Bloodsword: War of the Leaf

Chapter 9: Blood Dragon

Tev groaned out loud as rough hands unbound him from the angled table, jostling his bruised and battered body as they did.

"Shut up, filth," a hard voice commanded and Tev's eyes fluttered open in surprise despite themselves.  'Those weren't the arrogant, smug tones of a Silver Hawk!' he thought wildly as he looked around through blurred vision.

As it cleared, he caught sight of the uniforms on the soldiers that were now untying his legs.  The white and gold were unmistakable.  'Sun Guard?  Burn me, but I must be on my way to the emperor himself for my sham of a trial!' Tev thought darkly as, now freed, the soldiers pulled him off the table.

Tev couldn't help another groan of pain when his feet touched the ground, sending a wave of agony through his damaged body.  Botha had been skilled in the use of his tools.  The young human's body was completely ravaged from his feet to his head.  The slightest movement sent a new wave of pain ripping through his body, a sheet of fire that threatened to consume him in a devastating conflagration where he stood.  Only by virtue of the blood magic and its marvelous healing powers did the young man find himself alive at all.

As expected the two members of the Sun Guard tasked to getting him off the table and ready to go were either unaware, or uncaring of his current condition.  With careless hands they roughly hauled him to his feet and dragged him out of the room.  As they moved into the corridor beyond, Tev managed to push aside the pain with the brute force of his will.  Only then did he notice several more Sun Guard lining both sides of the hallway, heavily armed and armored.  

Of the Silver Hawks, there was no sign.  'Botha must've washed his hands of this by now,' Tev thought dully with the majority of his will and wit being spent keeping the pain at bay.  Then he was forced to concentrate on keeping the pain from overcoming him as his two Sun Guard escorts quickly dragged him the length of the hallway, bound for the stairs at the far end.

It was all the battered human could do to stop himself from screaming out loud in agony when his erstwhile escort dragged him up the stairs, his legs and feet slapping the stone steps as he passed them.  The rest of the journey out of the building was a blur as Tev fought to remain conscious.  And so the rest of the building was gone by the time Tev regained his senses enough to see that they were now on their way to a large wagon that waited out in the avenue in front of the Silver Hawk headquarters.

And then more searing pain was filling him as he was dragged, down this time, along the broad flight of stairs that led out of the building.  Tev found himself wondering if he was going to survive the trip to the palace for the trial after the guards roughly bundled him into the back of the wagon, literally throwing him unresistingly into the box.  Bouncing on the hard wood floor, Tev whimpered out loud as wave after wave of fire engulfed him, threatening to overwhelm him at any moment.  While it could heal any wound, the blood magic stayed strangely silent versus the pain that filled him, as if it had no strength against it.

Not that Tev wanted to summon it at the moment, with several dozen Sun Guard now all around him, both on the wagon and on horseback, pacing the wagon along the street.  Of course, he would have the advantage of the Sun Guard not being sensitive to the swell of the ancient power should he choose to call it.  He would be able to bring the magic to life without them noticing a bloody thing.

However, the Silver Hawks would not be so inclined to ignore that rising power.  Especially this close to their headquarters.  They would swarm the wagon and this fight would be over before it truly started.

Not that he didn't think they'd be present at the trial anyway.  He fully expected at least a full dozen if not more, would hide in the crowd, carefully watching him for any signs of him calling the magic to him.  And among their numbers would undoubtedly be Botha, there to witness his final moments so, after he was dead, they could eagerly rush back to where they had hidden the S'ia blade and presume to take control of the Sword of Blood with it.