\n I'm Only Human Pt. 5

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\n           'Might as well take as many of them as I can with me.' He thought so he picked a direction and fired. The anthro's running out of the trees fell as John put shots into them, but there were too many of them to take out and for everyone dead another would take his place and get closer to John. He kept on firing trying to make every one of the 30 rounds count but he could only hold out against this living tide of bodies for so long. Finally John's M4 clicked as the last shot in the magazine was fired. The last round went right through a wolf's eyes and blew out the other side of the wolf's head making a geyser of blood, brain, and skull bits fly out of his head.  John let go of the M4 which fell to his right side as the sling held it on his body and looked at the closest anthro charging at him. It was a lion, and it was too close. John pulled out his pistol as the lion took a slice at him, launching himself backwards to avoid the blow. But in the heat of the moment he forgot about his leg wound put his weight on his right leg. Pain shot threw John as his wound burned his leg. He cried out at the surge of pain as he fell down. John looked at the lion taking a slice at him. The blade just passed over John as he fell but it wasn't a complete miss. The blade continued on its journey across the space where John had just been standing, making contact with the pistol in his hand, easily wrenching it from his grip. Time seemed to slow as the lion recovered from the missed swing and got ready for the finishing blow. John just laid there unable to defend himself. He watched as the lion slowly walked over him placing both feet on either side of John and slowly pointed the blade downward. The look of triumph was worn on the lions face as he brought the sword up aiming to plunge it straight into John's heart. 'So this is it then?' John thought as he watched the lion above him. Strangely John the thought of dying gave him a sense of calm, like he had fulfilled a purpose in rescuing Cearra and this seemed like the only step left to take. Trapped God knows where, fighting one enemy to his front with another to his back. 'Yeah. This seems like the only way to go' He thought. So John was calm as the sword started it's slow decent toward his heart.

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\n Just as John was about to close his eyes to accept his fate the world was engulfed in flames and John lost sight of the anthro above him. John felt the heat wash over him but it didn't hurt. Rather, it felt like a warm summer day. But soon the smell of burning flesh and fur quickly flooded the air. The fires danced around John not even touching him, but if the smell in the air was any hint then the lion hadn't been so lucky. John found the display to be perversely beautiful, and the thought of the lion burning inside the fires red dance of death also made John smile a bit. The fires didn't burn long in in a few seconds they had burnt out and John could see the battlefield once again. And it wasn't only what he saw that shocked him, but what he didn't see as well. The lion just didn't exist anymore. The only thing that hinted to anyone standing over John was a puddle of molten slag which John assumed was the lion's sword and various pieces of his armor that where made of metal. The next thing he saw was white armor clad anthros rushing past him to meet the pursuers. The two forces clashed but the living wave of anthros pursuing John crashed upon the white metal cliff the soldiers of Saraph harmlessly. It wasn't much of a battle as John watched the white clad anthros mercilessly slice through the ranks of the pursuers. It didn't take long for the enemy to retreat, they were lightly armored so they could move fast, not to slug it out with heavy armored units and if they stayed any longer they would be completely routed.

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\n John took this time to retrieve his weapons so he could try and escape. He got off the ground gently trying not to put any weight on his injured leg and found his pistol lying a few yards away; as he limped over to the pistol he reloaded his M4 in case he needed to use it again. He retrieved the pistol and looked it over. 'Damage is minimal, some paint was scratched off the gun but it looks like it will work just fine' John thought as he holstered the weapon and turned around, nearly jumping out of his skin at what was behind him. He was face to face with a red snout that had some smoke emanating from the nostrils. The eyes were blood red and filled with rage making him seem even more imposing. The red scales didn't help either as John stared down the face of Pyrros. John then heard the shuffling of armor behind him and saw a fox there spear in hand and pointed at him. 'Looks like they don't intend to let me leave here.' John thought as he looked back at the battlefield. The white armor soldiers had already started to pile up the bodies of the enemy combatants.

