Chapter 9

“We’re making good time,” Molento informed Eliena that night, at dusk, after they had landed in a clearing, “I think we should reach the river tomorrow.”

“That’s great! Flying is so much faster,” Eliena exclaimed, sitting down, “We’ll be at the elven border town in just a few days.”

“Yup, by my estimation, we’ll be there in two and a half days.”

Molento and Eliena started to unpack, pulling out food and water. “I’ll get some firewood,” Molento offered, “then I’ll start the fire.” Molento walked off into the forest, and Eliena sat there contemplating how much her life had changed in the three days that she had known him.

Before he came, I wouldn’t have even thought about learning magic. Much less having wings, she thought, reaching behind to touch the delicate membrane of her wings, Magic is a wonderful tool and can do so much, I can’t wait to learn more. Molento walked back then, carrying an armload of firewood. He set it down with a clatter that broke Eliena out of her thoughts with a start. “Why are you doing that,” Eliena asked, noticing that Molento was drawing his sword.

“I’m going to start the fire.”

“With a sword?”

“Yup, remember in the village, when I caused a wave of fire to come out of this?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Well, to tell you the truth, I didn’t do that on purpose, I just wanted to scare them so we could have a moment to escape. The fire just happened.”

“How is that possible?”

“I was thinking that myself, and I came to the conclusion that the sword must have some sort of enchantment that causes it to create fire”

“That’s useful,” Eliena commented as Molento piled up the wood. He raised the sword, point down, over the wood, and stabbed down. Fire erupted where the sword touched the wood. Pulling the sword out, Molento said, “And that is how to start a fire.”

“Well only if you happen to have a magical sword that can create fire,” Eliena said, laughing, “Otherwise you would have to do it the normal way.”

“Well, yeah,” Molento replied, smiling, “but, you use what you have, right?”

“That’s true.”

Molento sheathed his sword and sat down. Both he and Eliena sat staring at the fire for awhile, until the wood that Molento had collected blackened. Snapping out of his reverie, Molento got back up and walked away to get more firewood. While he was gone, Eliena shifted around, and folded her wings back up. She heard a rustle in the forest that she ignored, believing it to be Molento coming back with more firewood. When he didn’t appear, however, she started to get curious. “Hello,” she called, “is that you Molento?” When she heard no reply, she decided that it was just an animal and went back to staring at the fire. She heard the rustle again, this time louder, and she ignored it again. Then, suddenly, she sensed someone behind her. She turned around to see Molento coming back with another armload of firewood. “Oh, Molento, it’s only you,” Eliena said, jumping, startled, “I heard something over there.” She gestured to the right, in the direction that she had heard the sound.

“I wasn’t over there,” Molento said, slowly, “I was over here the whole time.”

“Oh, well, it was probably an animal.”

“Yeah, and animal,” Molento said uncertainly, “That must have been what it was.” He set the wood down and sat down. Feeding the wood to the flames, he tried to appear to have let his guard down, while still listening intently in the direction that Eliena had gestured. Just then, he heard something rustle, and he spun around, drawing his sword. “Who are you,” he shouted, “Show yourself!”

The forest was silent, but Molento knew that someone was there. “Come out, I know that you are there,” he shouted into the silent wood. Suddenly, a net fell down out of the nearest tree and caught his sword arm and tangled it up. Four dark shapes detached from the tree and fell down, swords drawn. Three more figures materialized from the forest, these too equipped with swords. All seven of them were wearing black clothes with black cloaks with hoods. Four of them surrounded Molento, pointing their swords at his chest. The other three surrounded Eliena, who shrieked. Molento stopped struggling with the net around his sword and hand once he was surrounded.

“Drop your weapon,” one of the hooded figures told Molento. Molento obliged, letting go of his sword. One of the figures reached forward and grabbed his sword, training it too on Molento’s chest. “Both of you, come with us,” the same one, obviously the leader by now, instructed. Molento and Eliena did what they were told, following the hooded men into the woods.

Ten minutes later, they reached a campsite with tents and many fires lit. They passed many more hooded figures on the way to a larger tent in the middle of the camp. “Where are you taking us,” Eliena demanded for the tenth time. None of the figures responded. “Hey, I’m talking to you! Where are you taking us and what are you going to do to us? Answer me,” Eliena yelled at the cloaked figures.

