Disclaimer:
George Lucas = owner of Star Wars
Me = Bored teenager with way too much time on my hands.
See the difference? 'Nuff said.
AN: I added TWO MORE chapters since I haven't updated for so long! You people are so lucky!
*****
CHAPTER TEN
Del-Mon arose early the next morning. At least, he assumed it was early. There was no way of telling when he was beneath the ground.
The wooden door to his room creaked open, and Elias poked his head in. "Good, you're awake," he said, coming in.
Del-Mon said nothing. He would have preferred to meditate before leaving the room, as he assumed Elias would ask him to do.
"Come. Breakfast is being served. Then I can tell you what you must do for us before we get you in the palace," Elias said.
Del-Mon rose and followed Elias down a twisting hallway and into the large room they had arrived in the previous day.
He was not concentrating on Elias. He was still trying to find his Padawan with his mind. Del-Mon knew Aro-Ken was alive. He just had no idea where he was.
"Try to ignore the hostilities. Usually the only people we get down here are Atheists," Elias called over his shoulder as he led Del-Mon to a table.
As they ate some kavasa and juju fruits, served with some old charbote roots, Danya came and sat next to her brother.
She started to speak loudly, not caring if Del-Mon overheard. "Brother, I still don't trust the Jedi. How do you know he is not here to tell the king and queen of our position?" she asked.
"I don't know. And at the moment I really don't care. Del-Mon has agreed to help me, so I will gladly assist him. This is war. As much as I hate to say it, it's true. We need all the help we can get," Elias said.
Angrily, Danya grabbed a kavasa fruit from the bowl in the middle of the table and bit into it. "Don't say I didn't warn you," she huffed.
"I won't need to," Elias retorted.
Danya abruptly pushed her chair back from the table and stormed away.
"Tell me, is she always like that?" Del-Mon asked.
"Usually. She has a very hard time trusting people. You would too if your best friend's father murdered your family," Elias said.
Del-Mon curiously looked at him, wordlessly asking for the full story.
"When we were younger, when Danya was about thirteen and I was fifteen, our father was a very wealthy and well-respected merchant. He was a good friend with one of the Church of Crixxin's High Priests. Darmick was his name. But after a while, Father too became curious about the Crixxian religion and began to question it. He began to spread his ideas, persuading many people to join his side. They questioned the authority of the priests, the laws based on the religion, and began to stop obeying them altogether. Despite their different views, Darmick and Father tried to be civil to each other, but it wasn't working.
"Soon the priests decided he was getting too rebellious. They came up with a plan. They invited our whole family, Danya, our parents, our older brother Tennin, and I to what they called a 'negotiative dinner.' We went, and during a toast, some gunmen came out of nowhere. Danya and I had to watch as our parents were murdered in front of us, along with Tennin. They almost shot me, but I moved first. They just got my eye here instead," Elias gestured to the eye patch he wore. "When I got away, I got to a free medic station, and they had to operate and take my eye out. I didn't have any money to buy a cyborg eye, so I got stuck like this."
Del-Mon nodded. "Go on," he bade Elias.
"They thought I was dead, but I was just knocked out. Danya said she got away and escaped into the palace. She found her way to the hangar, and said she managed to get me out of the huge pile of corpses that was being loaded onto one of the Jadda transports. She says she was too slow to get our parents and Tennin. She still blames herself. She's convinced that they were all alive.
"We tried to find our way out when I woke up, but we were caught first. The guards who found us kicked us around some, and then took us before the current Prime Minister. They told him that our parents were dead, and he seemed satisfied so they just threw us out on the streets. We somehow found our way down here. Both of us had been around our father for so long that we agreed with his beliefs completely. So we got the word around that any Atheist who was being persecuted was welcome down here.
"People really didn't listen to us until a few years ago, when Darmick was appointed Prime Minister and started really getting at the Atheists. That's when they really started coming in. I've been here the longest and I'm older than Danya, so I was appointed leader. So. That's how things happened," Elias said.
"I see," Del-Mon said, not really sure of what else he could say after hearing such a tale.
"Now, I'm not saying all the Crixxians should die or anything. Don't get me wrong. The only one who really doesn't deserve to live is Darmick. He's the one who's having everyone arrested and killed," Elias assured Del-Mon.
"Of course, of course. I understand your reasoning completely," Del-Mon replied. "Now, what is it that I have to do for you if you'll get me in the palace?"