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\n "You should not be so focused on what is not right in front of you creature." Pyrros said as a little more smoke blew from his snout into John's face.

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\n John waved the smoke away with his hand and muffled a cough. "That was uncalled for" John said as he finally go the smoke cleared away.

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\n "So you can talk." John heard the fox behind his say with a hint of amazement.

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\n "Of course I can talk fox boy." John snapped, he heard the fox growl at the comment. "Why does everyone have such a hard time with that fact?"

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\n "Good. That means you can answer." Pyrros said as he whipped his tail around and hit John on the wounded leg.

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\n John cried out as the pain returned and he fell to the ground. Pyrros crouched over him and let his toothy snout get a few inches from John's face. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't burn you to death right now."

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\n "Ok. First off that was a cheap shot." John started. He saw an amused smile for on the dragons maw. "Second  while maybe focusing on what is in front of you is." John started shifting his hand a bit. "It is also important to keep an eye on your surroundings, or you might fall into a trap." He finished as he pointed the M4 at Pyrros The angle was awkward to say the least but there was no way a shot would miss from that distance. Pyrros realized what he meant and snarled at the human. "I could kill you right now. Hell in the interest of self-preservation I SHOULD kill you right now but-" John let the muzzle of the gun point away from the red dragon above him. "I'm not going to. I'm not about to kill Cearra's father."

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\n John saw the rage in Pyrros' eyes fade at the mention of his daughter. 'She must be daddy's little girl' John thought. Pyrros grabbed John by the shirt and lifted him up to his feet.

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\n "The only reason you are alive, creature, and not a puddle on the ground is because you saved my daughter."

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\n  The dragon dropped John on his feet, though John had to struggle to maintain on his feet as the wound almost made him fall again. When he was balance John looked at the dragon who was starting to walk off. "So what know? I really doubt you're just gonna let me walk out of here." John asked not liking where the conversation was heading.

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\n The looked over his shoulder at the human. "It would be foolish to think otherwise." Pyrros stated. He waived his hand as he continued walking away. The motion confused  John for a moment, until he heard the fox moving behind him.

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\n Darkness surrounded him as John slowly started opening his eyes. John tried looking around but all he could make out was black. 'What the?' John thought before his head throbbed with pain. John gritted his teeth, the pain wasn't paralyzing but it hurt enough for him to wait until pain subsided. John decided to try and figure out where he was. He may have not been able to look around but his other senses worked just fine. The ground below him was cold and he could feel the cracks running through it. The air around him was dank and left sour taste in his dry mouth. The pain had begun to subside so John sat up trying to recall what happened. He felt down his right leg but he couldn't feel the wound that the arrow cut into his flesh. 'They must have used magic to heal me' John reasoned as he felt no trace of the wound, not even a scar. Then he remembered why he blacked out in the first place and probably the reason why his head felt so bad. 'Damn that fox. If I see him again I'll skin his ass alive.' John thought as he stood. That was a mistake. John had barely gotten on his feet before he was on the ground again. His head smashing against the stone ground. A steady stream of expletives left John's mouth as he clutched the back of his very pain rack and over abused head. John stayed clutching his head for a while and again waited for it to stop. John thought it better to lay there to not wanting to feel the wrath of gravity again. As he lay there he noticed that shapes began to emerge from the darkness. He could see steel bars in front of him. 'So I'm in jail. I'm a prisoner...'He thought as he began to look at the room again, not like there was much to see. To his left was a simple straw bed and pillow and to his right was a chamber pot. And of course him was lying in the middle of the ground, but other than that nothing. He felt around his waist and confirmed that his weapons were gone. 'Well it seems they aren't stupid...unfortunately'. After taking inventory John finally felt like he could stand up and, with help from the bed, he pushed himself onto his feet for a second time.

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\n He had just gotten on his feet when light flooded the darkness. The light poured onto John who was not ready for the change in lighting. He threw his hands in front of his eyes and staggered backwards. Unfortunately for John he tripped on his feet and he fell over again hitting his head on the back wall. There was no cursing this time as John just sat there staring straight ahead. "Why me?" he whimpered as a figure came to a stop outside his cell. His eyes slowly started to readjust to the new lighting and he was able to see who the figure was.

