The Prison of Deviants

Chapter 39: The Prison's End

The fairies and the angels patrolling the areas notice us and come after us. By then, however, we're already at the edge of the cliff at the southern shores.

"Hey, stop right there!"

Angela, Frank, Bob, and their retinues are right behind us. They approach us from all sides. Dagur bends to the ground as if motioning me to get off his back. I obey. He turns to the pursuers and morphs back into a human, to snarl right into Bob's stupefied face.

"Young Lord?" Bob widens his eye. "Don't tell me... You too were a part of it?!"

His growl thunders throughout the area. The other prison keepers are no less surprised, while I watch Dagur with great curiosity - I wonder what he'll do now that we're cornered by his uncle and subordinates. Judging by the blue fire slowly kindling upon his fist, though, I figure he should still be on our side.

"Surprised, eh, uncle?" Dagur raises the hand the fire is kindling on, and we all notice how it's already begun to eat upon his scarred skin, which begins to peel and bleed. Yet, Dagur's face remains stoic, with a deep frown as he snarls: "Even back in my distant childhood when you mercilessly butchered my little cub's nurse, I was willing to put your plant organism to fire, so grand that it'd consume your entire chamber, along with all of your puny attendants... You're the split image of my rotten father, and you disgust me. So do all of those pure-blooded 'glorious' deviants next to you... Beasts of an even lower level than animals, that's what you are! Now, kindly allow me to finish what I've started, and erase that disgustful prison off the face of the earth, along with all of you, its rotten inhabitants!"

Dagur blows the fire from both of his hands at the astounded Bob and other prison keepers. I can hear their shrills as they get incinerated by the blue flames before my very eyes, while Dagur's horrendous roar of a truly monstrous snow leopard thunders throughout the entire island, making certain birds dwelling in the forest and the shores reach for the skies in terror. The flames, after leaving dust and bones of the once-alive Bob, Angela, Frank, and their subordinates, reach the prison building too, which has already been burning from the explosions Dagur had earlier created. Now, the flames hit the already-burning building and the fumes ascend to the skies as well as cover the entire island, making me cough and blinding my eyesight.

"Jump on me, Theo!"

I can hear Dagur's strict order. I locate him beside me, turned back into a snow leopard. I grow shocked - he's burnt all over his body and is severely bleeding!

"Ah! But you're hurt!"

He only snarls in response. I figure he's asking me not to stall around, so I acquiesce and jump onto his bleeding back. He jumps straight off the cliff into the water.

Yet again, I am falling off the very cliff Derek pushed me off, some months ago. Once again, I am protected by a giant snow leopard. But this time, it is not Knut - my treasured lover and supporter, but his brother Dagur - the warden of the prison and my mortal enemy, who has turned out to be my ally from the very beginning.

Yeah, fate sure is a funny thing...

We land into the water in a splash. Dagur can't walk on water like Knut since he's not a water elemental, but he proves an excellent swimmer - he moves his legs quite fast and leads us off the island that's caught the fire too, by now.

Even though Dagur's said that water boosts his regeneration abilities, this time, it's not enough to heal him up completely - he's over-exhausted himself. Some of his wounds heal, but many remain. Furthermore, it seems that even during the regeneration, he's hurting - I can hear him purr and wince every now and then. I wonder how he'll manage to get us across the ocean, at this rate.

The lightning crosses the cloudy sky. It thunders. Soon, little droplets already fall upon us, and in a short while, rain pours down. The winds blow and the ocean level rises. Nevertheless, Dagur cuts through the giant waves with the greatest force, growling as he does.

"Dagur, don't overdo it, please!"

I am concerned about him - he's too hurt. I have clutched his wetted fur in order not to fall off his back, because even if Knut has already trained me in swimming, I don't think I'll survive in these waves. Dagur only snarls at me in response and continues fighting the ocean.

In a little while, to my greatest relief, the opposite shores appear up ahead - the continent. Blood boils inside me - I'm home! (I know I'm still far from home and will never actually return there, but setting one's foot on the continent one was born and raised on, after being shoved away on a remote island in a prison for many months, sure is a blessing all by itself).

When we approach the land, the waves drop us out onto the sandy beach. We make a rough landing, but I spring to my feet immediately and yell in joy:

"Dagur, we've made it!"

Just as I turn to him, though, I scream - he's morphed back into a human, lying unconscious on the wet sand tainted scarlet from the blood that gushes off his wounds and burns!

"Dagur!" I dash at him, turn him around, and shake him, "Dagur, answer me! Please!"

He gives no voice. His scarred eyes remain closed. He's unconscious. A tingle of horror runs through my heart - is he perchance..? No, can't be!

I place my ear to his wounded chest, in the hope of hearing the heartbeat. To my greatest relief, it's there. But it's very faint, which raises my fears anew - if he's not treated immediately, he'll surely die! But what can I do? I'm far from a medical expert!

First things first, I must get us out of here. This sandy beach is way too exposed, and we might have many pursuers. Even if Dagur's burned the entire island, some administrators would definitely survive - they had water and fire elementals on their side too, after all. If we're not fast and careful enough, the chasing party might manage to find us. Luckily for us, however, it is raining, so all of our traces, including Dagur's bloodstains, will be erased.

I grab Dagur, hang his hand over my shoulders, and, with the greatest difficulty, drag him off to the dense rainforest up ahead. There, I might as well find a safe place to hide and treat him as I can.

Goodness, let him only survive!