Once More, Unto the Breach

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

    Chapter 15

"I understand what you plan to do," I said, walking next to
Fox, "but do we _have_ to uses those ugly beasts?"

He nodded, rubbing his wrist. "They're fast enough, and we
need them to get there in time."

I nodded. "All right."

"Now, give me the Matrix chip."

I pulled the chip out of my band and handed it over to Fox.
He put it inside of his watch. "Right, now we need a hooded
cloak." He dived into a room off the the side and came back
with one tucked over his arm. "Here, put this on."

I took it from him. "How did you know that would be there?"

He shrugged. "A guess... come on." He started off down the
hall at a faster step.

I draped the cloak over my shoulders, closing the claps. "I
can't exactly sneak around in this thing."

Fox started down a set of steps. "We don't need to sneak
around, we just have to get to where we need to be. Then
Draz just has to do what he needs to do."

I chuckled in spite of myself. "You certainly are being
vague about all this."

"With all that has happened I think I need to be." He shot
me a smile and walked out of a side door into the court
yard. Fox walked right over the drawbridge and into the
stables.

It took about five minutes for the person in charge of the
place to bring around a pair of horses and to saddle the
beasts.

Fox easily swung up on to the saddle and took the some kind
of leather straps, which he informed me were reins, in his
hands.

With some small aid of the wolf who brought the beasts
around I perched myself on top of one as well. Fox nodded a
bit and did something to set the animal to a run.

I tried to do the same by had very little luck. Finally the
wolf behind me laughed and slapped the beast on it's amble
rear, sending it running after Fox.

It didn't take much time for me to catch up with Fox. He
brought his animal next to mine and took the reins from me.
Holding his set in one hand any my set in the other.

"This is a pain to ride." I said with a slight whimper.

Fox shrugged, changing the horses direction a bit. "You get
used to it."

"I don't want to get used to it, I want to get off of it!"

He laughed softly. "Just relax and don't try to fight it,
this will all be over with soon enough."

I tried to take his advice, though wasn't doing to good a
job of it. Finally I just decided to try and keep talking to
Fox so I would be distracted.

"Why do you need me here?" I asked.

Fox twisted his head to look at me. "What?"

"I mean why are you bringing me along. From what you've told
me I'm not exactly needed."

He smiled. "It's always good to work in pairs. Not to
mention you know a bit more of the camp then I do."

"Oh..." I said, looking slightly away from him. The
conversation didn't go very far from there.

Eventually Fox stopped about ten minutes away from Salden's
camp. Getting off the horses Fox tied them to some thick
bushes and we started towards the camp.

As we got closer Fox turned the Matrix chip on, giving him
the appearance of a wolf, I pulled the hood of my cloak up
and held it closed.

He slowed down a bit as we neared the camp. He hunched over
a bit and steeped past the first tent. On his way he picked
up a pack that someone had left by a tent, slinging it over
his shoulder.

He drifted back a bit until he was walking next to me.
"Which way is Salden's tent from here?"

I though for a second. "Down that way," I pointed in the
direction.

He nodded and started through the tents, still hunching
over. Amazingly it seemed to worked, no one noticed him as
he trudged down the lane. On the other hand people seemed to
be looking at me with something approaching suspicion.
Finally I hunched over and fell in step behind Fox. That
abated most of the looks.

After a time we come to, then pasted, the tent. About three
tents later Fox dived into one, then pulled me into it.

I pulled out of his grip. "You didn't need to pull me, I was
right behind you."

He shrugged. "Sorry."

I rubbed my wrist. "So now we just wait."

He nodded, digging around through some of the stuff in the
tent. He came up with a knife from a trunk and started to
cut through the tent wall.

* * *

An uproar broke out just outside the tent. Sitting up I
stuck my head out a hole in the side of the tent. There was
a precession walking up to Salden's tent, with Draz and
Thrysten in the lead.

"Come on Oriana," I said. "It's starting." Walking to the
side of the tent I turned off the Matrix chip. Then I cut a
small hole into the side of the tent. Looking though I found
that I was right where I needed to be.

On the other side of the hole was a small room inside of
Sladen's tent. It had been partitioned off with some wooden
panels. Though the small door I could see the inside of the
rest of the tent.

