//------------------------------//
// Ch.10 Past Sins 
// Story: The Epic of a Diamond Dog 
// by Ravencrofte 
//------------------------------//

	“I’m fine,” protested Kitty Hawk as I checked her over yet again, probably for the third or fourth time. I started with her good wing, running my paw along its length and feeling for any abrasions, breaks, or cuts. I gently lifted her other wing, which was healing nicely. Finding nothing wrong, I moved onto the rest of her body, running my paws through her fur, checking each hoof, and finally her mane and tail. Besides a few ruffled feathers, she had come out of the incident completely unscathed.
 Reluctantly, I released her, and she hopped off my lap. 
“I swear, you act like you're my dad,” she said.
I stared at Kitty Hawk, silently fighting back the emotions that her statement stirred up.
        It was late evening, the first stars shining through the fading twilight. Our small fire blazed away in its shallow pit. Bugs chirped in the darkness. The river Yark drifted by, adding its quiet hush to the sounds of the night.
        The sounds were interrupted as Kitty Hawk returned to her dinner, noisily chomping through a date. Rearing up, she cocked her head and spit the seed into the night. Her ears stood at attention, only relenting at the sound of a distant splash. She smiled mischievously. 
        The bags of food had spoiled by midday. We had dumped the contents and kept the bags. Here, well beyond the borders of any clan, food was bountiful. A quick search produced dates and plums, small melons and young ferns. I caught several large river trout, and afterwards waded through the shallows, snatching up crayfish by hand. One had pinched me with his claws, but I had the last laugh: he had tasted delicious. Several leafs of dogs-head cooked in the fire. The leaves would keep for several days, making them excellent trail food. 
            I reached down and retrieved one of the skewered rabbit from over the fire, the skin just starting to get crispy. Turning away from Kitty Hawk, I devouring my meal in secret.  She had protested when I caught it, turned a bit green when I killed it, and left completely when the preparation process started.
           I thoroughly cleaned the bones and hurled the remains into the night.
        Kitty Hawk burped, a loud monstrous thing that echoed into the night. She smacked her full stomach with affection. Rising, she waddled over to the saddle pack and pulled out the blanket. She dragged it over to me, wrapped it around her once, twice, three times, and then plopped down on the ground, facing the fire. 
        “I’m so stuffed,” she moaned.
        “Then don’t eat so much,” I said, reaching down and ruffling her mane. After her bath, her mane had puffed up into little clouds; too bad I didn't have a brush to fix it.
        I stared into the fire, listening to the wood snap and pop. I didn’t want to admit it to Kitty Hawk, but I was weary. My muscles felt tight, and my limbs were heavy. My eyelids were sinking. It was becoming more and more difficult to keep them up. 
        I let out a long yawn. 
        We had left the clan far behind. We were safe, underneath the stars, all alone. Safe and warm. 
        The flames morphed into an endless processions of dancers. They bobbed and weaved,  twirled and fluttered, spinning as they lept skywards. They enchanted me with their song, hypnotized me with their moments, and welcomed me to sleep with their warming touch.
        “EMBER!”
        Her cry shot through me like a lightning bolt. I went flying to my feet, blinking the sleep from my eyes. My sword appeared in my hand. My pounding heart filled my ears. Kitty Hawk was pointing to my left where a purple ball of flame was writhing in midair.
        “Magic,” I growled. I yanked Kitty Hawk out of her blanket cocoon and placed her behind me. I held my sword before me, ready for anything. The purple fire started to spin in place, then faster and faster. A low hum resonated from it, rapidly increasing to a screech as the flames accelerated. Suddenly it expanded, stretching to the height of a dog and leaving a white glossy surface in its center. 
Spoke appeared on the other side, howled joyfully when he spotted me. 
“Ember,” he cried, dancing in place. “Where are you? Are you alright? Are you hurt? We’ve been so worried about you, You father hasn’t been doing well, keeps saying how its all his fault, And then mystics keep saying how you’re breaking the ancient laws and that if you don't return you’re going to be put to death.” Spoke finally stopped for a breath and grinned at me wolfishly. 
“Spoke,” I said, tentatively lowering my blade. “Is that really you?”
“Yeah, last I checked. Oh! What are you seeing? The mystics said this was like a reflection in the river, but you can see another dog on the other side and talk over long distances.” 
“Spoke! Stop,” I said, raising my paw for emphasis. He promptly shut up.  
I returned my weapon to its sheath. 
“Now, what happened? And explain it slowly,” I emphasized.  
