Run Away to Knighthood: Part Five

     "He'll stop you, all right!" yelled Angel from where he was chained to the wall, beside the cage that held his family. "Just you wait and see!"

     The Darigan Moehog pranced over to the Zafara and grinned, an evil, triumphant grin that showed all of his yellow teeth and exposed his terrible breath. "And how exactly will Jeran, the pride of Meridell, the greatest hero ever, defeat me now?" Tiberius pointed a hoof at the Lupe and his sister, who were locked in a cage whose door was decorated with five large locks. Angel shuddered, and glanced at his right. Alphonse and Roland were chained beside him, as helpless and yet as defiant.

     "We will succeed!" declared Alphonse the Kacheek proudly. "Good always wins over evil, no matter what!"

     "You can't keep us locked, chained, bound or trapped, Tiberius!" added Roland. The Moehog walked towards them, still wearing his sneer, and said, "On the contrary, I already have." Tiberius just watched the Kyrii and Kacheek try to struggle out of their chains. He observed the young Zafara knight try to pull his paws out of his bonds. He only sneered at Jeran, who was trying to pull the locks off, and Lisha, who tried to blast their way out with her wand.

     But what he and his associates could not see was a young Kacheek's paw groping around to get the ring of keys dropped on the floor. Nor could they see the looks on the Acara, Aisha and girl's faces as they saw Sweet finally grab his quarry and unlock their cage.

     "You did it," whispered Kat. "Can you get everyone else out of their traps?"

     Sweet scratched his head. Some of Tiberius' minions were lazing around eating huge slices of yeasty bread, reading an old issue of the Neopian Times, or just watching the remaining prisoners struggle helplessly. One of them, a Darigan Uni, snuck a glance at their direction. The striped Kacheek immediately shut the door to look as if nothing had happened, and grinned sheepishly at Tiberius' evil comrade, who just shrugged and yelled, "Hey, aren't we supposed to be storming Skarl's castle right now, saying we've got his knight and his bumbling team of would-be rescuers in our clutches?"

     Tiberius looked up from where he was scribbling notes on a huge, tattered map of Meridell Castle. "I guess you're right," he said, rolling up the piece of paper and stuffing it into his pocket. "Troops, let's all surprise that huge lump by showing him what we got! Now, where are the keys? I want to flaunt my victory over Jeran and rub it in the king's face!"

     Fluffy nudged Sweet, who was still holding the keys. The Kacheek nodded, but instead of hurling them towards the evildoers to look as if someone had just droopped them by accident, he hurled them towards the knight and his frantic little sister. The Lupe grabbed them and hurried through his work. Soon Jeran and Lisha were standing outside the cage, facing the huge crowd of Darigan rebels.

     The Darigan Moehog turned around to get the keys…and was suddenly staring at Jeran and Lisha, both smiling the same triumphant smiles Tiberius had given them earlier.

     "How…how did you get out?" he mumbled, anger and fright in his voice.

     "Good always wins over evil, Tiberius," said the Aisha defiantly. "We may be outnumbered, but what powers our weapons are truth, courage and justice, not evil, hatred or even selfishness."

     Two of Tiberius' henchmen looked at each other, scratching their heads and looking bewildered. Then, in the blink of an eye, Jeran hurled the keys towards Kat, who was out of her cage, along with her three pets. While Glitter, Sweet and Fluffy distracted their captors, the girl ran towards three chained rescuers to unlock their bonds. She stuck the keys through the chains and Roland, Alphonse and Angel all dropped to the floor.

     "Good luck," whispered Kat as she gave Angel a wink. He smiled, then grabbed his sword from the floor and ran into the fray.

     Jeran and Lisha were both trying to restrain Tiberius, who was desperately attempting to hold them off and trap them again. Alphonse, Roland, Sweet, Glitter and Fluffy were all fighting against Tiberius' minions. Not one of them cried out in pain but continued the battle. Angel ran in and kicked a Darigan Techo who nearly slashed his sister Fluffy. Lisha broke away from the fight against Tiberius to blast with her wand a Skeith who tried to strangle Glitter. Alphonse was engaged in a serious swordfight with a Darigan Kougra and blocked every single one of the Kougra's attacks. Roland pushed Tiberius aside when the latter nearly stabbed Jeran.

