Disclaimer: You know the drill… I don't own anything from Esca but I do own the characters not mentioned in the series so ask before you use them! Thanks!

Death Moon Rising

I would like to take this time to dedicate this story to someone special. She's touched my writing and has encouraged me to go places where I never would've thought possible. Like Crimson Fire, she helped me get to where I am today. Kae Noel, this one is dedicated to you!

Chapter 7: Fiery Inferno of the Heart

He and Guimel started down the path while Kat struggled to free her leg. The tree her foot was stuck in had caught on fire and the flames were beginning to creep steadily towards her. "Hey, guys! A little help?" She cried after the retreating forms.

She twisted her leg and pulled, hearing the wood around her ankle snapping. But it wasn't enough and she fell back, landing on the ground. She tried pulling again and couldn't budge her foot another inch.

The smoke began to spill into her lungs making her cough and the air supply getting harder to find. All she could see was the blurry light of the flames all around her and the dark forms of the scorching forest. I can't get out! She thought desperately, pulling her leg again.

Suddenly someone came up and took a hold of her leg, giving it one mighty yank and pulling it free. As her foot came free she heard a loud snap and pain washed over her. She half fell back into the awaiting arms of Gatti as he picked her up in both arms and started to run.

They ran through the fire, all choking on the smoke and their vision blurred badly. Kat would blast things out of their way or destroy things that were about to fall on them as Gatti carried her down the path but that was the extent of her help. "Where's Guimel?" She coughed, her lungs burning.

"Right here!" Guimel's voice came.

Kat turned and saw that he was running behind Gatti. She was about to say something to him but that's when the pilot of the guymelef caught sight of them. "KAT!" A familiar voice screamed over the sound of the forest being torched.

She cursed as suddenly the path they were taking was covered in flames. They came to a halt with and Gatti whirled around to see Dilandau's guymelef standing behind a wall of pure flames. "Holy shit!" Kat cursed again.

A wall of flames all around them surrounded them. It was a ring of fiery torture a waiting to fall upon them. "What do we do now?" Gatti asked, looking at the red guymelef that had just entered the ring.

Kat stared at the guymelef as part of her told her just to go to him, and everything would be fine. Forget what Nicole and Alex had told her-they were liars. But the bigger part of her told her she had a duty to do and she couldn't give in to desire. "To the fire… Jump into the fire!" She commanded.

"What?"

"You're insane! We'll burn!"

"No we won't. Just do as I say!" She yelled. Gatti nodded and together he and Guimel ran into the fire. "I'm sorry!" She yelled, looking back at the guymelef, just as they entered the flames.

Kat felt the heat all around her. It was so hot... like they were baking in an oven. But she kept a hold on Guimel and Gatti's presence as they ran through the fire. She would not let them burn because of the heat she was feeling. The next thing she knew she was on the other side of the fire ring with Gatti all ready running into the forest Guimel behind them.

They ran until they came to the cabin and ran inside. "How... how'd you.... do that?" Guimel asked, panting for breath as he closed the kitchen door.

"I phased us through the flames until we got to the other side," Kat explained, taking deep breaths as Gatti set her gently down on the ground.

"Hey! Back so soon?" A voice asked.

Kat looked up and saw that it was Alex, Nicole, and the rest of the gang coming into the kitchen. "Bad news. We didn't finish our work, but by now the paths should be clear of everything. In fact, they should be cleared into oblivion," Gatti replied.

"Dilandau stumbled onto us and burned the forest," Kat explained.

A look of horror crossed Nicole's face and Alex ran towards the window. Both cursed loudly as they saw the flames.

"I can't believe it," Nicole breathed as she looked around. The forest was almost completely burned; everything left black and dead.

"We're lucky Dilandau left when he did and we were able to put out the fires," Kat said with a hint of sadness in her tone. The destruction was so much… surely they would be found now.

Nicole put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "It wasn't you're fault. Dilandau just found you by accident… that must mean that the Vione is nearby."

