Chapter 9: The Fall
With a metallic screech, one of the chains around Drakons' arm slid out of his cell and off the side of the cage, dangling in the open air.
At the noise, Nubia shot awake, her long Jackal ears perking up to an alert position.
"Drakon! He did it!" The princess said in an excited whisper.
"Huh?" "Who's this?" Drakon whipped his eyes. "Ah yes, Marcus, good job! I was getting a bit worried there."
Scratching his unwashed hair, Drakon asked, "Well, do you two wanna leave now, or get a good night's sleep?"
Marcus and Nubia stared at the old warrior, incredulous.
"Please be serious, Lord Drakon. We need to have a plan if we're going to break out of one of the most secure places in the Mediterranean. I propose we disguise ourselves as guards-"
"No, no, we don't gotta do all that," Drakon cut her off.
His abilities partially regained, Drakon grabbed the other three chains binding him in one hand. With the ease of yanking a few weeds out of loose soil, the Spartan pulled the three enchanted steel chains off his arms.
Who is this man? More importantly, how did he become this strong?
Even Nubia was shocked at the Spartans' display, but she quickly regained her composure.
Drakon worked fast, breaking the chains holding Marcus before moving on to Nubia. As her bindings fell to the ground, Marcus thought that he caught the princess's black eyes flash a glowing purple as the magic-surpressing cuffs came loose.
"So, what is your plan?" Nubia asked.
Drakon exhaled, a faint battle aura flashing to life around him, before condensing back into his body. With a grunt, he slammed a fist into the cage's roof.
The blow created a massive hole in the steel cage but also caused it to swing wildly. Marcus grabbed onto a bar to stabilize himself.
"Up ya go!" Drakon said, motioning to the hole.
Following his direction without question, Nubia gracefully cleared the jump, landing gently next to the massive chain holding the cage to the underside of the Blue Palace.
Marcus's cheeks burned in embarrassment and he clumsily pulled himself onto the top of the cage, immediately seizing hold of the large chain to stabilize himself.
Drakon climbed out of the hole last. Once he was up, the Spartan pressed two fingers to his lips. His chest expanded, filling with air.
An earsplitting whistle erupted from Drakon's mouth, echoing down into the city below.
"What are you doing? you've alerted the guards," Nubia hissed.
"Just trust me," Drakon said with a toothy grin, placing his hands on the massive chain holding the cage in place.
"No..."
With an ear-shattering crack, the chain split in two.
The trio stood on the cage, suspended in midair for a split second before plummeting down toward Naples.
Marcus couldn't breathe. Wind stung his eyes as the Trio dropped, rapidly picking up speed. The young man thought he could see a large shadow flying towards them in the corner of his vision, before dismissing it as a hallucination.
500, 200, 100 feet. The cold, hard cobblestone street below them drew closer and closer.
Marcus felt Drakons' hand lock onto one of his arms. Fifty feet above the street, the flying shadow passed over them.
Snatching them out of the air, the shadow beat its wings, soaring upward.
Marcus stared in shock at the enormous talons wrapping around his and Drakons' torsos, he glanced to the side, seeing a disgruntled Nubia in the creature's other claw.
Looking up, Marcus stared at the underside of a massive Blue Heron. A leather saddle rested on the oversized bird's back.
The Heron lifted its long legs, lightly tossing the three up onto its back. They landed softly atop the massive bird.
A wave of nausea rolled over Marcus as he repressed the urge to throw up.
Nubia wasn't doing much better. Her cloak had flown off, leaving her clothed in a black tunic and leggings, the bandages covering her arms had also come loose, whipping in the wind as the Heron beat its' massive wings.
Upon closer examination, Marcus noticed that Nubias' bandages were covered in strange symbols, which he recognized as Eygiptian hieroglyphs. He pushed the observation to the back of his mind, adding it to a massive pile of unanswered questions.
"Wrap these around your waists," Drakon said, handing the teens two long chords attached to the Herons' saddle.
"Marcus, Nubia, this is Archimedes," Drakon fondly patted the Herons' blue-feathered neck.
Archimedes's feathers shimmered in the wind, changing their color to match that of the gray, foggy clouds above them.
This Heron isn't an average Rook. She flies incredibly fast, has huge talons, and has some kind of camouflage magic. She must be worth, two, maybe three thousand Gold Aureus.
Archimedes soared over downtown Naples, passing marble and gold-trimmed mage towers, temples, and amphitheaters. For what could be the last time, Marcus peered down at the cramped streets he grew up on.
From the back of the Heron, his former life seemed so small, so trivial. His relationship with Seyda was a lie. His parents and family were killed. There was nothing left for him in Naples.
As the Blue Palace began to shirk into the distance the tension in Marcus's heart eased. He never wanted to go back.
Busy city streets changed to spacious housing areas as they flew over the city wall, entering Italys' wild country.
Suddenly, Archimedes began to pick up her pace. Looking around, Marcus made out a dot rapidly approaching from the west.
As the dot grew closer, the three realized that it was a huge blue Drake, carrying a Golden knight.
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