FicWad

Chapter II
Journey Home


Stratton sat down with a sigh by the small river, Karina sat down near him and looked at the flowing stream. Emy was out of his pouch and was leaning over the stream. A slight breeze was blowing and he sighed and looked to Karina. "Are you alright?" He asked her.

"I'm doing a lot better now." She said her hands resting in her lap. And her beak forming a smile somewhat.

"That's good. I was afraid I wouldn't make it in time." He said with relief in his voice.

"Did my father send you?" She asked looking at him.

"No, I just saw the Narl carrying you and wanted to stop them." He said with a smile. And then he saw Emy looking at him a huge smile on her face.

'Tell her.' Emy mouthed at Stratton. Emy had the widest grin on her face from the look on Stratton's. "So Karina, how old are you?" Emy asked her and while walking over to her.

"I'm eleven, and actually I'm going to be turning twelve in a couple of months." She said looking down. "I just thought that my father would have sent you." She said looking sad.

"I bet he was worried about you." Emy said and licked one of her fingers. "I'm sure he was doing something to try and get you back." Emy said trying to comfort the girl.

"Well I know he probably has sent our greatest warrior to find me, just I was so sure I was going to die in there." She cover's her hands over her eyes and begins to cry.

Emy gives a look to Stratton and he moves over to her and puts his arm around her. "Don't worry. You're safe now." She suddenly turned and her face buried into his chest. He blushed as he put his arms around her. She sobbed into his chest for about five minutes before calming down. That's when Stratton noticed that the sun was beginning to go down. "I'm gonna set up camp. You might as well get comfortable." He said trying to be as nice as he could.

As Stratton walked off to gather firewood, Emy flew off after him. "Why didn't you tell her?" Emy asked as she landed on his shoulder. He just put his hand up there and rubbed her head softly.

"I can't, it's not natural." He said looking depressed.

"Well to her it "is" normal!" Emy said sounding annoyed.

"Well it's not normal for a human!" He said in a semi yell at her.

"Why is it you can never admit to the feelings you feel?" Emy asked him while looking at him waiting for his answer.

"It's not that I can't admit to them. It's just- I don't want her to know." He said looking ashamed.

"It's not that bad of a thing you know?" Emy said licking the side of his face. "And so what that you don't know anybody else like you, that doesn't mean it's unnatural." Emy leans her head against his.

"Well what am I suppose to tell her?! That I have a sort of fetish for Birdling's?!" He said starting to get frustrated.

Emy just sighed and began to float off his shoulder. "I just want to see you happy for once." She then flew back to the campsite. Looking a little depressed.

Stratton sighed and kept gathering up firewood. As he gathered up some of the twigs he started to think. 'Is it even possible for me to try and make it with Karina?' He began to head back to the camp site after gathering the firewood and saw her sitting with her legs spread outwards and she was petting Emy. 'She's beautiful.' He thought as he set down the firewood and stared in her direction. Ever since Stratton had been young he had a secret crush on girl Birdlings. He noticed how her eyes were getting heavy looking. "You can lie down and rest. I'll stay up and keep watch." He offered and she looked up at him.

"Thank you." She said and lay back on the ground and started to doze off. And as she dozed off. Stratton had started a fire to keep them warm through the night. As she slept Stratton watched her with an almost wanting look in his eyes. He held Ozma close to him as he watched her. He would do anything to keep her from harm. He almost wished he could just hold her and never let her go. Stratton sighed as he leaned back against one of the trees and looked to the night sky.

*

The smaller of the two stood in the shadows watching what was going on. 'Stratton so that is the name of the young hero. I almost hope that I wouldn't have to kill him.' The man looked at his hands. 'Strange I haven't felt sympathy for any creature for quite some time now.' He then laughed to himself mentally. 'You're just being crazy again.' He told himself and turned around and started to walk away.

As he walked the moon started to appear through the clouds in the sky. The moon was only missing a small clip on its left side otherwise it would be a full moon. As the man walked his pace began to slow. And his eyes were closed. He just wanted to enjoy the feeling of the night air. As he walked he stopped as he noticed up ahead of him in a small clearing were three child looking elves.

