Thank you too to Ocean of My Existence, BlueWillow29, Crystal-wolf-Gaurdain-967, and Felicia for the reviews last chapter.
Chapter XIII: The fall of the house of Darcia
One labored breath after another dragged from her lungs as she pushed herself on, the howling wind fought her slim frame trying very hard to deny her and for the first time in Mahina's life it felt like it was starting to win. The female grunted holding up her arms to shield herself from the snow that blew in her face; with each step forward it felt like the wind blew her three steps back. Even with fur the bitter sting of the cold wrapped its fingers around her blanketing her and her pack in thick snow and sending a chill up her spine. Mahina looked backed, Toboe took up the rear trying his best to keep up and a few feet ahead of the pup Blue only barely kept in pace with Mahina, behind them both was endless white like a blank canvas wiping clean their past failures. Then the she-wolf looked head; Hige was the closest walking a couple of paces in front of Mahina, he would occasionally look back and even slow down so the rest of the could catch up, when Mahina briefly saw his face from among the endless snow she could tell that even though he kept pace with the back fatigue was beginning to set him for him too. Tsume was far ahead of Hige and Kiba even farther ahead of Tsume. Mahina squinted against the blowing snow; she could barely make out the white male in all this snow, how could he not feel even the slightest bit tired after traveling in this snow storm all night? How could any of them hope to match Kiba's will power? Try as she may Mahina had to admit it here in the middle of this storm: she was tired and cold and she could not go on. Exhaustion came to the female like the snow that threaten to bury her and all she could do was hug herself tight and keep as much heat in her fur as possible, still her teeth chattered as a particularly strong gust hit them all.
"Kiba!" Hige's voice barely reached Mahina's ear from within the howling of the wind around her and the loud chattering of her own teeth. The rest of the pack stopped when Hige spoke up and all turned their eyes to Kiba-or at least what they could see of him- to see if he would answer. When Mahina looked she saw exactly what she expected of Kiba and that was for him to still be walking despite one of his pack mates calling him. It had been like this in the forest of death and stood as a constant reminder that in Kiba's mind the well-being of Cheza outweighed the lives of the pack including his own life. None of them could be mad at Kiba for it honestly, each and every one of them knew what they were signing up for when they left that last city together the possibility of heading towards an early grave was a fact all of them knee... Mahina just didn't think it would be at the hands of nature. When Kiba didn't answer Hige the chubby male charged forward pushing against the wind and the snow to catch up to Kiba. Mahina sighed and with her face turned slightly away from the harsh snow moved closer so she could hear all that was being said. When she was close enough Mahina found herself standing next to Tsume and now trying to catch a breath she didn't actually know she lost. "Hey!" bellowed Hige gripping Kiba by the shoulder and stopping him from walking on "come on!" the chubby male yelled between pants for air "You're going too fast!...let's take a break!"
"We don't have time for a break, Hige" was Kiba's calm response
"Use your head for once!" Hige bellowed over Kiba, angrily the chubby wolf motioned behind him to set his point "We have two girls and a little kid!"
"I can hear you ya'know..." Blue didn't hesitate to join the conversation "Don't worry about me, I can keep up"
"Yea!" Toboe yelled out "me too!" he said this but when Mahina looked back at him Toboe was hunched over and looking as out of breath as Mahina felt. When Mahina turned back around she found that Hige was looking to her now. Honestly the female wanted badly to rest, she was so tired and so very cold and if she pushed herself she might not make it to the keep but Mahina clenched her chattering teeth and gripped herself a bit tighter for warmth.
"...I...I can keep going" she declared between gasp for air
"You do realize that he's the one whose tired right?" Tsume chimed in
"I do not!" Hige sent Tsume an angry glare "I just-"
"But he does have a point..." Tsume went on to say while looking over the three that took up the rear of the pack "At this rate none of us will make it...we can't rest under those rocks until the storm clears." Tsume motioned in the direction he claimed their resting place would be but when Mahina looked she could barely see anything. No one said anything at first but it was it obviously when the she-wolf looked around at her and saw their exhausted expressions that no one objected to taking a much needed rest. Hige was quick become cheerful now that he knew most pack agreed with him.
"Alright than, its settled" he said happily before turning to Blue, Toboe, and Mahina "Do you think you can hold on for a little longer?" his eyes shifted from one female to next, his concern was sincere, no one could argue that, but the bitter cold and the fact that Hige thought a little snow could stop her made her take offense to his words.
"I'm not fragile glass" she scuffed at him hugging herself tightly and looking away from the chubby male.
