The Wings of Darkness
Chapter 1: The woman in black
-Last Time-
"What's going on Sherizad?" Sherizad concentrated on her dream before looking at Hitomi, poking a spot between her breasts and feeling her crystal beneath her finger. "Send us to the world you wish to return to, for it is time. We must go." Hitomi's eyes widened and she grasped her crystal and pulled it so that it rested in her palm. "Gaea, Take us home. I want to see Van again." She wished and then the light appeared. The women grabbed hands as they were whisked away to a new world, and Sherizad felt that this would be the adventure of a lifetime.
-Now-
The light carried them for what to Sherizad was a long time but she never saw the earth shimmer into extravagance in the sky or that the appearance of the "Mystic Moon" make a young king and the knight beside him make all speed possible for where the light touched down. Sherizad's eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness, her sword being drawn. "We are not alone here." Sherizad's eyes scanned the terrain her eyes seeming to take on an eery glow with the light of the mystic moon reflecting an otherworldly hue. A sword came out of nowhere and clashed against Sherizad's, twisting, deftly she deflected the strike being sure to keep her body between her attacker and Hitomi. "Van! Lave her alone she is my friend!" The two fighters separated and sheathed their swords. "She is the only friend I have left." Hitomi said as she approached Van and gave him a grateful hug. To Sherizad she had fulfilled the dream and all was well. Allen noticed that both women were carrying bags and one was carrying a large bag slung over one shoulder and a smaller one in hand.
"Lets get these ladies out of the coming storm Van." Allen's voice brought Sherizad's attention to the man who was a couple inches taller then her near 6' height. "Lets go." Hitomi said as Sherizad seemed to be lost in thought. She found the knight handsome beyond what her world could offer, she needed a warrior and here stood from Hitomi's stories was one of the greatest in this one. Sherizad's thoughts were interrupted when Hitomi stumbled and she automatically reached out and steadied her. "Thanks." Something like a cross between a cat and a person cried out Hitomi's name and darted towards them. Sherizad's hand fell to her sword when Hitomi cried out what was apparently the cat-creatures name. "Murrel, Its so good to see you!" She relaxed and quickened her pace to follow Hitomi as the first drops made there way off her coat and into the dirt. "Hitomi its raining...We should get inside." And with that they boarded the Crusade. On the flight back to Freid the two women conversed quietly. "What do you think of Gaea?"Hitomi said in a low voice.
"Its beautiful and the way they obviously respect the sword I carry is something I admire." Sherizad's eyes gleamed with truth. "So, where are we going?" Sherizad asked as they reached the bridge. "Back to the Duchy of Freid." Hitomi smiled thinking of Shied the young son of the Duke. Sherizad's eyes scanned the terrain learning river locations and tracking their direction from reading the instruments. When they landed and DE-boarded Hitomi saw the monks praying in the light rain. On the walk to the palace it became gradually heavier until only Sherizad was dry in her duster, though her hair was soaked. Since she wore such a heavy jacket, Sherizad remained warm and toasty while the others began to catch chills. "Are you alright Hitomi?" Sherizad's voice was level and smooth, her mezzo tone seemingly musical to those that were unfamiliar with her. As they entered the temple they split up and were directed to their rooms to change and get ready for the evening meal, Sherizad was rooming with Hitomi until they prepared a room for her which they said would be ready come daybreak. The bed was massive enough to encompass both females with room to spare. Sherizad's eyes wandered to the windows and out into the worsening storm.
"Sherizad?"Hitomi's voice called her back from her thoughts, and she locked gazes with her worried friend. "Yes Hitomi?"she replied. "You seem lost in thoughts are you tired again?"Hitomi knew that Sherizad suffered from insomnia, it was one of their secrets and Hitomi also knew that Sherizad only slept when with some one. But Sherizad only smiled and nodded slightly, before loosening her sword belt and kicking her combat boots off. "Exhausted." After some more preparations such as removing most of her clothing until she was only in her spandex shorts and a sports bra Sherizad finally began to relax. She laid down with Hitomi and fell into a light but restful sleep until dawn when she heard someone coming down the hallway outside their room at a run. " Hitomi!" The person called and Sherizad was up and had her sword in hand when Murrel opened the door. "HITOMI!" She yelled and the girl in question sat up in bed startled, her hands already reaching for her tarot deck. "We are under attack! Its Zaibak!" Hitomi sprang out of bed to see that all of their belongings were still packed and ready to move at a moments notice.
