The Dragon's Bounty

Chapter 14

"Look! It's The Bounty!" Ethan shouted. Elliot and Alexander nodded.
"Time to take them down!" Elliot shouted.
Khan sighed and placed his fingers on his forehead. "Do they seriously think they can take four of us on?" He asked, turning to his friends, who shrugged.
Kai smirked. "How about I show em who's boss?" He planted his fist into his palm, a wave of flame exiting his wrist.
Khan scowled. "No, you idiot! We need to be easy on them, even in self defense we will still get full on blamed. We're trying to redeem ourselves."
Kai harrumphed and turned away, crossing his arms. "Well, Dagger's helmet isn't helping. Looks evil."
Dagger perked up. "Excuse you! You're the one with the power to incinerate everything you touch!" While Kai and Dagger were shouting back and forth, Duros and Khan glanced at one another with a smile. Khan patted the tavern and it slowed to a halt. He and Duros jumped down to the ground. The three knights stopped their horses and leapt off of them, landing in a defensive setup.
"Careful, knights. These men are highly dangerous." Alexander said. Elliot and Ethan nodded with an agreeing grunt. Elliot drew his shimmering golden katanas from his back. Alexander pulled his broadsword from his hip, while Ethan simply made his own weapons with his spikes. Duros wove together a small knife before Khan shook his head. Duros rolled his eyes and the knife dispersed back into his outfit.
"Look, guys. We don't wanna fight. We just wanna be left alone." Khan said.
Duros nodded. "We promise we aren't plotting anything." Khan elbowed him. "Oh, sorry." Duros whispered. The three knights simply glared at them, waiting on the first move.
"You're in our way!" A shout boomed above the knights. When they looked up, a flaming foot was aimed straight down at them. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning knocked Kai completely off course, sending him spinning to the ground. Dagger jumped down and joined Khan and Duros. Duros extended a thread and dragged Kai over to them, who grumbled about wanting to fight the whole way over.
"Four on three?" Dagger asked. "Doesn't seem fair. Why don't you three sit this one out. I haven't had a decent fight in years. Maybe they'll put up a good one."
Khan shook his head. "I don't trust you to fight alone anymore than I do Kai."
Dagger nearly fell backward. "Hey! Kai's brain damaged!"
Kai glared at him. "I am not!" He poked his fingers together. "Just a little jumbled is all."
"Well, at least he isn't crying anymore." Duros said. All three nodded.
Kai's jaw dropped. "Don't blame me! He's the one who did something to me!" Kai pointed to Alexander, who's eyes jumped open.
"What? Me? What did I do?" He asked, falling out of the defensive stance.
Kai crossed his arms. "I'm not sure. But this all started when I escaped from you."
Alexander scratched the back of his head. "All of what? I don't follow." Elliot began to chuckle. Ethan lowered his eyebrows. I'm surrounded by a middle aged family.
He slumped over. "Look, are we gonna fight, or what?" He asked. Everyone looked at him.
"Oh, yeah, sure if you really want." Khan said.
"We'll try not to hurt you too much." Duros said with a wink and a smile. Elliot raised his katanas, Alexander bringing down his sword. Suddenly, Kai's eyes opened wide.
"Look out!" He shouted. He dove into Elliot, knocking him aside. A figure in a dark cloak smashed his feet into Kai's chest, smashing them both into the ground. Suddenly, the figure's feet sharpened to talons and dug into Kai's upper torso. Kai shouted in pain, spattering blood on the figure's ankles. "Hey! Get off!" He grabbed the figure's cloak and pulled it to the ground, revealing a completely coal-black man with matted blue hair and dark, feathered wings: a type of demon.
"Hiya, old friend!" He shouted. Kai gasped before grabbing the figure's ankles and ripping his talons out of his chest. He lit his ankles up and blasted them both across the pasture. Everyone else just looked on in surprise.
Khan looked up into the sky. "Look! More gargoyles!" He shouted. Everyone looked where he was pointing to spot more of the winged creatures the four had fought earlier. Khan jumped over to Ethan, who took a swipe at him. Khan dodged easily and grabbed Ethan's arm.
"Look, I know you think we're enemies, but those things are demons, and we may need your help to stop them. For the good of the country, will you help us?" Ethan thought for a moment, simply staring into Khan's eyes.
He sighed and nodded. "Only because you saved my friend." He gestured to Elliot, who had gotten up and was readying his katanas.
"What about Kai?" Aro called.
Khan looked up to him. "He should be fine until we take these guys out, then we'll help him!" Aro nodded and drew an arrow, notching it in his bow.
"You're seriously going to use arrows against demons?" Emma asked.
