Disclaimer: I own neither the turtles or…um, the turtles. However, I do own the whole planet and its inhabitants. No, Haradris, you fools, not Earth! …Although…(laughs devilishly, then sneaks away to perfect her world take-over plan)
A/N: Well, it's time for another exciting installment of Dragon Moon! You've waited a while, yes that's true, but you'll probably want me dead anyway! (grins with forced gleefulness) The review responses will be on Stealthy Stories. If you need the link, it's on my bio.
Edit: I realize most of you thought Naicro's death was lame as can be and as I thought about it, it is. So, we're keeping him alive so he can explain himself. :P
15.
To fully describe the size of the black dragon that now stood before them would be insignificant even on paper. His eyes were a glowing crimson, glittering like coals in the moonlight. His head was roughly the size of a pair of doors, sporting long ivory horns and ears that were now perked forward. Protruding from his gaping mouth were two long white fangs, along with many other glistening teeth. The head was held up high by a long sinuous neck of muscle, fifteen feet long and perhaps two feet thick. The body alone was the length of a tour bus, and the wings were larger than even his body to support his massive weight. And his tail was twenty feet long.
Don, clutching Saesha with one arm, gawked at the huge dragon, crow-hopping aside when it whirled on agile paws, tail whistling past the turtle, to face the beihl, which was substantially dwarfed by the dragon, yet large for its race. The monster hissed angrily and extended its sickly luminous tentacles, only to have them seared off by a billowing tongue of orange and yellow flames that lit the area for a brief second. The beihl screeched in an earsplitting tone, disturbing some birds that hadn't left with their flock when the black dragon frightened them out of their nests and trees.
Withdrawing its torched, bubbling limb, it drew a rattling breath. The air filled with a pungent stench, a mix between burnt flesh and an extremely strong pile of horse dung. As retaliation, the beihl whipped out its other arms, extending them past the dragon and sending them straight for the spectators standing by. Don leapt out of one's grasp with a wild yell, releasing Saesha and removing his Bo from its holster. With an almighty smack, he brought it down on the wriggling thing, extracting an unearthly squeal from it. Saesha finished the job by spitting a ball of purple fire at it, sizzling the bruised arm to a crisp.
"Phew, that's some stank!" Raph commented, the first to speak. He jabbed with a Sai at a tentacle reaching for him, stabbing it deep into the rubbery, nauseating flesh. Green blood frothed forth, staining his hand. Revulsion taking the place of his desire for a fight, he backed away, wiping his hand on grass as Orcaine stepped in. The pale yellow vern pounced like a feline onto the writhing arm, biting and tearing ferociously at it. Another tentacle came at her but Don intercepted it, smacking it into a tree as Orcaine fried her catch.
Dakari was weakly struggling against Kadi's wing, which was holding him back from the melee. "Let me fight, Kadi, I'm strong enough!" he insisted, trying to push it out of his face.
The icunix scowled and nipped one of his long gray ears. You most certainly are not ready for such an activity, sir! Now you sit tight, or I swear by the Feather I'll freeze you into a block of ice! she threatened, giving him a soft peck on the nose. The rabbit growled as one of the groping tentacles neared them. Kadi acted swiftly, singing a few notes from the phoenix song before breathing ice onto it, freezing it into a misting pillar.
Lharom, in wolfena form now, slid around the beihl's body and crunched a tentacle in two with his powerful jaws. "Oh, mother of mercy, that's a taste I dare not try again!" he said sourly, screwing up his face before repeating the action.
Rijinn, who had long since turned chicken to the brawl, watched his sister fight alongside Donatello, faithfully intercepting the arms that had gotten past his guard. "I hate those things!" he declared vehemently, perching on a branch near Kadi and Dakari. "They're so…Ugh!" he squeaked, falling off the bough to avoid a tentacle that went awry. "Good grief, keep them away from me!"
"Will you shut up and help?" Saesha snarled, flaming another arm and hearing the agonized scream that accompanied the scent of burned flesh. Rijinn swallowed his fear and lifted off the ground, having to back hard to the left to dodge. One of them almost smacked him to the dirt, but Raph saved his hide from the rubbery suction cups' grip. The turtle grimaced and ran away to help the black dragon, who was having a rough time deflecting the blows of the beihl.
He jumped in with a bellow and stabbed aside a tentacle that would've hit the dragon's vulnerable wing joint. He smiled grimly at the scream, then went for another one. He drove his Sai into an arm, pinning it to the ground before hopping nimbly over the black dragon's tail and spiking his other Sai into the beihl's foot. Taking the distraction to his advantage, the dragon spouted flames, charring the beihl where it stood and reducing it to ashes.
Panting, Raph leaned up against an unscathed tree and slid down the trunk to sit at its base. "Don, you okay?" he grunted.
"Peachy," was the reply his brother gave him. "Anybody hurt?"
No, but I think Dakari chewed a hole in my wing, Kadi remarked, examining her limb with a forced grimace. In doing so, she removed the rabbit's support and he fell forward with a yell of surprise.
"And I think you broke my ribs," he groaned from under the brush.
Lharom examined a leg and coughed. "Somebody seared my paw!" he complained.
Saesha snorted with contempt. "You got in my way! You should watched where you're going!"
"Me? What about you, oh Mistress of the Mouth-Dwelling Flamethrower?" he said with scorn.
"Guys be quiet!" Don shouted. All talk ceased. Not expecting all attention to be on him, he blushed. "I think he has something to say," he said, pointing at the black dragon.
He looked at them with his red eyes, not blinking at all. Hello, Donatello and Raphael of Earth. I'm Yulakai.
"Say WHAT?" Raph exploded.
Why so shocked? I know where you're from because the scent of Earth lays on you like a blanket. I should know, he stated simply, I was a hatchling there once.
"But…you're Aireilei's dad, aren't you?" Don ventured.
To put it lightly, yes, I'm her father. And you, Saesha and Rijinn, are also my children. They both looked at each other. Although, I must ask, Yulakai began, eyes twinkling. How in Claw's name did you get so small?
"Little thing called 'old age shrinkage'," Raph grunted, receiving a harsh look from Kadi. He merely shrugged.
"Uh, we'd kill you with the length of the story, dad," Rijinn finally stammered.
Time isn't an issue, son.
Dakari got up and swayed with lost balance before Kadi caught him with her wing. "Speak for yourself," he grunted, pointing to the pile where the beihl had been. The strangest thing was happening. Picture the backward process of shriveling plastic in fire. Now make that plastic fill out into fleshy existence. This was exactly what appeared to be happening to the ashes of the monster. Tentacles, filling out and writhing around, were beginning to reform out of the quickly disintegrating pile.
Raph pulled out his Sais again. "Shell, why can't it just die already?"
Fire can't kill a beihl, Yulakai stated grimly.
"Might've been useful info before we started the fight!"
The huge dragon raised his immense wings and extended his left foreleg. Hurry, get on my back! We have to get away from here before it completely reforms! he warned. Don put his Bo into its holster and looked with awe at the limb.
"It's like a mountain of bone and muscle!" he muttered, climbing onto the large paw and scrambling up the leg. He stood in a long hollow between Yulakai's neck base and his giant wing joints. "Where can I sit?"
Hm, that is an issue of a sort. Try holding onto one of my spikes, he suggested. Don looked at the ivory spike of bone protruding from Yulakai's ebony neck and sat gingerly in the hollow, legs on either side. Good! Now you, Raphael. And make haste, we're running out of time. Instead of sitting by Don, Raph climbed nimbly up the neck spikes and hunched on top of the black dragon's head, gripping his horns. …That'll work, but hold on tight. He looked at Orcaine with his crimson eyes. What are you going to do, daughter?
"Saesha, you can carry me, right?" Orcaine swung her head around to gaze at the purple dragon, who was rapidly becoming repulsed by the sight of the reforming beihl. She nodded mutely before activating her telekinesis. Rijinn hopped onto Lharom's back, who was again in griffin form.
"Why on earth are you riding me?" the griffin demanded. The red dragon smiled weakly before being bucked off. "Use your own wings, lazy boy!" Rijinn grumbled, flapping like a maniac to save himself a nose plant.
And you, rabbit? Yulakai asked, swerving his head towards the Dakari.
I'll carry him, thank you very much! Kadi snorted, shoving her neck under the samurai and launching into the sky. Yulakai abruptly let out a grating scream, a very unpleasant sound coming from a dragon. It sounded like the screech of nails against a chalkboard, a baby's cry, and an eagle call all rolled into one horrible wave of sound. He frog-hopped forward, hissing and clicking in pain. Don looked back and saw the reason: the beihl had seized his hind leg with a tentacle, squeezing it like anaconda coils. The flesh was burning and sizzling from contact with dragon scales.
Don slid off Yulakai's back, and carefully avoiding the other arms, he went toward the offending limb and smacked it off with his staff. "Go, fly!" the turtle yelled, putting his Bo in its holster and grabbing a tail spike.
Yulakai smashed the air under his wings down with an almighty thud, leaving terra firma. The pressure of the air displacement squeezed Don's eardrums painfully as each wing beat went. The black dragon's tail whipped around uncontrollably, yanking his arms and making his muscles scream with the strain. Deftly, Don reached for the next spike, slowly pulling himself up Yulakai's back. When he had arrived at the base of the tail, they had reached a high enough altitude that he didn't need to flap as hard. This stability provided the necessary calm for Don to completely get back into his original seat.
You did well, little one, Yulakai encouraged. Thank you for freeing me.
No problem, Don replied in mind speech, his throat dry from rushing wind. But next time, try to get off the ground faster, he added, closing his eyes.
