//------------------------------// // Chapter 28 Sanctuaries End // Story: True Black // by Leonofsweden //------------------------------// True Black Chapter 28 Sanctuaries End 17th of July Lobo had fallen asleep only an hour earlier, after coming home from the night patrol, when a series of loud cries from hatchlings sent him up on his paws; ears standing erect as they took in the bone-chilling sound. Without a second thought, Lobo flew off the bed and out of the room, downstairs, through the common area, and out into the early morning light. He skidded to a halt as he took in the scene. In front of him several wagons were being loaded with young hatchlings, all crying tears of fear and dismay as they were wrenched from their mothers and sisters. To Lobo’s shock, it was not some unfamiliar raiding party that was doing it, but the village’s own warriors! Lobo snarled loudly, momentarily halting all movement around him before the warriors, unperturbed by his outburst, returned to their task of loading up the village’s hatchlings. “What is going on?!” Lobo roared, visibly furious. “Lobo you're still up! Excellent! Why don't you and Zig Zag follow me? We have important matters to discuss now that our business is concluded,” called a very pleased looking elder Leonard. Lobo turned around, seeing a newly awoken Zig Zag and Raven coming out of the Golden Talon. Zig Zag was sporting a frown at the sight before him while Raven had a look of defeated apathy over her. “Zig Zag, Raven!” Lobo called, gesturing for them to follow. Elder Leonard stopped and turned back towards Lobo. “I said you and Zig Zag, Lobo, this is a meeting between males. Some frilly little female has no place being with us while we discuss business,” the elder stated firmly. Lobo was just about to protest when Raven put her talon on his shoulder. “It's okay, you two go ahead. I was heading over to Redwing´s anyway and Robin said she has something new she wanted me to try,” Raven said, masking her inner anger with a reassuring smile towards Lobo and Zig Zag. Lobo gave a grunt of annoyance, but nodded. Raven gave a little nod and took off into the sky, leaving the heart-wrenching scene behind as she soared into the distance. Zig Zag, looking after her, wanted nothing more than to stay with Raven instead of listening to some boring old gryphon go on and on about what he thought the two of them should be doing differently around the village. Zig Zag gave a sigh, following after Lobo who was walking behind Leonard and still growling angrily at what he saw around them. It wasn’t long before they were all in the village council chamber. Leonard taking his seat up on the dais, where he could look down at Lobo and Zig Zag. “Well… I must admit you two have really earned your keep around here. I had my doubts when we contract the lot of you, but it was an investment that really bore fruit,” stated Leonard smugly. “What is happening out there? Why are you loading up the hatchlings?” Lobo asked angrily. Leonard looked down at the Wolf as if he had trouble understanding the question; it must have been obvious what was going on out there. “We are loading them up because we sold them, of course.” Elder Leonard stated flatly and coldly. “What!?” Both Lobo and Zig Zag burst out simultaneously, shock and revulsion displayed upon their features. “Well what did you think you're doing here Wolf? You were hired to safeguard our resources so that the other villages would have to pay for what they wanted.” Lobo was taken aback by Leonard’s referring to the hatchlings as ‘resources’. The use of this cold, uncaring term to describe the living youngsters he had worked so hard to protect did not sit well with him at all. “We have now finally sold every hatchling the village doesn't need, and at a premium rate to boot! The fact that not a single hatchling disappeared after we hired you is quite astounding. Never would have thought you could be so useful Wolf,” Elder Leonard said with a smirk. Lobo’s growls were now much more menacing. “That was not what I signed on for! I took this job to make sure the hatchlings wouldn't be separated from their families!” Lobo growled, his facial expression and intonation betraying his rapidly escalating anger. “Oh no! That was never our intention! What would be the financial gain in keeping so many female hatchlings come next winter? No, no, far better to sell them to someplace they might actually be useful. And don't worry too much; we're only selling the hatchlings from the low ranking females. You should actually feel quite proud Wolf, those female hatchlings will gain much higher status in their new village than they could ever have gained here in Crown Peak, given who their mothers were,” Elder Leonard said matter-of-factly as he proceeded to lazily scrape out some dirt from underneath one of his talons. “Although while we're speaking of being useful, we no longer need your services in this village, Wolf. So, after tonight you will have to pay for your own food and board. Although I don't think you have to worry about that either when I think of it…” Leonard said in an unnerving tone, leering down at Lobo and Zig Zag. Before either one of them even had a chance to process what had been said, Lobo yelped loudly; spinning around to see three