Aro glared at her. "Well, what do you suggest I do to help?" Emma shrugged and went back inside, poking her head through the window. Aro took aim at one of the gargoyles. He took in a deep breath. "Enlarge." He let the arrow fly. The arrow whizzed through the air at top speeds, whistling as it approached its target. But when it came in contact with the gargoyle, it simply bounced off. Aro put on a blank expression. "Nothing?" He asked.
Andrew patted him on the shoulder and inched inside. "You got this buddy." He said with a smile before racing inside to get a chair, zooming to the window to watch the fight. Khan jumped up and punched one of the gargoyles in the face, sending it into the ground. Duros launched himself upward and launched a few threads at a gargoyle, wrapping it up and slamming it into the ground, retracting his threads as he zoomed down toward it. Elliot leapt up into the air and raised one of his katanas. He thrusted it down toward a gargoyle with a battle cry. The majority of the blade broke off, leaving a small blade connected to the hilt with a jagged sharp edge. Elliot looked at it in horror before catching the gargoyle's eye. He chuckled nervously. The gargoyle roared at him and thrashed him to the ground with his tail, knocking the full katana from his hand. Ethan jumped into the gargoyle's blind spot and placed his hand on its neck, jutting a spike straight through. Dagger placed his hands close together and a small ball of dark energy began growing in his grasp as he neared his target. He slammed the energy into the gargoyle's face, knocking it to the ground. He landed on the ground next to Duros, who met his gaze. They nodded at one another. Duros launched out two sets of threads and wrapped both gargoyles up, bringing them close together. Dagger clasped the threads and poured energy into them, the gargoyle's beginning to writhe in discomfort. Suddenly, they began screeching as their eyes exploded, dark purple blood gushing from all the holes in their faces. Dagger held up his hand. Duros smacked it as he retracted his threads. Kai was down on the ground again, the figure holding his throat with its talons.
"It's been a while." He said.
Kai grunted before smiling heroically. "I'm sorry, have we met before?" The figure glared down at him with an angry look, stretching out his wings.
"It is I, Arganus! I am one of His disciples."
Kai's eyes enlarged. "Oh, so you're saying if I beat you here and now, He won't be returning?"
Arganus laughed. "Oh, I've already done my part." He smiled with his large mouth. "And I don't think you could take me down if you wanted to!" Kai blasted upward, knocking Arganus over before he zoomed upward after him. Kai revved back his fist and punched Arganus in the face as hard as he could, sending him far off across the pasture, almost out of view. Kai blasted off after him, pulling back his leg. Arganus launched himself out of the ground at Kai, who thrusted his leg forward, attempting to slam it into Arganus' head. Arganus flapped upward and grabbed Kai's leg with his talon, flipping over and throwing him to the ground. Kai shook the dirt from his hair and blasted back up into the fight. Elliot jumped to his feet and nodded to Ethan, who returned the gesture and jumped up to the next gargoyle. He raised what was left of his katana and began thrusting it downward. Suddenly, he felt something he'd never felt before. He glanced up at the blade, which was now glowing with a bright golden light. A translucent edge appeared on the jagged edge of the blade and his eyes glowed the same color as the blade. When he jabbed his sword into the gargoyle, it screeched in pain as the bright light exited its mouth and eyes. The gargoyle dissipated into dark energy, Elliot tumbling to the ground.
Khan caught him. "That's a neat trick, kid. You'd be useful in our fight against Him."
Elliot was confused. "Who is He?"
Khan shook his head. "Fight now, talk later." Elliot nodded and lit his sword up again, jumping back into action, Khan by his side. Alexander stretched his hand out toward one of the gargoyles Ethan was fighting, attempting to do whatever he'd done to Kai. Finally, he noticed a small speck of dark purple energy exit the gargoyle's side and fly into his palm. As the energy entered him, he fell to his knees in silent agony, unable to shout for help. The gargoyle shifted its attention from Ethan to Alexander, flying down toward him. Unable to move, Alexander lowered his head and closed his eyes. He heard the slice of a sword, opening one of his eyes. There, standing in front of him, was a man in a green tunic with dark hair, two small swords in each of his hands, the gargoyle lying dead next to him. Andrew turned and looked down to him, sheathing one sword and stretching his hand toward Alexander, who was now able to grab it, as if the energy had never existed.
"Thanks." He said.
Andrew nodded. "Yeah, sure, but what did you just do?" He asked.
Alexander shook his head. "I'm not entirely sure. Must be something to do with my magical power."
