Fiery Lands and Stormy Seas (Pokemon Watty Award Winner 2014)

Chapter 22

HECTOR

 

            Occasionally, Wingull nudged his ear to comfort him.  How did I ever get myself in this situation? He asked himself.  Again, the pang of guilt struck him in the stomach.  It’s all my fault, that’s how.  If would have just left for the Sparks’ palace when Ryan told me to he’d still be alive. Of course, Hector had lingered too long and they got caught in the breach of Mauville’s wall.  Ryan had made Hector hide behind a fallen building while the guard-in-training beat back many waves of Brightflame soldiers. That was before the Prince of Lavaridge showed up and his Combusken gutted Marrill, Ryan’s Spirit Pokémon.  Hector still couldn’t shake the image of Marrill trembling as its insides spilled across the ground.

            It was bad enough that Hector’s friend had died protecting him, but why did his other best friend, his Prince, have to be there as well? If I would have just left sooner, Swampert would still be safe… I would still be safe…

            Hector wasn’t safe, though.  He and Wingull, and Chris and the rest of their party had been captured by some Mirage Desert soldiers.  Presently, he and all the men that had left Mauville were in the back of a covered wooden cart, awaiting their arrival to the destination.  It wouldn’t be long now, to Lavaridge.  It was where they were planning on going, one way or another.  At least this covered wagon keeps the sand away.

            The fisherman’s son found himself puzzling on what Chief Sand had said back at the Mirage Tower.  “Not Carlos Brightflame,” he muttered to himself.  He had to mutter quietly, their captors didn’t like it when he talked.  Then who could it be?

            As the wooden cart rumbled on, Hector tried to catch Chris’s eye.  He had to do something to show how sorry he was.  That was why he had gotten the other guard drunk and took his armor to sneak into the mission.  It was all his fault anyway, so he supposed it was his job to make it right.  He thought Chris would appreciate his responsibility, but all Hector received was a scolding.  He hadn’t talked to the young King since. 

            Sometimes Hector would try to nudge Wingull away with his head, as his hands were bound.  Go! Get away, he thought.  Be free.  I can’t let something happen to you as well.  Hector didn’t even have a Spirit Bond with the Pokémon, it just happened to follow him ever since he had fed it a fish he had caught on a trip with his father. 

            I wonder if they worry about me, or do they still think me safe in Mauville?  He was glad he didn’t have to face his parents after what had happened.  It was likely that they would scold him for how he caused this mess as well.  Father would be disappointed that it was his son that ruined everything…

            Hector was roused from his thoughts by a voice from outside.  “Halt,” it said.  He felt the wheels of the cart grumble to a stop.  “What business do you have here?” The voice said again.

            “Tell your new King we’ve got some fish for him,” came the thick voice of the Sand soldier driving the cart. 

We’re here, Hector thought as he observed the other men in his party begin to awaken.  They communicated through their eyes. Without talking.  “Where were we?” their looks seemed to say.  “I don’t know for sure,” others responded.  The last person to talk audibly had been the guide that King Marcus Spark had sent with them.  The driver answered his questions by tying his arm to the back of the cart and dragging him naked through the hot sand and rough ground. Only Chris put his head down, Hector noticed.  I know where we are.  Lavaridge.  So much for stealth.  It wasn’t as hot as Hector had imagined it would be, given that the town nestled in the shadow of Mt. Chimney.  Who is the “new king,” though?