Chapter Six
You and That Stubborn Half-Breed Better Not Get Us All Killed
A silence heavier than death blanketed the sea of humans.
Vahn's lips slowly left Nina's, his confused, pale eyes scanned over the silent masses. He saw every soul staring back at them with their faces contorted into looks of absolute horror. "What's all this? Why did my cheering stop-"
It was then he noticed the mass of ebon feathers now flowing from his new wife's back. He dropped his hold on her, as if her skin had suddenly burned him, and scrambled backwards into an equally terrified group of huddled handmaidens, tripping over his own feet in the process. "Oh my god, the B-b-black Wings!" he sputtered, face mirroring his subjects'.
"Dear Goddess, the prophecy is true...it's really true!"
"The Black Wings!"
"We're doomed! We're all doomed!"
It began an undertone of cautious whispers, but the longer Nina stood atop the platform, paralyzed in fear, staring out at the Ludians with the cursed wings looming menacingly behind her like two dark beasts poised for attack, those whispers soon escalated into screams of terror and rage. Chaos broke in seconds. The back of the crowd fell over themselves in shrieking panic to get as far away from her as they could. Overzealous ones rushed through the streams of people to get to the base of the platform, pushed up against a wall of soldiers forming to hold them back, shaking their fists at the "evil witch" in anger, yelling out obscenities and that they weren't ready to die yet. A woman from the very front row - one of Vahn's relatives – picked up her handbag and hurled it over the soldiers. It clipped Nina's shoulder and flew open, spilling its contents all over the platform. She still didn't dare move an inch.
"Curse the Wyndians for sending us this plague!"
"You can't trust those pigeons, I always said that!"
"Ludia's queen has always been human! This is why the curse is upon us!"
"Kill her! Kill her now!"
"Kill her, Prince Vahn! Kill her before she kills us!"
Self hatred gnashed at Nina's insides, biting harder than the humans' harsh words ever could. More of the crowd's belongings - as well as rocks and anything else they could find on the ground - soared through the air, whizzed dangerously past her head. How dare she wish a thing like this on her sweet, wonderful little sister, she thought bitterly, wincing when a small dagger nicked the side of her arm and buried itself deep into the podium Jameson was -now running from- behind her. Nina glanced down at the blood seeping from the wound in a haze, the crowd's roars thundering in her ears, hoping the next sharp object would pierce her selfish heart.
It was over.
Vahn quickly gathered himself together, remembering within his awe of the Angel of Death standing before him, that he was the prince and must regain control of his people. "Citizens of Ludia, listen to me!" he bellowed out. A piece of fruit bounced off of the magical shield he had covering his body, its presence becoming known only from the shimmering ripples the impact caused. He stepped in front of Nina after throwing her another quick, fearful glance. "As your prince, I command all of you to cease this immediately!" he motioned for more soldiers to help regulate the riot, and also, to subdue Nina.
Two who felt they were the unluckiest men in the entire world, each took hold of the Wyndian's arms, trembling fearfully, thinking: they were really going to arrest the fated destroyer of the planet? To their unexpected relief, she didn't resist; she merely sagged against their grip, eyes glazed and staring into the unknown.
"It's the Black Wings! We have to kill her now! She will purge the world of all its light, the prophecy says so!" a large man yelled from the front of the crowd, pushing forward against the line of soldiers to hurl a rock at the back of Nina's head. "The only way to stop it is to kill her!" The man smiled when the rock connected, watched with glee the girl pitch forward into another soldier's arms.
Vahn touched his lips with a finger. "The prophecy also says it has to be a public execution in Wyndia!" he cried in an amplified voice. He brought his other hand up and a hazy blue shield of shimmering energy spread out in front of Nina just in time to stop another, considerably larger, rock from striking her. Various other sharp things bounced off of it soon after. "Get her out of here!" he hissed, turning to the soldiers holding Nina. His eyes went to the back of her head, where he could see a dark stain clearly spreading throughout her hair and he cursed himself for his hesitation in putting up the shield. It wouldn't bode well with the big guys to have her die here. "Wrap her head up!" he continued desperately into the soldiers' panicked faces. "She can't die before she gets back to Wyndia!"
"It's public! We're all here...kill her now!" Nina heard the same man scream through the agonizing pain flooding over her skull. It sounded like he was miles away, but she knew he was right there. The soldiers with her, held handkerchiefs onto her head in an attempt to stop the bleeding. There was an echoing chorus of agreement from the enraged audience. Her limbs tingled with numbness.
"No, this execution is to be done by Wyndia, as their princess once commanded years ago, in front of every major world leader!"
There were more boos and screams followed by more things raining against the prince's magical shield, and Nina felt it all fade away; Vahn's pleading voice also becoming lost in the sudden splotchy blackness mercilessly wiping away her consciousness.
Ryu laid flat on his stomach against a nearby rooftop overlooking the festivities, grinding his sharp teeth together hard, fighting to stay invisible with the now deep cut on the back of his head exploding with pain. He watched soldiers take away Nina through squinted eyes, and the crowd go wild; fleeing or fighting against the other soldiers barricading them in to maybe get a chance at her as well. The prince yelled at his people, in an attempt to calm them down it seemed, but when it did nothing to pacify the mob, he threw more soldiers into the fray and skittered after Nina into the castle.
The dragon winced as another stab of pain – this time from his shoulder – shot through him. The purple haze in front of his vision began to clear, he knew it was only a matter of time until he completely lost his hold on the shadow realm. Could things have gone any worse? he thought angrily, ignoring the warm blood trickling down his head matting his long hair.
His vision flickered black for a moment. Nina had passed out.