darts jutting out from his left hind leg. “Dad!” Zig Zag cried out as several village warriors dropped down from the beams high up in the ceiling. Zig Zag managed to dodge two of them before running straight into the third which slammed him down into the floor, pinning him mercilessly. Zig Zag cried out loudly, his limbs near the breaking point. Lobo tried to swing around, only to realize his hind legs weren’t answering. He stumbled about, having trouble even standing upright. “What… what... what's happening?” Lobo said weakly, his whole body now shaking from just the strain of standing. “We are just filling out another order we recently received. Some ponies are paying a very handsome amount of money for you, and when they also threw Zig Zag and Raven into the deal, we just couldn't say no any longer,” Elder Leonard said with an apologetic expression before he burst out laughing. Lobo stumbled off toward Leonard, although he was now surrounded on all sides by warriors. Some were leering down at him menacingly while others didn't look so comfortable with the situation. Lobo suddenly stopped in his tracks. He just stood there breathing raggedly, not even noticing Leonard walking up to him. Finally, Lobo raised his head with a huge effort and met Elder Leonard cold eyes, struggling simply to keep his own eyes open. “What are you made of Wolf?” Elder Leonard asked with genuine curiosity in his voice. “That dose should have knocked you out instantly… oh well… I guess I'll just have to help it along,” Leonard said indifferently. He then grabbed the scimitar of the nearest guard and, in one lightning-fast motion, slammed its hilt into the side of Lobo's head. The fierce blow sent him sprawling to the floor where he laid still, blood oozing from the fresh wound. A shrill cry of anguish filled the room as Zig Zag once again thought he had been made an orphan. “No! Nooooooooooo! Not again! Dad! Please dad! You can´t leave me! Not you too!” Zig Zag wailed sobbingly from where he was pinned to the floor. He struggled wildly, not caring at all about how much pain it was causing him. This time though, almost not a single gryphon Warrior could look at the little pony without feeling at least a little bit of guilt. He was, after all, a proper young warrior; most likely with a bright future. The thought of him ending up in the dark tunnels of the mines, a mere slave, didn't sit right with quite a few of the Warriors who had been training with him over the last few months. Lobo was different, they wouldn't have to see him after today, but Zig Zag´s unavoidable spiral down into oblivion would be happening right before their eyes. “Tie the pony up outside for now, we'll introduce him to the mines later. Right now we need to concentrate on loading up the Wolf and securing him properly. Make sure to move fast, I don't want wing leader Panther finding out about this until it's too late. He’s scheduled to come back from guarding the mining camp at high noon today. The Wolf must be gone by then, or Panther will most likely cause trouble. He has grown a little too attached to this… thing,” Elder Leonard said with disdain and started heading towards the exit. On the way he stopped next to the still sobbing Zig Zag, glaring down at him. “Can someone gag him please, I don't want to listen to any more of his annoying sobbing,” Leonard said and continued on, content with hearing his orders being carried out behind him. **** Raven stood ready, waiting for Robin to begin. They had done this a few times now. Last round she only missed four out of ten targets. To tell the truth, Robin was a bit annoyed by this incredible feat. She had been sure this challenge would be too difficult even for Raven with her ridiculous amount of talent when it came to wielding knives. She had made ten wooden plates which she would throw up randomly into the air. Raven's job was then to hit said plates with her knives. To add to the difficulty, she wasn't allowed to have them out when she began either. All her knives were in their sheets when she started. Robin eyed Raven warily before she started throwing the plates up in the air. One, two, three plates were quickly followed by thud, thud and thud as they rained down with daggers stuck in them. As the tenth plate dropped to the earth, Robin looked around herself and counted. With a little bit of a smirk Robin looked back at Raven. “Only five this time… You're slipping,” Robin said with a hint of reproach. Raven only glared back at her. “Do it yourself if you think it's so damn easy!” Raven said a bit agitatedly. Robin gave a sigh and quietly cursed herself for being so short-tempered with Raven this morning. After all, they both knew why they were in such bad moods. Fully two thirds of all the female hatchlings in the village were on their way to their new homes, probably sobbing the whole way, and many crying sisters and mothers would need comforting tonight. But that was for later; right now she had a talented student in need of more training. “Look, I'm sorry... We both know if I tried, I'd consider myself lucky to hit two plates. You on the other hand, my young apprentice, you have the potential to hit all of them one day,” Robin said, looking over at Raven with a serious expression. Raven was a bit taken aback, not