The journey

by Dashed_Brony

CH19: Friend or foe? PT. 2

Every second meant a possible escape route, and he had to find one. Toby's fearing face only increased his reassurance that he had to. That they weren't even wearing any normal armor, and one of them bore a helmet from the canterlot set, made him fear the worst. He had his doubts about them being her personal army, and something more was at hoove. That, unlike them being her secret army, he was more certain of.

He didn't dare question them either. Not after having tried running away any more, and being that they would so heartlessly take a pony not yet fully grown a hostage, meant bad news.

But there was always too open a field to try to aim for an escape. Either that, or a steep fall he wouldn't risk falling down for an escape he might not survive. His wings couldn't save him either; they were still bandaged, and even if they weren't, his wings were still healing, trying to fly off meant a temporary flight. And he'd rather have bandages around his wings than chains. He knew they had some for his wings, so it owuldn't have mattered.

He kept silently obeying, following every little command their leader shouted out worth all his breath, be it to walk ahead, or halt. There were too few choices to do anything else, and escape routes were lacking. The route they had taken felt like some sort of a reroute, as though to avoid any escape opportunities. He knew their leader was clever, but right now it felt more like mind-reading than intelligence.

The caped pony must've realized how desperate Laxed was getting. His grin was unmistakable. It was like he had beaten the poor pegasus at some game.

He considers this a game? Hah! What a sick and twisted humor this guy has, huh?

But the grinning stallion came to a halt. So did the group, and so had both Laxed and Toby, knowing to obey the silent commands that were given off from every move, and especially when the leader came to a halt.

They currently stood atop a mountain. They had been walking for ages, and had approached a smaller mountain they had to cross, due to a lack of bridge, and a hgue gap everywhere else. It was the only way of crossing. At the top, was a flat platform, more than big enough for them to walk around freely, without any risk of falling off. It was about the size of an inner volcano, and had plenty room to go about. Blue skies, and a brown surface, it didn't look horrendously bad.

He didn't turn around to speak, but with his back towards the others, he opened his mouth. His words almost threw the poor Pegasus backwards. It literally caught him off guard, and this had to be the opportunity he had been waiting for. If this wasn't it, nothing was.

"Well... You seem so eager to get away... Oh yes, I've noticed... But don't worry about it... Thinking's not a crime in this group... After all, we got to think to keep our brains active... And without a working mind, we are just mindless puppets... What kind of a life is that for anypony? But... That wasn't what I wanted to bring up... What I wanted to say... No... Offer would probably fit..."

Everypony in the group could hear the excitement as the leader went on, and the sound of shaking armor made both of the prisoners throw their eyse over in the direction of the guards. They were all appearantly terrified.

And what are THEY so afraid of? Laxed's mind ran before his ears caught the now-finished sentence of the white-maned pony.

"... I'll offer you one chance to battle your way out of this... If you can win, both you and your friend goes free. And don't worry... Neither of the others will interfere. AIN'T THAT RIGHT MEN?!?

His shout left an absolute silence amongst the group. They had stopped shaking, and could only barely pull off a nearly invisible nod.

What, are they all weaklings? But I thought he said they were all muscles?

The opportunity to escape was all he could think of, and he ignored anything else. One of the guards even told him 'Don't do it...', but to him, that only seemed to be a wish so the two of them wouldn't walk away.

Toby didn't say anything. The unicorn hadn't actually said anything for quite a while, which was more surprising than the fact that he'd have been given the opportunity to escape.

"Remove his chains then! He's made his decision, hasn't he?" Still with the brutal tone.

Laxed didn't care. He was ready. His body might not have fully repaired, but he couldn't wait for that either.

As his chains were removed, the gray pony removed both his cape and helmet, revealing a scarred body. He was undoubtedly a war veteran of sorts. Either that, or he just fought a lot. Maybe he was just a clumsy one? No, he was a leader for a reason, and the guards feared him too much for any of those scarrs to be coincidental. There were too many for it to merely be a coincidense.

But escape beat any reason, and with his shackles gone, he stood on all four, proud as ever. One of them offered to even remove his bandages, but he told them not to. Not because he couldn't actually use them, but being cocky, he gave it off as a 'I don't even need them'.

"Heh... Do you have what it takes to back off a statement like that?" The scarred stallion replied to it with a humored tone.

