The long way around (Revised)

by RisuUmbra


Chapter 10 part 3

    It just turned midnight when we got the signal, we had been told to hide by the left end of the town in the trees out of sight. Triton and I were led here by the griffiness named Tiff who didn’t say anything besides.
    “Wait for the signal” before flying off without warning leaving us in the dark with tension in the air making us stay silent. While we waited I was checking my equipment, I left my bag back at the camp but I kept the light crystal in my pocket and wrapped in some extra cloth so it doesn’t give off light. My gloves were fine for now and my jacket was in good condition, the chestplate was still untouched and my pants and boots were tightened along with my swords strap.

    “Hey” I looked at Triton and was about to ask why he’s whispering when he held out one of the knives from his bandolier

    “Just in case” I hesitated before grabbing it with a nod in his direction then went to strap it to my belt in the back and when I finished I unsheath my sword and waited.

    The signal was hard to miss as the blockade on the main road exploded and followed up with the sounds of battle jolting both of us out of whatever reviery we were in and making us run towards the town. We made it across the field with no problems and had just reached the wooden wall built around the town, I saw Triton open his beak to say something but I grabbed it a kept it shut as I heard hooves beat across the walkway above us.

    “They breached the entryway, hurry” I heard a passing voice gallop past followed by what I think is two others and when I couldn’t hear them anymore I released Triton”s beak and looked back at him.
“Thanks, I’ll fly up and pull you over after” We both nodded at the plan and he left afterwards over the top of the ramparts and after a minute I peeked back over and lowered his claw for me and I jumped and grabbed it and he pulled me up and over onto a wooden platform giving me a view of the town. The town of Twinleaf probably looked pretty nice but now it was dirty and run down and because of the fire from the attack you could see where the battle is taking place at the front entrance. I tapped Triton to get his attention and pointed down to the ground and he nodded when he got my idea and grabbed my arm and jumped off with me coming along, he opened his wings when we got close to the ground to slow us down and we landed unharmed.

    “Let me see the map” I whispered to Triton and he whipped out the map and handed to me, we are currently across town from where the civilians are being held and we have at most an hour before the distraction moves to the main fight so we need to run. I handed Triton the map and started to jog through the alleyways with Triton following me while listening for any wing beats or the sound of steps getting closer.
    We had just reached the main road of the town when we heard voices but couldn’t make out what they were saying, we had to keep still and wait for them to pass which they did without problem, and we were about to step off the main road when we heard it a loud BOOM! Ringing through the air and making me and Triton jump and slap our hand on eachothers mouths before slowly looking up at the rooftops nearby… They have a cannon. Who mounts a cannon on top of a house! It was the type of cannon you would see on a pirate ship but old and rusty
    “What?” I could hear Triton through his beak yelling this and apparently so could whoever was aiming the cannon as it slowly turned towards our direction.

    “Run”
    “Run” Both of us ran towards the building the cannon was on top of so it couldn’t hit us, but the moment we left that spot the cannon fired and the resulting explosion sent us flying towards it. The heat hurt only for a second before the adrenaline kicked in and we rolled to a stop in front of the building a bit disoriented and with our ears ringing.

    “We need to take out that cannon before it kills anyone!” I could barely hear Triton yell but nodded, I stood up and ran around the side of the building and climbed the uneven wooden planks and I could hear Triton’s wings flapping while I climbed. On the roof was two diamond dogs manning or dogging the cannon with a stack of cannonballs nearby, I threw myself over and pulled out my sword while I stood up but the dogs were on me before I could attack. I tried to slash one but I had to stop to catch the paw he tried to claw me with while the other aimed the cannon towards us, He was stronger than me and was slowly pushing me back off the edge and would have succeeded if an eagle cry didn’t distract him for a moment and made him look past me for a moment giving Triton the chance to fly past me and crash his closed claw into the dogs muzzle sending him flying back into the cannon knocking him out and knocking the cannon up and backwards aiming it right in the face of the other diamond dog who flinched back and out of the way of the cannon but near the edge giving me an idea, I ran up and grabbed a cannonball and tossed it to the dog.

    “Hey, catch!” He did catch it but it pushed him back and almost over the edge of the building but they grabbed the lip of the cannon to keep steady. I heard clicking noise and looked to see Triton lighting the cannon fuse with the fire starter and grinning a bit and looked back to see the dogs eyes widen in shock then push the cannon straight up and back down at us and we respond in kind. We were pushing the cannon back and forth trying to not get shot and at some point the dog had thrown the cannonball up and it landed inside of it somehow. This went on for a few moments and might have looked comical to some but it was pretty nerve wracking to us and at some point the diamond dog had enough and when the cannon descended on his side he reached over and stuck his claw into my collar bone but luckily the armor stopped it from hitting skin but it still hurt quite a bit. When the dog tried to remove his claw it wouldn’t move meaning we were stuck together while a live cannon was pointed into his chest.

    “Oh no” I just braced myself as the cannon went off with two cannonballs inside of it launched into the chest of a diamond dog at point blank distance and instead of tearing him to pieces the ball got lodged in his chest sending him and me along for the ride as he dragged me with him with his claw in a death grip on my armor.

    “Michael!” I could hear Triton fading into the distance as I flew through the air with the wind wiping into my face and past my ears, I could hear someone screaming and it took a moment for me to realize it was me. At some point the dead diamond dogs paw came loose letting me rotate a bit in the air, my gaze wandered to where the battle was taking place and I didn’t like what I saw. We’re losing, I could see the minotaurs team struggling against the enemy and being pushed back. I tried to see more but I could feel us hitting the summit of our arc and start to go down again, my first instinct was to curl up in a ball and hope for the best and that’s exactly what I did.

    We were heading straight for a medium sized run down house, the corpse hit it first leaving a hole large enough for me to pass through but after that I closed my eyes and all I could feel is my body hitting something slanted making me roll then hitting the corpse again and hitting the floor and stopping. My whole body was one big bruise and I had a few small cuts in my jacket, but I was alive and breathing. I looked up at my entryway and saw how I survived, the floor had been caved in a bit and was slanted down and into a hanging chandelier and there hanging impaled by his face was the dead dog on the chandelier acting like a speed bump basically. I slowly stood and waited to see if anything else would happen, I almost fell again from weak legs but slowly but surely I stood then glanced around and shrugged when nothing happened, I was about to walk off but the floor creaked loudly then started to cave in with me in the middle and before I could move it fell down into some basement with me standing on top covered in dust, wood, and dog and human blood. When the dust settled I stood up again and dusted myself off and sighed before saying in frustration
    “Why is nothing going to plan!”