Eternity

Part 3

By Mieren

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"So what is this again?" Rune queried uncertainly, unfamiliar with any sort of technology. He put his eye to the end of a long metal tube, peering down it curiously.

"Put that down!" Anubis squawked, coming out of his stupor for a moment. His shock and surprising concern temporarily overpowered his fear of the youko. Momentarily in control of his sanity and serenity, he made a face and pulled the long, dark object from Rune's grasp. Unlike his older brother, he was familiar with firearms.

"And what exactly is in that thing?" Kento asked slowly, pulling a considering face at the rifle. "Unless you somehow managed to secure armor piercing bullets, I don't think that thing's going to work. Even then, I'd doubt that a little puncture wound, or even a big one from a hollow point, would do anything."

Long before he had finished, both Cye and Shin were grinning widely. Attention finally caught by their evil expressions, Sage meandered over to Anubis and appropriated the weapon from him, snapping the butt end open with surprising ease. His eyebrows rose almost to his hairline and he glanced back to Cye with a demanding look. When Cye's expression became slightly more innocent, Sage scowled and plucked a single round from the end of the barrel.

"And what is this going to do?" he asked sarcastically, brandishing what appeared to be a tranquilizer dart. "I doubt that they're just going to take a nap from a little injection like this." Cye's smirk grew wider and he continued fiddling with a nearby tree, Mouri poking at the same massive oak with a slightly confident expression on his face. Sage's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Exactly what is in this?" he asked slowly, now certain that it was definitely not a tranquilizer.

"Potassium chloride," Cye murmured innocently, stepping back to gage his work critically. Nodding in satisfaction, he moved to a nearby tree and continued with his tinkering, occasionally pausing to calculate a specific height along the trunk and the distance from the previous set of trees he had been playing with. Seeming satisfied, he continued on his path to the northeast, pausing a few paces down at another enormous set of oaks.

"Potassium chloride?" Kento intoned, looking baffled. Not seeing a forthcoming answer from Cye or Shin, he turned to Sage curiously. Sage shook his head.

"Lethal injections," he explained. "How many times will that work before they learn to counter?" he inquired critically, not noticing Kento's blank gaze.

"Probably only once before Yersenia does something about it," he said, shrugging offhandedly as if he wasn't bothered by the question. "And don't bother hitting her, she probably wouldn't even feel that, even though it's not exactly poisonous."

"What does it do?" Rune asked excitedly, trying to take the dart from Sage, who purposely kept it out of his reach.

"Causes the cardiac muscles to seize," Sage muttered, stuffing the dart back into the rifle and handing the gun to Kento.

"Say again," Rune intoned predictably. Kento shrugged massively.

"Same thing as happens to you when I do this," Cale offered. He surged forward, a swinging foot leading. At the last moment, he pulled his kick short, missing the front of Rune's trousers by a hairsbreadth. Rune's jaw dropped and quivered slightly, looking down in shock of what had almost happened. Every hair on his tail was standing on end and his ears quivered uncontrollably. He blinked nervously and Cale grinned. "Stops all movement, specifically in the heart area," the blue-haired man concluded, clapping the terrified but uninjured youko on the shoulder and sauntered off. Rune only managed a pathetic whimper.

"Heart attack," the youko intoned weakly.

Recovering quickly, he grabbed Anubis's arm and all but carried him to the thinning ranks of youko. Fidgeting and glancing around wildly, he barely managed to retain his composure when Terru approached him. They stared at one another for some time before Anubis finally dropped his gaze and tried to move away, only to be blocked by a small group of hovering youko. Now that they had his attention, they had no intention of letting him escape.

Cye turned his head inquisitively, unable to make out their conversation even with his sharp ears. Frowning, he resumed his work, glancing back to the previous trees he had been to. Another two or three sets should more than accomplish what he was after. Shaking his head, he tied a final loop of all but invisible silver, carefully heeding the intricate runes covering the tiny twist of metal at the end. He paused again, looking to Anubis's trembling form. He was tempted to cast a spell to eavesdrop on what they were talking about, his curiosity increasing every time the redhead shook his head forcefully, an occasional refusal drifting softly through the air. Thinking better of angering his friends, he resumed working, praying that they would remain his friends. He knew he wasn't to blame for what had happened to him, but he wasn't sure that they'd understand.

