Crusade

Chapter 7: From frying pan to fire

"What the fuck's going on?!"Nicholous roared, the sound hurt their ears as it reverberated around the small stone room. There seemed to be no light coming from anywhere for an amount of time, then their eyes began to adjust as a pair of small, dim flames became visible in the centre of the room. One gold, one red, each lit on a platform of a golden set of scales. They didn't light up the room very much, however they lit it just enough for Xersera to catch a glint to the right of him.
"Nicholous, Cryden stay behind me" he said
"We are" came Nicholous' voice to the left of him.
Xersera suddenly realised what had moved. He had noticed not a moment too soon as he turned just in time to block a punch to the head. Pain shot through his arms as he realised his attacker was armed with some form of wooden gauntlet. He lashed out and managed to sweep his attackers feet out from underneath him.
In the dim light he heard Nicholous and Cryden also struggling against invisible assailants, he turned to help them but he wasn't fast enough to notice the first attacker getting back up and before he could react a bag was wrenched over his head and he was knocked out...

When Xersera came too he still had a bag over his head, but this time he was lying face down on a wooden floor with his hands bound. A million questions raced to his mind. Where was he? Was he even alive? What about the others? Were they still alive?
He tried whispering out to them in hope that they were with him. There was no reply. However he heard the sound of someone getting off a chair and moving towards him, he felt a boot nudge his face and he attempted to jerk away from it. Whoever it was muttered to someone else in the room.
"He's awake, fetch Ra."
"Yes sir." Came a reply, then footsteps set off at a run out of the room they were in.
The captor moved back towards Xersera and pulled him into a chair by his collar, ripping of his blindfold. He was in a wooden room, face to face with the Manakeet with the tusked headdress, still a hood over his face. The room had no windows with only a single torch to illuminate it, so it made it very difficult to make out his features.
"Good, you're still alive" The man said with pleasure, "I was hoping I'd missed all the fun! But don't worry, you and your little band of Corinthian conspirators will be dead soon enough." He then pushed Xersera back onto the ground with a thump.
"Conspirators? What are you talking about! We are here on a diplomatic miss-"
"Don't play that bullshit with me!" The man roared, suddenly seeming furious, "If you are here diplomatically then why is there a war camp sitting right outside the forest!!" the man kicked Xersera in the gut.
"The reinforcements... are a precaution..." Xersera said between gasps.
"LIES!!" He kicked again. "Ra will be here shortly to.... 'Escort' you to your next destination, and I'm sure we will both find a lot of pleasure in it. Or at least I will." The captor pulled from his back a quarterstaff with mace heads on each end and began to twirl it around.
Now's my chance, Xersera thought. And carefully timing his kick, he lashed out at the captor, causing him to trip and drop the staff which rolled within a meter of him. As it was getting within reaching distance Xersera was about to lunge for it as it was suddenly kicked away and he was kicked in the face.
As Xersera rolled over he saw the "man's" hood had fallen from his head, and what he saw frightened him. The tusks he had seen were not protruding from a headdress but instead were protruding from the mouth of a face with large yellow catlike eyes and slits for nostrils, and long pointed ears that hung down the back of its head. The creature grinned at his confusion and grabbed him by the throat.
At that moment Ra walked in the room wearing his decorative bird headdress.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" he roared.
"The prisoner tried to escape sir!" The creature said without taking his hand away.
Xersera was about to yell something back but the creature backhanded him
"Do not dare speak!" As Xersera saw the palm of the creatures hand he caught a glimpse of the same symbol that was on the assassins hand, he was about to bring it back down when Ra caught his arm and threw him off,
"Enough Argaron!" He ordered, Xersera saw there was no mark on his palm, so not all Manakeets had it, what could this symbol mean? If Ra didn't have it, it could not mark out nobility. "We are to take the prisoners to the podium now. Nal's orders"
"So they have moved it forward, excellent" The creature named Argaron grinned, "Shall we proceed then?"
Both Ra and Argaron moved forward to grab Xersera and tie him up, he wasn't going to make it easy for them.
"Ah, fuck this!" Argaron growled and grabbed his staff striking him over the back of the head, knocking him out cold.