Subplot 004: Facing the Beast

Ozzer stared, horrified, at all of the dragons. They were small, but no less intimidating. He had never seen them in his travels to Aodh, and wasn't entirely sure he wanted to see them here, trapped in the tunnels of Sirith. But surely the boy king knew what he was doing and how to handle the charges, given that his own seemed to sit fairly tamely upon his back. Ozzer could only imagine the multitude of questions forming in Daisuke's mind, and he knew he wouldn't be able to answer most of them. He only knew the old legends of the dragons from when they were much MUCH larger. Tonight, when they got to their room at the inn, it would be time for him to pass those stories on to his son.

But they would not be going back to the inn that night.

The explosion shook the city, and it was only by the grace of the gods that the cavern itself didn't begin to crumble. The suddenness of it made Ozzer lose his grip on his blessing, and for a moment he couldn't see, couldn't hear, but he could now feel. The reverberations of the blast shook him to the core, and brought him to his knees. Within seconds, everyone began to move, panicking, and without the concentration to hold it back his tremor sense overloaded him. He felt nauseous, and though the world was slowly coming back into view he felt lightheaded. He could hear nothing but the ringing in his ears. He didn't even know where Daisuke was, and....

DAISUKE.

The donkey blinked his eyes, and shook his head, trying to clear his mind. Daisuke. His worry for his son suddenly overcame everything else; Daisuke was his focal point, and getting him to safety was Ozzer's only goal right now. He pulled himself to his hooves, looking wildly to where the foal had last been standing. Thank the Gods he is still there, and in one piece. Ozzer grabbed the foal by the crest of his neck, forcing the colt to face him. He could apologize later, but only if they stayed alive, and for that he needed Daisuke's full attention. He needed to give the foal a focal point - himself. The ringing was slowly fading, and sound was flooding back. Horses ran everywhere panicked, and Ozzer was worried that they might get trampled if they stayed still for too long. "Daisuke!" he yelled, his voice seeming strange to him with his all of his senses currently flooded. "Daisuke, look at me!" But when the colt's large, green eyes turned up towards him and he saw a hint of that same look that he had seen when he first met Daisuke, when his mother had died, he almost fell to his knees again. Allowing himself a second of desperate affection he leaned in and pressed his cheek hard to the foal's neck. It was a rare gesture, even for the loving father. "We will be alright."

Drawing in a ragged breath he looked back up, partly to assess the crowd and escape routes, and partly to hide the tears that stung at his eyes. The city was burning around them, but they had no choice but to try and pass through it. He turned back to the colt. "You need to stay right beside me. No matter what. Hold on to the saddlebag if you need to, but stay with me."

The donkey began to push through the crowd. He tried not to bite or kick those around him - they were all in the same terrified state - but if anyone came too close to kicking or running over him and Daisuke he didn't give a second thought to a well placed snap. The screams of those hurt and confused around him grated at him. His nature was to help, and if it hadn't been for the zonkey he would have been pushing back into the fray to help those that he could. But Daisuke was his concern right now, and so he tried to focus on getting the colt out.

The screeches overhead were like nothing he had heard before, and he allowed himself a glance upwards. The dozens of dragons filled the air, but even more awful was the illusion of a swirling ceiling, caused by hundreds of bats. Normally they rested in the darkness miles above the city, but, disturbed by the explosion and dragons and screaming, they flitted around as a large mass. Ozzer couldn't help but watch as the small bodies - he knew they were familiars or messengers of the city dwellers- collided with each other and the dragons. Many of the small mammals fell, bodies charred or mangled by the flying reptiles. He sent a quick prayer to Alya and Argus, whom he had always felt were the parents of the winged cave-dwellers, for the safety of those bats, and more importantly for his own flying fox who he hoped was still safe in the caves where Ozzer had last seen him. He wished he could shield Daisuke's eyes from the carnage in the air and on the ground, but there was nothing he could do about any of this. He could only get him out and comfort him later. And so he continued to push his way through the crowd. Where he could he yelled directions at those that seemed lost. Some picked up his instructions, others didn't seem to even hear him. Either way he kept moving.

