Dethroned

Chapter 10

Anastasia sighed as she waited for Dagon to arrive, she walked over to his mirror. It was still an eternal void. She touched it but nothing happened. I wonder what sorcery Dagon used to make a mirror not reflect anything....she thought. She wandered to his desk littered with vials and bowls of all different serums and colours. She frowned slightly as her eyes caught on a very multi-coloured egg shaped rock. Picking it up, she realized it was an Ameraic Dragon egg, the smallest species of the Dragon race, which grew to about the size of a small draft horse according to the few who had ever seen one.

Anastasia stashed it in her pocket and went to the single window in the whole tower. Since it was quite dark out already, she saw nothing but forest. She closed her eyes and it was almost brighter than the seemingly endless void of blackness outside the window.

"Do you see anything interesting out there?"

Anastasia jumped, she spun to face Dagon, her eyes flashed with thorough annoyance, "Must you sneak up on me like that? I could have fallen to my death!"

"Don't be so dramatic, I wouldn't let you fall, you are far too valuable to me," Dagon retorted, smirking slightly.

"Oh I feel so safe with that knowledge now," she shot back sarcastically, walking to the other room which served as her bedroom.

"Come back here, Anastasia, I need to speak with you," Dagon demanded sternly. Anastasia rolled her eyes and walked to him, obviously quite cross.

"I understand the fact you are annoyed with me but you need to take into account the things I am doing for you and reflect that in your attitude. I will not tolerate your indignance and disrespect towards me."

She pursed her lips, irritated with him, "Can we speak about this later? I am exhausted, and frankly, I couldn't resolve to change anything right now."

"Fine but we will speak about this tomorrow when you get up," Dagon replied firmly, looking straight into her eyes, "Is that understood?"

Anastasia nodded, "Yes Dagon, I understand completely, good night," she turned away from him, then walked back to her room and shut the door firmly behind her.

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Belle watched Rykor as he sat with his eyes closed, looking like he was meditating or in a sleeplike peace. She knew better and soon noticed his shackles were bending open until they fell from his wrists. Rykor look at her and smiled before getting up and walking to her, he knelt beside her, "Hold out your arms," he instructed, obviously quite pleased he had regained his powers. She held out her arms, her chains clanking a bit against the cold stone floor. He touched the metal of both of the shackles and they fell away from her wrists. She grinned and stood up quickly with Rykor's help.

"Let's find Xander then get the hell out of here," Belle spoke with a quiet determination, Rykor nodded his agreement and strode swiftly to the door.

"Stay back and plug your ears, it's going to get loud in here," Rykor stated. She did as instructed, watching him.

The cell soon was filled with an ear-splitting blast, when the dust settled, there was nothing left of the door or the front of the cell. Rykor grabbed Belle's hand and led her out of the cell, hurrying down the hall, leaving her no time to ask what exactly he had done to the door.

Behind them, she heard angered shouts but Rykor did not hesitate as he turned a corner and into the room in which Xander was laying, still feverish and unconscious. He let go of Belle's hand and went to Xander, examining how the raiders had bandaged his shoulder. He frowned when he noticed Xander's crest was missing from his neck.

He grabbed a sword from the chest in the corner and tossed it to Belle, "I need you to find the stables, grab four fresh horses and take them to the back gate of the fort." Belle hesitated, wanting to know what he was planning but thought better of wasting their precious time, she tied the sword in its sheath to her belt before unsheathing it and dashing out of the room.

Rykor took a sword for himself before going back to Xander and picked him up quickly and swiftly left the room. He was narrowly missed by a group of raiders pursuing Belle. He reached a set of stairs up to the main level and climbed them quickly, trying not to jostle Xander too much. He stopped quickly at the top of the stairs when he saw a large number of rogues enter through the main door. Setting Xander down gently, he waited for the group to continue on their way.

"Once we take Rykor to Dagon we'll have a smooth ride to victory over those idiotic Kingdomers and soon we shall have their Kingdom and the riches they hoard," Rykor heard the Leader boast, he held back a chuckle as a guard ran up to the group.

"M'lord! The prisoners have escaped!"

"How many?"

"All of them... including Rykor and the pair we confirmed are Royals...." the guard replied hesitantly, the Leader's face contorted with rage.

"Have everyone in this damn fortress searching for them or so help me, I will flog the lot of ya!" he growled, the raiders all scattered to find the missing prisoners.

Belle must have freed the rest of the prisoners as well, smart girl, Rykor thought before picking up Xander again and heading to the door to the courtyard. He ducked behind a large bale of hay as two raiders passed, unaware of his presence, before heading towards the back gate. When he reached the gate he stopped as he realized Belle was not there yet, he noticed a few beat up looking men trying to open the gate. He put Xander down in a pile of hay before walking towards them with a bit of caution, they turned to him, eyeing his sword warily.

"Where is the girl who freed you?" Rykor asked hurriedly. They both looked at each other, then back at him, seeming to hesitate.

"She didn't make it out.... the raiders killed her as she was trying to free the last prisoners..." one replied, looking pained, he was bleeding, "Please believe me, I tried to stop them..."

Rykor's heart clenched, nearly causing him to collapse, he clenched his jaw against the pain, "Step away from the door... one of you grab four or five horses, we need to get out of here and quickly."

The man who had not spoken, quickly went to find horses, the other hastily stepped away from the door. Rykor broke the lock by manipulating it, before shoving it open. The man brought four horses out and led them through the open gate.

"Mount up, quickly now!" Rykor ordered, lifting poor Xander onto one of the horses' back and mounted up behind him to keep him from slipping off. When they all were situated on their horses, Rykor caused the wall above the gate to collapse, barricading any that chose to pursue them. They rode hard for about an hour before stopping to rest the horses. It was then that Belle's death hit Rykor like a spear through his heart.

"Are... are you certain she... that she is... dead?" he choked out as he slid off of his horse.

"Unfortunately... yes, she was caught off guard and by the time she put her sword up to defend herself... the wound she obtained was fatal..."one replied. Rykor left the clearing swiftly so the men would not see him weep.

"What are your names?" Rykor asked after coming back an hour later, he looked withdrawn and depressed.

"I am Raymund of the house Thrin, and this is my friend Durin, he doesn't speak... I gather you are Rykor?" Raymund replied, looking sympathetic to his pain. Rykor nodded, looking down.

"How did you and your friend end up prisoners of the Raiders?" he asked, studying both of them.

"We had gone on a hunting expedition in the land just beyond my father's property... we wandered too far into this forest and we were ambushed. I suppose they planned to ransom us..."

"How long were you imprisoned?"

"A month... maybe two?" he looked at Durin who nodded

Rykor was about to ask another question when Xander groaned, he got up to check on him then froze as he heard approaching hoofbeats, thundering towards them.

"Get down!" he yelled, grabbing Xander as he rolled into a bush. He hoped whoever was riding towards them would not notice them. His hopes shattered when the group stopped, and noticed the four horses they had stolen from the Raiders....