I shall. And Donatello, if you simply must sleep, I'd suggest letting me carry you in my paws, because there with be a lesser danger of you plummeting to the ground below. The turtle reopened his eyes and looked down. Trees directly below them, little green dots on a larger expanse of grass and dirt patches, swayed gently in the wind. The giant moon cast an eerie white light on everything. The trees reminded Don of tombstones in an unkempt graveyard. I see you're fascinated with our moon, Larui. She is one of our two, Yulakai said, his voice taking on a mellow tone as they stared at it. Its surface was pocked with several large craters, and gray spots. Once Larui had been active in volcanic activity, which is why you see the spots. They are hardened lava.
A similar origin to our own, Don mused thoughtfully.
Our other moon, which only comes out during a momentous occasion that happens every one hundred years is named Eia' Bruk for its blackened surface. The black dragon eased down into a steady glide. She is a hermit-like moon, coming out only when the event called Dragon Moon occurs. For the only marking that distinguishes her from all the rest is a crescent shaped white mark with a dot in the mouth.
Don chuckled when he pictured it and the response Mike likely would've said. Like Pac Man and the power pellets! (A/N: This symbol Yulakai is mentioning is on the leg of my online alias on Deviant Art.) What's so significant about this Dragon Moon? he asked.
When Rainbou and I, hatchlings at the time, arrived here, we saw a large meteor strike its very center a few days after, creating the imprint in the dusty soil of Eia' Bruk, he explained. Part of the meteor came crashing down onto our planet, making a crater in its descent. The two of us went to examine the odd glowing rock, when a strange glowing entity floated out. He cursed our race of dragons so that one of our offspring, when we were still living, would transform into a powerful monster, controllable only by one person.
So you're hoping one of your kids will be able to smash Xetyphaes?
Correct. But before you ask, the verns and my smaller friends the laiza aren't related to us. Their ancestors came later than we did. The verns came into existence after the dragons Uijar and Peoti lost their wings to a pod of yinrus. The laiza are smaller dragons who walk on two stubby legs and have shorter forearms than we. They would be the size of your eagles on Earth and they came from a different planet, one that was overrun with dragons. Lharom visited their planet and agreed to take them here.
Don scratched his head. Interesting. This is all so complicated. He stared at the moon again, and did a double take. He could've sworn he saw a darker blob peering out from behind Larui. When does Eia' Bruk come out again?
Yulakai started ascending again, for he had gone down too far. In about three weeks your time. For us it will be a week and three eyas. An eya, so you know, is the equivalent of your measurement of time called a day. You don't seem to understand, he commented when Don blinked, frowning.
How does Eia' Bruk's orbit differ from Larui's, I wonder?
Eia' Bruk goes at a minimally slower orbit than Larui. When Eia' Bruk signals the impending Dragon Moon, it begins to move more sluggishly due to a planet, dead and dry, that passes close to Haradris. The resulting gravity pull slows its orbit, therefore revealing it to our world. When it has come completely away from Larui, my offspring who was cursed will see it and know their duty.
Fascinating. That puts another spin on astronomy, Don remarked with a yawn.
"Yo Donnie, how's life down there in Geniusville?" Raph called from atop Yulakai's head. He looked like a cancerous hump on the dragon's head, and in a way, he could've been threatening his health by tugging so hard on the horns.
Yulakai noticed this too. Please stop yanking on my horns! I do have nerves in those, you know. And if you were so afraid of flying...This was the ultimate downfall of Raph's cool-as-ice countenance, for just as the dragon was about to finish his sentence, the inevitable lurch of the hump followed by a nauseating noise of disgust interrupted him. An indistinguishable blob of unsavory items plummeted to the rocks below. The scenery had changed dramatically since they had left the beihl.
Cliffs and the roar of ocean waves against stubborn boulders thundered down in the deeps. Spray flew up from the sides of the cliffs, the pounding waves sending it up nearly twenty feet high. Calls of strange beauty floated from the waters, the eerie notes tingling Don's spine. Merfikah songs, Yulakai murmured. In the distance sparkled a wide expanse of ivory sand and glittering shells wet with brine. The ocean rose and fell almost happily under the sky, like a cat playing with a string that kept being dragged away from it by the culprit child. Birds circled over the waters, diving into the sea and coming out with a wriggling sliver of silver.
This is the Dikati Sea, the body of water that separates Fruruwur and Hseiaey. We're on the eastern side of the wide strip of land that connects the two, Yulakai announced, backwinging as he landed on the sea grass that populated the sandy dunes. Don found it much easier to hop off the enormous dragon knowing he was going to land on sand than if he were going to swat another beihl tentacle off his leg. We'll make camp here.
"Out in the open?" Lharom demanded, landing heavily on the sand. "That's not even remotely safe!"