"Is this the last one?" Mouri asked hopefully.

"Another two or three, I think," Cye responded immediately, knowing that his ancestor was growing tired. He couldn't blame him. However, the necessity of what he was doing didn't allow for weariness. "We're going to be moving a good deal faster than you think."

Mouri only nodded and ran his hands across the silver on the tree he and his descendant were at, carefully sliding down the height of the tree to the ground. Brushing some loose bark from his already mangled clothes, he headed to the next pair of trees a little ways ahead and clambered up quickly. Cye paused at the tree opposite him, pulling something out of yet another hidden pocket in his tattered clothes. He ran his hands carefully around the bottom of the oak and tossed the small mass in his hands to Mouri, who nearly fell from his precarious perch trying to catch it.

"How much longer?" Kenji asked suddenly, appearing at the bottom of the tree with his arms folded crossly. "We can't possibly have much more time before they decide to hunt us down and kill us."

"We have a little while, I think," Shin offered, dropping from a tree a dozen paces from them. "They still don't know where we are."

"How can you be sure about that?" Kenji groused, ready to blame the youth for his bloodline connections to those they fought to kill. Cye's slight gaze caused him to blanch slightly and discontinue further thoughts along that course.

"He's right," Cye countered immediately, cutting the ancient sorcerer from his train of thought. "I imagine that they still have no idea what the hell they're doing with that kind of power. They're going to take enough time getting used to that energy that they won't leave us a distinct opening."

"That's even better," Kenji muttered sarcastically, uttering something under his breath rather uncomplimentary about the entire dragon and outlander bloodlines as he stormed off. Cye's dark eyes softened for an instant in understanding. The man was clearly terrified and he had every reason to be.

"So who is the target for this anyway?" Cale asked, still grinning at Rune's back. Now that Anubis had settled down, his spirits had lifted a little.

"Picen," Cye answered immediately.

"Shouldn't he be able to maneuver around this?" Mouri asked skeptically, remembering Cye having named Picen as one of the swiftest of their opponents.

"He'll be going too quickly to change course," Cye answered casually. He dropped his voice, muttering to himself so low that only Mouri and Shin were able to make out what he said. "I hope."

"What about that?" Cale continued, motioning absently towards Kento, who was still hefting the rifle in a threatening manner. He looked more like he wanted to club someone with it rather than shoot them.

"Shoot anyone we find except for Menderren, Yersenia or Cehir."

Cye's casual comment and dulled emotions did not go unnoticed. Mouri glanced at him speculatively, understanding two of the choices but not the third. He had already mentioned that Yersenia wouldn't be affected. The ancient elfin sorcerer was willing to bet that Cye just couldn't bring himself to kill Menderren yet. The resemblance to Touma still haunted the entire group, Cye and Shin more than anyone remaining. Mouri's eyes narrowed angrily when he mulled Cehir's exclusion over in his mind. According to Mieren's warning, he hadn't been born yet. He wondered what Cye knew that he wasn't letting on. Despite his suspicions, he didn't know anything for sure. He believed that Kenji knew, but couldn't ask anything of the sorcerer for the sake of peace among the group. Or with Cye, which was vitally important since the hybrid seemed reluctant to relate any worthwhile information. The auburn-haired dragon kin appeared to have his reasons for remaining silent.

His inattention nearly earned him a broken arm when Cye leapt between the trees, suddenly looking rushed. Only a stray branch just to the side of his path to the ground saved him, though it nearly separated his shoulder when he snagged it reflexively in one hand. Cye only glanced at him and shook his head, locking a final few ties in place and leaping down nimbly. Stunned and slightly sore, Mouri followed, praying that Cye would be able to remember the arrangement of the rash trap well enough to avoid it himself. Though he had just placed the final section, he couldn't see what he was looking at, the runes he had diligently inscribed adding invisibility as well as strength.

"We have to go," Cye announced suddenly. "They've located us." The simple statement staggered the group, shocking the talkative youko out of their incessant chattering with Anubis, who looked very appreciative of the distraction.

"Go where?" Kenji immediately asked. "They'll be able to track us, won't they?"