They were making their way steadily through the crowd. Bodies were jostling them from either side, but Ozzer made sure he always knew where Daisuke was, and they were doing alright. Most of those around them had gotten up by this point, albeit still being rather panicked. But ahead, in a small clearing in the crowd, he saw one stallion still lying on the ground. A paint and a younger colt stood over him. The one on the ground looked dazed, like he had gone into shock - a highly likely possibility. Ozzer could tell all three were Aodhians, there was no hiding it, particularly with the two standing horses wearing the bridles that the donkey knew were the mark of a slave. The downed stallion didn't seem hurt, but surely, even if they could get him up, the group of foreigners would be too lost to escape. He didn't know the cities well - he often handed off his travelers to city specific guides, but he had come to know many of the more important locations and how to travel between them. Most importantly he knew how to get to the city exits, and enter the tunnels which were not flammable.

While he couldn't help everyone, he could at least do his job and be a guide.

"Help me get him up!" he barked to the paint, bursting into the scene without any introduction. There was no time. He pushed his forehead against the grey's side, trying to get him to stand. Ozzer hoped the push would bring him back to his senses and urge him to stand on his own. "You have to get up!" he yelled. No sooner had he spoken than a dragon swooped low overhead, igniting a nearby merchandise cart. Ozzer glanced around, making sure that Daisuke was still nearby and safe.


(Post 2: 875 words)
(OOC: Oops, I almost cried while writing this at work.)

Dragons, the boy king had called them, and it was the only word that Daisuke really bothered to absorb as the beasts were brought forward. He couldn’t quite believe what he was looking at. These... scaly, cats-things had wings like a bat, and heads that looked like snakes! Daisuke gave his head a sharp shake and looked again. Yes, still bat-cat-snakes. Blinking, his mouth agape, the colt felt as though make-believe had come to life right before his eyes. Surely these creatures were the fanciful dream of someone, somewhere, who possessed enough magic to bring such strangeness into existence. Yes, that explained it! Feeling smug about his sharp deduction, the colt turned to whisper his conclusion into Ozzer’s ear.

That was the moment that everything went white.

The force of the explosion threw him to the ground, all the air escaping his lungs. The crowd lurched with him, screaming, but he couldn’t hear - there was just the ringing, and the reverberations of a hundred hooves moving at once. Frozen by fear, Daisuke stared into the unfolding chaos and shook. A primal part of him wanted to scream, to bleat for his father and perhaps his mother, too, but his throat was stuck, and he couldn’t catch his breath.

But then there were teeth at his neck, pulling him up. His father’s voice broke through the tinnitus, calling him. The colt’s stomach flipped; the fire of panic turned to the cold seep of dread. His eyes burned. Ozzer was going to tell him to go. Ozzer was going to say he’d been right behind him, and it would be a lie. He was never going to see his father again. Look at me! The donkey insisted, and Daisuke did as he was told.

Ozzer embraced him.

We’ll be alright, he said. Stay with me. There were no words the colt had ever wanted to hear more. Belated, relieved tears dripped down the boy’s face as he fervidly nodded, and latched on to the saddlebag with his teeth. The grip was strange - had he chipped a tooth? - but the link to the donkey was comforting, even amidst the mayhem. He followed diligently, keeping his form close and his eyes trained on Ozzer's shoulder. He didn't want to see the carnage and panicked faces. He didn't want to know where the sent of burnt fur was coming from, though inevitably he did look, his green eyes widening at the sight of a floundering bat on fire. His thoughts shifted to Radar - Radar! - and he hoped that his friend was safe, tucked away in a tunnel somewhere without flames or foreigners or dragons.

Suddenly Ozzer was yelling, and, alarmed, Daisuke swung his head to see the trembling mess of a horse that had garnered the donkey's attention. What was wrong with him? Daisuke released his grip on the saddlebag, watching, ears pinned, as Ozzer desperately tried to push the stranger to his hooves. There was another colt among those assembled, and Daisuke gravitated to him like a magnet, burying his face against Algren's shoulder when a dragon swooped low and set a stall ablaze.

"Mother Kaia. Mother Kaia, help, please help him get up." The little colt didn't precisely know how to pray, but he knew that the gods were good, and that Kaia had looked upon his father once, favored him, blessed him. She would help. Surely she would help.