"Guess we'll find out..." Laxed threw right back, with a determined tone. It was victory and only victory that mattered there.

Laxed was never much for being brave, or getting into fights. He even tried avoiding them when they were right in front of him, but this wasn't like one of those cases. This was where it truly mattered. This was his freedom he was fighting for. It was their freedom. Both his and Toby's.

If he lost, it didn't just mean he'd be imprisoned. It also meant the poor colt, who was shockingly silent, would have to follow, because he lost.

He had to win, no matter the cost. He had failed so many fights where it mattered, and only luck had saved him, but luck wasn't going to interfere in this fight. It was him against someone much stronger, and presumably also much smarter. There were no odds to his favour, yet, he refused to back down. He should have absolutely done just that, but he refused.

His strive for freedom mattered more than the injuries he might obtain in this battle. If he could at least manage to injure the stallion before him in the slightest, it meant Toby would have a greater chance of escaping. After all, the guards were seemingly meat-headed. Escape wouldn't be a master task without their leader to guide them. He had to win SOMETHING from this fight. He had to!

They now stood face to face, hoove to hoove, right in front of one another. Laxed, hardheadedly thinking of his victory and nothing more, rammed towards his opponent who only seemed to leap. Laxed halted in his tracks, looking up into the skies where the earth pony was soaring through, right towards him. It went faster than he'd expect; too fast. He found himself kicked right in the face by a rear hoove before he could react, and he could barely comprehend the situation before he was at the ground with an aching forehead.

He wasn't going to let that stop him. He got up, and once again rammed head-on into yet another attempted assault. This time, the white pony had decided not to leap, but instead, simply remained still, letting Laxed charge right at him. He even stood up on two, letting the pegasus ram his head right into the earth pony's stomach. No sooner had the head made contact with the belly, than had he felt himself losing contact with the ground. The gray pony had rolled backwards, and pulled Laxed with him, throwing him overheads, and onto his back, right onto the rocky surface below

It wouldn't have ached so badly if he didn't land right onto his wings, which left a craking sound even the leader flinched a little at, getting back up from the ground he had decided to roll onto, willingly.

"Ooooh... That's have got to hurt..."

The humouros tone meant he was joking about.

Is he really not... Even trying...?

Laxed disgressed at the thought. If so, it meant he couldn't win, so he refused to think that way.

His back was aching about equally bad to when he had been assaulted by the Veratus. More his wings than his back though. Now both were shattered, and any healing they had gone through was now forfeit. His vision had even decided to blurr, but he refused to stop fighting just because of this pain. He had done absolutely nothing to worsen the condition of his foe, and he couldn't leave this badly beaten up without at least having earned something from it.

After a few heavy breaths, and a few forced attempts at getting back on his hooves, he stood once more. Pained or not, he rammed forth yet again. It had failed horribly, but maybe this time? Maybe it would work this time? He was no champion or great fighter. He had to do whatever he could to get through this. And as all he knew how to do was ram head-straight into things as a way to fight. He hadn't fought in years, and the last time he did, it worked perfectly well.

This time, the gray stallion also stood still, but neither jumped, nor stood up as Laxed approached. Just a hoove away, he leapt right over Laxed, rolling onto his back, over the already wounded wings, which already caused his back to give in, and as he had finished rolling around, he ended up with his hooves atop the pegasus' back. Right onto the wings at that. He was far from finished. Kicking off, using Laxed as some sort of a mattress, the wings only shattered further, and finally, the once again airborn pony bodyslammed right into the already broken wings, leaving them a shattered mess in the bandages which now only held shattered pieces which had feathers attached to them.

Laxed, for the first time since he could remember, cried in pain. He felt his tears fly down his cheeks. He was in pain he hadn't ever felt before. He laid on the ground, crying, shaking and twitching. It was too much for him to bear and he had no direct way to express it.

The guards even felt it too much to watch. The only one who had his eyes open out of the spectators, was the little colt who had still yet to say anything. He didn't cry either. His only motion was a widely opened mouth as he looked at the devastated pony who had done everything he could up until this point, to bring them this far, now, only crying in pure, utter and sheer pain.