Kitty Hawk had snuck out from behind me and cautiously crept towards the manifestation.  She tentatively reached up a hoof.
“Kitty Hawk, don’t!” I said, but it was too late. She put her hoof through it and the magic instantly condensed into a tiny speck, vanishing with a little poof of smoke. I stared at her, working my jaw back and forth; I couldn’t decide whether to laugh or to scold her.
 Kitty Hawk looked back at me helplessly before hanging her head, ears splayed back as she scraped the ground with an idle hoof.
“I didn’t mean to break it,” she said, all the while refusing to look me in the eyes.
I sighed, any anger I had held escaping with it. “Come here,” I said, opening my arms. When she didn’t approach, I stepped forwards and scooped her up, holding her close to my chest. 
“I doubt you broke it,” I whispered in her ear, “but don't go poking strange things, especially when they involve magic. You don’t know what will happen."
Kitty Hawk started to babble out apologies but I shushed her with a finger to her lips.
We both looked up as the purple fire reappeared. It swirled, expanded, and once again Spoke was staring at us. 
“Hey,” said Spoke, "the Mystics say not to do that. Something about ‘maintaining the spell over long distances'. You should have seen them jump when the spell imploded. It gave them both a nasty shock. Oh! Hey, Kitty Hawk!” Spoke waved at us.
Kitty Hawk tentatively waved back. 
“Ok, Spoke,” I said, unable to return the wave with my arms full, “ why are there Mystics in the village?”
"Because of you."
The subsequent silence chirped with the sounds of various night bugs. I ground my teeth, searching for the right words. A thousand questions buzzed madly around my head.
Finally, I asked, “What do you mean ‘because of you?’ ” 
“The mystics say that you're violating the ancient code of the Dog. You have to come back.”
“What?!” I just stared at Spoke, dumbfounded. 
“Yeah! By traveling beyond the borders of the empire, you are violating the ancient code meant to keep Dogs pure and free from being corrupted by the lesser races.”
I looked down at Kitty Hawk in my arms. She gave me a tentative smile. I might have only known her a short time, but never once had she proved herself less than a dog; if anything, she was smarter than a few I could name. She was bright and innocent, unspoiled by the harsh world around her. Take away the wings and she might as well have been a puppy. A lost, scared puppy far away from home. And I was going to take her back.
Looking up at Spoke, I narrowed my eyes, my lips drew upwards in a snarl. It was only with extreme self-control that I didn’t roar at him.
“Exactly how are ponies ‘lesser races’?” I asked.
        “I don’t know,” answered Spoke. He turned to his left, listening to someone I could not see. When he turned back, his answer only made my anger burn brighter: “The mystics say because they aren't dogs.” 
         I closed my eyes, breathing deeply. 
        Off in the night, a twig snapped. Then another. I swiveled an ear in the direction of the noise, listening for more. The wind picked up, bringing along with it the stench of salt, urine, and unwashed bodies.
        I opened my eyes.
        “Tell me Spoke, how did the Magi learn about Kitty Hawk and me anyways?”
        “Silver Tongue. As soon as we let him go, he went straight to the capital. The Magi arrived just after you left.” 
        I felt my anger surge within me, and I stood there shaking with fury. If I ever saw that accursed mutt of a bitch again, I would cut his head off. Then I would chop his corpse up and leave it for the birds to feed upon.
        “Please tell my father that I love him.”
        “Will do,” said Spoke with a grin.
        I put Kitty Hawk down and picked up a rock. 
        “I’m going now,” I said, rolling the rock around in my paw. “I am going to take Kitty Hawk home.”
        “You can’t!” said Spoke. “If you leave the empire, the mystics will kill you.” 
        “Then that’s a risk I will have to take. Goodbye.” I was sad to say goodbye to a friend I had known for so long.
“Don’t leave! The mystics say I’m supposed to keep talking to you.”
“Yes, I bet you are,” I said just before I hurled the stone. It passed through the magical apparition, and the spell winked out of existence.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something twinkle in the light. I twisted to the right just as a spear zipped past and embedded itself in the tree with a solid “thunk”. I drew my blade and faced the darkness. A low, menacing growl rumbled up from my throat. 
 I felt Kitty Hawk huddled beside me.
Three dogs emerged: a Pitbullton, a Wolvonus, and one of the thin, grey dogs that had done such a good job of trying to ensnare me with their bolos; he was the only one I had not managed to wound or kill. 