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\n "Well it seems you have finally woken up."

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\n John looked at the figure. If it wasn't for the light of coming from the door way she could have just melted into the background. The black dragoness before him was giving him a toothy grin, her white fangs looking quite intimidating.

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\n "I was hoping to see you before my mate dragged you away."

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\n "Your mate?" John said. His mind was still a bit foggy from the all of the head trauma he had received. It finally started to click. "You're Amaya. Cearra's mother."

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\n "It seems that the blows to your head did nothing to affect your memory." John gave her a confused look. "Cearra told us about what happened. She told us everything she told you and that you told her."

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\n "Well that's great. So why am I still in the cage? And how long have I been out?" he said while getting off of the ground.

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\n "You have been unconscious for at least a full day now. When they brought you to me you had an arrow wound to your leg and it looked like you had taken quite a beating on the battlefield."

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\n "Beating. Besides the arrow the only thing I remember hitting me hard enough to do damage was that damn fox." John said.

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\n "What? That's not what they told me." Amaya said. The shock of the cruelty of the guards was plain enough to see.

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\n "Yeah well it doesn't really matter now. What's done is done and I'm still in this cell."

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\n "Right which brings me to the reason why you are there. For right now it is for protection."

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\n "Protection?"

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\n "You are a strange creature to us....John was it?" She asked. John nodded his head.

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\n "We do not know yet what you are capable of so we cannot just let you wander around freely." Amaya explained

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\n "Makes sense."

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\n "Also no one knows what to do with you. As I have said Cearra told us all about what happened but there are still those who think it is safer to kill you then let you live." She continued.

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\n             John immediately perked up when she said kill. "Kill me? Wait a second if they know what happened then why the hell is that an option? "John said in a panic. His mind was at a standstill and his body grew tense.

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\n             "It is because you are such an unknown thing to us. Besides the rescue we have no idea where your allegiances lay and that has some saying it is better to kill you then to give you a chance. The incident at the feast does not help your cause in the least. If anything it only makes you appear even more unpredictable." Amaya explained.

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\n             John was still tense as he listened to Amaya explain the situation. 'Sounds like I'm in the middle of a political shit storm' John thought.  "So what's going to happen to me? Are they going to kill me even though I save Cearra?" he asked.

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\n             "You are to be brought before the council. They will decide what to do with you for the time being."

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\n             John let this information sink in. "So then sound like I have my work cut out for me. So why are you here? I doubt it's to drag me off to the council." He asked

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\n             "Officially I am here to see if you are healed. Though even if I didn't think you were fit to go in front of the council my mate would have taken you anyway. However, there is another reason. Pyrros forbade Cearra from seeing you in to prevent her from doing something like setting you free. I came on her request to make sure you were not still hurt before they take you and to tell you about what is about to happen so that you weren't going into the meeting without knowing the stakes."

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\n             John sat in silence for a moment. Finally he pushed himself off the ground walked over to the cell door. "I see. While the news of my possible doom isn't exactly good news it sure as hell beats not knowing. Thank you for your kindness. Do you have any idea when I am going to the council?"

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\n             Right on cue two more figures appeared at the doorway. They were clade in the white and gold armor. "Never mind." John said with a sigh as the anthro's walked over to his cell and unlocked the doors and brought out a sack. "Alright. Let's get this over with." He said as the sacked was placed on his head and they started to drag him.

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\n             After what seemed like an eternity of walking, or dragging in John's case, He was finally let go and a few seconds later the sack was ripped off of his head. The room was a pretty big size. At the top stained glass windows let in colored light. In front of him was what looked like six judges benches fused together with the two sitting in the middle raised slightly above those on the flanks. Behind the bench sat six anthro's. On the left was a lioness and gryphon. The right table sat a vixen and a horse, and in the middle sat Pyrros next to a dull black wolf. Something about them seemed familiar but the connection escaped him.

