Warnings: ummm...........

Disclaimer: still not mine, but the story is!

Another update! Sorry for the delay, I'm gonna stop saying sorry for the delays cause I'm never doing it when I say I will. So just know that I'm gonna try to update as soon as I can.

Thanks to all those who have reviewed so far! I love you guys!!!

Chapter 8: From one to the other

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zechs had become Colonel of the Queedmore army at age 19. Now at age 24 he was the General of the army and the young King's advisor. A year ago the king had asked Zechs to create a group of elite soldiers made from all of the different ranks in the army, this group became known as the DD's or Dare Devils. They trained with their normal squadrons during the day, but met with the DD's every night for extra training the regular regiments never learned. Zechs was proud of the progress his men of the DD's had made over the last year, they had come from being normal soldiers to being the best of the best. All of them were sharp shooters, they were all pros on explosives, they all had at least a minimal amount of magic, they were fast, they were secretive, and they were like brothers. They held the top score for infiltrating the test house and eliminating all "threat." Zechs new he was taking his men on one of the hardest missions they had ever been on, and probably will ever be on. But he was confident his men would come out on top.

The Maxwell Kingdom was a strong kingdom, but its army was no match for Queedmore's, and they had no idea about the DD's. The only reason Queedmore had not taken over Berkinshire already was because of Trowa their mage, who at one point, had been among the top five best mages in the country. However, the DD's had a surprise for Trowa, for each one of them had their own amount of magical power. No one parson had as much power as Trowa did, but with all of them put together they had enough power to distract Trowa while a few of the soldiers captured the slave.

By sunrise the next day the DD's could see the Maxwell castle in the distance. They would reach the outskirts of the village by late morning. Having the castle insight made the men more anxious and the closer they got the quieter they got, mentally preparing themselves for what would be happening later that day.

By the time they reached the outskirts of the town the sun was high in the sky blazing down on the men.

"Trowa has set up a lot of magic traps, most likely to slow Odin down. This will prove to be a little trickier then we originally imagined it would be. First Squadron go to the far side of the castle and spread out. Destroy as many as the traps as you can. Second Squadron, do the same from the front. Third Squadron, hide in the woods, and find Trowa, don't let him repair the traps. Fourth Squardon will be infiltrating the castle with me and capturing the slave. We will give the rest of you an hour to start before we enter. We will rendezvous back here when we have the slave. Everyone knows what they are to be doing, lets go!" Zechs gave out the orders before taking his men to the woods to relax for the next hour before entering the castle and completing their objective.

Zech could feel the magical barriers of the castle start to fight back his men. He knew Trowa would have his hands full trying to keep it up. His only concern now was what they would do with the slave. If they thought it was Odin trying to brake their defenses they might have put more protections such as spells and guards around the slave to protect him. Zechs smirked with the thought. He had full confidence that the DD's could handle anything Maxwell threw at them.

The hour passed by quickly to the men of Fourth Squadron who were ready to show their leader that they were ready to take on this mission. When the hour was up Zechs motioned for his men to fall in behind him on their way to the castle…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Trowa felt his barrier start to act up he thought of the worst. However, he also felt his traps being destroyed at the same time that another force was attacking the barrier. He didn't think Odin would have anyone with him, and if so they wouldn't be able to disable the traps so quickly. No, this was something else. He went down to Duos quarters to tell Dup what as going on. On his travels to the West Wing he saw Dup in the hall on his way to what looked to be the kitchen.

"Your Majesty!" Trowa called.

"Ah, Trowa! How are you? Did you sleep well?" Dup asked in his normal cheerful mood.

"Um, yes I slept well, but I have some disconcerting news."

"What's wrong?"

"My barriers and traps are being messed with"

"Odin?"

"I don't think so, it's a great force that's bombarding both the barriers and the traps. It feels like the power is coming from a bunch of different sources. I don't think Odin would have very many people with him, if any at all."

"So then what do you think it is?"

"I'm not sure. I thought it might have been mages from Glembogle trying to get Heero back. But then I threw that idea away. I don't think they realize what Heero was to Odin, and I don't think they know that Heero is here."

"Then who is it?"

"I don't know. It might be Queedmore trying to finally see if they can take us over. I wouldn't put it past them to try, but the timing seems off, and the fact we had no idea they were coming makes me not think that's the reason for this attack."

"So then it is about Heero."

"Most likely yes. But who knows about him? And the only reason anyone would be after Heero is to get to Odin. But like we already know, not even the people in Glembogle knew about Heero and Odin's relationship. So I still don't understand who could be behind this attack, or if it truly is over Heero."

"Well we need to protect him anyway then, just to be sure."

"I'm sorry but I don't think I will be able to produce anymore charms or spells to protect him. I have my hands full keeping this barrier up and repairing the traps they tear down."

"Alright, I understand, I will get my guards to surround my rooms."

"I'm sorry sir."

"No, its ok, they must have a lot of people. Lets just hope we can stop them."

