Chapter 35 - Nightmare Reprieve

--From Earth? Promise? Ren was almost in his own world, devoid of any emotion except lamentation.

Sora looked side to side, his expression shifting between grief and rage as he saw the bloodbath conjured by Rouge. Looking at Ren for a moment, he could tell the boy was overtaken by grief, sent into a broken mindscape of his own.

"...I'm sorry I didn't come sooner, I am," Sora said it once more as he tightened his grip on the boy's shoulder.

"Are you done uniting with your kin? I am itching to rid your shoulders of that head of yours," Rouge shouted from across the hall.

That picture-perfect smile that held only malice behind it, Rouge wore it almost all seconds of the day.

"Honestly, what was your plan here? I know your hair is red and all, but you really are a hot-head, Sora. Even if you did manage to kill me here and now--you're in the belly of the beast," Rouge ran his hands across his own cheeks.

"Who said anything about killing? Is that really the one thing you think about?" Sora snapped back.

"Oh...you don't think I'm going to let you escape do you?" Rouge's smile grew, almost taking pleasure in this new development.

"Again, who said anything about "let"?" Sora gave him a confident smile.

The armor-clad man hoisted Ren up with one arm, tucking him between his arm.

"...Meinhard…" Ren's voice came out in a whisper as he weakly extended his arm towards his fallen friend.

Looking down at the boy tucked between his arm and side, it was a sight he seldom wanted to see. The boy was clearly experiencing a level of grief beyond what his own mind could handle. Sora knelt down, sliding his hunk of metal of a sword into the sheath on his back before picking the corpse of Meinhard up as well.

"We'll give him a proper burial when we get home, alright? Just rest easy, I'll get ya' out of here, buddy,' 'Sora spoke to Ren in as calm a voice as he could, feeling an unending rage burn inside him as he wanted nothing more than to slaughter the one responsible for this.

"Such a heartwarming moment, I think I'll cry--!" Rouge yelled out as he flicked his wrist towards Sora.

A giant blade in the shape of a lance shot out from the wall to his left, missing the man as he dashed forward. In haste, he charged forward directly towards the fiend.

"That doesn't look like running away to me--"

"Out of the way--!" Sora roared out.

Following his announcement, he slammed the top of his head directly against the bridge of Rouge's nose, sending him flying back against the wall.

"Such savagery…!" Rouge held his nose which began to bleed profusely, "I think you broke it!"

"Cry me a river," Sora jumped over the railing, clearing the second floor before kicking the front doors open.

The speed at which the armor-clad man ran far surpassed Olympic athletes on Earth, even encumbered by his heavy-plated armor. That being said, even in his half-conscious state, Ren felt himself becoming nauseous from the incredible speed at which he was being carried.

"Sorry, bud, I can't risk being slow right now--that bastard was right about one thing, we're in the belly of the beast right now. If I'm not careful, there's going to be a horde of Argonauts on our asses,"Sora yelled out as his voice was carried by the wind.

It was a blur to him--one second they were racing across the cobblestone road, then the next moment, Sora leaped onto the rooftops.

"They're gone, aren't they…" Ren muttered to himself in an attempt to pull his state of mind back together.

His words didn't seem to reach the man's ears as he continued sprinting and leaping rooftop to rooftop, feeling the cold air pelt against his skin. Soon, he relieved himself to his rescuing--shutting his eyes as he left his fate in the hands of this mysterious man.

"Just a bit further now--we got lucky that the Althaus estate is so close to the exterior of the capital. Even still, there may be knights on our asses already," Sora said in a huff as he hopped roof from roof.

In his rush, the man didn't seem to care that he was clearly damaging the rooftops of civilian houses. He glanced back as the sound of horse hooves slamming against the ground became audible from far behind.

"Those dumbasses--if they think they can catch up with just horsepower, then they've got another thing coming!"Sora boasted.