"Yeah, well, thanks to him it looks like I'll have a lot of work ahead of me," Alex said as she surveyed the damage.

"We'll help in any way we can," Kat offered. She felt terrible about the damage. It was as if it was her fault that Dilandau had burned the place to a crisp.

Alex nodded, eyeing the Dragon Slayers. "I'll need some strong guys," she said.

Kat noticed that her eyes fell on a certain one; Miguel. "Um... should we start now?"

She shook her head and turned her gaze from Miguel to Kat. "It's too late. It'll be dark soon and we don't want to get caught out here at night working. We'll start first thing tomorrow."

Kat nodded and turned around. "I'm going to walk around, survey the damage some more," she told the others as she began to walk deeper into the forest.

"A stray kitten lost in the dark," a voice whispered in her ear as she walked through the heart of the forest. Kat remembered that voice and why they had said it. She glanced through the dead branches at the sky and saw the two moons hanging high in the sky. "You were right," she whispered to the darkness of the forest.
~FLASHBACK~

Kat stood leaning against the backdoor of her porch. She was all dressed up, looking extremely hot for a fourteen year old, in tall below the knee black boots, a leather mini skirt, and a tight midnight blue tank top that was skin tight. A silver chain belt hung loosely around her waist with a silver bracelet and her blue friendship bracelet completed the outfit.

"Ah, what have we here? A stray kitten lost in the dark? Taken shelter on a stranger's porch, have we?" A voice asked from the darkness.

"Come on out, Steve," Kat called, annoyed. Why did the freak have to show up and ruin her freak-free day?

A tall man with straggly light brown hair, cat-like amber eyes and a thin frame stepped onto the porch. He wore a black trench coat, which blended perfectly into the night.

"What do you want, Steve?" Kat sneered. She hated this weird-o's guts. He stalked her and acted like she was his property. Anything she did was to be cleared by him… or so he thought. Too bad I have to crush that little dream, she thought.

"To accompany such a pretty lady as yourself on your lonely night," he replied smoothly, not noticing her tone.

"No thank you. I'm fine alone," Kat said through gritted teeth. All she wanted to do was reach out and strangle the bastard's wimpy little neck.

"But you'll be all alone and wishing you had someone to talk too. I can fill that slot in."

"I all ready said I would be fine alone. Besides, it's just me and my friend so leave."

"Which friend?" His voice was curt with a hint of anger in it.

"Not that's it's any of your business but I suppose you'll follow and never leave us alone till I tell you. It's Samantha."

"Oh. A girl's night out, I suppose?" His tone was more relaxed now.

"You suppose right. So bug off jerk." Anger began to boil in Kat.

"So now I am a bug, eh? A bug to be caught by the beautiful cat that hunts in the night." He moved closer to Kat.

"Look, just leave, ok?" Kat was becoming uncomfortable now. She hated him standing so close to her-she knew what he wanted.

"Come on, pretty kitty. You know you want me and I want you," he whispered, still getting closer.

"How many times do I have to ask you to leave me alone?!" Kat was over boiling with anger now. How dare he say that she wanted him?

"As many times as you want. But you know you want me, and I'm willing to give it a go." He reached out and stroked Kat's cheek with the back of his hand. "So give into the darkness pretty kitty. You're all ready lost in the dark and I'm here to guide you back to the light."

"I don't want you! I've never wanted you! I hate you!" In a flash Kat had kicked him in the groin and punched him in the face. Just as Samantha's red Firebird pulled up Steve fell to the ground. "If I ever catch you here again I will kill you," she hissed at Steve, who was curled up in a ball. He nodded and Kat walked out to the Firebird and climbed in.
~END~

"You were right, always were. I am lost in the dark," she whispered again. Steve had always said she was lost in the dark; poor, stray kitten without anyone to love her or guide her.

Kat bit her lip as she felt tear stringing the back of her eyes. She would not cry. No, she wouldn't shed a tear unless she needed too and right then she didn't need to cry over some little stupid thing a guy had said.

