--Written by: Naki
Charle opened the Infirmary door and the hinges creaked loudly. Matthias stood next to the doorway and he jerked his head towards Charle. His face softened slightly but he didn't break the silence. Charle moved into the room so to let Kurintsu in. Lavitz and Lily waited in the hallway.
Kurintsu stood next to the small bed and started down at Dart. His face had gained a little color. "He doesn't look too good."
"I know," Charle said quietly.
The younger Wingly looked to his elder. "Could we get Miranda in here and try using the White Silver Spirit?"
Charle appeared thoughtful. "I…I don't know. It might be worth a try, but we don't want to be excess stress on Dart's already frail condition."
"I don't think it will," Lavitz stepped into the room. "Two years ago, back before I died, and before the end of the Serdian Civil War, Shana got poisoned by Fehrybrand's toxin and we had to get the White Silver Dragon Dragoon Spirit from Shirley. Dart was able to use the healing abilities of the Spirit in conjunction with his own Spirit to save Shana's life."
"I agree," Matthias' voice answered. All eyes turned to the man in black. "It won't kill him. Remember, Charle. When Zieg was captured by Melbu Frahma the second time." Charle nodded and he continued. "They forced him to participate in the games. Erisi risked her life and ran out into the arena to save him. He had taken a grievous wound and was bleeding badly. Erisi and I managed to get him out of Kadessa, thanks to the cover provided by the other Dragoons. The first human hut we saw we landed at and the family graciously took us in. I left Erisi there and went for Shirley. I got her there just in time and she used the Spirit to heal him. Sure, he remained unconscious for a little while, but when he awoke, he was fine."
Charle stood at the foot of the bed, fidgeting. "It's not my place to make this kind of decision."
Kurintsu nodded. "I understand. I know just the person to consult. King Albert."
Lavitz agreed. "I can speak with him now if you wish."
Matthias shook his head. "No. It was Kurintsu's idea, so it should be he who approaches the King."
"Yes," Charle said. "That would be fitting."
"Very well," Lavitz said. "Are you ready, Kurintsu? Come, I'll lead you."
Lavitz knocked on the King's bedchamber door. A few moments lapsed and the door opened slowly. Out came King Albert with a robe wrapped about him and his nightclothes in an attempt to appear presentable.
"Lavitz?" He asked. "What's wrong?"
Lavitz said nothing. He merely turned his head to Kurintsu, who was standing behind him.
"King Albert," Kurintsu said with a slight bow of his head. "I have come up with a plan that might save Dart from a lengthy recovery. Matthias agrees with me and said it had been done before with Dart's father."
Albert was intrigued. "Go on." He listened intently as Kurintsu outlined his plan. When he was done, Albert nodded and looked positively ecstatic and serious at the same time.
"That is a perfect plan. I can't believe we hadn't thought of it before. But...Miranda did try it after the battle, but it didn't seem to be enough."
"That's because she wasn't concentrating hard enough," Kurintsu said. "Umm...at least, that's what I think, sir."
Albert looked thoughtful and ran his fingers through his loose brown hair. "Alright, we'll try it again. No harm in trying."
He turned to Lavitz. "Go wake Miranda and ask her to join us at the Infirmary, please." Lavitz bowed his head. "Yes, my King."
Kurintsu and Albert watched as the knight left the room in search for the temperamental archer. Albert gave the younger man a smile, placed a hand on his back and steered him out the door.
"So Kurintsu, who's waiting for us at the Infirmary?"
"Matthias, Charle, and, of course, Dart."
They walked down the steps and down the hall towards the Infirmary; Kurintsu's shoes tapping the floor and Albert's hunter green slippers softly padding against the tile.
Charle met them around the corner from the Infirmary and walked with them the rest of the way. She spoke in low tones. "Matthias went to wake everyone up. The presence of loving persons always makes this work much better than if the caster was alone with the patient. Especially since, and I hate to say this, Miranda is not as talented with the White Silver Spirit as Shirley was. I'm going to have Matthias coach her before we go through with it."
