Chapter IV
The red haired Suzaku seishi was awakened some time later by the smell of smoke, which caused him to sit up quickly and cough. It took him quite some time until he was able to breathe normal again. When he finally opened his eyes the heat and the smoke caused them to water.
Covering his nose and mouth with a piece of cloth he made his way in the direction the dragon had disappeared moments ago.
While swaying through the black smoke he bumped into a solid warm something and landed promptly on his ass as the something he ran into proved to be unyielding.
Swearing heavily he turned his gaze towards the cause for his less than graceful mishap. It turned out to be one of the graceful creatures with the long ears. The being was tall and slender with long cobalt blue hair and marvellous features.
After a few moments Tasuki decided that the elf, that's what he decided this being was, was male since it lacked a bit of perimeter on the height of its chest.
At his outburst the elf arched one of his elegant eyebrows and his lips turned into a slight smirk.
"And whadya laughin 'bout ?!" the bandit demanded to know.
"You humans are barbarians" the other male answered in a melodious voice.
Before Tasuki's temper could get a hold of him, the elf grabbed his arm and swiftly hauled him up. Stunned into silence, which was a rare thing with the bandit, he was dragged along behind the other being. He was led through one tunnel full of smoke after another until he was convinced that the volcano was in reality one huge labyrinth.
When they finally stumbled out into fresh air the first thing both did was to take a deep breath and then cough out the smoke out of their lungs. After almost coughing out their entire inner organs they calmed down again and Tasuki turned his gaze on the elf once again.
"Say, who are ya anyway ? Some kind of weirdo ?"
"As usual a human has proven that his kin is inferior to the rest of life . except for trolls maybe, but even that is questionable."
"Whaaa... ?!?"
"I am Torian, at least that's the name you'll be calling me while we're stuck together. We can't afford to lose anymore time. Zyan is waiting for us on the ledge, so let's not keep him waiting."
The red head found himself speechless once again. Who the hell did this 'I have a stick up my ass' think he is ?!? Pushing him around without even letting him finish one sentence ! He was going to teach that little worm what it meant to mess with one of the Suzaku shichi seishi !
Reaching for his tessen, which had appeared again as soon as the dragon had left him alone, on his back he was surprised when he was suddenly yanked forwards towards a steep path, which wound itself up towards the mentioned ledge. As they neared their destination Tasuki could see the large body and wings of Zyan.
When his gaze drifted towards the bottom of the volcano his eyes almost popped out of his head because of the sight before him.
The volcano was the only thing existing within hundreds of kilometres, around it the environment was desert like. No plant could be found.
In fact the only thing visible besides the sand was the mass of the creatures, which had attacked him, and some of the other Suzaku seishi on their way to Eiyou. This time though, there weren't only a few of them but a fucking enormous army, which besieged the volcano as if it were a hostile fortress. On second thought it probably was the red haired bandit decided.
Well, he HAD wondered why the tunnels were on fire and now he had his answer. The fire had been caused by the burning flying arrows and the balls, which exploded once they came into contact with something solid.
//Bombs// his brain supplied //Yeah, that's what Tama had called them when he had told them about the Miko's world.//
His musings came to a sudden end as they reached the silver dragon who was keeping an eye on the things, which were happening on the plain.
Upon their arrival Zyan turned his head to look at both of them.
/We can't afford to lose anymore time. They will have torn down my magical shields in a few moments. Hurry and climb up my back. Try to make yourselves comfortable./
Torian dragged the bandit towards the dragon and tried to heave him up. Tasuki's brain, which had been considerably absent, chose that moment for its comeback. He began to violently struggle, thrusting his arms and legs against the elf to free himself.
Yet he didn't accomplish anything. Only after cursing everything in the world especially a certain elf which resulted in a short order from the dragon, did Torian let him go. After putting a safe distance between himself and the dragon and elf, he started to yell angrily at them.
"No way ! Do I 'ave a big sign on my forehead, stating moron ? I'm not gonna climb up there ta just crash down again once we're in da air."
"Oh, would you stop it ?! Do you trust Zyan that little ?"
"Well duh ! Why should I trust him anyway ? I mean, it ain't as if he has done anything trustworthy thus far."
"That's far off the point ! He's a member of the silver dragon clan, one of the 'good dragons' and one of the most loyal and trusted subject of the gods !"
