feat slowly spreading across my lips, my pearl-white teeth gleaming as my quills rose down my spine. "Impossible by the laws of physics." one of the monks had once said. I now rose from my crouch, standing tall on the balls of my feet as I turned to look up the small trail winding up the cliff. My crown flared as my long, slender tail helped me keep my balance. Not for me.
Suddenly I vanished, reappearing within a nanosecond at the crest of the valley. After a moment of silence, I heard a twig snap behind me. I oscelated my ears as I stood frozen, realizing my mistake.
I suddenly threw myself to the side, rolling out of the way of the sudden blast of orange and red flame that engulfed everything within ten feet of where I had been standing. Whirring around as the blackend brush began to smolder, two massive, glowing yellow eyes narrowed on me, the great spined dragon digging its claws into the solid rock. It's arched back was lined with huge, needle-like spines twice as long as I was tall, and blanketed in thick armor. Gleaming red in the black of night, it's scales flashed monsterously as it rose over my head, a hiss escaping from it's throat as it's pupilless eyes fixed on me.
My ears flattened against my head as I watched the massive dragon in shock. "A Hellcat..." I muttered, my eyes widening. The nasty beast lifted its head, its maw opening as a deafening roar sent my to my knees in pain. I bared my teeth as I pressed my hands to my temples, the dragon's jaws snapping shut above me. It glared down at me, a cruel glint in its eyes.
My heart beat stedily as I looked up into it's eyes, heat radiating from the beast as some of the brush behind me caught on fire. I stood slowly, the roar of flame at my back as I looked into its deep eyes. It opened its mouth, its teeth as sharp as knives. Deep in it's throat a red glow eminated from its stomach, it's breath burning my nose. A long, split tongue writhed out of its maw, brushing the side of my face as my neck was coated in slime. I stood absolutely still as it studied me.
The dragon pulled back, unfolding it's massive, tattered wings as it rose up as tall as it could, the spines flaring on its back. I could sense the fire behind me consuming the grass at my paws, my saphire eyes glowing as brightly as the fire.
Suddenly my heart stopped as the beast's belly filled with flame, glaring at me savagely as it's tongue flicked in and out of its mouth. I could feel the hatred eminating from the much-feared monster as its inner eyelids flicked over its eyes. The moonlight poured through holes in the membrane stretching between boney fingers, the dragon's talons cracking stone as it bared its teeth.
I'm not going to get out of this one, am I? I asked myself, staring up at the creature as light danced off my quills. I am a fool.
The dragon threw his head forward, unleashing a terrible roar of rage as I closed my eyes, standing my ground. Fire burst from the dragon's mouth, engulfing me in blue and white flame as the horrible heat singed my skin. I couldn't think through the pain, but still I managed to stand.
The dragon snapped his teeth shut, the serrated ivory sliding across eachother with a click. It reared again, watching me. After a moment the dragon turned, his massive tail splitting threw solid rock on either side of me, the bladed barbs only centimetres from my paws. Still, I din't budge. The beast looked back towards me, it's snout only a hand's width away.
"You are brave, Young One." the fiery lizard's voice echoed across the crags of rock, "You stand your ground against one of the most powerful beings on this world?" He asked, peering down at my unharmed body. I slowly opened my eyes, stunned that the dragon had spared my life, flicking my tail as the flame behind me settled. "You are lucky," the beast murmured, "but next time I will kill you."
"Why are you here?" he hissed. I swallowed, my lips cracked from the sudden burst of heat. A moment passed in silence.
"To warn you." I said, my voice sounding weakly across the metalic plane, "My people are searching for you, to kill you."
A low roar suddenly rumbled through his chest, making me momentairally loose my balance, falling onto my back. He rose a claw twice the size of a horse, pressing it against my chest as his talons pinned me to the ground. He glared down at me, the fire in his eyes returning.
"Kill me?!" He snarled, "if they believe they could stand against me they are fools!" he spat, his tongue flickering in and out of his mouth.
