Chapter Six
"You know, death would be more merciful for this poor sod. His wounds are infected, and there's no way to clean them. He'll only get worse." A man's voice said, as Lotor drifted back into consciousness.
"Still, we can at least try. He may have been our enemy, but he doesn't deserve to die like this." A woman's voice murmured, gently. Lotor flinched when he felt cool fingertips on his brow, yet relaxed when soft chanting reached his ears.
"Meira, even if you do manage to heal him, those guards will only tear the wounds open again. Zarkon is determined to see him die." The man said, grimly. The chanting stopped, as the woman looked up and gave her male cellmate a stern look.
"I must try, Kyou. You know as well as I that the healer's pact decrees that no man should be left to die. Not even your enemy. Besides, even if what I am doing is futile, I can at least ease his pain until he does die. At least he's not dying alone in this place." Meira said, stubbornly. Lotor stared in wonder at the woman; how was it that she of all people could be so merciful to someone like him?! He opened his mouth to ask, but only a pain-filled gasp got past his lips.
"Take it easy, prince. You've had a rough time and your wounds are serious. Try not to move." Meira said, gently yet firmly. Reluctantly, Lotor obeyed, since even the slightest movement sent intense pain through his back and shoulders.
"I guess we should be glad that we're not in any of the fuller cells. The rest of the lot here would rip us to shreds for helping the likes of him." Kyou muttered, as he turned his cat-slitted blue eyes towards the rest of the filthy cells, listening to the constant jeering of the people within them.
"True enough. And they wouldn't hesitate to do the same to him, since he was, at one time, their captor." Meira murmured, then began chanting again. Lotor closed his eyes and sighed as the soothing voice slowly eased his pain, helping him rest and taking away the burdens of being a dishonored prince, if only for a little while.
"He won't have long to live, if we don't get him out of here soon. Meira is using all of her strength to fight the infection in his wounds, and the guards keep making new wounds for her to ward. What we need now is a miracle. A miracle in the form of lions." Kyou thought, as he watched Meira tend to Lotor.
Sean breathed a shaky sigh as he sat down in front of the Black Wolf's controls. He was about to head to Doom for the first time since he had been banished, and the thought of even approaching the planet scared him!
"Do not fear, Sean. Have faith in yourself and have faith in the Black Wolf. You'll be all right." Alfor's voice said, gently, in the back of Sean's mind.
"Thank you, King Alfor, for your vote of confidence. I will do my best, as I am sure everyone else will too." Sean thought, as he prepped his ship for flight.
"You ready, Sean?" Keith's voice asked, though the loudspeaker.
"As ready as I will ever be, Keith." Sean replied, not even caring to hide the fact that he was uneasy.
"Don't sweat it, Boss Dog! We'll get in and get out before Zarkie even realizes that the pantry's been raided! We'll have 'im callin' us all foxes before this night is out!" Aiden said, confidently.
"I don't think the Lions and Wolves would appreciate that too much." Pidge quipped, getting a tense chuckle out of the rest of the pilots. There was a unanimous growl from both sets of ships for an agreement.
"See? Even the Wolves and Lions agree." Dev added, as he gently patted the controls for his wolf.
"All systems green, Chief. We're ready to fly." Kip's voice said, as Sean checked his Wolf one last time before he gave the signal to take off.
"Good. Keith, are you and yours ready to go?" Sean asked, with a very slight tremor of fear in his voice.
"All set over here." Keith replied, then added, "Don't worry. We'll get in and get out as fast as we can. If what you sensed is true, then Lotor doesn't have much time."
"I know. That's what is troubling me." Sean said, as he glanced at the internal clock on his Wolf's controls.
"Aw, you worry too much, Pack Leader! We'll get in there so fast that ol' Zarkie won't know what hit 'im! So don't go going and getting your pressure suit in a bunch!" Aiden yowled, getting a flinch from Sean in response. This got some snickers from the rest of the pilots, including Sven and Keith.
"Laugh it up, flyboys. Watch it or I'll give some of those robots some minds of their own so they can give you lot your just desserts." Sean muttered.
"What? Blaster bolts to the back?" Lance asked.
