Part 2

Burakku slept on his back, Alex draped over his stomach. The rain had long stopped, allowing them at least some sleep before whatever lay ahead happened. Someone closing the cell door wakened Alex. She lifted her head to see two trays of food.

"Wake up," she muttered to Burakku. He moaned in response.

She pushed herself from his stomach and wandered over to the food, eating appreciatively. Her small paw reached for her companion's food as well when his hand rested on her head.

"I hope you weren't going to eat my food," he chuckled.

She started, not having heard him move.

"I'm chained to you, remember?" He sat down beside her and ate the food quickly.

Right as he finished, another minion came to unlock the cell door. He grabbed Alex roughly by the nape of her neck, earning a punch from Burakku. The korbat caught her as she fell, and they followed the skeith like that, knowing full well they were heading to their doom.

By the time they entered the room, Burakku had had his arms tied behind him and Alex taken from his grasp. His head was bowed, ears gripped by two hefty minions. They forced him to his knees and put the small kougra down. Immediately she clung to her friend.

"So, these are the two who are mentioned?" a woman's voice said.

"Yes, milady," Dardran replied.

"A teenager and a kid? Oh well, I suppose that can't be helped."

Burakku glanced up, but wished he had not. His eyes grew wide when he saw who wanted them. This was bad, for both of them.

From her throne, the Darkest Faerie looked down at Burakku and Alex. The teenager's head was forced down again, but he was thankful it was. His large ears caught the faintest whimpering sound; Alex had become more frightened than ever when she felt her older companion start to tremble.

"What will you have them do, milady?" Dardran asked.

"The korbat, make him look at me," she replied.

Burakku felt something tug at his earring, and as a result he stood up, and his eyes met hers. A low growl formed itself in his throat.

"Oh, so I see. Put them to work, Dardran. Make them do something, anything, until I decide what to do with them."

Dradran gave an evil hiss of joy, 'Thank you, milady. Follow me, minions."

Alex was put back in her cell, separated from Burakku. He was taken elsewhere, and for the rest of the day she had no clue where he'd gone.

The korbat had been taken outside, where it was still pouring torrents of water from the sky. His hands were tied in front of him and a harness was strapped to his chest.

"Alright, korbat, you're going to plow this field and plant seeds!" Dardran informed him.

A sharp string on his side told Burakku to move. Looking behind him for a moment, he made a noise of disgust; Dardran was in a carriage on the plow, sheltered from the rain and mud.

Burakku dug the heels of his boots into the dirt, and to the surprise of Dardran, began to pull the plow. He ground his teeth, feeling the ends of his sharp canines touch his gums, as he hauled the plow along the field.

Anger flared up in the korbat as he worked; this was unfair, for anyone. The first moment he could, he'd take Dardran for a hostage.

Alex watched as two minions half carried, half dragged Burakku back to their cell. His head was bowed, and he was half covered in mud. His hands had been untied, so before they dropped him one of the skeiths put his shackles back on. They left with a clang after that, leaving the two.

A small paw shook the korbat's shoulder.

"Burakku?" Alex asked softly.

She moved the hair from his eyes to see them closed. A small sighed escaped her, seeing he was only asleep.

"Burakku," she said out loud, "Why did your bangs have to stop just below your eyes?"

Dardran came to collect them when the morning dawned. At least, they thought it was morning. The sky seemed to be lighter than it was, but it was still raining.

"Burakku, milady was so pleased with you that she decided she'd tell you why she needs you both," he told them.

Burakku picked up the kougra and followed Dardran, two minions at their backs. Once more they stepped into the large hall to see the Darkest Faerie.

"Here you are, finally," she said. "The reason I need you two is important to my plan. Both of you are special in some way, so I didn't randomly choose."

"And why are we so special?" Burakku interrupted.

One of the minions gripped his shoulder and began to squeeze, forcing him into submission. He sank to his knees, still keeping Alex in his arms.

"I mean to make you two my minions. With you on my side, nothing is lost from me!" the Darkest Faerie replied, cackling evilly.

"What?" Burakku and Alex shouted at the same time.

"Dardran, snap to it!" the Faerie yelled.

A minion grabbed Burakku, and he immediately stood and kicked it. The shackles fell from both his and Alex's limbs, much to the astonishment of the onlookers. The two companions stood back to back, or rather, back to legs, and stared at the group around them.

Claws were unsheathed when one skeith took a step toward them. A snarl ripped from Burakku's throat when he bared his teeth, Alex quickly following his example.

In one movement, Burakku tackled Dardran as the minions attacked them. Alex leaped under their legs, continued her game of 'Catch the Kougra.' The teen fought fiercely with his foe, biting and clawing.

"Catch them!" the Faerie screamed. "Catch them now!"

Not one dared to touch Burakku while he was fighting so ferociously, and none could catch the small and agile kougra.

Before long, Burakku had Dardran pinned to the floor. He was sitting on the hissi's chest, hands on his adversary's throat. His sharp claws threatened to pierce Dardran's skin, but didn't.

"Leave us be, Darkest Faerie," Burakku growled.

"And why should I?" she challenged.

"I'll finish off your little helper. I know all about him, so don't play me like he's not important. He keeps everyone in line, he's your key puzzle piece!" he replied with a snarl. "And without him, you'd be done!"