His legs resonated with an aura of mana before blue symbols formed over the armor that covered his legs. In his next step, he flew forward with speed not unlike a bolt of lightning--breaking the sound barrier as it cracked against the wind.

"You're going to need to hold your stomach for this one, bud!"Sora yelled at Ren through the harsh winds formed by his reckless speed.

Opening his eyes once more, Ren nearly felt all of the liquid in his stomach come up his throat--it was like being on a rollercoaster straight out of hell. Everything was now a complete blur, his head bobbing up and down uncontrollably, whiplash at every turn. With one powerful leap from Sora, they were now soaring up into the sky, scaling over the exuberant walls that overlooked the city.

"See that? That's our ride out of here," Sora yelled out.

Ren did his best to turn his head to look at what the man was talking about. Waiting just outside of the capital walls was a giant winged creature, covered with pale blue skin and a mouth as large that covered its torso. It was like an experiment somehow gone right combining a dragon and a manta ray.

"What...is that?" Ren asked as he finally found himself returning to reality.

"Her name is Delilah--she's a Titan Ray. I know the name is kind of intimidating, but she's a sweetheart!"Sora assured him with a smile.

He curiously looked at the creature waiting below them before bracing himself for the landing, tightly shutting his eyes and putting himself in the closest thing to a fetal position. His entire life flashed before his eyes as Sora drew closer to the ground before landing like a meteor to the Earth.

"Now this is the fun part," Sora said as he set Ren on top of the Titan Ray's back.

"What…?" Ray looked at him in both confusion and horror.

"Obviously we're going to ride her out of here!"Sora gave him a wide smile and a thumbs up.

Now that he got a good look at him--the man was the embodiment of charm. He was well-built, like the stereotypical jock you'd see in the quarterback position. His short crimson hair with visible black roots that somehow seemed to be gelled up despite them being in a medieval world proved to Ren that the man likely was telling the truth about him also being from Earth. Most of all--his crystalline blue eyes dazzled in the night, speaking only of warmth and kindness just from one exchange of a glance.

"Huh--? Wait, what?" Ren yelled out.

There wasn't any handle, saddle, anything to hold onto. If his escape with Sora was a rollercoaster from hell, then this was the deepest gate of hell reserved for the likes of the Third Reich.

"Don't worry, just keep your body close to her back and you'll be fine!"Sora got on the creature's back as well, still holding the corpse of Meinhard.

He had no choice but to put trust in the stranger's words, laying down and keeping his body pressed against the creature. The skin of the creature was incredibly smooth and warm, somehow allowing him to relax as he prepared for the worst.

"Let's go, Delilah!"Sora patted the creature's back.

The titan ray let out a roar that resembled the call of a whale before it slowly lifted off into the air, generating enough wind to rival a helicopter. As he stuck his body as close as possible to Delilah's back, he could feel the creature's enormous heart beating as it began to set off into the skies above.

As he lifted his head slightly, his eyes widened at the sight that filled his vision. The beautiful navy skies, filled with stars that spoke of the history of this world and clouds that carried that past into the future. More than magic, this scenery was more magical than magic itself.

Soaring through a fluffy cloud, he ran his fingers through the intangible mass of ivory with wonder in his eyes. If only for this serene moment, he forgot the pain that ached his grieving heart.

"Where are you taking me?" Ren finally asked.

The man stood proud and tall atop the back of the titan ray, his crimson hair, glowing against the pearlescent moon, flowing in the calm winds.

"A place for people like us. We're the "Outlanders"—the only organized group of otherworlders in Mastorn. To the people of Mastorn though, we're practically the scum of the earth," Sora answered his question.

"That sounds...nice," He yawned as he spoke.

Letting his eyes finally shut as he allowed his body to take the front wheel, he realized just how tired he was as he drained his body of its tears.

"Get some rest, kid, ya' deserve it," Sora smiled before turning back to face the path in the heavenly night ahead.