Notes: Oh...my...god...What is this...? Is...SwiftSilver...actually...UPDATING! Why yes, she is! .; After I re-uploaded the HoW chapters, I was talking to Dev and I asked her what she thought I should update first and she said OE. So I re-read through it and I got an idea! .- Thanks for suggesting OE, Dev:D Hopefully I haven't lost TOO many readers! x.x Sorry I've been gone for so long. I know I told Bluum that I would update a month ago...but I forgot. o.o; And, before that, after our comp crashed in 2004(the comp in mine and my sister's room) I never got to type anymore. So I kinda stopped...and, of course, I deleted HoW and lost all motivation for anything else. Shrugs But I'm back to try again. .; Hope I'm not too rusty!
Chapter 8
"Where are we going, Melas?" Rei asked as he followed the cat down a dark hall. It was carpeted in black and the walls were blood-red. Both walls had a long, seemingly endless row of lit candles.
"To get Drigger. You two will have to go after Dranzer...If both Dranzer and Drigger are free then we will be able to get the spirits to leave Master Kai and the others...It would have been easier if we could have led them to the Temple, but they didn't fall for it...So we're forced to send you and Drigger into their realm to save Dranzer..." Melas explained.
"Is that safe?" Rei asked, glancing back over his shoulder and discovering only a black hallway. The candles were going out as they passed them.
Melas sighed, speeding up a bit, "No. It isn't safe at all. That's why we didn't do this in the first place...But we don't have a choice now..." Melas slowed down after a while and came to a stop at a large door. Rei stared at it in shock. It was made of opal and it let off it's own light. There we no candles at this end of the hall.
"Wow"
Melas laughed, "Impressed? What until you see the inside." The black tom pressed a paw against the door and it slowly opened. Rei could hardly move, he was so amazed. Just like the door, the opal that this room was fashioned out of made it's own light. There were no windows, lamps, or candles in it. As Rei gazed around from the doorway, he realized that it was a lot like the library. It was huge and a curving staircase on either side. The stairs led to a platform which had, in the center, a floating model of sorts. A model of the Milky Way that showed the sun, the placement of the planets and the Earth's moon. No others moons were present. In the center of the ground floor was an image of Dranzer. He was facing forward with both wings outstretched, wing-tips nearely touching the walls. Sitting on the side of the image opposite of Rei and Melas was Drigger. His head was dropped and he was staring at the image of Dranzer.
"We must go to them, then?" Drigger asked softly. Rei shivered at the sound of his voice. It reminded him of a windchime or something and it almost hurt his head to try and recall it in his mind.
"I'm affraid so, Drigger. They figured things out quickly," Melas told him. "You and Rei will have to find Dranzer"
Drigger sighed, standing up, "All right, then." Drigger stalked across the room to stand before Rei. "Master Kai will be fine as long as we find Dranzer and bring him back." The Tiger told him.
Rei looked up at Drigger, "And if we don't?" He asked.
Drigger dropped his head, "Then there is nothing we can do"
Rei slipped pass Drigger to stand before Dranzer's image, "So there's a chance that we wont be able to help them?" Rei demanded, looking over his shoulder at Drigger and Melas.
"There is. But, if we go now, there is a better chance that we will succeed. Are you ready?" Drigger asked, moving to stand beside Rei and look down at him.
"Yes...Yes, I'm ready"
(Along time later- Hmm...Hello there...It's been awhile. I'm just editing this chapter…making it better, I think. Hope you guys are still interested...uhm...Beware. There is a rather...scary little spirit in here...Kind of...perverted, I suppose you could say...He's...a bit...obsessed with Dranzer)
"Then climb up. It will not be safe for you to walk where we are going." Drigger crouched beside Rei, tail skimming across the cold floor as it whipped from side to side. "Make sure you have a good hold of my scruff and keep a sharp eye out, Master Rei"
Rei swallowed, nodding and climbing up on to Drigger's back. His trembling hands found a good hold on the giant tiger's fur but he wasn't all that sure he would be able to keep hold for long. The feel of Drigger's powerful back beneath him was almost scary. He hated to think what would happen to anyone who Drigger was not happy with.