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\n              The room stayed quiet for a long time as both parties just sat there. John began to get impatient. "So are we just gonna sit on our asses all day or are we actually going to talk about something?" John asked.

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\n Some on the council only stared back at John with wide eyes. Not expecting someone to be this confrontational with them. "We will begin in a second John, but before we do I think it would be appropriate if we introduce ourselves first." Said the black wolf sitting next to Pyrros. "You already know of Pyrros of course. The vixen is Tabitha; the one sitting next to her is Marth. They gryphon's name is Skeal and next to him is Nal." Finally the wolf placed his hand over his chest. "And my name is Krypt. We form the council of Saraph. Together we try to steer this city on a course that will lead to growing prosperity."

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\n Once Krypt was done talking John knew why they looked so familiar. "Now I remember. The party. You sat next to Pyrros and Amaya at the party. Except then there were twelve of you there and only five here."

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\n "Yes at the feast we had our mates with us as well as a special guest with us. It seems that your memory has not been affected." The wolf said.

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\n "Yeah well getting my head smashed in didn't help. Lucky for me nothing was damaged to bad." John said. "But since I don't need an introduction I assume we can get down to business."

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\n             Krypt nodded his head in agreement. "John first we in this chamber would like to thank you for bringing back Cearra to us unharmed. She has spent a lot of her life among the council and we feel she is like a daughter to everyone in this room." The wolf started. John felt a little light of hope as the wolf's first words. But that hope was ill placed. "However, we cannot just overlook the trouble you cause at the feast. You wounded two of our warriors and left a cloak of fear over the city."

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\n             "We have also not ruled out the possibility that you took part in the kidnapping yourself." The gryphon said.

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\n             Anger flared within John as he heard the gryphons accusations "What!? Why the hell would I have anything to do with that?"

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\n "For all we know you are working for the kidnappers and your job is to gain our trust in order to learn our secrets." Skeal accused.

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\n "You're lucky I don't have my weapons right now gryphon or I would blow that beak clean off your face." John said to the gryphon giving him a cold stare could have pierced steel, which made the gryphon visibly uneasy. The rustling of armor could be heard in the background as the guard was preparing for any attack after the threat. "While I can't say I love Saraph I have no reason to do harm to it. As for the party, if you understood the circumstances of me being here then the actions I took would make sense to you. While I realize that that's in no way a reason to act like I did, fear has a way of clouding ones judgement. I hold nothing against the guards of this city. They did their jobs and I understand that. Besides I would think that Cearra would be a better bargaining tool then a tool to insert a spy. But that's just my thought."

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\n The room stayed quiet for a few seconds before the vixen spoke. "So if you did not care for our city and you are not a spy why did you save Cearra?"

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\n "You must have talked to Cearra about what happened. She must have told you the answer because she asked the same question." John answered

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\n "So you are you saying you want us to believe that you did this out of the goodness of your heart with no motive?" The horse asked skeptically.

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\n John had had enough of this spy accusation. "Believe whatever the hell you want. I could care less about what you think my motives are." He snarled. "Like I told Cearra I saw everything that happened from a rock a good distance away. I saw the guards fall to the arrows, and that panther try to get up only to have a second volley hit him. I saw the whole thing and it was lucky that I did because if I wasn't here you would probably be running in circles still trying to find her. Hell if it was up to me I wouldn't even be where ever here is. I would be at home with not a care in the world but some force, either divine or cursed, decided to throw me wherever the hell I am at. But even though I don't want to be here I saw the kidnapping and I just couldn't do nothing. I had to try to save her. Even if it meant death. I risked my life to save her and I did so I don't give a damn what you think because I know how it was and I can live with myself because of that choice." John finished. The outburst had left a few in the chamber slack jawed.