"And ya point being ? Just 'cause you're thinking he's almost godlike doesn't mean I have ta trust him."
"You are one insolent and rude .." he was searching for a fitting word and could only come up with "..human."
"Now I'm hurt " the red head's voice dripped with sarcasm but before he could say anything else, Zyan interrupted him.
/Stop it both of you. This is no time to be fighting. Torian, Tasuki is right. Why should he trust someone who until today he had only known from stories he was told when he was very little ?/
This got the elf a victorious glance and grin.
/You have two options youngling. Either you stay here and fall into the hands of the trolls, who'll just love to torture you before eating you for supper, or you can hop up, hold on and pray to Suzaku that we will indeed not 'crush down'. Your choice./
The only reply Tasuki was capable of was to look dumbfounded at the dragon. Smoke started to come out of his ears as he thought REALLY hard about the matter and then climbed on the dragon's back without another word. The elf climbed up as well and sat himself in front of the bandit with a huge smirk plastered on his face.
When Zyan spread his silver wings and glided into the air, Tasuki held on to Torian for dear life. His eyes as well as his mouth, for once, were shut tightly. His fangs dug into his lower lip, causing two tiny droplets of blood to run down his chin.
"You don't have to crush me just because you're frightened. Relax ! Zyan's magic prevents you from falling off. So loosen up and enjoy the ride. Look, we are flying over some villages, can you see how small the other beings down there look ? Hey, they're even smaller than you!"
//He's soooo dead ! .as soon as I 'ave ground under my feet again. Who da hell does he think he is ?! Just because he's crazy doesn't mean I'm suicidal. I'm not gonna let go so that he'll get rid of me. No way !//
Thinking this, the bandit clanged on to the elf even more, that gained him an amused chuckle from Torian, which he could feel trembling through the other's body.
No human can be cramped for a long period of time and Tasuki soon felt himself loosening up against his will. When after a few hours he hadn't fallen down, he opened first one and then the second eye.
Very carefully he started to look around him and found, that the dragon flew above the clouds and one could only see the ground when there was a gap in the cloud cover. The bandit also noticed, that he rather enjoyed how the wind blew in his face and he closed his eyes to take a deep breath. From that moment on he relished the feeling of freedom flying invoked in him.
The red haired Suzaku seishi was awakened some time later by the smell of smoke, which caused him to sit up quickly and cough. It took him quite some time until he was able to breathe normal again. When he finally opened his eyes the heat and the smoke caused them to water.
Covering his nose and mouth with a piece of cloth he made his way in the direction the dragon had disappeared moments ago.
While swaying through the black smoke he bumped into a solid warm something and landed promptly on his ass as the something he ran into proved to be unyielding.
Swearing heavily he turned his gaze towards the cause for his less than graceful mishap. It turned out to be one of the graceful creatures with the long ears. The being was tall and slender with long cobalt blue hair and marvellous features.
After a few moments Tasuki decided that the elf, that's what he decided this being was, was male since it lacked a bit of perimeter on the height of its chest.
At his outburst the elf arched one of his elegant eyebrows and his lips turned into a slight smirk.
"And whadya laughin 'bout ?!" the bandit demanded to know.
"You humans are barbarians" the other male answered in a melodious voice.
Before Tasuki's temper could get a hold of him, the elf grabbed his arm and swiftly hauled him up. Stunned into silence, which was a rare thing with the bandit, he was dragged along behind the other being. He was led through one tunnel full of smoke after another until he was convinced that the volcano was in reality one huge labyrinth.
When they finally stumbled out into fresh air the first thing both did was to take a deep breath and then cough out the smoke out of their lungs. After almost coughing out their entire inner organs they calmed down again and Tasuki turned his gaze on the elf once again.
"Say, who are ya anyway ? Some kind of weirdo ?"
"As usual a human has proven that his kin is inferior to the rest of life . except for trolls maybe, but even that is questionable."
"Whaaa... ?!?"
"I am Torian, at least that's the name you'll be calling me while we're stuck together. We can't afford to lose anymore time. Zyan is waiting for us on the ledge, so let's not keep him waiting."
The red head found himself speechless once again. Who the hell did this 'I have a stick up my ass' think he is ?!? Pushing him around without even letting him finish one sentence ! He was going to teach that little worm what it meant to mess with one of the Suzaku shichi seishi !
