Between Hope and Death
By: ChocolateEclar
Disclaimer: Some characters belong to the magnificent authoress, Diana Wynne Jones. I just borrowed them for a while.
Claimer: I only own Wyn, Aidan, Kamania and Chris Aprilian, Lady Kachioin (and her village), Miss Coca, Mr. Calypso, Professor Weph, Life, Death, Apocalypse, and Rhys.
Lady Artemis: I hope you get my e-mail about how to do italics and bolds…Anyway, thanks a bunch for reviewing again. ^_^ Oh and about Kamania…well…she'll be back, but maybe not as you expected.
Chapter 9: In Which Aidan Receives Help from a 'Little Lizard'
"WYN!" Aidan yelled. He bounded towards the Sifrai, which still had the limp Wyn grasped firmly in its fist. Aidan threw his hands back, as he made it to a few feet from the monster. He garbled out a spell he hadn't used often and thrusted his hands forward again. From his palms, a bright blue flame burned. It began to blaze with more ferocity as he tossed the fireballs at the Sifrai's eyes. The Sifrai roared and dropped Wyn, who was quickly grabbed and pulled back to safety by Aidan.
The Sifrai blindly scuttled around in circles, its arms lashing about. Several students ducked and a few more screamed again. "Everyone, get out the door NOW!" Aidan bellowed over the noise. Most of the people obeyed immediately and others obeyed after they took another look at the Sifrai.
Wyn shifted in Aidan's arms, but didn't wake. Aidan didn't blame her. The Sifrai's grip must have hurt terribly. He studied the Sifrai, wondering how he would get rid of it.
'Sound like you could use some help.'
Aidan blinked. The voice didn't seem to have come from anywhere in the room itself. It was more like it had come from himself. He knew he hadn't said anything though and it puzzled him.
'Hurry! If you don't listen to me that thing'll come after you!'
'What the…' then something hit Aidan. It was the faint whiff of a spell in progress. 'Mind communication! Of course! Who are you?'
'My name is of little importance,' the voice said. Aidan noticed it was a young sounding voice, maybe even younger than he was. The only definite thing he could tell was the voice was a boy's. 'Just call me 'Little Lizard.' The voice laughed at that. It was definitely the laugh of someone very adolescent Aidan noticed.
'Little Lizard?' Aidan inquired silently.
'It's an inside joke,' 'Little Lizard' replied. 'Anyway, just do what I say. First, see that long brown hair hanging from the beast's chin?'
'Yes.'
'Good, well pull it and it'll turn to dust.'
'WHAT?!' Aidan shouted wordlessly at the person on the other side of the mind communication link.
'JUST DO IT!!!' 'Little Lizard' roared.
'Alright, alright, but if I die I'm going to haunt you for the rest of your life!' Aidan retorted.
'FINE! Now do it before its too late!' said 'Little Lizard.'
Aidan set Wyn down gently and turned to the Sifrai. "Okay; here goes nothing," he mumbled. He crept forward and when 'Little Lizard' yelped to act now, Aidan grabbed onto the strand of hair protruding out of the beast's chin.
The Sifrai yelled and, starting at the hair in Aidan's hands, began to turn into a thick grayish powder. Aidan let go in disgust and fell backward. He watched as the creature was completely changed to dust before he walked back to Wyn and picked her up. He carried her out the door and muttered a spell he did know well. It transported them to the main room of the moving castle, where Aidan laid Wyn onto the armchair in front of the fireplace.
He sighed and turned to see Sophie, Howl, Calcifer, and Morgan giving him a puzzled looks and Rhys giving him an amazingly thoughtful gaze for a toddler. Aidan explained to them what had happened. By the time his tale was over, he was sitting on a stool by the workbench.
"A voice?" someone asked causing Sophie and Aidan to jump. It was Wyn, who was making a pensive smile.
"Yes. It was really weird. The person sounded, well…pretty young," Aidan answered.
"I wonder who this 'Little Lizard' really is?" Wyn inquired to no one in particular.
"Me too. If it wasn't for him, I probably would have been flattened by that thing!" Aidan said.
"Yea. It was a Sifrai, after all," Wyn added.
"A Sifrai?" Howl asked suddenly. He and Calcifer had distinct look on their faces as if they knew something unique.
"Yes. That's what I said. I could tell somehow," Wyn answered.
"Hmm. Sifrais aren't usually seen around here. They live more in High Norland," Calcifer explained.
"Which makes it pretty suspicious, except I already knew that thing was strange. I saw Apocalypse in its eyes," Wyn remarked.
The others, save for Rhys who was throwing his food on the floor and saying 'ucky' every so often, looked shocked.
"W-What do you mean?" asked Morgan.
"You know what I mean, Mor," Wyn accused.
Morgan only gulped in response and turned away. He yelped slightly in surprise when something cold and wet hit the back of his neck. "What the heck was that?!" he shouted.
"That was Rhys's applesauce, Morgan," Wyn explained trying not to laugh at the expression on Rhys's face. He looked far too innocent, but he had still obviously been the culprit.
"Morgan like appler sice?" Rhys asked in his youthful speech. Everyone chortled at that, including Morgan.
A little while later, Aidan left and Rhys was put into bed for the night. Wyn sat in her room and smiled about what had happened with the applesauce; it was a false smile though. Something was nagging at the back of her mind giving her no end of agitation. 'I couldn't defeat the Sifrai?!' she thought, 'This isn't good…And who is this 'Little Lizard' anyway?'
'Little Lizard' was closer to her than she thought. In fact, at that very moment he was sitting in his bed thinking, 'Apocalypse is drawing ever closer…'
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A/N: If you're wonderin' who 'Little Lizard' is? I added little hints throughout this chapter. Also, you may want to take another look at chapter 6 to find more clues…Tell me who you think he really is in a review if you want. Either way you'd better review! ^_^Come on you know you want to…
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