Escape

Ralkos didn't have any time to react as Siti pushed out of the way. A horned creature that seemed to be made out of redstone approached. Its lion-like face scrunched up in a snarl as it dragged behind it a large bloodied ax. It was followed by a smaller figure with skin a sickly green color. In one hand gripped a whip and in her right was a leash leading up to a thick collar around the creature's neck. She stared down at Siti and Ralkos as something sinister flashed within her red eyes. Her fingers gripped around the whip as she raised it up ready to strike at the pair when shadowy tendrils rose up from the ground grasping both her and the larger creature. The female Draemon looked to the side, her eyes widening. Ralkos glanced around but could get a good look as she gathered Siti into her arms to get her out of there. The feeling of blood on her feathers and skin was making her sick.

"Hang on Siti," Ralkos muttered as she got to her feet, her talons carefully wrapping around the injured party. Spreading her wings she took off into the air, despite not getting her job she was still fully grown. 'I'm sure Richard broke a lot more rules in my body.' she thought as she glanced around for Kas on the ground. It was difficult to distinguish who was friend from foe with the sheer mass of bodies. The soldiers were keeping the monsters away from the young ones. Then she spotted the pink of the healers and flew down towards them only to watch them get swarmed. Everything went dark and Ralkos had to look up to see a massive creature flying above them.

Words were lost on Ralkos as she tried to figure out where to flee to when something flew into her. She struggled for a moment before recognizing one of her fellow Akakoan examinees. The one who helped Siti take her to the infirmary. Before she could say anything he looked at Siti before looking at her. "I'll take her to safety, get the other lost ones out of there."

"Wha-?" Ralkos couldn't get a word out as her fellow Akakoan took Siti out of her hands and flew away. Turning around, Ralkos went to get as many of her fellow citizens out of harm's way. Her head was pounding harder and harder the further she moved away from the collapsing tower. Turning around, Ralkos flew towards the base, feeling her head clearing up. A few of the Draemon flew up towards her but she kicked out with her newly taloned feet and slashed at the faces. She pulled her legs back using the wings on her arms to fly a little higher as the large creatures swiped at her.

"Hey! Birdy!" Richard's voice called up, her eyes shot towards the source of the voice. It was coming from under a pile of rubble. She dropped down on top of it, noticing that none of those creatures were coming close. 'I'm guessing because of the demon under the rubble.' Ralkos thought as she gripped one of the heavier stones and did her best to roll it off the pile. It was a struggle as it seemed that something was sticking to it. Once it was gone she noticed what seemed like sticky silk underneath it.

"What is this stuff?" Ralkos asked as she continued to move the rubble with some difficulty. "And why…"

She breathed heavily as she attempted to get off a larger piece of rubble only to duck under it. More of the tower collapsed, the heavy debris almost hitting her.

"... Why aren't those creatures coming closer?" she breathed hearing angry roars from beyond it. Richard was quiet for a moment before answering. "Considering how long they were trapped in there they must still believe that I'm the champion of Sonus."

Ralkos twitched, feeling a sense of familiarity from the name. This must have been who Tyrus was demanding the location of. 'The creature who carried his head under his arm.' she thought to herself as the debris settled around her. 'Did I just trap myself?' she thought in irritation pushing against her shelter only for it to not budge.

"Did… did you get yourself trapped as well?" Richard began to chuckle before letting out a full bodied laugh before it sounded like someone punching him. "Son of a…."

"Thanks Kas," Ralkos interrupted, earning a rather irritated string of sounds from Richard. She smiled slightly as Kas replied. "No problem Ral."

"Not to be the bearer of bad news but you two will run out of air," Richard spoke up, causing Ralkos to twitch. "I can push the debris off but it will take a lot of time and with the tower collapsing it will just keep getting harder and harder."

"Then why did you blow it up?" Ralkos growled as she began to shove against the rocks. Richard took a while to respond. Then it hit Ralkos. "That wasn't the distraction, was it?"

