Eclipse of Dusk
By: Hseru
Warnings: Shounen ai later on 1x2 3x4 5xM (Hey look...he's got someone now ^_^)
Disclaimer: I own not Gundam Wing, but I do own the world the G-boys traverse. Fear my god power
Chapter 27
The four of their group that was left made their way quickly back to where the Illians waited. They spent precious time searching out both Quatre and Meiran's horses, but they were found without too much difficulty. All through the search though, Heero seemed distracted.
-I failed him... I swore I wouldn't let anything hurt him... and I failed him...- It ran over and over in his mind, his own little mantra that beat a bloody trail through his thoughts.
If it was only slightly noticeable that something was wrong with Heero, it was vastly to the opposite where Quatre was concerned. When they'd reached the clearing, an initial search had encompassed the area. They found no sign that either Duo, or Trowa had left under their own will, though one could hope. Quatre seemed beyond consolation , however.
The little mage had searched as frantically as Heero, and when it was obvious neither Duo nor Trowa were in evidence, he simply folded up, knees giving out so that he fell to sit in the snow. It had taken some coaxing to get him to come back to them, but when he did, it was a brooding, withdrawn Quatre that greeted them, a personality so totally different from what they were used to that it was obvious he now had a serious mission, and nothing would get in his way. It was almost scary...
The two unridden Illians followed behind the party when they finally set out, not needing a lead rein to keep them together. They were as much on a mission as Quatre.
It was useless to try and reach Sarkan before the trolls, but they would probably have better luck following the broad, trampled trail the Trolls had left rather than keeping to the trail they were breaking themselves. Their speed would improve, at least until the snows came to lay fresh power again, because the trail was solid, beaten down by the beasts that had traversed it. Meaning that the party would be able to mount up once again.
Heero took the lead, and no one tried to gainsay him in that. Wufei took his position at back, in front of the rider less Illians, and they were off.
Speed was their key asset here.
If his calculations were correct, they were still a good week and a half from Sarkan's stronghold. If they made good time when they could, days even could be shaved off from that time.
It was with heavy thoughts that they kneed the steeds into a light canter, iron shod hooves pounding on the beaten snow and rock, a racy rhythm of multiple heartbeats counting down to the last stand, the last hour.
Down to the last breath.
...
The youth holding the immortal soul of a dragon swam in and out of consciousness.
Even when it seemed that the light of open eyes was just within his reach, something stretched up to grab at him, and pull him back under yet again to the swirling dark void.
Flashes of what happened around him seemed to get into his head though, through the foggy darkness permeating his mind.
Flash: The last thing he'd seen before going under, a huge meat hook fist traveling towards his head.
Flash: Tall gray bodies moving around him, upside down.
Flash: The chilled cold of winter seeping into his stiff joints.
And then he began to come around.
With a stifled moan of pain, Duo dredged upwards towards wakefulness, finally opening his eyes. He was rewarded with more darkness, and for a panicked moment, he thought he'd gone blind. Then, small pinpoints of light began to sort themselves from the darkness, and he came to realize that he looked upwards at a night-time sky instead of an abyss completely devoid of light.
His head ached something fierce, and his body felt like he'd been through a rockslide and lived to tell the tale. He shifted, trying to move his arms to help him sit up, when a second realization came to him that had escaped his notice before.
His hands were bound behind him with what felt like stiff rope, the thick coils looping around his arms, and chest to eliminate the chance of escape. The rope then wound down his legs, securing his ankles together uncomfortably tight. His hands were cold, and numb, a sharp contrast to the slight burn at his wrists where the rope had apparently chaffed his skin.
The past came back to him then with a jolt. They'd been attacked by a group of trolls -even he knew not what to call a multitude of the things because they were so rarely seen with more than one at a time. He'd raced through the trees as the large gray creature had gained upon him, only to suddenly come upon another of the brutes unexpectedly. Blocking a direct blow from the newcomer had caused pain to shoot up his arms, and his sword had dropped from useless, numbed fingers. The troll following him caught up then, and Duo had turned in time to see the fist which had immediately dropped him upon the first hit.
Now, as he suffered the after-effects of that hit, he didn't know where he was, and under who's 'care' he was kept prisoner.
Deciding that a look around would not cost him, Duo slowly turned his head to make out anything in the gloom.
