From Heaven To Earth

Chapter Eight

Tara paced around her room anxiously, not willing to stop. "Why is it taking so long?"

"Calm down Mistress." Aurelia said, trying to stop her. "When they come back you can ask how it went."

"That means I have to talk to him; I am not doing that." she growled in the back of her throat. "I don't like this one bit, I really don't"

"I know you don't Mistress." Aurelia sighed as she gave up and finally sat back down. "But there is nothing you can do for the moment; perhaps a drink would calm your nerves a bit?"

"I don't want alcohol now." she muttered. "On second thought, where's the bottle."

Aurelia jumped up, hurrying off and pouring Tara a glass. "You really should calm down Tara; all this worrying can't be any good for your health."

"Would you be so calm if you knew your best friend could die out there?" she asked in a low mutter as she took the glass and slugged it down in one breath. "I'm not there with her, I don't know what's happening and how's she's coping. I'm all she has left of home Aurelia."

Silence descended over the room as Tara closed her eyes tightly; she hadn't meant for that much tenseness and worry to come through her voice. She gave a heavy sigh before she turned and faced the girl with a smile.

"Let's go for a walk; perhaps that will calm me down."

"This way Mistress. Perhaps you would like to see the room where we train our men?" Aurelia said as they walked out of her quarters and started down the hallway.

"Sure," she muttered as she started after the girl. "What have I got to lose?"

"Tara," Aurelia said in a reproaching voice.

"Look, not everyone can be cheery all the time." Tara said finally. "Today I feel like I am in a piss poor mood, so just leave me be all right?"

""Um Tara?" Aurelia paused with a confused look on her face. "How can "piss" be in a poor mood? Is "piss" even what I think it is?"

Tara looked at her with a slightly gaping expression before she shook her head. "Yeah, piss is probably what you think it is."

She gave a snicker as Aurelia made a horrified face and continued on down the hallway, more silent than before. 'Maybe I should do this every time I'm in a bad mood; she looked so clueless...' She shook her head as she started to chew on her fingernail. Maybe she should learn to use a sword, or at least a weapon of some kind; simply slashing wildly with a dagger would only get her killed faster here. Plus she had Dilandau to worry about.

"Aurelia?" she took her finger away.

"Yes Tara?"

"You know how you said that my mother sent you here?"

"Yes, what about that; you want me to tell you what kind of woman she is?"

Tara felt her face flush rapidly. "Well, um...you know if it's not too much trouble."

"It would not be a trouble at all Tara. But she expressly forbade me from talking about her to you. You'll have to wait and see for yourself."

"Wait and see?" Tara asked, before she chewed on her nail again momentarily. "What do you mean by-"

Her words were cut off as the floor suddenly lurched sharply, throwing them to the wall. Tara grunted as her shoulder crashed into a corner, before she quickly righted herself. Picking Aurelia up, she looked around now, seeing soldiers streaming out from doors, heading for somewhere.

"What's going on?" she demanded as she grabbed one's arm before they could run by.

"The fortress is under attack." he looked her over once before he snatched his arm back and ran down the hallway.

"You stay here." she said to Aurelia before she headed down after the soldier.

"Mistress!" Aurelia called, making a motion to rise and come after her.

"Stay!" Tara ordered sharply as she paused and looked back before she continued on.

The entire hallway was choked with soldiers racing towards their destination, Tara caught along in the pull. She finally found herself in a large cargo hold, a crowd of battle ready soldiers with ready drawn swords tense and coiled. She took a breath as she looked around, the place now eerily silent. Anxious breaths could be heard, punctuating the silence like drums of war.

"Where's the enemy?" one close to her whispered. "We heard it in here."

Tara looked around warily as eyes shifted around trying to seek out the threat. Then they all clapped their hands to their ears as the sound of something grating against the side of the ship came, high-pitched and painful. Tara opened her fingers slightly trying to hear above the pain ricocheting around in her head.

"This way!" she yelled as she heard the sound go trailing off downwards. "The attackers are moving this way!"

She didn't wait to see if any followed her; at the moment, she was on the fortress and if it went down, so did she. The sound of running boots behind her didn't stop her, only spurring on her paces. She cocked her ears as she reached a split, seeking the sound.

"Here." she took off down the right hand side, hearing the scraping sound once more.

She finally come out into a large hangar, the men behind her, tensed and battle ready. A loud thud came from outside the walls, a massive dent appearing before their very eyes. She glanced back to see the soldiers grip their weapons harder and swallow; their pale faces and throats gleamed with sweat from the lights far ahead.

"Stay calm and don't lose your heads." she said, falling back closer to them. "You have a better chance of making it out if you stay rational."

