Kings and Traitors: Chapter 10
Disclaimers:
I do not own Escaflowne
~~~
Van
watched as Erebos's form faded and disappeared. He stared at the place where Erebos
had been for a few seconds, but was brought back into reality when he heard
coughing behind him. He blinked, and then turned around.
"Hitomi!!"
he said, running over to her side. "Hitomi, are you okay? I'm so sorry I wasn't
here to help you, Hitomi…Oh, please be okay!!!"
Hitomi
coughed again, then looked up at him. "I'll be fine, Van, don't worry. It's not
your fault. C'mon, let's go check on the others. I think they might be hurt
pretty badly…," Hitomi finished with a worried expression as she slowly stood
to walk toward the other side of the clearing where Merle and Tiger lay unconscious,
trying desperately to keep the pain she felt from showing on her face.
But
Van saw through her act. "Hitomi, you're hurt!!"
"It's
nothing, Van! I'll be fine! It's the others we have to worry a--," Hitomi
gasped in pain and clutched her side, unable to finish her sentence.
"Hitomi!!!"
Van caught her before she fell.
"I
think I might have broken a rib…" She grimaced again.
"Don't
worry, Hitomi, I'll take care of Merle and Tiger. You stay here and rest. I'll
be right back!"
Hitomi
could only nod weakly.
Van
stood up to go check on the two cat people when he heard a rustling in the
bushes to his left. He quickly turned and drew his sword.
"Is
it safe?" came a frightened voice.
"Yukari?"
Slowly
Yukari stood from her hiding spot in the brush. Van was about to yell at her
for hiding instead of trying to help when Hitomi was in danger, but at the look
on her face he knew that nothing he could possibly say would make her feel any
worse than she was already feeling, so they both simply walked over to the
others in silence.
~~~
"V-Van-sama……,"
Merle said as she began to regain consciousness. She sat up and looked around.
Tiger was awake, too, and sitting over with Yukari, helping Hitomi bandage her
wounds.
"Is
he…is he gone, Van-sama?"
"Yes,
Merle. For now at least," Van said and smiled gently, relieved that Merle was all
right.
Merle
nodded and looked away, the events of the past hour slowly coming back to her.
Erebos appearing out of nowhere and going after Hitomi, her and Tiger fighting
him desperately, unable to even penetrate the invisible barrier he had created
around himself as he walked slowly toward Hitomi. Finally, her and Tiger tried
biting into the barrier, but only resulted in getting electrocuted and hurled
backwards. As she hit the ground the wind was knocked out of her and the last
thing she saw before sinking into unconsciousness was Van tackling Erebos from
above…Hitomi being thrown free of his stranglehold…and a small glint of light –
the pendant!
"Van!!"
Merle shouted, snapping out of her trance. "Van, did Erebos get the Heart
Stone?!"
"The
what?"
"The
Heart Stone!! Hitomi's pendant!"
"Yes…but
why did he want it so badly, anyways? What's the Heart Stone?" asked Van,
obviously not aware of the seriousness of the situation, which only served to
frustrate Merle even more.
"The
Heart Stone!! The tear of the gods that is said to give enormous power to the
one who possesses it…I couldn't believe it was Hitomi's pendant at first,
either, but if it is…the legend…oh, no….," Merle said frantically, almost in
hysterics.
"Whoa,
Merle! Slow down!! What legend? What's this about?" asked Van.
Merle's
outburst had caught the attention of Yukari, Tiger and Hitomi, who were coming
over, Hitomi limping the whole way, leaning on Yukari's shoulder.
"An
old man who lived in Fanelia…he told fortunes for a living…he knew all sorts of
legends and folklore, too, though…I used to visit him sometimes and he told me
stories…I remember a certain one about the Heart Stone…umm…I think it went
something like this: "With the Heart Stone in his hands, the traitor
shall recite the spell to plunge Gaia into eternal darkness where the creatures
of the night can thrive and wreak havoc until the world we once knew is
destroyed…"
"Well
that doesn't sound very good…," Yukari said. "If that's true, we don't stand a
chance!"
"Wait!
There's more I think…let me see…umm…oh, yeah! "…But, should the traitor
forget the dragon's heart, the spell shall fail and Gaia will be trapped in a crimson
twilight as the war for dawn rages on."
"The
dragon's heart?" Hitomi looked towards Van.
"Maybe,
but I'm still not sure we should believe any of this…I mean, it's just a
legend, right?"
"It's
almost night," Tiger said, glancing at the sky. "If he's going to try some
spell to trap Gaia in eternal night, I'd suppose it'd be soon…"
"If
we're going to try to stop him, we'd better get going!" said Merle.
"Yeah…by
dragon's heart, maybe it meant Van's will to save Gaia. We might just stand a
chance, but we definitely have to hurry," said Hitomi.
"But
we don't even know where he is! And without Hitomi's pendant, how are we
supposed to find him?" asked Tiger.
"If
I concentrate hard enough, I don't even need a pendant."
"Yes,
but I'm willing to bet that where ever Erebos's hideout is, it's not within a
night's walking distance." Said Tiger.
"Who
says we have to walk when we can fly?" asked Van, grinning.
"Fly?!"
asked Hitomi, who was totally confused. "But you can't carry all of us, Van!
What are you talking about?!"
Van
merely grinned knowingly, then took off into the forest.
"Van!
Wait!" Said Hitomi, trying to follow, but collapsing in pain. Merle and Yukari ran
to her side as Tiger glanced off into the forest in the direction Van went, his
ears perking up slightly.
Suddenly
a loud noise came from that direction as if quite a bit of underbrush was being
flattened. Through the dim light of twilight they could barely make out the
shape of a guymelef…
"Escaflowne!"
"Yep!"
said Van as he jumped down from the cockpit. "After the Great War, I hid
Escaflowne in these woods hoping I would never have to use it again, but I
guess I'm glad it's here. C'mon, get on! We don't have much time!" Van said as
he changed Escaflowne into its dragon form, then helped the others onto its
back.
"Which
way?" Van asked.
Hitomi
closed her eyes for a few seconds, then pointed north. "There."
"Alright,
then. Let's go!"
Thanx
4 reading. PLEASE REVIEW!! ^______________^
More
2 come soon.
Merle