Drev's Escape
Short Story / Written 6/22/04 / Rated PG

The war ends and Drev is discovered deep within the dungeons of the Citadel. He manages to escape and is taken in to recuperate in the home of a friendly warrior. A lot of things in this story don't stand as they did anymore... since Bennie and Igan were really OOC in it xD But it's a good record for Drev's history, so I'm uploading it anyway :)

I stayed in that prison for about ten years. Each day was as antagonizing as the next. I spent every waking moment shackled to that wall. They bound me in silver and fed me scarcely. Each day I'd sit and think about things: my life, my capture, Ainad, my future, or if I would even have a future. Every day I was closer to death, but I wouldn't die. There was something inside of me that wouldn't let me. I had unfinished business and I was going to stay alive until I finished it. It was now just a matter of waiting for that time to come...

Eventually, my time did come. Ten years after they had first locked me in the cell, the second war led invaders deep into the prison. One of them even managed to find the trap door that led to the solitary confinement chambers.

"Hey Kale!" he called as he opened the door. "Would you look at this! Hidden cells!" I knew at once he wasn't with the prison guards and my heart leapt with anticipation. Maybe I could convince him to set me free...

He reached the bottom of the stone steps and I saw him for the first time through the iron bars that separated me from the world. He was a large red Cheetah wearing the bright red and blue Meravale colors, and his paws were on his hips as he sized up the dungeon. "Not much down here..." he murmured to himself before he spotted me and started towards my cell. "Oh... what do we have here?"

I sat quietly, hoping to convince him I was innocent and deserving of freedom. "What's got you in this prison?" he mused as he strained to get a good look through the shadows at me.

"I..." I choked, speaking for the first time in days, "I... be... betrayal."

The Cheetah stared, "Betrayal...? Were you working for us?"

"I... was..." I said, thinking quickly. I had to make this guy think I was on their side. "I'm a Dragon." I added.

"A Dragon!" said the Cheetah as he turned back towards the stairs. "KALE, get DOWN here!!" Then he turned back towards me. "Were you a spy or something?"

Well... he was half-right. "That's it." I assured him. "And they found me out."

"Damn..." said the Cheetah as he continued his straining to get a good look at me. "How long have you been down here?"

"Ten years."

"What's your problem, West!?" gruffed a large blue Coyote as he appeared coming down the stairs. "It's an old, moldy dungeon... so what?"

"There's someone down here, though!" said West the Cheetah. "Says he's with us... guess they got him for betrayal."

"And you believed him?" scoffed Kale. "Man's probably crazy in they head if he's been down here that long. Nasty place."

"He doesn't seem like it..." said West, apparently disappointed that Kale wasn't impressed by his find. "Don't you think we should take him with us?"

"He's been here this long; a few more weeks shouldn't hurt." Kale smirked. "We can ask someone about him and come back for him if his story matches up."

By now I was starting to get a little worried. What if they really left me there and forgot about me? I couldn't let them leave without setting me free. "Take me with you!" I begged. "You can't leave me here to die after all I did for you - for Meravale!"

Kale closed in and peered through the bars. "If West wants to free you, he can go okay it with a commander. I'm not getting involved in this one. No one's missed him, why not just leave him?"

"You stay here, then." said West. "I'll go ask the commander."

"Yeah, whatever." said Kale as he swiped the silver set of keys from their hook on the wall. "Take your time."

West left up the stairway and Kale teased the set of keys in his hand. "If you're really who you say you are," he tossed them up and caught them before unlocking my cell and strolling inside. "Then I suppose we'll have to set you free. But if you're lying to me..." he clenched his paw tightly on the keys. "I'll have to decide whether I'd prefer killing you or just leaving you here to rot."

I said nothing, but returned his glare with one ten times as vicious. How dare he threaten me!? Even if I was at the disadvantage...

Kale smirked and strode towards me. "Those Citadel fools... I wouldn't be surprised if you were one of them and they imprisoned you anyway."

He was on to me... but I wasn't going to say anything.

"Why won't you speak?" he demanded, eyes alight with fury. "Are you scared?"

I locked eyes with him and spat at his feet, only to regret it seconds later when he struck me across the face. "I can't stand guys like you!" He raised his fist for another blow, but West appeared at the top of the stairs and flew down them once he saw what was happening.

