FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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CHAPTER 29

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I awoke to pitch darkness, the darkness suiting my mood perfectly. I was still trying to convince myself it was all just a bad dream... but the constant reminder of the five metal bands locked to my wrists, legs and neck made it hard to convince myself otherwise.

The bands were large, chunky and felt clumsy on me. What was worse was that they chaffed. The bands weren't locked, they were sealed shut. Visnar, a Master ranked fire bender, came by and sealed the bands on me last night.

He had been quick and efficient about his task, not saying anything beyond an initial 'hello' or 'hold still'. He had a very grim expression the whole time, but I suppose it wasn't a very good time to be acting happy on either side, it wasn't exactly a courtesy call after all and I wasn't exactly feeling very talkative myself.

He left as soon as he had finished his task. He had checked to make sure that they were firmly secured, that I had no burns and gave me an ointment should I feel any discomfort.

Since then I have felt sluggish, the effect took over quite quickly. Kaldor explained that was an effect of the bands, they absorbed nen from their wearer and it wasn't uncommon for them to leave the wearer fatigued. Eventually I would get used to them, my father assuring me that he was going to make sure they were removed long before I would need to get used to prolonged exposure to them.

The worst thing about these fucking bands was that they left me so tired that even when I had woken during the night from a nightmare, I was left so weak I had fallen back to sleep almost instantly; often resuming the dream from where it had left off with no way to stop it.

I knew I should get up but it was hard to feel motivated, exhausted from a restless sleep. What was I going to do? If I wanted to leave the house I would have to have an armed escort. I'm sure most of Zangar already knew by know, but I didn't really want to go about advertising the fact I was under arrest pending my hearing.

I just lay there in bed, in the pitch dark, staring into the darkness. I had no intention to move, that was until my body decided that it needed to piss. Even then I just lay there, until I couldn't hold it in any more, summoning the required energy so as not to wet the bed, despite my lack of energy I did ave some self respect left.

Once I was up, and after having relieved myself, I made my way to the kitchen. Hoping that some food would make me feel better. Harold was more than happy to get me something to eat, and even though the food tasted delicious, I just wasn't feeling all that hungry. I felt like I had a huge weight hanging above me, that everything I'd worked so hard for was now... pointless.

That's where Kaldor found me, slumped against the table with my breakfast nearly untouched and worried looking Harold standing next to me. Harold seemed to be taking this whole thing worse than me, he looked like he was ready to cry, mewling pitifully and resting his head against my arm.

"Thank you Harold." Kaldor said to the little yellow dragon. "I've got it from here."

Harold nodded and reluctantly returned to what ever task he needed to do. I just watched him, not even lifting my head off the table to look at my father, normally I took such enjoyment watching Harold. He was always so enthusiastic and happy, it always made me feel better, but now even he was being affected by my situation, and seemed down cast and sluggish as he went about his duties, occasionally glancing at me.

"You still feeling sluggish?" Kaldor asked.

"Yeah." I replied. I couldn't bring myself to say more than that, because it was. The tiredness was just one of the symptoms.

"You should hopefully be feeling better soon." He said, trying to reassure me. "The bands have a more intense effect on those with high levels of nen."

"That makes me feel so much better." I said sarcastically, wanting to laugh but the effort just seemed too great.

The day continued to drag on, and a even visit from my friends didn't do much to make me feel better. At least it helped to pass the time, I just sat there and listened to them talking, not very talkative myself. They seemed quite understanding however, even though they thought the whole situation was bull shit, Jason openly stating the fact several times.

Aceh kindly told me that we would not be training that night, at least until I felt better, but once I had recovered enough to do so we would resume training, bands or no bands. It seemed that Aceh was determined to make sure I continued with my training, despite the unknown outcome of the coming hearing.

As tired as my body was my mind was certainly active, if a little sluggish. I kept imagining how the hearing would play out, the possible outcomes, the sentences that I would be lumbered with if I was found guilty.

Guilty. Ha!

I had simply wanted to help someone in trouble and now I was in trouble myself. Fuck those assholes! Fuck Ortavia! Fuck Zangar! Was it wrong to want to help someone in need? Maybe Kassandra would feel the same and come forward, come clean about what the others had done to her and get me out of this mess!

But that was just wishful thinking. Kassandra didn't want anyone to know. I couldn't blame her, I had been through the same thing, the feelings ate away at you. You felt weak, helpless and violated. You even began to blame yourself for it rather than those that raped you for a time. Anger helped, letting you do something other than feel sorry for yourself, but even that was only a temporary fix. Eventually the anger itself would begin to eat away at you.

