Kings and Traitors: Chapter 8
AN: O_O Wow! Thanx for all the reviews!! ^______^ I'm continuing!!! Don't worry!
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Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne.
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"Aaaaauuuuggghhhhh!!! How could they have escaped?! It was that girl! I know it was that girl!! But how?!" Erebos raged as he stormed around the room, knocking items off shelves and destroying the chamber. Finally, after he ran out of things to destroy, he began to calm down. He took a deep breath then went over to a dark corner of the room. He placed his hand on the wall and chanted something under his breath. Green waves of magic flew from his hand and the wall opened into a doorway. As he entered, the wall closed behind him.
He was in a dark room that had a particularly fowl stench to it, as if something had died there and been left to rot, which probably was the case. The room was large and circular, and sloped downward toward the center slightly. In the middle of the room was a small pool, no more than four feet across, and filled with murky green water.
As he approached the pool, the water began to swirl. He held his hand above the liquid and muttered something then asked, "How did the girl save them?" The water swirled faster, then suddenly became calm. On the surface, an image formed. It was Hitomi's pendant.
"The Heart Stone?! That girl is the one who possesses it? And she knows how to use it? Hmm, perhaps this will be more interesting than I originally thought…no matter, it will be mine in the end."
Erebos then reached into a leather pouch at his side and sprinkled a strange dust into the pool. "Mokoi, Skadi, I have a task for you. Awaken now!"
With that, a large explosion of smoke and steam came from the caldron. Erebos didn't even flinch. As the smoke cleared, two forms became visible. At first, they appeared to be giant crows, but they had no form. They were shadows, shadows that seemed to suck the light out of everything around them. Shadows that seemed vaguely familiar…
"Master, we are at your service. Name thy request, and it shall be done," hissed the one on the right in a voice as cold as steel.
"Find the king of Fanelia. There will be a girl with him. She is the one who possesses the Heart Stone. You may kill her, then bring the stone to me."
"What about the others? May we kill them too?" the second shadow hissed with an evil twinkle in its eye.
"Yes."
And with that, the birds took flight
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Because of Yukari's constant begging, they had to stop to rest again. Hitomi used the time to check the bandage on Van's arm. The bleeding had stopped mostly, but it wasn't healing well. She was worried it would become infected.
They had been traveling for three days now, and Hitomi had a feeling that they were not 'out of the woods' yet, but literally and not. She knew Erebos was after them, she could feel it. And he was mad.
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Van winced as Hitomi tightened the bandage.
She seemed distracted lately. He knew it had to do with Erebos, but he wasn't sure what exactly. He did know that Hitomi was on the brink of paranoia. She was constantly looking over her shoulder and was urging them to keep moving. The others may not have noticed, but Hitomi was getting dark circles under her eyes. Van didn't know whether she was missing sleep because of frightening visions or dreams caused by them, but whatever it was, he was hurt that Hitomi didn't feel she could tell him.
Another thing that worried him was that if Erebos was after them, he couldn't fight. Escaflowne was still back in Fanelia, although he happened to have the energist with him still. At first, he doubted that he would need Escaflowne since, after the Great War, the use of guymelefs for fighting had been outlawed, but it was quite obvious now that Erebos wasn't worried about breaking the law. And even if Erebos didn't use guymelefs, Van couldn't fight him one-on-one, and the gash in his arm was proof of that.
A loud crash from behind him broke his chain of thought. He immediately stood in front of Hitomi and drew his sword. Tiger and Merle took up fighting positions as well, while Yukari hid behind everyone.
"Who's there? Show yourself!" Tiger called.
A giant bird-shaped shadow emerged from the brush. No one noticed a second shadow coming at Hitomi from behind.
Tiger prepared to strike. He was about to lunge at the shadow-bird when he heard something.
Hitomi gasped. She went pale. She began to fall, but Van caught her.
"Hitomi! Hitomi!! Are you ok? Hitomi!!!" Van shouted, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her as she gazed at him with a blank stare.
"No…darkness…*cough*….I can't breathe…," Hitomi whispered, her voice growing hoarse.
"Hitomi!! Hitomi! Speak to me!!" Van yelled, shaking her.
"…..darkness…so cold…I'm scared……*cough* Van! It's evil!…not human!…Run!!…..," she said, slowly turning her eyes toward him, but not focusing, still staring blankly, almost staring through him.
"Hitomi!! Fight it!! Hang on!! You can beat this!!!" Van shouted, his voice growing desperate.
"…..I'm scared, Van!….*cough*…..I can't see…too much……darkness…*cough**cough*……," Hitomi struggled as the last of her strength began to leave her. A single tear rolled down her cheek.
"No!! Hitomi!! Don't leave me, Hitomi!!" Van screamed as tears welled up in his eyes.
"…….I'm sorry, Van……*cough*……...I'm sorry…I can't fight it….it's too strong….I can't……………," she whispered, then she fainted.
"Hitomi!!" Van shouted. "No!! Not like this!! I can't lose her!!! Hitomi!!!………Hitomi. Please, Hitomi….come back to me…" A single tear rolled down his cheek as he laid her on the ground. He slowly stood then turned to face the remaining shadow creature.
'You will pay for what you have done to her,' he thought as he drew his sword.
'I will make you pay, or I will die trying. Mark my words.'
He raised his sword, then he charged.
AN: Sorry, that's all for now. I'm suffering from a minor case of writer's block, so this is a really short chapter. Don't worry, I'll make the 9th chapter extra long and I'll try to have it up in a few days, k?
BTW, Hitomi is NOT dead, although Van thinks she is. She's just in one of those weird trances like when she's having a vision. Sorry for the confusion.
Also, thanx again to all the people who reviewed. I really appreciate it.
Merle
vanz_cat@yahoo.com