I ducked back a bit as one of the solders dragged Krege,
still tied in his chair, into the small room. As the solder
walked out I slowly ripped open the cut between the tents
until I could slip through.

Krege tried to react, but could only whimper a bit and twist
his head in my direction.

I shook my head. "Relax, I'm here to help you." I whispered
as I kneeled down next to him.

He closed his eyes and whimpered again.

Pulling the vile of the antidote from my jacket, I lifted
Krege's head. Holding it in front of him I said. "This is
the antidote, you need to drink this."

He slowly opened his eyes and started hard into my own.
Opening the vile I lifted it to his mouth, tilting it and
his head backwards. When a bit more then half of it was
pored in I pulled his head back down and took the vile away.
Holding his mouth close I tilted his head back once more.
Krege swallowed it quickly.

Letting go of his muzzles, I took the knife and started to
work off the ropes that was binding his paws to the chair. I
moved onto the rope accost his chest and then to his feet.

"Draz is pretty good at filling time." Oria whispered from
the door.

I smiled, "Good." I looked back at Krege. His eyes seemed a
bit brighter, and was starting to sit up under his own
power.

Motioning Oriana over I sat her down next to Krege. "When he
can get out there and talk you do that. Got it."

She nodded, then I stood, adjusting my jacket a bit. Then I
walked though the door and into the main area of the tent.
Draz and Thrysten saw me, and there reaction must have been
noticed by Salden because he spun around to stare at me.

"It's you!" He growled.

I spread my arms. "It usually is, it's gets confusing when
it's not."

He smiled a bit. "Very well then, I'll just kill you all."

I shook my head, walking over to stand with Thrysten and
Draz. "Not that easy, all three of us can over power you
with out much trouble."

He crossed his arms. "You forget the my troops standing
outside."

I waved my hand. "There Krege's men, not yours."

He laughed. "As long as he is ill the *are* my men."

I saw Oriana standing in the doorway. When we made eye
contact she ducked back in. I looked back at Salden. "Except
he isn't ill. You've been feeding him poison so you could
take control and do what you though he should have done."

He crossed his arms. "Now, who would believe a story like
that?"

"I would," Krege said with a slight slur to his voice. Orian
had him propped up on her shoulder. Salden turned instantly,
his facing going slack as he registering who had spoken.

"Shocked?" I asked with a slight smile.

He turned back around, growling.

Thrysten steeped back to the proper exit for the tent,
stepping outside. She came back in with three of Krege's
solders behind her.

As the three of them saw there proper King they all fell on
to there knees.

Krege smiled as much as he was able to. "Stand and retain
Salden."

Salden growled a bit deeper as the solders stood and drew
there swords. He twisted his wrists, a knife appeared from
inside his sleeve which he threw at Draz, he then turned and
bolted.

The solders where faster though, they were already running
for Salden even before he moved. Two of the solders pulled
him to the ground before he had gone more then three feet.
The final guard pulled Draz down before he could reaction,
the knife sailing through where his head was and hitting the
ground a few feet away.

I blew though my teeth. "Hell, that was anticlimactic. I
came armed for a running fight and it doesn't go more then a
few feet."

"You sound disappointed," Kalie said pushing her way into
the tent. "Sorry I missed it, the solders were quite happy
to restrain me."

"I don't think he's disappointed." Oria replied, walking
over to the rest of us, Krege still hanging off her
shoulder.

Draz stood, walking over to Krege. He crossed his arms over
his chest and bowed his upper body a few inches. "Welcome to
my Kingdom your Majesty."

Krege smiled, or at least tried to, only half his muzzle
pulled up, the other side didn't really move at all. He
looked like he had suffered a stroke, which might have been
a side effect of the poison.

"I thank you," Krege said, speaking very slowly. "Forgive me
for not bowing... I am still hurting."

Draz nodded, resting his paws on the others shoulders. "Now
that we are finished with this war business, can we return
to where we had been before this mess began?"

Krege nodded slowly. "Yes... though first I would wish to
rest."

Draz smiled. "Rest then... we can allow this to wait for a
few more days."

-----

This story is (c) 1997 by Fox Cutter, hardcopy reprints
limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This
story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission
of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed.