Kingdoms of old

Chapter 7: Dragons

A tall woman in tattered clothes had her arm outstretched in front of the three.

"Please help me, won't you?" The woman's voice was shaky, "I have children to feed and I have no way to make money and am stranded here." Tears began to well up in her amber colored eyes. 

Martha unsheathed her sword, "Gimme one reason I shouldn' pierce yer heart with this cutlass righ' now." Camille gasped, shocked, "Martha, she is just beg-" 

"What ye see before ye is a kitsune. Not a poor woman beggin' for help Camille. They're not to be trusted by any means," Martha spat bitterly. The woman stared at them in disbelief, "You would really leave another living being to die?"

The cutlass Martha held was pointed directly at the woman's chest, "Kitsune are immortal, ye should know that ye filthy creature. I bet ye don' even 'ave these children ye speak of."

The woman's eyes narrowed as she changed form into a fox with sleek fur and four different tails that each moved out of synch, "Smarter than you humans look that's for sure. Yet that caution and aggression will be your downfall, greedy human."  

It's ear twitched and it ran off into the woods behind them. "How did you know it was a kitsune?" Shixe asked. Martha put her sword back into its scabbard, "Kitsune may be able t' hide their true form well, yet, no mat'er how hard they try, the look in a kitsune's eyes will stay the same."

Shixe took a mental note of this new fact; it might be useful later. 

"Let's keep movin', I don' wan' me crew t' be gettin' in any trouble while 'm gone," Martha began heading into the woods again

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(A/N: I forgot I was lactose intolerant and now the effects of that ice cream is just now coming into effect-) The woods were much thicker on the inside as Shixe had realized after a few minutes of trekking through the endless brush.

"Does this forest ever end?" Shixe asked impatiently. Martha ignored him and Camille was too interested in her surroundings to hear. He grumbled incoherently. 

A twig snapped in the brush and Shixe turned to investigate the sound. The others had engaged themselves into a conversation and didn't notice that he had stopped walking.

Slowly, Shixe approached the brush. His breathing was slow and his heart rate began to increase out of fear.

'What if it's an enemy? Or a bandit? Hopefully not a murderer...I'm not particularly on good terms with centaurs, and after yesterday's encounter I wouldn't be surprised if it were a siren either,' Shixe worried. 

He reached his hand into the bush, and with a shaky breath he quickly ripped away branches and leaves in one fell swoop revealing...

Nothing. 

Confused, Shixe stood straighter, "M-Must've been my imagination..."

As much as Shixe would like to deny it, the situation had shaken him up a bit. Why was he so on edge all of a sudden? 

He turned to rejoin the group but Martha and Camille were nowhere in sight.

Now he began to really panic, 'Nononono, of all the times to pull a disappearing act Martha chose now?!'

Shixe took a deep breath to calm his nerves, 'It's alright. Just stick to the path and you'll be fi-'

"Mph?!" A gloved hand covered Shixe's mouth so he couldn't call for help as another one held his arms behind his back.

"Good boy, now stay quiet and cooperate and I won't have to hurt you." (A/N: oh no my masochism-)

Their voice was gravely and rough, like their grip on Shixe. All he could do was nod and they steered him around, pushing him into the thicket with a great deal of force.

His captor never let Shixe turn to see what they looked like and he didn't dare try to find out. 

A third hand took a rag out of his captor's pocket and shoved it into Shixe's mouth, gagging him. 

"That ought to make things easier. At least, for me that is," They snickered, "Now let's get moving, I ain't got all day." 

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Meanwhile, Camille and Martha had made it to the central of the Dragon Domain safely.

"So this is dragon central?" Camille asked. Martha patted her shoulder, "Ye really don' know anythin' do ye? But yer not wrong, this is dragon central."

Martha turned her head to look behind the two. "Did ye finally wear yerself out from complainin', Shixey Boy?" She asked with her eyes closed.

When no response was heard she opened them, "Shixey Boy?" Once she saw that he was gone, she realized how silent it had been during most of the trip.

Camille turned, "Is something wrong Marth- Where's Mr. Williams?!" She too began to realize the mistake they had made.

"Camille, go find yerself a nice place t' stay; anywhere with me crew be the preferred choice, ye'd be well protected. I'll go find that Shixey Boy," Martha said. Camille nodded and headed off to find the crew reluctantly.

Martha swiftly made her way back into the dense woods on the search.

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I'm so sorry for the short chapter and the long wait!

This was a lil rushed- Please excuse any mistakes I may have made-

My trip has been extended for another few days

and I've been spending a lot of quality time with my sister. 

She's heading back to high school in a few more days and I really

want to spend this time with her so please excuse the 

delay between chapters for a little while longer!

Hopefully this can satisfy you until then, 

thank you for your understanding and support.

-MoonyBOIII

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