He almost wished he'd kept his eyes shut.
Not a foot from him lay a Vlarg. The beast's vicious red eyes were open, and staring at him, a snarl lifting scaled lips back from wicked teeth. He now distinguished the low growl coming from the beast, something that had been going on ever since he'd first moved. It plainly said 'move and prepare to have your throat torn out', which Duo was disinclined to have happen.
However, he couldn't keep the jerk he gave when he was suddenly picked up from behind, and tossed over something's shoulder like a bag of grain. Rough texture, gray skin, black fur.
Yup, another troll.
But Duo was awake and aware now, and he began actively taking account of his surroundings.
Lifting his head, he again looked around. He was carried by one of three trolls, and several Vlarg snarled about the great brute's feet, red eyes flashing at him in the gloom. The smaller creatures probably act as watch dogs, and the one watching him so avidly before must have alerted the troll to his movements.
The group was up and moving at a surprising speed, considering the trolls' size. It led Duo to wonder just how long they'd been moving, and how long he'd been out.
As if to expound upon his fears, the trolls were suddenly moving down hill through a break in the mountainside, the forestry either cleared away or dead around them. He tried to lift up enough to get a look at where they headed, but the troll holding him felt his movements and gave him a rough jolt accompanied by a warning growl.
Gritting his teeth as pain flashed through his head to punctuate the abrupt movement, Duo was forced to lie unmoving down the troll's back once again. They would be there all too soon anyway, if the brief glimpse he'd gotten proved anything.
The fortress ahead looked all too familiar. After all, Phenris had shown them Sarkan's stronghold before. He would have to be a fool to not recognize it now.
Awaiting doom meekly? Hell no.
He was merely hoping for some opportunity to present itself before he was too far along to appreciate it.
...
A portcullis moved overhead, wicked sharp prongs aimed downwards to secure the gate into the ground, heedless of anyone that stood beneath it. A shiver raced up Duo's spine as the metalwork passed, and they were within the stronghold.
Sarkan's stronghold.
Ye gods, he should be terrified right about now, but for some reason Duo wasn't.
That fact was with all due credit to the stark presence of oppression that hung over the place, coupled with a grim kind of dread. The walls themselves, rising far overhead to end in a bulwark ready for a siege, spoke of conscripted menace. Spires of smooth black stone reached like accusing fingers into the sky to grasp at the waning moon that was previously obscured, not a single window filled with anything that could pass as light. Not to mention the panorama of guards and creatures -better suited to the night than anything else- that roamed about the place in a seemingly busy way.
Perhaps he was only feeling an odd detachment from the situation, as if he were not really there.
Of course, that was partially brought to an end as he was abruptly and painfully unslung from the troll's shoulder to be dropped roughly to the hard ground, knocking the wind from him.
Trussed up as he was, he simply lay there for a moment to gain back his breath, then turned to the side when the sound of footsteps unlike those around him not only brought the others to a halt, but placed a quiet edge to the air like a knife ready to fall upon the throat if its intended victim.
Wide violet eyes fell upon his captor with what could readily be considered as a look of surprise.
This was not quite what he'd expected.
A quite handsome man, tall, and clad in clothes that were both aesthetic, and functional -a pair of blooming pantaloons and vest dyed a deep burgundy red coupled with a black undershirt and boots- paused before the trussed youth. Golden blond hair that would have shamed the most fair of maidens fell unfettered to his shoulders, and blue eyes rest under a thick lock of that hair, so deep that they rivaled the hue of even Heero's, who possessed the deepest cerulean blue eyes Duo'd ever seen.
However, any doubt that this was indeed Sarkan was blown away like so must chaff when the man spoke in a voice that chilled Duo to the bone.
"My dear little dragon has come back to me. I have finally found my lost treasure." The sorcerer's voice could have curdled milk, then froze it with the empty cold that permeated his words. It was as if every emotion other than cold contempt had been scoured from his very being.
Duo didn't think he could force words past the numbing fear he suddenly felt, but he managed it.
"Treasure...my ass." He gritted. "Since when does a cold-hearted bastard... care for anything save himself?" It was useless banter, he knew, but it was about the only thing he had left to hurl at the insidious sorcerer. He now wished for something to truly throw, big, and sharp enough to wipe the slow grin -spreading like molasses across Sarkan's face- completely off.