It took time to work through those feelings. Eric had helped me work through mine, I have no idea what I would have done without him and the others.

No, I couldn't rely in Kassandra, she was dealing with her own problems, never mind have the time to worry about mine. It was her choice to decide if she wanted to tell anyone about it, not mine. I had given her my word and I would keep my promise, even if that landed me in jail.

What a fucking time to be noble!

Being noble wasn't going to help me! Not here, not now! Maybe I should just tell of everything that happened...

No... that wouldn't do. I mentally and physically sighed, pushing those thoughts out of my head. No one but Kassandra could help me, I doubted that Kaldor could convince the council that I had done it for a good reason when I wasn't able to tell them why I had done it in the first place.

The whole situation felt even more hopeless than before.

It didn't stop me closing my eyes and saying a silent prayer to any deity that could hear me, offering to do anything if they could help me out of this mess.

As the day wore on everyone made to leave, Cody stuck around though. Bless that little fox. He was always there for me when I needed him, I was glad of his company, but I really hoped he didn't want to engage in any sexual interactions with me tonight. The thought of the effort made it seem like a chore, and I wasn't even sure I could get it up; truth-be-told.

As we sat down for dinner Kaldor told me that my trial was scheduled for midday tomorrow. Cody insisted on going, as would everyone else he said. Apparently it was a closed door affair, but anyone could be invited in by someone involved in the trial, be it as a witness or for moral support. Kaldor assured him it wouldn't be an issue.

After only picking at my meal, I was worried I would offend Harold more than anything, my appetite non-existent, I retired to bed early accompanied by a certain fox. I was grateful when he didn't try anything related to sex, and I was a little relieved to have someone with me.

I know I had nightmares that night, semi-aware of Cody waking me a couple of times, the dreams all but forgotten within minutes. Cody helped me feel a little better. His presence giving me a sense of comfort.

In the morning I felt a little more energetic, I was still extremely tired but at least I was able to pull myself out of bed with a little effort. More importantly, for the first time since these bands had gone on, I felt hungry... really hungry.

I ate several portions of a delicious soup and nearly a dozen freshly baked rolls. The food lifted my spirits considerably, not to mention Harold's smile, he obviously noticed the difference himself. I was still tired, but it was more like tired after a hard days work than... what ever I was like yesterday.

Kaldor joined us for his own breakfast and went over the procedures for the hearing. It was pretty straight forward. General Ortavia would present the case before the chosen committee, providing evidence and witnesses as evidence while Kaldor would present my case, not that I had much of one.

Only the council were allowed to ask questions to the witnesses, however the opposing party could suggest a line of questioning to the council if they believed it to be important. The council would then decide if the enquiry was pertinent and act accordingly.

There was nothing in Zangarian law to force a witness to take part in the hearing, witnesses come forward of their own volition. Requesting to join the hearing and asking for an invitation from any official taking part in the hearing or from a house leader. And so far no one had requested to be a witness on my behalf. But I wasn't surprised. The only witnesses were the ones who participated in the crime, or Kassandra herself who didn't want anyone to know.

As the day moved on and the time of the hearing drew closer I got increasingly nervous. This was really happening... it had all seemed so surreal until now... like one of my nightmares only... there was no waking up from this. I waited in silence, sitting in the family room with Cody, Eric and the others, the silence in the room was heavy. I don't think anyone wanted to break it.

And so time went by, at a seemingly snails pace with the silence slowing it down, until my father, Jovani and two warriors armed with spears walked in the room. Kaldor just gave me a look, one that needed no words, everything that needed to be said was exchanged with his eyes.

It was time.

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The journey to the hearing was tense, even if I was to ignore all the stares coming my way. It felt like I was back living with the wolves, I hated being the center of attention, especially when it was the center of every ones scrutiny.

Flanked on either side by the warriors, both armed and clad in full leather armour, my father and Jovani walking ahead of us, my friends behind. I was lead through the market place and down a route I had never been before, it was only a short distance away from the market place. Which meant 'every body' saw us. I tried to ignore them, but it was hard. Not to mention I had no idea what to expect. Would they imprison me? I doubted Kaldor would allow that, or at least not for long. But the thought scared me regardless.

Lost in my thoughts time just seemed to evaporate, and all too soon we came to a set of plain steel double doors, a guard standing on either side. They opened the door and let us pass.