"Don't you worry about me, I can take care of myself" Blue added with a snap before turning away and heading towards their designated resting spot fighting the blow of the snow all the way. Toboe didn't bother to humor Hige with a reply; he was too cold to think and simply trailed after Blue shivering as he did.
"Yes Ma'am" Hige sighed in defeat having his new crush shut him down so coldly and easily. Mahina watched the trio as they walked in union farther and farther away from her but she made no moves to follow them just yet. Instead she looked to Kiba and Tsume. The two wolves stared each other down in the blister cold of the snow storm. Of what Mahina could see of Kiba's face it was easy enough to tell just what he was feeling; Mahina could see it in the stoic- yet stern- stare he fixed Tsume with and the tension in his shoulders.
Kiba was upset.
Perhaps not just upset but irritated, pissed off even and even as the she-wolf stood there longing for the shelter of the rocks in the distance she could understand why the white wolf was feeling the way he was. They were so close; after two days of feeling lost and hopeless the pack had gotten a lead on Cheza. They were back on track and the only chance they had to get Cheza lay waiting in the keep in the distant west in a keep of the fallen house Darcia. They were so close to getting Cheza back and it angered Kiba that everyone wanted to stop and rest. He was annoyed that they were wasting time but he wasn't stupid enough to see that it was necessary wasted time. Tsume was right, no one in the pack had Kiba's willpower and not one would survive much longer pushing themselves through the storm, not even Mahina- especially not Mahina who still to this moment recovered from past and present wounds. They had to stop to rest and Kiba knew that and it was that fact that upset him.
Tsume said nothing else to Kiba at this point; he turned on his heel and began the journey towards their point of rest for the night never once looking back. Even after Tsume began to walk away Mahina still did not move; she lingered a moment longer staring into Kiba's azure eyes the best she could. She knew what he was expecting of her; Kiba knew of Mahina's own desperation to be reunited with Cheza and something in her told the female that if she stayed by Kiba's side that he would press on even if the pack stayed behind. They could just keep going and no one would stop them; it was thought that crossed Mahina's mind in that instant. However, Mahina was cold and ache and too tired to even entertain the thought of running ahead with keep beyond the point of a small idea. The she-wolf turned and after offering Kiba one last glance was off in a light jog to catch up to Tsume.
Kiba did not follow her.
Even in the storm the grey wolf seemed to be able to hear Mahina's footsteps crunching the snow as she ran to catch up to him. He looked back at her before slowing his pace enough for the female to catch up. When Mahina noticed this she spend up just a bit more until caught up and was able to walk in pace with the much taller gray male.
"You're not going to stay behind with him?" Tsume asked a moment later looking back behind them. Mahina gave Tsume a bewildered look but looked back as well. He was so far away Mahina almost couldn't make him out at all but there he was in the far distance trailing after them, Kiba would come and rest as well.
"Why would I do that?" questioned Mahina
"Well it seems wherever he goes you usually follow" Tsume didn't hesitate or hold back as usual and the comment pulled a scuff from Mahina. Ever since this journey began everyone seemed to hint towards the same thing when it came to Mahina: that no matter where Kiba was Mahina was close behind. Why did everyone seem to think that? Why was it Kiba's journey that Mahina was joining in on? It wasn't because of Kiba that the she-wolf chased after Cheza. Everyone seemed to forget that the female had been looking for the flower maiden long before she ever laid eyes on Kiba's pure white form.
It was aggravating how some seemed to view Mahina like a female only capable of following.
"Males" she hummed with a growl of disgust to her voice "Always assuming we females simply follow you without question" Tsume looked like he wanted to remark back at the she-wolf-or at least from what she could see of his face he did- but he kept quiet so Mahina continued "I am my own being" the female said with her head tall "If I walk a path it's not because I follow a male, if I do something it's not under a male's will and I owe Kiba-or any of you- nothing for it was not by the endurance of a male that I was brought into this world"
"I get it, I get it" Tsume was quick to stop Mahina from going on and the female found herself scuffing once more at his interruption "But does this mean you're not willing to do everything for Cheza?"
"That was an idiotic question, Tsume, and you know it"
"Humor me with an answer, scrawny"
"I'm willing to lay down my life for Cheza" Mahina answered without hesitation or even a hint of wavering "but how can I do that if I'm already dead?" it was simple enough; Mahina would follow Cheza to the ends of the earth, she had proven time and time again that when face with Cheza's life or Mahina's survival the she-wolf's life was forfeitable. There were no questions about it and not an inch of doubt. If Mahina had to die for Cheza to live than the female would welcome death like an old friend but there was one problem. "I'm smart enough to know that Kiba feels the same way" Mahina went on to explain keeping her eyes focused forward as the rocks that were once in the distance slowly drew closer with each step "I'm also not stupid enough to know that when it comes to Cheza my safety cannot be placed in the hands of Kiba"
"…" Tsume did respond to the statement but Mahina could feel his eyes burning holes into the side of her skull.
