TLoS: Warlord Takeo Ch. 13

*Spacing between dimensions*

Darkness was the most prevalent thing that one could notice here.  The background flashed black and purple, but mostly black.  However, it wasn't dark in the sense of lighting.  There was quite enough light for one to see.  For one to see the huge platforms that floated around.  These platforms dotted the entire realm at infrequent intervals.  For those that couldn't fly, this was a problem.  However, the one inhabitant could fly so the distance didn't bother her.  

A purple dragoness with a pink front left foot and a pink right hind foot observed the platforms that floated around.  After finding a rather large one in comparison to herself, she opened her great wings and flew to it.  She landed perfectly, talons digging into the stone and skidding to a halt.  She opened her red eyes and looked around.  Her front paws then started to glow a purple light.  The light started off dimly, but grew in intensity as she flared energy into it.  She grit her teeth, closed her eyes and stood up on her hind legs.  In one swift movement, she clapped her front paws together and surge of energy left the glowing lights.  The surge expanded and grew in power.  The wave of energy spread out from the platform she was standing on and engulfed nearby platforms.  

When she opened her eyes, she saw that everything other than the platform she was on and herself was completely obliterated in at least a five mile radius.  Instead of happiness or feelings of accomplishment, she growled in frustration.  She hadn't improved from the last time she attempted the attack, despite two months of constant training.  She paced the platform, kicking rocks that stood in her way into the abyss.  

The dragoness came to this remote section of all known areas to train her elements.  Her brother, Malefor, was waging war in Avalar against anything that didn't serve him and she wanted to be there to help him with it.  She relished the ideas of causing others intense physical and emotional pain.  Once she was done with them, she would feast on their blood with great vigor.  Before she could do that, Malefor had suggested that she train on her elements and physical power.  She protested, blindly claiming that she could do anything he could, but a quick test showed that she could not.  It was that moment she reluctantly agreed to his suggestion.  Malefor opened a portal for her and sent her to the desolate realm she was in now.  

Before she left, he taught her the spell to open such portals, so that she could return when she felt that she was ready.  Despite it being a safe and great place to train, no one other than Malefor had knowledge of this place, it had one major drawback.  There was the lack of company.  The dragoness was lonely.  She missed her home, her brother, her servants (more for the work the servants provided rather than emotional attachment), and her room.  She tired or sleeping on cold stone and eating nothing.  She absorbed the dark energy that saturated the realm, so she never starved, but she long craved for the taste of flesh and blood.

She emptied her mind of such distractions and lied on the cold stone.  She closed her eyes and fell asleep, exhausted from the day's training.

--

*Avalar, half a mile away from the Grublin supply camp*

Takeo, Zaroth and Hunter strayed away from the road and through the forest, on their way to the depot that Zaroth mentioned.  They stayed off the road for saftey reasons.  Roads were too easy to follow and they suspected that any Grublin patrols would be waiting on the roads.  Taking the detour through the forest no doubt was harder and longer to go through for the three, but it would be the same for any pursuers.

"Damn it all!" Zaroth growled as a branch smacked the top of his head.  "I'm too big for going through a small place like this."

"Hush up.  You'll give us away."  Hunter said.  The ape growled, but kept quiet and followed them.  Of them all, Zaroth had the loudest footsteps.  Obviously for being big, but what baffled and horrified the other two was that he made no attempt to silence his footsteps.  It was as if the giant ape wanted something to find them.  Wanted something to challenge them.  

"This is taking too long you two....why are you stopping?"  Zaroth stopped when they stopped.  He saw that Hunter had quickly drawn his bow and nocked an onto the string, aiming at one direction.  He also saw Takeo with his Eviscerator up and aimed in another direction.  Zaroth looked around and saw nothing.  He unsheathed his swords an growled, daring something to come close.  It was then that he saw the orange fleck of another cheetah's tail.  He then saw a green cloaked cheetah aiming a bow and arrow at them.  After seeing the first one, that was when he could see the other cheetahs.  They were surrounded.  All of them kept enough distance away from the three of them.  There looked to be about ten.  

"What do you want?" Zaroth growled.  Not one cheetah answered.  They stood like statues, aiming there bows at the vital locations on all three of them.  Another cheetah came out of a bush and walked to them.  This cheetah had his hood off and he wore a green cloak with a golden trim on it.  

Hunter gasped.  "A Warlord!"  He didn't lower his bow though.