"Could you just shut your mouth?" Ralkos was shocked at Richard's words, normally he acted friendly. "I-I'm trying to focus."

'Something's off.' Ralkos thought before deciding to tear at the threads in front of her as they began to expand outwards. Some began to wrap around her pulling her in as more debris crashed on top of them. Ralkos coughed a bit before looking up. Kas was leaning against the broken remains of the crystal with his leg bound. Richard was standing in the middle weaving more of the threads around them and pushing them further and further away. Ralkos moved next to Kas and knelt down to take a look at the wound. "Are you alright?"

"When he pushed me out of the way from the debris something happened to my leg," Kas said, wincing a bit before his face returned to the usual blank expression. "I didn't expect him to bind it though."

Richard glanced back towards them, his eyes narrowing at Kas. This ticked Ralkos off for a moment but her concern for her friend was overriding the irritation. Richard swore under his breath a few times causing Ralkos to assume that they were buried even more. 'How much time do we have?' she thought before a loud sound echoed around them.

"That one next!" Kavis' voice echoed around them causing Ralkos to jump. The appearance of the Cheldrasi was one she did not expect. She thought that Kavis would be out fighting against the Draemon not helping those trapped. There was another deafening crash causing everyone who could hear to cover their auditory receptors. One by one Richard retracted his threads as they fell to the ground. Ralkos was about to say something in protest when she realized that the debris was being blasted away. Standing there in front of them was a small humanoid figure with no discernible features at all. The creature was wearing layers of heavy robes and a strange crystal hanging around its neck. Kavis ran past Richard to help up Kas and Ralkos. The strange newcomer was just staring at Richard before stating. "You do know you're coming with us, right?"

"What do you mean he's coming with us?!" both Ralkos and Kavis protested to the creature. The humanoid turned to look at both of them with pale eyes responding. "Tall Birdy should know the effects of staying far away from him for any amount of time."

Kavis gave Ralkos a deep look of disappointment and Ralkos managed to speak. "Hey! I had no choice in the matter. It's not like I invited him in."

"When did that happen?" Kavis hissed back but Ralkos rolled her eyes, ignoring that as she asked her own question. "Who's your friend?"

"He's… ummm, a Changeling?" this confused Ralkos, the Cheldrasi were the only known shapeshifters in the known universe. So the uncertain way that Kavis used to present that statement didn't sit well with her. Another thing that caught her attention was that Kavis referred to this being as 'He'. Cheldrasi never chose a gender until it was time to breed. Ralkos looked at the being as she swept Kas into her arms asking. "What's your name?"

"Hmm?" the Changeling tilted his head to the side for a moment. "My name?"

He was silent once more before answering. "Oh that! I can't remember what I once was called. So I go by names that others give me."

A wide smile grew upon his face.

"Here I went by two names, Kels is the one I'm quite used to."

"We should get going then, Kels," Ralkos didn't trust him but he seemed to be helping them out for the time being. Kels nodded his head enthusiastically showing the way out. As a Draemon charged towards them swinging with a large weapon wildly, Kels merely lifted his hand. A strange beam energy left his hand slamming into the creature leaving a hole in its chest. The massive creature fell down, everytime it tried to get up or get away more beams of energy slammed into it. Kavis reached out gripping Kels' shoulder shouting. "That's enough!"

Ralkos watched as Kels snapped out of whatever trance he was in before looking at Kavis like nothing had happened. "Right, we need to find that Elken friend of yours."

"Why?" Ralkos asked and Kels turned his attention towards her. "Elken are peaceful."

"Oh, you don't know," Kels just laughed before moving through the bodies of Draemon that Ralkos was starting to believe was his doing. Quite a few of them sporting holes in their deceased form. Rearranging her grip on Kas Ralkos followed, keeping her wings ready for flight. Glancing back she noticed Richard following them. Taking a deep breath she asked under her breath. "Who is he?"