"It's simple really. Just-" Elias was cut short by a huge explosion. The tunnel shook and rumbled. Loose dirt and stones fell from the ceiling.
Elias was instantly on his feet. "What was that?"
A woman came climbing up the ladder and into the room. Del-Mon noticed it was Sari. Her hair was wildly strewn about and she had a deep cut on her forehead. "There's Crixxian troops coming! At least fifty, and they're armed to the teeth! They just tossed a grenade at the guards we had! I just barely escaped!" she frantically cried.
As if on cue, a grenade came hurtling into the room from below.
"Get out of here! Take cover!" Elias shouted.
People instantly began to flee down the corridor in a frenzy, calling for their friends and family as they did.
Del-Mon could see that there was no chance of getting out that way, so he ran as fast as he could to the wall. He grabbed the nearest table, overturned it, and crouched down behind it. A few others spotted the move and joined him.
Then there was an explosion. Screams rang out. The force of the blast shoved Del-Mon backwards a few paces and dented the table, nearly cracking it in half.
Del-Mon was on his feet in an instant, his glowing green lightsaber ignited.
Elias was quickly taking charge of the situation. "Quick, get the children and the wounded out of here! Everyone else, stay here with me! We'll hold them off as long as we can! Get some tables over here!"
Then, soldiers began to enter the room, firing at anyone they saw moving. The soldiers had powerful blaster rifles in good working order and wore blast armor, whereas Elias's men were armed with old blasters that they had scavenged and had no protection.
Those who had not joined Del-Mon were pulling tables over to the doorway to block it.
Del-Mon spun and weaved about the blasts, watching as others fell around him.
A few people were on their knees, dragging tables to the entrance to the corridor as Elias had instructed.
"Everybody get back here behind the tables! We'll hold them off from here!" Elias's voice rang out.
Del-Mon and the others backed away, still firing, and in Del-Mon's case, deflecting shots back at the soldiers. He did not aim to kill, only to wound. He often tried to aim the shots he hit at an arm or leg.
When he reached the table, he spun around and jumped, clearing the tables easily as the other Atheists scrambled over them. Three were shot as they tried.
Elias's men were shooting back at the soldiers, bravely defending their fellow Atheists.
"Put your laser sword away. It's no use back here. Take this," Elias said to Del-Mon, quickly thrusting a blaster rifle into his hands.
Del-Mon hadn't wielded a blaster of any sort for a long time, but he quickly got used to it. He still did not aim to kill. He had no desire to kill. He was simply doing this to give the wounded Atheists a chance to get away.
Round after round came from the soldiers, and they were greatly taking their toll on the tables. Their barricade was quickly weakening against the Crixxian soldiers' stronger firepower.
As a shot blasted clear through the wood and hit someone in the leg, Elias shouted over the roar of the blaster fire, "Come on! We have to get out of here! Wid, you know what to do!"
The silent man nodded.
"You might want to get down," Elias said to Del-Mon.
The Jedi got down on one knee, and watched as Wid grabbed one of the tables with his powerful arms.
As the firing ceased for an instant, he stood up and hurled the table at a large group of the guards. There were shouts, and some stray shots went out as the table collided with the group.
"Run! Now!" shouted Elias.
Instantly his band followed him down the tunnels, the soldiers behind them. Occasionally blaster fire would ring out from behind them and someone would scream and fall. The running Atheists would sometimes manage to turn around and fire off a few shots.
"Get to the Above! The others will be there!" Elias yelled over the gunshots and screams and shouts.
Del-Mon continued to follow the running group as its size continued to decrease.
"Get up the stairs, hurry!" Elias said.
The Jedi looked ahead, and saw that there was a narrow stone staircase in front of them.
Elias made sure everyone got inside before he went up as well.
Behind them, there was the sound of clanking blast armor and angry shouts. Del-Mon guessed the stairway was too small for the soldiers to fit into with all their armor on.
Del-Mon looked ahead, and saw daylight at the end of the stairway. He quickened his pace, and climbed out the metal hatch at the end of the stairs.
Elias followed him, and then turned to the metal hatch that closed over the staircase, and slammed it shut. He grabbed a bar of metal and jammed it into the old lock, preventing anyone from opening it.
With a sigh of relief, he turned to his followers. "Well, we're alive. We have to get to the backup structure. Come on," Elias said. He turned, and his band followed him.
They stayed in the alleyways and shadows, only crossing the streets in groups of two or three. Del-Mon knew if they looked suspicious, they would be stopped.
