I want to apologize for the delay in getting this part posted. My muse has a plan for the way this story is going, and it doesn't mesh with my plan at all. The end result is a lot of infighting between my muse and I. So in the very end, if you hate the way the story goes, blame it on my muse, for she is winning the battle.
Sacrifice
A Sequel to Quietly into the Night
Conventional Couples
Rating: PG-13
Chapter 20
Antar – Capitol City
She ran for hours after she emerged from the tunnel. Running through the woods,
she got turned around. She crashed through the underbrush, looking behind her
as she ran. Branches cut into her face and the rain poured down, washing the
blood away in a steady stream. She ran as if the hounds of hell were pursuing
her. She stopped for a moment to see if she could hear any sounds from Kivar's
guards. An eerie silence filled the woods. She looked around and tried to get
her bearings, but she was hopelessly lost. Great,
she thought to herself. After all the exercising
that Kyle made do, and all the maps he made me memorize, I still managed to get
lost. She looked around some more, and proceeded at
a slightly slower pace. She walked approximately a mile before she came to a
small stream. She knelt down beside the water and filled her hands with water
and drank deeply. As she drank, she remembered a fact she had learned when they
first came to Antar. No rivers or streams flowed away from the Capitol City,
only towards it.
She stood up and smiled, realizing that she was no longer lost; she began her
journey on foot back to the Capitol City. After walking for about an hour, she
climbed up a low ridge. As she crested the top, she became aware of the
buildings of Capitol City rising up to greet her. She paused for a moment to
look at the city where she had been held captive for so long. A smokey haze hung
over the city, and Liz smiled to think that her diversion in the palace was the
cause of it. She started to make the descent down the ridge when she lost her
footing on the rain soaked soil. She slid the rest of the way down the hill,
grasping at exposed tree roots to slow her descent. She crashed to the bottom
of the ridge, her head banging against a rock, rendering her unconscious.
Antar – Capitol City
Max paced the length of the shop while he waited for Kyle and Saranara to
return. When they finally arrived, he began to shout questions at them before
they even walked through the door.
"Max," said Kyle when he was finally able to get a word in edgewise. "Shut up
and listen. There's been a fire at the palace, now we don't know any more than
that right now. I tried to contact Liz, but I couldn't make a connection."
"I've got to get out there," said Max anxiously. "Liz needs me, I have to find
her." He pushed past Kyle to get to the door. When Max wouldn't stop, Kyle
reached his arm back and brought it forward with full strength, slamming it
into Max's face. Unprepared for a physical attack from his friend, Max
collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
Michael and Jereon rushed in from the storeroom when Max first began to yell.
Both watched in silence as Kyle punched one of his best friends in the face.
Kyle looked at Michael. "Believe it or not, as many times as I dreamed of doing
that to him, it wasn't anywhere near as satisfying as I expected."
"Yeah, I know, I've been there, King Michael, remember? Why did you do it?"
"He was in save Liz mode, and wouldn't listen to reason. He was going to take
off and find her, and I had to do something to stop him."
"Cool," said Michael. "So, does Liz need rescuing? I mean, should we be
mobilizing, or do we have time to eat first? I'm starved."
Saranara and Jereon listened to the conversation in amazement. Neither could
believe that Kyle had really hit their King, and even more amazing, the King's
second in command was more concerned with eating than with avenging the King's
honor.
"General," began Jereon haltingly. "He struck the King, aren't you going to do
something about it?"
"You never told them about Max and Liz, did you?" asked Michael looking at
Kyle.
"Who would ever understand?" said Kyle laughing.
"Ok, look, before this goes any further, Kyle, is Liz in danger?"
"Honestly, I don't know. There's a fire at the palace. I tried to communicate
with Liz, but I couldn't make a connection. But she's been blocking me so much
lately, I don't know if she's in danger, or just blocking me again."
"What does your gut say man?"
Kyle took a deep breath before answering. "I think she's ok. If the fire at the
palace is bad, Kivar will protect her, but I'm more inclined to believe that
Liz set the fire to find a way out of the palace."
Michael nodded and turned to the others.
"Let's move him back into the storeroom and eat, and we'll try and explain the
mystery that is Max and Liz to you," he said grabbing Max under the arms. Kyle
reached for his feet and the two carried him to the back and dropped him
unceremoniously on the cot.
"What's wrong with Daddy?" asked Kam looking at his unconscious father.
"Nothing Kaminator," said Kyle scooping the boy up in his arms. "Daddy was
tired and thought that he'd take a nap, that's all. How about you? Are you
feeling sleepy?"
"A little," said the boy. "But I'm hungrier than I am sleepy."
"Well, I can help you with that," said Saranara stepping forward. "Kyle and I
have all sorts of good things to eat." She reached into one of the bundles and
began to remove food. Jereon still puzzled at what he had witnessed began to
help her.
"They are very strange, these people," he whispered to his sister in Antarian.
"Striking a member of the Royal Family. I do not understand."
"Their world is different than ours Jereon, and as Isabelle has told you, they
are no longer royalty. They are just people, like you and I."
They fed Kam first, and tucked him up beside his father. When they were sure he
was asleep, Michael and Kyle tried to explain to Jereon and Saranara the love
that existed between Max and Liz.
"It's hard to understand, but Liz would do anything for Max to save him. She
loves him so much that one time, she convinced him she was sleeping with
somebody else so that he would be with Tess," said Michael
"Why would she do that?" questioned Saranara.