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\n A grin crossed the muzzle of Krypt as if he had just thought of an idea. "After an outburst like that I am inclined to believe that you truly mean this city no harm. But the fact remains that we do not know you and if we just released you that would be foolish. Under normal circumstances we should let you stay in the dungeon the rest of your life" Hope faded in John as he thought of spending the rest of his life in prison. "But I believe I have a way to gain your freedom."

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\n John cocked his eyebrow in wonder. In fact everyone in the room wanted to know what the old wolf was thinking. "Alright let's hear it." John said.

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\n "As Cearra told you our little city was born because the neighboring king decided to let us have the land for ourselves. Well that kingdom is called Drachma. It was fine at first but soon the people revolted against the king for reasons we do not understand. At first we thought nothing of it. We regretted that the old king lost his power but we didn't have the power to fight for him. We had almost no communication with them for years, but every now and then a citizen from Drachma would wind up here and they would tell us about how the new rulers had made the kingdom a miserable place. The new rulers believe that dragons are superior to others, and so all dragons in Drachma are rich and have power while few other species enjoy any kind of money. If you are poor in Drachma stay poor and if you are lucky enough to be born into money then you are corrupted into their ways of thinking. They also make sure that the ones in the military are completely under their control using magic and other techniques to keep them loyal. Well those were the stories anyways, and given that we such a shared history with it we couldn't believe the state that Drachma was in; it was a hub of diversity and equality when the old king ruled so we didn't know what to believe. Then one day we got a message from the new rulers asking for us to rejoin part of their kingdom. It seemed like a sincere offer, but we could not ignore the stories that we heard from multiple citizen from Drachma so it was decided to send observers to assess the situation. It was bad. Those who do not live in slums live in lavish houses with many servants. While the poor starve the rich eat lavish feasts tossing away what is not eaten. Citizens are beat in the street for no reason besides entertainment. After the observers came back we told them we could not join with Drachma and so they gave us an ultimatum. Join willingly or be conquered. At the time we didn't have an army capable of standing up to them so we appealed to the kingdoms surrounding ours and Drachma. One agreed to fight with us should anything happen, the other saw that it was only right that Drachma wanted its lands back and sided with them. The third, the kingdom of Therum, sided with us for the time being stating that as long as they were the ones who threatened us they would support us. After that Drachma halted its plans for an invasion. Therum soon made it clear to us and Drachma that their support of us would only stand as long as we did not become the aggressors and attack Drachma. If we did that we would lose their support. And so that is how it has been for many years now locked in a stale mate for both Saraph and Drachma need the help of Therum to win a war, and we have tried to keep peaceful but every now and then we have our skirmishes."

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\n John thought about all that he was just told. "Alright so far you have only explained to me that you are clearly in a delicate situation, but where do I fit into this?" John asked.

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\n "Drachma has an ambassador in Therum who actively tries to get the support of Therum for Drachma. We have our own ambassador who tries to keep their influence at a minimum but it seems that Drachma is gaining ground. Their ambassador will have a meeting with high level officials who have a lot of pool in their government." Krypt answered.

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\n John understood where this conversation was going. "So let me guess you me to go in there and silence him because you can deny that I am working for you."

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\n "You catch on quickly human." Krypt said.

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\n "So what if I say no? Being turned into your puppet to do your bidding doesn't really peak my interest."

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\n "You have no reason to accept unless you want to spend all of your days in the dungeon." Krypt answered. "If you do this for us and succeed we will allow you to be free. You can walk right out the front doors and you never have to see us again or do anything else for this city. Or should you choose to you can stay in this city. Either way you would be free to do what you wanted."
\n             "Krypt are you sure about this?" Skeal asked

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\n "How do we make sure he won't just run to Drachma instead of going to Therum?" Marth asked.

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\n "We will send Keith with him. They will sneak into the city and meet with our contacts and when it is done they will sneak back out. Keith has family in Therum so seeing him there should not arouse suspicion." Krypt explained.

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\n "Keith?" John asked

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\n "Yes you have met him before. He is the fox you injured at the feast, and also the one who knocked you out when you got here." Krypt answered.