"I trust Kiba when he says he'll get us to paradise because that all that he lives for and I know from experience that you don't take something like that lightly but it's also because it's all that he lives for that I know when it comes to my own life I can no longer trust Kiba." Mahina turned her head slowly and looked up at the grey wolf beside her "Kiba would have let me die in the forest of death" she stated and even the hardened Tsume flinched at the comment. It had been like a giant, pink elephant stomping about behind the pack since they made it out of the forest of death: the fact that Kiba, who before meeting Cheza was the first to run to Mahina's aim, had so suddenly cast her aside in her moment of need. No one had wanted to say it; if no one had said anything to him then Kiba would have left Mahina to die in the forest of death. "That is why even though I want so badly to keep going right now I won't" Mahina finished her explanation slowly looking ahead once more "because Cheza is more important; because if I can't go on Kiba will leave me behind to die out there. I cannot trust Kiba with my life when Cheza isn't here"
"…" even after all of that Tsume still said nothing in response to Mahina; he watched her carefully now that they stood so close and the snow blew a little less between them. Mahina stared straight ahead and though she seemed to be trying hard to mask it Tsume caught a faint glimmer of sadness in her eyes; the one wolf she related to most in the pack- the very one she trusted her fate with- was the one wolf she couldn't trust with her own life. She appeared to accept this as fact but that didn't seem to make her any less sadden to know "…then… who will you trust?" Tsume couldn't help himself, he was curious to know. Now it was Mahina's turn to not respond; she slowed to a stop just before the little cave that the other had already taken refuge under and Tsume stared at the back of her head from where he stood behind her.
An odd silence came between them for a moment broken only when Hige called from within the cave asking if the two of them were going to come in or stand outside all night.
"…" Mahina glanced over her shoulder at Tsume with this sullen crimson eyes of hers "…I don't know" she answered and with that spun back around and disappeared under the cover of the rocks leaving Tsume to stand alone and ponder over the female.
The visions returned on that night in the harsh snow.
Mahina's cryptic nightmares returned in their familiar haze of shimmering green. She was floating again in a sea of green with that strange shadow looming over her. Sluggishly, she blinked trying to clear her blurry vision so that she might see this person better. The figure stared for a while and then, eventually, reached down and hooked their arms under her small frame pulling her from her watery resting place. Losing the weightless sensation of the water left her feeling heavy in the person's arms so though she wanted to struggle and fight the one who carried her she could do nothing but remain limp and lifeless, her arms hung in the air, her head lulling about as they moved and her long, black hair brushing the floor leaving a trail of the water from where she once was.
The person who carried her hummed in what sounded like deep thought. Though her body felt like it slept and her eyes were foggy her ears were sharp catching the echo of footsteps and the voice of a female from somewhere behind her.
"The moon flower, my Lord?" questioned the female.
"Yes" hummed the deep voice of the person carrying her "their scientific name is Hylocereus Undatus but they've long since been named Lunar Flowers" the male explained to his female company " They are beautiful, poisonous, flowers that only bloom once a year at night under the light of the full moon. That is the rare gem that was used" the blurry hallway gave way to a room. Her hazy vision saw images of tall tubes full of green water. Beautiful, white lunar flowers rest in some while others held the shadowy outlines of human figures with long flowing hair "but there is a price to such rarity and beauty; as soon as these flowers bloom they quickly wither and die. There had been theories that its life span could be extended by combining them but such theories have long since been disproved" there was a pause in the male's explanation and he used this time to set her down gently on plush cushions letting her feet sink into a small tank of water. A sense of motion was coming to her now and the shadowy male stepped back to give her room. She could raise her head though just barely for it felt heavy on her neck. The room was hued with green and each wall on either side of her was lined with these tubes of flowers and bodies but it was the sphere in the center that earned her attention. She raised her head a bit more to stare at it in a dazed wonder. The sphere was the only source of light in the room glowing emerald and granting her a sense of comfort, soon she knew why. Cheza floated quietly in the orb glowing as if she were the light source within. Even in this haze Cheza drew her in.
"There is no questioning that this one is the key to opening paradise" the male declared. He watched as she slowly stood on unsteady feet and then made her way to the orb containing Cheza. The orb loomed over her forcing her to reach up high to press her palms against the glass surface "but the window in which it can be open is small… when this one awakes she will bloom, with and eventually die and paradise will be forever lost with her…"
Cheza would bloom, and then she would wither and die. Paradise would be closed forever and the retaliation snapped Mahina out of her dream.
