Dawning Skye

Wallace watched as the man teetered on the edge of choice. He didn’t know much about the southerners before him, other than their fighting capabilities and misdirected anger. The being responsible for their grief was gone, and they had nothing else to take their anger out on: except the instrument of their friends’ demise.

As Eric wavered, Wallace looked at him seriously before speaking; “Lemme ask ye a question.. If a person were unknowingly slipped a drug, then smashed up the bar they was at: is it his fault? Or the bastard that slipped’em the shit?”

Eric and a few others flashed a shocked expression before Wallace continued; “What if a lassie were slipped a drug, then raped? Is it her fault?! Na! Ye don’t blame the victim, ye bloody dobbers! Ye blame the bastard responsible!”

Angus stepped forward with hard eyes; “If ye know what’s good fer ya, you would Back Off. The Princess and the dragon be the only Southerners I like. So cuttin’ you todgers up will be like the good ole days..”

Several of the Reinbolt soldiers stepped forward as they adjusted their holds on the hilts of their swords. All the men present were mages, which should’ve put Angus on edge. But he had dealt with much more intimidating enemies than the foolish youngsters before him. If anything; they were annoying rather than threatening on any level.

Zazzy still lay with her neck stretched out between the soldiers. Tears welled up and ran down her cheeks as she wished for it all to be over..

The forty minutes or so that Zazzy had been home had been just long enough for her to fall asleep. It was a short nightmare, but it had been filled with the faces of those she had killed. Through the darkness, she had glimpsed their faces as her tail and claws had ripped them apart.

The utter terror, confusion, and betrayal they before she had killed them tore at Zazzy’s very soul. It reflected in their eyes as her claws ripped them apart. Their screams echoed in her mind, making her feel like she reallly was a monster..

.....

‘Monsters don’t deserve to live..’

As the thought crossed her mind, Zazzy whimpered, and turned her head towards the man holding his sword above her head. He looked like he was in pain, and knew that it was her fault.. ‘If he wants to kill me because of what I did, then I have no right to deny him...Sorry Momma, Daddy..’

As she waited for the sword to swing down, Zazzy and everyone else heard what sounded like a small explosion. Looking over at the bunker door, they watched as two enormous indents were made in it before the entire thing went flying a good ten feet off of it’s hinges.

Skye was the first one to emerge from the doorway, followed closely by Tidas. The moment they saw Eric standing with his sword over Zazzy’s neck: Skye screamed while Tidas rushed him. Everyone knew that Tidas was fast, but not even Skye could follow his movements; he was that quick.

Before Eric could realize it, he was sailing through the air as Tidas began to knock out the accompanying Reinbolt and Moonstone soldiers. Not even the Tanks had enough time to draw their swords. The only ones that didn’t go flying were the final five or so.

They had enough time to react while watching their eight comrades get the wind knocked out of them by their prince. When they started to fight back, it was too little, too late. Tidas was so manic in his manner of attack that the soldiers couldn’t keep up with him for more than a few strikes.

He wanted to kill them all, but settled for superficial, yet very painful wounds. Most were easily handled, but Eric and Shane had gotten back up. Eric hadn’t moved at first, though he was clearly fine.

They were obviously brothers, and Tidas could tell that Eric was hesitating. But he still charged him when Shane had dashed his way. As the pair ran at Tidas, a far scarier obstacle stepped into their path..

“What were ye gonna do to me scaly bairn?”

Skye had spoken in a quite voice that sent a massive chill down everyone’s spine. Eric had immediately stopped, but Shane kept running at her. Before Eric could get his brother’s name out, Skye had him pinned to the ground with her hand around his throat.

Shane struggled for a few seconds until Skye’s nails broke skin. The void look in her eyes made all color drain from his face as he laid completely still. Instinct telling him that the slightest flinch would guarantee his demise.

In that moment, Shane knew that his life was less than nothing to Skye. And if he pushed her: his death would come before he’d realized what had happened. Her intent to kill was so strong that he was surprised that she had reframed so far.

As Eric looked on with trepidation, Wallace approached Skye with caution. Tidas hadn’t attacked them, so he knew that they weren’t involved with the southerners, but Wallace wasn’t sure if Skye could tell them apart right now..

‘That look in her eyes.. Tis nothin’ good. A lassie that young shouldna know that look yet..’

