Disclaimer: I think I'll haul this story up to M-rating thanks to the... descriptions and Shinon's potty mouth. What do you think?

CHAPTER THREE

Lucia looked up at Bastian quizzically. "Yorrick? What do you mean?"

"When we discovered that he had been bitten, he accepted to be a guinea pig… He's chained to a wall in a room ever since he transformed into one of those… things," Bastian explained bitterly. "So once in a while, Rhys takes samples of that black liquid hoping to discover what it is, and how it can be cured."

"Goddess," Lucia whispered, fighting back her tears.

Sileas ran from the room, struggling to breathe properly. It's not Yorrick, it's not Yorrick… he repeated over and over in his head, and even out loud. He panted as he closed his eyes tightly, wishing for the image of his little brother writhing on the floor of his "prison" to vanish.

Next to him, Rhys looked through a crack in the door at the bloody mess that was a sixteen year-old boy not so long ago. "We can't get close if he keeps on trashing around like that," he mused, frowning. "Shinon, do you have some arrows left?"

The red-haired sniper nodded. "Two."

Sileas once again peered inside, and immediately wished he hadn't. Yorrick was foaming, hissing, struggling to get rid of the chains weighing down on his neck, his arms and his legs. Blood ran down his back and his chest where he had managed to claw at himself while trying to break free. His clothes, if they still could be called that, were a mass of fresh and dry blood, of black fluid and mud.

Sileas jerked his head away, fighting the urge to vomit. The stench that came from inside the room was making his stomach churn. He opened his eyes when he heard footsteps, and was relieved to see his father approaching. Without hesitation he ran into Boyd's open arms, crushing himself against the strong chest and relishing in the feeling of security the muscled arms that closed themselves around him created. "Dad…" he croaked.

"It's okay, I'm here," Boyd soothed, racking his hand through his son's short green hair.

"Where is Mom? You said she was cooking…"

"She's done now, do you want to see her?" Sileas nodded against his shoulder. "She's in the training room with the others, just go and give her a hug, 'kay?" Sileas nodded once again and wandered down the corridor after a friendly pat on the back. Boyd watched sadly as his now only child walked away with his head down low.

"We have to knock him out so I can sample some of this fluid," Rhys told Shinon, who readied his bow. "Go for the head, and be careful."

"I know, I never miss," the cocky sniped snorted. He slipped the head of the arrow in the crack across the door; he brought the arrow back, and was about to let it go when he saw what was going on inside: in an effort to break free, Yorrick had begun to chew on his wrist, ripping apart his flesh to be able to take off his chain. "For Ashera's sake…" Shinon shot the arrow without a second thought, and true to his word, it pierced cleanly through the skull of the creature. What used to be Yorrick gave a hiss and feel onto the side, unconscious.

Boyd heard a gasp and was surprised to realize it wasn't his own. He looked over his shoulder to see Sigrun standing here with her hand over her mouth to muffle her gasp. His wife had just witnessed the torture being inflected on her son – she had yet to understand that Yorrick was gone. "Sigrun, are you all right?" Boyd asked softly as he turned to her. She wobbled on her legs, and he caught her before she could loose her balance. "Sigrun!"

"Boyd, what are they doing to him?" she asked, shaking against his stronger frame. "What are they doing to our son?"

She was in denial; she couldn't admit that her son was dead, so she just acted as if he was always alive and well. The green-haired warrior tried to comfort her. "This is not Yorrick, honey," he whispered into her ear, turning around to prevent her from seeing the room. "This is not our son, they are not hurting him." Boyd glanced up to see Rhys had wandered into the room and had filled about three vials with the black liquid. Shinon had followed him and was pulling his arrow out of Yorrick's skull.

Already the creature was coming to. Rhys and Shinon quickly exited the room and slammed the door close once again. The sniped looked through the crack in the door with a worried expression. "We ought to burn him down," he said as Yorrick sat up, seething.

"He can't escape, we're not taking any risk," Rhys countered, carefully setting the vials in a small pouch.

"He was eating his wrist to break free, for fuck's sake!" Shinon hissed. "What if he gets out of here while we're all asleep?" The archer noticed the orange-haired man wasn't listening to him. "Rhys!"

"Amazing," the bishop said, staring inside the room. "Do they feel any pain at all?" He couldn't get his eyes off the sight of Yorrick trying to break his ankle to pieces to get rid of his chain. Blood was flying everywhere, coating the floor and the wall, but the creature didn't seem to care and just hit harder. "His own nerves aren't responding…"

"Nobody gives a fuck, Rhys!" Shinon bellowed. "We have to destroy that thing!"

"And how do you do that? An arrow to the head hardly knocks him out for more than one minute!" Rhys bit back, angered.