"Where is Kai...?" Rei mumbled, looking down at Melas who was watching him in silence.
"He is in the library, at the moment..." Melas said, his eyes looking sad. "It is hard for me. I can feel his mind but I can feel their minds trying to suffocate his"
Rei stiffened, wondering if Kai could possibly be okay even if they moved fast. "Is he...in pain"
Melas shook his head. "Not physically, no..." he paused, looking uncomfortable.
"What is it?" Rei demanded.
"His emotional pain...is disturbing..." Melas stood up suddenly, flicking his tail. "Go, Drigger. Please hurry"
"Keep a close eye on Master Kai, Melas. Help him a little if you can," Drigger dropped his head, gently nudging Melas before leaping away. His paws came down on the opal floor, right on the chest of Dranzer's portrait, and Rei watch in amazement as they sank through the floor as if it was water.
"D-drigger! What are we-" Rei gasped, feeling the ground swallowing his feet as they went down.
"Shh...Calm down. It is fine. Relax, Master Rei..." Drigger purred. A moment later they were completely under. Rei, having tightly closed his eyes, opened them slowly now. They were standing in the middle of a dead, gray forest. A thick, heavy fog surrounded them and Rei was relieved to find that he could at least see Drigger's massive head. "Welcome to the Realm of the Spirits, Master Rei...Stay alert"
"Oh, Gods..." Rei shivered as he felt something brush against his leg. He watched the spirit dash away into the fog. "What do the spirits want with us?" Rei asked Drigger.
Drigger sighed heavily, "Dranzer and I created the cats and the birds..."(Not like that! Kai and Rei would be related then...) Drigger trailed off for a moment. "The cats and the birds have some of the same powers as we do, part of that being that they have a bit of power over the spirits. Enough to keep them away for a while. But, over the years, the power has deminished. Until you and Master Kai were born. The spirits knew it would happen eventually and they have been trying to break through Onu for a couple years now. They finally have gotten a few through but they cannot get the rest through until they have both Dranzer and I...and until you and Kai have been seperated. Their population has outgrown their realm and they seek to take yours so they may continue to grow"
Rei tightened his hold on Drigger's neck fur, "Why would they have to separate Kai and me?" He asked.
Drigger paused, watching as a little group of spirits dashed around them curiously. "Because you and Kai have inherited our power. They know that, if the two of you are allowed to get close, then they have no possible way of taking your realm." Drigger let out a low rumble that Rei could have sworn was a laugh. The Tiger turned his huge head to look at Rei, "But it's too late now, isn't it"
Rei blushed, "Uhm...Yeah"
Drigger nodded, beginning to walk once again, "Unfortunetly, they will be to angry to give up...they're going to keep trying to seperate you two"
Rei straightened, "They wont...They wont hurt Kai, will they"
Drigger dropped his head a bit, "That's what we're afraid of...That's part of why it's so urgent that we get Dranzer back"
"Then why are we going so slow?" Rei demanded.
"Because the young spirits are the ones that are wandering here. Their instinct is to chase what runs. As long as we move at a slow enough pace, they will leave us be." Drigger said. But, inspite of that, he moved a little faster.
"Do you think we'll get to Dranzer in time"
"Yes"
"Okay..."
Dranzer's eyes snapped open and he lifted his head to look around him. The darkness of wherever he was being kept caused him to close his eyes again, dropping his head a little. He could feel them...His mate and the young boy, Rei. But he could feel also the spirits that had set out to intercept them.
"You should not have come, Moonlight..." Dranzer whispered to the darkness, tucking his head under his wing. The thought of Drigger being overcome by the spirits was making him ill. He could not imagine what he would do if something happened to either of the two that had come to find him.