Thankfully for him, things like sleep and fainting weren't shared by the two, but either happening left him severely drained. He felt his body relax significantly, and the purple haze in front of his vision almost disappeared. "Damnit...," he cursed as loudly as he dared. No matter what, he had to stay hidden. With dimmed senses like this, there was no way he would be able to find that four-eyed mage before he used his warp magic to pop out of hiding and...
Something clicked in the dragon's throbbing head.
Warp magic.
Ryu swore a curse in his language that would have curled a listener's hair had they understood him, and struggled with partially deadened limbs to get clumsily to his knees. He had to get to Nina. If the prince happened to decide to warp her straight to Wyndia (he had caught 'Nina' and 'Wyndia' from the prince's enchanted voice floating over the castle grounds) his soul would be too far from his body, resulting in...
His weak knees gave away and his chin smacked hard against the rooftop, jarring even more pain from the wound on the back of his head. Ryu clutched at the hot shingles, fingers crunching dents into them.
He didn't want to do it, but he had no other choice...
You called, Half-breed?
He flinched. He always flinched when that awful grinding voice penetrated his thoughts.
His fingers twitched. If he was trembling, he would never admit it to anyone.
Yes, he struggled to think through the agony. I...
Damnit, he really didn't want to resort to this!
How amusing, the entity inside of him jeered. Ryu could almost picture its mockery of a self image of him grinning manically. You lie here in such a pitiful state...yet your stubborn pride refuses to let you even think you need my help.
More pain shot through Ryu's aching body as his battle with his own consciousness flickered his vision on and off. If I don't save her...we're all dead. You know that, right?
I wonder if you can handle it?
A wave of conjured endorphins calmed the pain and sobered the dragon some. He took a moment to relish his brief peace before thinking again. I have to.
Hmm...will it be another Camlon? The voice further mused, I hope it turns out that way. Mindless killing is much more interesting than all of this cowardly sneaking you're doing.
Ryu suppressed the blood splattered memories that place's name dredged up from the sands of his mind. I do not wish for any confrontation, he thought back angrily. Only a firm hold on the shadows and energy back into my limbs...Nothing more!
The demon sighed loudly, lead dragging on granite.
As you wish.
Ryu's hands clutched the edge of the rooftop hard as the ancient power bestowed to him by Ladon suddenly surged into his veins. It seeped into his tired muscles, revived them almost instantaneously. The haze of stealth reinforced around him, once again giving him the violet world he was used to. The aches and pains all over his body melted away. He crouched low against the hot shingles and locked powerful legs to spring lithely to a higher rooftop adjacent to the one he was on.
His quick eyes caught a flash of red from his hands upon landing, and he lifted them in front of his face to see his fingers curling forward, the nails on them becoming long, crimson, and claw-like. He felt the muscles in his torso and arms tighten, and his shoulder blades quiver with the effort of holding in the bones of wings he knew desperately wanted to be set free. The dragon squeezed his eyes closed and shook his head, laughing darkly to himself.
Five hundred years really had weakened him.
I thought you said you could handle it? Such a small portion of your inheritance and I already feel your humanity thinning...
The last thing he wanted to do was transform too much. Then it really would be Camlon all over again.
Ryu snarled and clenched his fist, digging the nails hard into his palm until he drew blood. Do not mock me! I said I could, and I will! His fangs lengthened with defiance as he spoke.
As you say.
Spitting another draconian obscenity, Ryu gathered hold of what new-found energy he could, and forced it towards his nose. Smells suddenly rammed into him from all sides, knocking his senses into complete disarray. The sweat of soldiers, the fruit in stands below, the dirt on the ground, the perfumes of all the females formerly sitting in the wedding audience; everything within a mile radius melded together in one overwhelming rush that brought stinging tears to his eyes. He took a dizzying moment to let his senses calm down, and gingerly began sifting through the scents. It wasn't long until he found the lingering stench of the prince's terrible cologne. Nina's flowery Wyndian scent, fragrant with his own draconic metallic twang, was nearby as well; they intertwined, and flowed into the castle.
Ryu's senses locked on and he dropped down from the roof, landing hard against the ground - startling a few wedding party stragglers who didn't understand 'what in Goddess' name' made that crack on the ground that suddenly appeared before them - and bounded after it on all fours, nose against the ground.
"Th-th-the what? What did you just say?"
"The Black Wings, Your Majesty," Nichol said louder, clearing his throat.
The King of Wyndia, along with his adviser Asheton, and royal guardian Ethan, all stared at the human in disbelief, all crowding around him in a tight circle of white wings in castle Wyndia's otherwise empty throne room. Sunlight, colored by the stained glass goddess mural stretching across the ceiling splashed over them. "Are you certain? Are you quite certain Nina has acquired the wings of legend?"
"I'm afraid I am too certain of this fact," Nichol replied gravely, shaking his head. "I have laid eyes on them myself. They are...a horrifying sight."
"I can't believe this..." Ethan caught the king's robed shoulder as he swayed. "All this time I thought it was Isabella this might happen to... Goddess' breath, I've married the Angel of Death off to Ludia...?"
"She should be ready for transport soon. Prince Vahn is taking extra precautions to make sure she is unable to cause us any harm."
"Has she done anything yet?" Ethan asked.
"Not yet...but the wings...well, you will see them for yourselves," Nichol pushed his glasses farther up the bridge of his nose and glanced at the pale faced king. "We must have her executed here as soon as possible...in front of all the major world's leaders. This as proclaimed by your former princess."
