On Sapphire Wings

Chapter fourteen

We are spirits Passing through the doors of time With an invitation heard before we find

Shadows on the mountainside…

Alone and angry, Kianako flew through the sunlit sky. His thoughts were venomous at being pushed around by both humans and winglies alike, and the more he flew, the more unhappy he got. Trying to block it out, he mentally went over what he would tell Dart.

Wink was captured, Lloyd and Artewa were going after her, Rouge was gone, and there was no sign of Haschel or Kongol. Also, the second genocide of Rouge Island was done with fire, not Kyris' magic.

A slow smile spread across Kian's face as he flew over Donau. A thought speared through his mind.

He was under no obligation to stay.

There was no one around to keep him from running.

Giving a small laugh, he landed. A while of living on the run, and he would be a free man. It appealed to him far more than risking his life for humans who didn't appreciate him.

He withdrew his wings, walked into the flower city, and began his new life of hiding.

The cave was dark and wet, but in a way, it seemed to go beyond it. It was a sort of black murkiness that clung to you like cobwebs, filling your mind with anxiety as you crept onwards with only cold, hard will on your side. It was a harsh reality, but Lloyd pushed on.

Lloyd and Artewa crept forward, looking desperately for any sign of Wink. There was nothing but heavy darkness, illuminated by the light from the two winglies wings. Somewhere deep in the cavernous recesses, something was clicking, though Lloyd couldn't be sure what.

Reaching the other end of the huge cavern room, Lloyd and Artewa came to a long, narrow tunnel. It was only about as high as Lloyd's knee, and hardly much bigger across. The inside was completely dark.

"Think he went that way?"

"There's no where else to go."

"Okay then." Artewa looked into the thing. "I'll go first, and if everything's clear, I'll call you, okay?"

Lloyd hesitated, but realized that she would be safer with him at her back then to go in unprotected. Besides, the mortal part of him desperately wanted to postpone getting into the tunnel. "Okay."

"Don't look at my butt." She said with a smile, climbing in.

There was a long pause with only a slight shuffling sound to keep Lloyd company, then he heard her call back, "It's clear."

He sighed. Even before getting into the rocky pathway, the effects of clausterphobia were already eating away at his psyche. Clenching his teeth, he pulled himself into the tiny passageway.

Since he was a child, Lloyd had always had a fear of inclosed spaces, and this miniscule channel was perhaps the worst example of an inclosed space he'd ever encountered. Without even his wings for light, he was blind and trapped, only able to keep crawling forward. A tickling feeling creeped over his leg, and he started, but he still kept moving.

Finally, after an eternity in the diminutive little hellhole, he reached the end, a circle of somehow brighter darkness.

"Come out very slowly." Artewa hissed under her breath. "There's something here…"

Racing shadows.

The dark forms ran through a darker night, twisting, shouting in wordless voices, melting into one another and then reappearing somewhere else.

There was a shout, and then dark.

Wink blinked as she stood standing in a huge, green field.

Approaching her, two shadows came forward from different sides of the field. They were faceless, icy, red eyed figures, and though they were separate forms, they seemed like two different entities of the same being. They stood a moment, looking past Wink and across at each other.

Long, indistinct blades of shadow were drawn, and then there was a moment where no one present could dare breathe.

Then the two faceless men ran forward towards Wink, shouting soundless threats and running on ethereal feet.

Two different shadow blades came towards her, and two different pairs of curvaceous eyes scorched into her, full of hate and empty of remorce.

She screamed.

And the blades passed through her.

She leapt aside as the two swords met, and the silvery sound at their meeting was the first to penetrate the field. She fell to the ground, and sat watching with eyes that wept unbidden.

The two shadows fought, and through the air pulsed the feeling of raw, unearthed power. Neither warrior gave mercy, and neither wished it, fighting in a battle of kings that was watched only by the eyes of a girl they did not see.

One of the shadows struck out with the sword, but stumbled and was disarmed. He staggered backwards, took one quick, weak look at his competetor, and screamed as the blade pierced him through.

The scream was the only noise the shadows had ever made, and as the jagged sound cut its way through Wink's brain, she too began to scream.

And then, suddenly, she was awake.

Lloyd stood slowly, bringing his eyes very cautiously to focus on the air in front of him. Something was there, something was wrong, and he couldn't see it. He waited patiently, heart beating in his chest, and then he slowly mouthed the words, "Oh my god."

In front of them, the giant being gazed slowly around, searching sightlessly for any movement that would give away its prey. The scaled head twisted about slowly, and a forked tongue flickered out, twisted in the air, and disappeared again. A purposeful growl ementated from its dark maw slowly, sliding into the air like melted silver.

It appeared to be a mix between a serpant and a demon – huge, sinuous and deadly. It's heavily muscled arms were held up, ready to strike, and its huge claws seemed to slice through the wind, curved and dyed off-white with blood. It's enormous, powerful chest moved slowly in the dark as it breathed, and it's long neck moved about slowly as it's horned, serpentine head scanned the dark.

It's snout wrinkled in a snarl as it seemed unable to see its prey, but then the diamond-shaped eyes adopted a cunning appearance, and it's huge jaws turned up in a smirk. It raised a clawed hand meaningfully, brought it up to the wall of the cave behind its quarry, and pounded it.

Lloyd just barely had time to pull Artewa out of the way as a boulder fell to the ground and shattered into pieces of subterranean rock. The demon hissed with triumph, turned towards the source of the movement, and struck out.

A/N: I've decided I'm gonna do shorter chapters now, because every time I sit down and try to write a nine page chapter, I always end up finding ways to be doing something else. And this way I'll be updating quicker! ^-^

Anyhoos, hope you liked and happy summer, all!

PS: Sorry about the bad format earlier, forgot to set it to web format _