"Kels?" Richard seemed to catch on quick. "You saw into my memories."

"Sure, I don't remember a lot but I don't remember seeing him around," Ralkos retorted. "Not even a servant."

Richard just shrugged his shoulders, earning an angry growl from Ralkos. Kas reached up and touched her shoulder causing Richard's eyes to snap towards him. Pulling himself up Kas whispered. "Just ignore him Ral, why should he tell us things we want to know so easily?"

Sighing, Ralkos moved to catch up with the others. Kels was just standing still watching as Larial attacked the Draemon surrounding her with ferocity that had never been displayed before. It was almost like Larial was a completely different person. Most of the giant Draemons seemed to be focused on her and ignoring all of the fleeing civilians despite the protests of the smaller Draemons. The leashes getting yanked from the hands and without their protection fell to Kels attacks when they got too close. Kavis ran forward to yank their friend out of the fray only to get grabbed by a large alien. This, unlike the Draemon, was a species that Ralkos had heard of and seen a few before. A massive humanoid bear-like species that was rarely seen off their homeworld. 'An Imatti' Ralkos was amazed at the being who held Kavis to her chest. The Imatti were well known for their massive size and stature, with ears and tail like that of an Earth grizzly. From their forehead down their back the species sports a row of horns. The Imatti, like most humanoid species, had opposable thumbs on their massive paws and proved to be a quite dextrous species. Their hindlegs worked in a similar way to a bear's hindlegs giving them the ability to work on all fours as well as standing. Their coarse fur coated their head, back, arms, and legs leaving only the chest exposed. From the neck down to where the fur was, it was rumored that it was scaled hence why they didn't need it. 'Focus Ralkos!'

The Imatti approached Ralkos, setting Kavis next to her saying. "Keep eyes upon this one, I will protect Fierce One."

Kels had a look of pride on his face as he said. "I taught her how to speak in the Common tongue."

"That explains it," Kas said as the Imatti charged into the fray a gold light shimmering around her. Kels looked confused for a moment then it faded. It was like nothing fazed him for long. "Is he insane?" Ralkos spoke her thoughts out loud. Kas didn't respond but a flinch from Richard told her all that she needed to know. Kels looked up at her and told her in an uncaring tone. "I haven't been sane for a very long time and I have made peace with that."

"Star captain, I have retrieved Fierce One," the Imatti said, running up in long strides with a struggling Larial over her shoulder. "Make haste, Dark Ones not stay down for long."

"Then off we go! Good thing I took that Slime a while back!" laughed Kels as he took off running with the Imatti behind him. Ralkos saw Kavis running after them before spreading her wings and launching herself forward. A secondary rush of air caught her attention. Glancing to the side she saw Richard keeping up with ease.

"Why are you coming? Shouldn't you be getting your reward?" Ralkos shouted over the air current, Richard looked at her saying. "I don't want a Dredge Cleaner like Tyrus using our connection to his advantage."

Shivers went down Ralkos' spine as she remembered the claws of Tyrus piercing her chest. Even though they were Richard's memories they still felt real to her. There were so many of Richard's memories still floating around in her head. There was the temptation to pry into them in order to understand his hatred of Tyrus. It seemed to always be there, in the memories that she could drag to the surface. Yet no memory came to the surface about why. The roar of Draemons on their tail snapped Ralkos back to reality. Her wings flapped faster wondering how Kels was running so fast despite being small in stature. Kavis was even levitating to escape with ease. Yet Kels was much farther ahead than any of them. He shouted something towards the Imatti before coming to a complete halt.

"Keep follow," the Imatti ordered them heading towards the base of a large hill. Confused, Ralkos followed after her but peered over her shoulder to watch. Kels spread his arms wide as a large door wrapped in chains appeared in front of him. One by one the large chains fell to the ground, but Ralkos was pulled away before she could finish watching the scene.

