Dragon Riders: Legacy(Book 2) Completed

Chapter 27:The Brodding Empire:Moray:a week later

It was a week after Nalani told him that they were leaving for the old NightWing City that was abandoned some time ago. They were going to leave this morning; they had already told the whole village that he and Nalani were going to other villages to tell and share stories. This was the ruse Nalani came up with to explain why Moray would be gone since he was going to the Riders for about a year or less. Until he returned, Nalani planned to stay away for that long.
He went to grab his pack off of his bag when he heard screaming.
He quickly threw his pack on, and rushed to the front door and threw it open.
He saw people in his village running around and screaming as a ship with black sails was approaching their shores. This was no trading ship. It was an enemy ship.
"What's going on?" He asked his parents, who just showed up looking as bewildered as him; they had never been attacked before except by the Conquerors almost a century ago.
"I don't know," His mother said.
Then turning to his father, "Do Makani and Naia know what's gong on?" Her voice sounded extremely worried and concerned.
"I'm sure they do," his father responded, his time of voice not entirely convincing.
A high pitched scream tore all three of them to look at the beach where soldiers in silver chain mail and red tunics with a twisting flame outlined in god thread on them, marched up the beach.
Moray saw a dozen archers fire down into the sea of silver and crimson, but the arrows were stopped by an invisible force when the arrows were about five feet away from the marching soldiers.
Moray stared awestruck at the slightly uninjured soldiers, who were now drawing their swords and and bows and halberds in retaliation.
Then all of a suddenly the marching invaders stopped, and a man in leather black pants, boots, and jerkin with a red shirt underneath stepped forward.
Moray felt fear crawl up inside him as he looked at the man with gold-green skin and shoulder length curly brown hair and amber-gold eyes. It was the demon from his nightmare two years ago. He thought it was a nightmare. Well now it really was a nightmare. His demon had come for him after all.
"People of The Hundred Isles," the demon said, his voice resonating across the whole village so everyone could hear him. "I am sorry for this intrusion, but I am looking for a boy named Moray." As soon as the demon said his name he saw everyone glance around, looking to see if he was nearby. He felt chills run down his spine as the demon continued his speech. "He is a very special boy that my friend, King Galbatorix of Alagaesia, would very much like to meet. So if you know where he is please tell me and you will be richly rewarded, and never be bothered again by the Brodding Empire. If you are, however, harboring him well..." the demon finished, his voice was very convincing. When he finished his last word all the soldiers banged their weapons on their shields, intimidating the whole village.
No one spoke, the whole village was silent. They were all probably trying to decided if it was worth giving him over to this insane maniac. He was actually surprised Timote and Piri didn't turn him in. Then again neither of the twins were gathered in the beach or standing on the stone balcony with the rest of their family; he also noticed Kailani missing too, but he didn't think much about it at the time. It was very unusual for them not to be around when something major was going on.
He then heard King Makani speak from the balcony, his voice ringing across the whole beach. "We do not know of anyone named Moray. And if we did, we would never hand a child over to you and your king."
There was nothing but silence that followed after King Makani spoke those brave words to the demon and his group of fifty soldiers.
"That was a mistake," the demon said after a few minutes, his words cold and deadly. "Soldiers attack! Search every single home till you find Moray and kill whoever gets in your way!" The demon ordered his soldiers.
"Everyone take up arms!" King Makani and Queen Naia said unison, and grabbing weapons and joining their people in the battle.
Weapons changed against each other and on shields. The twang of bow strings and shouts and cries filled the air. Spirit animals from the villagers attacked the soldiers, who apparently had no spirit animals. That gave them an advantage.
Moray had the urge to go down there with Riptide at his side and help his people get rid of these invaders.
He was about to run down there and join the fray, but a strong hand stopped him.
He turned around and looked into his father's warm, brown eyes.
"Moray, go find Nalani and flee this place and never return unless you know it's safe." His father commanded him.