"But why should I let you go?" she asked maliciously.

"You can function without us, but not him," Burakku replied with a grin.

He began to press down on the hissi's throat, causing him to gag. His claws pressed harder, threatening to break skin.

"Alright fine, you go free! But beware, Burakku and Alex, I'll be after you again!" the Faerie hissed.

Scores upon scores of minions came filing into the room, all growling. They were armed to the teeth with swords and the like; ready to fight for their Queen.

"Are two small beasts so much trouble that you all must come to help?" the Darkest Faerie sighed. "Everyone else go, except those who were here! This fight won't take long."

Again, several things happened at once.

Burakku was knocked off Dardran, and landed on the floor heavily, holding his stomach. Something that shone bright flew in via an open window. Alex bit at a minion's hand, picked up by the nape of her neck, and pounced on her attacker's face.

"Stop, stop, stop!" the Darkest Faerie screamed.

That was all she had time to do. Fyora stood beside the stone, and as Burakku looked at her, something fell from her hand: the necklace that the Darkest Faerie needed for life.

Alex ran over to him, concern written all across her face.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yea, fine," Burakku replied, sitting up.

He was holding his stomach still, but more from forgetting to take his arm off then pain. Alex touched the gash on his chest, and he winced. It had opened again.

"Burakku, Alex, you did well, I must say," Fyora said with a smile.

"Er… Thanks?" the korbat replied.

The teenager could not keep his eyes off the faerie's beautiful face. Her smile made her even prettier, if that were possible. She almost seemed to sparkle and glimmer in what light reached her pale skin.

"You will be rewarded for your brave efforts, to be sure. Things almost turned the other way, but thankfully I arrived just in time. The rest of you will be punished severely!"

Her voice rang through the room, and through, Burakku was sure, the entire castle.

"Queen Fyora, how did you find us? And, how did you know about us?" Burakku asked.

"I happened to be watching you two when you were captured, after that I kept an eye on you, and for a split moment I looked away. That proved almost fatal for you both, but thankfully I reacted quickly," Fyora replied.

Burakku and Alex watched as she came toward them. She seemed to float above the ground instead of walk on it. Burakku lost himself in daydreams about how she did that. Some of them were ridiculous, but he didn't control what his brain thought up.

She bent down in front of him and placed a hand on his chest, snapping him from his revere. He felt her cool hand against his burning wound, felt a power flow from her skin into the gash. The weirdest sensation befell the teenager as he wound was healed. When Fyora removed her hand, he looked down. A scar ran across his chest now, but it was perfectly healed and cleaned.

"I'm sorry there's a scar there, but I used most of my energy on turned her back into stone," the faerie said with a smile.

"Don't worry about it," Burakku said weakly.

"I'm going to send you both back to where this journey began," Fyora told them.

With a wave of her hand, there was a great flash, and in a moment Burakku and Alex had disappeared from the dank castle.

'Something's on my stomach,' Burakku thought.

He opened his eyes and lifted his head, letting his eyes rest on Alex. He was laying spread eagle on his back in the middle of the forest, outside their little tree haven. Everything was quiet, even the forest, but it wasn't eerie.

"Wake up," he grunted.

She stirred and yawned. He sat up, causing Alex to fall off his stomach. Sunlight streamed through the leaves, lighting everything under the canopy up. It was almost like the forest was on fire; the sun was setting and was a deep red color.

"Let's get home," the korbat said softly.

"But I don't have one," Alex reminded him.

"Come with me and you can stay with us for a few nights, at least until that owner I spoke of earlier arrives."

He picked her up and headed back for his house. His boots crunched the fallen leaves, but right now, everything felt safe. The sun was sinking lower and lower, the sky getting darker and darker. A chill wind blew through the forest, indicating the coming fall. Burakku held his small friend closer to him to keep her warm.

Neither of them said anything the rest of that day. Burakku stopped when the dark become complete, landing them halfway between where they were and where they were going. Thankfully, it was near a small stream.

The korbat set down the sleeping child before getting water. Once he'd washed his face, pants, and boots off, he lay down beside Alex. He noticed only then that they'd stopped in a glade. High above them a full moon shone down, casting everything under her in a pale gray light. Stars twinkled and laughed overhead in millions upon millions of little clusters.

Alex shook Burakku's shoulder. He hadn't realized that he'd fallen asleep until he woke up. Sunlight flared in his sensitive eyes, making him grunt and cover them with a hand.

"Finally!" Alex breathed. "Get up, let's get going!"

The teen yawned and sat up. It seemed like he'd gotten no sleep these past few days… Which, by the way, bordered on a week or so.

"Why so eager?" he asked sleepily.

"I want to see what your life is like, what a life better than mine is like!" Alex replied impatiently.

With a sigh, Burakku stood up. He picked her up and again they began to walk home. The kougra was pretty much forcing her friend onward, even though she wasn't walking beside him. However, after awhile of walking, they fell silent again.

"Burakku…" Alex said after a bit.

He had to strain his ears to hear her she was speaking so softly.

"…I love you."

Burakku smiled and kissed her on the forehead.

"Sorry to break your heart, kid, but you look for someone closer to your age," he replied.

At this, Alex smiled.

"I will, but I'll always love you too."