It would perhaps be better to lay here where we may see enemies as they advance upon us than to give them the cover of bushes in there, Yulakai pointed out prudently, indicating the expansive lines of bushes and young saplings over two hundred feet away. The griffin grumbled and reverted to covey form before curling up on the salty grass, muttering to himself. Rijinn landed shortly after, less gracefully, with Saesha and Orcaine, who both looked quite tired. As Kadi finally hit the ground with her talons, Don's stomach reminded him of his duties.
"Maybe we can eat before we go to bed?" he suggested, blushing when his bowel section growled.
"Rumble in the Bronx," Raph chuckled weakly. His face, whether by Larui's light tricks or his airsickness, was a pale green color.
I could help with that, Kadi grudgingly agreed after Dakari nudged her in the foot. But don't you dare take advantage of this, you hare-brained Neanderthals! she warned savagely, noting Raph's look of pure devilish plotting. Just get a fire going and I'll do the rest. She raised her shimmering wings and became a creature of air again, making a beeline for the waves.
Don trotted the distance to the bushes to gather tinder, Orcaine following purely for safety measures. "Can't lose you this early," she explained, letting Don ride her the rest of the way. About five minutes into their wood gathering, Don picked up a faint rustle with his sharp hearing. He signaled Orcaine for silence, depositing his tinder on the ground before creeping toward some bushes, Bo at the ready.
There was a louder shuffle of leaves, some muttering accompanying it. "Of all the stupid things to send me to do…" it grumbled. Don lashed out at the approximate location of the voice with his staff, striking nothing. A moment later, there was a low canine growl and something flashed out of the vegetation, tackling him to the ground. "Alright, buster, what's the big…idea? Holy…" Then she got off him and ran back into the brush, barking like mad.
Don got up with Orcaine's help, scratching his head. "That was odd," he remarked, putting his Bo back into its holster.
"No way! You saw him?" somebody exclaimed. It was strangely familiar, tenor, sounded like…
"Leo?" Don said both mentally and physically in disbelief. Out of the bushes burst his brother, grinning from green ear to green ear like a madman.
"Donnie!" Leo cried, tackling him to the ground.
"Hey, ouch, I've already been flattened today! Get off, you weigh a ton!" He couldn't stop chuckling to save his life. Leo had never expressed such joy in his span of years. His brother got up off him, still grinning, and yanked Don to his feet.
"Excuse me, who's this?" Orcaine interrupted quietly, walking up to Leo.
"Picking up hitch-hikers, Don?" Leo inquired.
"Like you wouldn't believe," he replied. "Leo, this is Orcaine. We found her in a cave a while back. Orcaine, my brother Leonardo." The vern inclined her head politely, and he returned it with a curt bow.
"What do you mean we?" Leo asked.
Don smiled. "We've got quite a troop. Come on, let's go. Kadi's catching fish."
Kadi? Oh, she's revealed herself already? From behind Leo came a beautiful copper phoenix, his plumage gleaming in Larui's light. Then that must mean Dakari's with her. After the word Dakari had passed his mind, Leo shot away toward the beach like a bullet.
"They've met, I assume?"
Yes, he saved your brother from a giant ocuthra.
"Small world." Jubilant shouts reached their ears. "Reunions are always so loud." Just as Don was about to turn to go to the beach, something else came out of the bushes. It was the same canine who tackled him first, followed by a small bearded man.
The dwarf looked him over. "Well, I suppose you'll be Donatello then?" he asked gruffly. The turtle nodded. "Bokur. A dwarf scholar at your service." With that, the two started a conversation on the properties of science.
Five minutes later, the whole group was seated, lying, or sleeping around the fire. Yulakai had immediately scared the bejeezles out of Bokur, who yelped and jumped ten feet high when looked at by the enormous dragon. Tahkar, the serulaf, was savagely tearing apart a large rainbow fish beside Lharom, who was also attacking his meal with gusto as a wolfena. Raph was sitting next to Rijinn, staring hard at the fire while his dragon companion chewed on a smaller fish, tearing at it with his claws. Saesha was perched happily enough on her father's shoulder, yawning. Bokur and Don were still talking about time space, confusing the rest with their genius gibberish. Orcaine was dozing, curled around Raph and Rijinn as a shield against gusts of wind that were liable to come up now and then. Leo and Dakari were exchanged stories about what happened to either when they had been separated. And Kadi and Hytis were both watching over their charges from a safe distance next to Yulakai.
After a suitable calm had established itself over the large group, Don started off by saying: "So, anybody seen Mikey?" Uncomfortably, Leo shook his head a negative. The rest gave the same responses.
I wouldn't have seen him; I came from the Volcanic Wastes to find my first daughter, Yulakai explained, blinking. I don't doubt my mate has seen him, he added bitterly. Curse his entrails for enslaving my lovely Rainbou! and he slapped the sand with his tail angrily.
"Well, where should we look first?"
It would probably be wise to break up into groups again, Hytis suggested. That way, if one finds him, we may meet again.
