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Vagabondia Chronicles Chapter 19: The Burning Chains

  Days after the demons' attack on the blacksmith's village, the black scaled dragon males its descent onto a small island, amongst a raging sea, below a dark empty sky.

  The dragon lands, and with a loud thud, the cages containing Cam and the others land onto solid ground. Cam, with an angry look in his eye, kicks the door to the cage, still fighting to free himself and his friends. "Let us out of here! We don't deserve this, please!". The Demon opening his cage simply ignores his plea and, using another chain, drags him and Leo into what looks like a massive prison complex. As Cam and Leo slowly walk into the prison, he catches sight of his friends being chained up. "Guys! Are you okay!?", he shouts, only to be met with a sad look from Twig and Sylvia, and silence from the rest as they are dragged into separate parts of the prison.

  Cam and Leo are placed in a dark prison cell, only illuminated by a single window covered by prison bars. He and Leo are thrown in and locked in just as quickly. Cam, still reeling from the whole situation, breathes heavily clutching Leo in his arms. "T..There's no...no way, I.. I can..I have to..get us out..", Cam utters as he continues breathing heavily, tears fall down his face as he breaks down. But Leo lives his face, snapping him back to reality. Cam holds him close, as he tells him "It's.. gonna be okay.., I hope."

  Hours later, as Cam and Leo sit there, in hunger, one of the prison guards opens his cage, restrains them and drags them through the dark halls. "Wh.. what is this?! Where are you taking me!?", Cam asks the guard as his new sword materializes in his hand. He gasps in amazement and tries to cut himself free, to no avail.

  He is led to a cafeteria area, teaming with restrained prisoners. He gasps as he catches sight of Twig, yelling at the guard restraining her.

  "Twig! You're alright!", Cam shouts in relief and they try to run toward each other, but they are pulled away from each other by the chains. "Ugh! Let me go, you Demon scum!", Twig shouts at the guard holding her chains. "Twig, where are the others!? Are all of you guys okay?", Cam worriedly asks, still fighting to reach Twig. Twig feigns a confident smile, saying "Come on, Cam. We'll bust out of this hellhole soon enough! Seems like we were separated from the others on purpose, though.". Cam initially smiles in relief, but notices Twig's sorrowful expression and says "Twig... It's gonna be okay, I promise..". Twig nods, holding back tears as they are served slop to eat.

  As the prisoners are sent back to their cells, Cam thinks to himself "Grandpa... I..I'm sorry..", as he lays on the ground, but just then, his sword appears in his hand. He jumps up on shock, as he asks himself "W..What the heck is this..", but remembers Kyrios' words

  "We blacksmiths imbue part of ourselves within a sword when we bestow a blessing."

  "Maybe this is what Kyrios meant when he said Soul Amber was special.", Cam wonders. He tries to cut through the bars, over and over, to no avail. Eventually, he collapses out of exhaustion and asks utters "No, Why cant i...".

  Elsewhere, below the prison, a group of hooded, red horned demons stand around an amalgamation of Spell Circles. They begin a sacred chant in an unknown language and the Spell begins to take the form of a red hot flame. Just then, the same Demon that Cam fought appears from the shadows, remarking menacingly, in an unknown language "Finally, after decades of research, we've gotten just the right combination of spells to summon it! ". The spell starts to fade, and the Demon shouts " No! We can't fail now!! Add more magical energy to the spell!!". The other demons do as they're told, replying "Yes, Crimson Guard!", but the spell begins to take the form of a red scaled dragon. The Crimson Guard snarls menacingly as the whole island shakes. "The Divine Flame will shine once more...", he utters ominously.

  Just as Leo drifts to sleep, the whole island is shaken to its core, as a blood curdling roar shocks all the prisoners awake. Cam jumps up, shook by the sudden noise. "What the heck was that!?", he asks as his sword appears back in his hand. Suddenly, the whole island is Illuminated in a red hot flame, as fire shoots up from under the island, followed by a massive figure flying up into the air. Cam's eye flickers in an azure glow as he watches the reveal itself as a Crimson Dragon.

  Cam stands there, stuck in place in shock, muttering to himself "Why..do I.. feel like..I've seen..this..before..?", but Leo bites him, snapping him back. He runs to the cell's entrance, trying to break down the bars. Just then, the Crimson Dragon stomps down to the ground, releasing a Shockwave demolishing part of the prison, smashing Cam's cell bars loose. Seizing the opportunity , Cam and Leo break off the bars and run aimlessly through the halls.

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  As the other prisoners escape their cells, a riot breaks out as Twig and Sylvia take their chance to escape and regroup. As they run through the chaotic prison halls, Sylvia meets up with Twig, and they meet with a tight hug. "Sylvia! You're okay!", Twig excitedly says. Sylvia says "Are you kidding? I'm the one who was worried.". Sylvia looks around, asking "Where's everyone else? Are you okay?", but Twig sadly says "Other than Cam... I dunno if the others are even alive..", she sniffles, looking away from Sylvia. "We'll find them, Twig...promise..", to which Twig nods and follows Sylvia's lead.