"All of the world's major leaders...here...in Wyndia..." whispered the king shakily. "What if something goes wrong? Shyde despises almost everyone, and without our alliance with you..." he swallowed. "The worens...the grassland clans, all of them are neutral! And who knows about the races of the south...no one has had any contact with the southern lands, past the city of the Highlanders, in centuries...the north...those shamanistic barbarian tribes..."
"Regardless, this is a world problem-"
"I know what it is!" The king growled and then took a deep breath, righting himself and pushing Ethan away. He would not look weak anymore in front of this human. "Alright, we will prepare for her arrival."
"Excellent, I shall report to Prince Vahn immediately," the adviser said, magic ring flashing on his finger. Bits of his body fluttered and began to break away into the colored light before them.
"Oh, royal guardian." Nichol's eyes met Ethan's through the glimmering spectacle of warp magic, "There seems to be a humanoid creature using some sort of dark magic I cannot decipher, showing an odd interest in her. I know nothing of its motives, but I would advise you use caution...It is able to disappear upon will."
The guardian's dark eyes flashed, and he remembered the blue haired man slinking out of the princess' room that faded into nothingness before him. "I see. Thank you, Adviser Talbot," he said coolly.
Nichol vanished completely, and the king dropped to his knees. Ethan was at his side in less than a second. "This is a nightmare..." the king whispered through bloodless lips. "H-how could this have happened?"
Asheton slowly crept forward, spirits and wings alike drooped. "I say...even if she has the black wings...do you really think little Nina would want to destroy the world?" he asked meekly through his thick beard.
"At this point what does it really matter?" The king snarled, glaring at him. "All of Ludia saw them. If we don't execute her, the whole world will think we're keeping her as a weapon. Just like they already do about Isabella."
"Then...shall I get the silver key?" Asheton asked with a long sigh, shaking his head sadly.
The king swallowed hard and nodded, a bead of sweat dripping off of the tip of his trembling nose.
Ryu flattened himself against a dark wall in the Ludian throne room, sidling towards the far end where Prince Vahn was kneeling over Nina's now shackle and chain bound body lying on the floor in front of him, waving his hands over her and chanting strange words. His fingers glowed an eerie green color and dripped equally eerie sparkling drops onto the chains until they themselves started to faintly glow.
Vahn finished his chant, and glanced up to see the backs of the soldiers standing guard at the entrance. His eyes went lovingly back down to Nina. "I really did love you, you know..." He whispered, placing a hand on her pale face, tracing his fingers over colorless cheeks. He sighed, pushing her long bangs back from her bandage covered forehead. "This must be my punishment for attempting to defile one of the Goddess' angels." He leaned in close, bringing his face inches from hers, his long blonde hair pooled on her shoulders. "But how can they blame me? Look at you..." Another one of his hands found its way to a bare part of her one of her legs, and rubbed gently. "Wyndians truly are magnificent creatures..." He murmured, nearing her dress's edge.
Ryu bristled and went to pounce on him, but Nichol's form shimmered into reality between them, thwarting both ludicrous plans. Vahn quickly took his hand from the girl, and turned to his adviser. "Are they ready for her?" he asked, unable to hide the disappointment in his voice.
Nichol took his glasses off and rubbed the lenses with a sleeve. "As much as they'll ever be for the Angel of Death," he said, and the prince shook his head, pointing a finger at the girl and flicking it upwards. Nina's body was lifted by unseen arms of magic, and floated into position beside Nichol, taking a slouched standing pose. The soldiers at the doorway peeked in at the sound of her chains dragging across the floor. "By the way, did you see any sign of that blue haired man?"
Vahn shook his head, trying to remember what Nichol had said about the man before warping to Wyndia. He had been too interested in admiring Nina's wedding dress covered body sprawled out on the floor while the adviser was talking before, he remembered a bit shamefully now, but he decided he didn't care either way. He was Prince Vahn of Ludia. Any confrontation would have been easily won by him, he was sure of it. He got up and walked over to the other side of the floating Wyndian. "No. I was undisturbed." He placed a hand on the top of one of her arms.
Nichol did the same to the other, noting the prince's sorrowful gaze lingering on the girl. "It's a shame things turned out like this," he said, his own eyes passing over her serene, sleeping face.
"Yes. It is."
Nichol's ring flashed while the prince muttered a chant. Ryu said a prayer to Ladon, and latched onto her wings as they all dissipated into magical dust.
Again the blackness, again the feeling of nothingness spreading out as far as she could sense, yet pressing and compacting her into that same amount of space at the same time with crushing intensity. The darkness was so thick in front of her, she couldn't tell whether her eyes were open or not. It was heavy, constricting, like an invisible film covering her nose and mouth. Panic suddenly came in waves. She couldn't breathe! Her slender hands clutched at her throat, vainly searched for a place to get a grip on the anxiety building in every limb; the blood rushing to her muscles in preparation for a terror she suddenly felt...all around her. She threw her head from side to side, peering vainly out into the nothingness. A horrific feeling crawled over her, a stinging cold mist that left her skin mysteriously dry and prickling with goosebumps in its wake.
She was dead, she concluded after an odd sensation like that. A human must have killed her at the wedding. Her soul was probably descending into some kind of horrible hell right now on the charge of being the Raven Princess...
On the contrary, my dear, you are very much alive.
Automatically Nina's hands flew to her ears, though she knew it was a pointless endeavor when dealing with him. Her lips formed a reply the velvet darkness savagely snatched away.
Come. We must speak, Keeper.