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\n "Wait he was the one I shot? Oh man no wonder he made my face a punching bag." John said.

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\n             "So John what is your answer?" Krypt asked

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\n             John looked out the window to the stars in the sky. They had thrown him back in the dungeon but this time in a different cell which had a window in it. John pulled back on the charging handle on his AS-50 to make sure it worked and put it down. He looked at the weapons in front of him. The council had let him retrieve his weapons as well as cleaning materials for the guns. Now that he was done he and had nothing to do he just sat in his cell. The council had to make arrangements for travel as well as entry into the Therum without detection so for now John was stuck in the dungeon. Ever since he arrived John felt something was off about the stars. He was so intent on finding out what was bothering him that he failed to hear the door to the dungeon open and close.

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\n             "John." A voice spoke softly. John didn't take his eyes off the stars but he didn't need to see who stood outside his cell to know who it was.

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\n             "I thought they weren't letting you get near me Cearra." John spoke just as softly, his mind still trying to unravel the mysteries of the stars.

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\n             "Well they've had a change of heart. They are allowing me to see you though they have put a few more guards around just to make sure nothing happens." She replied. It stayed quiet for a while as Cearra waited for an answer from John but it became apparent that he wasn't going to respond. "What are you looking at?" She asked.

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\n             "The stars." John simply answered.

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\n             "What are you trying to find?"

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\n             "An answer." He replied and became quiet once again. However he found that he could not concentrate with the dragoness presence there, and if she was here to talk he wouldn't be able to focus on the star issue so he turned to face her. She wore a black robe that covered the base of her neck and flowed down to the floor. Even in this outfit John couldn't help but think that she still looked beautiful, especially when he looked into her eyes. 'What is wrong with me? She's a freaking dragon for Christ sake. ' he thought. "So why are you here?" John asked putting his questions about the star on hold.

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\n "I just wanted to see how you were. I heard that Keith gave you a nasty beating outside the walls. Also I had a couple of questions." She said.

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\n             "I wouldn't know. I was knocked out after two blows. Really it should have taken one but I wonder if he just wanted me to be awake for the beating." John said thinking back to the fox. "Though I understand his anger if I was the one who shot him."

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\n             Cearra nodded her head. "The wound you inflicted on him shattered his bone, but I was able to repair the damage." She said. "But just because you hurt him doesn't make it right to hurt you."

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\n             "I would agree with you but if I was in his shoes I probably would have done the exact same thing." John said

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\n             "Shoes?" Cearra asked with a puzzled look.

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\n             John only smiled at her question. He walked back to the bed and laid down on it. "I'll tell you about it another time. So what were your questions?" John asked.

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\n             "Well remember that monkey?" She asked.

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\n             "Oh that."

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\n             "Well you promised me that you would tell me about your city. And I would like for you to keep it" She said.

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\n "Alright I'll tell you about the monkey but I won't go in to much detail about my home ok." John said. Cearra only nodded her head in agreement. "In truth I found it found it strange that monkeys are not anthro as well."

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\n John saw the puzzled look on her face. "What do you mean? And what is an anthro?"

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\n "Well first off anthro is probably the correct term for pretty much anyone in this city. It pretty much means human like, and were I'm from I guess you could say that there are a ton of anthro monkeys." John explained.

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\n "What? Monkeys? You have to be joking." Cearra said disbelievingly.

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\n "No I'm not. Where I'm from there are a ton of monkeys." John said with a small smile.

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\n "You're not telling me the truth again." She said accusingly.

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\n "Well believe me it's the truth. But it is not what it sounds like. If you are imagining a city full of hairy apes then you couldn't be any further from the truth." He said. She was staring intently as if trying to find any sign that he was lying. "If you don't believe me why don't you just pry in my head and confirm it yourself?" He asked.

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\n "That's the thing. I sense that what you have told me is no lie, but there was also something else in there as well." She answered. "But I have no reason to doubt what you have said.

