Chapter Text
Gunshots echoed through the cavernous space beneath Ding Dong Dell. The sharp cracks were quickly covered by a high, terrified scream.
“Roland!” Evan screamed, his voice near to breaking. Halfway across the cavern, Roland Crane, former president and once-again-20 year old, hissed curses between his teeth.
“Stay back!” He shouted at Evan, but the young boy was in no hurry to move and join the fray. He stood there, paralyzed with fear, as the monster that had been the Black Knight charged at Roland again. They’d been locked in this makeshift arena, trapped by roiling and snapping violet flames, for what felt like an eternity. Roland must have gone at it a hundred times by now but it was almost as if nothing he did to this thing even made a dent in it. His sword forms were rusty, sure, but by now there should have been a lot more wounds on it, a lot more blood on the mossy stone beneath their feet.
Given the circumstances, Roland chose to ignore the tiny, panicking piece of his mind that was screaming “zombie!” at him. Alive or undead, he had to keep this monster focused on him.
If it turned on Evan, the young king wouldn’t survive a minute.
“Hey!” Roland shouted as the creature turned its attention to Evan, “Over here!”
Another shot cracked through the air, catching the creature in the face. A streak of red opened up beneath its eye, but Roland’s triumph—he could hurt it!—was short lived. The creature reared back, and with one massive arm swiped at Roland. He leapt back—too slow!
“Roland!”
The glancing blow sent him flying back, left him landing hard and rolling on the damp, slimy ground. He’d barely come to a stop and already he could feel the bruise blooming across his side as he lay winded on the uneven ground. Everything grayed out for a moment, his ears ringing.
“S-stay back!” Evan. All he had was a knife! He couldn’t fight this thing off!
Feeling the creature’s thudding footsteps through his back, Roland struggled to roll back to his front. He lifted his head, teeth grit; the monster was too close to Evan, taking plodding footsteps towards him like a cat who’d finally cornered the mouse.
How ironic.
“Get out of there!” Roland shouted, struggling to his hands and knees. “Go!”
Evan jolted and scrambled away, but there was nowhere to go. All he could do was run in circles, the pair of them trapped in here with the monster and it knew that. This time, it didn’t give chase but instead seemed to brace itself, purple and aqua flames gathering in its open mouth. Roland’s heart raced: if that hit anyone alive, then—!
“Run!” He shouted again, but it was too late. Aqua and purple flames flared to life in the monster’s mouth. He could feel the heat from here. Roland tried to get to his feet, staggering as his body refused to cooperate. He couldn’t get up fast enough, couldn’t clear the distance between them fast enough and—
Suddenly there was a flash from beside him. Roland jerked, barely catching sight of Aranella as she burst through the barrier of flames around them. In the same instant, the monster let loose its flames right at Evan, stunned into stillness. Without stopping Aranella ran right at her young charge, ignoring his shout of surprise as she grabbed him under the arms and twisted, throwing him clear of the flames without losing her momentum.
But the ground beneath her was uneven, and her foot caught. She stumbled, and Roland could only watch in horror as the blast caught her in the leg. Her scream rang through the cavern in concert with Evan’s shout.
“Nella!” The boy screamed, his voice breaking right down the middle. Heart in his throat, Roland found his gun in his hand before he’d even realized he’d called it. One shot to the face stopped the monster’s blast, and two more drove it back. Roland lurched to his feet and kept shooting, driving it further and further back. He snarled as it roared at him, rearing back, but then—one foot slipped!
It had reached the edge of the platform. The mossy stone crumbled away, leaving one massive leg hanging over the edge. Unable to balance, it stumbled backwards, arms wheeling, head thrown back in a massive roar that echoed through the stone around them. It tried to catch its balance, but it was too late. With one last roar, it tumbled over the edge of the platform and into the depths of the abyss all around it. Roland dismissed his weapons with a growl.
“Nella!”
