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Adventures In Living With The Mythical |
| I stood glaring at Kheid as he sat upon his throne. He glared back his strange throne bringing him almost eye level. The gnome king raised a single glowing hand and I felt power pulling and pulsing through my flesh as I started to rise off the ground. The gnomes around us cheered and shouted. I felt like a pinata at a kids birthday party. The gun in Valyurs hand barked once. Every gnome ducked, including Kheid. I stood my ground. I’ve heard plenty of gunfire before and had been expecting his. “You said I bring the meat sack, you’d release my clan. So where’s my clan ya bastard,” Valyure shouted. Khied lowered his hand, and I lowered to the ground, staggering a moment, but stood my ground, my skin itching and burning. Laughter went up for a moment as I did so. Calls of “he’s starting to feel it alright,” and “We’ll make a gnome of ya yet, meaty!” came up from the gnomes crowded around the circle. I ignored those and glared at Kheid. “Okay, Lavrishk, release his clan,” Kheid called over his shoulder. Lavrishk chuckled as he raised an arm. There was a sick smile on Kheid’s face as several kitchen trashbags were dragged to the circle and emptied. Pieces of pink, white and blue ceramic were dumped out in neat piles. Dust drifted up through the winds into the night sky. “You bastard! I’ll kill you, you rotten cracked bastard,” Valyur shouted. “Why? I’ve kept my promise. They’re released. I released them from this mortal coil. Perhaps next time you’ll choose your words more carefully,” Khied said, then laughed. “If you like, I’ll let you change your hat. Join a winning clan for a change.” His face took on a more somber tone for a moment. “Would be nice to fight beside you again, instead of against you. We had fun together once.” There was a moment there, one I didn’t catch, but I could hear in Valyur’s voice as he answered, “Ey. But you ruined that, didn’t ya?” I hadn’t been told the plan, but I could sense it. There was a single moment I was to wait for, one that I knew naturally would come. Valyur would make his move first, and then I would act after. But I kept looking over at the once great Mitch. The one who had stood by our side during the Nobility’s attacks. The one who helped us and had visited for barbecues and hang outs. Who had invited us over to his own place for holidays and the odd birthday. That Mitch was broken, his ears folded back in defeat. He was reduced to being a pack animal for a sadistic lawn gnome. I knew I was going to ruin some great plan, but I just couldn’t take it anymore. It was perhaps the smoothest draw I’ve ever done from behind my back. Such a draw can be a bit awkward if not practiced. Yet, I’ve never drawn from that position faster despite my many attempts to practice it afterwards. No one saw my movement. Not until my pistol barked a single time. The look of surprise in Lavrishk’s face as the hole appeared first, then cracks ran down his entire body. I snarled “I keep my promises, Lavrishk,” as he cracked, broke, then shattered. The pieces broke down into smaller ones until there was nothing but colored sand. There was a single beat of shocked silence. Then Mitch gave a lone long howl of freedom and rage. All the other gnomes backed up from him a step at a time. “Someone get a grip on that bastard,” Khied shouted, then raised his hand. It glowed an eerie, sickly yellow light as he began chanting. I wasn’t sure what he was saying, but I felt a tightness in my chest. My arms felt itchy, as if they’d been covered in dried mud. I gasped, and fought for control of my own body. For Mitch, it was payback time. Gnomes chased after him, attempting to grab his harness while he slashed, crashed and smashed every one he could get his claws on. Some gnomes ran screaming, others chased after the reins, hoping to control Mitch the way Lavrishk did. My roommates, still ceramic, could only stand and watch, unable to move. Khied still had control of them like he did of me. My arms would not cooperate. My skin burned as if it was on fire. A fire that slowly began to enter me, enter my lungs, my very veins. I felt my pulse slowed as if filled with sludge. My heart chugged, aching, trying to force the sludge through hardening veins. Khied still had me, and if something didn’t happen soon, he’d have me forever. *** Crash was suspended in the air. He felt power draining from him, as if his very life force was fleeing his body. Surrounding his circle was three gollums, each one stood with their arms held wide, chanting in a gutteral language that started to become clearer to him. The werewolf felt a single line of power draining from him. A second line of power wanted inside of him, waiting for him to be almost dead; drained of any ability to fight. Crash concentrated on that first line of power, and operating on instinct, gave it a single hard shove. *** The rune circle glowed bright for a moment. Khied staggered. For one fleeting moment I had control of my right arm back. I twisted it, aiming it down towards Khied, but before I had a chance, a smaller pistol barked fire behind me. Khied dived off his throne, one of the elongated leg bones behind it cracked. “Face me like a gnome ya bastard,” Valyur shouted. It was a war of ceramic. One ceramic werewolf, one blue hatted gnome, and one human prisoner vs what looked like dozens, possibly hundreds of red hats. Rocks were flying, some pelted me, not that I could feel much at that moment other than the pain of Kheid. Mitch was smashing as many as he could. Several gnomes had climbed onto his back and gripped the reins, though none of them knew how Lavrishk was controlling the werewolf. Mitch shook and swayed, as he swiped and threw others. There was pain in his eyes, but it held a glint of triumph. Khied was ducking, and running, still trying to chant, still trying to change me, but couldn’t finish. Every time he’d start, Valyur would fire off another shot and force Khied to jump behind a gnome or duck behind his throne and then begin again. Other gnomes attempted to help, of course. But Valyur didn’t seem to be running out of bullets in that altered pistol. I wasn’t sure how he was doing it, and wasn’t in a position to