Duo left Trowa in search of Wufei, who he knew would be in the weapons room practicing or meditating. When he got to the room he saw Wufei sitting in the middle of the floor, eyes closed, hands together held about chest height.

"Wufei, sorry to disturb you but I need you to get your men." Wufei opened his eyes and looked at Duo, the only person in the castle who could disturb Wufei during meditation without fear of being hurt. When he saw the desperation in Duo's eyes he lowered his hands and stood up from his spot.

"Sir, what's wrong?"

"The castle is under attack. Trowa is doing everything he can to keep his barriers up. I need men to protect Heero though. We think the people attacking the castle might be after him. Along with soldiers to guard Heero, I need archers and swordsmen to go out and try and take out the people bringing on this attack."

"Yes sir. Stay away from your chambers. I will have my men guard Heero, but if anything happens I don't want you to be there and risk your safety." Wufei saluted before walking past Duo in the direction of the soldiers lodging.

Duo left the room shortly after Wufei in search of the kitchen to find some food to calm his nerves a bit before he went in search of Trowa to see what was happening.

After grabbing a muffin from the kitchen Duo made his way up to Trowa's tower. He finished the muffin just as he started the climb up the stairs. When he got to the top and was standing on the landing outside of Trowa's study, he realize how quiet it was on the other side of the door. When he opened the door he saw a look of horror on Trowa's face.

"They've entered the castle" Trowa whispered. If Duo couldn't read lips he would never have known what Trowa just said. Duo froze in place with this new knowledge.

"What does this mean? How many are there? Where are they headed?"

"The guards have taken down a few of the men but at least 20 have entered the castle."

"How many of our men have gone down?"

"I can't tell, but I'd say about 10 so far."

Duo slowly sank down into a nearby chair as the color drained from his face. This was his first attack on the castle while he was in charge and he was completely unprepared and instead of being in the front lines leading he was in the top tower hiding from the invaders.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zechs couldn't believe their luck. Unfortunately they had lost a few men due to Maxwell's archers, but actually getting into the castle took little effort. Zechs led the way through the castle heading for the part of the castle he knew to be the Kings residence.

He slowed down when he realized they were getting close. He signaled some of the men to go on ahead and check it out. Five of the men went on ahead and went out of sight around the corner.

A few seconds later the men who stayed behind saw a bright blue light and herd a few shocked gasps followed shortly by the sound of bodies hitting the floor. Zechs got up from his crouching position and started to head to the corner, signaling the rest of the men to follow him. When he got to the corner he peeked around to find no one in the hall. He then ran to the door that was slightly open with bright blue light spilling out into the hall and sounds of more bodies falling could be heard. When Zechs counted to three and entered the room he could feel the power the five men were using to render the enemy soldiers unconscious. This trick also worked to make the slave unconscious, guaranteeing an easy carry out. Zechs signaled the rest of the men to help with the enemy soldiers, while calling two to help him release the slave. The chain around his wrist was easy to get off, but the collar around his neck was a little trickier, locked by magic, it took the concentration of a few of the men to weaken it enough for a normal unlocking spell to work.

When Zechs took the collar off he noticed a lot of evenly spaced scabs on the slaves neck.

/looks like the king treated his slave with care/ Zechs thought sarcastically while he lifted the thin form of the slave over his shoulder /didn't feed him much either/. When his men saw they had their charge over their leaders shoulder half of the men left the room, the rest waiting to leave after Zechs to protect him from all sides.

The exit from the castle was one mad dash to the outskirts of the town. Some of Maxwell's soldiers followed the retreating Queedmore soldiers but were soon face down in the mud as one last blast was sent out by fourth squadron to stop the chase.

Once in a safe distance from the castle the men slowed down and moved into the woods. Trackers would be after them soon and they didn't want their trail to be too obvious. They would not stop to rest until they had reached their home and their captive was under their own lock and key. King Winner would be please with their outcome. Not only did they capture the slave, but they only lost 3 men. The loss was unfortunate, but one Zechs was sure the King would not mind. In fact, Zechs was sure that as long as the slave made it to Queedmore, Quatre would not care how many men they lost.

The walk was long and slow, but as the sun started setting and the men reached the top of yet another hill the Queedmroe castle could finally be seen in the distance. Surprisingly the slave had woken up twice on the trip, calling for one of the men to use some magic and knock him unconscious. Usually the spell would last for at least four hours, and they had only been walking for five. Zechs was beginning to think Heero was more important then they had originally given him credit for.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Duo came down from the tower he headed straight for his rooms. When he got there he found his guards unconscious on the floor, and his bed empty except for the chain and collar he had had on Heero.

/I have to get him back/ Dou thought as he sat on the bed /If it's the last thing I do, Quatre will not take my slave away from me and not feel the consequences/.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that's a wrap folks. Sorry its not longer but this computer is even slower then it was yesterday! I hope you all liked the chapter, I bet theres more spelling mistakes in this chapter then any others, but I got to get away from this thing! I'm sorry! But if you R&R I'll love you forever :) .