Finally, Elias led the exhausted Atheists into a huge, abandoned building after unlocking the door. They went up a few flights of stairs, and found a large room that took up an entire floor. It was there that the wounded and those that had evacuated them were. There had to be at least three hundred people, one hundred of them wounded or dying. Children were silent for the most part, except for the very young ones who had been separated from their parents and were crying for them.
Del-Mon looked around, and saw they did not have a lot of medical supplies.
Those that had fought by Elias's side now left him and scattered about the room in search of their families, except for Wid. Wid had been right next to Elias through the whole battle. The strong, silent man had refused to leave his side.
Elias sat down in a corner with his head in his hands.
As Del-Mon began to sit next to him, a hand grabbed his arm. "You are a spy!" spat an angry voice. Del-Mon didn't need the Force to tell who it was.
"Danya, I had nothing to do with this," he sternly said.
"You'd love for me to believe that, wouldn't you? Elias, I don't know about you, but it seems a bit suspicious to me that just after you brought your Jedi friend Underground those guards found us," Danya said.
"Danya, I'm not in the mood for your false accusations right now. We have lost many. We shall worry about how they found us at a later time," Elias said.
"He's a spy, Elias! How many times must I tell you?" she cried.
Del-Mon noticed there were a few others at Danya's side, nodding their heads and agreeing with her.
Angrily, Elias rose. "Danya, enough of this foolishness!" he furiously said. Wid stood next to him, the fierce look on his face firmly stating that he would always be on Elias's side.
"We don't have to kill him if you really don't want to. Just throw him out. Would you rather they found us here and wiped us out?" Danya asked.
"Danya, I don't know how they found us, but I do know that Del-Mon had nothing to do with it!" Elias fumed.
"There are so many ways he could be telling them! Did you bother to check on him during the night? He could have a tracking device on him somewhere. He probably has a comlink that he's sending them information with!" Danya cried.
Elias looked at her furiously. Then he lifted his hand and struck her across the cheek.
Angrily, she glared at him, and Elias returned the stone-cold gaze.
He then turned to face the rest of the occupants in the room. He spoke with a powerful, commanding voice that would make anyone listen. "Everyone, hear me! No one among us is a spy! Do not listen to my sister! Today was a tragic day in all our lives that will not be forgotten soon! But I ask you, do not attack the Crixxians! We cannot and will not be blamed for the start of a war! You know as well as I do they will overpower us! I have spoken! Now tend to your wounded, reunite with your families! We will act when all are well! I have spoken!"
He turned and locked eyes with Del-Mon. After looking at him for a moment, he spun around on his heel and walked away into the crowd, Wid obediently following him.
Danya muttered to him, "I'll be watching you, spy." She and her handful of followers walked away.
A few hours later, the sun was beginning to set. It cast an orange glow about the room. Most of the Atheists in the building were sleeping.
Elias was sitting against a wall with his head in his hands. Wid stood a short distance away.
Del-Mon came along and sat next to him. They sat in silence until Del-Mon suddenly noticed a patch of blood on Elias's pant leg. "You're injured," he commented.
Elias did not reply.
"Let me go get a bandage or something for you," the Jedi said, starting to rise.
"No. Don't," Elias calmly said, putting a hand on Del-Mon's arm.
"Elias, you are wounded. It looks bad. I know how to treat it," Del-Mon assured him.
"I'm sure you do, but I said no. There are others that need the supplies more than I do," Elias said.
Del-Mon had to admire his courage. "All right," he said, seeing there was no changing Elias's mind.
Elias took a deep breath and let it out, looking over the people. "Sixty- four dead. Nearly double that many injured. All because of the Crixxians," he said without expression.
"I'm sorry," Del-Mon said after a brief pause. He felt a new admiration for Elias. He'd been through so much pain in his life, and now this.
"Don't be. Why should you be? You haven't known them for half your life. Watched them grow. Helped teach them everything you knew. And now watch as they suffer and die," Elias said, staring blankly ahead.
"Elias, about that mission you wanted me to help you with-" Del-Mon began.
"Forget it," Elias sharply cut him off.
"Elias, I can help you-"
"Del-Mon, the only thing I want you to do for me now is to take me with you when you go to the palace tomorrow. I have seen what will happen if I allow this to continue. And I am determined not to let it," Elias said.
"All right," Del-Mon said.
*****
So what did you think? Please review! Flames, like, no-like, I don't care! I'll read anything! I'm a review freak, I live for reviews!
