Winged Dream

Black Snakes

There was a soft clacking of boots on old stone. It grew closer and Waldek turned to Will who acknowledged his unspoken message with the silent drawing of throwing knives and poisoned needles. Finn and Freyer crept out of the room to join in the inevitable battle .

From the darkness down the hallway came two shadowy figures that brought with them a darkness of their own.

"We have guests." one said.

"Shall we greet them with tea and cake?" The other responded.

"Oh yes, I bet I can guess their favorite flavor too."

"Can you? Then tell me my brother, what is it?"

"Blood." A boy not much older than Waldek, with short black hair and a snake tattoo on his face said, slowly slithering his way into the torch light.

"Whose first? If you don't come now your tea will get cold and your cake will fill with maggots." He said with a frown.

Freyer bolted forward aiming for the snake's legs. The boy took a step to left and Freyer just managed to nick him under the knee. Freyer slashed and slashed at him aiming to cut his throat, his opponent  backed away with ease every time.

"Ah, good this guest has quite an apatite." With just as little hesitation Finn drew his sword and sprinted toward the enemy. He jumped trying to hit the older one in the face with his foot .The enemy grabbed it and held tight, Finn was dangling by his foot, but that didn't phase him. Finn still had his sword, he held it tight with both hands and swung it over his head into the man's stomach. He dropped Finn who hit the ground hard, but the man was crouched over in pain. While Finn lie on the stone in pain Waldek and Will attacked the enemy. Will stood behind and Waldek in front.  They drew their weapons. Will stabbed him in the neck with a poisoned needle to stop his body from moving. Waldek held a sword to the snake's throat, Will held the man's head steady by his hair. The sound of brutal decapitation echoed through the hall and the blood rained down on them.

Freyer and his opponent turned to see what happened. The boy's expression made a drastic change. His disturbingly happy face narrowed into a glare, black eyes  red with anger and blood lust.

"You." he said "You killed Itsvy. NOW YOUR BLOOD WILL PAINT THE WALLS!!" He was no longer paying any attention to Freyer, he ran at Waldek with his sword drawn. Freyer appeared out of nowhere in front of him before he could reach his target. Freyer blocked the fierce attack with an ease that he had not had before. Freyer's eyes turned icy. He was dead serious.

"Your name. What is it?" Freyer asked. The answer came quickly,

"Zrad." he said. Zrad pulled back and Freyer was about to split him in two with an uppercut. Zrad didn't have the time to dodge his attack, but still he was prepared to look his death in the face, just had he had made so many others do.

" L'adovec zachytenie. "

Waldek's words from behind froze the air around Freyer, stopping his attack once again. It also trapped Zrad in it's frost bitten grip. Waldek walked slowly over to Zrad, his sword dripping with blood ready to take the life another.

'Itsvy...the voices....they've...stopped. Do you think, now...we can.....live together....for eternity?' Waldek released Freyer from the ice and went over to where Finn and Will were to help bag the head. "WHY DID YOU STOP ME!!?" Freyer screamed to Waldek. He glared. "These are humans. Not squirrels, not hens. People. Killing an animal and killing a person isn't the same. Once you've killed your own, there is no return."

Zrad's head lay near his body on the ancient stone. Blood blacker than night  pooled around his corpse. The blood silently began to make it's way over to the head. Zrad's head was pulled back on to his body. His black blood became stiches then sewed his severed head onto his cold torso.

Finn pulled himself up and looked to his friends. Something in the background, there was something there. He forced his eyes to focus on the moving oddity. he could make out Zrads dirty face and gleaming silver sword, held awkwardly in his hand. The enraged bloody corpse swiftly came nearer to his prey.

Finn tried to stand, but it was futile. He didn't have time to scream, it was too late. With a last burst of strength he was able to throw his beaten  body in front of  Waldek. A quick slash of Zrad's sword and the crimson spewed from Finn's chest. There was a gaping gash from his left shoulder to his right hip.

Zrad re-aimed for Waldek and came at him with great speed. Waldek grabbed a hold of the blade with his bare hand.The precious metal broke under the pressure of his anger.The water in the air around him crystallized, the tiny shards of ice began to form a gigantic sword

"WALDEK! DON'T!! IT USES TO MUCH POWER!!!" Will cried from the sidelines, holding Finn in his arms. The sword was almost completely fabricated, only the hilt was left. Waldek clenched his teeth, gripped his chest in pain. He reached for the ice blade, but he lost his grip before he had it. Waldek fell to the floor, and laid there silently, unmoving.

Freyer, could watch helplessly no more. He dashed over and sliced Zrad straight down the middle. his body dropped as he fell open. He was empty, no blood poured or spewed, there were no innards to be seen, just an empty shell of a troubled boy lie in  two at Freyer's feet.

After Will had bandaged Finn, Freyer and he carried the heads of the snakes along with the unconscious Finn and Waldek, down the hill and into the darkening city. Everyone was rushing to get home before the sun could fall, but still  they were enable to ignore the presence of Freyer and Will walking into town.They made their way to the Inn and back up to the room. Finn was laid on the bed after they had changed his bandages. Waldek was laid on the floor with a blanket placed over him. Will set a warm cloth on his forehead and bandaged Waldek's hand.

Waldek reawakened fairly soon and asked that Will take the heads to the Bounty Office, three blocks away. He did as he was asked and left the three alone. The silence was so loud it was giving Freyer a headache. Freyer had a thousand questions, for which Waldek had no answers. So he sat silently awaiting criticism, chastisement, whatever Waldek thought suitable.

" I'm sorry." Waldek said.

"W-what?"

"You had to clean up my mess. You shouldn't have had to save me. Its my fault that you had to throw away your innocence. If I had  better controlled my anger .  If-"

"B-brother...sh-shut up." Waldek turned toward Finn's voice  "It's n-not your fault...I should've been..."

"haha" Freyer chuckled softly "You two are so stupid sometimes. Without you two, without everyone, all of us would be dead."