"No. For you, Lance, I'd ask them to give you a wedgie." Sean grumbled. Lance said nothing more after that.
"Good comeback." Sven muttered, sounding as though he was filing that away in the back of his mind for use later.
"No problem, my friend. Now, let's go. Midnight is fast leaving us." Sean said, then shouted the command to his Wolves, "Launch!"
"Launch!!" Keith echoed, as he inserted his key into the panel in his Lion. With loud roars and howls, the Voltron Lions and Wolves were airborne; intent on the rescue mission ahead. From the control room, Allurra watched as the ten ships disappeared completely from sight beyond the atmosphere.
"Please be careful, my friends. Come back safely." Allurra thought, as she bravely held her tears back; as much a Lioness of Arus now as she had been in the pilot's seat of the Blue Lion.
Queen Merla sighed as she scanned the surrounding area with her mind. She was bored and somewhat lonely, even though she'd had unlikely company that evening in the form of a rebellious German-born space pirate and his somewhat cabin-feverish crew.
"Who would have thought that he of all people, would actually come to visit me? Here I am, royalty of one of the races he's fighting against, yet he stops in long enough to have a civilized glass of wine! Such strange creatures, humans are!" Merla mused, smiling slightly when she remembered her own surprise when the ruggedly handsome pirate captain had walked confidently up to her, nodded somewhat politely at her, then helped himself to some wine. She was jolted from her thoughts when something crossed her mind's eye.
"Voltron! But what're they doing this far away from Arus? Is something up?" Merla wondered, as she rushed to the control center in her own castle and tried to pick up the signal of the Black Lion.
"Captain Keith, this is Merla. Do you read me?" Merla asked, taking the communicator from her startled subordinate and speaking into it. There were a few moments of silence and static before the pilot responded.
"Loud and clear, your Highness. How're you doing?" Keith responded, almost casually.
"I'm well. What are you and your team doing out here? Has something happened? Has that fool Lotor captured Allurra again?" Merla asked, again, out of curiosity.
"Actually, as weird as this sounds, your Highness, we are on a rescue mission……but it's not to save Allurra this time. This time, Lotor is the one in need of rescue." Lance's voice said, as the images of the Lions came into focus. Merla's eyes widened when she saw what appeared to be five mecha wolves flying alongside the Lions.
"Keith…………..those wolves……….are they………….?" Merla questioned, too shocked to say it properly.
"Another Voltron? Yes. And you wouldn't believe who the leader is." Keith replied.
"Who?" Merla asked, her voice almost too quiet to be heard.
"Ever hear of a male Drulian going by the name of Sean Ghost?" another male voice, this one sounding eerily like Lotor, asked, calmly.
"The slave revolts on Doom……………….you were the one who'd started them…….." Merla murmured.
"Exactly. And now I head back to start yet another revolt; not just in the dungeons this time, but also in the very aristocracy of Doom itself. Queen Merla, we need to know if you will help us break into Doom." Sean's voice said, coolly. It didn't take Merla long to decide what she wanted to do.
"Consider it done. I'll be right behind you within the hour." Merla announced, as she mentally gave her underlings the command to get her best battle cruiser ready.
"Thank you, your Highness." Sean's voice said, gratefully.
"Think nothing of it. After all, this is a good way to work off some stress. Besides, I still intend to give Lotor an earful when he's on the mend." Merla said, cheerfully, glad to be getting a break from the boredom.
"All right. I just hope we can get through some of the defenses without alerting Zarkon to our presences prematurely." Sven's voice muttered, sounding just a little bit skeptical of this decision.
"Leave that to me, Mr. Holgersson." Merla said, smirking when some rather disgruntled grumbles in Norwegian were heard over the comm-link.
"Hey, Sylvan, what'd Sven say just now?" another voice meowed, curiously.
"Aiden, you really do not want to know. Trust me. You don't." Sylvan muttered, in exasperation. There were a few moments of silence before the feline voice spoke again.
"Okaaayy then. Maybe I don't. Sheesh. I can feel Sven's 'death glare' from here." Aiden's voice stated, getting some chuckles from the crew of the control center. Merla snickered and rolled her eyes. Yes, things were about to get interesting. Very interesting indeed.