Gossamer Wind
Ch. 3: Hopes Dashed
Author: Miss Lizz
Rating: R for the same stuff as the chapters before.
Disclaimer: You need to ask? However, any unheard of characters are beings of my imagination.
Ayin led his small group down another dark corridor, the generator had been destroyed and apparently the back up as well for all power had died over an hour before. The inky blackness swallowed everything, multiplied sounds, and multiplied the danger tenfold; a thousand fold if the beasts were truly getting larger and breathing fire. It did help his peace of mind to know his team was composed of seasoned veterans; too bad they did not always act it.
When one of his teammates whispered, "Did any of you hear that?" The blonde Norseman swung around to face the questioner. It was the petite, flaxen haired B, her blue eyes wide and darting about to follow her flashlight beam.
"Hear what?" asked Rho, who shone her flashlight back the way they'd come. Sure enough, thuds and clicking were echoing slowly but definitely down the corridor. But it was difficult to tell from whence it came: behind or before or both? It was nerve-wracking.
"It's not behind us, it can't be behind us, if it was behind us, we would have seen it before. Wouldn't we?" H (he was believed to be slightly neurotic) was beginning to talk faster and faster, lower and more hoarse as the clicking drew nearer. At the rate he was going, he would hyperventilate before anything got to them. His mumbling finally became too fast and too low for anyone to make sense of.
Several tense seconds that felt like hours passed by silently save for H's hushed mumbling, when the clicking and thumping faded away to nothing. H nearly passed out. The other three relaxed and grinned at each other for acting like frightened rookies. The death-grips on their weaponry loosened slightly but were kept at the ready, just in case.
They continued on their way, keeping a closer watch on their rear and a keener ear to the wind. They had been lucky so far, none too many dragons had crossed their path but no survivors of any kind were found, even the rats they had come upon had been eaten.
For several minutes now she had been hacking and coughing up blood. This time the fit had left an already weak Elle totally exhausted. With blood dribbling down her chin and sweat dampening her hair, she lay wheezing on the floor with her head on X's broad chest. She was cradled against him as she had been for the last—it felt like hours—his very well muscled arms wrapped loosely around her. He had been very gentle thus far, showing a concern for her well being that amazed her, even wiping her brow and the blood from her lips.
This is awfully sweet of him, she thought as he adjusted them both into more comfortable positions. I didn't know he had a gentle bone in his body. Must've hit his head or some—waitaminute!
"X, where're my clothes?"
"Um…"
"X!!"
He sighed slightly, "I had to. It was either that or let you bleed to death!" his voice softened, "No matter how much we may fight I wouldn't want that."
"Oh." Her face grew hot. He only did what he had to, what she would have done in his place, and here she was getting mad at him. She felt so contrite. He probably didn't even notice her body except in disgust or worry over her injuries.
"Can I ask you a question?"
Uh… "Sure." Why not? It's not like anyone can overhear us.
"The last thing you were wearing, underneath the blouse and undershirt, what exactly was it?"
The blush that was already on her cheeks grew brighter and spread to the rest or her body. Thank God the lights were out. "Oh Lord…" she croaked in a small voice. "Um… it's a bra. They're for…support. Yeah." Why does he do this to me? I'm cursed, aren't I? The fates are laughing their heads off right now, I know it.
"That's a different name that what Agent Jay used. He called them… lawn-ger-ray?" He said the name slowly trying to pronounce the odd word correctly. "Only he never told me they were so tricky to unclasp, it took me five minutes just to figure it out. Do—Are you going to be okay? What's wrong?"
Elle was sputtering and coughing, if her blush wasn't covering her body before, it sure as anything was now, this was the oddest place to be having one of the oddest conversations she had ever had with her partner. If they lived through this, she would kill Jay. Who knew what else he may have shown X. That weasel. Was everyone against her?
"Was it something I said?"
A great scrabble of claws and the screaming cries of those beasts outside resounded through the small storeroom, cutting off any remark she could have made. The Jee'Dangian had leaned her against the wall and was on his feet before Elle was yet able to make her stiff body painfully respond to her commands. How could he move so fast? He was nearly as injured as she was. Another cry cut the air this time followed immediately by a monstrous roar from something very big.
"Where's my icer?"
X's voice was icy calm and had a dangerous edge to it, "Foot 'n' a half from your right knee." As he said this, a thunderous crash shook the door, then silence. A roaring sound, like wind through a tunnel, kicked up and flames erupted from the bottom seal of the door. It grew red hot, cresting into a brightly glowing orange. The heat in the room grew unbearable. It was like witnessing a small volcano; the metal was beginning to run down to the flooring that also seemed to be melting. They could see now but that was barely worth registering.
He shielded Elle with his body when the door exploded, hurling bits of heated metal and fire through the air. He grunted in pain as burns slashed across his broad back but turned back to face the door quickly, his weapon leveled at whatever may come in. And he had to look up. The flickering light of the fires threw grotesque shadows over the spiked body of a colossal beast. Its heavy-clawed feet denting the very floor it walked on. No clicking scrabbles from this brute, dull thundering marked its passage. How did this nightmare with wings manage to fit through the halls?
It growled, opening its great maw to reveal jagged, yellow teeth nearly a foot long that glittered with spittle in the firelight. X pushed his little human out of the way when the monster swung its awful head, mouth gaping, at them in a wide arc. He fired his carbonizer but only managed to enrage the beast. With another swing of its gnarled cranium and a swipe of its scimitar claws, X was pinned to the wall. Electric blue blood burst forth from his mouth and nose, his eyes widened and his gun slipped from suddenly limp fingers.
Elle scrambled to her feet as best she could, her partner's strangled cry echoing in her mind like a gunshot. When she fired her icer, it had much the same effect as the carbonizer: the creature became enraged. Though a patch of frozen feather-scales appeared on its shoulder. With a roar of pain, it swung its head to face her, allowing X to drop boneless to the ground. It glared balefully at her, opened its toothy jaws, to roar or erupt flames, Elle didn't wait to find out. The blonde woman fired again, sending the blast of super-cooled energy down its cavernous gullet.
It worked. The thing became a frozen lawn ornament.
Elle fought back a sob, both out of relief and out of utter devastation. X was laying facedown in a pool of blood. Was he breathing? Was he even alive still? She dropped to her knees beside him, biting back a yelp at the agony that caused. She had to try, after everything he did for her there was no way she couldn't. He was right earlier, no matter how often they fought, or how vicious those arguments, she didn't want to lose him. She was becoming fond of him. And his faults.
He was breathing but it was rough and his pulse was steady and strong. His ribs were snapped; at least three of the lower ones and the burns on his back were oozing blood. Strange, burns shouldn't bleed. They should have been cauterized instantly. She had to move him, it might prove fatal if one of those broken ribs punctured a vital organ but he would drown in his own blood in the position he was in now. Or he might bleed to death first. She couldn't let that happen. On his side should be safe enough, she hoped.
Don't let him die.
Don't leave me, X, please.
End Ch 3
Lots of blood loss in this one, huh? The next chapter is no better, I'm warnin' ya now.
Well, what did ya'll think of this'un? Review, review. Thank you.
Miss Lizz ^_^