Sherizad heard booted feet come running down the hallway and moved into a defensive stance, her body following a dance older then Gaea its self. Murrel ran to Hitomi and together they grabbed the couple bags and Hitomi pulled the cat-creature into the farthest corner of the room and took a deep breath. "Incoming..." Was all Sherizad said when the soldiers burst in and began to battle the tall woman. Her sword was gleaming in the light of the mystic moon as she charged soldier after soldier, either beheading them or ending their lives through some other painful move of her blade. Sherizad cleaved through the four men with only a grunt from her when she sliced through the air to clean her sword of the blood afterwords. "All clear for the moment." Was the cold reply that came from the redhead. "She killed them!" Murrel whispered harshly as the redhead cleaned her sword, turning to look Hitomi in the eyes. "This will only get worse before it gets better..." She drawled off a haunted look in her eye that Hitomi know meant she had seen something in her dreams that would affect the near future.
So, Hitomi nodded and picked up the bags and followed the redhead as she carved a path to the Crusade, that was until Sherizad heard a scream from one of the hallways off the main corridor near the center of the palace. Sherizad walked down the hall when she head the rapid running of small bare feet on solid stone coming towards her at an all out sprint. "Help me." It was the duke's son Shied. He was unarmed and holding a bleeding arm and had a group of soldiers chasing him laughing until they saw the woman at the end of the hall. To them it was something straight out of their nightmares, Sherizad tossed the boy to Hitomi when he reached her and started down the hall sword raised, a haunting gleam in her seemingly glowing eyes. "A dark spirit! RUN!" One of the youngest soldiers cried and turned to run only to be brought down by one of the other men. "Its only a woman men don't run we are dragon slayers!" They charged her only to see her seem to vanish in the shadows to reemerge behind them in the moonlight. " Come get me then." Hitomi knew that they were not very far from the Crusade and led the others that way managing to make it inside the ship without any further trouble, while with Sherizad she butchered them where they stood with a growing blood lust in her eyes. She made her way through the hall back to the path Hitomi told her about and began working her way towards the Crusade. Half way there she ran into another group of men that was lead by a single man with silver hair that seemed to be their leader. "Find the dragon men!"
She waited until they disbanded, leaving the silver haired man alone when she stepped out into the moon light bathing the room in a bloody light. Bodies were lying all around her and when their eyes met the man seemed to be stunned by her appearance and his crimson eyes were slightly wide as he took her in. Dilandou was stunned by this woman, she had seemed to appear out of no where and had a blood-lust in her eye, the gleam that was reflected in his own. "Who are you?"He said. "Sherizad" her cool voice replied, her sword gleaming in the now bloody moonlight. "You killed my men." He said with a bored tone as she approached him. "I did." "You attacked my friends."She stated. "I did." They were standing inches from one another, their swords drawn and waiting, searching for that single moment of weakness. When the clouds passed the moon they attacked,swords and bodies clashing in a movement as old as death its self. Again and again they attacked and defended, this was the dance to the death. "Your good woman I commend your skill."Dilandou grunted as they clashed again with swords over head, another inch or so and he would be kissing the frustrating woman. "As are you. What is your name?" She breathed as they grew even closer together. A single sword could barely be inserted between them now. "Dilandou."And Sherizad even surprised herself when she leaned forwards and kissed him. His grip on his sword slackened and he nearly dropped it, then he growled and joined into the kiss. They kissed like they fought, viciously. She nipped his lip and he thrust his tongue into her mouth. When they broke the kiss and backed up they were both panting for breath.