"But I don't want to run. I want to help. They're my—," he was interrupted by his father.
"I know they are your people too. But Makani is giving you a chance at escape. Take it and go and never look back."
But-but what about you and mother?" He asked, his voice cracking with despair as he knew he might never see his parents again.
"We'll be fine, Now go," His father ordered him, and released Keanu his seagull from passive state; Keanu wouldn't be very much help in a fight like this, but he could still watch his parents' backs and peck out the soldiers eyes if he needed to.
   He nodded glumly, and ran as fast as he could to the woods and to Nalani's.
   A soldier must have seen him because he heard one of them yell, and the sound of leather boots pounding behind him after that.
   He dared a look behind him and saw half a dozen soldiers following him. All of them had carried swords but only three of them had their swords drawn. One had a bow nocked, and other two were carrying halberds, something that looked like a combination of a spear and a battle axe.
   His gaze returned to what was in front of him.
   He then saw Nalani step out from behind a tree and shoot an arrow at the lead soldier; he jumped to the side of the worn path, hiding in the bushes. The arrow had no effect. It just stopped three feet in the air from the lead soldier and then fell to the ground.
   Nalani was nocking another arrow when she saw him.
   Her eyes went wide with fright, and she yelled, "RUN!" Her voice filled with fear for him. "Don't stop for me. Just—," her warning was cut short when the soldier with the drawn bow fired at her and the arrow struck her in the middle of her chest.
   Nalani's mouth moved up and down like she was tying to talk, but no sound came out. All that came out was bright red blood.
   Then she fell to the ground, clutching the arrow wound in her chest.
   His breath caught in his chest and hot tears rolled his cheeks as the one person he trusted most in all of Erdas died, just like Fallyn all over again, except this time it was Nalani. He stood up from the bushes and turned around, and glared at the soldiers with malice.
   He would kill every single one of them for their role in Nalani's death and another person he loved.
   The soldiers stopped a few feet away from him, and the lead one said to him, "There will be no more pain or suffering if you come with us." The soldier held out a gloved hand to him.
   "You killed her, he muttered, his anger building up like a storm; he usually didn't get this mad at people unless they tried to kill him or killed the people he loved. "You killed her!" He roared at the soldiers, causing the lead one to pull his hand back.
   His anger boiled over as he felt a strange powerful sensation gather up inside him, and a word he never heard of before formed in his head.
   He raised his arms, his palms facing the soldiers, and he yelled, "Motus!"
   An visible force slammed into the soldiers, sending them flying back ten feet, the breath knocked out of their lungs.
   He dropped down to his knees, panting from the taxing spell as the soldiers groaned in pain and slowly got back up, and they stumbled towards him, some of them limping or holding hurt limbs, and they drew their weapons, clearly ticked off at him for that spell he somehow managed to do.
   They would end up capturing him no matter what he did to try and escape. There were more of them and even if they were hurt, he was too exhausted to run away without falling flat on his face.
   As the soldiers drew near, he suddenly felt an electric energy seep into his tired limbs and restore his depleted energy. It felt like someone shocked him with a lightning bolt causing his sense to go haywire, and he bolted up and ran away letting his instincts take the lead.
   He heard the soldiers curse in frustration as he ran off like a frightened animal running from its doom.
   He tore through the tree, trying to make it harder for the soldiers to follow him through the tangle of vines, bushes, undergrowth, and fallen trees.
   He ran for the cove where a boat he and Nalani were going to use as escape. Now he was left alone to man the ship and only Riptide for help and company.
   The soldiers ran after him, making such a ruckus, unlike him. It was like they weren't even try to be quite so they could later try and sneak up on him and capture him.
   He heard them curse at all the overgrown vegetation and the hack of swords and halberds through the thick vegetation.
   As he neared the cove the demon man appeared in front of him in a thick cloud of maroon smoke.
   He swerved out of the demon's reach and ran alongside the shore of the cove.