As a random leaf crunched under his foot, Skye looked up at Wallace; “I saw ye by Zazzy. Are ye wit this lot?”

Wallace shook his head; “Na, just tryin’ ta talk ’em down, is all. Well, I was. Angus was nae help at all.”

“I didna wanna help. I wanted ta kick some southern arse! Guess the royals beat me to it though, haha!” Angus interjected.

Tidas walked over to stand at his wife’s side as he said; “You need to let him go, Skye. As much as I’d like to, we can’t kill them. They need to be dealt with by our fathers, and Lord Reinbolt.”

Life came back into Skye’s eyes as she looked up at her husband, and replied; “They just tried ta kill me baby girl! Like Hell am I just gonna let’em walk away!”

Before she could do anything but release her grip, Tidas was lifting Skye to her feet. A large part of her was angry for not demanding blood for them hurting Zazzy. But the rational side questioned if whether or not they had even done that.

Zazzy had been laying on the ground with tear marks on her scales below her eyes, but Skye didn’t see any actual blood. She’d seen the one man with his sword hanging above her exposed neck, but hadn’t actually seen proof of any kind of abuse. As the rational side of ger mind screamed at her, Skye’s mouth had started running on it’s own.

The moment the words had left her mouth, Skye had regretted them, but she’d still told Tidas; “Ye a fuckin’ traitor fer not runnin’ each of ’em through fer threatenin’ our bairn..”

Tidas was hurt-angry at his wife a moment before he realized that her hands were shaking. Skye really did see Zazzy as a fully-fledged family member, and as their first child. She wasn’t the same as a dog or cat due to her intelligence, and they had raised her from an egg.

‘I understand Skye’s anger, and I wanna be on her side for this, but..’

“You know that’s not true, love. You know how much I love her, and you know that there’s more to this than what we’re seeing” Tidas reached out to his wife as he had spoken.

Skye’s emotions were raging, but Tidas’ voice was the only thing to reach her. His, and one other..

“Don’t be mad at them, Momma. It’s not their fault, it’s mine. I killed their friends.. I don’t have a right to be angry at them, and neither do you.”

Skye whipped her head around to look at her scaly bairn; “Like Hell I don’t have a reason! They’re tryin’ ta kill you! It wasna yer fault, Zazzy! And I’ll cut down anyone that says otherwise!”

“Tryin’ to silence anyone who disagrees with Ya, huh? Yer just like every other noble out there,” Shane snipped as he stood up.

Skye narrowed her eyes on him; “Nobles aren’t the only ones ta kill those that threaten their family. And don’t think fer a second that me title will stop me, either. I couldna give two shits less about what others think of me.”

Shane sneered at her; “That’s not a good way for a princess to see things.. Ye could be quite damaging to the MacArthur name with an attitude like that. Not as damaging as that monster over there, but fairly close.”

Skye eyes narrowed on the man; “What did you just call her?”

Shane smirked; “She’s a monster. Hardly different from that thing that you killed yourself.. If you were smart, you’d kill that one before it rampages in the city.”

Skye took one step forward before her husband’s hand was on her shoulder. She turned and stared daggers at him, but Tidas didn’t even flinch. He simply gestured towards an upright Zazzy..

When Skye’s eyes locked with hers, she saw an overwhelming pain in them. The majority of her anger drained away as she walked passed Shane, and straight to her scaly bairn. As Zazzy brought her head down to nuzzle against her mother, Tidas turned back towards Shane.

Eric was passing by Skye and Zazzy when he looked at them. In a strange way, she really did look like she was consoling a child. A mental picture of his own wife and child flashed through his mind’s eye as he turned his attention back towards his older younger brother. Tidas was standing just a couple feet away from him as he spoke in a menacing tone..

“I don’t know if you’re under orders to stir the pot, or if you simply have a death wish, but you best listen well.. Skye will not kill you. I will kill you. And most people will look the other way. Especially if I explain that you had previously threatened my wife and dragon.”

As Eric came to stand next to his brother, Tidas added; “I don’t use or take my position lightly, but if I even Think that you plan to hurt my wife or scaly bairn: I with crush your entire fucking existence into dust, then let the wind carry you off.”

Eric knew of Prince Tidas’ character firsthand, but had never seen such violent intent reflected in any man’s eyes before. As he swallowed hard, Eric prayed that his dimwitted brother wouldn’t do anything stupid..

That was when Shane had pulled his dagger out...