used to receiving praise of any kind, except from Zig Zag that is. “Th… thanks, I think. I mean, you really think so?” Raven asked clumsily, still processing Robin’s unexpected compliment in her mind. Robin gave a little nervous laugh. “Oh believe me, I've been training for years. Then here comes you, a little stick of a girl, and in only a couple of months surpasses any warrior I've ever seen when it comes to knife throwing. Don't get me wrong, you've been working your butt off at it every single day since you came here so I did expect you to become better, but this...,” Robin trailed off and gestured at the impaled targets spread around her, “This is beyond anything I could ever dream of in such a short time.” Robin walked up to Raven and put her right talon on her shoulder reassuringly. “You're truly talented Raven, but don't let that get to your head; you still have a lot to learn. And you will only learn it through hard work,” Robin said, squeezing Raven's shoulder a bit to emphasize that she meant every word of what she said. Raven looked more or less stunned now. At the sight of her now blushing, dumbstruck young apprentice, Robin could not help but grin widely. “By my wings kid, you should see the look on your face right now! Now clean up out here and I'll get some lunch ready for us. You can come in when you're done,” Robin said and walked into Redwing’s store. Raven smiled a bit as she walked over to retrieve her daggers. Just as she was finished sheathing the last dagger, she heard a gryphon land behind her. “Well if it isn't today’s grand prize, playing at being warrior.” Tigero’s malicious voice snarled out from behind her. Raven spun around to see the smirking gryphon leering back at her, flanked by his ever present shadow, Snow Leopard. “What do you want Tigero? Didn't Zig Zag give you enough of a beating last time?” Raven shot back, earning a murderous stare from Tigero before he burst out in the most sinister smile she had ever seen. “Zig Zag? Zig Zag??? Where have I heard that name before… Oh yeah! He is the new slave the elder Council just bought for the mines, isn't he?! They got him at the same time they sold that damn Wolf back to the little ponies! Which means you are now free for anyone to claim!” Tigero burst out, smirking triumphantly. Raven’s lower beak fell open in shock. “What!” she shrieked, glaring furiously at the male gryphon. “If this is a joke Tigero, I'll make sure Zig Zag beats you into a pulp!” Raven growled. Tigero and even Snowy burst out laughing at that threat. “No, the only thing he will be doing is pulling carts for the rest of his miserable life. Don't worry though, I'll bring you down into the mine so we can laugh at him every day,” Tigero mused out loud. Raven was now shaking with rage. “Anyway take off though silly toys of yours. It's time for you to start acting like a proper gryphoness. And unless you accept me as your claimer, you’ll end up being elder Leonard´s new plaything,” Tigero said self-assuredly, holding out his right talon towards Raven expectantly. Not even she could be dumb enough not to accept his offer now, he thought amusedly. “You're my female now, girl! So you will learn your place or-” Tigero collapsed to the ground, jerking violently, before he could even finish the sentence. Snow Leopard looked down at his friend in shocked astonishment. From his left eye protruded a dagger which Raven had thrown from across the training ground. When he looked up again, he was met by Raven´s elbow which connected cleanly with his lower beak. His head snapped back, and he immediately collapsed to the ground. Fortunately for him he had only been knocked unconscious by the enraged gryphoness. Raven was standing over them breathing heavily, her anger still boiling inside. She reached down and yanked the dagger free from Tigero’s skull. He was now most definitely dead. “Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! What on all my feathers am I going to do now?!” Raven roared, thinking aloud to herself as she paced around. “The first thing you are going to do is calm down,” Raven heard someone say harshly. She looked towards the back entrance of the store where she saw Redwing standing in the doorway. Behind her, a shocked Robin was gawking out as well. Redwing slowly walked up to Raven and gently grabbed hold of her head, holding it firmly while she looked into Raven's eyes. “I just came back from an errand. Lobo has been tied to the top of a wagon and is currently being transported by two Pegasi southward away from the village. There are also two gryphon Warriors with them. Zig Zag is being led toward the mines on the north side of the mountain by another warrior. If he's taken into the mines, you will have no chance of rescuing him. Do you understand girl? Save him before he gets to the mine and then flee from this place.” Redwing stated calmly, as if it was the easiest thing in the world to do. Raven nodded that she had understood. “Never in my life have I believed for a second in something as ridiculous as love. I mean honestly, look around us! How could a female ever truly love a male? Then I saw you and Zig Zag together… you two can't lose each other. Now GO!” Redwing exclaimed, while tears ran down her cheeks. Raven shot up into the air heading