“Blood Bath, you missed him,” said the Wolvonus dog. “He was standing right there, and you missed him.” He continued to point at me for emphasis, all the while looking at the Pitbullton. His voice cracked as he spoke. Upon closer inspection, I placed him at barely out of his puppy years. He carried a sword.
The Pitbullton called “Blood Bath” ignored his taller companion, instead keeping his eyes narrowed at me. What he lacked in height he made up for in broad, muscular shoulders. He was the only one who wore armor: a solid piece of metal with countless scrapes and dents. A pair of swords hung from his belt, one on either hip. There was no emotion from him, only a set of calculating eyes that watched my every move.
The third one just glared at me with fierce, burning eyes. He gripped his spear so hard that his paws shook. His breath came and went through a silent snarl. 
“He he,” said the Wolvonus ‘pup’. “Rapid Ranger, are you going to make him suffer because he killed your brother?”
“Shut it, Scrap, before I rip your Emperor-forsaken throat out.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” said the Wolvonus dog “Scrap”, raising his paws in surrender. “I just thought you would want to skewer him on your spear and then rip their innards out.  You know, like how Blood Bath executes prisoners? I would too if he had killed one of my family.”
“SHUT UP!” barked Rapid Ranger before turning back towards me. Ignoring the pitiful look from Scrap, he said, “You can chop off his paws, but leave him alive. I want him alive long enough to see me gut that pony in front of him.”
Blood Bath only acknowledged with a grunt. 
“Leave now,” I said. “Please, there doesn’t have to be any more death.” I looked at each of the dogs in turn. Somehow I already knew that any reasoning with them was worthless.
        Scrap scoffed at me. “No way you...you... accursed mutt of a slave bitch. The Magi are offering a reward of five hundred jewels to whoever brings them your head.”
        “SCRAP!” roared Rapid Ranger. “Shut your trap and follow me. Blood Bath, take the other side.” Rapid Ranger started circling around from the right. Blood Bath came in on the left. 
        “Leave,” I hollered, backing up into the darkened treeline. My pleas fell on deaf ears. 
        “Kitty Hawk,” I hissed out of the corner of my mouth, never taking my eyes off of my enemies. “Go to the river. If anyone comes after you, I want you to swim to the other side. Do you understand?” She might drown attempting to do so, but it was better than the alternative. 
        “But Ember-”
        “Go,” I yelled.
        I heard the clop of hooves as she ran off into the night. 
        Blood Bath drew both his swords in one fluid motion. Rapid Ranger leveled his spear. Scrap only sneared, chiming in with, “You’re a dead dog.” When no one replied, he only shrugged. “Looks like you guys got this covered. I’ll go find the pony.” He started after Kitty Hawk.
        “Get back here, you yellow-bellied worthless mutt,” hissed Rapid Ranger.
        I moved to intercept Scrap. Blood Bath lunged an instant later, and our blades crashed. He brought down his second sword with frightening speed, and I had to dodge to keep him from hacking my arm off. 
“Your fight is here,” growled Blood Bath in a deep gravelly voice that had all the emotion of a rock.
I chanced a look behind me, but both Scrap and Kitty Hawk were gone. 
Rapid Ranger thrust with his spear, and I knocked it to the side. Blood Bath slashed at my face, and I leapt away.  I circled around the pair, trying to keep Rapid Ranger between Blood Bath and me.
I saw the spear tip flash in the light. I redirected the tip with my sword, but then Rapid Ranger reversed the spear and swung the butt end at my legs. I blocked it before he could trip me up. Twin points dove at my chest. I leaned back as far as I could go, watching in horrid fascination as Blood Bath’s swords crossed above me like a set of scissors. 
Denied his quick victory, Blood Bath lashed out with a vicious kick, sending me flying backwards. 
With a thud, I hit the ground and sprawled out in an undignified mess. My paws found the ground under me. I swiftly rose to standing position. The ground wobbled beneath me but held firm. With a shake of my head, I once again faced my enemies. 
Blood Bath was advancing rapidly, his twin swords singing for blood. Rapid Ranger was just behind him, spear at the ready and a determined grin on his face. 
I felt the fire at my back, so close that it was singeing my fur. A log poked me in the back. I reached behind and grabbed it. The embers burned into my paw. My teeth ground together as I fought back the pain.
The pair of blades came slicing in. I blocked the first one with my sword but met the second with the flaming log. The two met with a shower of ash and flame. Blood Bath screamed as he caught most of it in the face. I made to advance, but then the spear snaked out from under Blood Bath’s arm.