   "You can't escape me Moray." The demon said wickedly somewhere behind him.
   He didn't turn around to see where the soldiers and the demon were. But he knew they were somewhere behind him by all the noise they were making.
   Then he heard an agonized scream.
   He risked a look behind him, and saw Riptide covered in the blood of a soldier he killed.
   Riptide forced the remaining soldiers to retreat a ways back, clearly shocked by his surprise attack on them; the demon was no where to be seen.
   Once the soldiers were far enough away, Riptide ran after him.
   "Thank you for the help and the energy you lent me earlier." He thanked Riptide when he caught up with him.
   "You're welcome. I'm sorry about Nalani. She was a good person and a vinr skulblaka, dragon-friend. She did not die in vain. She died to help a free Rider escape the iron fist of that oath breaker, Galbatorix. Now, we must go, follow me back to the cove. I'll protect you if those cowards show their ugly faces again." Riptide said, clearly sounding mad at this Galbatorix man, who probably was the same man the demon was friends with, and that would not turn out pretty if he got captured by the demon's lunatic friend.
   He also didn't know how Riptide knew of Galbatorix and why Nalani was called a 'dragon-friend.' If he had to guess, he guessed Nalani or his mother told him about all this sometime in the past when he wasn't around.
   His attention returned to the present as they neared the cove, and the remaining five soldiers blocked their path. The demon man stepped in front of the line of soldiers.
   He and Riptide stopped a good twelve feet away from the enemy.
   "I gave your people a chance to peacefully hand you over earlier, and since they refused now they will all die. Unless you come with me without a fight or struggled the whole way to Alagaesia. Then I'll make my men stand down and spare those who fought against them to protect you, a troublemaking child, who lost so much. I promise you all the pain and suffering will end if you surrender, and all the wrongs you've committed in the past will be forgiven by King Galbatorix. He is a merciful king, who just wants what is best for his people, and you can help him by coming with me and swearing allegiance to him." The demon said smoothly, his words convincing enough that he almost wanted to go with him, but he resisted because he knew this man may seem nice in the outside but in the inside he was an insane psychotic murder.
   "Run and jump off the cliff, and take the boat waiting in the cove. Nalani stocked it with provisions and everything you would need. I'll follow you after I've taken care of these cowards." Riptide said, growling threatening at  the soldiers and the demon.
   The soldiers took a few steps back, wary of Riptide after what he did to the last soldier.
   Then without warning, Riptide pounced at them, making them scatter.
   Riptide smacked one into a tree with his tail and a sickening crack was returned when the soldier hit the tree, the soldier not getting back up. He clawed the breast plate off another soldier, scratching the soldier with his hooked, sharp claws.
   Moray used the confusion and chaos to make a get away.
   A soldier and the demon saw him run and followed him.
   When he got to the cliff he jumped off the twenty-five foot cliff.
   He heard the demon shout angrily, "NO! You stupid, foolish boy!"
   The wind rushed in his face as he neared the ground.
   His instincts told him to roll and he did as he came close to going splat in the ground.
   He stood up and ran to the single hulled outrigger canoe waiting for him by the shore.
   When he got to the canoe, he put his pack in the canoe, and looked back up at the cliff, searching for Riptide. All he saw was some movement in the trees, and then Riptide came running out of the trees and jumped off from the cliff and flew down to the beach.
   "I told you to go! Why didn't you listen?" Riptide scolded him.
   "Sorry, but I just couldn't bare to leave you alone fighting them while I ran. I had to make sure you were alright and got away and didn't get captured." He argued.
   "Just get in the canoe, and I'll push you off," Riptide told him, going over to the anchor and pulling it up and putting it in the canoe.
   He climbed into the canoe, and got in the back of the canoe where the rigging for the sail and the steering was.
   Riptide pushed him off and he opened the sail and used the oar to steer his way out of the cove.
   He looked back and saw Riptide following him, and higher above on the cliff the demon staring down at him and Riptide escaping from his grasp.