The King's Remorse

Rainbow Kaleidoscope

I look up, but I don't see anything.

"No! I'm sorry! Please!" He throws out a hand as he draws a shaky breath.

"He'll be occupied for a little while." Ky smiles, but it looks more like one of Phoenix's smiles than one of his own.

"What does he see?"

"KG14."

"But he's ter-. Oh, ok. King Garonda XIV's mad at him?"

"Not mad. Seething. KG14's threatening to kill him."

"Please! I swear it wasn't me! It wasn't me, it wasn't me, it wasn't me. What do you want me to do? I'll do anything, just please don't kill me!" The Soldier is edging towards hysteria. He's sitting on his knees, one hand covering his face as his shoulders shudder with each breath and the other hand is trying to ward off the invisible illusion Ky has created.

"Do you want to kill him, or should I?" Ky turns to me, and his brown eyes are bright.

"Yo-." My hind leg comes alive with pain as a Guard's dagger slices through my flesh and I collapse to the ground with a grimace and a snarl. I can't move for a few moments, and the Guard who's attacking is only prevented from sinking their dagger into my throat since Ky leaps onto his back to claw at the Guard's armor.

"I got 'im. Go find someone else to kill," Ky growls around a mouthful of leather. He spits it to the side. I pause for a moment, letting my leg adjust to standing upon it, and watch as Ky's eyes go slightly foggy for a few moments. "I know what you're doing," hisses the Guard.

"Oh, do you?" Ky muses, jumping out of the way of an arrow.

"Wolf! Are you alright?" Dove's suddenly above me, and he shifts in midair, landing with a thud next to me. I shift back as well.

"Yeah. I just got cut." I press my hand against the wound. Blood trickles through my fingers.

"Go find a place to hi-." Dove tries to choke back his cry as an arrow sinks into his arm. He stumbles, sitting down, but quickly masking the pain.

"Dove!" I rush over to him, forgetting the pain in my leg, and I drop to the ground to kneel beside him.

"Go. I'll be fine." He pushes me to run away, but I can't leave him.

"What are you going to do about the arrow?" Rivulets of blood run down his arm in a network of lines, and red drips from his fingers. Dove breaks the arrow in two, leaving only the tip of it behind.

"I'll deal with it later. We've got some visitors." He jerks his head towards the advancing Guard and Soldiers.

"And would you look at that. The legendary Wolf and Dove." The Guard, flanked by a few other Guard and a Soldier, curls his lip, an expression that is closely mirrored on the others. Dove glowers.

"It looks like you've got an injury," the Soldier snickers. How is that funny, exactly?

"It would appear so," is all Dove says.

"Are you not going to attack them? They're the only ones left!" Phoenix snarls. He stalks towards us.

"I never said that," Dove replies. "I was giving them a chance to surrender and leave before I attacked them."

"Well, are you going to surrender? Surrender like cowards." Phoenix looks at the Guard and Soldier.

"You might've won this battle, but we'll be back. I can promise you that." The Soldier waves the Guard to follow him.

As the Guard and the Soldier retreat, Phoenix trails them by a few paces. He growls, forcing them to leave at a quicker and quicker pace. One of the Guard stumbles when Phoenix takes a swipe at his ankles. "Cowards," the black cat mutters when no one retaliates.