They dimly heard others calling their names heading towards the room when they both turned and ran back to their respective sides. "Lord Dilandou!" "Sherizad!"Sherizad ran the entire way to the Crusade and barely made it aboard before they departed. As Sherizad walked through the ship towards the bridge some of the fighters looked at her with shock in their eyes, some of them had seen the carnage she had left behind. As she entered the bridge Allen turned to see her and reddened slightly to see how little she was actually wearing. "Sherizad!" The men in the room froze when her name was called out and Hitomi hugged the slightly sweated woman. "Hitomi I am fine, it will take more then that to phase me." Hitomi smiled and squeezed tighter for a moment before releasing her. "I am glad to hear that because we are only at the start of all the trouble or so Allen says."Sherizad nodded and Hitomi escorted her back to their former room below with all the men watching the tall warrior. After a shower and getting dressed Sherizad sat on deck as the ship plowed through the night, heading to Fortuna temple deep in the mountains of Freid. They would land in only a couple hours and the duke himself was aboard. When they crossed paths in the hallway he had nodded at her and she had given him a respectful nod in turn, her large body moving fluidly down the corridor.
As she entered the war room Allen looked up at her and gestured to a seat near Van. "Now we are all here and we can finish the meeting, Sherizad I know you probably will hear from Hitomi what was said here so I wont repeat it. But when we get to Fortuna the duke has asked if you would protect his son while we tour the main temple to see what we can do to help." She thought about it for a moment before nodding gesturing for him to continue. After the meeting the separated to eat and rest depending on their preference. Sherizad was eating a small steak and some mashed potatoes when a shadow fell over her plate. "You made quite a mess back there girly." One of the fighters said as he plopped next to her. Her green eyes locked on to his brown, sending a shiver up his spine. "I did what I did to protect. I have no shame in that."was all she said before she absolved into her meal and ignored him. The men avoided Sherizad with a passion and refused to include her in there games, but it didn't bother Sherizad at all. She rather spent her time with Hitomi and Shied. The young duke was enamored with the female warrior, he began to teach him how to use his blade to his advantage when they heard the message over the loud speaker. "we are now landing at Fortuna temple"
When they DE-boarded Sherizad's eyes were darting around as she seemed to be seeking something in the massive temple complex. Sherizad's hand rested on her sword hilt as they separated and headed in different directions. Shied took Sherizad into the carved rock halls and showed her his favorite statue that sat at the core of the temple. When Sherizad saw it she froze up and her eyes glazed over, as the statues eyes flashed crimson. " He is here." She mumbled as cracks began to appear in the stone as Shied hid behind her leg when he heard a growling noise coming from the statue. Sherizad heard a voice in her head, its resounding tones seeming to melt her bones. 'Come to me my fallen one, I will love you for you. Despite your bloodstained destiny I will love you.' Sherizad's eyes focused and she locked eyes with the rising beast, Its black armor glinting with a seemingly red tint to it. She nodded and stepped forth lost to some inner madness that was driving her towards the beast. When she moved slightly the light flooded the room from the doorway, revealing the beast for what it was. A beautiful black dragon with red eyes was crouching in the ruins of the destroyed stone, its body coiled into the smallest possible space. Sherizad's eyes met his once again the voice filled her head,its sultry tones driving away the doubts and sadness in her heart. ' My fallen I have waited here for you since my former draconian died. You revived me from my exile from this world.' Before she could answer she heard the alarm bells ringing. "Its Zaibak. They are attacking."
The words startled Sherizad into looking at Shied, his frightened blue eyes meeting her hazy emerald. "We must escape." He said, his eyes locking on the dragon and finally seeing it for the first time and knowing why it seemed so familiar to him. "It looks like the Escaflowne only black."The dragon looked at the human woman he was meant to serve and wondered if she meant this boy to be his pilot. "How do we escape Shied, There is no way we can get all the way across the compound back to the Crusade without having to kill a lot of people." Shied thought about it but before he could answer the dragon turned his head and lifted his wing to be seen, they were black as night with red on the inner skin giving him a demonic look. The gem he carried was a emerald instead of a red like Escaflowne. "That's it. We will fly out." She said as she walked towards the dragon and touched him gently on his front leg. "Come on Shied, We are outta here." The cockpit was atop his back so Sherizad had Shied climb on to her back and climbed up the dragons leg and up his shoulder. "We are in." The dragon felt her take the controls in her hands and pumped his mighty wings once to test them. Shied pointed to a massive switch on the wall and Sherizad flipped it with the dragons tail. The ceiling began to retract filling the room with sunlight, Sherizad knew that Hitomi was nearby but not on the ground. 'There is a brother dragon nearby, I have fought beside him before.' She nodded and he opened his wings once again and Sherizad tugged the controls up towards her chest. "Up boy." And with those simple commands the black dragon lept into the sky and beat his mighty wings to clear the domed room he had been imprisoned in.