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WC: 5769

At first Ozzer was not sure that even his and the slave's efforts together would work, but after a moment of pushing he felt that necessary shift of the grey's balance that he needed to rise. But he rose so unsteadily that Ozzer was worried he would immediately collapse again. But apparently the paint had thought the same thing, and had moved in to support the noble. "Someplace safe." Ozzer looked around them. The world was chaos, and growing hazier by the minute as smoke  - with few escape routes - steadily filled the cavern. The "sky" was also still full of confused dragons, though, he thought, some of them seemed to have disappeared. Where to he didn't want to speculate. Turning his eyes to their escape routes, the donkey grimaced. He knew not every building was ablaze, but it sure seemed like it. More and more blazes seemed to pop above the rooftops every minute. But there was nothing for it. If they wanted to get out of this horror scene they would first have to pass through the city proper - and the flames.

"Please, help guide us, help us get out!"

These words brought Ozzer's eyes back around to the others, now realizing that they had very quickly gained a small group. His eyes gravitated naturally to Daisuke pressed close to the other colt's shoulder. Ozzer's stomach twisted at the sight of his son's fear. But that was when he realized another horse was standing with the colt's now, shielding them from the straggling horses still pushing by. He didn't know where the mare had come from, and he immediately noted her big ears and stripes. She wasn't built the same as Daisuke, but he wondered if she was a zedonk - and a slave one at that. But now was not the time for questions. He turned back towards the paint and gave him a brief, grim nod.

"Stay with him," he motioned towards the noble, eyes resting on the Aodhian for a moment. He was still quite unresponsive, and Ozzer worried that he might slow them down. But they couldn't leave him. Ozzer couldn't make that decision in front of Daisuke or the other foreigners. Hopefully the tall stallion could keep the noble moving. He looked at the two colts. "I want you two right behind me. Stay together. And you," he turned to the mare. "Bring up the rear. Make sure no one falls behind." He was used to directing bumbling travelers around, but ordering these slaves around felt odd. He didn't like the idea of it, and tried to just think of it as helping other horses to stay alive. Because that's all any of them were - from the noble to the colts - they were just equines with the same goal. Trying to shake the feeling he took one last look at Daisuke, then turned and promptly headed down one of the nearby alleys. He kept his ears turned back to keep track of his charges while his eyes constantly scanned the path ahead.

He had a particular tunnel in mind, the one he typically used to reach The Point from Nariah, though any tunnel would work right now. Anywhere where the fires couldn't reach them... But that tunnel was his first choice, and he would direct them to it unless circumstances prevented it. He tried to choose the path with the least burning buildings, but it wasn't easy to escape them for long. The air became thick, and it stung his eyes and throat. But he pushed forward, listening for the others behind him. There weren't as many horses around them now. One or two would run past every now and then. He wished he could take Daisuke and flee witht hose horse, but with the grey's injury they were moving at a frustrating crawl. He was horrified that the flames or the dragons... or both... might consume the group before they ever made it out. He turned his head to check on those behind him. The smoke had almost made it to where he couldn't see the mare bringing up the rear, but it made him feel slightly better to see Daisuke still behind him. "Everyone doing ok?" he called.

He didn't wait for an answer though, before facing forward again just in time to watch a house ahead suddenly give in to the blazes and catch fire. Without word he turned them down another street, this one filled with abandoned market stalls. He had never seen a market street of Nariah so empty, and it was a sad sight.


(Post 3 : 771 words)

The shout of surprise made the hair along Ozzer's spine stand on end. By the deeper sound he at least knew it wasn't Daisuke that had screamed, but still he whipped his head around, prepared for the worst. What he wasn't prepared for, though, was the fact that he had turned his head just in time for the dead bat to come flying straight towards his face. With an undignified smack it hit him straight in the forehead, one charred wing draped over his poll to hold the lifeless body in place.

The feel of the limp, burnt body was horribly disconcerting, and the acrid stench of burnt hair and flesh burned Ozzer's nose. A shiver ran through his body, and instinctively he tossed his head to rid himself of the bat. The body flew briefly into the air before landing on the sooty stone road with a plop. Ozzer stared, wide-eyed, at the body for a moment, trying to process what had just happened, and trying not to imagine the little bat as Radar. The paint's voice pulled him out of his momentary trance. He whipped his head around, brows pulled tightly together. He gave the horse a sharp look, but did not say anything. He was angry out of fear and surprise, but knew that the Aodhian had not meant to do it. Well... he doubted it, anyway, despite it being a very good shot to be an accident.

Shaking his large ears, he simply grumbled, "Come on" and kept walking.