George Lucas = owner of Star Wars
Me = Bored teenager with way too much time on my hands.
See the difference? 'Nuff said.
AN: I added TWO MORE chapters since I haven't updated for so long! You people are so lucky!
*****
CHAPTER TEN
Del-Mon arose early the next morning. At least, he assumed it was early. There was no way of telling when he was beneath the ground.
The wooden door to his room creaked open, and Elias poked his head in. "Good, you're awake," he said, coming in.
Del-Mon said nothing. He would have preferred to meditate before leaving the room, as he assumed Elias would ask him to do.
"Come. Breakfast is being served. Then I can tell you what you must do for us before we get you in the palace," Elias said.
Del-Mon rose and followed Elias down a twisting hallway and into the large room they had arrived in the previous day.
He was not concentrating on Elias. He was still trying to find his Padawan with his mind. Del-Mon knew Aro-Ken was alive. He just had no idea where he was.
"Try to ignore the hostilities. Usually the only people we get down here are Atheists," Elias called over his shoulder as he led Del-Mon to a table.
As they ate some kavasa and juju fruits, served with some old charbote roots, Danya came and sat next to her brother.
She started to speak loudly, not caring if Del-Mon overheard. "Brother, I still don't trust the Jedi. How do you know he is not here to tell the king and queen of our position?" she asked.
"I don't know. And at the moment I really don't care. Del-Mon has agreed to help me, so I will gladly assist him. This is war. As much as I hate to say it, it's true. We need all the help we can get," Elias said.
Angrily, Danya grabbed a kavasa fruit from the bowl in the middle of the table and bit into it. "Don't say I didn't warn you," she huffed.
"I won't need to," Elias retorted.
Danya abruptly pushed her chair back from the table and stormed away.
"Tell me, is she always like that?" Del-Mon asked.
"Usually. She has a very hard time trusting people. You would too if your best friend's father murdered your family," Elias said.
Del-Mon curiously looked at him, wordlessly asking for the full story.
"When we were younger, when Danya was about thirteen and I was fifteen, our father was a very wealthy and well-respected merchant. He was a good friend with one of the Church of Crixxin's High Priests. Darmick was his name. But after a while, Father too became curious about the Crixxian religion and began to question it. He began to spread his ideas, persuading many people to join his side. They questioned the authority of the priests, the laws based on the religion, and began to stop obeying them altogether. Despite their different views, Darmick and Father tried to be civil to each other, but it wasn't working.
"Soon the priests decided he was getting too rebellious. They came up with a plan. They invited our whole family, Danya, our parents, our older brother Tennin, and I to what they called a 'negotiative dinner.' We went, and during a toast, some gunmen came out of nowhere. Danya and I had to watch as our parents were murdered in front of us, along with Tennin. They almost shot me, but I moved first. They just got my eye here instead," Elias gestured to the eye patch he wore. "When I got away, I got to a free medic station, and they had to operate and take my eye out. I didn't have any money to buy a cyborg eye, so I got stuck like this."
Del-Mon nodded. "Go on," he bade Elias.
"They thought I was dead, but I was just knocked out. Danya said she got away and escaped into the palace. She found her way to the hangar, and said she managed to get me out of the huge pile of corpses that was being loaded onto one of the Jadda transports. She says she was too slow to get our parents and Tennin. She still blames herself. She's convinced that they were all alive.
"We tried to find our way out when I woke up, but we were caught first. The guards who found us kicked us around some, and then took us before the current Prime Minister. They told him that our parents were dead, and he seemed satisfied so they just threw us out on the streets. We somehow found our way down here. Both of us had been around our father for so long that we agreed with his beliefs completely. So we got the word around that any Atheist who was being persecuted was welcome down here.
"People really didn't listen to us until a few years ago, when Darmick was appointed Prime Minister and started really getting at the Atheists. That's when they really started coming in. I've been here the longest and I'm older than Danya, so I was appointed leader. So. That's how things happened," Elias said.
"I see," Del-Mon said, not really sure of what else he could say after hearing such a tale.
"Now, I'm not saying all the Crixxians should die or anything. Don't get me wrong. The only one who really doesn't deserve to live is Darmick. He's the one who's having everyone arrested and killed," Elias assured Del-Mon.
"Of course, of course. I understand your reasoning completely," Del-Mon replied. "Now, what is it that I have to do for you if you'll get me in the palace?"
