Many thanks to all the guys who've reviewed so far, it's a great help to know that someone's readin this ^.~ I was tempted to give this up but hey I got bored so...here's the next chapter! Please R n R, any comments/criticism would be great!
A/N- I had to take a few liberties with the names of the Enchanter Kings coz the only one I could find was Shirob from the comics. So I've named the other two Boann and Tammuz. If anyone knows the real names that Fleetway gave them, please email me and let me know so I can change it ^^
Chapter two: To Mobius
Morain drew her knees up to her chest and buried her face in her paws. Maybe if she closed her eyes and concentrated hard, she'd wake up and find that the whole thing was just a terrible nightmare. She still found it impossible to believe.
Errol was gone.
All hope of finding her brother had been practically lost. The Enchanter Kings, try as they might, were unable to find him. They had all the fox warriors searching the village and surrounding area, but there was no trace of Errol. They'd tried scrying for him, using fire, a crystal ball, a mirror, ink and even blood, but to no avail. They were still trying now, of course.
The small room in the castle where Morain sat was pleasantly cool compared to the heat outside, but the heat outside was nothing compared to the burning anger that boiled within her, coursing through her veins. Morain, as a warrior, knew this restless rage only too well. This emotion meant it was time to fight, and she was prepared to hack her way through flesh and bone to save her kin. But the worst thing was that although her blood boiled and her fingers ached to use her sword, Morain felt inexplicably numb. The whole ordeal had sent her spiraling head first into an all-consuming numbness from which she could not escape. It was terrifying in it's intensity.
Shaman Warpull, Sowlio and Dagaz were nearby, talking in hushed tones. They'd tried everything to cheer Morain up, and had finally resigned to discussing the best course of action amongst themselves. Unfortunately, Sowilo and Dagaz had proven to be completely useless at plan making, they were too excited by the whole mystery to say anything intelligent. That didn't surprise Morain in the slightest, but what did surprise her was that the Enchanter Kings and Shaman Warpull, the cleverest and most powerful foxes in the zone, had no idea what to do. They were as lost as she was.
"Morain..." Shaman Warpull bent down beside her, a sad smile on his wrinkled old face. "There is still hope, my dear. The Enchanter Kings are consulting the Magic Crystal of Communication, the most powerful magical instrument in our possession. If there is any chance of finding Errol, the Crystal will show us."
Morain nodded silently, her spirits lifted slightly, but not daring to count on the Crystal in case it went wrong or something. Although she had a little magical power, the ability to use something as complicated as the Magic Crystal of Communication was far beyond her. Silently, she cursed her lack of magic and wished bitterly that she knew what to do.
Shaman Warpull stood up as one of the Enchanters, Boann, entered the room. Sowilo and Dagaz stopped arguing and listened.
"We have managed to locate Errol." Boann answered their unspoken question. "The message is very faint, however, you are permitted to see it if you will not be too disturbed by it."
"Disturbed?" Morain echoed in alarm, leaping immediately to her feet. "Is Errol...hurt?"
Boann made no response to Morain's question, and simply turned on his heel and retraced his footsteps out of the room. Shaman Warpull beckoned to Morain, Sowilo and Dagaz and they followed him into the room next door.
The other Enchanter Kings, Shirob and Tammuz, were there, staring at a huge white-coloured crystal standing in the center of the room on a gold base. It was pulsing with an odd, faintly blue light.
"What...?" Morain began impatiently.
Shirob placed a finger to his lips and beckoned for her to approach the crystal.
As Morain peered into the milk white depths of the crystal, a dark shadow materialized from the mist. Now two shadows. The distant, faint sound of a voice, a voice none of the watching foxes recognized, harsh, cruel and alien, drifted to their ears, the sound amplified by the Crystal's powers.
"Where is it? Tell me now and I'll let you go unharmed."
Errol's voice followed, raspy, tired, but still unmistakably his. "I don't know. And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you!"
"Little scum. However, do not think you've won. I have a team of experts searching for the artifact as we speak, and it is only a matter of time until it is found. Then I shall gladly dispose of you."
"Do you want me to deal with him, Sir?" Came the soft voice of a third, unseen person.
"Yes. Shallow cuts, mind you, we don't want him dying on us yet."
"Shallow cuts?!" Morain echoed aloud.
All too suddenly, the vision faded, and the crystal went dead.
Morain uttered a string of curses and would have flung her sword at the crystal if Dagaz hadn't stopped her. She was trembling with uninhibited rage. The numbness from earlier had finally worn off and now she was angry.
"How dare they?!" She spat, eyes glittering dangerously. "I'll show them! Kidnap my brother? I'll kill them!"
"Morain, calm yourself." Shirob replied gravely. "Firstly, we don't know Errol's exact location, as the message is not particularly clear. Our only lead is this."
As he spoke, Shirob drew out a small black book from his pocket and extended it towards Morain. She recognized it immediately.
"Errol's workbook!" She exclaimed, grabbing it from Shirob's outstretched paw. Pulling apart the iron clasp that held the book shut, she flipped urgently through the pages, searching for any clue. The whole book was written in code, a weird jumble of letters and numbers and symbols. Completely confused, she looked up at the Enchanter Kings.
"But this...this doesn't make any sense!"
"We know." Tammuz nodded, "But it seems that Errol was on to something. Whatever it was, I suspect that someone didn't want him to know about it. If you can decipher the code, you might be able to find Errol."
"But there's a second problem." Boann glanced nervously at his companions as he spoke, "Even if we can uncover the book's code, we may already be too late..."