"Please..." I said calmly, placing a hand on the toe wrapped over my shoulder. He turned his giant head to the side, baring his teeth, then he reluctantly let me up, his spines clinking metalically against his scales.
"I know of your powers, Child!" he roared bitterly, "Why don't you leave an old dragon whal you still have a head?" he looked towards the moon.
"Because I need your help." I said, slowly rising to my knees. The creature did not look back at me as I set my hands on my knees, wrapping my tail around my legs. "I've come to you to learn."
"Why would I help you?"
"Because you are all I have."
"That is your mistake."
My eyes flicked open in suprise as I looked up at the Hellcat, my quills vibrating in shock.
"That is all? The greatest creature in this land spares my life to turn me away?" I asked, a sudden flow of nausia overwhelming me as sickness dug it's icy fingers into my stomach. My heart was still pounding at the horror of my narrow escape with my life.
"I gave up on your kind long ago." The beast roared, his spines vibrating, "now I once more bid you to leave me, or I shal add another kill to my infinate list."
I stared up at the dragon, unable to believe what was happening. "Bu-"
A low snarl rumbled across the cliff, cutting me off with a cruel warning.
I turned my head away, closing my eyes. He... will not help me. I told myself, rising to my feet. I slowly turned my back on the beast, looking over the wooded ravine as the cruel realization of my actions caught up to me.
In a flash of light I was down in the bowl of the valley again, running through the trees. I felt tears welling in my eyes, but I held them back as I threw limbs of branches aside, dashing through the brush. A roar echoed behind me in the valley, stuttering and slowly dieing into silence. To me it was a lonely sound, as it had always been.
Still, I kept running. I couldn't stop, I couldn't turn around. I just kept going, wondering if I ran because I was a coward. My paws pounded against the forest floor like a heartbeat, dancing over rotten logs and fallen leaves without a sound. Glancing back over my shoulder, no prints from my passage littered the soft ground. I wiped the salty tears off my face, slowing to a stop. I looked up at the night sky poking through the leaves, unconciously aware that clouds had began to scatter across the stars. I watched as a raindrop fell from the midnight darkness, splattering on my nose. The leaves on the trees rustled uncomfordibally as the breeze began to tinkle through the boughs, the night alive with the sounds of the oncoming storm.
I kept running. I didn't have anywhere to go to, but I sure was going to get there fast.
My legs were a blurr as the familiar forest floor flew by. The sounds of the trees filled my ears, and the scent of the many plants and animals overwhelmed me. I didn't even hear it until it was too late, the stone-filled gourds wrapping the bolo around my legs. I instinctively threw my hands out in front of me, breaking my fall as I rolled through the woods a few feet before my head cracked against the stump of a massive tree. I felt blood trickling down the back of my head as I groaned in pain, looking up to see a shadowed figure above me. Suddenly I whipped to the side, my jaw stinging violently as the Minkan set his paw back on the ground a moment later.
"You are a traitor, Jane." the familiar voice spat as I threw the rope off my legs.
"You never were a match for me, and you know it." I hissed bitterly, hiding my burning sadness behind a hard mask of hatred. I pulled myself off the ground as I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth, the metalic taste staining my tongue. He chuckled, then turned to strike me with a hard fist. Like the flash of a snake, I lashed out, grabbing his fist in midair to twist it behind his back, whipping the side of his face with the tip of my spined tail, lodging a few quills in his skin. The boy cried out in pain, freezing suddenly as I whipped my hunting knife from my belt, holding it to his throat.
"Sloppy." I mocked, throwing him forward towards the tree. The man caught himself, his blue eyes glowing the same color as mine. Suddenly he lunged at me with a roar of rage, trying to hit me again. I easily sidestepped, bending at the waist as he through himself around me. As he passed I jammed my elbow into his back, crippling him enough that he let out a cry of pain. His tail whipped around beside him as he turned on me, watching me furiously.
"I trusted you..." he murmured.
"And then you turned your back on me." I looked sadly down at him, then teleported myself a good hundread meters away, beginning to run once more.