Nina found herself sitting atop a large rock, staring down at what her mind told her confused eyes was the ocean. Breezes, pungent in salt and fish, whipped at the silky fabric of the light blue sundress she was now wearing, while rays from the sun uninhibited by clouds warmed her skin. Waves crashed against blindingly bright shores. She rubbed at her eyes.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
She turned her head to see Ryu sitting beside her, his legs dangling off of the rock, his long navy hair bound low against his bare back. He wore nothing upon his chiseled, bronzed body but tattered beige shorts. Black tattoos of runes she didn't understand scaled up his sides and along his spine. He looked her over as well and smiled widely, showing off his inhuman teeth.
Why was Ryu here? Wasn't the demon talking to her earlier? Where was here?
Her gaze went back to the perfect aqua water shining in the light of the sun on this breathtakingly beautiful cloudless day, crashing on shores of perfect, serene white sand littered with a mosaic of colorful glittering shells.
"It's an ocean. You've never seen one before, have you little Fai'en?"
There was no mistaking the aura he was giving off. It was the demon. He was just making himself look like Ryu again, she realized. She gave him a sidelong glance. This one really looked like him. "Of course I haven't, Wyndia is landlocked," she said slowly, surprised at how steady she was keeping her voice, "And I still haven't. This isn't real. It's a dream you're controlling."
Dreams that manipulate the senses, the real Ryu had said. There was no telling what would happen. She half expected blood to start spewing from ridiculous places.
Fake Ryu's shoulders slumped. "How cruel. All I wanted to do was make you feel comfortable enough to want to talk things over with me," he said in a hurt voice. "I took on this body, created this place to awe you, spoke to your ears instead of going straight for your mind...all of this, for you!"
One of Nina's hands rested against the surface of the rock she was sitting on, taking in the warmth it had collected from the sun with terrified curiosity. The only thing he was accomplishing, was making her more scared than ever of him. "You know...I'm not so comfortable around Ryu either..." she muttered.
"Shall I take Ethan's form next time?"
Nina's head snapped up, tiny red splotches appeared on her cheeks, but he interrupted before she could speak. "By the way, those wings are astonishing," he commented, reaching over and laying a hand on the one nearest to him. "They...radiate power..."
She flushed more and pulled herself out of arms length. "I want you to take them back," she snapped angrily, his Ethan comment slipping through the cracks at his inappropriate touch. "You lied and told me you would give me power...but all you've managed to do so far, is give me a death sentence!"
He sighed. "Yes, execution is no laughing matter...however, I did not lie to you. I have, in fact, given you the power to do whatever it is your mortal heart desires."
A line appeared between Nina's brows. "Lies again! I feel nothing!"
"It is not my fault you fail to understand how to harness that power within you, little Fai'en," he leaned forward and tapped her forehead with a finger, grinning.
"What? That's not fair! I've been through enough, you must tell me!" she cried, amber eyes wide. "How can I learn how to use it?"
"It's easy," he whispered, placing both hands on her face and locking his now fiery eyes with hers. All you have to do is accept me. Completely."
She gazed into those crimson flames, feeling herself getting drawn into them bit by bit. She realized in a panic this was wrong and tried to tear her eyes away, but any attempt in doing so was halted by his strong hands seemingly resting on her head. It was suddenly becoming harder to think, harder to care.
It would be a better idea to let him to take over, she found herself thinking, her body relaxing in his hands. She was tired of this...so tired of everything that was going on. He could think for her; carry the burden. She didn't need to worry about any of this grown up stuff... After all...she was still just a kid, and kids should do what they're told.
She began to lose all sense of the tropical atmosphere surrounding her: the gentle winds blowing against her sweat drenched skin, the warm rays of the sun on her back, the waves' rhythmic beat on the sand, the strange white birds crying out into the sky... Nothing mattered but him and her desire to be one with him, always...forever...
No! This wasn't right! This wasn't how she felt! She wanted nothing from this demon; nothing from that dragon!
It took every ounce of strength she had, to break his bond over her. There was a crackle, pop, and with flash like lightning, the demon's hands snapped back. She fell backwards onto the hard rock, breath coming out in ragged gasps, brain racked with a headache that threatened to split her skull in two.
The ground rumbled, and above her, the sky literally broke.
"Damn, you're waking up," she heard Demon-Ryu's voice spit as the world came crashing down around them.
You and that stubborn Half-breed better not get us all killed.
"They are...truly frightening..."
"It's as if all light bends to their will..."
There were voices. One was a sad, tired sounding woman, the other, a man who's tone pierced her heart in such a manner, Nina panicked for a moment that she might have actually been stabbed. She couldn't understand what they were saying, everything was garbled and muffled in her muddled mind.
"Are you able to help her?"
"Help it? Look. The Goddess has turned her back on this one. There is no hope now."
"So she is destined to become a monster after all..."
Monster? Where was a monster?
Nina was aware of her body lying on a cold, very hard surface, and of the icy hot pain searing her ankles, wrists, neck, wings, and knees where she could feel metal shackles were clasped. She tried to scream, tried to tell whoever the voices were that they burned, to please get them off! But her mouth wouldn't move, her eyes wouldn't open. Her limbs felt submerged in sludge; heavy and contained.
"I wonder if it can hear us speaking?"
"Prince Vahn said the chains devoid her of all energy except the amount needed to sustain life. She may only be sleeping. Be careful you do not touch them, else you will be claimed as well."
The voices were starting to make sense. So the the metal touching her was sucking in her life force. No wonder she was so tired. The thought barely finished before she felt the burning gradually began to numb and she knew she was losing consciousness again.
No, she had to stay awake, had to find out who these voices were...had to find out who...
The woman sighed and there was the sound of shuffling feet. "I have done what you have asked. I healed its physical wounds. Now I do not wish to be in the presence of its dark taint any longer."