Reaching for his tessen, which had appeared again as soon as the dragon had left him alone, on his back he was surprised when he was suddenly yanked forwards towards a steep path, which wound itself up towards the mentioned ledge. As they neared their destination Tasuki could see the large body and wings of Zyan.
When his gaze drifted towards the bottom of the volcano his eyes almost popped out of his head because of the sight before him.
The volcano was the only thing existing within hundreds of kilometres, around it the environment was desert like. No plant could be found.
In fact the only thing visible besides the sand was the mass of the creatures, which had attacked him, and some of the other Suzaku seishi on their way to Eiyou. This time though, there weren't only a few of them but a fucking enormous army, which besieged the volcano as if it were a hostile fortress. On second thought it probably was the red haired bandit decided.
Well, he HAD wondered why the tunnels were on fire and now he had his answer. The fire had been caused by the burning flying arrows and the balls, which exploded once they came into contact with something solid.
//Bombs// his brain supplied //Yeah, that's what Tama had called them when he had told them about the Miko's world.//
His musings came to a sudden end as they reached the silver dragon who was keeping an eye on the things, which were happening on the plain.
Upon their arrival Zyan turned his head to look at both of them.
/We can't afford to lose anymore time. They will have torn down my magical shields in a few moments. Hurry and climb up my back. Try to make yourselves comfortable./
Torian dragged the bandit towards the dragon and tried to heave him up. Tasuki's brain, which had been considerably absent, chose that moment for its comeback. He began to violently struggle, thrusting his arms and legs against the elf to free himself.
Yet he didn't accomplish anything. Only after cursing everything in the world especially a certain elf which resulted in a short order from the dragon, did Torian let him go. After putting a safe distance between himself and the dragon and elf, he started to yell angrily at them.
"No way ! Do I 'ave a big sign on my forehead, stating moron ? I'm not gonna climb up there ta just crash down again once we're in da air."
"Oh, would you stop it ?! Do you trust Zyan that little ?"
"Well duh ! Why should I trust him anyway ? I mean, it ain't as if he has done anything trustworthy thus far."
"That's far off the point ! He's a member of the silver dragon clan, one of the 'good dragons' and one of the most loyal and trusted subject of the gods !"
"And ya point being ? Just 'cause you're thinking he's almost godlike doesn't mean I have ta trust him."
"You are one insolent and rude .." he was searching for a fitting word and could only come up with "..human."
"Now I'm hurt " the red head's voice dripped with sarcasm but before he could say anything else, Zyan interrupted him.
/Stop it both of you. This is no time to be fighting. Torian, Tasuki is right. Why should he trust someone who until today he had only known from stories he was told when he was very little ?/
This got the elf a victorious glance and grin.
/You have two options youngling. Either you stay here and fall into the hands of the trolls, who'll just love to torture you before eating you for supper, or you can hop up, hold on and pray to Suzaku that we will indeed not 'crush down'. Your choice./
The only reply Tasuki was capable of was to look dumbfounded at the dragon. Smoke started to come out of his ears as he thought REALLY hard about the matter and then climbed on the dragon's back without another word. The elf climbed up as well and sat himself in front of the bandit with a huge smirk plastered on his face.
When Zyan spread his silver wings and glided into the air, Tasuki held on to Torian for dear life. His eyes as well as his mouth, for once, were shut tightly. His fangs dug into his lower lip, causing two tiny droplets of blood to run down his chin.
"You don't have to crush me just because you're frightened. Relax ! Zyan's magic prevents you from falling off. So loosen up and enjoy the ride. Look, we are flying over some villages, can you see how small the other beings down there look ? Hey, they're even smaller than you!"
//He's soooo dead ! .as soon as I 'ave ground under my feet again. Who da hell does he think he is ?! Just because he's crazy doesn't mean I'm suicidal. I'm not gonna let go so that he'll get rid of me. No way !//
Thinking this, the bandit clanged on to the elf even more, that gained him an amused chuckle from Torian, which he could feel trembling through the other's body.
No human can be cramped for a long period of time and Tasuki soon felt himself loosening up against his will. When after a few hours he hadn't fallen down, he opened first one and then the second eye.
Very carefully he started to look around him and found, that the dragon flew above the clouds and one could only see the ground when there was a gap in the cloud cover. The bandit also noticed, that he rather enjoyed how the wind blew in his face and he closed his eyes to take a deep breath. From that moment on he relished the feeling of freedom flying invoked in him.