Ishar opened his eyes to find a woman on top of him. He was naked from the waist up and the only thing separating his chest from her bust was her blood stained dress. This could be regarded as the most intimate he'd ever been with someone of the opposite sex and blood rushed to his nether regions. Edda cocked an eyebrow at him with her large brown eyes taking in his boyish grin. "The beast.." Edda said, averting her eyes from him to stare straight ahead.
"Well, I can't exactly call it a beast. It's average sized from what I hear but I'm grateful for the compliment." Ishar said and Edda turned her gaze back to him, she regarded him in the same sense one would a man shoving wangi through his ears so that the drug would hit his brain faster.
"THE TELINETE RHINO!" Edda shouted at him at the same time a man dressed in black garments flew over them with a gaping hole where his chest once was . Ishar became aware of the back and forth rocking of where he lay and the carapace emerging from either side of him together with the screams all around. He pushed Edda slightly off himself and turned to lie on his navel, he lifted his head right as the Telinete Rhino lowered its horns and plunged through two retreating men dressed in red leather. The beast shook their mangled bodies off its horns while chasing down the fleeing crowd.
Ishar tilted his head back and laughed. "What are you doing? Why are you laughing?" Edda inquired. He could barely hear her through the screams of dying and fleeing Binorians. Ishar could feel her hands resting on his arm and waist as she strained to peer over his shoulder without falling off the beast.
"It's the irony of it all." Ishar said while turning his head slightly to regard Edda. Damn she has huge eyes, like a cow's, really pretty. He thought as he met her confused look as they rocked on the charging beast's back. "The irony is that this Binorian race has founded their Kingdom on the symbol of the Telinete Rhino. They revel in it and fashion its image onto everything they make for the creature has played a role in the foundation of their history and they do not wish to forget that." Ishar turned his head forward as a fat merchant with blond hair and wide blue eyes tripped and fell beneath the beast, he could feel the Telinete lurch to one side as the man's body got crushed under the creature's weight. "Now the very creature that is their symbol of strength and power has turned on them, reminding them that power belongs to whoever can wield it. Carrot is giving them the taste of the medicine they had once eagerly dished out to other Kingdoms and I am sure they will not forget this, their symbols will remind them whenever they do ."
Carrot bellowed in agreement and turned a corner onto a wide path that run from the palace to the Outer-gate and started in the direction of the palace . Ishar recognized the path Carrot sprinted on, he crawled further up the beast's back and lay on its neck. Behind him Edda followed in a crawl, struggling to stay as close to him as possible. Ishar run his hand on the flank of Carrot's neck and the beast's run slowed to a trot.
"They have wronged you." Ishar said as Carrot came to a halt. "They have caged you in that tiny enclosure since infancy and made you believe there was nothing beyond those walls." Carrot's ears twitched as it took in Ishar's words.
Edda watched as the Kolotian spoke to the beast. Carrot had come to a standstill and behind her in the distance leading to the Outer-gate she could see numerous City guards wielding shields and long spears line up along the path to obstruct the Telinete Rhino from leaving Binoria. It was clear that the Binorians weren't going to let them go and Edda's heart sunk as she took in the large wall enclosing Binoria, just beyond it was freedom. She was so close.
"The realm is large." Ishar said while taking his hand off the beast's neck and placing it on its head. Carrot's mouth opened and shut repeatedly and its eyes burned an even furious amber. Ishar didn't know what he was doing but he felt a connection with Carrot. He felt the beast's limited scope of view, it knew nothing of the Talisi hills or the wide Ganidan plain. It did not know of the endless desert to the east or the Rankf sea to the west. Ishar did not know much about the places beyond Talisi but he imagined how they were and fed the thoughts to Carrot through his palm on the beast's head. In return Carrot fed him something back to him.
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Ishar felt the beast's rage at being confined for all its life. He felt its loneliness for Carrot had never known another of its kind. He felt Carrot's sexual desire... What? Ishar cocked his head to the side and laughed. The Telinete beast sneezed and shook its head from side to side.
"What's happening?" Edda asked while turning her head behind her to stare at the ever increasing number of City Guards clogging the path to the Outer-gate. They advanced in a slow march on their position but they could not hide their fear as they approached the standing beast. The City guard at the forefront visibly trembled with their red shields and spears shaking in their grasps. It was clear that they would rather be anywhere else than before Carrot.
"Carrot is horny." Ishar replied with a beaming smile.
"What?" Edda asked while turning her eyes to the Kolotian.
Ishar placed both hands on the beast's head and he focused his will on delivering a simple message. A promise. Ishar made a promise to Carrot that they would travel the expanse of the realm together, that he would introduce Carrot to its kind and that Carrot's desires would all be met in due time. In return the beast sent an image of blood in Ishar's direction, a sea of madness painted crimson that washed over the realm in waves, drenching wherever it went according to the banks of Ishar's will. Ishar shuddered at the shear power.
Edda watched as the Kolotian's eyes faded from violet to amber for a brief moment before turning back to its original hue. Ishar leaned on Carrot and the Rhino turned around to face the City Guard behind them. There must have been hundreds of them judging from their thick clusters and numerous shields and spears. The Telinete Rhino moved in the direction of the Outer-gate and came to a halt before the front row of City guards who shook like a twig in a hurricane.
A round man dressed in cheap red leather emerged from the front row. He had a golden colored helmet that marked him as the leader of the City guard procession before Ishar and he had neither a shield nor a spear . He turned his head around to his men. "Hold your grounds, men! We are Binorians and we cower before no one!" His words were met with silence as most of the City guards' eyes stayed glued on the Telinete as they visibly struggled to keep from fleeting.
The Chief City guard turned his attention to Ishar. "Descend from the Telinete Rhino right now and hand yourself over to the City guard by decree of King Vayin Vigon." He spoke while pointing at the ground with sweat dripping down his pudgy face.
Ishar smiled at the man. He sensed courage in him and a sense of duty that came before everything. Those were admirable traits in the face death. "Kneel and I will allow you and your men to live." Ishar replied.
"I would rather shove sewer rats up my arse than kneel before Kolotian scum! " The Chief City guard replied and turned to his men to issue a command right as Carrot's largest horn at the end of its snout pierced into the man's back and emerged from his front, ripping him open and causing one of the City guards to collapse with fright. Carrot lifted his head and shook the screaming Chief City guard from side to side, spraying blood and guts all over the shields of the front row City guards.
"Don't throw him off, Carrot, let him stay there for a while." Ishar said and the Telinete Rhino went still with the squirming Chief on its horn. Ishar turned to the City Guards blocking the path who stood gawking at their leader impaled on the Telinete's horn. The Chief's anguished cries turned to incoherent mumbles before his body dangled limply on the beast's horn. "Kneel and-" Ishar didn't finish his words as every City Guard threw away their shields and long spears. They stuck to the sides of the path and prostrated themselves upon the ground before Ishar.
Ishar, Edda and Carrot made their way out of Binoria between rows of kneeling Binorians unobscured. Civilians who had been unable to find a place to flee to in time joined the City Guard on the ground in a show of subservience. Carrot held the body of the Chief City guard high upon his horn, ensuring that whoever saw them got the message. Silence engulfed Binoria as clusters of its residents could be seen peeking through open windows and half open doors at the Kolotian and Remu riding a Telinete Rhino in their streets. Edda had worried that the Binorians won't open the gates but upon arrival they found the Outer-gates ajar with City Guards kneeling on the wall and beside the gates with looks of despair etched on their grim faces. It appeared the Binorians really wanted them gone. All the while Ishar held a smile. He felt like a King.