She woke up with a stare; eye's snapping open and growing wide. The cove she sat in with pack came into view and the female found herself staring at the cover opening where Kiba stood impatiently. The air was tense around Mahina and she could only assume- once she calmed down enough to take in the expressions of her pack- that Kiba was ready to go and the pack wasn't moving. After leapt off the opening and disappeared into the still raging storm.
"Kiba!" Toboe was on his feet.
"Let him go" snapped Hige never once moving to stop the white wolf
"but…why?" Toboe questioned
"Right now the only thing he can see is Cheza" the ember wolf explained bitterly, his hands shoved deep in his pockets "it won't matter whether we're with him or not" the statement was true; Mahina had established that for Tsume earlier. Still, Mahina found herself unable to think of anything but Cheza either. Her dreams, if they were true then they were running out of time. Cheza, the key to paradise, was now on the path to die and when she did all that Mahina had suffered and worked for would be for not.
She had to get Cheza back.
With her mind made up Mahina pushed herself to her feet settling the conversation around her.
"Mahi?" Toboe was first to look to the she-wolf as she brushed past him "what are you…"
"You're going after him" Tsume's words stopped Mahina just as she reached the cave entrance. The gray male fixed Mahina with a hard stare as if daring her to tell him he was wrong "Aren't you?" he prompted her to answer.
"But Mahi"
"You can't seriously be considering going after that idiot!"
"…" Mahina remained quiet under the words of Hige and Toboe but her eyes never once left Tsume's. She could see it in his eyes the questions he wanted to ask her but didn't, even a hint of ridicule at how all her tough words seem to be all hot air when the she-wolf was faced with the choice but Mahina didn't let the look bother her and she didn't let the other's words get to her because she knew one thing… "… You don't understand" her voice found her faintly "I'm not going after Kiba. It was never about Kiba, none of this was. You will never fully understand the pull Cheza has until you've felt it yourself" and now that the pull had left Mahina the female missed it and wanted it back, she pressed a hand to her chest at the thought "I would follow Cheza forever because I fell that pull" Mahina said 'and so would Kiba' she thought quietly "Toboe, stay here"
"Mahina wait!" Toboe called
"Leave her, Toboe" Hige spoke up as the she-wolf disappeared among the wind and snow
"We'll follow them once the storm blows over" Tsume decided "for just get some rest and don't worry about it" but they did. Anyone could tell by the tense air that both Toboe and Blue were quietly reconsidering their options.
"Hige…" Blue turned to the chubby male while Toboe hummed with worry "you sure about this?"
"He obsesses too much" Hige replied with a grumble of distaste. It wasn't like he wasn't worried about Kiba, they were friends-pack mates- but time and time again the white wolf proved himself unable to think of anyone but Cheza when things got bad and Mahi "…" Hige made a face at the thought of the female and this odd bond she had with Cheza "…Mahina…" he tried to find fault in the female but found nothing but the she-wolf's sometimes annoying stubbornness. "She just… walks a different path from us… that's all" the ember male decided on saying. Mahina walked a separate path alongside theirs but she always seem to be looking out for someone and for that Hige could show no malice or displeasure towards her for leaving them behind.
In the time that Mahina had been sleeping the storm had, indeed, settled some. The wind blew past her frame in slight retaliation but gave no other form of resistance and so female had no trouble pushing on. She blazed through the snowy land until she found Kiba and with her head tipped upward Mahina let loose a howl to let male know she was behind him. Kiba stopped almost immediately and looked back when he heard the howl and Mahina sped up to get to him.
'What are you doing here?' the question comes out as soon as Mahina was close enough
'What do you think?' Mahina responded slowing to a stop before him
'You should have stayed back and rested' Kiba shook his head but Mahina was already moving forward once more. "Mahina" the she-wolf stopped short when Kiba's hand found her wrist and kept her from walking on.
"We don't have time to waste, Kiba" Mahina shot Kiba a stern look before trying to pull herself free from him but Kiba held firm "Kiba-"
"Go back" Kiba demanded
"No" Mahina snapped back, her stern look morphing into a glare "the storm has settled enough, I won't have any trouble getting through the snow and I feel fine" the female yanked herself free and took two large steps back "I can keep going"
"…" the wind howled between them as Kiba stared long and hard at Mahina.
