the tails of worthy (spiret anamalls)

worthys escape! :) part 1

Tears pricked at Worthy's eyes as he sliced through the statue. He waited for impact but it never came. Instead he saw that the statue had fallen above him, creating an air pocket with him in it. He breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't going to die. He would see Dawson again. But the relief was short-lived when he saw Cordelia had survived too, along with a handful of Oathbound soldiers. However, he held the wildcat's claw. He pointed it at Cordelia but she didn't flinch.

"You set that off. We both got crushed" she snarled. Worthy was out of options but not out of instinct. He leapt forward, releasing his claws, but the claws on the hand that held the wildcat's claw dug into his thumb.

"Ouch!" he yowled as he retracted his claws and dropped the sword. It wasn't until after he dropped the sword he realised his mistake. His charge had brought him within arm's length of Cordelia and she was reaching out to grab it. With a flash worthy extended his claws and raked them across her hand she screamed and two of her men ran to him. They were big men and even with his claws Worthy stood no chance against them.

"Since I'm so kind I'll give you a choice" said Cordelia. "Let yourself be captured or die."

Worthy sighed. He wasn't a hero. Dawson wouldn't be proud. He wished the avalanche had crushed him. He was marched over to a cart and thrown inside. A Woden lid was closed over him.

"Honestly you're lucky you're alive" said a guard. Worthy stayed silent. He didn't want to talk. "Master Kana liked you. If I were in charge you'd have been killed ages ago" he stated. Worthy scoffed.

"I've never met your Master Kana," he said trying to sound calm.

"Oh of course, I forgot I should have called her by her other name" the guard laughed, then he pushed the cart and Worthy was moving.

Worthy wasn't much of a thinker, but in the prisons on the Oathbound boat he had nothing else to do he'd been trying to figure out who Kana was. He searched his mind for suspicious girls he'd met on his travels who'd liked him. There was only one option: Shadow. Could it be possible his old friend was alive? If so was he on the wrong side? No, that was all impossible. It could be Abeke or Meilin but they would never betray their friends, so that wasn't it either. Then he remembered Anka. The woman hardly showed her face and had learnt to fight way too well in way too short a time. He focused on the name Kana. If you switched the k and the first a then put it backwards it spelt Anka. Yes that was it. Anka was Kana which would explain why she'd been so desperate to take the gifts from the others. Good job Rollan gave the Heart of the Land to essix. It would be all they had left. Then it struck him. The others didn't know. He had to warn them. He knew where they would go next, Zhong or Nilo. Nilo seemed easier since they knew people there. A boy called Dakota and the great ape Kovo. He knew this ship was set for Nilo too. Kana had told them, meaning his friends were definitely in Nilo.

The boat docked at a port in Nilo. Sid, the guard who had spoken to him in his cart, grabbed him and hauled him out the ship. He needed an opening so he could escape but what if no opening came? What if he was stuck there forever without Dawson, without his friends? No he couldn't let that worry stop him. He needed to get out of here and the time for thinking over. He followed Sid through a crevice in an amazing ravine to a monastery on a cliff. He was not permitted to enter the monastery so he was left outside with a guard. Worthy knew that his friends couldn't have arrived in Nilo yet but he was here with one guard. Maybe he could get the guard to break, Rollan had done it so why couldn't he?

"So, erm, who are you working for?" he asked the guard. The guard was tall and thin with a neat white beard.

"And why would I tell you?" he sneered.

"Because I'm asking" tried Worthy.

"Empress Song would not wish for me to tell of her" he said.

"Ah yes I understand"sed Worthy, trying not to smile. "I'm rich, you know" he tried. "You wanna work for me?" The guard hit him hard.

"Quiet, brute" he said.

"Listen here" said Worthy. The man bent down to listen. "I can pay you double what you're getting now if you free me, and I won't tell a soul." Then Worthy retracted his claws and scratched across the man's face. He covered his face and yelled. Worthy quickly set to work freeing himself, picking the locks with his claws. New plan, he thought to himself. I'll find someone powerful and get them to turn on Princess Song. He finally got his hands out and ran. He didn't know where to go so he headed to the village nearby where they'd docked. Worthy finally made it there and turned to head for the docks. Everyone stared at him but he ignored the watching eyes as he rounded a corner. He bumped into a large man leaving the docks.

"I'm-i'm sorry" he stuttered, but then he caught sight of the ship in the docks. It was magnificent, with big Niloan flags fluttering around the intricate patterns on the sails. Worthy tried not to stare. "Say, is that your ship?" he asked.

"Indeed it is, young boy, or what exactly are you?"

"I am Worthy."

"Worthy of what?"

"No, my name is literally Worthy." The man looked confused. 

"You don't happen to be friends with the greencloaks do you?" Worthy didn't know how to answer this question. If he said yes, this man might lock him up. If he said no, this man might lock him up. He bared his claws just to scare him.

"Yes," he said. The man smiled.

"Olvan is a good friend of mine."

"You don't happen to have any power, do you?" asked Worthy. He felt silly asking the question. Just a year ago he would have thought himself more powerful than this man, no matter how fancy the ship.

"Yes, I am a chieftain and a relation to the High Chieftain. My name is Chief Ugo." Worthy nodded.

"May I ask a favor?"

"Go ahead."

"Can you come with me to Zhong to confront Princess Song?"

"Why ever should I do that?"

"To save the world. The man smiled, then in a flash a rhino appeared at his side.

"What do you think Smasher?" he asked. The rhino lifted his huge head up and sniffed Worthy. Worthy stayed still, petrified at the sight of the animal. He resisted the strong urge to scream and run. The animal snorted, then stepped back. "Well, that's a yes" said Chief Ugo. "We sail in three days."

"Three days, that's ages away" complained Worthy.

"A day for the job I have to do here, a day to prepare and a day to gather supplies." stated Chief Ugo.

"What do I do?" asked Worthy.

"You help." Worthy groaned, but one look at the rhino told him not to argue.