Cye nodded. "That's the point. Mouri, you stay here with the rifle," he stated firmly. Kento immediately nodded and passed the firearm to the uncertain elfin sorcerer. "I want the youko to hide in the area in case you're needed. The rest of us are going elsewhere. Once they approach us, I'm going to try to draw them away. Whoever stays to follow you, just avoid them the best you can. I'll be back to help you as soon as I can."

At his first command that Mouri stay, he had pulled a slender silver rod from his pocket, thrice the length of his index finger and exceedingly narrow, as fine as the graphite in a pencil. One tip was filed down to a fine point. He hesitated a moment, a look of utter distaste on his face. Trying to ensure that nothing could trigger the silvery rod prematurely, he traced the twin slashes across his face, checking to make sure they weren't bleeding any longer. Though no one had been able to heal the claw marks, they had slowly clotted, proving that the wounds would heal naturally, if not magically. Certain that the blood flow had ceased, he placed the tip at the back of his right earlobe and plunged the point through the tender flesh. Activated by the touch of blood, the metal softened and shifted as though it was a living serpent, pulling itself forward and weaving itself through the flesh along the edge of his ear. He had to grind his teeth to keep from crying out as the metal repeatedly pierced the cartilage, climbing ever higher. Reaching the tip of his right ear, the metal suddenly ceased its movement and became molten, flowing outwards to cover the outer edge of his now bloodied ear. The process had completed itself as Cye finished his orders.

Cye glanced back at him as he summoned a gateway, a smirk appearing on his heavily scarred face. He only shook his head and continued the intricate weavings of a trick portal, the weaving holding a second within it that would trigger an explosion if anyone attempted to decipher the tangled mess of the weaving after it collapsed. Though he had designed it to remain invisible to any eyes but his own, he was still wary of the inconceivable powers he was facing. His glance attracted the attention of the others.

"What is that?" Kento asked slowly. Cale seconded the thought with an arched eyebrow and a demanding look. Sage only stared at the silver coating on the edge of Mouri's ear before rolling his eyes and starting for the gateway Cye was finishing.

"Cute trick," the blond called over his shoulder to the elf. "I'm not even going to ask how you figured that one out." He chuckled softly as he stepped through, adding one last thought before disappearing. "You're going to have to show me how you made that thing."

"Say what?" Kenji snapped, eyes locking on a wryly-grinning Mouri.

"You never knew?" the elf asked innocently, his eyes flashing to silver. "This was my contribution to the war three thousand years ago." His dark amusement only caused Kenji to bristle further. Before the blue-haired sorcerer could do anything to him, he vanished into thin air, not even his normally immense aura remaining.

"And what was that?" Cale asked slowly. Anubis rolled his eyes and moved towards the portal, pulling his friend behind him. Naturally, Rune followed.

"That's the power of a materialized rune," Anubis answered softly, fighting a chuckle. Rune nodded enthusiastically. "It's a dangerous trick. To think he was the one to have invented it."

"He's not the only one who can use that enchantment, you know," Rune offered happily, earning himself a sour grunt from an invisible Mouri. When Anubis and Cale looked at him demandingly, he grinned wider. "It's how I received my name. I raided the runes and created more for my own uses. Hence, I am Rune."

"So you're the one who finally figured out the toys that the youko stole from the Starlight Clan all those years ago," Mouri groused, a misty image of the elf appearing in front of the beaming youko. "Never figured that you, of all people, would have been smart enough to have unraveled my safeguards."

"Argue over this later," Cye snapped, pushing the milling group through the portal and motioning for Shin, Kento and Kenji to follow them. Terru raised his head towards Cye in a guarded sign of support before spinning to lead his remaining clan into the forest.

Once the group had passed through safely, he collapsed the weave and readied another, chanting softly under his breath to prepare a pathway to an area where he would be found quickly. For his own amusement, he set up another twenty to confuse the masses following them. Splitting up his opponents seemed the best option he had to ensure his survival. He stepped through his own stiffly, wondering idly whether or not he could truly maneuver through the obstacle course he himself had designed. Though certain that whoever was following him could not properly evade his crude trick, he wasn't sure that he could either. Tying his tangled, multicolored and greasy mass of hair firmly at the base of his neck, he settled back on the narrow cliff's edge to wait.

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To Be Continued…

Dun dun dun… Up next, battle number one with an outlander. Will it work? R&R!