"A problem with that plan, phoenix, is that we'd be right back where we started," Bokur grunted, puffing a smoke ring from his pipe. "One group would be with your brother, Donatello, and one would still be wandering."
"Then establish a meeting place," Dakari croaked. "Oh, excuse me, my throat's dry," he told Leo. "When one of our parties find Michelangelo, we will head for the place. The only problem would be that the one group wouldn't have any indication when we were ready. Set an amount of days to find him."
"How about Dragon Peak?" Tahkar asked, the undercurrent of a growl in her voice.
Too dangerous, Kadi said, crushing the plan. It would be far too dangerous. We want somewhere safe.
"Tell me why Dragon Peak is so dangerous then, oh wise and beautiful chicken," Tahkar challenged, crunching the spine of her fish.
You want a reason? I'll give you three. If you hadn't heard, you sad excuse for a dog, the icunix shot back, Xetyphaes has planted outposts of soldiers, mages, and guards at any place a dragon would be seen. We'd be shot down before even getting there. Don nodded grimly in agreement. Number two: Dragon Peak has long since blown its top off. There was an eruption almost four years ago. And it's still active. Tahkar made as if to reply, but was given an immediate 'shut up' look by Raph. Number three…There are treacherous geysers scattered around the volcano. They're hidden by rocks, so it would be too late before you even noticed you were on top of a tower of burning hot water.
"I suppose you've got a better place then?" Tahkar retorted, spitting a fish eye at the bird.
We could try Fikah Island – Hytis started.
Inhabited, Kadi said casually, cutting him off.
Saesha scowled. "Let him finish!" she growled.
As I was saying, Hytis continued, Fikah Island wouldn't be a bad idea. It is inhabited, true, but the inhabitants aren't tightly guarded like the other islands and possibilities there are. Xetyphaes doesn't consider them a threat.
"How would you know if they were enemies of the Empire?" Rijinn asked.
Risky, but we could attempt to change their minds…
"Forcefully, I hope," Raph muttered with a devilish grin, grinding his fist into his open palm.
Violence isn't always the answer.
"Yeah, but a good one." Tahkar sniggered.
"Well," Dakari rasped, clearing his throat several times before being able to continue. "How about Mount Kairu?"
The location could serve our purpose, Yulakai mused thoughtfully. It does have streams in bounty, a forest Xetyphaes dares not send soldiers into because of its darkness, and there are caves and hot springs. However, we would have to go past a large enemy fort to get inside. A deflated air settled over the party, and Bokur grumbled with dismay. Perhaps even through. And we have many fugitives traveling with us, so it may not work.
"If we had Aeki with us, maybe we'd be able to sneak it," Raph muttered.
"No," Don stated firmly. "We're not bringing innocents into this." His red bandanna-wearing brother grumbled and subsided with a barely heard phrase that was most snidely directed at Don.
"Maybe I could help," Saesha inserted, raising her head, eyes glittering with ideas. "We could send one of the turtles inside, miming a hunchback under a cloak." Everybody perked up except for Orcaine, who was still sound asleep. "I could ride along in a fake supply pouch at his waist and direct all curious thoughts away with my telekinesis, therefore shielding him."
"That still leaves us undecided," Dakari pointed out. "How would we get through it? If there's only one person going through…" Silence reigned for a while. "And especially if we have Michelangelo with us, gods knows how many companions he picked up. Plus, how would an Empire guard react to me, Lharom, and a couple of dragons roaming the streets?"
Saesha harrumphed. "Well, that's no good!" she growled, fuming on Yulakai's shoulder. "We might as well just all out attack the place!" she grumped.
"Say, that's not a bad idea," Raph said with a dangerous grin. "I think it'd work." Leo shot him the 'shut up' look and he sobered.
Not entirely. We still have Hytis' plan to consider, Yulakai said, turning his head toward the phoenix.
"Or we could simply leave Mike for the dogs and continue on our merry way," Rijinn grunted sarcastically, receiving a fiery glare from Leo.
"We could fly over it," Leo suggested, attracting a certain shape-shifter's attention with the question.
"The fort? Highly unlikely. Their guards are shifted every hour to keep a sharp look out. At least a hundred archers patrol the walls to fend off aerial attacks. And they've got plenty more mages than you or I could ever take out," Lharom sighed, resting his head on his forepaws. "Trust me, I've tried it."
"What I'd give for Iwansi's invisibility powers right now," Saesha mumbled with a puff of black smoke.
"Invisibility powers we don't have," Lharom said sleepily, not catching the scornful note in her voice.
"Well, now wait. If we made an arc around the fort to avoid it, couldn't we get to Mount Kairu then?"
"Nope. Outposts for miles."
"If we flew high enough, the archers wouldn't get us," Saesha persisted. "And if we do it at night, nobody's going to see us."
"If we get there by the new moon, no, they won't. Larui's light's too strong right now."
"It'll take us about a week to get there," Tahkar snarled with a scowl.
