The Dragon's Bounty II:Rising Shadow

Chapter 14

        "You're training begins now!" Khan shouted. Everyone nodded. "Now, run to the gate and back, but try to stop each other as you go. Lance will also be trying to stop you, not giving any mercy to anyone he may be married to." At this last point, he glanced up at Lance, who smiled and chuckled.
          "Promise." He said. Khan smiled and nodded. Khan raised his hands into the air, Lance flying off into town to hide. Khan fired a lightning bolt into the air as people gathered around them. The four took off, Andrew quick to boost his legs, Aro doing the same. The two of them zoomed past the girls.
         "Not fair!" Emma shouted, lugging the sword on her back.
         Destiny looked over to her. "Let's show em what we're made of!" She shouted. Emma smiled. Destiny shot out a vine from her palm, pulling herself up to the rooftops. Flowers sprouted from her other palm and she started firing thorns at Aro and Andrew, who began hopping in their run with little yelps.
          "We gonna take this?" Aro asked.
         Andrew smiled. "No way." He held out his guitar. Aro grabbed hold of it and enhanced it. Andrew turned around and ran backward, strumming a tune, firing a mass of blue energy at Destiny, who swung out of the way. Suddenly, Aro was tripped by a red beam, Andrew grabbing his collar and pulling him to his feet. He looked around but didn't see Lance anywhere. "Stay alert." He said. Aro nodded.
          Emma continued to lag behind, her sword and lack of race advantage holding her back. "This sucks." She said through breaths. Aro launched upward to the rooftops and stomped the roof he was on, scattering ceiling tiles behind him, making Destiny have to dodge them.
         "Destruction of property! Foul!" Lance shouted, flying out and holding his arm out. Aro's neck crashed right into it, sending him straight to the ground. Destiny ran past him laughing.
          "Aren't you supposed to get her too?" Aro asked, holding his neck. But when he looked up, Lance was gone. Aro vaulted to his feet and sprinted across the rooftops once more. Andrew held the lead, but noticed Destiny gaining slowly on him, and Aro had fallen behind. Aro carefully launched himself forward, but put a crack in the roof he had jumped off of. "Oh, not again!" He looked forward to see Lance's arm, his head colliding with it, causing him to spin around through the air and nearly slam into another rooftop, if Lance hadn't grabbed him and dropped him down lightly.
         "Be more careful." He said, disappearing again. Aro rolled his eyes and continued to run. Andrew continued to fire at Destiny, careful not to hit the roofs she was running on, while she continued to fire barbs and thorns. Andrew jumped and dodged around, trying his best to avoid damaging the ground with his magic fueled legs. The gate was in his sights now, and he knew he would be first to finish, unless Destiny pulled something crazy, or Aro sacrificed more property. He flashed his prize winning smile at the passerbys as he zoomed past them.
           Emma clutched the hilt of her sword. "Come on, do something!" She said. The jewel on the end of the hilt glowed for a second, and Emma felt a rush of strength. A translucent pink energy shot from her feet and she flew down the street faster than anyone had ever seen. Andrew reached for the finish line, only to find himself face-first into the street. He looked up to see Emma standing outside the gate, frozen solid as she stared down at her feet.
          "What just happened?" Andrew asked, dusting himself off. Destiny landed next to him, crossing under the gate next, followed closely by Aro.
          "You could have had second place, man." Aro said.
          "No, I'd rather know what Emma just did." Andrew said.
         Emma looked up at him. "I'm not sure, actually. I just held the hilt of my sword and asked nicely." Andrew shrugged. Khan and Lance landed beside them.
         "Nice going everyone. But you wanna know something?" They all looked at him enthusiastically. "I never said it was a race." The four slumped over.
         "But you said stop each other." Aro said.
         Khan smiled. "Yes, to add extra challenge to the run. I never once said anything about a race." Everyone sighed. Lance chuckled.
         "You knew?!" Destiny shouted.
         Lance looked over to her. "Of course I knew. I've known Khan far too long, and I know his tactics. We met back in knight training."
         "Wow, that long?" Andrew asked. Both nodded.
         "Dagger was there too, though he went to the army pretty quickly, while we wanted to be city patrol." Khan said.
         Lance nodded. "Of course we had to be reacquainted 15 years ago, but that wasn't the end of the world or anything."
         "Guys, I have a new quest for you." Everyone turned to see Dagger standing there, Alexander by his side. "I want you to accompany me to make a pact with the southern kingdom of Raal."
          "But aren't we already at peace with them?" Khan asked.
          Dagger shrugged. "I wanna make an alliance for if anything ever happens to either of us, the other will come help. That's what Lance took to the M'Feles."
         Lance shrugged. "I thought it was just a backwards apology letter."
         Dagger shook his head. "I couldn't go there in person because I was busy here. But now, I want to go in person to Raal, and make a face to face treaty with them."
         "Then all we'll have to do is tame the outlaws of the west." Andrew said with a chuckle.
          "I'll find a way." Dagger said with a smirk.
          "So why didn't King Harold make any alliances?" Khan asked.
          Dagger shrugged. "I guess he figured that he didn't want to risk it backfiring or causing us to lose troops over a fight that wasn't our's. But I think we should try and make peace with everyone, become an island united as one army, to defend it from anyone who seeks to come from off the island. Or another realm."
          Khan smiled. "I'm in. That sounds great."
          "So we'll be at peace with both of the other kingdoms on this whole island?" Aro asked.
          Dagger nodded. "The minor kingdoms within Tritanus are already under our protection, such as the reaper kingdom, the pixie kingdom, the Triton kingdom, and the oreads that live here, though they don't exactly have leadership."
          "They're all rocks for brains." Lance said with a smile.
          "Hey!" Everyone turned to see Duros standing there, fists on his hips. "We're not rocks for brains." Lance rubbed the back of his head. "We're precious jewels for brains." Duros said. Everyone knew he'd be smirking triumphantly if he could move his face.
          "Those are still rocks." Andrew said.
          Duros sighed. "I know."
          "How are your legs coming?" Khan asked.
          Duros looked down. "Knees down are back in action. Above that, not so much."
          Khan grinned. "You're almost back."
          Duros nodded, the scraping sound returning. "Once I get my legs back, I'm pretty much good, except for the fact that I can't bend my back, which may be an issue."
          Khan nodded. "Hope It's soon."
          Duros nodded. "It should be."
          Dagger fired a beam of dark energy into the air. "We leave at sunrise tomorrow. Be ready." Everyone nodded as Dagger and Alexander walked back to the castle.
          "Well, I guess we'd better prepare." Khan said. Everyone nodded and headed back toward the Stormy Fox.