"At one time, Liz was visited by a Max from her future. He told her that a
friend named Serena helped him to modify the granolith to go back in time. The
Max from the future explained that Tess went crazy when she realized that Max
didn't love her, and it caused the death of everyone we cared about."
"So Liz decided the only thing she could do was convince Max that she didn't
love him any longer," continued Kyle. "So we arranged it so that Max would
catch Liz and I in a, um, compromising position. He did, and it worked. He
turned to Tess, but we still lost someone we cared about very much." He and
Michael looked at each other as they thought about Alex.
"I don't understand," said Jereon. "This Tess you speak of, she was Ava? Why
would you believe that she was Max's destiny?"
"Well, the destiny book for one," said Michael. "The translation we had at the
time said it, and the Max from the future said it as well."
"This is quite interesting," said Jereon. "The granolith could be modified to
travel through time, I am sure this is very true, but according to my father,
when you were sent to Earth, it was planned that you should not procreate with
each other, but with other's who were human."
"God, who knows, Tess probably mind warped the whole thing," said Michael. "At
this point, it doesn't matter, we were just trying to show you the things these
two do for each other."
"So Liz turned her back on love, and she stayed here on Antar to protect her
children, she is indeed a noble woman," said Jereon. "Tell us of some of the
sacrifices Max has made for Liz to protect her."
"I haven't," said Max, rising from the cot. "And that's part of the problem.
The only risk I ever took was when I healed her that time when she got shot.
Liz has made so many sacrifices for me, and I've done nothing for her. Well,
not this time. This time, I'm going to save her." He turned to look at Kyle.
"Nice right hook. You been working out?"
"Uh, yeah, Liz too. We both have, in case we ever had the chance to run,"
answered Kyle, puzzled by the change in topic.
"Well, thanks for stopping me, but if you ever hit me again, I'm going to have
to kill you," Max said, flashing his Tom Cruise smile. The three friends
laughed and the tension that had begun to fill the room abruptly vanished. Max
grabbed some food and ate while Kyle filled him in on the fire, and his theory
of Liz escaping.
"It makes sense," said Max. "Kivar certainly isn't going to leave her to burn,
but I really like the theory that she used the fire to escape. I just wish
she'd let you contact her," he said looking at Kyle.
"I keep trying," said Kyle. "When Kam wakes up, we should have him try too."
"What about Isabelle, have you been able to reach her?" asked Max
"No," admitted Kyle. "So I can't even tell if it's me who isn't working, or
them blocking me."
"Look," said Michael. "It's getting late. If we haven't heard anything by the
morning, maybe you could head back into town to see what you can pick up. Right
now, I suggest we take turns standing guard. One out front, and one here, by
the trap door, while the others sleep. I'll take the first watch out front, who
wants out back?"
"Me," said Max. "Since I've already had an impromptu nap courtesy of Kyle, I'll
stay up."
"Sounds good," said Michael moving towards the front of the building. "I'll see
you in a few hours then."
The others stretched out and prepared for sleep. Jereon and Saranara fell
asleep quickly, but Kyle stared at the ceiling for a long time. Finally he
turned to Max and whispered. "Max?"
"Yeah?"
"I had to stop you. Liz would have killed me if I let anything happen to you."
"I know," admitted Max. "Kyle, thank you for taking such good care of her and
Kam all this time. You didn't have to stay with her, but you did."
"I did have to stay Max. Liz is one of my oldest friends, I couldn't leave her
here alone."
"Yeah, well, thanks," said Max.
Antar – Capitol City]
The transport made it's way through the woods outside of the Capitol City,
following a path that led towards one of the least secure gates into the city.
Franchet and Malik drove in silence, watching the trail for signs of Kivar's
guardsmen. In the back, beneath some blankets hid Lexie and Isabelle. The both
slept for most of the journey, but just outside the city, Franchet reached into
the back and woke Isabelle up.
"We're almost there, you may want to wake the child up," he whispered. "The
poor mite, she has been though so much in such a short time," he said. "Kivar's
evil has touched too many people."
Isabelle smiled at him and began to stroke her niece's hair. "Lexie, sweetie,
its time to wake up Lexie Bear."
Lexie stretched and opened her eyes and yawned.
"I'm hungry Auntie Isabelle," she said.
"I know sweetie, here, munch on this, she said reaching into the packet Malik
had given her earlier. Lexie took the parcel, but instead of eating, she began
to listen intently.
"Auntie, my mommy's out there," she said pointing towards the dark woods. "We
have to get my mommy."
"Where honey? Where's your mommy, can she tell you where she is?"
"No, she gots a boo boo. We gotta find her so I can make her all better."
"Ok sweetie, just hang on," said Isabelle.
Isabelle moved to the front of the transport and whispered to Franchet and
Malik and explained what Lexie had said. Both men were reluctant to stop, but
after a few minutes of arguing with Isabelle, both gave in. They set off in the
direction that Lexie had indicated, and searched the brush. Isabelle sat with
Lexie, trying to draw more information out of the small girl, but all she would
say was that her mother was out there and she was hurt. After about fifteen
minutes, Franchet returned to the transport and shook his head.
"I couldn't find anything out there," he admitted as they waited for Malik to
arrive. Several minutes later, they heard him crashing through the brush. He
burst onto the path, struggling beneath the burden in his arms.
"Oh my God, he found Liz," whispered Isabelle, bringing her hand up to her
mouth.
"Quick, we must hurry," he whispered. "The guardsmen are searching the woods. I
could hear them in the distance."
He laid Liz in the back of the transport and Isabelle quickly covered herself,
Lexie and Liz with blankets. Malik climbed in and started the vehicle, and they
made their way towards the city.