Flight of Fear

The Lady Sara Ushiko of MalBoncton was terrified, but she was not witless. She ran low to the ground and found a large shrubbery with which to cover her. She kept her mouth shut and wished that the others would stop their screaming. She knew that screaming would only make the danger more daring in its attack. Sara Ushiko looked up into the moonlit air and tried to discern the nature of the monster - it was not a dragon, not a full beast, anyway. It might possibly be a minor drake, one that perhaps the Shreken-Dragon had been rasing, grooming, or perhaps even preparing as a mate. Probably not. She recalled how callous and selfish the Beast had been when it had come to her - how it had touched her, made her bleed, how it had found pleasure in her pain.

The Lady Diana Thessamer ran for the large boulder to her right, she needed time to see what was attacking them - then she would be able to devise a strategy for her own counter-attack. Being free of bondage, free of the chains and of the dank Caves had also freed her mind to think more as she was accustomed. She also realized in the back of her mind that her captivity may have been made easier by the magicks of the DragonMage. She wished, for a moment, that her cousin was here - Astra had always proven the best at sizing up a foe. She also wished that these stupid women would stop opening themselves up as fodder. She had endured weeks as a prisoner, weeks spent with these women, and she had tried to rally them - she and Astra together - but to no avail. A few proved of some spirit - Annie (but she was now dead) and Imelda (though the strain of these weeks and this night seemed to have cracked her). Diana spied Ushiko in some brush - another fighter, but of a different mettle. In the split seconds of the aerial attack the amazon woman's mind whirled a hundred directions - she thought of Ushiko's origin: MalBoncton - the country notoriously friendly to base criminals. That land and her people were a thorn in the Aqualarian QueenMother's side. For years QueenMother Heliastra had complained about the goings on in that land, but to cross the border to wipe them out would mean war, and she had other priorities.

The Princess Exotica ran with all the will her injured legs could muster - but it was not enough. The winged beast swooped and its talons carved fresh wounds into her soft back. The Allarian Princess fell and screamed while the beast flew higher, ready for a new dive.

"DAMMIT!!!" yelled Fred as he rushed to the side of the daughter to his LeigeKing. He pulled her, not caring that this caused more pain to the royal girl, only thinking of saving the whole of her life. He knew this was his charge, but it was times like these he wished he had a handful of men, real men - and not women who were good only for smiles in the Court.

The Lady Sara Ushiko marveled at what the light of the moon shone to her eyes. The beast was now joined by a second - they had wings like that of a bat, and tails, but their heads were not beaked, rather, they had the heads of tigers or cheetahs - she had heard of these beasts in her homeland, it was said they lived in the fetid jungles of the far south. So these were no mates for the Shreken-Dragon, perhaps they had been brought up by the now-dead monster - evil residents within these mountains of evil!

1. ...and the monsters dove down....
2. ...counter-attack...

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