A low rattle announced the creature's returns. Malik flinched awake out of the light slumber some fruit had put him in, which the snake queen had given him in the first place, blinked around dazedly. It was dark suddenly, and he noticed he wasn't in the throne room anymore, rather in a smaller, dark room stuffed with various cushions and blankets of the finest silks and velvets, and he was laying on one large pillow, curled together like a kitten.
"My queen. . . "
Malik yelped as something moved behind him, and Veilna lifted her ugly head, hissing in approval as something was thrown to the cold hard floor in front of the pillow mountain. Lifeless as a rag doll, and dressed rather familiar in fact.
"Mariku!"
The blonde teen lunged forwards, but a cold, strong snake's tail wound itself around his waist as Veilna ignored his whimpers and his for Mariku reached out hands as well as the struggling when Malik wouldn't comply.
"So this is how it ends. . . pathetic, I'd expected more of him."
"Our venom issssss very fassssst my queen. . .", the creature which had brought Mariku in hissed. "He sssshould be asssss good asss dead by now."
"He's still alive?!", Malik yelped, then struggled more fiercely until Veilna let him go with a roll of her eyes, and he scrambled as quickly as he could down the pillows to get to his taller companion, afraid Veilna would pull him back in the last second. "Mariku. . ."
When the teen turned the man around and propped his upper body up in his arms, he gasped at how pale Mariku was suddenly; all of his rich tan drained from his face. He looked like a ghost, or like a very lifeless Bakura maybe. Cradling the motionless body in his arms, Malik's eyes watered - the man had done that for him. While tried saving him, Mariku had been bitten.
"Come on, please wake up? Please?"
"Isn't that cute.", Veilna cooed, slithering down to them and wound her tail around both of them, pressing Malik and Mariku closer together; Malik shivered at how cold the thief's body seemed. Lifting his now tear-streaked face, he glared at Veilna harshly, rivalling Mariku's own glare.
"Aww. . . ", was all he could achieve, though. Malik, giving up already, lowered his face to Mariku's shoulder, trying to stifle his sobs in the nape of the man's neck. Cold. . . coldcoldcold skin, not like Mariku had ever felt! All the unwanted hugs, caresses, fleeting touches, all had seemed so warm, and Malik felt bad now because he had never noticed Mariku's affection for him until now. "Please, come back. . ."
Though whispered, the snake queen had heard. Tch, and here he'd thought snakes couldn't hear well. "He won't, child, it's over now. You're my pet, and the only person who could rescue you is nearly dead."
Malik's hand wound around the dagger Mariku clutched in his freezing hand unnoticed. That he could use. . . maybe. "Nearly. . ."
"There is one way to bring him back though."
The boy's head snapped up, unbelieving. "What?"
"All you need is the Anwyn's Crystal."
"How do I get it?"
"You won't", Veilna hissed in malicious pleasure. "Few ever managed to get through the labyrinth beneath Lunen Forest, and the few that did, never came back alive."
Unwilling to give up, Malik frowned, straightening with Mariku in his arms, the dagger already hidden safely in his belt, beneath his shirt. "And if I get that crystal. . . it can save Mariku?"
"No, basically it cannot. But I can, and I will, if you can bring me said gemstone.", Veilna answered, smirking. The boy wasn't powerful enough to even attempt plucking the stone out of his socket. Malik gently laid Mariku down against a pillow, not caring if Veilna approved or not. Then he stood, glaring at the snake queen.
"Show me the entry."
(Breathe)
One thing about Malik was that he wasn't very fond of the darkness. No, not at all. Being locked away in closets or the basement often in his childhood had taken all of his love for scary movies where someone was chased through a dark forest maybe; movies he sure would have enjoyed otherwise. His parents hadn't known what to do with the peculiar, odd looking child … having such light lavender eyes and blonde hair while being Egyptian wouldn't stay in their brains. Also, young Malik had taken interest in what seemed to be black magic, starting at the age of eight – an interest that literally had driven both his father and mother insane. Only as they died, the child was freed of the darkness by his sister, who was at least seven years older than him, and who had taken him with her to Japan when he had been twelve, where she was working at the local museum.
There the darkness had ended, with Ryou's friendship.
And that was what Malik was now thinking about, Ryou's light, shiny hair, and Ryou's bright green eyes, and Ryou's pale skin; his source of light in the dark abyss that lay before him. He didn't know how Ryou was, all alone with Bakura. He should have stayed with him. He should have listened to the other boy as he was telling him not to walk through the mirror. Never he should have risked his best friend's life.
Never he should have risked Mariku's life either. Why hadn't he stayed close to him?