The cause of it all got off the broken pegasus, brushing his hooves, like he had merely dirtied them a little during the fight, and walked over to the group. "Carry him, and we'll move o-"

Toby, who was so lost beyond what any emotion could even hope to describe, started ramming his hooves into the gray 'monster' with all his might.

"Kiddo... Give it up... He failed that badly... What do you think you can do?"

The unicorn didn't care for what he had to say, and simply kept ramming his hooves into him over and over, hoping it would somehow cure the anger, and Laxed's wings.

"Don't push it..."

He was talking to deaf ears. The green pony simply kept assaulting the already annoyed leader with all force he had, as much as it didn't seem to do anything but annoy him further.

"Okay, you asked for i-!"

He had raised a hoove, preparing to knock the unicorn senseless, but was held back by two other guards, who were shaking with fear as they tried to hold him back, fearing the worst. They didn't have the heart to watch more senseless pain be caused though, and were prepared to take the risk, no matter what it bore.

"Fine... Just get this little brat out of my sight, okay?"

The gray stallion gathered his gear and equipped it once more, preparing to leave. One of the guards managed to pull Toby away from the danger he was otherwise putting himself in, and two more had picked up Laxed. They were once more making progress, but the toll had been far worse than either of the prisoners had expected to pay. And Laxed had paid it without as much as an inch of reward. He'd have even ended up in a worse condition than he was planning to, and was silently sobbing.

He could no longer even cry. His pain was beyond that of crying, and only worsened every time either of the carriers moved, budging him back and forth.

Toby had returned to being silent, and there was nothing that seemed to make him want to talk. He just obeyed without emotions. He didn't look at Laxed, even as, through a few short relieves from any immediate pain every time they stopped, he had tried gaining eye contact.

It disheartened and hurt him more that he had failed, than the pain that was threatening to put him in some sort of shock-enduced coma. The journey had become even longer. The pain made any second last like an hour, and a minute, many days.

Even the leader had gone silent. He hadn't even smiled, nor had he seemed saddened.

The guards before him had tried carrying him as gently as they could, without slacking in pace. He could tell that it strained them more, and yet, they refused to torture him more than needed.

He hadn't actually said, or whispered thanks, afraid to put them in trouble, knowing the leader was ruthless, but he had done anything he could to signify his appreciation for what they did.

Both silently nodded, smiling a little at him. He had too much trouble smiling himself, but they both knew he wanted to, had he could.

Maybe they weren't such a bad group after all?

His thoughts at least partly put his focus away from the pain, and it was the only other relief he could have.

What few thoughts he could amass, anyways. It was hard enough thinking through the pain, and trying to deafen it out completely through thoughts was a master task he couldn't handle.

Night came. Who knew how long they had been walking. His stomach had a good measure. They had hardly gotten any food through the travels, and if the pain wasn't eating away at him, the hunger was.

Night being there, they had set up a camp, and gotten their small feast. It was the only one they got a day, and thus, they had to savour it, as hard as it was to savour a slice of dry bread. Just a plain, dry piece of loaf, along with a small portion of water they could ask for at any time, so that they guards may hand it to them, even during day-time. They truly were prisoners.

Laxed strived to eat. It hadn't even been a full day since he was completely crushed, and he was still breathing heavily, unable to focus. His vision had temporarily faded too. He was practically blind, barely able to make out any figures at day, and at night, he was about as blind as a bat. He even had to look with his hooves to find his small meal and slowly make his way from one end to another and eat it.

Toby wasn't eating though. His hearing was still fine, and he could hear that Toby wasn't eating anything.

Something was poking his hoove though, and he felt the soft touch of more bread in them. He knew where they came from, but refused to accept, and tried handing it back to the pony that was no doubt equally hungry, but being as 'blind' as he was, he only ended up trying to hand it into the air.

He wasn't going to be able to give it back, and ended up eating it after finally giving up. He couldn't walk about either, and could barely lift his hooves, so he was about as useless as he could get.

"I-I'm so sorry..."

The familiar sound of a shaky voice mixed with sobs came to his ears, and the voice was unmistakably from the one who had handed him his second meal. He had probably approached as soon as the second slice of bread had been eaten, knowing the pegasus was probably not going to try and hand it back at that point.

"Don't.... Worry... About it..." He managed to mutter out, unable to speak properly. If it wasn't the pain from his wings hindering him from speaking, it was his back that caused him to be unable to breathe properly, and become even worse at talking.