The doors opened into large circular room, at least thirty yards across. At the far end there were seven chairs sitting on a raised stone platform, the one in the center raised slightly above the rest, I wasn't surprised to see Callidus sitting there.

The council members sat, most of them regarding me silently, as I was lead off to the right side of the room. I recognised most of them from my fathers party, but I only knew the name of one of them. Visnar sat at the far right of the group, he was the one who had placed the bands on me, and like the rest of them wore the same dark furred robe. There was also a large raised platform near the center of the room. I guessed that was where the witnesses stood to give their statements to the council.

The side of the room I was lead to also had a raised platform and a steel cage. I felt my breath hitch, they weren't going to cage me were they? I breathed a sigh of relief when they motioned me to stand on the raised platform. There were restraints embedded into the center of the platform, designed to be attached around my ankles, but no one moved to attach them. I guess I was being given the benefit of the doubt, a fact I was grateful for.

My friends took their seats behind me, there was a similar seating area over on the other side of the room as well in the center, positioned behind the witness stand. To my surprise I saw Xavier and Kassius sitting in the center seats, along with several other warriors, they looked at me and gave me smiles of reassurance.

That's when I saw them, the three warriors I had fought with, one of them had his arm in a sling. General Ortavia stood over next to them. They seemed nervous to be here, and I wasn't surprised. They were probably so caught up in what ever lie they had given to Ortavia to explain their injuries, that they probably couldn't bring themselves to admit the truth now.

I felt my anger twist in my gut, my nen attempting to flare with it, the bands I was wearing suppressing the nen before it could fully manifest itself in my body. It was like a wave of fatigue washing over me as the bands absorbed the nen, I took a deep breath and suppressed my anger, it wouldn't do me any good to lose my temper or to wear myself out.

"Calm yourself Young Master, things will work out." Jovani whispered. "Your father will not let anything serious come of this."

"I wish I was as certain of that as you were." I whispered back.

I saw him nod out of the corner of my eye and walk away to sit with the others. I don't know how long I stood there before the hearing actually began, but every one turned their attention to Callidus, who was now standing.

"We are gathered today to judge the actions of Malakye Anaris, son of Kaldor Anaris, member of the Anaris household." He bellowed, his voice carrying across the room. "He is accused of, without provocation, assaulting and injuring three warriors while they were trying to discharge their duties. We shall listen to testimonies of all those who have come forward to give their account of the events."

"General Ortavia, you represent the victims? The warriors under your command?"

"Yes my Lord." Ortavia responded. "As they were assaulted while on duty, discharging the orders they were given on my command, I feel it is my responsibility to represent them in this instance."

"Very well." Callidus acknowledged, taking his seat once again. "You may begin."

General Ortavia stepped up onto the raised platform in the center of the room and turned to address the council.

"Members of the council, we are here today to ensure that no-one. No-one!" He paused a moment to stare at me before turning back to address the council. "Dare recommit the atrocious crime committed by the accused." Ortavia spoke with authority, and to be honest I almost felt like agreeing with him he was that convincing.

"To assault these warriors, sworn to protect the residents of Zangar is a most heinous crime! They swore their loyalty to the protection of our way of life, and as such we need to do everything in our power to protect them in return. We cannot allow crimes like this to go unpunished, to do so will only encourage others to commit such crimes in the future!"

Ortavia paused, letting his words sink in. If it wasn't for the fact that I knew what it was his warriors were doing I'd totally agree with him. But his warriors had broken their oath. Kassandra, Zangarian or not, was a member of this community and their oath to protect should apply to her just as any other Zangarian, male and female alike.

"Regardless of the fact that the accused is a member of the House of Anaris, more-so because of that fact, we must make an example of him. To show others who would dare commit such a crime that no one is beyond the rules of society."

"Thank you General Ortavia. Your words are... most inspirational." Callidus commented.

With a curt bow Ortavia left the stand. My father instantly moved to take his place, turning to address the council.

"Kaldor..." Callidus began, pausing for a moment before continuing. "Lord Anaris, it is most unusual for the leader of Zangar to represent the accused."

"I am aware of this my Lord. However there is no law preventing it. I am hear to represent my son, as is my right as his father." Kaldor countered.

"True. So please, make your statement."

"My son is accused of assaulting these three warriors, supposedly without provocation." Kaldor paused a moment before continuing, choosing his words carefully. "But my son is innocent of that crime. He fought them to protect another." Kaldor said... no, it was more of a command. As much as Ortavia had been authoritative when he spoke, Kaldor was commanding. His words not wanting you to believe but compelled you to believe.