"JANE!" His cry echoed between the trees around me, slowly dying into the darkness.
I flashed another couple hundred yards away, the exaustion from the Flux tugging at me as I slumped against another tree, a quiet sob escaping my throat as my prior horror returned. Tears flooded my vision as I looked back up to the stars, the rain beginning to pelt down heavier than before. I cupped my hand to my lips as my stomach trembled, my legs unreliable underneath me.
Jer'tan. Betrayer. Outcast. That was what I had become for a beast that would not help me. I wept silently, unable to compose myself as I sobbed uncontrolibally. I wrapped my tail around my ankle, the quills digging into my skin with a sharp pain, a pain that I ignored. Nothing could compare with the betrayal I felt inside as I collapsed against the massive trunk of the tree.
I buried my face in my hands as I slid to the ground, tucking my knees against my chest. I pulled my eyes up as I bit my bottom lip, my chin trembling. A choke rocked my shoulders, my eyes glowing as raindrops fell on my toes. I looked up towards the treetops, suddenly going completely silent.
I slid back onto my feet, my eyes fixed on a high bough about two hundred feet up. I brushed the tears away with the back of my hand so I could see better, my heart nearly stopping.
I broke into the fastest, most desperate sprint I ever had before, teleporting myself as far as I could, then repeating the process the heartbeat I reappeared. Soon my paws didn't even touch the forest floor, flashing me through the forest at the speed of sound. I heard cracks of lightning split the trees as I tried to escape, but before long I realized it was me.
My tail whipped around behind me as my being was pulled through the folds of time and space, my persuers not far behind me. I glanced back when I flashed back into existance, at least two dozen Minkan warriors on my back. Dread overwhelmed me as a set of yellow eyes flashed close enough for me to touch.
It seemed to be in slow motion as I felt time being pulled around me, watching as the space between spaces flooded the world I knew. Complete and total darkness surrounded me, bursting like a seam back into the world in a time almost unmeasurable by our minds.
I felt a strong arm wrap around my waist, almost choking me. I tried to kick my captor off as we both plummetted to the forest floor, the ground flying towards us with almost uncountable speed. I landed on his stomach, his hard ribcage cracking my back as I let out a terrified cry. My quills pierced his skin as he flipped us over, pressing my face into the soil as I tried to throw him off. He bared his teeth when I smacked my head back into his chin, lodging my quills in his jaw. I tried to writhe myself out from underneath him, the shear weight of the Minkan helping him to restrain me.
"Get off of me!" I snarled, trying to throw him off.
Suddenly another set of hands pushed me down into the leaves, followed by a hard blow to my jaw. White spots flickered across my vision, the hit stunning me more than hurting me.
The second man grabbed a handful of my crown, yanking me onto my knees as a cry of pain escaped my lips. Six or more men circled me as I clawed at the other's hand, my nails becoming caked with a mixture of flesh and soil. The Minkan wrinkled his nose in disgust, throwing me back to the ground, half-rotted leaves flying through the air as I flipped onto my back.
"Miq kei 'e Derpo eve miq lecra miq farvai lewi tonta cruque!" The man spat, flicking the drops of blood off his fingers.
I hissed as I tried to prop myself onto my elbows, the warrior cocking his head to the side as a cruel smile spread across his lips. In a swift and fluid movement he stomped a clawed foot into my gut, my stomach tightening as I doubled over in shock, gasping for air. I pressed my hands to my abdomen, trying desperately to breathe as a cold laugh echoed through the trees.
The man crouched over me as I bared my teeth in a feral snarl, my lungs begging for air.
"Bene'par e vunto noita e tatakoin Minka par Jer'tan." He murmured softly, his distinct yellow eyes studying me closely. He suddenly drove a hard fist into my side, the shock of the blow jerking a gasp from my lips as I threw my hands out to the roots on either side of me.