"As you wish, Lady Lisele."
"May the Goddess have mercy on your soul, Sir Ethan Von Buren. I am sorry you have to deal with this...atrocity."
Ethan. The name was familiar. So familiar...
Her red headed love's handsome smile flashed into view and her heart felt it would burst with joy. Surely Ethan would save her, he had to! First and foremost he was her friend, right? Ethan! Her mind desperately screamed, Help me, Ethan!
Only cold, bitter darkness answered her, its unfeeling fingers neatly plucking her grip again from reality and dragging her back down into the abyss of her own mind.
Lisele folded her hands into the sleeves of her long white robes and shuffled quickly out of the throne room, dark head bowed and her robes swishing loudly about her feet, leaving Ethan alone with the cursed princess. He stood amidst the hazy, multi-colored early afternoon sunlight streaming in through the stained glass, dark eyes wide as he stared at the distorted feathers sprouting from Nina's back. It was mesmerizing, watching the darkness they emanated toy with the sunlight flooding in, taking it and pulling it into them in a demented slow dance.
Or rather, he thought he was alone.
Ryu crouched, hidden in the shadow of the throne room chair behind where Nina's body lay upon the marble floor, gaze drawn as well, to her wings' macabre beauty. For him, however, the spell only lasted a moment. A quick shake of his head and he was back to analyzing the situation.
Girl had chains on her that were glowing with some spell that was draining her of energy; that much, he could feel. Red haired guy with two swords was the only thing guarding her.
Ryu's yellow eyes flickered over the many shackles and chains covering the Wyndian. Even if he did manage to get her out of there before her boyfriend saw, how would he get the chains off of her? In the shadows he hung his head. These people were serious about this prophesy. He figured they perceived her a demon; her having such odd wings like that. They were never going to remove those shackles...why would they?
He wanted to bang his head against the wall beside him and scream every curse he knew at Ladon for his fortune, but he couldn't. Red haired guy was now walking towards the Princess, a pained look crossing his face. Ryu inched back, watching him intently. All he could do was wait.
Ethan laid a hand on her forehead and brushed her bangs back, murmuring something Ryu couldn't understand, shaking his head. He then picked her up, making sure the chains didn't touch any of his flesh, and carried her out of the throne room, Ryu creeping silently along behind.
"By the Goddess' love, I plead access to the Ch-chamber of Communication, for the c-curse of the Eternal Night has fallen upon us," The King of Wyndia stumbled crudely in old Wyndian to a golden statue of the Goddess located far below the throne room of castle Wyndia, reading from an ancient, almost crumbling sheet of parchment in his hands. Asheton pressed his back against the cold stone walls of the narrow passageway they were in, glancing feverishly about, the torch in his hands casting it's light erratically around gray/green stone with his shaking.
The statue's eyes flared and it, along with the entire section of wall it was connected to, dropped into the floor. Asheton yelped and jumped back, shivering at a strange, strong, frigid wind blowing out of the new hallway. The king shot him a glare. "Come," he snapped, stepping cautiously past, pulling his robes around his body. He motioned for the adviser to bring the torch further.
"Y-yes, Your M-m-majesty."
They walked another hundred or so feet of downward stone stairway before reaching another statue of the Goddess. This one was heavily worn, it's golden beauty faded and marred with time. The king spoke the same words, and the like the first, this one slipped down into the ground as well. Asheton gasped loudly when the torch flickered out with the coming of an even fiercer, colder wind than before. "It's alright, I have it! I g-got it..." he stammered, fat hands fumbling to find the edges of his sleeves in the darkness. He found them, muttered a small chant, and snapped his fingers. A spark erupted from their contact and the torch once again flared to life.
"Give me that!" the king growled, swiping it from the jumpy adviser, who did without question. Now he didn't have to lead!
The king peered past where the wall was and saw no stairs ahead. They had reached their destination, The Chamber of Communication. He took a deep breath and stepped inside.
Five hundred years ago, the second princess of Wyndia, Princess Nyna Valerie Wynlan, made a pact with all of the world's major leaders at the time, that if the Black Wings were ever to appear, no matter what century, no matter what sorts of quarrels happened to befall the nations, Wyndia had a sworn duty to inform them all of of the danger should it arise, and have them personally attend the cursed's beheading. This place was built to do just that.
King Issac Randolph Wynlan VII had never been in this room, and he was sure no one else had since it was built, but it did not look five hundred years old. Torchlight spilled over machinery, the likes of which he had never seen in his lifetime. In the middle of this circular room of baffling technology, jutting out from a slightly raised platform, was a tall cylinder control panel. From it, bundles of wires flowed down the sides through intentions in the metal covered by glass, and connected to screens built along the walls.
"What in the Goddess' name is this technology...?" Asheton voiced the king's thoughts, creeping into the room behind him.
Issac reached into his robes and closed shaking fingers around a large key. He pulled it out and held it into the flickering light of the flame. The Silver Key. A key that hadn't been touched since Nyna had placed it in the oldest safe box in the royal vault. It was what activated this contraption. He stared at it hard for a few moments, wondering what sort of words one used to tell the world leaders the day of darkness had come? Maybe...they would all just know somehow.
"S-sire, are you alright?"
"Yes! Leave me be!" the king hissed and Asheton shrank back. He turned his attention back to the control panel. There, in the middle, was the keyhole. With a still shaking hand, he slid the shining silver metal in, took a deep breath. He had to do it. If he didn't, and word got out (which there was no way it wouldn't), his entire country would be eradicated.
Before any other thoughts could hinder him, he turned it.
