by The Eurostar, T5 and NotWedge
The Amazon jungle, Brazil:
Edulcore Cicciotto:
Outside the window of the hovercraft, the infinite forest faded in a light mist toward the horizon. Green everywhere, broken only by the meandering flows of the occasional river.
But the beep signaling the position of Ameristar is louder every second that passes. And Chance is piloting the UFO craft right toward the source.
"Look there, twelve o'clock!" said the Swede. I look, and out of the mist, a big, bulky structure appears. A very steep pyramid, higher than the Eiffel tower, and lusciously overgrown with vegetation.
"The Tower of Cuccubao," I whisper. "Reach Ameristar and the other guy. I'll go to give a sight to the place," I say, opening a hatch and jumping outside before Chance could stop me.
I spread my feathers and begin to glide toward the tower.
Drake Marshall and Ameristar were slugging it out with the strange hulking man that had begun to attack them. Drax had willingly come forward into the fight and was engaging the man by himself.
In the meantime, the one known as Unit had taken Ameristar by the wrist and was presently trying to twist her down onto the ground. His grip was terrifying, and it almost crushed her armor. Ameristar fired a round into his foot. She believed that he was not an evil person, but rather a confused retard, who apparently didn't have his loyalties straight. And that could be used in the future.
He yelped in pain and let go of her. But Xo, the tortoise-like creature, suddenly appeared behind her and gave her a heavy knock on the head. She blacked out. Drax roared in defiance, but the combined strength of the huge man and Unit was too much even for him.
They started to carry away the unconscious heroes when Unit stopped and exclaimed in a low whisper to the hulking man, "Look, Father... another one."
Above them, the Raptor silently swept down through the clouds and started his search for his comrades.
The two hid under a thick tree group and sat there silently for a few minutes while the winged champion flew in circles above them.
Come on, big guy. Wake up! Drake got no response, no matter how much he yelled. Great time for a nap. Well, it looks like they're idling, so maybe I just need to attract some attention...
Drake pulled his second crutch out of the holder on his back and made the transfer, surprising the twisted residents of the swamp. He knew he'd probably bitten off more than he could chew, but as far as he knew, he was their only chance.
Xo gestured with one of his claws. "Look! He awakens."
"Never was asleep, actually." The swamp clan moved to surround Drake, leaving Ameristar unattended.
"Don't let him get away!" bellowed the one Unit had called Father.
"You think I'm running?" Drake used his crutches to vault into Unit with his right foot extended, knocking Unit off balance. One of the Unit twins had the breath knocked out of him as they crashed to the ground.
"Brother! We must get up!"
The one called Father moved in to attack Drake, but as he swung his massive fist, Drake dove forward past the huge attacker. He planted the crutches in the ground and kicked back with all his strength at the back of Father's right knee, forcing him to kneel down. Next, he cracked the back of Father's thick skull with one of his crutches, knocking him face first into the ground. He then turned his head toward the turtle-like Xo. "Well, what are you waitin' for?"
Just then, a smallish figure dropped out of a tree and landed right in front of Drake. Before Drake could react, the little creature spat a viscous blob of goo right at the faceplate of Drake's helmet. With a sizzling sound, the glob of slime began to eat through the helmet's material. Drake quickly pulled his hemet off before the acidic substace could eat all the way through.
"Great. Now the runt of the litter wants some."
"Ha! Wad got you! Wad did good!"
"Great, and he speaks in the third person, too." Drake threw his helmet at Wad, making him skitter out of the way. Out of the corners of his eyes, Drake saw Unit and Father getting back to their feet. Drake went into the best imitation of a fighting stance he could manage with his bad leg, and hoped that help was coming.
Just as Unit was about to smash Drake, over him fell, down from the sky, the Raptor.
Drake whispered, relieved for a moment, but the Unit twins were back on their feet in an instant. They looked angry at the winged hero, who was standing on his feet, his sword Ladnikia aimed at the double monster.