north. Before they were out of sight, Raven looked back and saw Redwing and Robin standing side-by-side smiling up at her. Thank you! I'll never forget you two! Raven thought while tears ran down her own cheeks. She then faced forward, increasing her speed. Zig Zag needed her and not even the five kingdoms combined could stop her from reaching him! **** “Come on pony quit being so damn difficult!” the gryphon shoving Zig Zag along barked, annoyed. Zig Zag had been making life extremely difficult for the guard. Even though the pony was tied up pretty securely, Zig Zag would still buck and squirm every time the guard tried picking him up. This had resulted in the gryphon warrior having to walk him toward the mines for fear of Zig Zag, who seemingly did not care what would happen when he suddenly stopped at the end of the fall, did not wrench himself out of the warrior’s grip mid-flight. The gryphon walked behind Zig Zag, poking him with his sword every time Zig Zag stopped hobbling forward. Tears were dripping from Zig Zag’s eyes while he tried to put up as much resistance as he could. Why he resisted he didn't know; Lobo was gone and Raven was supposedly captured as well. He was alone in a hostile village which was going to mercilessly work him to death over the next couple of years. They crossed the last ridge, and now Zig Zag could see what would be the last thing he ever would in his life. It was a small encampment, surrounding an opening into the mountain. There were many guard gryphons around, making sure none of the slaves could escape. To Zig Zag’s surprise, most of the slaves were also gryphons although he could also see several ponies and even a Zebra inside of the compound; all toiling away at pulling carts in and out of the mine. “Welcome to your new home pony!” the gryphon exclaimed derisively as he walked up next to Zig Zag who just glared back at him, making the gryphon chuckle a bit. “Don't worry, it's not as bad as you think. We even feed you… most days anyhow,” the guard mused mockingly and laughed out loud. Zig Zag seized the opportunity to buck his tormentor as hard as he could. The gryphon shrieked out in pain, then struck Zig Zag so hard that he lifted off the ground and landed heavily beside the trail leading down into the mining camp. Zig Zag groaned through his tied muzzle as he tried to stand up again, only for the gryphon to smack him down with a closed fist again, and again, and again. When the guard finally stopped, Zig Zag just lay still where he was, blood slowly running out of his nostrils. “You will soon learn that making us guards angry is not a good thing, pony,” the guard hissed at Zig Zag. Just then something landed beside the two of them with a loud thud. The guard looked up in surprise and jumped off of Zig Zag. “What is going on here Serval?! What are you doing with Zig Zag?!” Panther shouted angrily. Upon hearing the familiar voice Zig Zag pried one eye open, looking at the wing leader Lobo had become friends with during their time at Crown Peak. Panther looked down worriedly and started to undo the ropes that were tying Zig Zag’s muzzle shut. “Sorry Wing leader, but you probably shouldn't do that. We both know how fast that little bugger is. If he gets loose, the two of us will have one hell of a time trying to chase him down again. He sure isn’t happy about being our newest slave for the mines!” Serval exclaimed. This made Panther freeze where he sat hunched over Zig Zag. Panther looked Zig Zag in the eyes, seeing the tears running down from them. “Zig Zag… What is going on? What happened?” Panther asked in a strained voice. Zig Zag looked back at Panther and a little spark of hope lit up inside of him. “They… They poisoned dad… They are going to hand him over to the bad ponies back home. Leonard said I had to stay here and become a slave in the mines. And Raven…” Zig Zag sobbed, “I don't know where Raven is!” Zig Zag shouted with his cracked voice before spitting out some blood onto the ground to clear his airways. Panther’s talons closed into a fist around the ropes he had untied from Zig Zag´s muzzle, his facial expression shifting to that of pure and unmitigated rage. “Leonard you freaking bastard. I knew you were up to something, but this…” Panther hissed, then ripped off the rest of Zig Zag´s bindings in absolute fury. “Wing leader! You can't do that! The whole elder council, not just Leonard, has approved of this course of action; there is nothing you can do!” Serval exclaimed with a look of desperation, trying to make Panther see the futility of what he was doing. Serval only received a backhanded slap across his face. Completely surprised, Serval stumbled several steps back before catching himself again. “Zig Zag is coming with me, and when I'm through ‘talking’ with elder Leonard, we will either be going to get Lobo back, or so help me Leonard will have made the last miserable decision of his life!” Panther roared. He turned back to Zig Zag and gently lifted him up onto his back. “Hold on, I'm going to straighten this whole thing out right now!” Panther promised forcefully and determinedly, while Zig Zag clambered on as best he could. They shot up into the air, Panther flapping his wings and gaining altitude rapidly. They had only flown for a couple of minutes before