THREE - The Heart of a Hero

                                  THREE 

                          The Heart of a Hero 

Drykator, Drago and Dontain arrived outside Reinhold, the large gates swinging freely from the hinges, smoke rose where the mess hall once stood. “By the Divine what’s happened here?” Dontain exclaimed, shock prominent in his voice. 

Drykator dismounted Runner swiftly and drew his sword, Drago and Dontain hot on his tail, the three soldiers ventured into the building searching empty corridors, within the eerie silence voices could be heard up ahead “Follow them!” The voices echoed throughout the school bouncing off every wall.

Drago shadowed Drykators every move whilst scouting the hallway, his nerves so on edge he had two throwing knives at the ready tightly grasped within his fist so the blades pointed between his fingers as if he had grown claws. 

Drykator came to a halt and placed a hand on Drago’s chest, Drago scuffed his feet to a sudden unexpected stop, his eyes mapping Drkators faces for an answer to why. 

Drykator gestured to both men, pointing to his ears as they pricked up from the voices he could hear, Drago and Dontain trying to hear the whispers in the room just ahead let out breaths they didn’t realise they were holding. 

“I can’t believe Divine Victory has tried to escape Terribor through a passage-way which he designed himself, won't get far mind their outnumbered '' the mercenary snorted .

“I'm gonna rally the troops I brought a hundred and eleven mercenaries with me from Ruis Thillis and I want every one of them to have a taste of action” 

Horror filled Drykator. Divine Victory is together? Fleeing Reinhold? How can this be? 

Slipping round Drago, he whispered to Dontain

“Is there another way to get to Divine Victory before these thugs?, we need to help them” Dontain thumbed his chin, his eyes scanned the floor whilst he thought of a plan.

Drago left the others to mull over a plan which he wouldn’t agree to anyway so he slipped away and entered the room with the two mercenaries, he watched them intently shoulder leant against the door frame until they noticed a presence in the room with them, the two men stopped talking and turned to the boy that had just entered the room. 

“Who are you?” the left one scrutinised, his forehead wrinkled as he examined the boy in front of him. 

“Who are you to judge?” Drago replied sarcastically, eyeing the man he saw in front of him from head to toe. The man wore a mud brown leather jacket that was clearly too small as it wouldn’t fasten completely so you could see his matted chest hair poking through, his trousers were black and a little baggy and only just clung to his hips, thinking to himself that he looked like a beaten up cigar.  

“shaved head and scars over your face too? You are a walking disaster” Drago said matter of factly, glancing at the other who wasn’t looking any better he noticed they were starting to make a move.

As if like a reflex Drago released his throwing knives from his hands, they flew through the air with a small whistle hitting both the men between the eyes, the two bodies hit the deck letting out a large dust cloud that slowly drifted over to Drago.

Turning on his heel with pride all over his face Drago watched Drykator and Dontain slowly enter the room, cocking his head and giving a shrug of his shoulders as if there was nothing to it, the same actions he would use after slaying a dragon “Poor excuse for a hero huh?” snears Drago. 

“Killing people doesn’t make you a hero” Drykator comments bluntly, his jaw clenched and his teeth grinding together. 

“Leave him be, I’ve got a plan!” Dontain grabbed Drykator’s shoulder and spun him round to face him. 

“Right, here it goes about five miles from here is the lowest point to the cliff edge, it’s highly risky but it is possible to scale the cliff side down to the ledge where that passage comes out, we just need to hope we get there before Divine Victory”

“Great!, we can’t waste a moment, let's go!” Drykator replied which seemed to have lit a fire within him, he patted Dontain on the shoulder as they both set off, with only one focus in sight, to help Divine Victory. 

Drago stood alone in the room perplexed, the current issue completely wiped from his thoughts, only jealousy and the feelings of being rejected engulfed his body “by the Divine what do I need to do to prove to him I’m a hero!”