The King's Remorse

Barred In

An arrow is lodged in the elbow of the bird's left wing. It goes limp as the bird tilts into a sort of barrel roll. I hold on as tight as I can.

"We've got 'em!" one of the Soldiers shouts in glee. More join in on the cheers.

"Come on, bird. You can do it," I whisper as I bury my face in the bird's feathers.

We plummet to the ground. Wind batters my skin. The fall is drawn out into slow motion as my grip slips, and I break away from the bird. My stomach lurches.

The bird cries out, fear taking over its grey gaze as its struggle to roll over and catch me. I reach out for it as my heart races in my chest and the sound pounds in my ears. My fingertips brush feathers, but I can't grasp them, and I end up with a loose feather in my grip.

Trees are just a blur beside me, a smudge of green. Droplets of blood drip onto my cheek- the bird's as it made its way over me. Its left wing still hangs limply beside it.

The ground rushes up before me. This is it.

I close my eyes and brace myself for impact, but, at the last second, the bird's wings wrap around me, and it flips us so its back hits the ground instead of mine.

I'm thrown to the ground from the force of the impact, and I skid across the ground, going away from the bird. The jagged rock tears a million little scratches across my skin. I hiss in pain.

When I stop rolling and come to a halt against one of the loose lava rocks scattered across the Lava Flats, I groan and slowly push myself up to a seated position, but before I can make it any further, a few of the Soldiers and Guard rush over to me, two Guard and a Soldier. One of them grabs at my wrists, but I slap his hands away.

"Come on, Lupetto. We gotta get going." It's that Soldier from before. What does Lupetto mean? At least he didn't say whatever the nickname of King Garonda XIV is, though.

"My Sovereign, His Excellency, His Honor, His Highest of all Highnesses, King Garonda XIV demands that he see you, so you are coming with us." I try to look around the lead Guard, but he steps forwards until he's right up in my face. A short snarl rumbles in the back of my throat, surprising both myself and the Guard and Soldier.

I lash out the next time the Guard and Soldiers make a move to grab my wrists. I kick one of them in the knee; it isn't the cleanest attack, but it sends the Soldier falling backwards. The lead Guard shoots out a hand as I jump to my feet, and his fingers dig into my skin. As I strain to break free, I claw at his leather armor. Just as I escape from his grasp, I trip over a rock, stumbling back and nearly falling again.

Jeez. I am not equipped to fight off these Guard and Soldiers. My offense consists of kicking, and my defense consists of twisting my arms out of their grip. I'll have to ask Dove to teach me some things later, wherever he is.

The Soldier who had referred to me as Lupetto appears behind me and gently grabs my forearms. "Stop it," he says when I try to escape.

"One down, one to go," the lead Guard says with a sick smile as he ties my wrists tightly together with a rope. It scratches against my skin, and I shift in the restraint.

"Move it, dog." The other Guard pokes me in the back with his dagger. I curl my lip as I jump into motion.

As the Soldiers and Guard lead me to wherever we're headed, I look over my shoulder to try to find the bird, but all I see is a crowd of Soldiers and Guard. I can just make out the outline of the grey bird before there's a burst of light, and it disappears. What was that? I think as one of the Guard surrounding the bird says, "There we go. Now we've got him."