Andrew nodded. "Had you previously figured it out?" Alexander shook his head. Andrew shrugged and drew his sword once again, racing into the fight. A gargoyle crept up behind Alexander and prepared to pounce. Aro shouted and waved his arms, but Alexander didn't seem to hear him.
"Do something!" Emma shouted.
Aro glared at her. "What do you want me to do? Enhance my arrows so they can penetrate it?" At that moment, the arrow in his hand began glowing a bright blue. Aro smiled. "Oh yeah." He quickly notched the arrow and fired it at the gargoyle. The arrow went right through its head, leaving a glowing blue hole in it as it fell to the ground. Alexander quickly turned around and looked up at Aro, who waved. He looked down at another arrow. "It's enhance." He said. The arrow began glowing a bit dimmer than before. He notched the arrow and fired it at another gargoyle, rattling off arrow after arrow. Once all the gargoyles has been taken care of, everyone looked to Kai, who was once again pinned to the ground with Arganus' talons. Arganus looked over to the group approaching him.
"Well, It's been fun, but I've got to run. See you later!" He launched into the air, smashing Kai further into the ground. When everyone else got to him, he jumped up and rubbed his neck, looking around.
"What?" He asked. Dagger pointed to his chest. Kai looked down to the four gaping holes in his chest, which bled profusely. "Oh, yeah that would be an issue." He chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. Dagger and Duros helped him into the tavern while Andrew and Khan stayed outside.
Khan turned to the knights. "Thank you for your help. You have contributed more than you know to saving your country."
Ethan crossed his arms. "This means nothing. We're still taking you in."
Khan shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that, but you are granted access to the tavern, and can travel with us if you like." Ethan shook his head. Alexander put his hand on Ethan's shoulder. The three knights huddled in a circle.
"We could infiltrate them." Alexander said. "They seem to be passive to us." Elliot nodded.
Ethan shook his head. "We need to report what we've found."
Elliot put his hand to his chin. "What about if I travel with them and keep an eye on them, while you two report back?"
Ethan shook his head. "It's too risky. We have no idea what they could do to you."
Elliot glared at him. "If things get hairy, I'll leave. Jump out the window or something."
Ethan sighed. "Fine, but be especially careful."
Elliot nodded. "Take good care of my horse." Alexander and Ethan nodded. They walked back over to Khan, who was still smiling warmly.
"We will give you Elliot, but Alexander and I must report what we have found to the king." He outstretched his hand.
Khan nodded. "On one condition: don't send anyone after us. We still have more work to do before returning to Freyan." Ethan nodded slowly and began walking back to where they had left the horses, Alexander close behind him. Khan put his arm around Elliot and patted him on the shoulder. "You'll have a great time, come on." Elliot lowered his eyebrows and allowed Khan to escort him inside, Andrew close on their tail.
"Until our paths once again cross!" Ethan shouted.
Elliot nodded. "I shall be with you in spirit!" He finished. Ethan smiled and rode away. Alexander waved and rode with Elliot's horse back toward the capital. Kai shoved off his vest to reveal a large tattoo of a simple dragon across his back.
"Woah. That's a cool tattoo!" Aro shouted.
Kai tried his best to see. "Oh, yeah. All The Bounty got one." Khan rolled up his sleeve to show the small version of the tattoo on his bicep. Dagger snapped his fingers, his chestplate disappearing to reveal a matching dragon on his left pec. A hole unraveled on Duros' leg to show off his own tattoo.
"Why is your's so much bigger, though?" Andrew asked. Kai stared as Emma wrapped a bandage around his chest to cover his wounds.
"Oh, I just thought that I should go big or go home, ya know?" He grinned. Elliot sat down in the corner and removed his helmet, placing it on the table beside him.
"Would you like a drink?" Khan asked him.
Elliot shrugged. "Whatcha got?" He asked.
"We've got it all." Khan opened the closet behind the bar. Elliot cautiously walked inside and grabbed a bottle, thumbing the cap off and taking a sip before walking back to his seat.
"Where will I be sleeping?" He asked.
Khan thought for a moment. "Well, we're pretty packed right now. I was going to do this at some point, anyway. Kai you're with Duros in his room." Kai and Duros looked up at Khan with a synchronized shout of "What?!" Khan shrugged. "We're out of rooms."
"Are you sure you don't want me to sleep down here?" Elliot asked.
Khan laughed. "Oh, we couldn't have that, now, could we?" Elliot shrugged and took another swig from his bottle. "Tough crowd, eh?" Khan asked. He snapped upward and rubbed his hands together. "Well, everybody, let's roll! We've got two more members to find before our grand fight!" The tavern lifted up off of the ground and headed in the direction the broken arrow still pointed.