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Chapter 72 - The Cage

Friedrich sat aback the wagon as the bipedal reptiles pulled it along. They did not slow once, yet their master whipped them for good measure every so often. They did not make a single sound when they were beaten, they simply continued to run while Friedrich hid beside the cage of bones.

His mind was racing. Only a couple of hours ago he was in Kai’roh with Marina and Teleri, and now he was stuck in this forsaken plane of darkness. As tempting as it was to kill the demon rider out of spite, he knew he must resist. He needed to know where the demon was going in case there was the slim chance it would lead to a way back home.

He wanted to laugh at the thought of home. It had been a long time since he had been there. He hadn’t slept in his own bed in over a year, nor had he seen his father since then. He wondered how his old man was doing, but he already knew the answer; he wasn’t. Lord Gaerfyrd was trapped just like his son…well maybe not quite. He was trapped in his own unmoving body, while his son was trapped in a demon realm.

Friedrich dared to peer around from behind the cage and glimpse at the rider, but he was doing as he always did. Waiting, whipping and then waiting again. As Friedrich turned back, out of the corner of his eye, he spied a filthy humanoid demon in the distance. He was hairy and bearded, watching the wagon with a furrowed brow. Friedrich shuddered as the wagon continued to roll away and the demon soon disappeared from sight. He was very glad the demon did not care enough to alert the driver.

Half an hour later, the fox could feel a shift in the movement of the reptiles and the wagon started tilting upwards as they ascended a hill. He looked around and saw that they were heading up and into the mountains where an iron building loomed not too far away. Its metal was spiked and twisted, its windows black and threatening. It was as though a castle had been plucked form Mercia, thrown into this hell and robbed of its essence; all that was left was a metal husk and none of the stone grandeur.

“Kel zudeyath,” called the driver.

“Grel morya,” replied another demon. Then came the screeching and scraping of metal doors being pulled open.

Not wanting to be seen, Friedrich dove inside the cage of bones, burrowing himself as deeply as he could. He had no fears about making it back outside and running free into the wilderness, but getting in was another story when there were demons guarding the castle.

The wagon started rolling again, but much more slowly this time. Friedrich could not see past the bones, but he tried to feel which way he was being turned in case he needed to return this way. Left, straight for a while, right, down a small slope, straight again, left.

Suddenly, the wagon came to a stop and seconds later, there was the slinking sound of chains and a clunk upon a hook being fixed to the loop on top of the cage. Friedrich wondered if now was the time for him to scurry away, but he dared not when he knew the demons were right beside him. He could hear their heavy breathing as he tried to stay as still as possible so as not to disturb the bones.

He felt the cage being hoisted and it started to slowly rotate as though dangling. The wagon moved away and the bottom of the cage opened, sending everything inside—including the golden fox—plummeting into a pit. Friedrich hit the ground with a thud and let out an involuntary yelp.

Dazed, he staggered to his feet and looked up. There was an opening in the ceiling that was being covered up by a wooden trapdoor. His eyes turned back down and he looked around, displeased to see that he was in an underground pit thirty feet from the surface, but he was not alone down here.

From the shadows in the corner, reached a clawed hand with nails like daggers. He grabbed a handful of the bones that had rolled towards its pocket of darkness and scooped them up. There was a gritty crunch as the bones were crushed beneath enormous teeth. With each bite, there was a sickening slurp as the unknown beast hungrily devoured the bones.

If he had not been a fox, Friedrich would have been in utter darkness, but he could just about see the creature now that it moved forward. It was a hulking reptile, standing seven feet tall, but wider than any man. Its scales were jagged and rough as though its body was made of dried volcanic rock. It had a long tail with a spiked ridge running all the way to the tip; it looked heavy enough to break a tree in half with a solid swing.

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But even with the claws and the tail, what scared Friedrich most was its face. It was long and malformed, as though it had once looked like an alligator before being brutally beaten fifty times over, never being allowed to fully heal. Its sunken eyes were manic and they were now fixated on Friedrich, upon seeing the golden fox standing in its lair. Its protruding jaw twisted into a smile and it took slow steps towards him as he retreated.