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\n John only kept smiling as he the looked out the window again. 'What is so off about them!' He shouted at himself. Finally he knew. "Of course."

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\n             "What?"

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\n             "The stars." John said turning his whole body toward the window. "Something about them has been bothering since I first got here and I finally figured out what it is. I don't see any of the constellations that you can see from my home. That's why they look so different, because they aren't the same, or at least they are in a different position."

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\n             "Well I would think so. If you are from a different kingdom you would think that the stars we see at night would be different than the ones you see." Cearra said in a matter-of-fact tone.

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\n             John smiled as he looked over his shoulder at the dragoness. "Oh how little you know." He said to her. Before looking back out the window.

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\n             "What do you mean by that?" Cearra asked with a hint of anger in her voice.

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\n             John sighed heavily. "Nothing. It's not important. What is important is that I know for a fact that I'm not anywhere near my home." John said.

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\n             "So how is that important?"

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\n             John sighed as he stepped back from the window and walked over the entrance of the cell. "Well for me the most important thing is that this means I am nowhere near my home, and that means that my home my still exist." John looked at the dragoness.

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\n             "I'm not sure I understand. What do you me-" Cearra was cut off by the door opening and light once again rushing into the dark dungeon. "Well I guess my time is up." She said. She turned and started walking.

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\n             "Wait." John said stopping the dragoness in her tracks. He didn't know why he stopped her so there was silence as John tried to search for something to say. "It was good seeing you again." He finally said looking at the dragoness.

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\n             "I feel the same way John. Goodbye and good luck on your mission." She said before finally leaving his sight.

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\n             John saw the light fading as the door closed with a loud bang and click as the lock was put into place. Finally John had the time to reflect on what had happened in the day. His head was swimming with emotions and thoughts all fighting to get his attention. So he forced himself to concentrate on the biggest developments. 'Ok. So first they want me to be some kind of assassin for them so they don't have to go to war and probably get obliterated. Second I know I'm not on Earth which is some comfort because at least I know humanity hasn't been destroyed and taken over by anthro's. And third...her" John thought about the dragoness. He didn't know how to feel about her. On one hand she had a body to die for. It was perfect in his mind. But that wasn't the only thing. 'Those eyes' he thought. When John saw those eyes he felt calm, safe, and they were so beautiful. John got up from his bed and went to the window again. He put both hands on the metal rods and laid his head on the bars. On the other hand... 'She's a freaking dragon for Christ sake. She isn't human. It's wrong of me to have any kind of feelings about her...right?'John screamed in frustration while shaking the bars at the emotions going through him. CHINK! The noise surprised John a little but that was quickly over taken by the surprise that he was falling backwards. John hit the ground and looked up at the window and then at his hands. The metal bars had broken off from their places in the stone and part of the window open.

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\n             Unbeknownst to John three shadows moved deeper into the dungeon and walked through another exit, away from John's cell so as to not alert him to their presence. As soon as they exited the shadows materialized into three anthro's

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\n             "I told you he would not leave." Cearra said turning to the other two anthro's. A red dragon and an old, black wolf.

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\n             "That you did young one, but we had to be certain that he was committed to do this task for us. This was a quick test to help us gauge his trust. You understand don't you?" Krypt responded to the dragoness.

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\n             "I guess but still was it really necessary?" She asked

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\n             "You've seen his weapons Cearra. He could easily kill Keith and go to Drachma and tell them of our plan. With such an important mission we could not just take your word for it. This was a good test. Given the chance to escape he didn't. While it's not a perfect test it will have to do." Pyrros answered.

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\n             OH MY GOD! I finally got this part up. I really have to apologize for the huge delay, I meant for this part to be out a couple months ago but things popped up and I also got a bit lazy when I got time to write. But I guess the important thing is that this part is finally up. I really hope all of the talking didn't make this part boring or anything. I knew eventually I would have to make John slow down because not all of his problems can be solved with guns, but I hope that it doesn't degrade the story quality in your eyes. And as always please if think I can improve on something please comment.

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