ask. With all of the chaos and fighting, Khied had forgotten something important; something he’d forgotten before. He had forgotten to watch for dragons. *** It happened almost too quick for Crash to keep up with. Larry swooped down, and dive bombed each gollum one at a time, exploding through them in quick succession. Crash later told me he wasn’t certain if Larry was pulling something out of them, if he was using an energy source of some kind or what. He could have been sneezing on them for all Crash could see. But whatever had happened, it was FAST, and angled so that Crash would be covered in mud. Crash fell with the last gollum. Larry, in one of his last runs at the final gollum, who didn’t even bother to turn around and defend itself, had also broken the rune circle somehow. The werewolf looked up, but could only see leaves and branches in awkward muddy piles. Larry had flown off. *** Valyur may have had unlimited ammunition, but I on the other hand, only had eighteen shots. And I had just used one of them. Good news was that it would only take one clear shot to destroy Kheid. Bad news was that Kheid was hiding behind just about everything and everyone, so I couldn’t get one clear shot. Mitch crawled his way into the circle, clawing and dragging half a dozen or so gnomes with him as he did so. There was a line of shattered gnomes trailing behind him, other gnomes grasping the reins, attempting to chant, though none of them new the proper words or even what power to tap into. They pushed and shoved against each other as they pulled back on the werewolf, each vying for control. It reminded me of a bucket of crabs, each one pulling the other down who was to escape. Valyur had stopped trying to chase Khied, and instead was tapping into those very same runes. He was pushing his own power into me as Khied was. At some points, I was gaining more control of my limbs than at others. Excrutiating pain doesn’t even begin to cover what I was feeling at that moment. Things growing alive, then dead. My heart racing as if almost freed, then slowing as if dying for the last time. I managed to fire a shot at Kheid, but only hit his throne. My shot did a whole lot more damage than Valyur’s did though, cracking big chunks off. Anger flashed into Kheid’s eyes as I took aim and shot it again, cracking more chunks off. I was running on instinct and desperation, but I think my goal was to anger Kheid enough that he physically attacked me so I could shoot him and be done with it. But through my shooting, the shouting, the fighting and chaos no one noticed when the first gnome disappeared. A second was gone. Then another. Then a fourth. It was when Zack was thrown into the ring that Khied finally took notice. “How,” he shouted, staring up into the sky. “How?” Kris and Sean had been tossed into the rune circle next. All three lifted themselves up and began racing towards me, a look of anger on their face. “Get him, get the meaty,” Kheid shouted as he danced from one foot to the other. They grabbed my limbs, and each one began to turn me. The way Kheid had been hiding before was literally with my own body. Whenever I’d get a clear shot, he’d turn me so I’d have to shoot through my leg or my foot to get hit him. I was unable to twist myself, or move my legs anymore, and could barely move my arms. Kris, Sean and Zack grabbed my pistol arm and pulled, twisting me around to face Kheid. They dragged me towards the gnome, an angry look on all their faces. Kheid looked over at Valyur with smug satisfaction and said, “that’s why your kind always loses, Valyur. You do not know the value of a good slave.” The smug look fled for a moment when he said, “we’ll join sides again, when you finally see I am right.” It was point blank range. I guess Kheid thought he was being given my pistol? He reached down for it and was actually surprised when I pressed it to his head. “I always keep my promises,” I snarled through my teeth, and pulled the trigger. I’m told Valyur leaped out of the circle. In truth, most of the gnomes did, fleeing as if their very lives were at stake. I couldn’t see any of that. I couldn’t see Mitch laying within it, almost dead. I couldn’t see anything but Khied. It was like what happened to Lavrishk, but bigger. Lines of power radiated down his body in cracks and fissures. They started small and began widening further and further. The power drained down from Khied, pouring into the ground. It fed into the circle which fed it back into each one of us. There was a flash of blinding yellow light, then Khied lay on the ground, gasping. Shattered hands literally holding his head together as his body slowly crumbled into dust. “So close,” he gasped, tears in his eyes. “So close.” I wanted to stand up. In truth, cause I am this cheesy, I wanted to stand over him, say ‘some motherfuckers are always trying to ice skate up hill,’ then stomp on him. But sadly, life isn’t an action film. I didn’t have the strength. I laid on the ground, gasping. My heart racing as if happy it was pumping blood again instead of the sludge it had been pumping before. Sean and Kris just held each other, happy to be alive and human again. Zack staggered for a moment then fell on Mitch, who grumbled, but put a paw over his shoulder, like a large, protective bear. Valyur walked to Khied and stood over him. “Kheid Falkurk. You have committed crimes against man, gnome and nature.” His voice broke for a moment, then he said, “Your crimes are too great to stand,” he paused. There was genuine tears in his eyes. “And so…” his voice broke again. “I must now sentence you to…” He couldn’t finish. Kheid raised a single hand. There was almost a smile on his face as he said, “I’m glad it was you.” Valyur gripped Khied’s hand. Light flashed, from Kheid into Valyur. Dust drifted from Kheid’s hand first. Then painted porcelain. Then he crumbled into a pile of dust on the ground. It occurred to me then the source of Valyur’s tears. The source of his reluctance to smash Kheid during the gun battle earlier, and perhaps through a thousand other chances that he had gotten over the past several days. I didn’t say a single word. I simply rolled over and gave him my shoulder while he wept. |
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