Lights erupted from the keyhole, and the entire cylinder came alive in neon blue brilliance. Buttons flashed red, green, and purple all over a massive keyboard, and the king stared at it numbly, hearing the gentle hum of machinery fill the air. How was he supposed to know how to work something ancient like this? He ran a shaking finger over the smooth, keys, wondering if he should push the ones that were flashing more than the others...or should he push the ones not flashing? Sweat dripped down his reddening neck. Or maybe that one over there. Too late, his elbow hit one on the bottom.
Purple lights traveled swiftly down a string of wires running from there to the northeast screen on the wall. Issac watched it, brown eyes wide with fear and anticipation. The screen flickered and popped, and for a moment, he was afraid it wasn't going to work. Then static littered the screen. "Yes, yes I know of the Black Wings, just get on with everyone else," Prince Vahn of Ludia's voice came crystal clear from a speaker on the wall by the screen. The static dissipated and his sitting form became visible. His arms were crossed and his face was clearly contorted into a glare.
"P-Prince Vahn!" the king stuttered. "I assure you I h-h-had no idea she would be-"
"It doesn't matter!" Vahn rolled his eyes dramatically and sighed, grasping his forehead with his hand. "I won't torture myself thinking about it any longer. Please, please, just hurry up with this execution so I can get over her!" A blonde girl with bright red lipstick on full lips, leaned over and handed him a cup of coffee.
"Y-yes..." Issac looked back down at the keyboard. Now with Vahn's eyes on him, he was sweating even more. He'll push a red button; one near Vahn's. Red lights flared and traveled over the wires to the left of him to another screen on the wall.
This time, it was Kishma Bloodclaw, leader of the Woren Clan. She stared at the Wyndian and the human on the other wall through fiery long bangs for a long moment before she spoke. She was a bit older than Issac and a lot more than Vahn, but her emerald eyes held the piercing sharpness of a warrior in its prime. "So it is that time, is it?" She spoke slowly in common with a thick accent, shaking her head. Her long, intricately braided and bound crimson hair fell over her tawny shoulders. "I knew the winds brought dark clouds this day...but the Raven Princess..."
The next button was Bowe Swiftarrow, leader of the Forest Clan. He too, stared at the spectacle before him, being generated by a small, enchanted marble-like object passed down leader to leader for five generations. His wise, hazel eyes peered at them all through bushy brown eyebrows dusted with salt and pepper. Like Kishma, he mentioned the strange winds, and shook his long slender muzzle gravely.
Next was Lord Druknik Longtail, Lord of the Highlanders, who appeared drunk, swaying and sloshing around a goblet full of wine almost bigger than his monkey-like head. "Come to tha...execution...?" he slurred groggily in an almost unintelligible form of common dialect. "Yes, I come...to see blood! I love blood!"
"Druknik!" a female voice hissed in the background followed by a slew of harsh snaps in a different language.
The monkey king closed his hand over his marble. "You no worry, I come to Wyndia," he slurred into his fist. They could see his lips pressing on the screen, his breath casting a fog over everything. "I come to Wyndia to see the Destroyer's blood, everywhere!" There was a crash and a scream and the screen went blank.
The king hastily hit another button before the others could voice their opinions. This time, the only things filling the next screen that lit up, were two beautiful midnight blue almond shaped eyes, shadowed by long, dark lashes and an abundance of deep violet. "Th-the Shade Queen..." the king stammered, staring wide eyed at the pools of blue, sitting against a background of mocha, that seemed to pull everything into them.
"Indeed," her soft voice murmured, thick with a surprisingly unknown accent, not Shydian.
"It's...really you?" came Vahn's awed voice.
The eyes looked amused, the slender nose bridge between them crinkled ever so slightly. "I have in my possession the magical item used to communicate to you all in this dire situation, the same item Wyndia's princess handed to me herself five hundred years ago," the musical voice sang. "So yes, it is really me. However, such inquiries are far from what this meeting's purpose is. You shall get nothing more." The eyes went to the king. "I regret to say I cannot attend this...execution...personally. I will send an assistant to make an appearance."
"An assistant?" Kishma snarled. "You speak of breaking the pact?"
The Shade Queen's eyes closed and a yawn floated out of her speakers, causing Kishma's fur to ruffle even more. "I trust the winged ones will do their part."
"Don't you want to see for yourself to make sure it happens? What if they try to hide her like they do the younger one?" Bowe cut in. The king gaped at him. There it was, right out in the open.
"I have no time to argue this matter further," the eyes narrowed at the wolfman and then returned to Issac. "Good luck with the beheading of your daughter. Fate is most often cruel to us." and with that, her screen went blank.
"Insolent," growled Kishma. "She acts as though she's better than us all."
"She is the Immortal Bandit Queen," Vahn piped in.
"It doesn't matter what she is! What makes her think she can blatantly state that she isn't going to abide by the pact?"
"We don't need her," a deep voice boomed from directly in front of the king. "Killing the cursed one will be enough."
"I agree. We only wish for zee threat to be eliminated."
The king had hurriedly pressed more buttons during the Bandit Queen's farewell, and now the beady black eyes of Chief Marduke Steelforge, leader of the Iron Ox clan, along with the bulbous ones of King Jaquarde DuMontag, leader of the Aqua Clan, were upon him.
"Where is the demon woman now?" Came the singsong voice of the shaman priestess of the north, Princess Suuki Clearwater as she appeared, glaring at everyone with bright violet eyes through wild sea green hair.
Only one other screen had not lit up. Issac frantically searched for the button to end this wretched meeting.
"Yes, where is she now?" Kishma repeated. "I had heard she was to be married to you, Vahn of Ludia."