"It's simple really. Just-" Elias was cut short by a huge explosion. The tunnel shook and rumbled. Loose dirt and stones fell from the ceiling.
Elias was instantly on his feet. "What was that?"
A woman came climbing up the ladder and into the room. Del-Mon noticed it was Sari. Her hair was wildly strewn about and she had a deep cut on her forehead. "There's Crixxian troops coming! At least fifty, and they're armed to the teeth! They just tossed a grenade at the guards we had! I just barely escaped!" she frantically cried.
As if on cue, a grenade came hurtling into the room from below.
"Get out of here! Take cover!" Elias shouted.
People instantly began to flee down the corridor in a frenzy, calling for their friends and family as they did.
Del-Mon could see that there was no chance of getting out that way, so he ran as fast as he could to the wall. He grabbed the nearest table, overturned it, and crouched down behind it. A few others spotted the move and joined him.
Then there was an explosion. Screams rang out. The force of the blast shoved Del-Mon backwards a few paces and dented the table, nearly cracking it in half.
Del-Mon was on his feet in an instant, his glowing green lightsaber ignited.
Elias was quickly taking charge of the situation. "Quick, get the children and the wounded out of here! Everyone else, stay here with me! We'll hold them off as long as we can! Get some tables over here!"
Then, soldiers began to enter the room, firing at anyone they saw moving. The soldiers had powerful blaster rifles in good working order and wore blast armor, whereas Elias's men were armed with old blasters that they had scavenged and had no protection.
Those who had not joined Del-Mon were pulling tables over to the doorway to block it.
Del-Mon spun and weaved about the blasts, watching as others fell around him.
A few people were on their knees, dragging tables to the entrance to the corridor as Elias had instructed.
"Everybody get back here behind the tables! We'll hold them off from here!" Elias's voice rang out.
Del-Mon and the others backed away, still firing, and in Del-Mon's case, deflecting shots back at the soldiers. He did not aim to kill, only to wound. He often tried to aim the shots he hit at an arm or leg.
When he reached the table, he spun around and jumped, clearing the tables easily as the other Atheists scrambled over them. Three were shot as they tried.
Elias's men were shooting back at the soldiers, bravely defending their fellow Atheists.
"Put your laser sword away. It's no use back here. Take this," Elias said to Del-Mon, quickly thrusting a blaster rifle into his hands.
Del-Mon hadn't wielded a blaster of any sort for a long time, but he quickly got used to it. He still did not aim to kill. He had no desire to kill. He was simply doing this to give the wounded Atheists a chance to get away.
Round after round came from the soldiers, and they were greatly taking their toll on the tables. Their barricade was quickly weakening against the Crixxian soldiers' stronger firepower.
As a shot blasted clear through the wood and hit someone in the leg, Elias shouted over the roar of the blaster fire, "Come on! We have to get out of here! Wid, you know what to do!"
The silent man nodded.
"You might want to get down," Elias said to Del-Mon.
The Jedi got down on one knee, and watched as Wid grabbed one of the tables with his powerful arms.
As the firing ceased for an instant, he stood up and hurled the table at a large group of the guards. There were shouts, and some stray shots went out as the table collided with the group.
"Run! Now!" shouted Elias.
Instantly his band followed him down the tunnels, the soldiers behind them. Occasionally blaster fire would ring out from behind them and someone would scream and fall. The running Atheists would sometimes manage to turn around and fire off a few shots.
"Get to the Above! The others will be there!" Elias yelled over the gunshots and screams and shouts.
Del-Mon continued to follow the running group as its size continued to decrease.
"Get up the stairs, hurry!" Elias said.
The Jedi looked ahead, and saw that there was a narrow stone staircase in front of them.
Elias made sure everyone got inside before he went up as well.
Behind them, there was the sound of clanking blast armor and angry shouts. Del-Mon guessed the stairway was too small for the soldiers to fit into with all their armor on.
Del-Mon looked ahead, and saw daylight at the end of the stairway. He quickened his pace, and climbed out the metal hatch at the end of the stairs.
Elias followed him, and then turned to the metal hatch that closed over the staircase, and slammed it shut. He grabbed a bar of metal and jammed it into the old lock, preventing anyone from opening it.
With a sigh of relief, he turned to his followers. "Well, we're alive. We have to get to the backup structure. Come on," Elias said. He turned, and his band followed him.
They stayed in the alleyways and shadows, only crossing the streets in groups of two or three. Del-Mon knew if they looked suspicious, they would be stopped.
