Seventh Crown XVI

Do not read if you had no read the previous parts.

Seventh Crown XVI

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The men huddled against the wall, awaiting the horrible beast; their imaginations ran wild. By the time the thing entered the room where they waited, they had painted a horrible image; the beast was now in their minds a ten-foot monster with rows of huge, sharp, dagger like teeth. It was a hairy, gruesome creature that killed for fun. Their surprise as the beast entered the room was evident. The thing appeared to be a tall man, it wasn't really hairy, although it did have footlong dreadlocks. It was a palid creature with huge black eyes and a massive underbite. It did have big sharp teeth, but the worst part was the vampire-like teeth protruding from its gums, and the blood that caked the front of its ragged shirt.

The men waited until it fully entered the room, Jon and Sam were stationed on either side of the door while the others where positioned along the walls. As it came in, something in Jon's heart broke. All he could see was this child-killing monster attacking his family. He broke away from the plan; Lifting his sulfur dipped sword over his head, he brought it down towards the monster's crooked neck and let loose a roar of anger. His actions spiked the rest of the men into movement, they took hold of their swords and converged upon the beast in a frenzy of energy brought upon by their horror, sadness, and anger. The beast fought back, it lashed out with its wicked claws, drawing blood and causing pain. As hard as it tried, the monster could not manage to get its teeth into the men attacking it. This enraged it; if it could bite them then it could release poison into the veins of the men, killing them and evening the fight.

In the end, it was the Queen who delivered the final blow. She could see the men and the monster were both tiring, she grabbed one of the guards' swords from where it had been dropped onto the ground. She lifted it, and with a determined look, drove it through the monster's heart. The suflur dipped-silver blade of the sword killed the monster almost instantly. The men, saw that they-and the Queen- had won the fight, they sagged against the walls, trying to catch their breathes. The Queen collapsed to her knees, she shook so badly that she fought to keep her balance, Cage saw her distress. Kneeling next to her, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her close as she cried. They stayed that way until everyone had caught their breath and calmed down.

They stood up, gathering their weapons they prepared to head back to town. As they turned towards the door, the sound of an infants cry was heard. It was quiet and sounded weak, but it was there. The Queen and Jon rushed to the edge of the pit; they scanned the corpses, looking for the living child. It was Cage who found the baby though, it was lying at the edge of the pit, straight below them. It was on top of the dead body of a sheep. Jon and Sam lowered down a rope and then secured it. Cage climbed down and stepped carefully to avoid stepping on any of the bodies. He liften the child up in his large, well-muscled, scarred arms. Holding the baby in one arm, he tied a loop at the botttom of the rope. Putting his foot through it he held the rope and the baby tight. The rest of the guards worked together to pull them back up, they went slowly in order to avoid making Cage fall. As he reached the floor above him, he climbed out of the disgusting pit. He immediatley handed the baby to the Queen, she crouched on the floor and held the child close. A quick look identified the baby as a girl. She was swaddled loosely in a tattered blanket. A fast search of the pit showed them that this tiny girl-child was the only living being in the pit of death. This small child brought hope to the guard; the small child helped to balance out the loss of so many others a little bit. The group traveled back outside, they were glad to be free of this terrible place. Cage climbed up on his horse; since he was the best rider there, he had offered to carry the baby back to town. The rest of the group mounted their horses and they began to ride carefully to the Leaders house.

As they reached the town, a group of men came out to meet them. After a quick exchange of questions and answers, the group escorted Cage, The Queen, and the guards to the where the village leaders awaited them. They dismounted once they reached their destination. Cage cradled the whimpering child in his arms, the pitiful sound captured the attention of the women in the group.

"What is that you're holding?" One of them asked, she looked about nineteen to twenty, she was built small and looked haggard and tired.

Cage looked down at the child nested in his arms, "Its a baby." He said in a firm tone.

That got the attention of almost everyone else, "What did you say?" One of the Leaders' wife asked,

"I said," Cage started, "It's a child."

Saying those few words was like poking a nest of hornets, the villagers all started calling out question:

"A child?" One asked

"Where did you find it?" Another wanted to know.

"Is it one of ours?" A young mother called out.

Cage put out a hand, asking for quiet, "I will tell you, but first someone come over here and tell me whose baby this is."

A woman of about thirty years of age scurried over, she looked closely at the child's dirty little face, "Annalee!" She called, "I think these people have found your little one!"

The young woman who had asked what he was holding pushed her way through the crowd. She took one glance at the child and gasped, tears started pouring down her face steadily.

"You found her," she cried, "You found my daughter, Rose."

Cage shifted the infant into her mother's waiting arms, the baby reached for him, fussing until she realized that it was her mother holding her. She cuddled against her still-crying mother, the woman thanked Cage profusely and then left to go find her husband. The crowd dispersed at the orders of one of the village guards. A few lingered, only leaving when it was explained that the strangers' story would be relayed to them. Cage, The Queen, and the guards entered the house where the leaders and their families lived, they made their way to the meeting room to tell their tale.

They all sat down around the table, glasses of ale and food were brought for the weary questers. After they were settled, the questions began.

"Where did you find the child?" One of the men asked, getting straight to the point.

"In the abandoned house on the outskirts of town." Cage responded. "You need to send some men out there. Ones with strong stomaches and steady heads."

The man frowned, "What do you mean? What's out there?" He asked.

Cage hesitated before answering, "Your missing children and animals. OR really, what's left of them."

The man's wife spoke up this time, "What's left of them?" She paled, "Was the infant the only one... Alive?" She choked on the last word

Cage nodded, tears started to prick the back of his eyes, his mask was beginning to crumble. He swallowed and blinked them back before anyone noticed. "The rest are... Gone. They are ready to meet their god."

The woman buried her face in her husband's shoulder, hiding the streams of tears that soaked her face.

"What happened?" This question came from one of the couples' older sons who was deemed old enough to sit in on this horrible meeting.

Cage took a deep breath and started his story. "After hearing about what was going on in your town; I found out what the monster was. I took my men and we found the beast's den, we waited for it to return to feed itself and then we killed it." As he told the story, he explained the details as they were asked for.

When he reached the end, all of the women -including The Queen- were crying silently, some of the men were crying too. The leaders decided to wait until morning, then they would go to the monster's den and bring the children back for a proper burial. 

-to be continued-