"You have friend to look after," the Imatti told her as she pulled Ralkos along. Ralkos frowned, wanting to protest but she did know that she needed to take care of Kas. 'I hope that Siti is alright.' Ralkos thought as she took a look around. She didn't know where she was being taken or what to expect yet it had to be better than getting barraged by beings that they weren't even prepared to face.

"Why are we here?" Kavis protested, despite their normal attitude towards chaos they seemed to not like wanton destruction. "We should be out there fighting to reclaim this world."

"Time is not now," the Imatti told him as she led them down a hall, releasing Ralkos along the way. Ralkos climbed to her feet realizing that they were in a metal structure of some sort. "Star Captain will train you like he trained Y'ma."

"Y'ma?" Ralkos was curious if there was another person. Richard chuckled as he waved a hand towards the Imatti. "Y'ma is this fabulous specimen of the freakishly tall Imatti."

"My thanks," Y'ma bowed her head much to Richard's dismay before continuing on. "Star Captain trained Y'ma to battle Dark Ones despite Star Peace."

"Good thing he did," Kavis spoke despite the loud shouting from Larial. "Calm down Larial, you will get your chance again."

"That was some fancy spell work back there," Richard said looking at Y'ma. "It's been a long time since I've seen white magic at work."

"Gold magic works well against Dark Ones, white magic works well against undead," Y'ma replied back as she set down Larial. "Teach you Star Captain will. Teach you how to defeat Dark Ones. We make Star Flight when he gets back."

Ralkos blinked a few times trying to understand what was being said but couldn't. So she moved past it wanting to help Kas out. "Where can I go to get Kas healed?"

Y'ma, unfazed about it despite the looks that Ralkos got from Kavis, spoke. "Healer's Sanctuary, this way. Slime and friend are there."

'But Kas is here.' Ralkos thought as she followed Y'ma down the hallway, noticing how many doors there were. 'Who is she talking about?' Y'ma, taking notice that Ralkos was looking around, tried to do some explaining. "Winged vessel built many star cycles ago. Y'ma not know how Star Captain obtained it."

'Winged vess….' Ralkos began her thoughts once again before it hit her. "It's a ship?!"

"Not Imatti have strange words for things," Y'ma sighed before pressing a button and a door slid open. "Y'ma has heard Star Captain call it that though."

Nodding her head in understanding, Ralkos walked inside. Y'ma getting a call on her communicator causing her to step out. Sighing, Ralkos found herself in a large medbay, with devices even she couldn't name. Hovering over one of the beds was an unconscious Siti, white lights wrapping around her. Unsure of what to do Ralkos walked over to one of the several empty beds and set Kas down. The whole bed seemed to light up as if scanning Kas' injury.

"Will you be alright?" Ralkos asked and Kas nodded his head. Ralkos was about to relax when the whole ship began to shake. The roar of the engines echoing throughout the halls. Kas tensed saying. "Go and check, I'll be alright here."

"Don't get into any trouble," Ralkos told him, Kas chuckled as he leaned back in the bed. Smiling herself, Ralkos headed out to 1) Find the bridge and 2) Get answers. The moment she stepped out of the medbay she felt herself get pulled by an invisible force. She was dragged through the halls until coming to a lift at great speeds. Closing her eyes expecting a crash she felt everything shift around her. Pulling one of her lids open she found herself standing on a massive bridge. Kels was sitting at the helm with Y'ma beside him.

"Do not send Winged Vessel into the Earth like time before," Y'ma told him and Kels laughed at the statement. "Y'ma is serious, does not wish to lose friend again."

"Don't worry Y'ma, we're leaving the nice Birdy planet and heading to the starting world," Kels assured her and Y'ma seemed to accept the answer. Moving forward Ralkos spoke loudly, getting the attention of Kavis and Larial. "Starting planet? What is that?"

"It's where training always begins," Y'ma stood up looking at all of them. "So you too fight Dark Ones."