Albert nodded and noted how many people sat or stood along the walls outside the Infirmary. "I have a question, Charle. Miranda used her Spirit after the battle today and all it did was stop the bleeding. How will doing this again help?"
"The circumstances of the situation. The prior battle, the adrenaline, the many distractions...many factors contributing to the substandard results of the earlier trial."
Albert nodded in understanding. "So now that we have peace and quiet, she'll be able to concentrate with little or no distractions."
Charle nodded. "Exactly."
"Hey guys," Kurintsu hailed as Matthias, Lavitz, Deirdre, and Miranda walked down the corridor towards them.
"Matthias, did you tell...?"
Matthias held up his hand, cutting Charle off. "Yes, I already did."
"Good. How are you feeling, Miranda?" Charle asked.
"Nervous," Miranda answered. She curled her fingers tighter around her Dragoon Spirit. "I hope I don't mess up."
"Don't worry, Miranda! You won't 'cause we're here for you!" Meru pumped her fist into the air, her nightgown (or some semblance thereof) riding up slightly. "Besides, Dart's a tough cookie, so he'll make it!" Meru was stopped from her ranting because Claira clamped her hand over the hyper Wingly's mouth.
"It's going to be tough keeping the little one quiet," Matthias remarked. "If she starts making a fuss and Miranda loses her concentration, then all this will just crash and burn."
Albert assumed his "teacher" face. (...you know the look...the serious face that only teachers can seem to manage.) He turned on his heel and spoke. "Claira, if you can, keep your hand over her mouth and keep her from making anymore sounds. Please?"
Claira nodded an affirmative and Meru's face scrunched as she tried to make a face at Albert.
Zieg stood next to the Infirmary door, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He looked to Matthias. "Is there any possibility of losing my brother? You said yourself that this has only been done once before and that was with our old man."
"Knock it off, Z.J.," Claira admonished. "Don't refer to our father as 'old man.'"
"Can we stop bickering now?" Haschel asked. "It's late and I for one would like to get this over with as soon as possible because this 'old man' needs his sleep."
There were some dry chuckles through the group. Poor Kongol sat in a corner looking lost and confused. He looked up to Haschel, who stood next to him, and his voice rumbled, "Kongol does not understand."
Haschel waved a hand at him. "I'll explain it to you later, okay?"
Kongol nodded, keeping silent.
Miranda brushed her long blonde hair over her shoulder and set her mind back to serious mode. She stepped into the small room and stood next to the twin bed on which Dart lay.
She held the small silver ball out on her palm and looked at it intently. Then she looked at Dart. His skin was almost the same color as the sheets on which he lay and his breaths were so shallow she could barely tell if he was breathing at all.
Miranda took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She kept the image of Dart fresh in her mind and lowered her guard. The White Silver Spirit resonated and Miranda could feel her perception grow. She could sense the others outside the room and it was as if the walls were nonexistent. She could see each hopeful face, could sense each hopeful thought. Her perception expanded even further, reaching into the slumbering minds of the Serdians living in Bale. None knew what was taking place in Indels Castle. They were dreaming dreams of irrelevant matters, so Miranda blocked them out and kept her mind centered on what was most important. This has to work! Please, my Spirit. Please let this work!
The White Silver Spirit resonated incredibly bright, illuminating the entire castle grounds, and caused all to shield their eyes.
A baby. A baby was crying. Where was the baby? The sound of heavy footsteps neared. A heavy metal door opened, screeching on its hinges and grating across the floor.
A pair of strong arms grabbed her and hauled her up from where she lay on a hard mattress. She was blindfolded and the sound of the baby's cry came even more closer, as if the infant were in the same room. Her head felt light and she felt nauseous. Her body rocked slightly from side to side, as if she were battling to keep her balance. A baby...crying...
"Feed it," barked a woman's voice as the infant was thrust into her arms. Footsteps hammered away and the heavy door was slammed shut. A lock clicked loudly in the eerie silence.
She gently cradled the baby in one arm before she reached up and pulled the blindfold off.
"Chandra?" Shana breathed and the baby calmed slightly at the sight of her mother. "You're hungry, aren't you, my baby?"
