Tenkuu no Ryuugekitai - Yuuwaku


'AAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH!!'

Shanti sat up with a start, his eyes wide and staring. Breathing hard, he wiped the sweat that dripped down his face. The shrill scream still echoed in his head, echoeing faintly.
What...? A dream... only a dream... Exhaling, he slowly lay back down and closed his eyes again. Only a dream...
Shanti paused for just a moment, then his heart started pounding. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he came to a sudden realization.

He was not alone in his room.

A cold hand clamped down on his mouth, preventing his cry from being heard.

*****

'Psst...Guimel! Did you hear that?' Gatti prodded the sleeping form.

'Mmmrrhhmm...'

'Wake up!' This time, Gatti gave the inert Dragon Slayer an unceremonious shove.

'Go 'way.'

'Look, you fool. I heard somebody screaming.' Guimel rolled over and peered up at Gatti's silhouette with great annoyance.

'Then go do something about it...' Guimel grumbled and started to roll over. Before he could even blink he was being marched towards the door. 'Alright, alright...let me get a shirt on first...'

***

Shanti's eyes shot open in terror as his hands flew to grasp the other's wrist. As he struggled, he suddenly caught sight of another form. Two!
'I know you.' A cruel, reptilian voice hissed at him. 'I know what you are...' Shanti's body went cold. The moonlight from his window shone on a metal object produced by the second form. Shanti somehow managed to untangled his legs from the sheets and began to strike at his attacker with new intensity. For one short moment the grip on him lessened. It was all he needed. With a burst of energy Shanti lunged at his bedside table, where his sword lay in its scabbard.

***

'I wouldn't suppose you know exactly where you heard this scream, no?' Guimel, who was not exceedingly thrilled at being woken up from a very pleasant sleep, asked sardonically. Gatti gave him a sharp look.

'I did not imagine it, if that's what you're implying. It came from...that direction.' Gatti pointed down the hall.

'Oh, very good Gatti. That leaves only ten rooms to look in. I'm sure ten Dragon Slayers will be very happy to be woken up at this hour.' Guimel yawned.

'Gatti? Guimel?' Gatti turned around to see Dante standing in the doorway of his room. 'You wouldn't have happened to hear something a moment ago?' As Guimel rolled his eyes and muttered about everyone around him slowly going mad, Gatti strode over to Dante.

'What did you hear?'

***

Shanti's fingertips grazed the hilt of his sword when he was wrenched back by his first assailant. The second creature quickly struck the table, sending it and the sword flying across the room, where they clattered onto the stone floor. As Shanti turned to face his attacker, he was met with a crushing blow that sent him crashing to the ground in a daze. He felt his limp body being roughly forced up into a kneeling position, his arms pinned behind him.

'Don't worry,' the cruel voice hissed into his ear. 'when your secret is discovered, you'll be dead.' Shanti defiantly spat on the ground. The second intruder snarled and backhanded him, hard. The creature holding him grabbed his hair and forced his head back to expose his throat. Shanti's world slowly crumbled into darkness as he felt his stamina abandon him.

***

The three Dragon Slayers froze as they heard a loud crash.

'What... was that?' Guimel asked.

'It came from Shanti's room.' Dante said. 'I thought I had heard something from there before...like a cry.' Before he had even finished Gatti was already running down the hall, closely followed by Guimel.

'Shanti? -The door's locked...- Shanti, are you alright?' Gatti yelled, banging on the door.

***

A voice pierced into the darkness what was Shanti's mind. The creatures hissed.
'Someone's outside.'

'We'll be caught.'

Help me... someone...

'And what about if we don't finish?'

'Then hurry up!' The blade of the dagger glinted coldly in the moonlight as it was raised. With his last bit of strength, Shanti cried out,

'GATTI!'