Yet something about them made them seem much older. The man smiled to himself. He must be in the presence of three of the Mystic Children. His smile widened as he got closer and they noticed him. That's when he noticed two of them were Male and a third was Female. Two of them immediately jumped down and grabbed short spears and had them pointed at him. He just chuckled and with his right hand swatted some of his hair out of his face, and making the feathers on the front part of his head move.

"Stay back Triana." The nearest and taller one said as he held the spear, with a defiant look on his face.

"Yeah! Why don't you just flutter off somewhere." The smaller one said to him and moving his spear a little further forwards. The man suddenly began to laugh making the three children look a little frightened.

"Please forgive me." He said smiling. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dedric." His smile widened. "And forgive me, for I actually considered that there was even a slight chance you could actually challenge my might."

The two holding the spears got an angry look and moved forwards, one was in front of him and the other was behind him. "Just because we look like children, doesn't mean we are! And it doesn't mean we can't fight!" The taller one said again angry.

The two of them suddenly charged forwards and stabbed outwards towards Dedric. But Dedric just extended his right hand backwards and his left hand forwards and a thing of purple energy emitted from his arms up to his wrist's that stopped the spears in their tracks. He then spun and with a quick movement of his arms had cut the two spears in two. The energy still coming off his arms. "What?! How'd you do that?!" The tall one yelled at him.

"You two bore me." He said with a dangerous sound to his voice. He extended his right hand forwards and a blast of purple shot through the tallest ones chest. As he fell back blood sprayed out of his mouth that was wide open. When he hit the ground he was dead.

"Brother!" The smaller one yelled going to the taller ones side.

"Sam?" The girl asked sounding scared.

As the younger boy looked up Dedric had his hand right in the middle of his face. "Goodbye." With another blast of the purple energy the younger boy fell dead.

"No!" The girl screamed at seeing him dead.

Dedric's arms got covered in the energy again and he did a series of blows that skimmed her arms shoulder's and gut and chest. When he stopped attacking all of the spots he hit suddenly sprayed out blood. She gave out a cry of pain and Dedric smiled. "Fear not young one. For you will not suffer any longer." Dedric moved his left hand quickly across her throat, slicing deeply. As her blood poured on the ground and her garbled cries and gasps lessened Dedric turned and began to walk away. 'That was a nice walk.' He thought. 'Really gave me time to clear my head.' He then began to chuckle insanely to himself as he walked.

*

The sky had grown dark. And with that darkness she had lost hope. Nothing was important anymore. Her name, her social status, her money, nothing. She was bound and gagged by a group of Narl that had snuck into the city she used to live in. She was being carried over the shoulder of one of the Narl. There were two girls who looked even younger than she did that were being carried off as well. And she was sixteen. Her arms were tied and there was a gag in her mouth. She had short blond hair and bright blue eyes.

She saw a cave that the Narl were heading to and realized that her fate was soon to be at hand. As they entered the cave she could see other Narl's that were hiding in the many tunnels starting to follow. When a door opened and she saw two very tall people with the Narl. "I think I'm going to go get some air." The smaller one with silver hair said and left through a different exit.

The really tall one turned. "I truly am going to enjoy this." His voice had so much evil in it that it was almost paralyzing. "Oh forgive me though I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Kratos, I am from the forbidden lands, and I'll be feasting on all your flesh tonight." He said with an evil grin. When he smiled all his teeth were razor sharp like the Narl's.

The three of them started to scream through their gags as he began to laugh. One of the screams turned into an agonized wail though as one of the Narl started to bite into one of the younger girls shoulder. As it opened its mouth for a better bite of her it was suddenly kicked in the gut with such force that it sent the thing propelling into the wall. As it slumped to the floor a trail of blood was left from the spot it hit. Kratos stood over the girl with an angry look on his face.

"These three are mine!" He yelled to all the Narl. "And if any of you have a problem with that, just try to stop me." He grabbed the girl whose shoulder was bleeding and picked up the other girls and tossed them into one of the corners. One of the Narl shrieked something at Kratos and he smiled. "What's that?!" He asked furious. As the Narl stepped forwards it pulled up one of the giant swords. "So you want to play do you?"

Kratos moved his cape and grabbed a handle big enough that it should only be able to have been lifted with two arms. The blade was a very Long blade, and the blade across was very long as well. The blade went up and went into a mushroom styled tip. The edge of the blade was extremely sharp, and the blade towards the middle of it got to be really thick. All together the blade looked like it weighed over three hundred pounds. The blade was about a foot shorter than the Narl that was facing him.