She unbuttoned her shirt and began to nurse her daughter. As the baby fed, Shana looked about the room she was being kept in. There were dingy stone walls that were covered in dirt and mold. There were no windows and that heavy door was the only way out.
Where am I? What am I doing here? The last thing Shana remembered was that she was asleep in Indels Castle. This room reminded her vividly of her stay at Hellena Prison around three years ago. Well, at least her cell there had bars for her to look through.
Shana sighed and leaned against the moldy wall. Somehow being in this situation didn't surprise her much. What scared her was that now she had her own infant daughter thrown into the mix. She didn't allow herself to think of the most horrible of possibilities that could happen to her baby.
"No," she whispered and tightened her arms and held her baby closer. Chandra made a sound as she fed and Shana smiled despite the current predicament. Chandra's brown hair was so downy that her mother couldn't resist stroking her head softly. She emitted a contented coo.
As Chandra finished nursing, Shana laid down on the hard mattress, keeping Chandra on her chest. Shana was tired. She didn't know why, but she was. She gently rubbed her baby's back and softly sang the lullaby Dart had taught her as a child. Chandra loved it and now wouldn't go to sleep without hearing it.
Shana's own eyelids drooped closed and the lullaby tapered off.
Shana lay upon a stiff pallet that was a moldy green color and smelled suspiciously like a compost heap. She was in a depressed mood and as she lay there she stared at the wall, hearing but not exactly listening to the three prison guards standing outside her cell practically armed to the teeth. She caught one or two passing comments about so-and-so's wife being good in the sack and the boss having thrown another fellow Hellena prison guard into the pit of the beast just because the soldier was standing near to him. It so happened that the death count was climbing at an alarming rate. How ironic. There were more prison guards dying then prisoners. Not a good sign. It's a wonder there haven't been more prison breaks.
Suddenly their raucous chatter was cut short by surprised shouts from the prison guards.
"You," one of them spat. "You are from Basil!"
A strange, yet somehow familiar, voice yelled, "Lavitz, get 'em before they make a noise!"
Another voice, higher in pitch than the first but still obviously masculine, answered. "Yeah!"
A skirmish ensued, accompanied by the sharp sound of steel upon steel. It seemed to end just as it started. Shana crept over to the bars of her cell. Who were these men? They were both blonde, but one had on red body armor and the other a uniform of some sort. The one in red sheathed his broad sword. Shana worked up her courage to call out to them.
"Who is it?"
The man in red turned his head towards the cell with surprise on his face. "That voice!" He hurried over to the cell in long strides. Shana took a few steps back as he gripped two of the bars in his hands and tugged hard, causing the door to clank loudly against its lock. "Is that Shana? It's me!"
Shana gasped audibly as recognition finally dawned on her. "Dart? Is that you Dart?"
"Yes it is me!" Dart said excitedly, a great grin gracing his features. "I'm here to rescue you!"
The other man, who Shana assumed to be the one named Lavitz, called out urgently, "Hurry up! The guard is coming!"
Dart hurriedly fished a key from his pocket. He slipped it into the keyhole in the door. The key creaked as he turned it and the door swung open, protesting loudly as the hinges grated against each other. Dart ran inside. "Shana!"
The relief was evident on her face. "Dart..." she spoke in a subdued tone.
Dart narrowed the space between them with a step and nodded as he repeated himself. "I'm here to rescue you."
She didn't reply. Along with her relief came a sense of surprise and an emotion that wasn't exactly anger but felt something along the lines of betrayal. Why is it that suddenly, after five long years, he chose this particular time to show up? Shana knew she should feel grateful that he had impeccable timing, but she couldn't help but feel a little resentment that he'd left her in the first place.
Dart misread her silence and looked at her with an expression that was a cross between worry and confusion. "You haven't forgotten me even though we haven't seen each other for five years?"
Shana moved about the cell and stopped by the pallet with a pensive look on her face. "How could I forget?" she answered as she turned and walked back to Dart. "Show me your face."
Dart leaned in a little closer to her and Shana carefully scrutinized his face, squinting her brown eyes in the dim light. "I haven't changed much," Dart said.