"Sure, sure…"
"Will you WAKE UP?" the serulaf roared in his ear. The effect was quite comical. He jumped out of his doze with a wild squawk, shifting to his sparrow form. What was funny about it was that he must've miscalculated the shift. Its body was that of the bird's, but the head was still wolfena, and because he was resultantly top-heavy, Lharom's head was now on the ground, his body squirming around. Flushing red, he reverted back to his original animal form.
"What were you saying?" he asked, cleaning out his ear with a hind paw.
"I said it'll take a whole half of a cycle to get to the fort, am I right?"
"You mean moon cycle?"
"No, those things on wooden wheels called bidikas," Tahkar deadpanned. "Yes, the moon!"
"Er, oh, yes, yes of course."
"So couldn't we fly over the fort on the new moon?" she growled through gritted teeth.
"Yes, I said that."
"No, you didn't! You were half asleep when you told me it was impossible!"
He looked confused. "My dear, I told you it was possible!"
The serulaf howled her frustration, then stood and tackled him to the ground, rolling around with him in the sand. "I'll teach you to sleep when I'm talking, stone ears!" she bellowed while tussling with him. Leaving the two to wrestle on their own, Dakari began again.
"Yulakai's black scales would be hard to spot in the night sky," he stated. "But Orcaine would be more difficult to hide. She is yellow, after all. And the glow of Saesha's telekinesis would show her like a candle in a dark room."
Leo perked up. "Maybe we could convince her to cover herself with mud? Let it harden?"
"That still leaves the telekinetic glow to be dealt with," Bokur grunted. "But I like the mud plan."
"We'll see how she reacts to that," Don muttered, glancing at the sleeping vern.
What I cannot grasp is how we are to meet there without giving ourselves away, Hytis mused, ruffling his wings. Somebody is bound to arrive there before the other group and do something rash.
It'd be wise to elect a leader of the two parties we'll send out, Yulakai said shortly. We shall only do that tonight. It's getting late and you little ones need sleep.
"I nominate Leo," Don said immediately. Leo grinned in polite embarrassment. Raph opened an eye lazily and waved his hand in dismissal.
"Fine wit' me," he grunted, nestling his shell against the hollow between Orcaine's hips and her ribs. He laid his hands by his sides and exhaled wearily. A few seconds more and he was out cold, dreaming about who knows what. Rijinn went soon after, inserting himself under Raph's left arm.
"And the second group?" Bokur asked, sputtering when sand got sprayed on him. "Hey, you hooligans, go have a tussle somewhere else!" he bellowed at the two fighting canines. Tahkar growled a half-hearted apology before rolling head over heels onto Lharom.
Well, the eligible candidates would be Orcaine, Dakari, or one of the two birds, Yulakai said.
"Yeah, and whoever's the one that gets the most votes is kicked off the Island," Saesha added snidely. Don chuckled.
Orcaine may be a bit hesitant, but I believe she could get it done when it needs to be. Dakari, you are brave, I give you that, Yulakai encouraged gently, but would you feel right for the task?
The samurai shook his head ruefully. "I'm no leader," he admitted.
And you're in no condition to bark out orders, Kadi mothered him.
"Oh, hush, I'm nearly healed."
Yulakai, before you ask, I'm not leading any expedition.
Neither shall I, Hytis said.
That leaves us with Orcaine. Unless you would like to take it upon yourself, Donatello, Yulakai said, staring at him.
Don blushed. "Ah, no, I'm just the mechanic…"
"Come on, Donnie, you're smart enough for the job," Leo encouraged.
"Leo, I don't want another incident like the one where you and everybody else took over my body," Don warned. Leo hid a smile. They really hadn't had a choice that time; Don was the only one without injuries and therefore the only vessel for the trick. Raph had slashed his leg open with a glass shard, Leo had a gash on his arm, and Mike had a broken leg.
"Don't worry, I'm sure none of us will do anything like that."
He was still a bit tentative. "I don't know, Leo, I'm not a good strategist…"
"Don, just shut up. You can do it."
"Can't we just talk about this in the morning?" he pleaded uncomfortably.
"A fine suggestion!" Lharom panted, covered in sand, dust, and scratches. "My word, I'll never sleep when this lass gives a speech again!" He trotted away to the other side of the fire, tail between his legs. Tahkar bared her teeth with finality before flopping down beside Leo.
"He's a most chicken-ish fighter I've ever rolled around," she growled with contempt, shaking her spiky line of black fur along her neck.
We'll further discuss this in the morning, Yulakai informed them.
Don got up, stretched, and yawned cavernously. "I'm going to bed now," he announced. He staggered to Orcaine and sat down in the ring that was her curled-up tail, laying his head on her flank. She stirred a bit in her sleep as he sighed and closed his eyes. Saesha hopped off her father's shoulder and went to curl up inside Don's tail, which had also made a smaller ring inside Orcaine's longer one.