His voice reverberated into the corridor and was followed by silence, as Shinon lowered his eyes. Sigrun crushed her face into Boyd's shoulder; she was having a hard time realizing that they weren't talking about her son but the creature that he had become. Her husband was doing his best to calm her down, all the while trying not to fall apart himself.

"It was a bad idea, keeping him," Shinon muttered at least.

"It was very courageous of him," Rhys answered softly.

"But foolish of us! If he ever comes out of here, we're screwed!"

Rhys shook his head. "He won't get out. He can break his legs apart and chew his hands off, he won't be able to get rid of the chain around his neck." The bishop sighed over Yorrick's groans and moans. "Let's get some sleep… he won't get out."

Boyd nodded and wrapped one arm around Sigrun's waist. "Come on, let's go see Sileas, he was looking for you." She nodded weakly and he pulled her away and into the training room.

Immediately, Sileas spotted them and ran to hug his mother. The former Begnion soldier clutched her grown-up son against her chest as he looked up to his father. "Did they find a way to cure him?" the young one asked hopefully.

Boyd sighed. "I don't think so, we'd better not get our hopes up."

"… It's unfair! He was only sixteen!"

"So what? Fate isn't more understanding if you're sixteen than if you're older."

Sileas' face slowly fell apart. "It was… too early for him…"

Boyd opened his arms and hugged both his wife and his now only son against his chest and his broken heart. "It's always way too early, my boy," he whispered.

The three of them stood for a while, hugged against one another, and Boyd nestled his chin upon Sigrun's head, absently looking over at the room.

Almost everyone had gathered into the improvised sleeping quarters, and some of them, such as Gatrie, Astrid and Rolf, were already sleeping. Some others just couldn't sleep; Elincia was leaning against Ike's side, embracing her son Nephylio, while the blue general had one arm wrapped around Kylie's shoulders. People who had young kids, such as Haar and Jill, or Oscar and Tanith, watched over their treasures like hawks. Ilyana held her five year-old daughter in her arms as she waited for Soren to come back from his check-up on the food. Volke pretended he was asleep, and as soon as Nephenee and Ryo dozed off, he sat up and began keeping guard over them.

Geoffrey was standing all by himself by the window, every now and them glancing outside. He had decided against leaving the fort, but still couldn't bring himself to face his son yet.

"Come on, it's time to go to sleep," Haar whispered to Shiram, his seven year-old son. He kissed his mop of dark red hair when the boy nodded sleepily. "Sleep tight, little devil." He shifted so he could cover Shiram up and have his head in his lap; curious, how the usually sleepy dracoknight was unable to doze off these days.

"This tension… it's terrible," Jill muttered from her seat next to him.

Haar nodded in agreement. "I can't begin to describe it."

"Everyone, it's time to sleep," Rhys announced, not even needing to raise his voice. "Shinon's going to put the torches out, so get settled down." When mutters of agreement reached his ears, Rhys turned around to face Mia. "I'll check up on Mist and then I'll come back to rest a bit."

"How is she?" Mia asked, frowning.

The priest sighed and ran his hand through his orange hair. "Well, she should have given birth two weeks ago, so she could go into labor at any moment now. She's a bit scared."

"Who wouldn't be?" Mia stood on her tiptoes and pecked his cheek. "Don't forget to come and get some sleep, okay? I'll be with Onyx."

"Understood."

True to Rhys' words, Shinon began walking in the room with a water bucket, dumping the torches inside and effectively putting the flames out. As darkness began to settle in the room, everyone got to a cot or a mattress to lay down and get some shut-eye.

Calill laid out onto her side, leaving an empty space beside her for Arthur. Unfortunately for her, in the semi-darkness, Geoffrey searched for an empty spot and came across this available space. The general laid there, and his added weight shifted the mattress Calill rested upon the exact moment Shinon put out the last torch. "You're here?" the blond woman whispered as she turned around to face him. He was about to tell her something but she surprised him by stroking his hair fondly. "Good night, sweetie," she bid as she kissed his forehead before laying back down.

Geoffrey stayed speechless; the feeling of her warm lips on his battered skin had felt so right, so good, so similar to those days spent together years ago. For a few seconds, Geoffrey felt… alive, wonderfully alive. He basked in the afterglow of this simple insignificant peck on the forehead, but snapped out of it when Calill shivered violently. It was quite cold in the training room without the torches to bring some light and warmth, so the blond sage snuggled up to his shoulder to keep warm.

"Hey…" he whispered before he could help it.

Calill reached up and stroked his cheek. "Get some sleep, Arthur, many things await us tomorrow."

"No, I mean… I saw a mattress so I lied down, but…" His voice trailed off, unable to lie to her but at the same time craving for the warmth of her hand on his skin.