"Fools, these friends of yours," A voice hissed from beside Dranzer. The phoenix did not move, pointedly ignoring the spirit. "Oh...Now do not be like that, pretty one. Wake up, wake up!"
Dranzer could feel the spirit's touch on his wing and he shuddered at the power that the creature emitted. It was a miracle that they had not been given a God's immortality or intelligence. They would be impossible if they had.
"Pretty one...Wakey, wakey, Pretty One..." The spirit purred, speaking right next to Dranzer's head now. Its fingers were buried in Dranzer's wing feathers and he could feel it pulling on them. He knew what it wanted...He knew exactly what it wanted. And he would not allow it. Not the spirits. Not anyone who was not Drigger.
"Leave me be, Spirit," Dranzer said, never moving his head from beneath his wing. The fingers in his feathers tightened, tugging a little to get his attention. "Stop"
"No, Pretty One. I want to see. Show me, show me, show me, Pretty One. I want to see this angel's face they speak of. I want to see NOW." A sharp tug on the wing feathers caused Dranzer to tense up but he did not reply or move his head from its place. He would not do it. He would not submit to this Spirit.
"WAKE UP!" The spirit snarled, viciously yanking on the feathers this time and pulling the entire handful from Dranzer's wing. The phoenix jerked, gasping a little at the pain that shot through his body. One of the worst thing for a phoenix, especially one if his power, was to have feathers forcefully removed. It was always accompanied by an ungodly jolt of pain.
The spirit was crouched by his head again, holding on to the long, flowing feathers that made up his crown. Tugging on them, the spirit managed to pull Dranzer's head from beneath his wing. The defiance in Dranzer's fire-colored eyes made the Spirit giggly. "Show me you FACE, Pretty One, and I will stop tugging on your hot little feathers"
"I will do not such thing, fiend. Do what you wish to me. I will not willingly show myself to you," Dranzer replied, the calm voice laced with acid.
The spirit purred, using Dranzer's crown to pull the phoenix's head closer to his own face. "Then you leave me no choice but to force you, my beautiful little songbird." The spirit flicked its tongue across Dranzer's beak. The phoenix shuddered in disgust while the gray-skinned spirit giggled in delight. Releasing Dranzer for long enough to tie it thin, ash-colored hair back with a rope that he pulled from the air, the spirit grinned wickedly at Dranzer.
"You amuse me to no end, little songbird. This is fun, yes"
"You make me ill," Dranzer replied quietly, dreading whatever the spirit would do next.
"Mmhmm...I'm sure," The spirit moved closer, grabbing the sides of Dranzer's head and flicking his tongue across the feathers between the phoenix's eyes. The spirit shivered, looking more pleased than Dranzer was comfortable with. Not that Dranzer had been comfortable since the moment the spirit had arrived. "By the way, gorgeous, my name is Arahel"
Dranzer did not respond, making it clear that he could not care less what the monster's name was. He just wished that this 'Arahel' would stop touching him.
"Now...How shall I draw you out of this petty shell, my little songbird?" Arahel hissed, digging his sharp nails in to the sides of Dranzer's face. Dranzer winced as they claws pierced his skin and nearly whimpered when he could feel some sort of poison seeping in through the wounds. The spirit was going to chase him out of his body with poison...If it was the type of poison it felt like...Dranzer would not survive without changing in to his true form.
"Feel that, little songbird? Feel it? Ah...I see that you do. Such a wonderful look, that pain on your face!" Arahel sneered, drawing Dranzer's head closer and leering in to the dazed eyes. "Want a little more?" Arahel purred, digging his nails in as far as they would and injecting a startling amount of poison in to Dranzer's blood.
The phoenix moaned, swiftly losing strength. He hated it. He hated knowing that he could not let himself die, no matter how much he wanted to. He hated knowing that Kai needed him alive. And he hated knowing that Arahel knew this, too. He could see it in the spirit's eyes.
