Chapter 3
Taking Sides
I kneeled on the floor and cried. I cried until the sun came up. Brayan walked out of his room and rushed to my side. "Where were you?! You were gone all day yesterday!" His voice was a mixture of anger and relief. "Clyste came back for me. He brought me back to Zooloo." I started to cry again. Brayan sat on the floor beside me and let me cry. After a few minutes he said,"What happened?" He was calmer now, and I could tell he would understand if I could only tell him. "I promised. I promised to keep it a secret," I said in a barely audible whisper. He leaned closer to my ear and said,"Just tell me." I shook my head. Brayan stood and stomped off. I threw up my arms in despair and cried for an hour or so. "I have to tell him." I said, as I wiped my wet face dry with the bottom of my shirt. "I just have to let him know!" A tear slid down my cheek, but I quickly wiped it away with my hand. I stood to my two wobbly feet, and turned to a Clyuire. I waited on a ledge above a door, and soon spotted a little dragon running for the doors. I flew into the air, and waited for them to open. The dragon opened the doors and ran to the forest. I flew out after him, and soared into the sky. "Above the trees! Above my worries!" I started to sing. I flew for the dragon's cave. The unicorns needed fire power. Or creature help. No fire power, so we needed creatures. I swooped down and crashed through the fake grass. Where the grass was, I knew, was really glass. I dove through it, and cut my wings badly. I would let them heal before changing back, though. I was in the Lock Ness's room. He was staring up at me with surprise. "Lock Ness! It be me! The Clyuire. I am really Saria or Sarah." He smiled and said,"Princess!" I circled the air above his head, and slowly swooped to the ground. He smiled radiantly and watched calmly as I turned back to human. "Hey! It's so good to see you! Are they taking good care of you? Are you doing well? Have you gone out lately?" At my last question, Lock Ness' face turned grim. He slumped against the wall and wallowed in self pity as he said,"I have not been out for two months. I usually get out every two weeks. They said it was because of some unfinished business. They also said it would be too dangerous for me." He grabbed a blanket from the corner and fiddled with it. I nodded and understandingly said,"I know why." He stopped fiddling with the blanket and straightened up a little. I began to explain what would happen in the next two years. "First comes a war. Good and Evil. Unicorns and Dragons. But, the unicorns can no longer win against the dragon's numbers. Have you seen them?! They are as numerous as the trees in this forest combined with the forests of the world! We want your help. You and all of the other creatures in this hideout. We will accept a few dragons, if they prove loyal. Otherwise, we will have to eliminate all dragons. I need a straight ‘yes' or ‘no'. Will you come with us?" Lock Ness did not even open his eye as he said,"Yes. Tell the creatures that the Lock Ness said ‘yes'. I will help regardless of what the others do. You must go quickly. Also, Abom and I will go out last. If he is to come, that is. We are the biggest and will make quite a racket." "Just one more thing." I said. "The dragons stay in hiding most of the time, but we have insiders. The inside people are called, Insiders. We use codes to get to them. If you know any, confess them now and we will get them out of here immediately." Lock Ness shook his head, and I ran for the door. A force like the wind knocked me down. I fell face first into the door. A hand grabbed me, and I started to suffocate. He had told me he would join us! Had he lied? Why was he killing me?! Suddenly, blessed air rushed into my throat and down into my lungs. "What...." His foot came down near me, and I shut my mouth. A door slammed against the wall with such force, that the ground beneath me shook. "What happened here, Lock Ness?!" A dragons voice raged from across the room. "I was sleeping. My tail twitched and my head jerked upward. It smashed through the glass. I would have called for you all sooner, but my arm was badly cut." He reached behind his back and rapped a blanket around it. They didn't see him do any of it. "I put salve on my cuts and wrapped it up. See?" He held his blanketed arm up, then cradled it gently in the crook of his good arm. The dragons rolled their eyes. The dragon leader yelled,"Everyone out! We'll get this cleaned up in the morning!"The dragons rushed out of the room, and the door slammed shut behind them. I sighed, and Lock Ness lifted his body out of my way. I ran for the door, and quickly opened it. I made sure to block my face from the teeth of the werewolves. They wouldn't know it was me until I'd shut the door. I quickly shut it and uncovered my face. They parted around me, and I heard many "Oohs!" and "Aaahs!" "Hey everyone! I have come on urgent business. So, if you have to sit in a circle, square, rectangle, triangle or anything, please do it now." They looked at each other and chuckled quietly. Then they lined up along the walls and sat, all at the same time. I sat with them, then stood. I walked to the center of the room and tried to think up a way to get my point across to them. I reached toward my pocket, and looked at each of them with an evil glint in my eye. "I'm going to shoot 3908. That is the werewolf I met last time I was here." Everyone gasped, but no one stood to protect the unfortunate werewolf. He sadly stood. I could see his hands shaking. I reached deep into the pocket of my pants, and pulled my hand out. "Bang!" Every werewolf in the room jumped. 