Raph snorted abruptly in his unconsciousness. "Mmmmm…" he grumbled, turning over. Yulakai got on his feet and trundled to the pale yellow vern, positioning himself behind her back. He lied down carefully, not wanting to upset the sleeping turtles with the thud he would most certainly produce by flopping down onto the sand. Leo and Dakari moved closer to Orcaine but instead of joining the others by her, they curled up on the sand about two feet away. Hytis and Kadi went to their respective charges, putting her wings over the two. Finally, Yulakai extended his huge wing and lowered it over the five by his side until it formed a tent.
Goodnight, little ones.
"Okay, Palaesi, say Mikey!"
"Meki."
"No, no, try again! My-key!"
Palaesi raised her wings and struggled with the shape of her mouth, forming circles, grimaces, and bared teeth. "Meki!" she ground out, slamming her wings down. The resulting gust of air sent Aireilei off her flight pattern.
"Hey, try not to upset the kid too much, Mike!" she called back. "That nearly flipped me!"
"Sorry," the turtle apologized, holding the little gunghir up. "Well, looks like that's as far as we're gonna get with my name, kiddo."
"Name's Palaesi!" she corrected.
"Aw geez, you get on my case for calling you the wrong thing…" he pouted. Sor rolled his eyes.
Iwansi came up beside Aireilei. "Hey, I'm smelling something unfamiliar…" she whispered. "And it doesn't feel good either."
She shuddered, her shoulder muscles' spasms tickling Palaesi's feet. "No, it certainly doesn't! There's something evil in this forest," she added, gaining altitude. "I want to be as high as physically possible if it can climb trees." Iwansi silently expressed her agreement, flying higher.
Sor squeaked when he discovered they weren't at his level any more. "Geez, warn a guy when you do that!" he shouted, rising to their height.
Meanwhile, below, Naicro, Kiara, and Bima traveled along the forest floor, delicately picking their way through slimy tangles of roots and thorny bushes. Once Bima had blundered into an enormous spider web and the larger inhabitant of the sticky invention wasn't happy with her at all. The little dragon, caught in the web's clutches, had squirmed around desperately. It was only by luck that Kiara had seen her in the web and smote the giant spider in half with her slender sword.
Another time, as they went deeper into the forest, Naicro nearly fell down a gorge full of the arachnids, having to take a galloping leap across. Kiara and Bima went across a thin log instead. Blacker than night birds sat in the trees, cawing their eerie calls down at the trio, and one nearly snapped off Bima's head, to which she responded with a hot reaction.
"Hey, beak face, keep your mug to yourself!" she growled, clawing at its butt. The bird landed safely in another sickly, black-barked tree and cawed at the furious dragon. "You picked the wrong day to mess with me, buddy." Naicro gently reminded the fuming dragon that they needed to move on. Who asked you, traitor lizard?" she snarled.
"I feel that this place houses an ancient monster of a sort," he explained. His eyes were darting every which way, a sign that he himself was more disturbed with their current state than any of the three.
"Don't soil yourself, grandpa," she snapped irritably, going in front of Kiara. The rukit was standing stock-still, large black ears perked forward. The other two stayed quiet as she swiveled them around. "I wish that evil would eat him alive..."
"Must've been my imagination," she said, relaxing and starting forward. With every step they took, light lessened. The leaves of the trees blocked almost all of the sun's rays, and those places where the ground took on a gray pallor they knew that its warmth hadn't penetrated to the soil in a very long time. In few minutes more, they reached a stream, stinking with the vile scent of carrion. Carcasses of birds, some wolfena, and, they noted with horror, gunghir lay on its banks. Bones also crunched with every step they took.
"I don't like this," Bima muttered, revulsion showing in her step. She skirted a bird, sniffing at the stream. "What kind of creatures could do this to animals and people?"
"Blood-sucking ones," Kiara mumbled, paling under her night-black fur. She pointed to a duo of large holes in the chest of a wolfena. "This place should be burned."
"Well, we'll have to go on. There isn't another way to tell if we're going the right way anymore, and I can't fly," Bima grunted, bravely hopping over the sickening stream.
"I agree." Naicro sighed and walked behind the two. Farther away from the rotting bodies, they found pits and dangerous snares, courtesy of Bima's quick reflexes. She had just stepped onto a place in the compost when a faint snap reached her ears. The dragon jerked back her paw and leapt away just as a web of thick, glistening web fell down onto the path.
"Spiders!" she hissed. "We're walking into our own graves!"
Kiara took out both swords, visibly steeling herself. "This is the one way out. We keep going."
"I'm blaming you if we end up trussed like holiday pigs in a web."
Just as she said this, a heart stopping wail nearby made them jump in shock. It was the terrified death scream of an animal about to leave the world. "I'd say our friend the spider just found its Little Miss Muffet," Bima ground out. Kiara said a reverent word in elvish as the wail was cut short by a hollow thump. "Let's get moving before it finds out we're here."