There were murmurs behind her before the doors thudded again, a large hole allowing in a shaft of light that landed right on the main front of the men as well as her. They recoiled, shielding their eyes just as the door burst open. She could barely see; the light got in her eyes. All she saw was a bulky shape land as the men surged forward, cries filling the air. Then she froze as she heard a familiar roar; Cork's roar.

"No! Stop!" she cried, running forward. "Halt your weapons! Don't-"

Her voice was lost in the fury as she tripped over a slipped weapon, feet trampling over her. She winced as the treads of the boots dug into her body, threatening to crush ribs and other assorted bones. The roar came once more, followed by the cries of pain from men, as well as on the dragon's part.

"Stop!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, unable to take it anymore.

All motion stopped as the men looked back at her, shock on their faces. She rose to her feet, looking around at the wounded men and then at the dragon. Then she faced the rest of the hesitant men.

"I ordered you to stop." she growled in a less than pleased voice. "Put down your weapons and fall back."

She gave a sweeping glare that dared any of the men to disobey her. One by one they fell back, swallowing painfully, sheathing their weapons. Starting forward, they parted for her as she made her way over to the large beast. The cerulean eyes glinted fiercely in the light from above as she came closer, the wings flapping shut. She rubbed the muzzle affectionately before she hugged it. Murmurs swelled from all around before she turned back to see the men. Some had looks of disbelief on their faces while some of them had knelt on their knees.

"What are you bowing for?" she asked puzzled. "Stand for Christ's sake, you're men, it's not like I lord over you."

They rose obediently as she looked at them curiously. Not a single word was said until the hangar doors burst open, two figures striding in. Tara felt her hearts ink as she recognized Folken's talk figure followed by one that she did not wish to see at all. The men parted for them until they were standing a few feet away from her.

"Lord Folken, what are you doing here?" she managed to ask in an even voice.

"To see who attacked the ship," his eyes flickered over the dragon warily. "Though it appears as if you have neutralized the problem."

"He simply came to find me Lord Folken. He does worry when I am away for long periods of time."

"You mean to tell me that this great hideous beast actually cares?" Dilandau's lips curled into a sneer. "Since when did you talk to animals?"

"I would have to say that his company," she patted the muzzle affectionately, garnering a contented rumble. "Is much preferable to that of some others."

Nothing was said as she and Dilandau exchanged hard glares before she looked back into the dragon's eyes. She never liked looking at Dilandau's; they reminded her too much of a man who had been pushed over the brink and descended fully into a madness of some sort.

"Well, the dragon has to go." he said in a dismissive tone. "This is a fortress, not a zoo."

Tara chuckled as Cork growled and tapped a great claw in offence, making the rest of the men jump.

"Don't worry. So long as you respect him, he won't bite you....hard." she laughed at the looks shock of that travelled through the men. "I'm joking; can't you people take a joke once in awhile?"

Nervous laughter passed through the ranks before it was silenced by Dilandau once more.

"You act as if the dragon will be staying here."

Tara didn't look at him, a thoughtful look on her face. "Well, you could try to get rid of him, and I do emphasis try for he is very large and not inclined to go anywhere. Otherwise, he will follow wherever I go, so he may as well stay here for a bit. He feeds himself and is pretty much self-reliant, so it won't drain whatever supplies you have. And this way I can keep an eye on him, keep him out of trouble."

"And what's stopping you from leaving now?" Folken asked finally in a quiet voice.

"And you wouldn't find me again?" she asked in a slightly bitter voice. "Besides, I have my reasons for staying as do all of you, I am sure."

She could have sworn that a smile crossed Folken's face. Nothing was said as he walked to the door and paused in front of it for a minute.

"Watch yourself Dilandau," he said in a dry tone. "She has a cooler head than you, and you may soon find yourself displaced by the Dragon Tamer. I shall leave you to deal with this...issue. "

Tara found herself as speechless as Dilandau and the rest of the men as the door opened and slid shut silently. Swallowing, she glanced back at Dilandau who had an icy expression on his face. He fixed his cuffs before he walked up and started back and forth, still a good distance away from the dragon.

"Come here." he ordered finally, pointing imperiously before him.

She gritted her teeth at the tone in his voice, but forced herself to take the steps. "What did you want...Dragonslayer?" the last word was laden with sarcasm.

Dilandau's face twitched slightly making Cork flap his wings testily, his gaze sweeping over the scene. "You are to keep watch on that dragon at all times. You are held accountable for its actions. So should something happen..." he let his sentence hang there.

Tara narrowed her eyes. "He wouldn't do anything...unless he is provoked. And only certain people really do annoy him. Would you care to go and find out?" she stepped aside, gesturing that he had the way.

"Just keep it here for now." Dilandau gave a snort before he turned sharply on his heel and strode out of the hangar.

Tara didn't move as the soldiers started to trickle out slowly, taking their injured friends with them. Once the door closed for good, she smiled as she hugged Cork's muzzle. He nudged her back, a questioning look in his eyes.