A grimace lined the young human man's delicate features. "Yes, she was to be my wife... This...would have been my wedding night..." his pale eyes stared off into nothing for a long moment. "However, the Goddess has made it clear it was not meant to be." he clasped his hands together and set his chin on them. "I, along with my adviser warped her to back to Wyndia into the care of their royal guardian. She is bound with chains that I myself imbued with a containment enchantment that should last up to a week. Surely we can get this finished before then?"
Nods were seen on all screens. The king ran his palm hard across the keyboard in a last ditch attempt to push any other button he hadn't pushed yet, and the last screen finally flickered on. All that could be seen was dirt. "I know nothing!" a small voice screeched. "We dirt-dwellers are neutral. NEUTRAL!" The screen became blank.
And so the last voice was heard, The Dirt Clan's leader, Mogi Dirtclaw.
"And so they break the pact as well..." Bowe growled.
"Are we all in agreement that we must meet in Wyndia in less than a week?" Kishma asked choosing to ignore the impudent mole king, her sharp eyes darting around the room, challenging any of them to speak against her. There was a chorus of agreement and then all eyes were again upon the king of Wyndia, who swallowed hard, feeling incredibly small before their enlarged, disheartened stares filling the screens.
"Yes, we...will be ready," he said, swallowing hard.
One by one the screens turned off, and when finally Vahn's frown disappeared from view, the king sagged to his knees, the torch he was holding rolling from limp fingers and falling at his feet. Asheton rushed to grab it. "Are you alright, Your Majesty?" he cried swiping it up.
Issac ignored him, raising shaking hands to his face. "If Milyna could see me now...executing our own daughter..."
Asheton's eyes softened under bushy white brows, and he stood silently within the flickering light of the torch he held, watching the King of Wyndia place his head in those hands, and openly weep before him.
Nina felt, smelled grass all around her. Pleasant breezes nipped at her clothes and caused the blades of green she knew surrounded her to lightly brush against her skin.
She opened her eyes, and found it surprisingly easy to do so.
Blue sky stretched out in a dome high above her, filled with bulging fluffy white clouds, shining from rays of the sun breaking through. Tall stemmed, colorful wildflowers swayed into her vision with the coming of more winds. She smiled; a soft, fuzzy feeling sweeping over an anxiety within her she couldn't for the life of her remember, but somehow felt immensely happy to forget.
Whatever this place was...she never wanted to leave.
"I figured you might like it."
The young male voice jarred Nina from her heaven and she sat up quickly, marveling again at how easy it was for her to move around; A feeling that was soon replaced by other one gnawing at her, telling her this was all wrong, and that there were important things going on around her she needed to take care of. But what things...she couldn't recall.
Beside her, the owner of the voice, a navy haired child in rags, smiled. "My sister used to like it as well," he said looking over at her with pale yellow eyes, tucking his long, wild hair back behind one ear and out of the wind.
Nina's mind raced, tried to rewind back to something crucial. Someone could make places like this appear out of nowhere. Someone she knew she shouldn't ever be around.
The boy shook his head. "No, Fai'en, I am not him. The Kaiser sleeps now," he said. "Crafting scenes like that out of nothing tires him out, as much as he would not like to admit. He should not bother us anymore this day."
The Kaiser? It sounded familiar...Why couldn't she remember anything?
"It is best you do not dwell upon the meaning of the entity known as 'Kaiser', F'aien," the boy answered her thoughts softly, face darkening. "Within him, lies only despair."
She started to ask why they were speaking Old Wyndian, when laughter from other children echoed in the near distance. Nina gazed out from where she was perched. She was sitting atop a large hill in a grassy field abundant in colorful wildflowers that spread out as far as her eyes could see. Below them, two children chased each other towards another hill in front of them.
Nina blinked at them, her question forgotten. One was a replica of the child in front of her, and the other...
"My sister, Ana. This is a memory I have of us playing in the fields outside of Drogen." A wistful look passed over the boy's face as he watched his image get tackled by the giggling little girl. "I am sorry I cannot create anything more...I can only use my own memories."
"This is...a memory...?" Nina asked, cocking her head. "I...don't understand..." Who was this boy, what was this place? A memory? No matter how hard she tried to shake them, the cobwebs clogging her mind wouldn't clear.
"I wanted to thank you," he said quickly, hunching over and hiding his face in the over sized collar of the crimson cloak he was wearing until only his eyes were showing.
"Thank me?" She asked, startled. "For what?"
The eyes looked irritated, as if it pained him to speak of this any longer. "You stood up for me before the Kaiser," he said, voice slightly muffled. "It means more than you think." She stared at him, further confused, and watched him shuffle uncomfortably in her gaze. "Tch, why do I even bother?" he huffed. "I displace all of your 'nightmarish' thoughts in order to give you a bit of peace, and now you don't even recognize me..."
"I..."
"Forget it!" he snapped. "Enjoy it, alright? Ladon knows how many days we have left."
Nina let her eyes linger for a moment longer on the flustered boy, wondering what those strange warm feelings brewing inside of her were, and then shrugged, lying back down on the grass, feeling the blades once again tickle her skin. She was finding it too hard to focus on anything for too long anyway. All she could think about was how much she just wanted to relax and fall asleep in this comfortable, beautiful world.
"Sleep well, Fai'en," the boy's soft, strange accented, voice murmured. Sweet sleep crawled over her, claiming her body appendage by appendage. She smiled into the cool breezes, the fluffy clouds slowly being blotted out by her closing lids.
"Thank...you, Ryu..." she murmured back, drifting off into a smooth, peaceful slumber.
