Chapter Eleven- Thief's Honor

Hawk walked ahead of Angela and Koren, staring at the ground. Angela followed him, only stopping once in a while to see if the sky had cleared of the dark clouds that smothered it. It hadn't, yet, and she didn't know how long they had been walking. Since dawn, at least, and she had no way of telling what time it was now, without the sun. It might as well have been night, or dusk, or dawn.

She could hear Koren sobbing behind her, but the sound just sickened her. He'd brought this on himself. Angela shuddered. She felt like spinning around and screaming at Koren to just shut up, you bastard, it's all your fault anyway. She dug her fingers into her cloak and glared down at the gray and dusty road.

In front of her, Hawk stopped.

Angela looked up. Hawk was staring up at the sky, which still was choked with heavy, rainless clouds. She felt herself grow very cold.

"What is it, Hawk?" she whispered.

"Up there . . . I saw something white. It can't be a bird. It's too big." Hawk said, never moving his gaze from the stormy clouds.

"A wisp of white cloud." Angela drew her cloak tightly around her.

Hawk put hand on the hilt of one of his knives. "I don't think so-"

Koren screamed. They spun around.

He was lying curled on the ground, a flood of hideous black rats swarming over him, gnawing and squealing. They were pooled around him, pouring from the ditches at the roadside. Angela stared at the rats in horror.

Koren was gone, covered by filthy, misshapen rats.

Hawk turned away, and began to scan the sky again.

Angela stumbled over, still in shock, and began to hack at the rats with her belt knife, wading through the mass of rats. Her arms were swiftly stained with blood, but the rats continued flooding in, refusing to relinquish this easy meal.

Underneath the mass, Koren stirred, then stood shakily, head bowed, the rats still scurrying up his legs and hanging off of his arms and cloak, squeaking shrilly, chewing and gnawing.

He stood still.

Koren lifted his head slowly. His eyes blazed with a hateful light.

Angela retreated from him, startled, and Koren flung his arms out and shrieked a word. The rats exploded backwards in a screeching circle of dust, and then fled back into the forest, squealing like mad dogs.

Koren collapsed into a shivering, bloody heap on the road. Angela stepped forward to help him.

"No," Hawk said, voice blunt, without turning his gaze from the dark sky. Angela turned away, looking at the road. "There. I see it . . ."

She looked back up at the sky, and gasped. "Hawk! Hawk, that's Flammie!" Now clear against the sky, the white form of the dragon circled and shimmered above them, against the thick clouds. Angela could see each of Flammie's four wings beating against the wind.

Hawk turned towards her, his expression blank. "I know," he said, bitterly.

Flammie circled again, lower, and trilled a song in greeting that seemed to float down from the sky like a dying rainbow.

Koren stirred and sat up feebly, holding himself up with his hands shoved into the crimson-splotched dust of the road.

(You see, crimson mage . . . what our power is. . . .)

He spun around, the movement knocking him back down onto the road and jarring his thousand cuts and bruises, but the road behind him was empty of any movement but the stirring of dust and leaves.

"No. . ." Koren whispered, and curled painfully in his tattered cloak again.

Flammie landed on her hind legs, beating her wings and driving up clouds of dust. She dropped to all fours and purred as Carlie leaped off her back, yelling happily.

"Hawkie!"

Hawk ignored her. He stared past her, past Flammie, into the dark forest hidden by Flammie's slowly beating wings.

Angela ducked into one of the shallow ditches at the side of the road, not wanting to meet the other Warriors of Mana face to face.

Carlie stepped backwards and swallowed. "Hawk. . . ?"

Lise jumped down, quickly followed by Duran and Kevin.

Angela watched them blankly.

Lise whispered something to Duran.

Hawk started to laugh, a hollow, desperate laugh, with nothing of humor in it.

"Something is wrong . . . the daemon walks free? Why do you not hunt it?" his eyes were wild, crazy with grief. "Jessica is dead, because of you . . . because . . ." He broke off in a snarl, and crouched, ready to attack, knives drawn in an instant.

Duran turned to Carlie and began to talk to her, quietly, in the background. Kevin looked quite startled at Hawk's violent reaction, and started to move forward. Lise motioned him backwards.