The Narl roared and charged at Kratos with the sword already over its head. As it began to bring the blade down towards Kratos he just smiled and side stepped at the last second. As the blade struck the ground the Narl immediately started to swing it side ways towards Kratos who just stepped backwards, the blade swished past his chest and the Narl was starting to get frustrated. Kratos began to laugh. He hadn't put his sword up at all since the fight began.

The Narl wailed in frustration and charged him again and spun around so the blade would go faster. And he did a horizontal slash again, but this time Kratos just put up his left arm and the sword hit his arm guard. The Narl's movement didn't even cause Kratos's arm to move at all. With one fluid movement of his right arm he had cut the Narl's sword in two. The Narl backed up in shock from the attack. And Kratos just turned and with one hand still on the sword swiped at an angle from his left shoulder to his right side.

The Narl just had a look of shock on its face as the top part of its body slid to the ground. Kratos then looked around the room. "Anyone else?" All the Narl backed up and left the room quickly. Kratos then began to laugh cruelly. He then turned his attention to the three girls in the corner. "Are you all scared?" He asked as he walked over to them. He leaned his sword against the wall and kneeled down and grabbed the girl whose shoulder had gotten bitten.

"Tell me little one what's your name." He asked taking off the gag.

"M-M-My name?" She almost squeaked as she talked. "M-My name is Cass." She said scared.

"Now tell me Cass, what is the reason that my fellow Narl chose you to be their sacrifice?" He asked a smile on his face.

"I-I-I don't know." She said and began to whimper softly. "I was just sleeping at home, and they- they..." She began to cry after that.

"Why is it that you're crying?" He asked. She just looked up at him.

"Are you going to hurt me?" She asked scared.

"I'm afraid so. But don't worry, after this you won't have to feel any more pain!" He said and bit into the same shoulder the other Narl had bitten. The girl screamed in pain as a loud crack noise echoed through the room and with a sickening rip Kratos had torn off most of her shoulder and was eating it. She screamed and wailed in pain. He opened his mouth and bit into her neck. She screamed but the scream was cut off as he started to bite down. He didn't rip or tear the skin there he just tightened his bite on her throat till she died from air loss. He roared up to the ceiling and kept feasting as the two other girls stared in horror and tears fell from their eyes.

By the time he finished he grabbed the other young girl and in a craze. Bit into her upper arm and yanked with his teeth and his arm. And ripped her arm off. She screamed and cried in pain. He then lifted her shirt up a little and started to eat into her stomach. After a few moments the girl was dead. And the last remaining girl had tears streaming down her face. When he finished with the second girl he looked up at her. Blood coated his teeth, and most his face but the lust in his eyes had disappeared.

"You are a very lucky girl. My hunger has been satisfied. So I won't be eating you." He took off her gag. "Now tell me. How badly do you want to get out of this place?" He asked her with a smile.

"More than anything." She said with a scared tone.

"Good. That's good, use that fire inside. That ever wanting need to survive. Since I have managed to satisfy my eating desires, I'd like to see some entertainment. So I'm gonna give you a knife, and I'm gonna turn my back for one minute. You have one minute to try and escape." He chuckled and turned his back on her as she held onto the knife he left. She looked up at him hate filling her eyes at how heartless he had been.

"You Bastard!" She yelled and brought the knife up and down onto his back. But the knife just scrapped downwards thanks to his armor.

"That was a foolish choice." He said and grabbed her by her throat and grabbed the arm holding the knife. He squeezed on her arm and a crack echoed through the room and her arm went limp. "Now I'm gonna leave you to the fate you have decided." He walked over to the door and kicked it open and moved. Towards a balcony area, as he walked out onto the balcony the room below was almost filled to the brim with Narl. "My brothers!" He yelled as the Narl all turned their heads upwards. "Feast!!!" He then tossed the girl into the room. As she landed claws tore at her flesh, and teeth bite into her from all over. All she could do was scream in pain.

Kratos stood on the balcony and watched as the Narl pack started to tug and pull on different body parts. He laughed as her screaming turned into a gurgle and with a quick snap noise and a tearing sound she broke in two from her stomach up and her waist down. He began to laugh as he stood watching his brothers' feast.