"Too late," Naicro whispered weakly. They both whirled around, and almost lost themselves to hysterics. Well, at least Kiara did. Bima was almost overjoyed to find an excuse to kill the vern.He was trapped in a cocoon of threads, his head nearly swallowed up by the glistening silk. Above his form was positioned a gigantic spider, its fangs already sunken into his ivory neck. The spider hissed at them, staining the silk with Naicro's bloody mixed with the bright green of arachnid poison.
"No!" Kiara rushed at the monster, dodging its legs that it punched out at her. The spider wised up just as she neared it and turned at a speed unbelievable for such a large creature, shooting silk from its spinnerets. The sticky material hit her in the chest, sending her flying back into a tree. It pasted her onto the trunk like flypaper. When she began to cry out, the spider sent another thread flying for her, getting her in the mouth and binding her muzzle shut. Satisfied that it had both dinner and dessert, it waited for the poison to take effect on Naicro.
That was its first mistake. Because of Bima's size and the low visibility, she had escaped its notice. Now, as she crept along the composted soil, she thanked Leo silently for giving her ninjitsu lessons. When she was nearly on top of its swollen butt, she opened her mouth and sent a stream of flame at its spinnerets.
If you've ever heard a spider scream, and I doubt you have, let me assure you that it isn't a most pleasant sound. You could compare it to a cat's caterwaul, only more high pitched and dare I say it has more volume that a lion's roar near your head. The result of Bima's quick thinking left her nearly senseless. The smell of burst spider flesh is worse than most other stenches you could think of, so both her hearing and nose were assaulted with horrible things.
The spider buried its rear in the ground to stop the fire from burning any more into its precious spinnerets, but Bima did her job too well. The spider was now completely unable to bind its victims with sticky silk. Acting again, with her ears ringing, Bima ran to Kiara, whose nose was almost plugged by spider thread. She was obviously finding it harder and harder to breathe. The dragon reared up and clawed the web off her feet, carefully flaming the rest off her arms. With a frantic effort, the rukit ripped the silk off her nose, gasping for air, no matter how pungent it was.
Turning their attention back to the spider, the two ran at it after Kiara had recovered a modicum of strength. "Die, you sick monster!" Bima roared, digging her claws into its eyes. It screamed again, putting its opponents out of commission as far as hearing goes. The spider reared off Naicro's prone body and, hissing with pain, skittered toward Kiara. Again it made the same mistake as before, only this time, Bima was under its belly because she had fallen backward. The dragon opened wide her jaws and gathered a deep breath. A second later, Kiara, who was backed up against a slimy tree, its bark digging into her spine, saw the spider lifted off the ground by a hot white plume of blue flames.
The scream was so terrible it nearly burst their eardrums. The spider, its bloated bag almost entirely eaten away by searing fire, writhed on the ground, hissing and clicking in its agony. Disturbed by the sight and revolted by the smell, Kiara plunged her sword deep into its head, pulling it out and repeatedly hacking at its jointed legs until it was disembodied and maimed.
Bima turned away from it, holding back her bile, and bounded franticly to Naicro's side. "Can you hear me, Naicro?" she asked. "Naicro? If you die, I'll be happier than Claws..." She pressed her paws into his back and with effort, wiggled him. He showed no movement. She ran to his head and smacked it.
He sluggishly opened one eye and Bima grumbled in disappointment. "Can you take the spider thread off me? I believe I am still able to walk," he mumbled through a half-closed jaw. Heeding the warning glare from Kiara,Bima ran along his back, dragging a claw through the thick, sticky webbing and splitting it down the center. She helped him wriggle out of it. Kiara grabbed his neck and pulled steadily to get him on his feet.
"How'd it get you, Naicro?"
"I was off guard," he sighed. "My fear often gets the best of me." He took a step forward. "And I must apologize for not explaining why I did what I did back at the castle. It has been on my conscience ever since." The vern inhaled shakily. "Xetyphaes...he knew where my mate had been hidden."
"You have a mate?" Bima exclaimed, while snidely making a comment that the person should jump off a cliff.
"Yes, her name is Orcaine, and a kinder female I've never met. I asked an elf to keep her safe within a crystal deep inside a cave. Doubtless Xetyphaes was bluffing, but such was my fear that I had no problem trusting his threats. He made me constantly report as to where we were going, finally telling me to guide us towards the ruins. And there, he nearly killed me and Hiph Bima. Me because I was showing signs of instability as a spy, and Bima because she was noticing my increasing jumpiness."
A sudden clicking hiss aroused them from their ambling walk. "We need to move faster," Kiara whispered harshly, picking up the pace. The trio loped down the path now, vanishing just as hoardes of spiders dropped down behind them.
I'm sure to have an angry mob at my house tonight. Torches, pitchforks, and all. Review please! I know you silent readers are out there! C'mon, the more reviews, the faster the chapters gets up...(nudge nudge wink wink)
Ashite Imasu,
LN