Anglea watched, hidden by the shadows of the trees.

Lise walked forward, towards the crouching Hawk, her hand outstretched to him and her eyes full of sorrow. "I'm truly sorry for your loss." She clasped Hawk's hand in hers, and gazed straight into his eyes. "I'm sorry."

Hawk swallowed, unable to meet her gaze, and dropped the knives to the ground. He shivered and then collapsed into Lise, sobbing.

Angela looked away, and met the eyes of Flammie. Startled, she backed up into a tree. Flammie whuffed and then rubbed her snout against Angela. She pushed Flammie's nose away. "Flammie! Cut it out!" Flammie nodded, and drew back a pace.

Carlie screamed, and then ran over to Koren's side, Duran and Kevin running after her. They stared down at Koren for a moment, and then Carlie clung onto Duran's leg and cried.

Koren stirred, trying to sit up.

Kevin stepped backwards. Duran crouched down to try and help.

Then he realized, through all the blood and dirt and filth, who that was.

He went rigid.

Carlie glanced up at him, and then down at Koren, who was feebly trying to hide from Duran by curling up in his ripped cloak.

"Goddess's light, source of our power," she began to chant, making the hand- signs of the spell of Healing. Duran grabbed her roughly and pulled her back towards him.

"What you doing?" Kevin demanded.

"This . . . . man does not deserve to be Healed." he said, never looking away from Koren.

"I got no fight with Koren now. You hold grudge too long."

Duran shifted his glare to Kevin. "He killed people I knew!"

Carlie looked puzzled, but nodded and, cheerful as ever, turned to Flammie.

"Flammie, you carry him too, huh-huh?"

Flammie purred, then walked over and carefully scooped Koren up in her claws. Koren screamed and started to flail around, smearing blood and dirt over Flammie's white fur.

Duran started to laugh hysterically. "He's afraid of Flammie. Oh, Goddess, that's funny. Who could be afraid of Flammie?"

Flammie looked disgruntled, and rumbled deep in her throat at Duran.

Kevin crossed his arms. "That cruel, Duran." He and Duran exchanged glares again.

Carlie giggled a little as well, and then jumped up onto Flammie's claws. "Flammie NOT eat you, stupid." she said, perched above Koren.

Koren shut up and lay limply in Flammie's claws, breathing hard, eyes closed. Flammie purred approval, then looked at Duran with her head cocked to one side.

Duran glanced behind himself, then back at Flammie. "Oh. Yes, let's go." He walked over to Flammie and carefully climbed up her side, choosing to sit between her first pair of wings.

Kevin followed him closely, sitting on Flammie's neck, buried in her mane. Carlie scampered up Flammie's arm, reappearing between her ears. She sat down.

Angela stepped out of the shadowy ditch and placed her hand on Flammie's flank. "I'm coming, too." she said, quietly.

Duran looked down, startled. "Angela! How did you get here? Were you traveling with Hawk?" He smiled, and extended his hand to help her up. Angela took it, and sat down beside him. Flammie rumbled.

"I have been traveling with Hawk. Duran, the daemon . . . it . . . the wolf kills, and kills, it doesn't care . . . did you see what it did to Hawk?"

Duran didn't answer. Angela leaned against him and sighed.

"This demon-beast, I never seen it." Kevin said.

"May you never see it." Duran said grimly, and Angela said "You're lucky."

They sat in silence until Flammie yawned.

Kevin stood up. "Hey, Lise, Hawk, we leaving. Come!"

Carlie jumped up from her sitting position and yelled. "Hawk, Lise! You gonna stand down there crying all day, huh huh? We gotta kill th' demon! C'mon!"

Lise looked up and then silently led Hawk over to Flammie and helped him up. They sat down behind Duran and Angela.

"Oki-doki, let's go." Carlie chirped, and Flammie rumbled. She launched herself into the air, faltering a bit from the the weight of her passengers.

But soon they were far up in the sky, close to the heavy clouds, with no sign that they had been there at all except for a windswept, dusty road splattered crimson.

-------------------------------------------------- Thank you to everyone who's reviewed so far! Next up, chapter 12 and . . . WotH Mad Libs! Hee hee hee. Just kidding. Maybe. ~ChibiCharizard