"You did well my friend," she said, trying to stop the tears that came to her eyes. "You did well."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Those blue eyes." Storm sighed as she started up at the clear blue sky. "Those damn blue eyes…"

The breeze pushed along small white puffs of clouds; it was much like an idyllic dream where she had nothing to think of and nothing to do much. At least the last part was true. She felt sick inside, ever since part of Esturia had burned, like something was diseased inside her and it wouldn't go away. Those blue eyes had warned her but she couldn't recall anything more than that and it was driving her crazy.

Hearing a faint low rumble beneath her, she looked up to see Glide looking at her curiously.

"I'm all right," she said managing a smile as she patted his side affectionately. "Just a bit tired is all."

Glide turned his head back around and rested his head on his great forearms. She looked away, a pang of guilt stabbing her. She didn't like to pretend that everything was perfectly fine, but the one person that she trusted was gone and she had no clue where. Glide was a dragon, it was in his nature to be violent, but she found it repulsive what had happened at the Esturia. So much destruction didn't have to happen; it only happened because she didn't do enough to stop the attackers. How many people had died during that battle, trapped in their homes unable to flee? And add the fire and steam…

She rose with a sigh, turning around to look at the Crusade, anchored just behind an outcropping; someone had apparently been careless and knocked one of the giant stones it used to move around. They been here for the past few days; maybe they needed her help up there.

"I'll be back." she said to Glide, heading for the rope that was barely dangling at ground level.

Hearing a responding grunt, she grasped the rope and started to shimmy up, until she placed a hand on the wood planking. She pulled herself up and found the place virtually empty. She took a meandering path towards the broken stone where the sounds of frustration reached her ears. Quietly, she stepped out onto the thick metal band and walked along.

"Need some help?" she asked leaning around the side to see who it was.

"Gods!"

She gave a faint smile as the wrench when flying into the air before she grabbed it and handed it back. "Sorry to frighten you like that Gadeth. Do you?"

"Yeah, I could use a hand." he said before he glared at her. "You shouldn't sneak up on a person like that you know. Nearly scared me to death."

"I try." she said in a somewhat sober voice. "What do you want me to do?"

"Hold this from above if you can. It keeps slipping out." Gadeth frowned as he searched around for a screw. "What are you so sad about? We won back there."

"Really?" she said, clambering up and holding the piece of metal into place. "Did we?"

"Yeah. Didn't you see how fast they took off? Or we you doing something else?"

Storm didn't respond, simply making sure the metal band was in its proper place. Nothing more was said as they continued on quickly, the parts attached back on soon enough.

"All right Storm, you wait out here. I'm going to go and hit the switch."

She nodded as Gadeth disappeared into the hold. She looked back at the massive stone, wondering how something like that could make a ship of t his particular weight rise up into the sky. A strange humming sound vibrated throughout the area. Storm looked around uneasily, not sure if this was supposed to happen. She backed away to the door slowly, her hand on her sword hilt; she felt as if she should be preparing for an attack. She paused in the doorway before she turned around and walked right into someone.

She backed away hastily, drawing her sword with a guarded look. Once she saw who it was, she sheathed her sword back again rapidly.

"Sorry, sorry. I didn't realise that-"

"That's quite all right."

She gulped as she looked at Allen. "I almost ran you through."

"I doubt you could do that." he said with a smile. "Gadeth says that you helped him."

"Yeah. I wondered why it was taking you guys so long to get moving."

Allen nodded as he walked up to the stone. "We'll be on our way in a few minutes. It's working now in perfect order it seems."

Storm shifted uncomfortably, patting her sword hilt. "Well then, I'll be off."

"Storm wait." Allen turned. "Are you sure you won't reconsider?"

"I told you already Allen that I would stick with you."

"You seem to be…"

"I seem to be perfectly fine." she walked over to where the rope was tied to the handrail. "You don't have to concern yourself with me, I'll be perfectly fine."

"Storm, I think that-"

"Allen, let it drop." she said in a curt voice. "It's nothing."

A tense silence remained as she gripped the rail hard for a brief moment as she looked around. Just off to the side, she spied Van leaning against the corner, looking at her. Her lips pressed together in a thin line before she grabbed the rope and slithered down. She cursed as she felt her hands throb, realising the she gave herself rope burn. Breaking a stalk, she spread the cool sap on her hands. She discarded the bough with an angry motion before she made her way back towards Glide. She saw the look in Van's eyes. It seemed so accusatory, but not of her words to Allen. It was as if he knew exactly what she was doing and frowned up on. 'I don't need his opinion of me.' She ripped a branch out of her way as she walked down the path. 'Who says I even need them at all…' Now she had to deal with the maroon eyes as well as the blue ones.