  In another cell, Winston is covered in scars and chained with his arms and legs apart, Cam burst into his demolished cell, initially excited "Winston! I'm so glad you're okay!", Cam says excitedly, only to notice that Winston's numb expression. "Winston!? Winston! Speak to me! What's wrong?", Cam shouts as he tries to shake him back to his senses, to no avail. "C..Cam.., just leave me..", Winston weakly says. Cam frees him from the chains, asking "What are you talking about!? I'd never leave you guys..". Winston pushes Cam away, shouting "I'm done causing trouble for you guys! Just get everyone and let me atone for all of this!". Cam stands there, speechless. He staggers back, saying "Winston..., this wasn't..". But he notices the shattered pieces of Winston's staff on the ground and says "I don't blame you for all this, Winston... all those years ago with Deuse at the Magic Academy, you didnt even know me, yet you had my back... Now it's my turn to have yours.", and runs out of the cell. Winston slowly walks to the cell entrance, watching him leave, thinking "Cam..."

  Outside the courtyard, Sylvia and Twig catch sight of the Crimson Dragon as it ascends into the clouds, and charges a fire blast from its mouth. "Oh boy, that's not good.", Twig remarks before her and Sylvia run around the large courtyard, evading the Dragon's devastating onslaught. "What do we do now!? I can't run like this forever..", Sylvia says, holding Twig on her back as she runs. As they evade, Twig catches sight of Cam through the prison bars as he runs through the halls.

  "Hey, I just saw Cam! He's on his way!", Twig shouts excitedly.

  Cam makes it onto the prison roof to get a better view of the situation. He pants in exhaustion, remarking "What a work out, huh Leo?". Leo, however stands there petrified and Cam looks behind him to see the Crimson Guard standing there, brandishing a spear. Cam staggers back, wondering out loud "Wh..what's going on..? You did this, didn't you?", to which the Crimson Guard smirks, confirming Cam's thoughts.

  Cam instinctively wields his sword and says to Leo "Stand back, buddy. Go find the others and get to safety.", Leo, initially hesitant, sees the look of determination in Cam's eyes, and follows his order.

  Cam points his sword at the Crimson Guard saying "I thought I beat you..", but the Crimson Guard snarls, casting a spell on himself to translate his language, saying "You thought a weakling such as yourself could stop me, the Crimson Guard!?". Cam charges ahead, clashing with him on the prison roof, as the dragon continues its onslaught. "Even your little Soul Sword cannot destroy a Demon such as myself!", the Crimson Guard says as he launches a series of attacks at Cam, but he manages to dodge and deflect all of them. He dashes in close to get an easy shot. The Crimson Guard remarks as he easily weaves past Cam's attacks, "This bloodlust.. I didn't see it from you that day.. impressive.", and knocks him over the edge of the roof, but he just manages to hang on. Just as the Crimson Guard prepares to deal the final blow, Cam uses his sword to reflect the flames' brightness at his eyes, blinding him. He uses the opportunity to climb up and slash at the Crimson Guard, but his attack is deflected.

  Back at Winston's cell, he desperately tries to put his staff back together, to no avail. But as he fails to reassemble his staff, a mysterious fluid oozes from the remains. Winston thinks to himself "Wait, that's right... Magic Staffs use a chemical called Yssil to conduct magical power, maybe I can..", as he uses the Yssil to draw a spell circle on the ground. Winston completes the spell circle and uses all of his power to activate it, and it causes a massive flood that washes over the prison, extinguishing some of the flames on the island. As the massive wave of water washes over the battlefield, Cam only has one thought on his mind "Got my back again, huh?", as the wave washes him and the Crimson Guard off the roof in different directions.

  As the dragon charges an even bigger flame attack at the ground, it redirects its attention to the remaining part of the prison. Twig comes to a realization and tries her hardest to run to the part of the prison, Sylvia stopping her and asking "What are you doing!? The Dragon's gonna..", but she stops, when Twig shouts "Edreus!!!", stunning her and Cam as the dragon launches its fireball, devastating the remaining part of the prison. Twig's sudden out burst snaps Cam to a startling reality as he runs towards the explosion, only to get blown away and knocked out.

  Later, as Cam stirrs back to consciousness, his ears ringing, he notices Leo laying on his stomach, and blood stains on his clothes and head. "Ugh...where's..", Cam mutters as he tries to get up, but coughs blood and falls. As he tries to get up, Winston stops him, but through all the chaos, Cam sees a harrowing sight.

  Edreus, half of his body charred and his arm burned off, trudges through the debris panting.

  Memories of their life on the Silverrie Farm flash in and out of their minds, fast as a flash, but as clear as a melody. Days spent farming and, and nights spent bonding as a family, all go up in flames.

  Cam could only lay there as Edreus lost more and more blood, trying his hardest to get to his beloved grandson, but as he buckled and kneeled down, Cam knew what was next, as his eye glowed once more. Even though Edreus' voice was barely as loud as a whisper, Cam knew what he was saying:

  "I Could Only Guide You Astray, My Little One...

  " I Cannot Be Your Guiding Light..

  "Cambrodia..."

  Cam's eyes widen and his chest tightens as he watches to debris fall onto Edreus' charred body. Cam's screams echo throughout the flaming prison yard as he cries loudly, trying his absolute hardest to get up and help his beloved grandfather, but a tearful Winston picks him up and they run towards the coast of the island, leading to the ocean. Cam's world is completely silent as he just lays on Winston's back, completely unresponsive. Suddenly, the ledge they were standing on suddenly breaks and they all fall into the ocean.

  As they fall, Cam looks up dragon with a utterly shattered look on his face as his eye glows once more...

  They plunge into the depths of the oceans, into leaving behind a whirlwind of pain and trauma...

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