Now it was my turn to scream in pain. I dropped the log and retreated, clutching the gash at my side. Blood Bath was still rubbing his eyes, but Rapid Ranger advanced. 
The small dog lashed out with his spear, thrusting at the face, my stomach, my legs, any place where he could try and reach me. I beat each attack back in turn, but Rapid Ranger never relented. 
He cursed me, raged and bellowed to the emperor to strike me down, to his dead brother to grant him strength to avenge his murderer. His eyes burned with a fury that only my death could soothe. 
He thrust too far, and I seized the spear with my blistered paw. Bringing my sword down, I chopped off the spearpoint. I fell back, breathing heavily. Rapid Ranger glared from his spear point on the ground, to his broken weapon, and then to me. He roared for all he was worth. 
Blood Bath appeared behind the smaller dog. With a savage kick, he sent Rapid Ranger stumbling forwards. It was blissfully easy to extend my blade and let the smaller dog become impaled upon the metal.
I tried to wrench my blade free of the bleeding body, but Blood Bath was already on top of me. He struck me in the head with the hilt of his blades. 
Each blow rattled my teeth. Pain coursed through my body. My world was starting to close around me. 
I fell backwards, abandoning my sword in the corpse. 
Blood Bath stepped towards me. His twin blades twinkled in the firelight. A wicked grin spread across his face.
“You kicked him,” I managed to stutter as I back away from the deranged dog. “You knew I would kill him.” My world was still reeling from the earlier blows. I glanced wildly about for a weapon.
“Yes,” hissed Blood Bath. “Now it’s just you and me.” He ran a long tongue across his teeth.
“Why?” We were starting to circle back towards the fire. If I could just get enough space between us to wrench my sword free...
The grin vanished from Blood Bath’s face. He actually paused for a moment to think. What he said chilled me to my soul. “I wanted to laugh as he died upon your sword.”
“Um,” I said, thinking quickly. Blood Bath seemed less concerned about killing me while we were talking. Maybe I could keep this going until I found a weapon. There was my sword, and then my sling. The spear from earlier was still stuck in the tree.
 “Only three of you came after me? What happened to the rest of your clan?”
“The Chieftain didn’t want to lose any more dogs pursuing one trespasser, no matter how many jewels those Magi offered him. I volunteered because I wanted to see you bleed. Rapid Ranger joined because of revenge, and Scrap…? I don’t know why that mutt came along.” 
We were back where we had started. Rapid Ranger was lying at my feet in a pool of blood. My sword protruded from his backside. 
“And,” said Blood Bath, stopping before me. His eyes flicked down to my sword as if he could tell what I was thinking. “I prefer to kill with my teeth and claws.” With a flick of his wrists, he embedded both swords into the earth. Then he leapt at me.
We crashed to the ground in a snarling mass of teeth and claws. 
        Immediately I felt that I was trying to stop a massive rock from rolling downhill. He was strong. Even as I tried to go for his throat, he would hit me repeatedly with powerful blows.
I sucked myself low to the ground, hugging his body with my own. My paws found the ground, and I used them as leverage to gain dominance. I rolled on top. Blood Bath thrust upwards with his hips, and suddenly I was airborne.
Hitting the dirt, I rolled and found my feet almost instantly. I whirled around just in time to meet Blood Bath head-on. Our teeth clashed.
 I bashed him with my shoulder. Going low, I nipped at his legs, then when he withdrew his limbs, I clawed at his throat. He took a step back, one and then another. I pounded on him, attacking relentlessly, desperately. I was winning. I could do this.
A meaty paw smashed into the side of my head. 
I fell backwards, reeling from the blow. My ears were ringing. The world was tilting drunkenly, and I stumbled, trying to regain my balance.  
Something slammed into with the force of a war club. I found myself on my back, looking up to Blood Bath as he stood over me. He wore a manic grin with all his teeth showing. His eyes were fixed with rapt attention on my own. His breath was hot and heavy. 
He took his time and straddled me, seating most of his weight on my chest. 
I screamed at my body to respond, to keep pushing, to keep fighting. Just one more slash, one more bite. I could do this. I could win.
My body just lay there in the dust.  
Blood Bath closed his paws over my throat. He stared down into my eyes. His paws started to slowly squeeze the life out of me. 
Suddenly I found new strength in my limbs. I raised my paws and beat on those gripping my throat. I pounded on Blood Bath’s arms, but I would have had better luck bending iron. 
Darkness crept in from all sides.
Not here, not now. I still had to get Kitty Hawk home. Get her home and then maybe find an honorable death. But not today!