3908 jumped the highest, since he was standing. Female werewolves started to cry. I looked around the circle of werewolves, and smiled. Slowly, head began to rise. They stared incredulously at 3908. "3908!" They yelled together. He was standing there, staring at me with confused eyes. I shrugged and said,"It could have happened." The werewolves were angry, and they started to stand. I held out a hand, and pointed to the ground. They sat back down. "That my friends, was just a demonstration. 3908, I respect you. Please do not take my actions offensively. You responded correctly." He smiled, but still appeared shaken. I resumed my lesson. "There are many that will die. Very soon, in fact. A war is going to break out within a year. Do not cry, weep, or grumble. You must prepare! You must choose your sides carefully! Choose who you will fight with! Who you will respect! Who you will help, assist, and share the victory with. Yes, who you will share the victory with." Everyone held their breaths. I paused for good measure before continuing. "Who you will share the consequences with." Everyone breathed again, and they started to murmur among themselves. "I will not force you to join the unicorns. We do not want forced creatures on our side. We only want help from those who are willing. Those who are willing to fight for the good of all. The dragons will fight for themselves. They will torture the unicorns and probably every other creature alive, including the humans. But, the unicorns are fighting to stop all that. To save everyone. To even take dragons on their side, if the dragons can be trusted. I represent one of those unicorns! Come with us, if you are not against us or our actions. We need your help." The werewolves murmured an answer around the circle, until my old friend Frun turned to me. He stood and waved his hands for silence. The room was immediately silent. Everyone's eyes were riveted on their leader. "We are with the unicorns," he calmly said. Everyone whooped and cheered. Suddenly, Frun held his hands up for silence. Everyone leaned against the walls and stared at their leader. "First, how many creatures are helping you? We will help, regardless of the number." I nodded and looked around the room as I said,"I have only asked you and the Lock Ness. I will ask the others. Lock Ness said ‘yes'." Everyone cheered again, and began patting each other on the back. Frun ran me to the door, where 3908 was waiting. He opened the door and growled,"You did not offend me, Prrrincess." I smiled and waved to him and Frun. Then, I ran through the doorway and the door shut behind me. The treons were in this room. They were in the form of macaws or parrots. All of them were green. I walked to a macaw closest to me. "Hello. I am here on urgent business. I must speak to you all." They all looked at each other, and quickly flew to a nearby tree. It was artificial, but big enough to carry all ten of them. "A war is about to start. Within a year or so, it will have begun. The dragons and the unicorns. Dragons are fighting for victims. Unicorns are fighting to free the victims." I went through the long explanation, and in the end, all of them said ‘yes'. I was happy when I had left their room. The next room was the cyclops. It was easy to convince him. He said ‘yes' immediately, and told me I must hurry. That night was almost over. I ran through the next door and found myself in the room with the Clarques. "Tryun?" I called. One of the lamb like creatures jumped off the shelf to my left. He pranced toward me. "Dog paws, lizard teeth, rabbit fur, face and body of a sheep." I smiled and nodded. Then began the tiring explanation once again. He was quite amused at my story, and even laughed a couple of times. At the end, I asked what was so funny. "Well, we are Clarques! So small are we! Nothing can we do!" He laughed again, and a chorus of little laughing Clarques could be heard from outside the walls. I frowned and said,"We need spies." They all looked up at me. The Clarques on the shelves turned their attention to their leader. Tryun said,"Yes, we can help with that. Our answer, is ‘yes', we shall help you unicorns." I sighed and thanked the creatures. Then opened the secret door and talked to Abom. He agreed, saying that he would say ‘yes', if and only if he got a cold place to live afterward. The deal was made, and I left the dragon's cave a happy unicorn. I slept good that night. But feared for the creatures who would be making their escape from the awful place.