It hadn't been long, however, before he was surprised again. The sound of hooves rushing towards them was not what surprised him. Horses could still be heard fleeing in the distance throughout the city - Ozzer had been trying not to focus on it - so it was no wonder that a horse might run by them. But the gentle, thought insistent, tug on his tail was unexpected. But the real surprise came when he turned expecting to see Daisuke or one of the Aodhians, but was instead met with a face he had not seen in months.

He kept staring. What is going on today? The Aodhian King in Breim. Dragons. An explosion. A bat in the face! And now CIEL. It had all become almost too much. His emotions had become drowned in confusion. And as the small horse continued in his brash (and drunken, Ozzer suspected) way and accused the Aodhians the donkey simply turned a dumbstruck look between the pony and his other companions.

"Ah... no, Ciel. I believe.... I mean..." He uncharacteristically fumbled with his words, trying to save face for Breim in spite of Ciel's strong opposition to the foreigners. "There is no need for violence among us." His voice picked up confidence, trying to shake off the strangeness of the moment and remember their current situation. He motioned towards the grey, distantly noting the noble's strange posture as he spoke. "We are all trying to escape Nariah together. Everyone needs help right now, Aodhian or not. I don't think they would come here just to -" But his voice trailed off, as he watched the noble begin to wobble.

The colts had moved behind him - Ozzer just now noticed - putting them right within kicking range. But his shout of "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" was too late to help anyone. The grey had already bucked, and was on the ground within seconds. Ozzer knew nothing about this sort of thing. He could not help the noble now. But he rushed forward, intent on making sure Daisuke and the roan colt were ok.


(Post 4: 603 words)

Ozzer was glad the striped mare had been there, because he, he hated to admit it, would not have made it in time. The donkey skidded to a stop next to Daisuke as Heroin set him on his hooves. Normally had someone grabbed the colt like that they would have received some swift kick's to the face. But Ozzer dipped his head low towards the mare. "Thank you," he said to her, bringing his head up. Turning to Daisuke he looked the colt over critically. "Are you hurt?" he asked, echoing Heroin's question. But thankfully he looked rather unscathed if not surprised by being swung around so suddenly by the stranger.

The other colt however... Ozzer looked down at him. He frowned in pity, watching as the paint knelt next to the gasping horse. There was nothing he could do, except pray that the colt's windpipe had not been crushed. But a single curse from the roan sent a wave of relief washing over him. If he could talk, then he would be alright. Sore, but alright. The grey however was still indisposed, foam spilling grotesquely from his mouth and nose. As he looked at him, he wondered if he should say it. If he should tell the group that they should leave him. The donkey had no clue what was wrong with the noble, but it was obvious he wasn't going anywhere at the moment, and they didn't have much time to lose. The air was already noticeably hotter, large parts of the city now burning or smoldering. Could they drag him, perhaps? Would it even be worth their effort?

"Ciel?" he asked. The question in the name was obvious: what do you, as a doctor, think we should do? He was just a guide. He helped those when he could, but sometimes... rarely, but sometimes.... even he had to admit that help was beyond the expertise of a simple donkey. He looked from the noble to the little pony, eyes imploring for someone else to have an answer, but as he looked up his eyes caught another, awful sight.

His eyes widened, and he felt all of the hairs on his body stand on end. He didn't know if it was terror or the thick, hot air that caught in his throat. Stalking around a corner, just two blocks away down the road, were three dragons. Despite being pygmy dragons Ozzer thought they looked pretty large from where he stood. Their eyes were wild, their pupils little pinpricks. The donkey briefly hoped that they wouldn't spot the group of horses, but even as he thought it he knew they wouldn't be so lucky. One of the dragons whipped its head towards them, no doubt able to smell them. It gave an ear piercing scream - a noise that Ozzer expected he'd never forget - and the other two dragons snapped their heads around to look at them as well.

"Oh, Kaia, please," Ozzer whispered, still afraid to move.

The first dragon took a step, much quieter than Ozzer thought it should be, towards them.

"We have to run," he said to the group. His flight instinct had fully kicked in. There wasn't even a hint of fighting that he wanted to do with these reptiles. "We have go! You have to get up right now!" He never took his eyes off of the dragons, but he did move so that he was standing in front of Daisuke. If it comes down to it, he thought, I will leave them. I have to keep Daisuke safe. The ultimatum rang through his mind, but he didn't run just yet. He had to give the others a chance. Though with the dragons growing nearer, their chances were running out.


(Post 5: 628 words)