Izuku kept crouched down as he peered out of the wreckage.
A Goblin had stepped out of a black metal gate. He had seen pictures of Goblins before but the drawings and sketches hadn't managed to capture their robust vigor.
The real ones were not only hideous but powerfully built. The language they spoke to one another was choppy, guttural and harsh. As a few came closer, he realized how bad they stank.
Still, there was something different about this Goblin, an air of authority. He held ropes of black chains with manacles. He strode closer to them but stopped a prudent distance away. He stank too.
They were altogether repulsive, and somehow Izuku was supposed to let them put their hands on him. Another convulsive shiver hit.
In a move unseen by the Goblins, below their line of sight, Katsuki put a hand on his knee. Izuku covered it with his.
"Buck up," Izuku whispered to him. "Don't be such a wuss."
Katsuki's hand clenched and his shoulders shuddered. Izuku hoped he made him laugh again.
The Goblin that had approached said something to them. Chop chop chop. Katsuki answered him in the same awful language. Chop chop.
They went back and forth a few more times, then the Goblin stepped closer and threw the shackles.
Katsuki reached outside and caught them. He pulled them into the wreck. They made a lot more sense to Katsuki than they did to Izuku because the man sorted them deftly.
The dread had become so strong it was nauseating. Some of it was coming from the chains. They reeked of some kind of horrible magic.
Katsuki bent and locked a manacle to one of his own ankles.
Izuku hissed, "Stop! What are you doing? Don't put those on!"
"Shut up," Katsuki snapped. He locked a second manacle to his other ankle.
He grabbed the man's arm. "No, there's some kind of bad magic in those!"
Katsuki whipped around and snarled at him, eyes blazing.
Izuku flinched and cowered from him, his thoughts flatlined.
Katsuki finished putting the other two manacles on his own thick wrists and held them up so that the Goblin could see. The Goblin nodded and shouted to the others who swarmed forward.
When they started prying the ruined doors off the car, Izuku curled into a fetal position and closed his eyes.
What followed next was ugly. Izuku couldn't say he hadn't been warned.
They dragged him out of the wreckage first.
Izuku kept his gaze trained on the ground as one punched him in the stomach. When he lay curled on the ground trying to breathe, they kicked him. Over and over again, hard-toed boots slammed into him, interspersed with harsh Goblin laughter as they taunted Katsuki, until Izuku no longer kept silent because it was the smart thing to do.
He was silent because he couldn't get in a deep enough breath to scream. He caught one blurred glimpse of Katsuki standing in the grip of two Goblins that were huge.
The dragon's aggressive, dangerous face was blank, gold eyes as reflective and emotionless as two Greek coins.
A lifetime later, several Goblins with drawn swords walked Katsuki through the squat stone fortress.
One Goblin grabbed Izuku by the hair and followed behind them. Another brought up the rear, still kicking at him now and then, although without much interest.
The group of Goblins guarding Katsuki marched him into a cell. Izuku's Goblins passed it by, down to an intersection in the corridor and to the right.
Once they were out of Katsuki's line of sight, their manner became businesslike and uninterested. They took him by the arms and dragged him into another cell. They threw him onto a pile of rancid straw.
One Goblin said something. Chop chop. The other laughed. They left and the grate of a key sounded in the cell door lock. Sounds faded from the corridor.
Izuku lay on the horrid straw for a while, then he crawled a few feet, then collapsed and lay on chill, dirty flagstones. He may have blacked out. He wasn't sure. The next thing he became aware of was a blue-black beetle walking across the floor.
He tracked its progress. It fell headlong into a crack and got stuck. He dragged himself over and watched it some more. It managed to get turned around so its little head poked out of the crack. Feelers waved and its front legs worked, but it couldn't get enough purchase to crawl out.
His fingers crept across the floor until they found some straw. He took a shallow handful. He wiggled the ends deep into the crack and lifted up. The beetle popped out and waddled on its way.
When it disappeared, he sighed, rolled over onto his back and levered himself into a sitting position. His thinking came back online.
Do one thing at a time. Take one step.
Izuku crawled to the wall. Step.
He got first one foot underneath him, then the other. Step.
He straightened his shoulders.
When he was pretty sure he had his balance back, Izuku opened the locked cell door and walked out.
YOU ARE READING
Crossing Fates : Book 1 - Escape (BakuDeku)
Fanfiction- This is the FIRST book in Crossing Fates Series... kindly read in order : Book 1 - Escape* ***** Izuku committed a crime more suicidal than he could possibly have imagined, and he had no one to blame but himself... Now he's on the run and his life...