"Kale, stop!" he pleaded as he grabbed the Coyote's raised arm. "The man's chained for heaven sakes! You know not to hit a man when he's down."

"This is different!" cried Kale as he wrestled with the Cheetah. "He's an imposter! Can't you see that!?"

They were both struggling against each other and I could do nothing more than edge to the side when they knocked by me. But I was paying close attention; Kale's growing need to hit West had loosened his grip on the set of keys...

"Give him a benefit of a doubt!" gasped West as latched onto one of Kale's arms, causing him to drop the set of keys right at my feet. "The commander said we should bring him there and have him tried."

I didn't pay any attention to Kale's reply as I swept the fallen keys towards me with my tail. I strained my arm to grab for them and with one quick twist, my left wrist was freed. In a split second, I had unlocked all of the shackles. I would have dived for the two of them straight away, but my muscles were stiff and I was having trouble moving at all.

I flopped forward pathetically and crawled around the damp stone floor, desperately looking for a weapon. The two soldiers were still fighting and arguing loudly as my hand located a small dagger. Perfect. I thought as I raised it and took aim. With any luck, I'd be as good as I was before I had been locked up. My muscles were slowly beginning to work again as I flung hard towards the dueling soldiers. Sure enough, it struck Kale right in the jugular and he toppled over without another word.

West stopped where he stood and shot a frightened glance towards me, then back to there Kale now lay dead on the floor. "What are you doing!?" he demanded. "I... I thought you were on our side!"

I had now painfully stood to my feet and was retrieving weapons from Kale's body. "I don't fight for anyone." I said as I turned to leave. "Not anymore."


Now, my escape was perfect. I had overcome all odds and had made it out of the cell alive. I was now equipped with the Coyote's weapons and was ready to make it out of there. But I had forgotten one important detail.

The Citadel is well-guarded; even more so, I'd say, when there's a war going on. How I managed to make it that far through the castle without being noticed, I still haven't quite figured out... maybe it was just my memory of the floor plan kicking in?

Either way, I had nearly made it all the way out of the castle before I was spotted. At first, I thought I'd just play it off like I was just another soldier, "Oh hey..." I said, "Don't worry about me, just on my way out."

"Wait a minute..." said the Uni who had seen me, "I recognize you." His eyes were wide and he was slowly making to grab his weapon.

"Really?" I asked, trying to sound confident. "Well, we probably met in training or something..."

"No." said the Uni as he waved towards another tower, "I know who you are. I don't know how or why, but I know who."

I could hear the sound of more soldiers approaching and panicked slightly. I knew how they were trained and I had a terrible disadvantage. Not only would I be outnumbered, but I still felt terribly weak. I didn't even wait to hear the Uni's identification, I turned and broke into a run.

It wasn't a fast run, more of a rushed hobble, but I just wanted to get out of there. I heard some commotion behind me as the Uni quickly explained to the approaching troops what had happened and I heard them behind me.

I had run myself to an edge. There I was, standing at the edge of the Citadel, staring straight down at the farmlands of Meravale. But could I chance flying? My wings hadn't been used for years, would they even work?

"STOP!" I heard a voice behind me command. "I order you to stop!"

My mind was racing, there was nothing else to do. I'd rather die crashing into the earth due to faulty wings than to allow myself to be caught. I stumbled over the edge in a kind of pitiful dive and started a headfirst decent towards Meravale. The wind rushing all around me felt so wonderful that I nearly had forgotten to spread my wings.

Upon realizing I was headed straight for a small farmhouse, I quickly spread my wings. Unfortunately, they didn't want to work right as I had predicted. But they worked as a parachute almost and I was able to glide a little more slowly to the earth.

Just when I thought I'd make it safely aimed in the direction of the forest, I was hit from behind by a heavy blow to the head. My eyesight faltered and I crumpled to the ground below me. My fall was slowed by a large tree, fortunately, but that didn't stop me from hitting the forest floor hard enough to knock the wind out of me.

I sat up and gasped for air as I heard voices, "He's in here!" called a voice. "I hit him with the butt of my sword and he fell! Come on!"

I fell over helplessly, it was too much, I could barely move any more. I wasn't ready for this kind of workout...

"You will not enter this forest." said a deep voice. "It's out of your territory. Leave it to me and the others."

"What the..." said the first voice, "You can't take credit for our capture!!"