The snake queen slithered behind him, snickering evilly. Probably she knew. Malik had read that snakes could smell really good … fear, at least. And fear he felt. He took another glance at the tall thief's unconscious form, cradled between two of those snake-like monsters, limply. For a moment he could swear he'd seen a tiny bit of violet in Mariku's face, and briefly considered the man had awoken, but – that wasn't possible. Veilna would only keep him alive until the next sun rose, which meant, tomorrow, same time as now. Malik turned once again, taking one last glance at the barely risen sun, and shot another glare at the snake queen's smirking face, then took a step forward, and held his breath as he was engulfed in darkness.
Breathe
In. Out. In again. And out. Calmly. Yeah right.
The boy's breathing was erratic, gasps came along with occasional quiet sobs, tears streaking the soft, tanned face. And yes.
Malik was being followed.
He could almost feel steamy, moist breath in the back of his neck, hear occasional scraping of something against the cold, hard stone ground. The cold, hard, uneven stone ground. More than once he'd tripped already, over a rock, a twig for some reason, and more than once over skeletons, which had literally freaked him out. And his shocked scream had alerted the labyrinth's guardian, who sure didn't like someone strolling around in his territory.
Another dead-end suddenly laid before him, Malik's tracks now so fast that he almost smacked against the wall – which was covered in slimy stuff, and moss. Solid stone beneath. And the scraping was coming closer.
Malik whimpered, desperately clawing at the wall; he couldn't go back, and he couldn't hide either. The corridor he was caught in was narrow, he assumed, but not narrow enough that he could touch both walls when he reached out. Not even barely with his fingertips … so it was wide enough for any large, evil, cannibalistic beast to come and rip him to pieces with large shiny pointy fangs and even sharper claws, only to devour him afterwards! He gripped the dagger tightly in his right hand, knuckles turning white with the force; he wouldn't go down without a fight! That's what he'd always done!!
He thought of Ryou again. Somehow he couldn't get his mind free of the slightly younger boy, wondering how Bakura treated him, and if he ever would come back into their own world, without Malik to guide him. He remembered Ryou's frightened sob as they had turned around and found the mirror gone, slightly warm, hard stone being where it had been, no more gate to the real world.
And he cried.
As the scrapes came closer slowly, and the spent air became warmer, Malik closed his eyes and bit his lower lip tightly, holding the dagger in front of him with outstretched arms.
Child. . .
Something inside Malik wanted to blink, but he didn't dare opening his eyes.
. . where did you receive that dagger?
Was it just him, or was that voice in his mind? He couldn't be imagining things, could he? But there the voice was, warm, dusty as if unused for a long time, wondering in an almost childlike way, although it sounded old, so old …ancient?
Where. . .where. . who are you? What are you doing in here? My prison. . .
Somehow, the voice made Malik feel sad. So unbelievably sad that it became hard to breathe; and the darkness no longer consumed him, it shifted into – something. It felt as if the cold, slimy stone in his back vanished, as well as the ground beneath him, and he was floating, and finally, finally – he dared to open his eyes, slowly, cautiously. . .
And was met with golden, wide open cat-like eyes, each one as large as his head, if not larger. A scaly snout beneath those glimmering eyes, peculiarly shaped, dainty almost, even for its size. Black, the whole head, larger than he was, all that would fit into the corridor.
Large, blending white teeth, sharp and as long as his forearm, adorning the large, wide mouth.
And Malik fainted.
(Breathe)
He awoke again, unable to tell what time it was, how high the sun stood, if it was night already … and if the night was over already? What if the next day had broken, and Mariku was dead? He shot up, breathing harshly in shock, from where he was cradled in something, warm, gently pulsing – living? It felt rough beneath his palms, and he glanced around cluelessly, helplessly, until he realized that mythical creatures weren't only a myth as most people assumed.
Because here he lay, cradled in the curled tail of a large black dragon, the spikes adorning the spine and tail carefully turned away from him. The huge beast was asleep, as it seemed, the massive body heaving with every slowly drawn breath; in fact, Malik could've breathed nine and a half times in one of the dragon's breaths.
So I see you awakened.
Dumbly, the boy could only nod as warm golden eyes turned to him, blinking quite friendly. "W-why. . . why didn't you eat me?" A soft, mental chuckle answered his question, a low growl in the dragon's actual throat. Malik blinked, and tilted his head in inquiring confusion, and noticed the dim light in the huge cavern they rested in, a warm glow of torches, which made the former black scales glimmer a fascinating, pretty blue and lilac.
You carry the blessed dagger. And you seem different from all those mortals that came here over the years. . .
Malik smiled lightly, and quickly felt around his belt to see if the dagger still was there; it was.
Why are you here?
Although the dragon did not speak to him in a normal voice, Malik heard the curiosity out of it, the thirst for knowledge of a being long locked away. And so he began his story, from the fateful day of skipping school, which brought him an amused snort from the dragon's large nostrils (which, in turn, windswept his hair pretty badly), to the snake queen who held his 'companion' hostage. The dragon seemed to take in all this with great pleasure, probably having been deprived from talking with someone for years. "How long are you here already?"