His eyes flickered to the side, but he didn't move. "I do what I must."
Ryu didn't know what the hell was happening to him.
He had followed Ethan to the dungeon, where the red head and some soldiers locked up Nina amongst crude, hollering inmates, then went to scout out the execution grounds. There weren't any people loitering about, so Ryu assumed word about the black wings had not yet spread here. Feeling satisfied they were in the clear at least for today, he thought to steal away into the same old abandoned storeroom he had taken refuge in during his last stay in Wyndia a few days ago, to take a much needed catnap. He had just settled into a ball on a pile of old, empty, burlap potato sacks, and was closing his weary eyes, when the panic struck.
He clutched at his chest, twisting the chain mail covering it into his fingers, trying in vain to comprehend the massive amounts of adrenaline pumping through his body with the coming of a spontaneous panic attack. His heart fluttered so violently he felt it would burst. He fought for breath, gasping and writhing invisibly against the scratchy fabric of the sacks. Wide, damp eyes darted around the room, suddenly fearing every shadow the storeroom's clutter cast in the dusty sunlight streaming in through its dirty windows.
Not being in control of himself, should have enraged the dragon, but he found it was almost impossible to discern what he was feeling over this new found fear crushing down onto him, its goal seeming to be the elimination of any other emotion having the gall to step up and try to exist along side of it. His hyperventilation worsened, and the rush of more oxygen dizzied him. He grabbed both sides of his head, digging his fingers into his hair, and pulled his knees closer to his chin before darkness claimed him.
Visions poured into his head. Visions of chaos and blood that shivered him to the bone. In them, everyone the princess knew was slaughtered before his eyes by a riot bursting into and setting fire to castle Wyndia in pursuit of destroying the younger Wyndian sister. He watched, almost hysterically, her sister Isabella stabbed and sliced to pieces by farmers with rusty scythes and pitchforks, blood splattering all over their crazed cheering faces.
"Wh-what is all of this?" cried Ryu to deaf ears. "What is happening to me?"
The vision faded away, this time to be replaced by one of him, smiling madly, holding a bloodstained sword handle sticking out of her boyfriend's bare white back as he lay hunched over a bed. The dragon surprisingly found himself terrified at his own piercing eyes, the sight of them giving weight to the already cold hard lump sitting in the pit of his stomach.
"My 'nightmarish' thoughts..." his ears pricked at a familiar female voice, and Nina appeared in front of him, snow white wings suspending her in the unknown blackness he somehow was standing in as well.
Ryu sent a scrutinizing eye over her and attempted unsuccessfully to keep his trembling to a minimum. She was Nina, but she looked, astonishingly more beautiful. Her body emitted a soft glow that spread to every feather of her majestic wings, and a smile graced her face so serene, so inviting, it threw up a million red flags in his mind. It was the Kaiser taking on her form to try and trick him. It had to be!
His jaw clenched. There! There was some anger!
"I'm not the Kaiser...whatever he may be," Nina said shaking her head, answering his thoughts. "It is not he who did this to you."
"I d-don't believe you." The fear pounded harder at him, tried to pummel that anger into a meaningless pulp. It was just going to devour him like always, Ryu thought madly, and ferociously pull him into an insanity he would rather die than experience again for another night.
Madness cracked a smile over his distressed face. He wanted to kill it. It would be easy now that it looked like her. All he had to do was imagine it was that woman while he was tearing into it.
Nina cocked her head at him, innocent eyes staring at him with strikingly real naivety. "You really still think I'm the demon?" she asked, full lips making a sickeningly attractive pout.
He answered by pouncing and clamping his mouth hard onto her throat, sinking his teeth deep into her soft flesh. There was a gasp and a gurgle from her and he snapped his head back, ripping it open, showering himself in her blood.
He saw her die. He saw her eyes focus for the last time and the life fade from them. She fell limp in his arms and then, there was nothing. He blinked. She was gone. He whirled around. There was nothing but blackness surrounding him.
The projector displaying those grotesque visions of the downfall of the Wyndian royal legacy cranked on again in his mind, and the terror resulting from them grinded an iron spiked fist into his gut. Why where these scenes disturbing him so? He had seen much, much worse, he thought, quickly wiping at the tears pouring relentlessly down his face as he watched Isabella being butchered for the second time. He'd done so much worse...
But this...struck him on such a deep level, he couldn't begin to comprehend the sorrow bursting from his heart.
Pale, milky arms wrapped around his waist. Delicate hands rested on his heaving chest. Ryu felt a head against his shivering back. "You're doing a very noble thing, Ryu." Nina's voice reached his ears, making the hairs on the back of his neck go rigid. He wildly whipped his head back and gnashed his sharp teeth at her, making a ghastly face. She stared up at him with pity for a moment, managing to keep her hold on him even as he was tearing madly at her grip. "Endure it for just a little longer..."
Another vision came, and he watched himself being thrown down against the chopping block in the Wyndian execution grounds by soldiers, crowds of people screaming obscenities and throwing rotted fruit and vegetables at him. Out of the corner of his eye the executioner's giant weapon flashed in the light of the sun, and was brought swiftly down to sever his head from his body, releasing all the anger and madness alongside his flowing blood, leaving the dragon once again with only incessant fear wrecking havoc inside of his already unstable mind.
"You're such a noble soul, Ryu..." Nina repeated in almost a whisper, dropping to her knees in the darkness along with him, nuzzling her face into the back of his trembling form. "Whether you know it, or not..."
And she held him, while he endured her pain.
A/N: I want to again say thanks to everyone continuing to read and review; you make me happy!