Hitomi was sitting behind Van as the Escaflowne flew over the battlefield when a loud sound of stone moving against stone rocked the battlefield. Hitomi looked to see the black shape rising into the sky and the vision from her card reading came back to her in a flash. The black wings beat the air into submission as the shape rose further into the blood-red sky. The dragon was recognized for what it was when it cleared the crest of the mountain that protected the temple from the outside world. Dilandou was in awe of the beast as it hovered there, its gleaming armor seemingly soaking in the bloody daylight. His eyes widened as he recognized the woman who sat its back s the one who had fought him and held her own against his dragon slayers, the monks fell to the ground weeping. The dragon of death had been awoken and it flew once again, it was sure to bring forth the end of the world. "Gaea have mercy on us all, My son you must survive this day to become the next Duke."The duke said as he lie in a pool of his own blood, it slowly widening beneath him. As he gasped for breath the sword in his hand fell to his side and he lay still with one final thought crossing his mind. 'I will see you again my love, here I come.' And with that the Duke of Freid died. Shied felt something tear at his heart and let out a mournful cry as his eyes fond his fathers body on the battlefield. "Take us to the Crusade Dragon." Sherizad's voice called him back to the present as they flew over the battlefield and took up hovering over the get away ship. The Crusade was taking off and climbing fast, as its men tried to fight off all the Zaibak troops that had gotten on board.
Sherizad guided the dragon to fly beside the cockpit for a moment so that they could plainly see her and Shied before she pulled hard and they vanished into the bleeding sky. The guymellif unit that had been following the Crusade now peeled off after the new dragon. Sherizad's eyes were closed as she flew, the controls in her hands were warm, then she felt it the intent to harm her coming from behind her. "Hang on Shied they have come after us." Shied tightened his hold on her legs as the dragon barrel rolled and seemed to cry out. "We need a weapon." She felt the dragon in her mind as they rolled, smacking a guymellif with his tail. 'I can only use my weapons when you find your chosen pilot.' She growled and yanked on the controls and the dragon folded his wings and they fell. Dilandou was flying behind her in his red guymellif when seeing the dragon fall, set something off in his heart. "Fly you stupid beast." He growled, not realizing that someone had heard him. His second in command smiled slightly hearing his commander's words. 'There is hope for you you yet Lord Dilandou.' Mean while across the battlefield one other was holding his heart as it beat wildly in his chest. Folken tried to breath as his heart hammered in his chest, the robotic arm clutching his chest. "Show me the battlefield." His voice was smooth despite his pain. The screen lit up and the crew gasped, there was a new dragon on the battlefield and it was falling.
Something in him reached out to the falling beast, his voice floated through Sherizad's mind waking something deep within. 'Wake now dragon, come to me I will guide your path.' The stone around Sherizad's neck began to glow and both her and the dragon were bathed in its darkness. "What the hell is going on, who was that?" The dragon roared and rolled opening his massive wings. Folken gasped when he heard a woman's voice reach back through the connection. 'I am Sherizad, the dragon is mine. Who are you?' One of the crew gasped when a darkness seemed to engulf the dragon and those men who followed it. "The dragon slayers. My lord what is happening?" Folken reared his head back thinking of the profacy that the emperor had shown him this morning. "The dragon." was the only thing he said when Escaflowne flew into the line of sight and into the cloud of darkness, Hitomi guiding them into its center. "Van, she is here I know it." The dragons nearly collided when they met in mid air. Hitomi and Sherizad sharing a look seemingly out of time. "We need to catch up to the Crusade." Van yelled and Sherizad nodded pointing to the west of them. "That way Van."Hitomi said into his ear. He pulled the controllers and the dragons headed west at breakneck speeds. 'I have a name my fallen goddess, I am Wrath.'