While Eliena was yelling at the figures, something caught Molento’s eye. While most of the hooded figures didn’t look at them, one of them, leaning against a tent pole, in the shadow of the tent, was staring intently at Molento. Molento raised his eyes to meet theirs, which were an unnaturally bright blue color. When their eyes met, the figure turned around and disappeared, and Molento didn’t think anybody else saw the man. They reached the large tent, and their procession halted, and the leader of the group ducked inside the tent. Moments later, the man came back out, and gestured for Molento and Eliena to go in. They did so, pulling the tent flap aside to step in. Their guards stayed outside, to make sure that no one interrupted or left the tent. Once inside, their eyes adjusted to the gloom. What they saw made Eliena gasp. Sitting at the desk was a man with a large scar running from the top of his head, down to his temple, and running along his jawbone, finally ending on his chin. But that was not what surprised them. Standing next to the man was David.

“Father! What are you doing here,” Eliena demanded, incredulous that he would have gone to such lengths.

“I am doing what I tried to do earlier,” David responded.

“And what makes you think that the outcome will be any different,” inquired Molento.

“It will be different, demon,” David sneered, “Because this time I took it to some old friends. Eliena, Demon, meet the Assassins of the Black Flame.”

“The Assassins of the Black Flame,” Eliena yelled, “That group that you used to be the leader of back before you quit becoming a farmer?”

“Yes, the very same.”

“Wait, wait, I’m lost,” Molento said, bewildered.

“My father used to be an assassin and a thief, until he met my mother, and moved to the village.”

“Oh, so that’s how he was able to pick the lock in our room at the inn. But, hold on, how did you catch up to us?”

“Horses.”

“Oh.”

David leaned in and whispered something into the man at the desk. The man nodded then he called out to the men outside. “Put them in the cages,” he said in a deep, rumbling voice.

“Yes sir,” one of the hooded men said, entering the tent. The group of men that had caught them led them through the camp once more. “Cages, what cages,” Eliena shouted, but gained no response. Molento felt as though he was being watched, and looked around. Once again, he saw the man with unnaturally blue eyes staring at him from the shadow of a tent. And once again, the man disappeared once Molento noticed him. Strange, Molento thought, I wonder who that is. The group reached some outdoor cages, and Molento and Eliena were thrown into the largest one. “What do you think you’re doing,” Eliena yelled, “Why are you locking us up?” No response came from the hooded men, who had now formed a circle around the cage. Eliena kept on ranting at them through the bars until the daylight had faded and torches were lit all around the camp. She sat down next to Molento with a sigh, realizing that they weren’t going to be letting them out or giving them any answers. “I wonder what my father will do once he realizes that I have wings too, now,” she sighed miserably.

“I don’t know,” Molento replied, just as miserably, and he rested his hand on Eliena’s forearm, “But whatever happens, you’re my friend now, and I don’t like it when someone hurts my friends.”

Eliena rested her other hand on Molento’s and smiled. “It’s good to know that you will have by back, Molento,” she said hopefully. Just then, Molento felt someone right behind them, on the other side of the bars. Whirling around, he comes face to face with the man with the unnaturally blue eyes that he had seen earlier.

“What are you doing here,” Molento asked.

“I’m helping you escape,” replied the stranger, pulling out a set of keys.

“Why would one of The Assassins of the Black Flame be helping us”

“I’m not one of them.”

“And just how do you propose to get us out, there are guards…” Molento’s voice trailed off as he realized that all of the guards were dead. “How… when… why… Did you do this,” Molento stuttered, completely flabbergasted.

“Yes, I did this,” the man replied, fitting the correct key into the lock, “Now, are you coming, or not?”

Molento and Eliena picked themselves off the ground, and ran out the cage door. The trio ran through the camp, keeping to the shadows. Whenever they would spot someone, they shrank back into the shadows until they passed. Proceeding as such, they made their way into the woods and back to Molento and Eliena’s camp. The fire was still going, and both of their packs were still there. “Wow,” Eliena said, reaching down and picking up her pack, “they really didn’t do a good job of getting our stuff.

“Yeah, the only thing that they have is my sword,” Molento replied, bending down to pick up his own pack.

“Well, actually,” the stranger said, “I have your sword right here.” He pulled Molento’s sword out from under his coat.

“Oh, thank you, um, um, we never did ask you name.”

“Keytol”

“Oh, well, thank you Keytol.”

“You’re welcome.”

