Wishes and Lost Hope
Chapter Eleven
Questions of Betrayal
Dawn came, bright and cheery, and very welcome.
Sierra may have been the first to brave the break beyond the grass. Muzzle fixed in a scowl, the dragoon peered above and below before fully emerging onto the dusty trail. Like the grass it ran parallel to, the path could have gone on forever in either direction. Three feet across, the world opened into a plain that stretched to foothills and mountains further on.
Disoriented, she tried to remember her direction. The tower was behind her, on the other side of the grass field. It was that direction whence she initially approached.
She took a few hesitant steps towards what had been her left, before turning and walking in the opposite direction.
oOo
The desert was burning. Its life was fading. The Mana Tree… so much pain.
Athena blinked in the light of the sun, broken and filtered by the tall stalks around her. She shuddered – the world had turned cold.
Mana was fading.
oOo
Elazul crept through the grass, wary of being caught in the open. He kept watch on the track, certain that any attacks would come from that side.
Surprise was his when Pearl appeared at his side, within the long grass. She had sensed him some distance off. She expected the sensitivity to be mutual, but he had been distracted. So, when he jumped at her unannounced presence, and threatened her ancestors, she felt the right to be indignant.
"Really, Elazul," she chided stiffly, "You don't mean it, do you?"
However, she knew Elazul – knew how he could be, at times – and forgave him without a second thought.
"I'm sorry, I just…" his bravado wilted upon recognizing whom he had addressed and how. "No, I didn't mean…."
"It's okay," Pearl smiled, "But where is everyone else?"
"I don't know," the knight admitted. He knew little of the others, and foremost on his mind had been those he bore true acquaintance with, namely Pearl and Athena.
Pearl was here, which left, "Athena…"
oOo
The woman shrieked. A short-winded, pained sound, it did little to discourage her assailant as he dragged her out of the hollow she had sheltered the night in.
Not about to have that, Athena kicked and flailed, and resorted to biting the hand that tried in vain to cover her mouth.
"Ow, Athena!"
She paused. Oops.
She took the moment to waltz out of his grasp, delicately rounding on him in the confidence that he shouldn't have grabbed her in the first place.
"Escad," she acknowledged, albeit under the guise of blatant false courtesy. The man's eyes narrowed in contempt.
"Sorry; I thought you were dead."
"Haven't gotten rid of me, yet," Athena replied, cheerfully, "And glad of it."
Her smile faded, and she glanced around. The tall grass swayed in the wind in time with her sigh, "Although I'd give everything to be someone else right now."
"I don't buy it," Escad said. The mercenary glared, spurring him to continue, "No; I don't. You've got everything. You can pick and choose who you are… what you are, unlike some of us. From where I see, you're either pining for attention or completely blind to the truth."
The glare softened somewhat, yet the woman lifted her head defiantly.
"Yeah, I guess you're right – I forgot," she answered, "Thanks for the help, Escad, but, if you'll excuse me, I have to save the world."
She walked past him, and only then did he notice her limping.
At first, he assumed to let her go, but… No, he could not let her go. Not like that.
With an aggravated sigh, the knight fell in line behind her. Her trail through the field was easy to follow, and even the blind could have tracked her by the redoubled rustling of the reeds.
All the while, he thought about it. He had not thought much of it, at first there had been too much pain, then he simply wallowed in revenge-lust, after which he had to relearn how to survive with an unbound mortal body as opposed to a confined immortal spirit… But, in a burst of inspiration while contemplating his new life, he wondered. It was that restlessness that brought him back to Domina that night, as he considered his choices, and eventually led him back to Athena's doorstep. He needed to satisfy that one question; at the same time, he was worried that he would not like the answer.
Instead, he walked into Athena, who jumped and gave him little more than a glance before he realized that she had other things to worry about.
The first was a woman, a dressed warrior, but with such a cruel, hateful glee in her expression to make her most accomplished brethren shudder. The second was a demi-human – a lizard-man – wielding an impressive morning star… but, by the looks of him, he did not appear to need it.
The woman pressed her hands together, straightening the strips of metal around her knuckles. Escad would have drawn his sword in return, except Athena was still nestled quite uncomfortably against his body. Not with wicked intent, he shoved her to one side; she fell heavily to be obscured by the grass as he drew his sword.
Escad simply assumed that they would leave her be and go after him, the danger, first.
He was mistaken.
In the instant Athena fell, both warriors leapt at her.
He knew, as subconscious thought bleeding into awareness, there was no way to stop them both. He went for the nearest, the woman, and let Athena fare as she could. He had, as he desired, given her as much of a chance as he could.
His problem was now he held the attention of one mean warrioress.