*

Stratton noticed that he had spent most the night staring at the sleeping form of Karina. Part way through the night Emy woke up and noticed that Stratton hadn't gone to sleep yet. "Stratton what are you doing still awake?" Stratton just looked over at her.

"I'm keeping watch." He said with a smile.

"Stratton please just get some rest. We need you well rested for tomorrow." Emy said and walked over to him.

"But what about keeping watch?" He asked drowsily.

"I'll keep watch for you." She said and hopped into his lap. Stratton closed his eyes and fell asleep rather quickly. His dream was a very happy one. He was standing in a field with Karina next to him and she was hugging him. He looked into her eyes and smiled. She was smiling at him and they both leaned forward and were about to kiss when he heard a giggle.

He opened his eyes from his wonderful dream to see Karina looking down on him. "It's time to wake up." She said happily. He smiled too, and she helped him to stand up.

"Wow you seem cheery today." He said with a smile.

"Yeah I just can't wait to go home." She said happy. As he stood there she quickly jumped up and hugged him. "I can't thank you enough for saving me!" She said with a huge grin.

"Y-Y-Your welcome." He said with a blush. As Emy started to snicker on his shoulder.

"So are we going to my home kingdom yet?" She asked looking really cute.

"Uh yeah, sorry." He said blushing even brighter. He started to walk and she almost skipped after him. As they walked she seemed to be getting in an even better mood with every step she took. As they walked Emy noticed that Stratton and Karina had been peeking at each other when the other wasn't looking.

She sighed after about another two hours of silence. "We should be nearing my countries border by now." She said with a smile. "Could we take a break?" She asked Stratton. "My feet are really starting to hurt."

"Uh sure lets just find some shade though." As they both sat down Karina took off her slip on shoes and began to rub her feet, her feet had the look of a normal humans just they had small feathers that covered it, that's when Stratton noticed that she had blisters under on some parts of her feet.. "Hey why don't you let me?" He lifted up her feet and started to massage them as she smiled.

"Thank you. That feels really nice." She just leaned back in the shade and let him massage her feet. After about thirty minutes later she seemed like she was doing better. "Well I think I'm ready to go." She tried to put her shoes back on but cringed.

"Hey are you alright?" He asked concerned. He then noticed her inability to put on her shoes. He knelt down next to her and took her hands. "Come on you can ride on my shoulders." She just looked at him and smiled.

"Thank you." She said and got on his shoulders. "You treat me so nicely." She said smiling happily. He carried her on his shoulder's for a while when a shadow suddenly passed over them quickly.

"What was tha...?" Before he could finish there was three Birdlings around him. All of which were holding golden tridents.

"Lady Karina are you alright?" One of them asked looking at Karina. "This boy didn't hurt you did he." They all suddenly aimed their weapons at Stratton. "I swear if you hurt one feather on the Princess's head. I will personally kill you myself." The one said.

"Soldier please! Stratton saved me, he hasn't hurt me at all." She said and the soldiers all put their weapons back at their sides.

"Could we both by chance get a ride back to the Kingdom?" She asked. She noticed that Stratton had a look of shock on his face.

"Right away my lady." The soldier said and lifted Stratton up by putting his hands under his arm pits and lifting up. The soldiers had longer wings that came out on the bottom side of their arms. They flew for about three minutes before a giant castle appeared on a mountain side. And by the castle there were houses. "Welcome to the capital of our great Nation. This is Berbasa." The soldier told Stratton.

As they landed near the castle and out came a large Birdling wearing a crown. Following him was two other female Birdlings who had their faces covered by a red lined cloak hood. And behind them was a man who wore baggy silky cloths and had four finger armors on. But he had three feathers coming out of the front part of his hair in the middle. "Sister you have returned!" One of the cloaked girls said and went over to Stratton. "And who is this young hero?" She asked smiling at him.

"His name is Stratton, and he rescued me from a group of Narl." Karina said smiling. The older sister looked concerned. "Don't worry sister I am unharmed." She noticed the grateful look on her sister's face.

Both the sisters went over to Stratton. "Please come inside. We shall hold a feast in your honor, for saving our young sister." Stratton was then brought inside with Karina still on his shoulders.

"Interesting." Dedric said out loud as he watched Stratton get pulled into the castle. 'Maybe this will work to our advantage.' He thought as he waited for the king to start to go inside and followed behind him. 'This could be very good.'