"That's no reason to give up!" Morain thundered suddenly, making them all jump. She thumped her chest with a clenched fist, a stubborn frown on her face. "I'll go and rescue Errol myself!"
"Morain, you can't go alone..."
"Then I'll call for Miles Prower! He's our champion, he'll help me."
"There's a strong possibility that you will need his assistance, Morain." Shirob replied, "Like we said, we don't know exactly where Errol is, but we do know this...Errol is on planet Mobius."
"You mean he was stolen all the way to Mobius?" Dagaz gasped. "Is that possible?"
Morain remained silent, stony faced.
"Yes, Dagaz, it's possible. But from what Miles Prower has told us of Mobius, it is a huge and dangerous place, and Errol could be anywhere."
"I'm going to Mobius."
"What?!" Chorused Sowilo and Dagaz, looking at Morain in a mixture of shock, horror and admiration.
"We have to rescue Errol." She explained quietly, "Not only is he my brother, he's also my friend. If I were in trouble, I'd expect him to help me. Even if he's trapped in some godforsaken place, we have to save him."
"Define we?" Sowilo squeaked.
"As Runic Warriors, you're obliged to go with Morain." Shaman Warpull intervened, "That's the idea, Sowilo."
"I'll go alone." Morain replied, "Sowilo and Dagaz would only slow me down. If you can open the portal to Mobius for me, I'll locate our champion and go rescue Errol. I can easily open the portal back here for long enough for Errol and me to return. It shouldn't take long."
The three Enchanter Kings looked at each other and nodded, "Very well, Morain. When can you leave?"
"Now." Was the reply. "I have my sword, and Errol's book. That's all I need."
"Then allow us a few moments to gather our magic together and open the portal." Shirob answered.
Morain, Sowilo and Dagaz went to the nearby fire and waited, while the Enchanter Kings and Shaman Warpull retreated to their own corner of the room.
"Do you really think you can find Errol in time, Morain?" Sowilo asked the younger vixen.
At first, Morain didn't reply, but simply stared into the fire, the flames casting shadows on her face. It was almost like the fire was reflecting in her amber-colored eyes. Reaching to her right boot, she drew out a small, gem-encrusted dagger. Placing it flat on her right palm, she drew it along her palm suddenly, the sharp edge of the blade slicing through her white glove and the flesh beneath. She clenched her right paw into a fist, feeling the hot blood well between her fingers.
"I won't rest until my brother is safely home here again."
Holding her fist over the flames, she opened her paw and dripped several droplets of blood into the fire. Over the noise of the hiss and fizzling flames, she continued.
"I swear it. By my own blood."
The Enchanters had been watching this blood oath and looked at each other as Morain finished it.
"Do you think that Errol could know about...about..."
"The crown? It's possible, though I don't know how he discovered its existence. Then again...he is Janna's son."
"And Morain? She's going into deadly danger on Mobius. I think, however, it is to her advantage that she knows nothing of the crown or it's guardians. Whoever kidnapped Errol is close to finding it, and the guardians will have no qualms about destroying anyone who knows even the crown's name. Her ignorance could well be her salvation."
"How true. Besides, she will have Miles Prower to defend her. He was an amazing warrior the last time we saw him, I am sure he will be an even greater one now. If Errol can be rescued before the crown is found and before the guardians can find and destroy him, all should be well."
"Hmm...it is a lot to hope for. We can only watch and wait."
Morain approached them, closely followed by Sowilo and Dagaz who looked even more nervous than she did. As the first green rays of the portal began to materialize in front of her, they offered her good luck.
"Be careful, Mo."
"Yeah. Good luck."
"Thank you, Sowilo, Dagaz."
"Morain Blackthorn," Shaman Warpull bowed to her, "Give our regards to the prodigal son."
At this, Morain grinned, "It'll be good to see Tails again."
"Good luck, Morain."
Taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders, Morain stepped into the green light of the portal. All the familiar sights, sounds and smells faded away, and she felt an unfamiliar jolt of loneliness. Then she detected a faint yet distinct smell wafting to her through the green void. It was like nothing she had ever smelt before.
Without warning, she tumbled out of the portal and landed in an ungraceful heap on thick, lush green grass. Cautiously opening her eyes, she peered around.
Tall trees stood around randomly. The long, bright green grass danced to the gentle breeze and to her left, a crystal blue waterfall tumbled over rocks and followed the course of a beautiful stream over a nearby hill. Remembering what Tails had taught her of the layout of some of the zones of Mobius, it didn't take long for Morain to remember the name of this one.
It was the Emerald Hill Zone.
Meanwhile...
A short distance away...
"I've detected an unidentified life form only a few miles south east of here. It's just appeared...out of nowhere."
"Think it could be a threat?"
"I'm not sure. But better safe than sorry, eh? The life form's female, a fox in species."
"Alright then, you and I should take her."
"She could just be a civilian..."
"Civilians don't just appear out of nowhere."
"Hmm...and look at this! According to the computer's databanks, there's no records of this person anywhere. It's like...she didn't exist until a few moments ago. I've never seen anything like it."
"We can worry about that when we get there. Pass over my crossbow, would you?"
"Do you really think weapons are necessary?"
"Just a precaution. She could be tricky, and I'm not gonna risk any of the locals if she is. It's a shame none of the guys are around."
"It wouldn't take all of us to confront this fox, would it?"
"No, I mean I wanna see the looks on their faces when I beat the crap outta this imposter. Anyway, let's go, before she gets too close to the village or the base."
Back by the waterfall...
Morain unsheathed her sword and cautiously followed the stream over the hill and down towards the valley. It looked like there was some kind of village down there...