"N-No...! Y-You didn't really fight for yourself... I-I know!" The sobs become more clear, and he could tell Toby was at the brink of just crying out loud.

"D... Doesn't ma...tter... I los...t" He no longer felt like talking. He lost, and he knew it. He lost without winning anything, and he knew he didn't have the breath to cry. If he did, he would just pass out that very moment, and he refused to do just that. Especially in front of Toby, especially at that moment.

He looked in the direction he knew Toby was. He couldn't actually see the green pony before him, or the black mane that covered up parts of his face. Nor could he see the tears that were now running down like waterfalls onto his cheeks, but he could hear them, just as well as he could hear Toby's occasional breath, crying to the point where he could hardly breathe.

The guardsmen ignored it. They weren't going to interfere. They knew better than to. Even the leader had simply shook his head and let them go on about their emotional rant. He had already proved his point, and made them unable to escape. He was satisfied.

"S-So what...? A-At least... AT LEAST WE'RE STILL TOGETHER, RIGHT?!?" He was now shouting. The depression Laxed had found himself sinking into only became bigger and bigger. If it wasn't for the pain, he'd have already been beyond saving.

"I... Guess... You're right..." He muttered. He actually felt a little happier at that point, and smiled a little.

His face crunched together as he once again felt himself lifted up on two horsebacks. They hadn't got to rest. It was the fourth night without rest, and they could all notice it. All but the leader, who seemed like some sort of a machine, and simply rumbled out 'LET'S GO!'

Again, they were progressing. All but one, who passed out as soon as he tried to set off. The poor unicorn wasn't even fully grown, and the lack of sleep had mentally killed him. Crying was all it took for him to simply black out that very moment.

So that was why he was so silent...

One of the two unburdened guards,found himself carrying somepony at last. The other two guards laughed at him in a mocking manner, as he had towards them as they were forced to carry Laxed.

"Now you've got somepony to carry too, hahah-"

"Silence, the lot of you! Let's go!" The leader blurted out, being a killjoy unlike any other.

They went silent, but reached their tongues at him, and the poor guard simply frowned at them.

But Laxed, even while carried, couldn't sleep. Perhaps before the pain, he would've been able to, but now, he was done for, and the pain kept him awake.

"Oh... I had completely forgotten it..." The fourth, and still unburdened guard suddenly spoke. He had a dark, yet friendly tone.

Coming forth, he handed a small leather bag with a strap to keep it on to the leader.

"We found this... Can't quite remember where, but it was probably taken by some storm and dragged along." He finished, handing the bag over to caped stallion.

"Well, what do we have here? Hmmm... Let's see... A book... Meh... Survival books have never fancied me... Never needed them..." He put it back inside after pulling it out for a closer look.

"But these daggers are crafted nicely... Sturdy too... And a rope... This could come in handy!"

"T... That bag... Is... Mine..."

It was just a silent murrmurr coming from behind two pony heads, but the one the words were meant for, heard it clearly.

"It's your, eh? Well... You can have it... Both that, and the book inside it... I'll keep the daggers and rope though. Well... What's left of it, anyways... What the hay happened to it? Nah, probably a boring story... Nevermind"

He walked over and dropped the bag right over the neck of the injured pegasus without any remorse.

The descriptions of the items was what made him certain. That, and losing it, and it then being found randomly out there without any specific location to it. He couldn't even remember where he had gotten it; amnesia was still biting hard in his head, but he knew it was his.

At least, now he had something from the past, aside from his friendship with the now sleeping pony.

Somehow, having it allowed him peace from the pain. Whether it had dullened it, or the fact that he had gotten it made him so happy, he could only throw a wild guess at, but somehow, he felt a moment of peace, without sadness or suffering. It was all he needed to fall asleep too, and from barely breathing to barely snoring, he had joined Toby in sleeping, not having to walk.

- End -

Comments

[Dashed_Brony]

PS: Fair Warning. I will possibly not write any more upcoming chapters for Celestia knows how long, due to upcoming events, starting at around Sunday to Monday. Not sure which, but it's either or, I can promise you that much. Therefore, I will try to finish the arc I currently have going, so I don't leave a cliff-hanger for ages. No promises though!