"I won't." said the new voice. "I guarantee you the general will know you are responsible for his capture. But if you leave your posts any longer than you already have, I can assure you he'll hear that too."

There was a sound of shuffling amongst the group. "Okay, we'll go..." said the first, "But you'd better find him! We can't risk losing him!"

"Right." said the second. "Now get a move on before you put your lives in any more jeopardy."

I heard the sound of them leaving and one pair of soft footsteps headed directly to where I was laying.

"Leaves me wondering..." said the voice as it stopped in front of me. "Why were they after you...?"

I raised my gaze from the ground ahead of me to find a small brown Penguin. He was heavily armed and was currently aiming at my head with a bow and arrow.

I didn't bother replying. If they were going to take me away, I at least wouldn't give them the satisfaction of answering their questions.

The Penguin surprisingly laughed, "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you." He said. "Those Citadel fools are a bunch of idiots - I had the displeasure in fighting for them during the last war... Now I act as more of an insider for Meravale. They don't know that of course."

I squinted my eyes at the Penguin, why was he telling me this? I didn't care! Not to mention, him revealing this information to me could be putting his position as a spy in a lot of danger... I would know.

"Come on." said the Penguin as he approached me and looped one arm under each of mine. "Let's get you out of here... you're in terrible shape."

"Why...?" I asked breathlessly. "Why are you helping me?"

"You mean why am I helping you when you're obviously wanted by the Citadel army? You need help, man. I'm not going to just leave you here for them to find... However, if you want to refuse my help, you've got a right."

I didn't reply, but instead just lowered my head.

"Good man." he said as he lifted my torso effortlessly. "Don't worry, I'll fix you up."

Somewhere along the way I must have fallen unconscious. I was so exhausted I could barely keep my eyes open. But by the time I did re-open them, I knew the Penguin must have taken me to safety successfully. I was now laying on a wooden floor with a blanket over me and he was dabbing my head with a warm rag.

"Shhhh..." he said. "You need rest."

I sat up in protest, "Where am I?"

"You're at my home." he said as he gently pushed on my shoulder to force me to lay back down. "I'll take good care of you."

I felt a little easy... something about this guy didn't quite sit right with me. I didn't know how long I'd want to stay there.

"Oh!" said another voice as it entered the room carrying a tray of steaming mugs. "He's awake, eh?"

"Yes." replied the Penguin as he stopped trying to force me to lie down.

"Welcome to our home!" said the other voice which appeared to belong to a male Warthog. "Well, actually, it's Bennie's home. But she's been so kind as to let me live with her for a while." he adjusted his spectacles and smiled admiringly at the Penguin who blushed.

"S....she??" I asked stupidly.

"Oh..." said Bennie the Penguin as he blushed a little more. "About that, please don't be frightened - I fell victim to several lab experiments that change my appearance... and sometimes my gender."

Well, at least that explained why he seemed so different... he was really a she? I was still overcoming the slight shock as the Warthog set the tray down next to me and Bennie. "My name is Igandea." He said. "But you are welcome to call me Igan if you wish."

"An...Andrevlin." I mumbled as Bennie handed me a mug.

"Andrevlin?" Bennie asked. "Really?? I could have sworn I heard you were dead!"

"You've heard my name?" I asked.

"I'm pretty sure..." she mused. "I think the general mentioned you once. But he said you had been killed due to some kind of misjudgment about betrayal? I don't really remember; it was so long ago..."

I stared angrily into my mug. So the coward had told everyone I was dead? Well, at least that would stop anyone from looking for me...

"So where have you been all this time?" asked Bennie casually as she sipped from her mug.

"Confinement." I said acidly. "The general locked me up to die in secret."

"N...no kidding?" said Bennie as she nearly dropped her mug in surprise. "I... I'm sorry to hear that."

"Well..." said Igan after a long period of awkward silence. "I think it might be a good idea to let this chap get some more sleep. I'll just clear up the mugs now... coming, Bennie?"

"Yes, yes..." she said as she snapped out of a glazed-over look and slowly stood up. "You need recovery, Andrevlin. Please take your time to become healthy again."

Igan gathered the mugs and then put an arm over Bennie's shoulders and led her out of the room without a second look back.

I wondered if my presence made them nervous, but they never showed it. I had no where else to go, so I was in no position to complain.


The End



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