Ch. 11 - The Dragon Roc

Magina and Ash braced themselves as they waited for the Mules to make their move. The wiz’s leg had been wrapped in a bandage and was forced to stop bleeding. It was only 4:30 – the breaking of the day –and many strange noises kept their senses active.

The Mules wasted no time and altogether raced to where the wiz and the sin were standing. They jumped with gaping mouths, looking forward to sinking their yellow pointed fangs dripping with saliva into their victims.

“On my count, we dodge! Three…two…” The wiz bent his knees and readied his legs to hop backwards. But Magina only held him by the shoulder and compelled him to stay.

“They’re gonna get us!” Ash was freaking out. Yet Magina’s steady hand on his shoulder had its own way of saying, ‘have faith’. He looked above. The Wild Mules were plunging right into them with increasing velocity. He shut his eyes.

An ear-popping shriek resounded like that of a screeching car. The mules fell down like birds. They were stunned.

When the wizard uncovered his eyes, the mules were already on the ground, crushed and dismembered. Blood had been splattered everywhere. Another one gruesome sight.

“What the hell did you do?”

Magina flashed the object he was clenching with his fist. The wiz eyed it curiously.

“What’s that? A snow globe?” Ash asked.

“What? No, this is my Dragon Roc.” Magina corrected as he brought his support weapon closer for his friend to examine.

It indeed resembled a snow globe. A spherical glass framed by a thick burnished iron wire. At its core nestled a figure of a mythical being. Part dragon, part bird. Its feathered wings spread wide in a prestigious manner.

“That’s the roc, Ash. The bird of legend from the Middle East so enormous and powerful it could fly with an elephant in its talons. ”

Ash smelled the Dragon Roc. “That’s insane! Okay, but how does this work?”

“It unleashes a dragon cry that stuns enemies for a short period of time. Did you hear the screech when the mules jumped at us? That’s it. I can only use it once every 90 seconds though. Now give me back my Dragon Roc. We need to get going and find that aborigine.” The assassin took the roc out of Ash’s grasp.

“Let’s move, then. After you.”

. . .

From a distance, Lust overheard the flapping of birds. It was in the direction of Ash and Magina. I just hope they’re not in any trouble, he thought, and then continued walking.

The forest canopy obstructed the illuminating moon. But even in blinding darkness, Lust could see as clearly as a cat. The goal was simply to capture an aborigine and administer all sorts of torture in order to obtain the single most important information: Chaty’s whereabouts. And that, exactly, was his specialty.

He checked his mobile phone. Maybe one of his teammates had already reported an aborigine sighting. But there were no messages. He slid his phone back to his pouch.

“Lust. I have heard rumors about you, though I’d never expected to catch you here. You sure know where to look, don’t you?”

The voice came from behind. Lust didn’t need to turn. He certainly knew that it was an aborigine guard that spoke to him. He also knew that a poison dart had already punctured his neck. Before long, he dropped onto his knees and painfully coughed thick red blood.

The aborigine loomed in the assassin’s fading vision. “You acted a little careless today. Don’t worry, we don’t have any intentions of dispatching you. Not yet, at the least. Bwahahahahaha!”

“Y-you… mother…fuckerrrr…” With that the assassin lapsed into unconsciousness.