"Such big words for so small a boy." He chided, much like one would either a small child, or a disobedient pet.
With a wave of a slender hand, Sarkan had three human guards come and pick Duo up with no amount of gentleness, one stooping to cut the ropes binding his feet to allow him to stand on his own.
"Take him the the room I prepared. Get him settled in, then report back to me when you've completed that." He said sharply to one of them. He paused a moment to look back at Duo again, and one pale hand reached out to his neck. With a lazy movement, he ran a finger over the cold metal of Duo's collar, and it almost felt like he'd run his finger through the youth's very essence, leaving a burning trail behind. Duo twisted in the grip of the guards, almost brought to his knees save for their hold, gasping for the breath which had suddenly been cut off from him.
"We'll see that you learn your place in time..."
The sorcerer left the open ended threat hanging on the air, and Duo suppressed the shiver again worming its way across his body, the searing pain slowly fading.
What exactly did he mean by "in time.."?
The sorcerer walked away then without a second look, and the guards hauled Duo up, and trooped off to follow his orders.
Duo was dragged, again with no more care than a sack of ill begotten potatoes, through a door on the far side of the courtyard, and into the dim interior of the hold, lit only by the occasional wall sconce holding a guttering, oil soaked torch. He tried to pay special attention to where they were taking him, should a chance at escape come to him, but soon he was lost in the plethora of stairwells, split hallways, and closed doors. All he knew now was that he was being taken down, into the bowels of Sarkan's hold.
Coming to the end of a hallway where the doors had ended some distance back, one of the guards -the same one Sarkan had spoken to earlier- took a ring of keys from his pocket, and began the short process of sorting through the various keys to find a match to the single door they faced. The jangle echoed faintly in the end hallway, spiking Duo's nerve.
"Wow...I get a hallway all to myself, huh?" He asked from where he was held up by the two remaining human guards. The main guard turned to give him a look, then abruptly took a step forward, and delivered a resounding backhand, metal studded gloves and all.
Duo's head was whipped around with the force of the blow, momentarily dazing him. The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth, and he turned his head back to aim a contemptuous glare at the guard, though his eyes did not quite focus yet.
"The master may put up with your damn mouth, but any time I hear it, you will regret it. Do I make myself clear, boy?" The guard snapped. He didn't get a reply, but didn't seem too fazed about it. He'd gotten his point across.
With a huff, the main guard turned back to finish working the keys, and opened the door without further incident.
Pausing a moment, he turned back to Duo, and slid a knife from its small sheath at his belt. Duo tensed in slight fear, but the man simply cut his bonds, then shoved him forward into the dark room. The door slid shut with a slam behind him, the resounding click of the lock echoing through the room.
Rubbing gingerly at his abused wrists, the braided youth didn't move yet from where he'd stumbled inside, able to see nothing save for pitch black.
Duo's eyes began to eventually adjust though. There was small enough light as it was, but there seemed to be a sort of glow from what looked like a hole in the ceiling. Careful lest he should trip over something, he moved over to peer upwards. It was a tunnel a good two hundred feet in length, leading straight up to the free sky. Of course, there were several sets of thick bars between him and the sky, but at least he would be able to see it.
As the room grew more clear, Duo slid a hand gingerly up to his face, wincing at the sting the small touch caused. He was bleeding, though not too badly it seemed; the studded glove had done a number on his skin, but it wasn't too bad -mostly just bruised.
The room he was held in was small, as was expected. However, the state of his arrangements were unexpected, as so many things had been of late.
A small, but clean looking bed complete with a decent mattress and blanket lay against one wall. There was a designated area for the latrine, and it was clear by the lack of stench, that it was clean. Again, surprising. From what he'd expected...well, to be honest, he'd expected to be killed on sight. To have livable conditions could mean a great number of things. Mainly, that Sarkan wanted him alive, and apparently healthy.
But why?
That was the question that haunted Duo throughout the rest of the night, and well into the days to come.
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Please don't be angry with me my dear readers. I apologize for the abnormally long time between updates, but I figured that I should at least give you a juicy bit of new information to play with.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter nevertheless
-Hseru
Review, Review!! (Yesh...I got many many good reviews for the last chapter. They were a pleasure to read, so thank you all.)