"Yes you have," she corrected as he straightened. "You look stronger, much more than the Dart I knew."
Their reunion was brought to a screeching halt by Lavitz's frantic shout from outside the cell. "Hurry up! The guards are coming back!"
Dart nodded at Shana and left the cell to assist Lavitz. Shana paused briefly, brushed a few offending strands of her hair from her face, and joined the men outside.
Three prison guards had them pincered against the cell wall.
One of the guards noticed Shana. "The girl is breaking out!"
Score one for Captain Obvious. Dart and Lavitz brandished their weapons and another guard sneered at them.
"I won't let her!" He led the attack.
Shana stood back from the fight, just outside the cell door and safe in the small depression in the wall made for the cell entrance.
As before, the two brave warriors finished the small engagement with no trouble, and, as it seemed, with no sweat, at all. Dart sheathed his blade again and turned to Shana. He started to give her a cheeky grin so reminiscent of their childhood days, but quickly changed to look concerned. "Are you hurt?"
Shana allowed herself a small smile. "I am fine."
"You can celebrate later," Lavitz said. "We are still deep in the belly of the enemy." He turned and walked a few steps down the causeway to observe their surroundings. "Besides," he turned back to them, "it's too damp to have a party, isn't it?"
Dart grinned at Lavitz's attempt at humor and turned to Shana. "Let's go, Shana. Follow me, okay?"
Shana sighed. Somehow she knew he was going to be like that. She spied a bow and a quiver of arrows sitting propped up against the wall and went over to them. Far be it for her if she was going to allow him to treat her like a child! "Dart, I'm eighteen years old now." She slipped the quiver onto her back and picked up the bow. She drew the string back as if she were firing an arrow. "I can fight too!"
"Shana..." Dart said in a pleading voice.
Lavitz chose this moment to add his words of wisdom. Which were, in fact, simple restatements of the obvious. "She grew up. She was alone in such a hell like place. If she was a regular woman, she wouldn't have been able to survive. Or course," he gave them a lopsided grin, "there are not that many fools who would come here to save her."
"But," Dart objected, "the Shana of my memory hasn't changed a bit."
Lavitz, as it seemed, had a quick, painless, solution to everything. "Let's talk about that after we get out of here."
-- -- --
Shana awoke with tears trickling down her face. She rolled over onto her side and held her baby in her arms. Oh, how she wished Dart would come, kicking down the door to save her. Just as he had in Hellena Prison. Why hasn't he come to save her? Shana curled her body into the fetal position. "Why?" she whispered, her voice cracking with emotion. "Why?"
As it seems the project worked. Matthias checked and Dart's face had returned to its normal color and his breathing was deep and steady. Tense breaths were released and everyone eventually left for their beds. Lavitz stopped and stood in the doorway with Matthias. They watched Dart for a moment.
"He looks like he's sleeping," Lavitz remarked.
"He is," Matthias said. He put a hand on the other's shoulder and led him out of the Infirmary. The door swung shut behind them.
The pale fingers of dawn touched the spires of Indels Castle. Lavitz walked down the hall with a bounce in his step. When he reached the Infirmary and found the door ajar, he figured someone was already attending to Dart.
He pushed the door opened and what he saw shocked him. The bed was empty. Lavitz panicked. He turned and ran. He ran down the hall, his shoes clapping against the floor, and as he passed it, he noticed that one door was open. He skidded to a halt and slowly walked back to it, breathing heavily. Dart and Shana's room.
Lavitz pushed the door all the way open. Dart sat in the rocking chair next to the crib. He was shirtless and the bandages that were wrapped about his torso were laying in tatters on the floor next to the rocking chair. An impressive scar ran from the middle of his left pectoral to his left shoulder. Dart slowly rocked back and forth while he stared at the empty crib.
"Dart?" Lavitz called tentatively.
Dart stopped rocking and turned slowly around toward Lavitz. His blue eyes, once bright and alive, were now dulled over and almost lifeless. He showed no indication of recognition.
"Where's my baby?"