Finally, Elias led the exhausted Atheists into a huge, abandoned building after unlocking the door. They went up a few flights of stairs, and found a large room that took up an entire floor. It was there that the wounded and those that had evacuated them were. There had to be at least three hundred people, one hundred of them wounded or dying. Children were silent for the most part, except for the very young ones who had been separated from their parents and were crying for them.
Del-Mon looked around, and saw they did not have a lot of medical supplies.
Those that had fought by Elias's side now left him and scattered about the room in search of their families, except for Wid. Wid had been right next to Elias through the whole battle. The strong, silent man had refused to leave his side.
Elias sat down in a corner with his head in his hands.
As Del-Mon began to sit next to him, a hand grabbed his arm. "You are a spy!" spat an angry voice. Del-Mon didn't need the Force to tell who it was.
"Danya, I had nothing to do with this," he sternly said.
"You'd love for me to believe that, wouldn't you? Elias, I don't know about you, but it seems a bit suspicious to me that just after you brought your Jedi friend Underground those guards found us," Danya said.
"Danya, I'm not in the mood for your false accusations right now. We have lost many. We shall worry about how they found us at a later time," Elias said.
"He's a spy, Elias! How many times must I tell you?" she cried.
Del-Mon noticed there were a few others at Danya's side, nodding their heads and agreeing with her.
Angrily, Elias rose. "Danya, enough of this foolishness!" he furiously said. Wid stood next to him, the fierce look on his face firmly stating that he would always be on Elias's side.
"We don't have to kill him if you really don't want to. Just throw him out. Would you rather they found us here and wiped us out?" Danya asked.
"Danya, I don't know how they found us, but I do know that Del-Mon had nothing to do with it!" Elias fumed.
"There are so many ways he could be telling them! Did you bother to check on him during the night? He could have a tracking device on him somewhere. He probably has a comlink that he's sending them information with!" Danya cried.
Elias looked at her furiously. Then he lifted his hand and struck her across the cheek.
Angrily, she glared at him, and Elias returned the stone-cold gaze.
He then turned to face the rest of the occupants in the room. He spoke with a powerful, commanding voice that would make anyone listen. "Everyone, hear me! No one among us is a spy! Do not listen to my sister! Today was a tragic day in all our lives that will not be forgotten soon! But I ask you, do not attack the Crixxians! We cannot and will not be blamed for the start of a war! You know as well as I do they will overpower us! I have spoken! Now tend to your wounded, reunite with your families! We will act when all are well! I have spoken!"
He turned and locked eyes with Del-Mon. After looking at him for a moment, he spun around on his heel and walked away into the crowd, Wid obediently following him.
Danya muttered to him, "I'll be watching you, spy." She and her handful of followers walked away.
A few hours later, the sun was beginning to set. It cast an orange glow about the room. Most of the Atheists in the building were sleeping.
Elias was sitting against a wall with his head in his hands. Wid stood a short distance away.
Del-Mon came along and sat next to him. They sat in silence until Del-Mon suddenly noticed a patch of blood on Elias's pant leg. "You're injured," he commented.
Elias did not reply.
"Let me go get a bandage or something for you," the Jedi said, starting to rise.
"No. Don't," Elias calmly said, putting a hand on Del-Mon's arm.
"Elias, you are wounded. It looks bad. I know how to treat it," Del-Mon assured him.
"I'm sure you do, but I said no. There are others that need the supplies more than I do," Elias said.
Del-Mon had to admire his courage. "All right," he said, seeing there was no changing Elias's mind.
Elias took a deep breath and let it out, looking over the people. "Sixty- four dead. Nearly double that many injured. All because of the Crixxians," he said without expression.
"I'm sorry," Del-Mon said after a brief pause. He felt a new admiration for Elias. He'd been through so much pain in his life, and now this.
"Don't be. Why should you be? You haven't known them for half your life. Watched them grow. Helped teach them everything you knew. And now watch as they suffer and die," Elias said, staring blankly ahead.
"Elias, about that mission you wanted me to help you with-" Del-Mon began.
"Forget it," Elias sharply cut him off.
"Elias, I can help you-"
"Del-Mon, the only thing I want you to do for me now is to take me with you when you go to the palace tomorrow. I have seen what will happen if I allow this to continue. And I am determined not to let it," Elias said.
"All right," Del-Mon said.
*****
So what did you think? Please review! Flames, like, no-like, I don't care! I'll read anything! I'm a review freak, I live for reviews!