The trio put out the fire and Molento and Eliena put on their packs. Keytol took off the cloak that he had been wearing, revealing a black leather outfit similar to what Molento was wearing. He had long wiry arms and legs. His face, now that it was visible was nothing extraordinary. He had curly brown hair that extended out a few inches from his head, which, if not for his eyes, was normal and would have made it hard to pick him out of a crowd. Some lines along the back of his shirt caught Molento’s attention. “What’s that,” he asked peering closer to Keytol’s back, “are those slits in the back of your shirt?”

“Yes.”

“Why do you have slits in the back of your shirt,” Eliena asked.

“Well, I imagine for the same reason you two do.”

“You have wings,” Molento asked.

“Yes,” Keytol replied, unfurling his wings. His wings were larger than Molento and Eliena’s by several feet, but that wasn’t the most impressive thing. They were blood red, scaly, dragon wings.

“That’s interesting,” Molento said, examining Keytol’s wings, “our wings are the same, black and smaller than yours by several feet at least.”

“That’s most likely because I was born with mine,” Keytol explained, “I am partially a being called a Draconic.”

“A Draconic?”

“Yes, partially.”

“What is a Draconic,” Eliena asked, “I’ve never heard of one.”

“I’m not surprised,” Keytol responded, “Many people haven’t. Draconics are a rare race of dragons. In form, they resemble humans, but they have scaly skin, elongated faces, and wings. Since I am only partially Draconic, I was born with regular skin and facial features, but I had wings.”

“What about your eyes?”

“Oh, those, no those didn’t have anything to do with my being part Draconic, no one in my family has ever heard of anything like it happening.”

“So, it’s a mystery,” Molento asked.

“Yes.”

The trio suddenly heard a dog baying, and turned to look in the direction that it came from, which happened to be from the camp that they had just left. Folding in his wings, Keytol said, “I think that they have discovered your absence.”

“Yes, it does.”

Just then, a group of dogs burst out of the trees, followed by a large group of about fifty cloaked figures. Then, David and the man with the scar emerged from the crowd.

“So, you thought that you could escape again,” David sneered, “Well, I expected this. What I didn’t expect, however was that you would have had a third member in your group.”

“We don’t, we just met him when he rescued us,” Molento explained

“Why are you so determined,” Eliena asked.

“Because I will not have you run off with a demon, to pursue dreams of magic. Your place is in the village.”

“Like yours was? You ran around Kvykyr in your youth, with this group of assassins.”

“You, you, you…”

“Yeah, you have no answer to that, do you?”

“You are going to come back to the village now!”

“I really wouldn’t try anything funny if I were you,” Keytol warned.

“Oh, really,” David replied, “I’ve got a team of highly trained assassins on my side, what do you have?”

“Me-”

“Me,” Molento interrupted.

“What are you doing, Molento,” Keytol hissed, “You can’t be serious.”

“Shh,” Molento whispered, “I’m keeping their attention on me instead of you and Eliena.”

David watched their exchange with contempt. “You can’t even agree between yourself on who will try to intimidate me,” he sneered, “Well, it doesn’t matter, because either way, I’m not intimidated.” He motioned to the assassins, and they all pulled out their weapons. They pulled out knives and swords and bows and arrows and daggers and spears and an assortment of other weapons. David smiled smugly at this. “This time, demon, you lose. Kill the two men, but not the girl,” this last one directed at the assassins.

“No,” Eliena yelled, jumping in front of Molento and Keytol, spreading her arms wide, “I won’t let you kill them.”

“Get out of the way, Eliena.”

“No, if you want to kill them, you’ll have to go through me.”

"Attack."

Molento shoved Eliena out of the way as the assassins started to attack. He drew his sword and deflected the first knife back at its owner.

    "Whoa," Keytol exclaimed, "how did you do that?"

    "I don't know, it was just a reflex," Molento replied, watching the assassins, who hadn't thrown any more weapons or shot any arrows. They were all staring, dumbstruck, at the man who threw the first knife, which was now imbedded into his chest. As they watched, he fell to the ground, dead. They all turned toward Molento, angry now that Molento had killed one of them.

            Keytol whistled, long and low. "That was impressive, Molento. Where did you learn to do that?"

            "I don't know, I have no memories, remember?"

            “Well, let’s not just stand around, let’s fight.”

            The assassins started throwing knives and shooting arrows. Molento deflected most of them, those that he couldn’t deflect, he dodged. Keytol, meanwhile was snatching knives and arrows alike out of the air and throwing the knives back at the assassins. The arrows, he threw back behind him.

Author's Note

And this is where I stopped this story, because I didn't like where it was going.