~Chapter 5~
One by one, Aero opened up the cages in the cavern. When he released the little lions, they charged towards the exit together. A caged peacock frantically flew until it found the exit. When he released a boar, it charged at him. Aero simply allowed the boar to chase him to the exit.
In the corner of the caverns he released a pug, a large, flat-faced canine that scampered towards the exit when it was freed. But Aero heard footsteps immediately after. Aero turned and saw a bulky Phantine with a red tint to his skin. His fists were clenched.
Aero knew he was one of the other guards here. He looked at the tips of the Phantine's tusks and saw they were sharpened, "You know, most Phantines file down their tusks to a blunt edge so they don't have accidents."
The Phantine stared coldly before charging forward, swinging his tusks at the boy. Aero jumped out of the way and onto the cage that was holding the pug. The Phantine's tusks plunged into the wall where Aero was.
"See! That's exactly why you should file down your tusks! If I didn't jump out of the way, you might've impaled me there!" Aero shouted at the Phantine.
"Don't jump next time." The Phantine said lowly.
Aero narrowed his eyes. He jumped behind the cage, braced himself against it and the wall, and kicked the cage through the air at the Phantine. The guard caught it, flexing his muscles as he set it down. He was strong. Aero sprinted past the guard, circled around him, and struck him hard in the side.
The Phantine swung at the boy, but Aero jumped out of his way. He's faced opponents like this before; they were all strength and no skill or speed. Aero struck the guard in the forehead, using his superior speed to get in and out without being hit.
But when Aero backed away, he felt something wrap around one of his legs. It was a brown-tinted trunk of another Phantine. He'd been so focused on this one that he didn't notice the other guard coming up behind him.
The other Phantine guard picked Aero up by his leg before tossing him into one of the cages in the room. The air left Aero's lungs when he impacted against the metal bars of the cage, and the animal inside squealed in panic. The Phantine raised his foot to stomp on Aero, but he rolled out of the way and punched the air towards him. A red light burst from his hand and struck the Phantine in the eye, giving him the chance to stand back up.
The two guards chased after Aero, knocking cages about in pursuit of him, paying no mind to the animals inside. Aero could handle one of these guys, but struggled with two at the same time. If he tried to attack, the other would cover for him, so he exclusively evaded the two.
They backed him into a corner of the cavern, blocking off his escape. The brown-tinted Phantine charged forward with his tusks, and when Aero jumped out of the way to evade him, the red-tinted one punched him hard, sending him careening into the wall. He readied his tusks to finish the boy off, but a creature that doubled him in size charged at him from behind.
It was Hopper.
The beast jumped on top of the guard and bit him ferociously, all in defense of Aero. The Phantine screamed as he unsuccessfully tried to get the Chihuahua off him.
The other guard grabbed Hopper, picked him up over his head with his great strength, and tossed him against the rocky wall. Hopper yelped in pain before slumping to the ground.
Rage filled Aero and he charged at the man who had dared to harm his dog. His hands began to glow with a radiant red light and bounded at the Phantine guard. With a chop of the boy's hands, he snapped off the ends of the guard's tusks and followed up with a weighty punch that sent the Phantine staggering into an empty cage, shattering it in the process.
Hopper had taken out one of the guards, and Aero took care of the other.
The red light dissipated from the boy's hands, and he felt fatigued. But that was the least of his worries. Aero rushed to Hopper, to his boy.
"Hop, you okay bud?"
Hopper looked at Aero and stood on his feet, but he had a limp. The boy would've liked to help him, but he was too small. If he tried to carry him, he'd end up dragging him along the ground.
"You're going to be alright buddy, you're going to be alright," Aero told Hopper and himself.
Aero walked with Hopper outside, out to Veena who was tending to Digger.
"What happened?" Veena asked. Hopper laid down next to Digger.
"There were still a few guards left in the cave. He came in there to save me, but he got hurt."
"He suddenly ran into the cave on his own earlier, that must've been why."
"Can you help him?" Aero pleaded.
Veena trifled through her bags and pulled out a brightly colored potion, one she had brought with her, "This should help with pain and help him recover."
She had Hopper open his mouth and fed him the potion. Veena told Aero she would look over the dog, and that he should release the rest of the animals in the meantime. Aero didn't want to leave his boy but went to free the rest of the animals with haste.
After Aero had released all of the animals, Veena had a diagnosis, "He'll be fine, he just needs to take it easy for a few days. He's young, so he'll bounce right back. We might need to stay in the area for a while and let him recover though."336Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ06Vk3ExIMj
