Chapter 10
Iria appeared again in front of Michael looking murderous.
"Stupid fool wouldn't tell me where he's hidden it but don't worry he's not going to be doing anything anymore." Michael knew what that meant and nodded. Iria turned to look at the unconscious form of Atemu on the stone table and frowned.
"What's up with him?" she demanded and Michael shrugged.
"No idea he was fine one moment and then he just passed out but I think he was doing something in his mind as he was concentrating very hard just before he passed out." Iria growled low in her throat.
"I bet he was trying to contact his brother which means if he has succeeded then their link has been re-established which is bad news for us. How is this possible?" She thought for a moment then realisation dawned on her.
"That piece of the puzzle he had, he must have used it to re-establish the link again! How did he know that? Good thing he doesn't know the full power it contains or maybe he does. Anyway whether or not he knows anything is irrelevant, what matters is his brat of a brother is likely on his way now if he's been contacted by him." She said nodding in the direction of the still unconscious form of Atemu. "In which case we must be ready for them when they arrive. As long as the two don't actually touch each other I think we can kill them both at the same time. The link can't be very strong if they haven't physically touched yet. That's why he passed out, it took him too much energy to hold the link."
Michael nodded and muttered a few words in an Ancient language and both he and Iria suddenly vanished from sight.
"Now we wait for that brat of a brother." Came a disembodied voice and the grass showed the indentations of their feet as they moved to opposite edges of the circle to watch out for Yugi's arrival which both felt sure must be imminent. Iria reasoned to herself, even if the link had been re-established how would Yugi know where Atemu was? Then she thought, 'The Ring! He must have it with him and I killed that old fool for nothing. The young idiot will bring it right to me well thanks in advance Yugi, I hope you know your arrival here will spell both yours and your brother's destruction.' And feeling rather pleased at the situation, she settled down to wait.
Yugi, Seto and Jou had arrived at the landing site and were currently following the Rings' lead through a field and into dense woodland. Yugi recognised it from his dream and knew which way to go now even if the Ring wasn't showing them. Boldly he led the way through the trees until they saw the cottage in the light of their lamps. They paused here while they sat and nursed their scratched and bleeding legs, which had been attacked by the dense brambles, which covered the floor of the forest. 'Just like my dream' Yugi thought. It felt so strange to him to be here for real after dreaming about it for so long and he was eager to go and find Atemu. He held his lamp up towards the cottage and walked towards it the others following silently. Yugi reached the front door and tried it but found it locked tight so he walked round to the back of the cottage. There he found where the grass was long, a trail leading away into more trees. The Ring ever glowing its strange light, pointed in the direction of the trail and so they followed it back into the trees where thankfully, there were no brambles.
They walked on following the trail so kindly left by Atemu's captors until the trees began to thin and in the light of the lit torches, they could see the stone table and Atemu tied upon it.
It hurt Yugi to see his brother so helpless and a fierce determination came over him.
'I will rescue you Atemu.' He silently swore and went to walk forwards but Seto grabbed his jacket and stopped him.
"What are you doing?" he hissed "we don't know where Atemu's captors are, they may be hiding, lying in wait for us or something."
"But how would they know we're coming." Jou pointed out and Yugi nodded wanting to get to Atemu and free him as soon as possible before they came back.
"Well true you do have a point pup." Seto said affectionately and released his hold on Yugi's jacket.
Yugi ran forwards and was almost at the place where Atemu was laying but before he could reach him, he was grabbed by rough hands and thrown backwards to crash into Seto and Jou who were running up behind him. They landed in a crumpled heap Yugi gasping in shock and surprise.
Invisible hands grabbed him and pulled him over towards a second stone table shaped like the first and forced him down onto it.
Seto and Jou managed to stand and watched dumb struck as ropes seemed to appear out of thin air and bind Yugi's wrists and feet to the table. Then they regained their senses and ran forwards to help their small friend.
They ran into what seemed an invisible brick wall and were thrown backwards again.
They watched from where they landed as a man appeared in front of them followed by a woman who was standing over Yugi with a twisted look of hate on her face. The light from the torches cast light over her and made it look worse than it otherwise might have done.
On his stone table, Atemu stirred and looked around until his eyes rested on Yugi tied and helpless on the table next to his own.
"Yugi." He whispered and the other looked at him with fear in his eyes.
"I'm sorry Atemu, I tried and failed to rescue you." And tears fell from his beautiful amethyst eyes.
"Don't worry Yugi it's not your fault."
"Yes but if I hadn't charged forwards like an idiot we might have got you out of here."
"Well much as this brotherly reunion is touching it will soon be time for you both to die and for us to rule the world in our rightful place as gods!" Iria said and laughed a cold cruel sound.
Michael advanced on Seto and Jou and raised his hands.
"Be silent and still." He commanded and the two on the ground found that no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't move or speak. Michael turned his back on them and walked over to where his wife was drawing the dagger from its sheath.
"So close I can almost feel our victory." She gloated and received a kiss from Michael
"The timing has to be exact." He reminded her and she nodded.
"Yes exact. Get the other one ready."
Michael went over to where Yugi was and cut his clothes away from him making him shiver from the stone under him and the night air. Then he got another sarong type garment and dressed him in the same way as his brother. When he was satisfied he fetched a vial of liquid and began to pour it over Atemu's forehead and hair chanting in an Ancient tongue before moving over and doing the same to Yugi. The liquid smelt strange to the brothers and they began to feel strange and light-headed.
Atemu struggled to stay conscious and looked over to where his brother was and seeing that he was having a similar struggle.
Iria moved over to Yugi and removed the Ring from round his neck, placing the item in its slot on the stone tablet and watching as all seven items glowed with the power they contained. Turning, she took the dagger and got ready to sacrifice the brothers so that the evil force could be released. Already she could feel power beginning to surge through her and she looked down on her helpless victims.
"It is time." She said and raised the dagger ready to plunge it into Atemu's heart…
Yami Seirei: Sorry folks! But that's where I'm ending this chapter as I don't want to finish this story just yet but don't worry I shall be back with the next chapter soon! Maybe it will be the last maybe it won't who knows?
Yugi and Atemu: ooooh you're so mean!
Yami seirei: Yup that's me! See ya next chapter