Body protesting, he whirled around. Aranella was sitting up across the platform, Evan on his knees beside her. Quickly taking stock, Roland ran to join them. He was sore, bruised, and muddy. Evan had a scrape on his cheek and his palms were red, his finery more mud than silk. They would be fine. But Aranella…
“Well,” She grit out as Roland came to a stop beside her, “That was a bit embarrassing. So much for my dance training.”
“Nella…” Evan whimpered. They all looked at her leg then, the one that had been caught in the blast. Roland swallowed hard, his stomach somewhere near his ankles. He’d seen bad burns in his day, the deep red and blistering white of a palm that had accidentally touched a burner but this…this was worse. Her skirt had been burnt away, leaving everything from the knee down of her right leg blackened. Oddly, it wasn’t shrunken or shriveled. Still, it looked painful.
“Can you stand up?” He asked her, grimacing as he realized how foolish a question that was. She swallowed hard, face pinched in pain.
“I’ll manage,” She said as Evan scooted back, reaching out to offer what support he could. Lurching, Aranella began to rise. “We should move while we still—”
As she got her weight beneath her, her knee suddenly buckled. With a short cry she began to topple forward; Roland lunged forward to catch her before she could hit the stone floor. Evan dropped to his knees beside them.
“Nella!” He gasped, “Nella, are you all right?!”
She hissed between her teeth, hiding her face in Roland’s chest. He held her up, looking down at her leg. Was it worse than he’d thought?
Some part of his mind went “yes!” very loudly, even as the rest of it slammed into a screeching halt. Aranella’s burn was moving.
Except, that wasn’t a burn. There was no way it could be a burn. Gleaming purple and green and blue it reminded him almost of an oil slick on the pavement…if oil slicks writhed and twisted of their own accord. Stomach flipping, Roland swallowed hard. He helped Aranella to sit.
“That’s not a burn.” He said. She nodded at him, tucking Evan beneath an arm.
“Forbidden magics,” She said tightly. Her face was pale, the marks on her leg continuing to twist. “Some sort of curse, I’d imagine.”
“A curse?” Evan stares at her, blue eyes blown wide. “What do we do?!”
Before Aranella could answer, she turned around. Roland caught it a second later: in the distance, the clank of armor and shouting. The soldiers had found their way down. Roland cursed but before he could speak, Nella turned to Evan.
“Listen to me,” She said firmly, cupping his face with both hands, “You need to go. Run as far away from here as you can.”
“What?!”
“You have to survive!” She said, then stopped and took a deep breath. “You have to live, and become the ruler I know you will be.”
Roland watched as understanding dawned on Evan’s young face. He shook his head vehemently, ears going flat to his skull.
“No!” He shouted, voice catching around a sob, “No, Nella! I can’t! Not without you!” He hiccuped again, though the sound was lost beneath the clank and clang of nearing armed forced. If they were still here when the soldiers arrived, then…
Roland looked down the corridor, teeth grit. They were running out of time and options. He knew what Aranella was doing, knew that this was a final goodbye to someone she clearly loved very dearly. It was the logical thing to do, but—
He took a breath. They could leave her here and run, leave her to the real risk of being killed, or take her with them.
Leave a young boy bereft of all family…or not.
Mind made up, Roland moved.
“Evan,” He said, startling them, “Move.”
“What—”
“Move.” He said more firmly. Evan’s tail fluffed up as he drew in the breath for a protest but Roland cut him off with, “I can’t pick you both up at once.”
Roland saw the moment it dawned on them. Evan scrambled away and Aranella, well, she didn’t look happy.
“You’ll do no such thing—”
"Sorry about this," He said, scooping Aranella up before she could finish. She was a little heavier than she looked, firm muscle in his arms as he slung her over one shoulder. She yelped in surprise, instinctively grabbing onto his coat to keep from slipping.
“You—!”
“Just hold on.” He said, grabbing Evan by the arm. He stared up at the odd sight, then nodded and turned away. Tail streaming behind him, Evan ran. Roland shifted his grip on Aranella and took off after the boy, leaving the clank of armor far behind them.