Friedrich looked around as he backed away; there was nobody else here, he was sure of it. He transformed back into himself, raised his shield and drew his sword. If he could kill this demonic reptile quickly then he may be able to remain undetected in this castle.

Seeing the human before him, the ugly monster looked hungrier than ever. It let out a roar and ran towards Friedrich. He parried a claw with his blade and blocked the other with his shield, the magic knocking the creature back a couple of steps. He thrust his sword into the beast’s chest, but it only sank a couple of inches before coming to a dead stop.

The ravenous creature hissed and lunged for the human, knocking him to the ground and flinging the sword aside. The beast was now on top of him and Friedrich bashed it with his shield, but it was only enough to make it recoil from this position. He kicked and he struck as the creature opened its jaw, ready to clamp down upon him. There was no choice, he had to do something drastic.

As the monster clamped its teeth around Friedrich’s shoulder, it was forced open again as the young man’s arm grew bulky and hairy. With a mighty shove, Friedrich threw the reptile back and stood up on his hooved feet, ready to fight it as the minotaur.

There was something different about the minotaur this time. It was not welling up with rage and bloodlust. It was cool and collected as though it was letting Friedrich maintain full control. He did not know why, nor did he have time to think as the demon crocodile charged for him.

Friedrich swung a thick fist, colliding it with the beast’s head. As it spun, its tail whacked him across the side and threw him across the pit where he hit the wall. As he righted himself, he heard thundering footsteps and his arm was torn open by four long nails, sending a splatter of blood across his face and the rough stone wall.

Letting out a furious roar, Friedrich grabbed the beast’s jaw as it tried to take a bite out of him. One hand held the upper jaw and one hand held the lower jaw as the monster tried to force it closed. Friedrich would not let it get away with hurting him and pulled the jaw wider and wider. The monster swung its tail, but Friedrich braced himself and took painful hit after painful hit, still prying the jaw wider and wider.

The creature was starting to wail in pain and pull away, but Friedrich kicked it in the stomach, making it wince. With a final pull, he snapped the creature’s jaw and the lower jaw hung limp as the beast stumbled backwards, unable to close its mouth.

It stumbled around, dazed as Friedrich stormed towards it. He tackled it to the ground and stuck his thumbs in its eyes, pushing them deeper until he heard two gruesome pops, but he wasn’t finished. He grabbed the monster’s tongue and held it out. It liked taking a bite out of him, didn’t it? It was his turn.

He sank his teeth into the rough and tough tongue, sawing through it with his teeth until it was cut enough to be torn free. Barely conscious and only able to make a pathetic whimper, Friedrich pummelled the monster with his fists until its head was so thoroughly pulverised that there was barely anything recognisable left.

Friedrich stood up, panting and victorious. The creature was dead and he would live to tell the tale. Although the minotaur had given him control, he suspected that it had been urging him along with its fighting style. He personally would rather have not bit through the tongue; he would have liked a quick and clean death.

“Horn,” he muttered aloud, shocked to hear comprehensible words spew from his bovine lips. “Horns…horns…horns…”

Unable to give a response of his own beyond grunts, Friedrich tried to ask what the minotaur wanted. What did it mean by horns? Was it talking about its own horns? The creature he had just killed had none to speak of.

“Kill…horns…” said the minotaur before falling silent. Friedrich waited in confusion, hoping for more to go on, but the minotaur did not speak of its own accord again.

Upon turning back into a human, Friedrich held the black minotaur mask in his hands. “What do you want?” he asked it, knowing he would get no response. “Why did you ensure we were brought to this plane?”

Hoping that he could find an answer that may lead him back home, Friedrich stowed the mask away again and retrieved his sword from the ground. He looked up at the ceiling to where the trapdoor was. If he was to have any chance of escape, he needed to reach the ceiling of the pit and crawl back through that.