Panther suddenly felt a sharp pain in his lower back, making him screech out in surprise. Looking back he saw a dart sticking out of his hindquarters. Immediately, he felt the numbing effect of the poison starting to spread throughout his body. Cursing loudly, Panther immediately started gliding back towards the ground, finally landing a bit clumsily. Serval set down at the same time, holding a blow pipe in one of his talons. Panther reached back and yanked out the little dart. He looked at it and then glared over at Serval. “What do you think you're doing?!” Panther yelled, although it didn't come out as forcefully as he had wanted. “Sorry wing leader, but the council thought you might do something stupid. I really didn't want to do that to you, but you left me no choice. You have clearly become too friendly with that Wolf, and the new slave is going to start working the mines today.” Serval stated calmly but contemptuously. Panther spread his wings in a defensive posture, but they immediately started to sag. “Damn it! I won't let you do this!” Panther protested, just as his back legs went out from under him. Zig Zag, still very groggy from the beating he had received, tumbled off Panther’s back and rolled onto the grass behind him. Slowly and cautiously, Serval started walking forward towards Panther and Zig Zag; they both might seem incapacitated but he wasn't taking any chances. Panther looked up angrily at Serval and noticed something flash in the sky behind him. In the next instant Raven slammed down on Serval´s back, punching two daggers hilt deep into his armors wing slits. Serval screamed loudly as the two of them tumbled onto the ground. Raven ripped the daggers out and smashed the butt end of each of them into either side of Serval’s head, causing him to immediately lose consciousness. Raven stood up, panting heavily as she narrowed her eyes at Panther. “Get away from him!” Raven hissed towards Panther, who answered by slumping down onto the ground next to Zig Zag. Seeing this, Raven looked over at him suspiciously. Zig Zag now managed to get up on all fours and stumbled over to stand in between Raven and Panther. “Wait Raven… he was trying to save me…” Zig Zag said and sat down again, still woozy from those blows to the head. This seemed to calm Raven down a bit. When she saw that Zig Zag seemed really hurt, she immediately ran forward; catching him in a firm embrace. They sat like that for a while, just feeling each other's presence, until a weak voice beside them made itself heard. “You need to go… Lobo… you need to get him… Even if they won't reach the pony border for quite a while, it won't take long for the elders to realize something’s gone wrong and send more Warriors to secure him… You need to free him before the day is over!” Panther directed, struggling with every word, as he looked at the two of them with a soft smile. “I'm sorry I can't help, but this sedative will most likely make me useless for the next twenty-four hours. At least take these as a parting gift,” Panther said then slowly managed to get two finely made daggers out from his weapons belt. He laid them down between himself and Zig Zag, who promptly picked them up and slid them into place on the back of his armor. Zig Zag had been allowed to keep his armor since quite frankly no male gryphon in his right mind would want it and because the mine was a dangerous place to work and having the armor to minimize this risk of injury would make him a more efficient worker. “Thank you Panther. I'll tell dad what you did for me…” Zig Zag promised solemnly. “Thanks… I would like for Lobo to know I did not betray his trust... I did not know this was happening…” Panther struggled to say while he tried to keep his eyes open. “We will tell him.” Raven stated reassuringly. Panther nodded and smiled. “You are a tough female Raven, it's too bad I couldn't win you that first night… Although at the same time, I'm glad I didn't… Now go… You two don't have any time to waste.” Panther said while trying to wave them away. Both Zig Zag and Raven nodded. Zig Zag climbed onto Raven's back and once again held on as best he could. With a last look back at Panther, they could see that he was now sleeping soundly. Zig Zag tightened his hold on Raven. “I was so worried about you… I thought I might have lost you… forever,” Zig Zag said and nuzzled into Raven's neck. Raven looked back at him smiling. “You will never loose me ZZ! I… I… I love you! And I will never let you go, as long as there is breath in my body,” Raven stated firmly. Zig Zag smiled back at her and then kissed Raven firmly on the side of her beak. “I love you too Raven, and I will never let you go either.” Zig Zag said as he once again nuzzled into her neck. “Now… let's save dad!” Zig Zag exclaimed. Raven beamed back at him and nodded eagerly. With a single mighty leap, the two of them were away down the mountainside. They would have to take the long way around since they could not go back to the village, but it would hopefully still be a few hours before anybody knew they were gone. And before that they should hopefully have already found Lobo again since he was being pulled on a wagon along the ground. They couldn't have gotten too far… could they? **** Thanks to Pen Perfect for the Pre-read/Edit