A reprieve came, moments after he tackled her to the ground, where they both turned to the snarl of her reptilian companion. He was held in midair, thrashing in slow motion above Athena, who held him aloft and outside of time through sheer willpower… and help from a little wind elemental who went unnoticed.
Escad was brought back from his surprise at the sudden pain in his jaw. Momentarily blinded, he struggled to his feet from where he fell, aware of the punch only on retrospect. His sight cleared just in time to see the lizard torn in half, the bloody carcass falling out of its place and into the grass beyond. To the knight's disgust, it still moved with a semblance of life. But it would die, and, as such, was no longer his concern.
He caught his breath when he saw what the woman did – what the reptile may have, just before it died. The dragoon growled deep in his throat, and suddenly the knight regretted ever having crossed him.
Larc descended on the stranger in full force – no care to her past or future, her ferocity or her fear. All that he cared about was she were to hurt one he cared for, and for that transgression he did not sway easily. Escad, rather than interfere in any way, rushed to Athena's side, lifting her up to his side even as she stared at what she had done.
He mentally slapped himself over that, for a brief time, he had felt sorry for her plight. As he watched the ensuing battle, he admitted to himself, if he had friends such as these, saving the world would have been a small task to fulfil. In the same thought, he felt guilty that, here and now, he was all she had to lean on.
"You all right?" was all he asked, and the simple words led no further inkling to his mind.
She merely nodded, ashen, watching in condolence for dying woman's struggle. She could have praised the bravery, or lauded Larc's effort in dealing with the beast; instead, she watched, nonpartisan, as the woman was brutally ripped apart.
The dragoon stood, wholly enthralling in the legacy of his feral side. He growled, narrowing the gap between himself and the humans to near nothing. Athena smiled faintly, while Escad did his best to remain stoic under the knowledge that he was on this animal's bad side.
"It's okay," Athena asserted; Larc seemed slightly skeptical, so she emphasized, "Really!"
The deep growl faded to nothing, though a slight tension remained perceptible.
"You're gonna hate me," the woman continued, "But I need you to find everyone… everyone out here who came after me; bring 'em home, and I'll meet you there."
She grinned at his hesitance, but it was an empty glee, "Please, Larc; he knows who they are – they won't be safe with me, but they won't be safe anywhere else either."
That growl returned, though lighter than before, as the dragoon turned to Escad.
"Get her home," before a complaint could be made, he threatened, "Every scratch she suffers in your care, I will return to you tenfold, is that clear?"
The only move the knight made was the most minimalistic necessary to answer, "Perfectly."
"Good."
The lupine disappeared into the field.
Escad considered himself courageous. Yet bravery was not correlated with stupidity, and so the knight did not think it cowardly to wish not meeting this brute on the far side of a battlefield any time soon.
oOo
It was hours later. The trip home was a nightmare.
"Just let me rest, just for a second," Athena demanded – though, it sounded more pleaful. Escad was all the less inclined to concede. Every time they stopped 'just for a second,' she fell asleep and he had a hard time getting her walking again.
She assured him it was only magic-sickness.
"Come on," he answered, resorting to half-dragging the mercenary along until she stumbled along in step, "We're almost there."
They were already in Athena's thicket. They just needed to get through the remaining distance of trees that populated her backyard. In due time, they rounded the tree. It was dark and ominous in the light of the setting sun, and Escad might have sworn they were being watched.
"Wake up," the woman had fallen asleep while he fussed with the front door; he got a blinky yawn for a response.
He situated her in the study and went to assure himself that the rest of the house was innocuous. Despite the situation, he took a minute to reflect on the interior. He never thought it would look so… cozy.
Coming back down the stairs, the knight made quite the unknightly sound upon being attacked by a little ball of fluff that leapt at him in the darkness.
The rabite.
Escad groaned, especially after he realized that it was not attacking – it was being affectionate. After today, he wanted to kick it across the room, especially now that it was trying to make friends with his foot. He nudged it out of the way, and went back to Athena.
No surprise, she had dozed off.
"Hey," he shook her, not comfortable with the sudden bout of slumberousness. She jerked awake, and mumbled something.
He realized then that he might never have a better chance to ask. Even so, the question was difficult and stuck in his throat… part of him wanted to leave it be and pretend it never happened.
"I need to ask you something," he finally managed, grimacing at the sound. Had his voice cracked, or was he just imagining things. If he ignored it, maybe Athena would fail to notice, although she was already looking up at him.
Suddenly, he was glad for the room's low light.
But all the same, she was looking at him – waiting for him to continue. Escad decided it was now or never, and at once he found it easy to ask,
"Why did you betray me?"