It seemed a fair duel, when Unit raised his heads and roars. It was a terrible cry, the trumpeting of a prehistoric mastodon, that shook the trees of the jungle. At the horrendous call, many more beings responded, coming out of the impenetrable vegetation. They seemed like men, but their skin was covered by short, dense hairs of a yellow-brown hue, sparsely spotted by black blotches, and they had big, pointy ears and yellow eyes.
"Jaguar-men, kill the winged one," shouted the Unit brothers.
Edulcore Cicciotto:
They are surrounding me, coming out of the forests around Roncesvalles. Hundreds of Moorish, led by the fierce Saladin, brandishing their swords.
And I am alone, cut from the rear guard of King Charlemagne's army. My men lying on the battlefield, I am the last one to survive. And soon I will suffer the same fate.
But as long as I breathe, I will bring death to the enemy, and Muslims will not advance a step toward the soil of the Holy Roman Empire.
I raise Durendal, her hilt firmly in the grip of my hands. I kiss the blade, and cross myself.
The Moors come closer, holding their swords, their maces, their spears. They are all around me, a few yards. Then they stop, and twelve, from behind me, from front, from right and left, depart from the crowd and walk slowly toward me. They smile, anticipating the feast.
One more step, and their heads fly off in unison. Durendal sings her song of death and destruction. I am merely her support. She guides my arm, and the muscles inside. She cuts and hits and pierces and punches. She kills and rips open.
As the Moors die one after the other, I find myself knee deep in blood and bowels. But they keep attacking, blind to my rage. And they keep falling on the ground. Until there are no more.
I take my horn, Olyphant, and blow. The army of Charlemagne will know that I, Roland, have won here in Roncesval.
But as I put down the horn, I see that, standing in front of me, the king of the Moors, the fierce Saladin, is alive and well.
I raise Durendal and attack. The Oriental man parries it, and hits me over my left leg.
I fall, but lying on my back I am able to stop his blows with Durendal. He consequently falls back, while I manage to stand up. Sadly, my armor is much heavier than his garbs, and he is standing back at my same time.
The duel that ensues is savage, indescribable. We both lose blood from dozens of scarf and bruises. We are both very tired, it seems we are equal, and we are killing each other with each blow, neither able to prevail over the other.
The Muslim keeps talking, shouting at time, or whispering, but I don't understand his language. And I keep insulting him and his race of bastard dogs, but he, as well, seems to not to understand me.
Then, the noise of many horns breaks the utter silence of the valley. The army of Charlemagne is coming to rescue me.
When I turn, the fierce Saladin is gone.
I fall on my knees as many knights rush up, riding their horses.
Rinaldo quickly gets on the ground, and comes next to me, calling me, "Roland, Roland... Ed...Ed..."
Drake shook Edulcore Cicciotto, still shocked by the battle of which he had been a witness. The Raptor opened his eyes, his hands over his head.
"What happened?" he asked, and then he saw many dozens of catlike people fallen on the ground, covered in blood. The whole ground, in truth, was red with blood.
The young man, forcing himself to stand up on his crutches, wipes his sweat with one arm and then says, "I guess you saved my life... oh, and you spoke French, too."
The Raptor stood up, took a leaf from a nearby bush and with it cleaned the blade of his sword. The he put Ladnikia inside the scabbard on his back. "Where's Ameristar?" he asked.
Drake raised one of the crutches and pointed it toward the tower looming in the distance. "The turtle man, Xo, brought her there to the tower. The one called Unit has followed them after you stopped to fight him."
Edulcore looked disoriented, then took a small radio from one of the pouches of his belt and contacted Chance. A few moments later, the Stormloader landed in a small clearing of the forest. In less than three minutes, the three heroes were ready to follow the tracks of Ameristar.
And while they were penetrating inside the dense forest, the Raptor couldn't help but immensely enjoy the satisfaction produced by the feast of blood and souls.