"In truth the true victim here is my son." Kaldor turned to stare at them for a moment before continuing. I swear I saw them flinch under his gaze.

"It is my hope my Lords, that they will not only retract their accusations that impune my sons honour, and that of the Anaris house, accusations that are nothing more than lies to cover their own misdeeds! I beg the council, that if they do so, the council grant leniency for their own crimes."

"An interesting offer Lord Anaris. Most unusual..." Callidus mused. "But I suppose it is within the power of the council to offer that. If there is a majority agreement of course."

The council members exchanged silent looks with each other. Each of the council members, one after another nodded, giving their approval.

"Very well. We give this one chance for the victims to retract their accusations." Callidus turned to the three warriors. I took a little pleasure from how they almost squirmed under Callidus's cold glare. "On this one occasion, we the council have agreed unanimously, to give the victims a chance to retract their accusation. Further-more, should they admit to any wrong doing in this instance, the council will be lenient with any punishment for any crimes they admit to related to this hearing."

Everyone turned their attention to the warriors, they were obviously very disturbed by the offer. I prayed that they would take the offer, and let this whole ordeal be over with. My best chance was for them to admit the truth, all it needed was for one of them to break under the pressure and I would be free.

It felt like time had slowed to a stop, the silence in the room was heavy and intolerable and the only way I could tell time was passing was by the sound of my heartbeat pounding hard in my chest. But no one said anything, and after a considerable amount of time Callidus spoke again.

"It would seems that the accusations stand." Callidus declared and I felt my heart sink. "Lord Anaris, unless you have anything else to add?"

"No my Lords." Kaldor replied.

"Very well. We shall continue the hearing. If the victims of the crime wish to give their statements to the crime."

Wordlessly, the first of the warriors moved to the center of the raised platform and began to give their 'false' account. The account began with him saying that they were simply carrying out their patrols, when I appeared. Apparently I punched the one named Saljor in the snout without so much as a word of warning, after that the other two had jumped to his defence, and so the fight began.

I stood staring in disbelief at how he could lie so well. The rest of the account was laced with truth, laced with actual details from our fight, but embellished so that it sounded like they had put up a much better fight than they actually had. Any of the other dragons, or Kassandra herself, were not mentioned. If it wasn't for the fact I knew the truth I probably would have believed the account.

I felt my anger bubble in the pit of my stomach.

After him the next warrior took the stand, recounting a similar tale. They were skilled liars, and listening to yet another false story made my anger begin to boil. I couldn't believe this was happening. I was not guilty of anything other than giving them a beating that they deserved! I had given them the chance to stop, but they insisted on fighting! I should have killed them when I had the chance!

When the final warrior began recounting his tale, the one who's arm I'd broken, I couldn't take any more lies! My nen flared within me, reacting to my growing anger, and I could no longer suppress it.

It was their doing! This whole shitty situation was because they couldn't admit to their crime, they were the guilty ones not me! Yet here I was about to take the fall for something I didn't do!

My nen broiled and flowed throughout my body, the burning heat flowed through my veins. The galician* bands were absorbing my nen before it could begin to leave my body and form a bubble around me, but my nen felt like an inferno raging out of control in my body.

I should have sent a clearer message beyond breaking just one arm. I should have beaten them to within an inch of their lying, scum bag life! Burned their scales from their flesh! Let them beg for me to end their existence as a show of mercy.

"YOU LYING SCUM!!" I bellowed, unable to contain my rage any longer.

"Malakye calm down!"

"I SHOULD HAVE DONE MORE THAN BREAK YOUR PITIFUL ARM WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE!" I snarled.

The warrior was looking right at me, fear in his eyes.

Yes that's right... be afraid! His fear sent a surge of pleasure down my spine, I could practically taste it in the air. But I would give him something to be truly afraid of! I would inflict suffering, pain and anguish upon them all before I ended their miserable lives! I will make them suffer for their crime as I should have done back then, to suffer the same fate and worse as what Kassandra had been put through!

I took a step towards him, only for my path to be immediately blocked off by another dragon. I didn't look at him, I kept my eyes fixed intently on the warrior, I was going to make him answer for his crime if no one else would!

A disembodied voice was saying something, a set of paws holding me back. I wouldn't let anyone stop me from delivering justice to these warriors! I grabbed the body blocking my path, throwing them to the ground before running towards the terrified dragon whose life I would be ending shortly!