Groaning, Dranzer's body went limp and Arahel laughed gleefully. He could feel the phoenix changing as he held its head and his greedy gold eyes widened a little as the bird's head changed in to that of a fiery-haired, human-like being. Dranzer groaned again, pushing himself up on to his knees.
"Well, now...You really are an angel of fire..." Arahel purred, sliding forward to sit right in front of the chained Dranzer. His thin fingers reached up and sliding through Dranzer's hair, which was longish and colored like a fire would be. His longish bangs hung over crimson eyes that were leering hatefully and the creature before him. "Gorgeous, you are. And all mine"
"Never..." Dranzer growled, clenching his teeth angrily.
Arahel laughed coldly, dropping his hands to tug at the fabric of the black, one-sleeved shirt that the Sun wore. The long, draping sleeve of the shirt was spread across the floor at Dranzer's side. "'Never', you say? And what can you do to stop me? We are alone here, you are chained, and even if there were others, they would not-could not- stop me from doing whatever I wish"
"Go to hell," Dranzer snapped. Had Arahel touched his skin, he would have found it burning hot to touch. Not that this show of anger would in any way harm the spirit. In his own realm, where he was most powerful, Arahel could not be burned by the skin of the chained Sun.
Arahel grinned, sliding himself into Dranzer's black-clad lap and wrapping his arms around the God's neck. The heat of his skin, far from harming him, was quite pleasing as far as he was concerned. "Now, now, my lovely little songbird! Let us be polite, yes?" Still grinning wickedly, Arahel forced Dranzer's head down and kissed him harshly. Dranzer clamped him mouth shut, refusing to respond. When Arahel pulled back, he was pouting. "Come on! You might as well take what I am willing to offer, gorgeous. It will be all you get for a long, long time. Can you not feel it? Can you not feel my kin on your mate and his Master"
Dranzer did his best to ignore the spirit's word but he couldn't. Nor could he ignore the aching feeling that he always got when Drigger was in trouble. Shuddering, Dranzer reached out with his mind. Arahel was right. The spirits had caught them...The spirits had captured Drigger and Rei.
A sharp, heartless laugh drew Dranzer back to himself and he glared at the loathsome being that had found a place in his lap. "This is wonderful! What will your mate think of this, ne? His beloved Phoenix allowing a mere lust spirit to manipulate and use him?" Arahel shamelessly looked Dranzer over, baring his fangs in a feral grin. "So perfect, this is"
"No," Dranzer muttered, hating everything that was happening. Hating himself for allowing Arahel to see him as only Drigger had ever seen him. Hating Arahel for appearing so suddenly and so easily manipulating him into doing what he wanted. Hate it, hate it, hate it.
"Play time, my lovely little songbird. Shall I show you what a lust spirit is for?" Arahel laughed darkly before pushing Dranzer on to his back and leaning in to kiss him again.
. . HAHAHA! Had you going there, didn't I? Don't look at me like that! I can't write lemons! Just as my friend Sato-yuki...She knows how horrible I am XD Poor Sirius...Letting Remus...Yeah. Anyway .- I'm so sorry! What have I done to poor Dranzer! I'm so sorry Draanzzeerrr! But, have no fear! .- Someone's coming to the rescue:) Any guesses as to who that might be? grins I bet none of you can guess! cackles Just try! Try! dances It'll be fun to see if anyone guesses. Not that I'm sure anyone reads these end notes...;.; Yeah! Okay! There you go! After like...FOREVER! Here is Chapter 8 of Obsidian Estate (In which Dranzer is basically molested by a stupid lust demon who Swiffy is actually having fun typing with) o.o; I'm so sorry Dranzer! pets poor Dranzer You know I love you! wails Oh! That means…o.o We have a DranzerxDrigger pairing…with one-sided ArahelxDranzer… XD ahhaha.