Here? I never counted the years … centuries … millennia. I am not allowed to go back to the surface, never to travel the skies again ..
Into the ancient voice mixed something like bitterness, and longing to travel again, to spread the huge leathery wings, dusty from being unused so long.
"Why?"
I am bound to this labyrinth for as long as I live, then another will be at my place. I am old, it won't take long anymore; a couple more thousands, I suppose.
Malik bit his lip, almost not daring to ask further, but the creature seemed so sad, so friendly though. . .
"Why are you bound?"
I am protecting this.
He opened one wing with an almost creaking sound, and where it should be folded to his body one scale was missing. Instead, an equally large crystal was embedded in the protective layer of scales, glittering in so many colours Malik's eyes began to hurt.
If it was brought up to the surface, it would be destroyed. This is the gods' greatest treasure. See, it's so pure, always ever shining with its own light, never to take colours from the light that surrounds it.
The dragon watched calmly as the mortal boy scrambled up his body towards the stone, sensing no malice in that frail body, and curled his tail beneath the child's legs, holding Malik up to look at the crystal.
"Is this. . ."
Yes. This is Anwyn's Crystal, the gemstone you are searching for.
Malik turned his head to look at the creature in surprise; he never had mentioned the crystal in his story.
We dragons can read minds you know.
Amusement now in that voice, and Malik could've sworn the stony lips curled into an almost-smile. "But. . ."
I am Anwyn, child. This is my heart you look at, forever stuck like this to my body, as an punishment for my sins, waiting for someone to take it and end my life.
Malik flinched. By taking the crystal, the old dragon would die; he didn't want Anwyn to die! It seemed the dragon was a she, an ancient dragon lady, and so so nice!
You can have it. It is much like you are, child … always ever sparkling on your own. I give you my blessing, Malik. May you find out soon what the gift is that I give you.
He felt bad, very bad. "I, I can't … I can't just take it!", he said, shaking his head. "That wouldn't be right, you would die!"
I am waiting so long already for someone to relief me … I ask you to take it. My sins are gone when the jewel is gone, and I wanted peace for so long now …I am going to take you to the end of the labyrinth, so I can see the sky once more, then you'll take it and give it that nasty snake. She will heal your friend, and the jewel will be destroyed to live on within you … with my soul in your heart to always protect you.
He felt tears in his eyes as he nodded his consent, and cradled between a shoulder blade and the beginning of a large wing he felt Anwyn move, slowly at first, then faster, until they were in the dark corridors again, and he heard the old dragon chuckle as he clung to her. Soon enough, there was brightness, red glowing, as the sun set for the night. They had made it, really made it! The Veildra came into view, and Anwyn stopped, letting Malik pluck the warm, pulsing crystal from its sheath, then slid down the large black body, and walked around until he stood in front of the creature, who was breathing harsher, and lowered her giant head. Malik sniffed softly as she nudged her nose against his side in a somewhat loving demonstration of affection, and he slung one arm around the horn of one nostril, hugging it tightly. "Thank you so much ..", he whispered, nuzzling against the hard scales, hearing a soft chuckle again.
Go, child. The sooner you go out, the faster it will be done.
Sparks flew from the resting body as Malik clung to it like a child to a beloved toy their parents wanted to throw away finally once and for all.
I will be with you on your way.
The sparks became more, and more still, until the ancient body was made of them, and a single, blue-black scale appeared on a cord around Malik's neck. He stared down at it, wondering, the crystal tucked tightly in his left hand, and he started following the sparks which made their way outside.
In a storm of golden light he appeared before the snake-creatures, a determined look in his lavender eyes, looking after the sparks as they flew up to the sky.
Always with you.
He took a deep breath, and marched up to the angrily hissing queen, holding the yet-intact crystal out to her. She hissed in disapproval.
"How did you do this?!"
"This is for me to know and for you to find out. Now heal Mariku, or I'll smash it.", Malik said calmly, holding the crystal out, his palm facing towards the ground, threatening to let go. The Veildra hissed, but they didn't dare going near him. Even Veilna seemed afraid.
"NO, no! I'll do it. See here." She slithered over to Mariku's pale, limp form, touching his throat, and the tan rose within the skin again, like magic. "Now give it to me!" She hissed at him angrily as he tossed it at her carelessly, and ran to Mariku's side, holding his upper body up as the older man coughed. Faintly, as he stroked the bangs out of Mariku's face gently, he could hear Veilna's maniacal laughter as it faded slowly; the Veildra had returned to their lair. And within him, he could feel something smirk gently against his heart, as the faint 'pling' of splintering crystal could be heard. But the Veildra wouldn't hurt them. No, they wouldn't.
End
Thank you all!