Another Friend in Amphibia

Chapter 74: A Race Against Time

Drake and Nyx arrived back at the toad siege camp. The trebuchets were launching boulders at the walls but none of them even seemed to scratch it. He knew that with each passing day, victory was even less likely. He needed to pass the bad news to Sasha.

Drake looked up and saw vultures flying overhead, and snapdragons roamed the camp alongside the soldiers. They seemed to have integrated as well as they could have with the toad rebels.

Drake walked into Sasha's tent. She was sitting on a makeshift throne while looking upset. This time she was holding the polaroid of their former friend group. Sasha had spent the entire siege either staring sadly at seemingly nothing or planning offensives against the city.

Inside the room, Captain Beatrix, Captain Bufo, and Grime were also present.

The more she stared at the polaroid, the more she questioned whether she should have gone with Drake. She tried to shake those thoughts away. She needed to focus on the here and now.

Sasha looked up from the polaroid. "Drake! You're back!"

"Hi..." Drake waved.

Sasha stood up from her throne. "How was the mission?"

Drake looked down and avoided eye contact. He didn't want to admit he failed but she needed to know. "I managed to trap half of them in the mountains but they just kept going. They made it out of the valley."

"Guards! Arrest him!" Beatrix ordered.

Drake was surprised when two toad guards suddenly grabbed his arms. He knew there would be some kind of negative reaction but he didn't think he would be arrested.

As he was grabbed, Nyx frilled her fins and hissed menacingly at the guards. She was ready to strike at a moment's notice.

Sasha was just as surprised. She stepped down. "Stop!" Everyone froze and directed their attention to Sasha. "What are you doing? Let him go!"

"With respect my Queen, he has failed you. Toad law states the punishment for failure is death," Captain Bufo said.

Sasha knew all too well what the punishment for failure was. She had spent months with Grime running from Newtopia all because they failed to put down the rebellion in Frog Valley. Then she risked getting killed when the rebellion was formed.

Sasha glared at the toads in front of her threateningly. "You're not dealing with toad law anymore. You're dealing with me, leave him alone!"

The whole place was silent enough to hear the footsteps of toads outside. Nyx stopped hissing and paused. Even Captain Beatrix was visibly afraid, she was starting to understand why Captain Bufo worked to get on Sasha's good side.

Grime broke the silence first, "Release him."

The guards holding Drake slowly released their grips and backed away.

Sasha broke her threatening gaze and ran to Drake. "You're not hurt are you?" she asked.

"I... no..." Drake replied slowly.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Sasha grabbed his hand and dragged him out the tent.

Nyx decided to follow the two humans.

Drake anxiously tried to apologize, "I'm sorry Sasha, I tried to stop them but-"

"Shh! It's okay. You did your best," Sasha reassured him.

Drake sounded terrified although that was probably leftover anxiety from what he just went through. "I... I assassinated one of their leaders. A newt named Jacinda. I didn't get Bog though. This might be a problem because..."