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The BloodVaine EpicChapter 55: To The Ninjas
After supper, the group of seven traveled a large distance though the choking ash until the moon had set. They slept in shifts, and Fraun, not wanting to upset Rosa, let her take his place at the watch. They rose when the first fingers of dawn emerged and ate while they walked, not wanting to waste any time. The monotony of the terrain stayed the same, and the group walked in pockets of twos and threes talking to offset the dullness of trekking in a wasteland. The terrain was not difficult, and so they had plenty of air to using for all sorts of discussions.
By the end of the second day, the group had gotten to know one another more, even Graygon and Radjar, who had talked a little without too much glaring. Weary, they plumped themselves down and took out some stale bread and cheese. Fraun could not light a fire, for all the wood for miles had been consumed, and he lacked the proper ingredients to make one of Hodge’s meals. Again they slept in watches, and again they were up by dawn walking.
At the end of the third day, the food was nearly out and tempers were slightly frayed. Graygon and Radjar, whose short-live semi-friendliness had evaporated with the last of their water, were arguing violently on which course to take. The others stood to one side, debating with one another whether they should intervene.
Rosa said with acid in her voice, “They are both like cocks in a barnyard, both scrabbling to be the Alpha Male.”
The Stormspear twins, Fraun and Sir Dractor nodded.
“Graygon, you tyco, listen! If we are to get to Ninjara as soon as possible, we should cut through Classic LEGOland and the Dragon Masters!”
“Dark Forest dirt, do you have any sense what so ever? Classic LEGOland and Dragon Master land is practically teeming with persons loyal to BloodVaine, like maggots on a corpse! It would be suicide to traverse through there!”
This went back and forth until at last, Rosa had had enough.
“BOYS!”
The one word sliced through the argument and Dark Forester and Wolfpack member looked at Rosa, astounded.
Rosa berated them, “You are acting like children, using this excuse of which route we should take just to squabble with one another for NO REASON. At this very moment, BloodVaine could obliterate half of what’s left of Dametreos with a single spell. NOW PULL YOURSELVES TOGTHER AND SHUT UP!”
Graygon and Radjar dropped their eyes as if they were little boys who had been caught stealing sweats before dinner. Rosa nodding with satisfaction and turned to Sir Dractor abruptly.
“What course of action shall we take, Sir Dractor? Petty faction disputes don’t affect you, for you are not of these lands, and so I look to you as the leader of this quest.”
“Well, of course,” Radjar said irritated, “Choose the outlander to lead us!”
“Radjar, surely you trust Dractor? Or are you just to strung up in your own position?” Derrek retorted.
“This is out- outrageous!” Radjar replied, skulking off somewhere else.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Graygon shouted after him.
“I don’t know!” Radjar snapped back, “Somewhere away from you little mutineers!”
This final comment garnered a chuckle or two from the group. Rosa just laughed a bit to himself.
“I should go after that arrogant little megablok,” Graygon muttered.
“Hmmm, are you talking about him or yourself, eh, Graygon?” quipped Fraun humorously.
“Oh, shut up!” growled Graygon, running out after Radjar.
Radjar walked amongst the forest, cursing to himself.
Go through tyco megabloks shifty-brick Classic LEGOland, but no, the Wolfpack lapdog has to have his way… he thought.
“What am I saying? Dractor's a good fellow…” he said out loud.
Sir Dractor assumed command effortlessly.
“Let them go!” he ordered, as Derrek and Fraun simultaneously started to follow Graygon and Radjar, “They’ll be back soon enough. Neither of them is that arrogant. Just give them time to cool down. In the meantime, we need to decide which way to go from here.”
“Between the two of them, the Dragon Masters and the LEGOlanders cross the breadth of the continent,” said Keavur, marking out a rough map in the ashes, “Unless we can reach asecurity warning your computer ship, which is pretty much impossible-”
“As well as dangerous,” added Derek.
“As well as dangerous,” echoed Keavur, “It is apparent that we must cross through one, or both. The stretch of Royal Knight land separating the Dragon Masters from the coast is too narrow and would require to much of a detour for us to get there.”
“I wish to avoid Classic LEGOland as much as possible,” said Sir Dractor. “Orion is BloodVaine’s headquarters, and although his takeover was bloody, he has almost complete control of the Empire.”
“While the Dragon Masters are what?” asked Rosa.
“In turmoil," said Keavur. “Del Grakken has yet to solidify his hold on the Dragon Masters. He will be more concerned with keeping a grip on what control he has than on keeping people out of that land.”
“We’d be a lot more conspicuous in Dragon Master lands though,” noted Fraun, “and the deserts will make our travel more hazardous.”
“Sir Dractor?” asked Rosa, after they had been silent pondering the question for a moment, “Which way?”
“Dragon Masters,” said Sir Dractor briefly. “The chance seems better to me. And we might be able to help our cause by aiding those loyal to Lord Void, should the opportunity arise on our way.”
“Now, we just need Radjar and Graygon to come back, and we can get going,” said Fraun.
It had been several days since the confrontation between Graygon and Radjar. Neither were talking to one another, and each took every chance they could get to glare at each other. Sir Dractor and the Stormspear twins had given up on trying to get them to talk civilly to one another, but Rosa refused to be defeated. She walked between them, coming up with all kinds of conversation topics, vying for their mutual attention. Her plan was failing. Graygon would not talk to Rosa when Radjar was present, and Radjar would not talk to Rosa when Graygon was present. Rosa decided if they would refuse to talk to each other, she would not allow them to talk to her, either. When one or the other found her alone, she clamped her mouth shut and would not say a word.
Sir Dractor, for his part, thought the entire act was getting childish. He found it odd that while he, a foreigner, was trying to save Dametreos, three natives of this land were scrabbling among themselves like children. After one particularly violent argument between Radjar and Graygon, Radjar stalked off in a fury to brood by himself.
Suddenly, Radjar heard marching. Peering over the side of one of the rocks, he spotted a company of Cavaliers, emblazoned with the mark of the Cross Knights.
“Hurm.” he whispered, “Cross Knights in the back country…”
They were on a dusty road flanked by two columns of endless trees, save for one mottled and worn wooden sign that, written in long-dried, overly fanciful letters, read Fasburg: 2 Miles.
Radjar looked closer at the Cross Knight company. At their head, a soldier stood in full silver armor, extravagant Cavalier helmet propped open. He had aristocratic features; high cheekbones and ice-cold blue eyes. Wisps of fair hair were fluttering in the breeze, barely visible against his pale face. Radjar could tell he must’ve been some sort of noble, but the one beside him was obviously the leader. He had the same silver armor and attire, as well as helmet, save for a crimson cape and epaulettes. He had high cheekbones as well, and piercing eyes and a forked beard.
Radjar dashed back to the group, through the brush.
“All of you...there’s a company of Cavaliers...and they’re headed for a nearby village.”
Graygon turned away, glowering. Sir Dractor looked up.
“Cavaliers? From the Yellow Castle?”
Radjar nodded. “They might be able to aid us, if they are friends fleeing from BloodVaine…”
Keavur shook his head. “We have no way of knowing they are foes of the necromancer. BloodVaine is powerful, he would be able to mask his allies to appear as Cavaliers and my brother and I would not be able to detect it.”
Rosa said firmly, “We should continue onward, the more we delay, the longer it will take to reach the Ninjas.”
Sir Dractor agreed. “We should clear out fast and get to the Dragon Master land as soon as possible. I’ll take the rear and wipe out our track, we don’t want to take any chances…”
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