Said hand stilled instantly and slowly retracted as its owner hesitated. "Arthur?" she called out tentatively. She felt than rather saw him shake his head, and she scooted away instinctively. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's my fault, I wasn't aware… wait, if he's not here, where's Arthur?" Even against his better judgement, Geoffrey's paternal worries had kicked in.

Calill turned away to lie on her other side. "He's probably watching over the other kids. He told me he felt responsible because he's… the eldest, now, unfortunately." She was glad it was dark; that way Geoffrey couldn't see how red her cheeks were.

The blue-haired man nodded but realized that she couldn't see it. Feeling dumb, he fell silent and tried to sleep. In the meantime, he listened to Calill's breathing, which was way too rapid for someone who was supposed to be dozing off. Geoffrey figured out that he was the one keeping her awake; his proximity kept her on her guards. "I ought to leave you alone, I don't belong here," he whispered softly.

"Don't worry about me… besides, there probably isn't any room left, and if there is then you have next to no chance to find it in the dark," Calill said.

"I know I'm bothering you."

"What makes you think that?"

"… I can feel it, that's all," he shrugged.

"You are mistaken," the sage said firmly. "I already told you I don't blame you, so why would you bother me?"

"… Do you still love me?"

At this, Calill fell silent. Not wanting him to feel like he had won, and unable to lie, she decided not to answer. She heard him sigh, and felt the mattress move as he sat up. "I told you you could stay," she tried in a quiet voice.

"Your heart seems to think otherwise," Geoffrey said sadly.

"And who are you to decide what my heart wants or doesn't want? You are… you want to know something? Do whatever you want, I'm tired of arguing." Calill snuggled up to her pillow and closed her eyes, ignoring him. After all, he could sleep wherever the hell it pleased him, she wasn't about to beg him to stay.

Geoffrey stared at the outline of the woman lying beside him; he hadn't wanted to anger her, he just thought it might relieve her to know he was away. Still… call him a masochist, but it felt good to be snapped at by her; it showed she wouldn't ignore him. And… she was right, it was really dark, and he would step on someone before he found another sleeping spot. I guess it's just as well, Geoffrey thought as he lied back down beside Calill. She was less than one foot away, but she was painfully far from his reach.

On the other side of Geoffrey, a worried Tanith tugged on her husband's arm. "Oscar, are you sure Skyla is with the other children?" she asked quietly.

The horseman nodded. "Yes, but I'd prefer to have her here with us… I'll go fetch her," he said as he stood up.

Despite his squint, Oscar swiftly manoeuvred between the sleeping cots and reached a spot where the kids had gathered. "Skyla?" he called out softly, unable to localize his daughter.

A little head poked up. "Daddy?" the little girl called back.

"Yes, it's me," the man smiled kindly, crouching down. "Come here, Daddy wants to have you close." He waited until Skyla got around Arthur's sleeping mat and grabbed his hand before he picked her up and cradled her against his chest. "Let's go back to see Mommy." He kissed her forehead when she nodded and carefully began walking his way back, his sight adjusting to the darkness.

Oscar sat beside Tanith. "Here she is," he announced, not really knowing if he was talking to his wife or Skyla.

"Oh, my little girl," the Begnion soldier whispered as she hugged her daughter as well as Oscar's arm that was still around the smaller frame. Skyla cuddled up to her mother as her parents lied down with the little girl between them, shielding her with their bodies as much as with their love. Love was the only thing that kept them – and everyone – from going insane in there.

Suddenly, a roar came from the corridor, and Sileas brutally hugged his lying father; Yorrick was quite restless that night, and his older brother felt his heart twist whenever he heard a moan coming from that goddess-forsaken room.

Boyd unwrapped one of the arms he had around Sigrun to bring Sileas closer to his chest, comforting him as much as he could. "It's okay, I'm here, boy," he whispered into Sileas' ear, kissing his messy green hair. Sigrun reached up to stroke her now only son's cheek tenderly, feeling her own tears prickle her eyes.

"I… I can't take it… I want it to stop," Sileas choked, trying not to sob.

"If I could make it stop, I would, believe me, son," Boyd said, sighing and bringing the cover that had slipped to the ground back over Sileas.

"We're here, sweetie," Sigrun said with a smile she hoped wasn't as sad as she felt. "We won't let you down."

Sileas was about to argue that he wasn't worried about behind left behind; he just wanted his brother's suffering to stop. He couldn't admit that Yorrick was irremediably dead, and he felt as if he might just die himself if he had to listen to his brother's constant moaning anymore. But he just kept silent; he knew his parents were as upset as him, it was useless to argue with them.

No sound came from Yorrick's room again; the group was going to fall asleep when a new noise made itself known: something was scraping against the door down the corridor. Everybody froze.

