Fireborne: Rashen Rising

CHAPTER 9: ATTACK AT MIDNIGHT

The scream came from the Ruins of Old Dreigon. Rashen,Ngoko and Raspin went in to investigate, after several minutes of searching Raspin had already given up,

"Are you sure you heard right Rashen? We've been looking around and I'm not seeing or hearing anything"

"Yeah'" Ngoko added, "We were at a fair so it's understandable you'd hear screams."

Rashen wasn't too sure about the that just yet. He knew what he heard and it sounded like a scream of terror, like someone needs help. But they had been searching for a while now and have found nothing so they decided to go back. Just then they heard the scream again.

"Doesn't sound like the scream of someone having a good time at the fair now does it?" Rashen asked sarcastically.

"Don't be a smartass Rashen" Raspin, replied,they heard the scream again

"Rashen's right, we've gotta check this out now" Ngoko said in a serious tone.

The trio ran towards the direction the sound was coming from till they got closer and closer. It led them to a small abandoned warehouse. This close enough they could hear crying and whimpers coming from inside the warehouse. On Ngoko's command that snuck up to the warehouse's doorless entrance and took a look inside.

Inside was a man who looked to be in about his late fifties,hair combed over to cover his bald spot,bags under his eyes and a particular short fellow. He was whimpering and trembling in fear,

"P- Pl- Please y-you don't und- understand. I-I- I never planned t-to r-run away" he forced out to the man standing above him.

He didn't look like a man though,he looked like a monster. He wore a black cloak with a hood covering his head so they couldn't get a good look at his face. He was a big and bully man,very physically imposing too. His most defining feature was that he had sharp metal blades sticking out of his back.

With graceful hand gestures he removed a single blade from his back, controlling it mid air first before slowly sending it towards the man's direction. He was a metal tamer, capable of controlling and manipulating all forms of metal in shape and form.

The trio were horrified at the sight they saw. Ngoko tried coming up with a rescue plan but the attacker was too close to his captive for them to actually do anything. The attacker looked like a serious threat so they needed to thread lightly here.

The attacker,still controlling the blade sent it flying fast towards the man. It landed only slightly above his head on the wall with just a few inches.

Suddenly there was a flash of red light and in the blink of an eye before anyone had noticed, Rashen, with his blood red flames coming from the outgrowths on his back,was already on top of the attacker,he landed a powerful kick sending him flying a few feets back.

"Nice work Rashen!!!" Ngoko said as he summoned the wind. He forcefully pulled the man towards the entrance and outside the building. Immediately Raspin formed an earth was and that man crashed into it hard.

"We've already sent a distress call to the nearest Imperial headquarters so just take old man and get out of here, we'll hold him off" Raspin ordered.

Rashen held unto the old man tightly as he lifted him off the ground. He flew out of the building through the entrance door and towards the direction of the amusement park. From the wreckage where the attacker was another metal blade was sent flying towards Rashen in the sky but he hadn't taken notice. Ngoko once again using the wind changed the direction of the blade,it narrowly missed Rashen.

The attacker stood up,he looked back at Rashen as he flew out of sight with the old man. Then turned his attention towards the two standing in front of him. He let out a grunt, obviously frustrated and was looking to take it out on them.

"He looks mad, sure you're not going to wet yourself Ngoko?" Raspin teased,but Ngoko didn't respond,he knew this guy was the real deal.

"The old man is gone so there won't be any casualties and we're in an open abandoned space so we don't have to hold back. It's a two on one, we've got this" Raspin said to the quiet and serious Ngoko as they geared up for a fight. The attacker took out multiple blades from his back and launched them towards the duo.

Rashen flew as fast as he could. He finally arrived at the amusement park. He landed and rushed the man towards a bench. He could hear murmurs from the surrounding crowds but he couldn't care less.

"Are you okay sir? Are you hurt?" He asked. The old man,with his shaking hands took Rashen's hands,

"You need to go back and help your friends"

"They'll be fine without me but I need to take you to a clinic right away" Rashen said looking around for any of the staff.

The man strengthened his grip on Rashen's hands,

"Please. You need to return to help them. Please" he pleaded with a much more firm voice. Rashen looked at the man's pleading face intently and simply nodded.

"Someone get this man to the clinic" Rashen said backing up,he blasted off using his red flames and headed towards Ngoko and Raspin.

From the air he spotted the building where they saw the old man and his attacker,or at least what was left of it. The building was left in a rubble. As he landed he noticed the various cracks and openings on the earth,the air air was tight as well. Seems whoever that man was he must have been a tougher opponent than he thought originally thought.

He called out their names several times but got no reply, something was definitely off. He scoured the area searching for Ngoko and Raspin and when he finally found them, they both laid lifeless on the floor.

"Ngoko? Raspin?" Rashen called out but to no avail,

"NGOKO!!! RASPIN!!!" He screamed as he ran towards them. He took a good look at them, their attacker used metal blades to fight but there were no signs of cuts or stabbings on them.

Rashen was beginning to panic,he couldn't even begin to explain the situation right now. He had to calm down first before taking action. He checked their pulses for any slight sign of life,he knew they were tough and wouldn't go down easy...at least that was what he told himself. The results from the pulse check left him shaking and trembling,close to tears even. They were alive,the both of them. Just then he heard marching,the sounds the boots made as they came in contact with the rocky earth, the Imperial Soldiers had arrived,they were all Noble Cadets and were led by none other than Squad Commander Kuro Malloy.

Rashen was more than glad to see the Imperial Soldiers,

"You're finally here. You finally made it," he said getting back up and walking towards them, "You have to help, it's Ngoko and Raspin, they're both in a near death state and I don't know how much longer they have before-" before he could even finish his statement one of the Noble Cadets launched clay towards Rashen hitting both his arms and legs and hardening immediately,an earth tamer with clay limit.

Rashen fell hard on the floor,he was confused as to why he was being attacked,

"What are you doing? Why are you restraining me when the guy responsible for this is probably out there?" He asked impatiently. He looked around at the soldiers and apparently, the crowd that had gathered behind them,a crowd which included the cadets that were in the after party.

Commander Kuro walked up to him with the clay tamer,

"That'll be enough out of you,you devil" He said with clenched teeth.

The last thing Rashen saw were the hand movements the clay tamer made before blacking out.