The world was completely dark. My limbs flailed wildly. Somewhere off in the distance, I could hear the drums of the ancients, calling me to my ancestors.
My paw struck something. Unable to see, I gripped the object and thrust blindly upwards. And then collapsed into nothing.
I drifted there in darkness. No sound, no light, just an eternal void that had swallowed me. The drummers were still calling to me, but they were distant, muffled, coming from behind a wall I could not see.
Suddenly, pain licked down my body with an intense fire, from my side, from my throat, from my blistered and burned paw. I screamed, and after that scream came a flood of cool, fresh air into my lungs.
Slowly, light returned to my world. 
Blood Bath was still on top. He stared fixedly at me, eyes boring into my own. His paws still wrapped their digits my throat. The only thing that had changed was that the whole left side of his body, and mine for that matter, were covered in blood.
A spear point was embedded in his neck. The same one I had hacked off of Rapid Ranger’s weapon. 
I looked over at the smaller grey dog. He stared back at me, eyes glassy in death. The body lay just out of reach, but a paw was extended towards us. A smile, which I was certain hadn’t been there before, was frozen upon his face.
Rapid Ranger had had the last laugh.
I gave the corpse of  Blood Bath a push, and he fell over onto his side, limbs stiff and locked, still trying to strangle an imaginary copy of me.
Sitting up, I surveyed the camp, unwilling and unable to do anything more. In the chaos, my stuff had become scattered across the ground. Correction: our stuff. 
Kitty Hawk!
My body fiercely protested as I rose up on unsteady legs. I cursed under my breath as I put weight on my injured paw. I could rest when I was dead.
Kitty Hawk was out there with Scrap. I suddenly had a flash of blood, feathers, and teeth. All I would find would be a small prone figure on the ground. But as I peered out into the darkness, I was struck with a new dilemma: which way?
Just as I took my first steps, Scrap stumbled out of the foliage.  
“Be still, you accursed bitch,” he cursed at the thrashing bundle in his arms.
Rising to my full height, I bellowed for all the world to hear: “SCRAP! LET HER GO!”
The dog stopped instantly in his tracks. I could only imagine what I must have looked like, but he paled at the sight before him. He backed up, clumsily trying to simultaneously contain Kitty Hawk and draw his blade.
With only one arm holding her, Kitty Hawk became a menace to behold: kicking in all directions, biting anything she could reach. She managed to get her teeth around Scrap’s paw and chomped down.
The dog screamed, flailing his paw wildly about with Kitty Hawk attached to the end. 
In one fluid motion, I grabbed one of Blood Bath’s discarded blades and sent it spinning end over end. Turned out the point was weighted, causing the pommel to smack Scrap in the head with a “crack!”
The dog fell backwards onto the ground.
Kitty Hawk was sent flying. She hit and the ground and rolled, before coming to a stop in a heep. I ran to her and gently lifted her . 
“Kitty Hawk, are you ok? Are you hurt?”
She gave me a broad, cross-eyed grin.
“Ember!”  was all she said as she rubbed her head against my chest. 
I pulled her in close, whispering in her ear, “I’m so sorry. I will never send you away, never, ever again.”
A disoriented Scrap was slowly regaining his legs. A thin river of blood ran down his forehead. He struggled to draw his sword free from its sheath but found it too challenging. Instead, he picked up the sword I had thrown and pointed it at me.
“Drop it,” I growled.
“I’ll...I’ll,” Scrap managed to mumble.
“You’ll what?” I said.  
“I’ll kill you,” he said. “For honor, for my clan.”
With a sad smile, I put Kitty Hawk down. Stepping over to Rapid Ranger’s corpse, I braced one leg against it and gripped the pommel solidly with both paws. I withdrew my sword with a sickening sucking sound. 
I pointed the blood-encrusted steel at my enemy.
“Leave...Now!”
He still seemed to have reservations, so I helped him along by attacking. 
I bellowed with all my rage as I beat upon his sword, driving him back mercilessly. Our swords clanged as I struck again and again and again. A root caught Scrap’s foot, and he stumbled. I slid my blade in, caught his hand guard, and, with a flick of my wrist, sent the sword spinning off into the night. 
“Go, now!” I hissed as I stood over the dog. My sword was still raised, ready to finish him if he so much as twitched in the wrong direction. 
The dog stood frozen in place. 
I issued my final threat: “If you don't leave, I’ll start cutting off parts.” I glanced down at a particularly precious appendage, hinting at where I would start.  The realization finally take a hold. 
Scrap took one last look at me before scampering off into the night.