Blinking and looking around she found that she was in the most destroyed part of the forest. I guess that Dilandau had landed here and just started to burn things, she thought. Must've been in a bad mood. I hope he doesn't find the cabin like he found me. She turned around and started walking back towards the cabin.

He probably is worried about-she cut her thoughts off before she could continue. No, he wasn't worried about her. She had heard the tone he used when he called her name. It was full of rage and anger, not relief and happiness.

He didn't even intend on finding me here. It was just some stupid mistake. I bet he's doing fine right now, probably sleeping with some bitch as we speak. He doesn't care about me; I was just some phase for him. Now he's moved on and I should too. He doesn't care, she thought as she moved silently and quickly through the forest.

Dilandau lay in his bed unable to sleep. His thoughts ran back to the afternoon. He had drunk a couple bottles of wine and had gotten angry at Kat for leaving. He knew by now she would've returned to him and she still wasn't at his side. In his rage he had taken his new guymelef out to burn some things.

The best thing he found to burn was a forest. It was small, being against a mountainside and all so he had landed and started burning things. That's when he found her-it was all an accident. He didn't know she was there but as soon as she saw him she had ran.

She also had two guys that looked like Gatti and Guimel, he thought angrily. One of them had picked her up and ran with her in his arms. Who was that guy and what made him think he could touch Kat like he was? He had created a circle of fire around them to stop them so he could recapture Kat.

Had she been free long or were those bastards with her there to recapture her? Was she running from them or with them? What was she doing with them? He growled remembering how just as he had stepped into the fire ring to grab Kat, she had yelled she was sorry and then jumped into the flames with the two men behind her. He had watched helplessly as they emerged from the other side and slipped into the forest.

Dilandau rolled onto his side and punched a pillow. What was she sorry about? That was the question that haunted him the most. Was she sorry because she was in love with one of the boys he had seen her with? Or that she was going to try to kill herself because she couldn't come back to him? That she didn't want to come back to him? What was it that she was sorry about?

He let out a growl and turned onto his other side. She was on his mind again and this time questions haunted her picture. Why didn't she run to him? Why did she run away from him? Was she scared of him? Did she not love him? Did she know something he didn't?

Damn, he thought. Stupid questions! One question haunted him the most, though. Before she jumped into the fire, why did she have a sorry expression on her face and sadness in her eyes? Did she have the presence of duty about her?

Kat sat on a high branch in one of the few remaining trees outside of the cabin. She watched as the couple below her whispered to each other and giggled quietly. She couldn't go inside and listen to the sad mumering that went around her about how she must hurt not to go back to Dilandau. She couldn't stand the sad stares she got and the whispers she heard.

At least one couple can have a good time in a time of despair, she thought. The couple below her was Alex and Miguel and they were obviously in love. From the way they looked at each other to the way their hands briefly touched as she passed him.

Love, such a funny thing, Kat thought as she averted her eyes from them and looked up at the two moons in the sky again. It seemed as if she was looking to her moon for support more and more these days.

Once she had been in love with the General of the Dragon Slayers. Now she wasn't so sure if she was. Damn love, she thought. Maybe Fate was telling her something. Maybe it was telling her that she and Dilandau just weren't to be together.

That must be it. His tone when he called my name was.... so harsh as if he hated me. He hasn't been looking for me and it's like I've totally gone from his head. It felt like he was getting back a soldier, not his lover. Maybe I was just a faze for him. Kat sighed and leaned her head back.

She was so confused. Did she love Dilandau or not? It was such a simple question but it made her even more confused. The pull of going back to Zaibach was much less now and the thought of going back sent chills down her spine like it was a horrible place to be. What's going on? Is Fate telling me something? She wondered as she drifted off to sleep.

AN: Yes I'm evil. What's wrong with Dilandau and Kat? Why am I doing this?

The answers are:

I'm not telling.

It's part of the story.

So there you have it! Now what could happen to Kat while she sleeps, hm? Something very unexpected I can tell you that much… bwuahahah! Until the next chapter!

~ShadowKat