     As for Kat, she was dashing towards the rope ladder that led out of the hideout to tell King Skarl. She moved slowly and quietly, so as not to alert any one of the Darigan rebels. Unfortunately, her stealth was not enough, as…

     "Look! The human is trying to escape!" yelled the Darigan Techo who tried to impale the white Aisha moments ago. Sure enough, the whole abhorrent army was headed towards Kat, and the rescue team was right on their trail.

     "We have to hurry!" said Jeran firmly, as he led his troupe towards the side of evil, and started launching attacks, giving Kat time to run towards the castle and get reinforcements. Unfortunately Tiberius was not to be outdone.

     "Keep attacking them, troops!" the Moehog shouted. "I'll grab the girl and make sure she doesn't foil our plans!" His compatriots stopped, and continued fighting Jeran's little army, as their leader sprinted for Kat.

     Kat took this time to look back and see what has become of the evil rebels and found Tiberius gaining on her. Sure enough, she sped up and dived towards the two Draik guards at the front door of the castle.

     "You have to…help…me," she panted. "Meridell…in trouble…reinforcements…"

     The two guards just traded a bewildered look, until Kat pointed at her back, where a Moehog was still coming towards her.

     "The young lass isn't lying!" exclaimed the red Draik guard on Kat's left.

     "Tiberius! Sound the alarms! Get King Skarl and everyone else! We must fight!" screamed the other guard frantically as he opened the drawbridge and let himself and Kat in.

     "You fools!" yelled the Darigan Moehog. "You just gave me an opportunity to-"

     Before he could take advantage of the wide open door of Meridell Castle, the remaining Draik immediately shut it and pointed his sword at the villain. "Just you wait," he muttered. "King Skarl will have you behind bars for the rest of your life!" Tiberius backed away as the guard pointed the sword at him, until the Moehog was against the walls of the castle, not daring to move at all.

     ***

     "King Skarl! King Skarl!" squealed the other guard excitedly as he flew from one corridor to the other, with a girl running as fast as she could at his tail. Soon, he got to the throne room and pulled Kat to his side. The two faced the king nervously. The Draik bowed and the teenage girl curtsied as Skarl rose from his throne.

     "What brings you here, with a human girl at your side?" he demanded of the Draik guard.

     "She has been seen chased by Tiberius, Your Majesty," panted the guard. "She wants reinforcements in order to get the Darigan rebels and save Meridell, and perhaps Darigan Citadel as well."

     The king scratched his chin in thought and looked at Kat straight in the eye. "So, young female…you come to me for my soldiers, guards and maybe even citizens to help fight the forces of Tiberius?" he asked skeptically. She nodded and added, "If I'm not mistaken, this guard's companion is outside, dealing with the culprit right now. Jeran and the rescue troupe are handling the rest of the rebels, Your Highness."

     Skarl tapped his foot and after a few minutes of stunned silence, finally said, "Go and summon all the guards and every worthy and willing fighter of Meridell. We can't risk another war devastating our kingdom once more."

     ***

     "Can't…hold out…much longer…" Angel panted as he was engaged in a swordfight against a Skeith twice as large and thrice as menacing as he was.

     "We must continue fighting, young knight," answered Jeran as he ducked to avoid an attack by a Darigan Cybunny. "It's all part of your commitment, and it's all for the name of justice, truth and safety." He dived to the ground and kicked at the Cybunny's feet, sending him flying into a nearby bush.

     Fluffy looked up from where she and a Darigan Lupe were wrestling on the grass. "Where is Kat anyway? We could use some reinforcements right now!" she said as she tried to pin down her opponent.

     "I think I see something out there," said Glitter as she flew above the battle to scan for any approaching creatures. "It looks like a huge crowd of something…"

     "I also hope it's the reinforcements!" shouted Alphonse the Kacheek as he was pushed aside by an attacking Grundo. Sweet pounced on Tiberius' evil comrade and shoved him away from Alphonse.

     The faerie Acara hovered higher in the air and squinted in the distance. "I see…I see…Look! A huge bunch of Draiks and others…and…" She hurtled downward to find out more. "Kat's leading them over to us! And…and they've finally got Tiberius in chains!"

To be continued...