Huddled up near Rolf and Sothe, Tormod took a shivering breath. "What was that?" the red-haired man asked, uneasy.

When nobody could answer, Arthur got up. Being the closest one to the corridor, he felt it was up to him to go check it out. "I'll take a look," he announced, trying to keep his voice from shaking. He wasn't particularly thrilled by the fact that he had to go past Yorrick's room to reach the door, or that he just might come across said creature on his way there. But still he puffed out his chest and stepped toward the corridor with a raging heart.

Calill sat up immediately. "Arthur, what do you think you are doing?" But she was too late, for her son had already exited the room. Worried beyond boundaries, Calill began to chew on her nails, striving to hear any sound that could tell her that Arthur was okay. Beside her, Geoffrey sat up as well; he didn't know why, he just felt it was the right thing to do.

Somewhere in the distance, a door opened and closed itself again.

"Dad…" Sileas said under his breath. "You heard that?"

Boyd nodded.

Then everybody tensed when a new sound reached their ears, and it wasn't a very reassuring noise; nail scraping against rock. It sounded like someone was running in the corridor, making small padding noises and sharp clinks. Sileas felt cold sweat run down his back when he imagined bare feet and a chain trailing behind the creature that he had sworn had been tied minutes before.

A loud panting noise brought everyone out of their shock. "Holy shit!" Shinon roared as he jumped to his feet, crushing Gatrie's hand in the process but ignoring the cry of pain.

"Goddess, Arthur…" Calill mouthed, trembling.

The noise seemed to get closer; the clinking sounds were frantic as the creature ran faster. Muttering curses to himself, Shinon tried to light the torches so they could see, although he knew there was no way he would light more than two before that thing waltzed in. Ike and Geoffrey got up and drew their weapons; even though his crossbow was outside, Boyd stood up, ready to fight with his very hands if he had to.

"It's getting closer!" Tormod freaked out.

"Oh, thanks, we hadn't noticed!" Rolf growled as he grabbed his two remaining arrows and readied his bow.

Before anyone had a chance to move, the noises reached the end of the corridor…

With a joyful bark, Zephyr jumped into the room, his claws making clinking noises against the floor as he panted happily. Geoffrey and Ike lowered their weapons and Boyd fell back onto his cot, the biggest relieved sigh of the century escaping him.

"Oh thank Ashera," Tormod almost cried as he hugged Sothe, who swiftly kept him at bay.

Arthur scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry, it's just… the dog must have gotten cold outside, he was scratching at the door," he explained. "I let him in."

At this Ike stepped up. "He was outside?" he asked, frowning. When Arthur nodded, the commander kneeled and stroked the dog's head to keep him still. As Zephyr gladly licked his hand, Ike checked him over for bite marks or wounds, but the canine was clean. "Hum… I'm sorry we forgot you, Zephyr." He gave the dog's head a last caress and walked back to his cot. Zephyr followed him and lied down next to Kylie, who began petting him to get her mind off of everything that was going on.

"You scared us as hell, boy," Shinon sighed as he put the flames out once again.

"I had no idea, I'm sorry," Arthur apologized.

The sniper raised his hand, meaning he hadn't done any harm, and walked back to his sleeping spot. Arthur did the same, stopped however by his mother's voice on his way there. "Sweetie… could you be a little more careful?"

"I'm sorry Mom."

"It's all right, good night Arthur." Calill put her head back on her pillow as Geoffrey sat back down, wishing that dawn would hurry.

Right next to them, Oscar was trying to comfort his daughter. "It was just Zephyr, he wanted to come in," he whispered to her as she clutched his shirt, traumatized. "It's okay, sweetheart, nothing's going to happen."

"I don't want you and Mommy to go away," the little girl squeaked.

"It won't happen, Skyla, we'll always be there for you, don't cry," Oscar shushed. Tanith was stroking their daughter's back to ease her fears, trying at the same time to be convinced that her husband was telling the truth. Unfortunately, nobody knew what was going to happen; every promise was bound to be a lie, somehow.

Even though silence had returned, Mist couldn't sleep. She just lied on her back, looking up at the ceiling, worried about the next few days. She couldn't imagine a worst time to give birth, while they were fighting for their lives, but she wanted her child to live. Fear gnawed at her mind; sensing her fright, Sothe scooted closed and laid his hand on her very pregnant stomach, rubbing it in soft circles to ease her nerves. Mist turned her head to look at him, and he smiled before bringing his lips on hers for a gentle kiss. He didn't speak, but his acts said it all.

Feeling herself a bit calmed down, Mist nuzzled up to his shoulder and closed her eyes.

Her eyes unable to see, sobs coming from somewhere in the room, Geoffrey's warm breath down her back… Calill had never wished the sun would rise early with so much strength.