"A what?" Takeo asked, not taking his eyes nor the iron sights of the Eviscerator off the cheetah that approached them.  The cheetah stopped ten paces away and put his gloved hands behind his back.  Several moments passed without a single movement from any side.

"What do you want, kitty cat?"  Zaroth growled, twirling his giant swords.  The Warlord took his eyes off of Hunter and Takeo and shifted them to Zaroth.  

"You've got a mouth on you.  I'm going to enjoy cutting your tongue out." The cheetah growled.  Hunter pulled his bow's string back even further.  

"You will die before you get close enough." Hunter growled.  The Warlord then focused his attention back to Hunter.  

"Prowlus cheetah, you have exactly ten seconds to explain what you are doing trespassing on Shadus territory, why you are traveling with an ape, and tell me what that is."  The Warlord pointed to the leather masked human.  Takeo scowled, but the cheetah couldn't see past the hood and mask Takeo wore.  

"Shadus huh?  And you're a Warlord..."  Hunter chose to say.  "That means you're Warlord Raeus."  The surrounding cheetahs took one step closer to them.  

"That is correct. I am Raeus, Warlord to Chief Shadus.  I ask again, why are you here, why are you traveling with an ape, and what that is!"  The agitated Warlord growled, unsheathing his shortsword and pointing it at Takeo.  

"We are on our way to a supply camp to destroy.  This ape doesn't serve the Dark Master, he is fighting him, just like we all are."  Hunter began.  He was interrupted by the sounds of laughter coming from the cheetahs.  All except Warlord Raeus laughed.  

"An ape fighting the Dark Master?  Very unlikely story.   That's almost as believable when that foolish ape decided to lead a rebellion against the Dark Army twenty-five years ago would be successful."

"Becareful who you mock!  That was my father!"  Zaroth was furious.  He charged at Raeus, but Raeus simply stood there, watching.  The surrounding apes opened fire on the group.  Zaroth blocked some of the arrows with his sword, and changed targets to another cheetah.  The cheetahs all jumped into the trees, where the ape couldn't get them.

"Keep them alive!!! Keep them alive!!!"  Raeus shouted.  An arrow came out of the tree and severed the string on Hunter's bow.  The cheetah yelped in surprise, but quickly discarded it and unsheathed his shortsword.  

Another arrow came out and hit Takeo's Eviscerator.  The gun didn't break like the cheeetah who shot the arrow expected.  Instead, the arrow shattered to pieces.  However, the force of the impact was enough that Takeo lost his grip on it and it fell.  Before he could reach it, the same cheetah jumped from the trees and engaged him hand-to-hand.  Takeo balled his fists and lunged at the cheetah.  He skillfully dodged the cheetahs punches, though the attacks were much quicker than he expected.  The human took a karate stance and prepared himself.  The cheetah came at Takeo again.  Takeo responded by raising his right leg and doing a Mustang Kick  by side kicking him in the stomach.  The cheetah fell back, surprised and dazed.  Takeo went on the offensive.  He assaulted the cheetah with roundhouse kicks, front kicks, bicycle kicks, and spin kicks.  The cheetah took them all and was eventually knocked out by the barrage.  Takeo laughed, but soon found himself face to face with Warlord Raeus.  The human attempted to do the same with him, but the Warlord's agility far surpassed his subordinate.  He easily dodged and countered all of Takeo's kicks and punches with punches of his own.  Eventually, the human couldn't keep up and was overwhelmed.  

Hunter lost his shortsword early on and resorted to using his fists. He was a cheeetah like the others so speed wasn't a huge advantage or disadvantage to him.  He fought as best as he could, but couldn't face three Shadus cheetahs at once and they too overwhelmed him.  

Not one Shadus cheetah dared to approach the ape.  Zaroth laughed boisterously.  

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty..." he growled and charged at one of the cheetahs.  The ape caught the cheetah with his shoulder and slammed him into a tree.  Before he could kill the cheetah, a whistle grabbed his attention and faced the source.  To his shock, he saw Hunter and Takeo restrained with knives to their throats.

Warlord Raeus held his knife to Takeo's throat.  "Drop your weapons and these two will be allowed to live."  Zaroth hesitated, but dropped the weapons after the cheetah holding Hunter touched the steel to his neck.  

"This isn't over..." The ape growled.  From the left of his vision, he saw a cheetah put a dart into a blowgun and shot it at him.  The ape grunted in pain then wobbled around as the knock out drug took effect.  His vision was wonky and soon, he passed out.