By three in the morning, I was running for my life. "Aaaaah!" I yelled as a bullet passed through my shoulder. The dragons were in hot pursuit. I had gotten myself into a mess, again. I had flown back that night to check on the creatures. They had made it out safely, but the dragons surrounded the area. I was spotted. Now, I was being chased by fifty of the nasty creatures. They all had guns. The war wasn't supposed to start for a year, but the fighting would certainly start now. I flew upward, trying to ignore the pain in my shoulder. I had to fly or die. Those were my only choices. Suddenly, I had no choice. I was spinning toward Lake Fisher. A bullet to my lower neck had sent me spinning toward the water. I tried to pull up, but it was no use. My vision grew blurry, and I could no longer find which way was up. Blood spilled from my mouth. I began to fall backwards. My back was pointing toward the river. I could see it glittering below. I landed hard. Not the feeling I expected from water. It wasn't water. Steel is what I had hit. I was laying in a large steel cage. I left a nice little trail of blood all the way back to the dragons' cave.
"Nooooo!" I yelled. The dragon brought his foot down hard on the top of the cage. I screamed again. He slammed into the top of my cage again. I was human. I needed to take a break from the pain. Needed to gain energy. I needed some strength to fight if any infection came along. The dragon above me was clearly angry. He stomped his foot on the top of my cage. He was ordered not to hurt me, so he pretended that he was. He took all his anger out on the cage. Suddenly, a dragon ran into the room. He unlocked the cage door and gagged me. Then he grabbed my flailing arms and tied my wrists together. I was dragged out of my cage and into the Main Room. I closed my eyes as I heard Clyte start to speak. I tried to block him out, but I finally listened to what he was saying. "Stand her up! Now! Stop it. Stop that! Don't do that to her! Do I have to do it all myself?! Stand her up!!" I shook my head, and looked up. My vision was much clearer, now that I had no wounds and wasn't weak. Clyte strode up to me and breathed in my face. "You. What did you do with them?" I glared at him, then turned my face away. He grabbed my neck and yanked my head back so I would stare at him. I glared and closed my eyes. He started to breathe harder, and drew a little blood as he slid his clawed finger across my neck. I did not open my eyes. I would not give in. He grabbed my arm and dug deep into it with his claws. I bit the gag hard, and closed my eyes. I would not show tears. No weakness must be shown! He ended his gouging at my wrist. Then he grabbed my other arm. A dragon untied my arms for Clyte, and held the clawed arm behind my back. I jerked my other arm away from Clyte. He reached for it, and stroked it momentarily. Then he slowly, but surely, dug his claws into my precious skin. A tear escaped and slid down my cheek. I closed my eyes tighter and endured the pain. Finally, he stopped. I gasped for breath. It was hard to breathe and endure pain at the same time. Clyte smiled ruthlessly and said,"Give her arms a nice bath in Baking Soda." I opened my eyes and shook my head. He saw the fear in my eyes and gave me a huge grin. Then he untied the gag. He held it in his hand, then let it drop to the ground. "Clyte! No! Please don't! It hurts! Oh, it hurts! Don't Clyte! Don't!!!" He smiled and started to laugh as I was dragged away. I would have to endure the pain. But I would be allowed to scream. And how I would scream. I would scream all of my worries, pain, and strength out. I cried as they dragged me toward a huge bucket. There, they would plunge my arms into the hot water. The water filled half full with the stinging Baking Soda. The one way to make a person crack. Pain, and plenty of it.
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