After a moment he stood, turning his back on me before stalking off as he signaled the guards to follow. Two of the others reached down to grab my arms, pulling me onto my feet before following as they drug me behind them. My eyelids drooped with exhaustion as my tail draged through the dirt behind me, the effects of the violent chase catching up to me with dire effects. I tried still to throw off my captors, attempting to writhe my hands out of theirs. I had no hope of teleporting, for it would certainly kill me.
I knew that.
And he did too.
"Slanx!!" I yelled, tearing away from one of the guards, my eyes glowing with a burning hatred. The second guard whipped a hunting knife from his side, pressing it against the nape of my neck.
"Eve miq jeva'um parnor, thk Demori!" he snarled, drawing a few drops of blood from my skin. The leader looked back at me as I reluctantly stopped, the other guard snatching my arm the instant I did. The man withdrew his blade, leaving behind a streak of blood as he did.
I was shoved forward almost hard enough to trip me, the warriors laughing as I straightened my back, flaring my quills. All of them that is, except for the leader. He looked at me as if he was dissappointed, then shook his head subtly and began to march on. I clasped a hand to my neck, watching him as he left.
"Vonko." The second guard ordered, thrusting me further forward as he and the others laughed at my pain. I limped a few steps to prevent myself from collapsing, then paused before bitterly marching on. I felt the man approaching me from behind again, and whipped around with a savage hiss in my throat. His hand froze in midair as I bared my teeth at him, his friends scoffing at my feeble attempt at defense. A cruel smile crept across his face as he stood tall over me, studying me intently. He suddenly reached forward and grabbed my chin, twisting my head up as he peered into my eyes.
"She's a spirited one, isn't she?" he murmured, cocking his head to the side as I glared up at him, "Its a shame..." he purred, "she could still be of some use to us..."
I spat at him, shoving him away. After a minuite a cold laugh vibrated through his chest, his tail flicking as he looked back at me. He rose a balled fist in the air, preparing to strike me as I stared at him defiantly.
"Kinat!!" A shout of warning called from behind him. The guard froze, glaring at me for a moment more, then he lowered his hand and turned, grabbing my arm and throwing me forward again.
The leader stood at the crest of a shallow rise, watching us as the one named "Kinat" dragged me forward. Kinat refused to meet his eyes as he marched forward submissivly, holding my arm closely. I let my paws drag in the soil as he pulled me under a partaily-fallen tree, warriors lining the massive log with all eyes on me.
I still hated the touch of the warrior, and wished more than anything to keep him away, but I knew I was far too weak. I felt the exhaustion overwhelm me again, coming in waves as my tail dragged in the dirt behind me.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Canvas tents sat in dots on the outskirts of the camp, the dawn sky lavender against the canopy of the vast forest. My paws kicked up dirt as I marched along the dirt path, my feet bloody and raw. I had aquired various bruises and cuts through the night, my bottom lip split and puffy. and the skin around my eye a sickening purplish-black. I walked in the center of the company, surrounded but free of the warrior's restraining hands. They had learned better than to touch me in the darkness of the forest, the men occasionally glancing at one of the guards'... "recently" broken arms.
I ran my dry tongue across my lips, my mouth begging for water. My back was bent with exhaustion, and my eyelids drooped weakly as I peered forward from under my thin eyelashes. I pressed my forearm to my stomach, trying to stand against the pain as my head throbbed relentlessly.
I could feel the mens' eyes on my back, my ears flickering back and fourth as I traped into the village. The metalic banging of a hammer on steel echoed around me as the collective sounds of converstions on our arival lit the camps, women and a few men watching our approach. I met the gaze of some of the civilians, some of their expressions of anger, disgust, and yet others of bitter betrayal and dissappointment. We continued marching through the village, not even so much as pausing as they lead me to the center of the camp.
I knew exactly where I was going. The familiar streets were littered with past friends and aquantainces, and everywhere I looked I was somehow reminded of my past life with these people. As I searched the crowd I saw people that had litterally watched my birth, and yet no hint of pleasure at the sight of my face could be seen amoungst them.
My heart beat weakly with the dread of the coming day, and memories filled my mind with sadness.
Still, I stood as tall and proud as I could, my tail arched regaly behind me.
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