I Am: The Saviour

Chapter 21

I stared at King Zelrox, once more paralyzed by Judas' mere presence. The fact that he was towering over me only amplified the sudden onslaught of fear that petrified me and turned my body to absolute ice. My fingers no longer touched each other on the handle of the scythe, and I cursed myself for abandoning the dagger in the meeting room. I dropped it, the weapon no longer useful to me. King Zelrox was relaxed and stood casually with his arms behind his back. I made no move to attack because a) Judas could swallow me whole in one bite, b) I wasn't that stupid and c) I couldn't move for fear anyway.

Where the hell were the Freedom Fighters?

"Oh my daughter, we have got to stop meeting under circumstances such as these." King Zelrox seemed revitalized by the power the bullet had given him, and he drew in a deep breath. Two minutes. "This time, you are going to die. I will make sure of it. Judas, breakfast." The dragon hissed at me and if possible I froze even more. I was powerless to move under his piercing stare as his horrible mouth opened and rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth were revealed to me.

Suddenly there was a whinny and out of nowhere Pegasus hurtled into Judas' wing, trampling the scales underfoot. Judas roared in annoyance and turned his attention away from me to snap at Pegasus, who scrambled away and took flight again. King Zelrox was distracted, and I took the chance. No longer under Judas' power, I grabbed the gun from my pants and aimed it at King Zelrox. I fired and it hit him in the heart. He stumbled back and gasped, looking down at the spot of blood that managed to appear before the wound healed itself. Before I could fire the final bullet he sent a volley of fireballs my way and I was forced to drop and roll. King Zelrox drew in a breath and sighed with exhilaration, and his face filled out even more.

"Really my dear, you are only plotting your demise." He smirked and flicked his hand my way. I was thrown into the air and smashed into the wall of the courtyard, my body imprinting into the concrete. I fell to the ground, but Pegasus caught me midfall and I clambered not so gracefully onto his back and gripped his mane, returning the gun to the band of my pants. The over-sized clothes were dragging me down, and I was sluggishly slow moving in them. My leg protested as I clung to Pegasus' sides with my thighs. I conjured up fireballs in both of my hands and hurled them into Judas' open mouth as he reached up to snatch us in his jaws. He bellowed in pain and I threw another volley at him in effort to distract him as we circled above, leaping and diving and dodging the large swiping claws and the snapping teeth. We all knew it was only a matter of time before Pegasus or I made a mistake and Judas caught us out.

King Zelrox watched with a mixture of boredom and elation as we tried to fend off the dragon. Finally, he sighed and raised his hands. Blocks of concrete that had fallen to the ground from me smashing into the wall flew into the air and hurtled towards us.

"Look out!" I cried, and Pegasus swerved just a large chunk flew by his wing, missing by less than an inch.

We need to get closer to King Zelrox and get that final bullet into him. Pegasus said through the mind-link. I looked down to see the Requiem Army filing into the courtyard. Masses more of things not human advanced through the barren streets of the village below the castle.

How? We're outnumbered a thousand to one. Where are the Freedom Fighters? I asked as Pegasus dodged another chunk of concrete and I blasted another to smithereens. My question was answered not a moment later as mismatched battle cries filled the air. We looked down in time to see a volley of vampires and turned werewolves leaping into the fray, followed by a hail of arrows as Rydel and Mum led the rest of the Freedom Fighters into the fight. I saw Dragonfly hovering high above the rest of the fray, conjuring up nameless spells and firing them into the army as it turned its attention on the intruders. Ash had even left his family to come and fight, and he swooped and pecked and scratched, disappearing and reappearing among the fray.

Our split second of distraction cost us dearly. I looked back in time to see a clawed foot coming our way and pulled Pegasus' way. We dove downwards but our momentum meant we couldn't dodge the incoming concrete block and it clipped Pegasus' wing. He grunted in pain and we lost severe altitude while Pegasus struggled to regain his flight path. Judas' snapping jaws barely missed us. I grabbed onto his mane and pulled hard, rearing his head up high. We managed to right ourselves just before we hit the ground.

I have to land. My wing is too badly damaged to last any longer. Pegasus said. His voice was strained.

"That's alright Pegasus, we just have to find- Look out!" My cry was cut off as Judas' giant paw collided with us side-on. This time we couldn't right ourselves. The courtyard provided no cushioning as we collided into the cobblestone, creating a sizeable hole in the ground. Pegasus snorted and whinnied in pain. I scrambled off him and blasted Judas' paw before he could crush us underfoot. "Pegasus...you have to get up." I strained and pulled and pushed until Pegasus got his feet under him. Blood stained his coat and his right wing drooped, feathers in a state of disarray. He was holding his leg in the air to avoid putting weight on it, and I felt the pain of a broken bone in my left arm. The wound in his side was small but I had no idea how deep it was or whether there was any debris lodged inside of him. My leg was still healing. King Zelrox waltzed up towards me and smirked, putting up a hand to motion Judas away.

"Now Judas my pet, we want to play with our food before we eat it." His condescending tone made it clear that he thought he had won. I wanted to rebuke him, throw away his comment and deliver one where it hurts, but I couldn't. For all I knew, he was right. I needed to bide my time. Pegasus was out of commission for the moment, and he was a liability considering he couldn't walk let alone fly. We were in trouble and everyone knew it. I had to buy us time in the hopes the Freedom Fighters could reach us to save the day. One more bullet, and King Zelrox would be done. I only had four more minutes before my window closed and the opportunity was lost forever. The dragons' sacrifices would be in vain. His sacrifice would be in vain, and that was something I couldn't have.

Whatever you do, don't antagonize him. Pegasus warned.

Fox ran haphazardly through the chaos of the battle that raged in the streets of the village, trying to make her way to the castle where she knew Silver and Pegasus were battling King Zelrox and the dragon Judas. Dragonfly hovered over her, fending off incoming attacks and providing cover for her as she dodged, parried and attacked soldiers of the Requiem Army. Fox kept her eyes on the battle above the castle as often as she could, each time relieved to see Silver and Pegasus still in the air. Judas' shadow loomed over the courtyard walls like a brewing storm.

Fox muttered an incantation and knocked five soldiers off their feet, freeing a werewolf who they'd cornered. She looked back up at the castle in time to see Judas swat Silver and Pegasus from the sky like flies.

"No!" Fox screamed. She looked around her for any sort of distraction; something to give them time to escape Judas' teeth. Nothing. Nothing. Wait. Fox's head slowly turned back to zero in on a pen of pigs that lay happily undisturbed by the battle surrounding them, lazing in the mud. She grinned and sprinted towards the fattest one.

"Well my daughter. It looks like you and your circus pony have reached the end of the line." King Zelrox smirked, a triumphant smile on his face.

"Keep talking. One day you might just say something intelligent." I snapped. I heard Pegasus sigh through the mind-link.

What did I just say? He snorted.

"You're playing with fire my dear." King Zelrox warned.

"It's alright, candles don't hurt that much." He chuckled darkly and held up an open palm in the air. I knew I'd just signed our death warrant.

Oops. My hand reached behind me to grab the gun. King Zelrox opened his mouth, when suddenly he was interrupted.

"REEEEET!" All four of us; King Zelrox, myself, Pegasus and Judas halted in confusion. I forgot about pulling the gun out. Everyone turned to see a very unusual sight. It was a pig. It was a flying. Fricking. Pig. A pig doing cartwheels in the air not far from the courtyard walls. I went to say something to Pegasus, when a roar interrupted me. Pegasus and I turned back in time to see a large grey dragon tackle Judas to the ground.