"Right now" Mahina's expression softened "for us, Cheza is more important and we can keep going" honestly Mahina hadn't expected Kiba to fight her on her coming with him. After all, it was Kiba who had been pushing the pack to the point of exhaustion before so when Mahina saw a look of doubt and concern cross Kiba's face she was just a little bewildered "I'll be fine" Mahina assured him "so let's keep going"
"…" Kiba stared in silence but eventually he nodded and they were off again
The remains of the keep of house Darcia was a large and complex looking structure that sat on a manmade platform in the center of what looked like a shallow body of water. Layered with a light sheet of snow it was as if the haunting place held a force field keeping the once blizzard away from its structure. Besides Kiba, Mahina stood staring at this lonely looking place though not with the emotions Kiba had when Mahina looked at him. He had a hard look to his face and his azure eyes blazed in a fire of determination that Mahina was all too familiar with; this was the defining moment: this was the showdown for Cheza. But Mahina felt something different. When she gazed at the keep she did not see a prison for Cheza or the fortress of the noble who took her. No, Mahina saw a keep as cursed as the humans believed it to be. There was just something about the way the wind moaned as it blown through the building that made Mahina tentative about going in. something was here, Mahina could feel it and it wasn't Cheza or the noble Darcia. It was some kind of entity and it felt like it had been here for a long time.
It made Mahina nervous, more nervous than she should feel about it and she didn't know why.
"…are you ready?" Kiba's voice barely registered to Mahina as she continued to stare at the keep. If she closed her eyes she could almost see the eyes of this entity staring into her soul.
It was watching her, calculating her next move.
"Mahina" Kiba's voice was burring into the background for Mahina. This entity, did it want something from her? Why did it loom in her senses like this? What could this feeling of dread mean? Perhaps… perhaps this was a foreshadowing. Perhaps what loomed over Mahina was death. The she-wolf's eyes grew in size at the thought that such a thing lay in the keep awaiting her and for a moment Mahina was hesitant to enter.
It is not death that rules this place.
A voice broke the wall of fear Mahina suddenly realized she had been lost in and it took her little to no time to realize that this voice was that of someone she missed dearly.
Cheza?
This place has seen nothing but sorrow for a long, long time… this one can feel it.
…yes…I do too.
Do not fear it. Come, this one is waiting…
Cheza's voice sounded so faint that when she finally fell into silence Mahina thought she had lost the connection but when she closed her eyes she could still feel Cheza there. The she-wolf could feel Cheza's heart beating as if it were in her own chest. Mahina welcomed the feeling with joy and a smile to her face.
"Mahina?" Kiba's voice brought Mahina out of her mind. She opened her eyes to find the male looking her over curiously.
"… She's here" Mahina spoke out calmly before shifting her gaze towards the keep looming over them. Kiba made a noise of surprise.
"Mahina…you…"
"Yeah" Mahina answered Kiba's question with a nod of her head "It's faint but it's there" she didn't know what she'd done to spark it but Mahina had reconnected with Cheza and though it was faint it felt like the female was being reconnected with part of herself. It felt so good; Mahina couldn't help but let a look of relief cross her face "She's waiting" the she-wolf announced. Her feet moved on their own now but Mahina was moved on their own not but Mahina was making no moved to stop them. Her spine trembled and her fur bristled as she neared the keeps entrance with Kiba close behind her "That's what she said… 'This one is waiting'"
"You heard…her voice?" questioned Kiba
"Yes" Mahina answered "and I don't want to keep her waiting a minute more"
Kiba didn't need to be told any more than that; the pair broke off into a run into the keep ready to face whatever awaited them. The halls were long and empty echoing the pounding of Mahina's and Kiba's feet on the ground as they ran. Mahina's senses were on fire; her connection with Cheza was getting stronger the closer the she-wolf got until slowly the flower maiden's emotions began to trickle back. Running as fast as she could Mahina skidded around a corner and down a lone hall with Kiba right behind her. The hallway had one door; it was a double door and it reached far over either one of their heads in an intimidating fashion. Mahina stopped before it to catch her breath and Kiba stood beside her. Catching his breath as well, the white wolf looked to Mahina who nodded her head.
This was it; Cheza was just beyond this door. Mahina could smell her lovely scent oozing out of the edges of the door.
Kiba threw the doors open loudly with both hands allowing them to see the room within. "Cheza!" Kiba bellowed the maiden's name while Mahina searched the room for any sign of her. She didn't have to look far. Cheza stood in the very center of the room with eyes wide with joy. A smile came to her face.
"Kiba, Mahina" her voice came out no different than it had been before she was taken away, soft and pleasant as it always had been.
"Cheza…" Mahina breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, she was okay. The she-wolf didn't waste time hurrying into the room ready to embrace Cheza, she could feel Cheza's joy coming over her in waves but suddenly there was movement too fast for Mahina to catch before it was too late.
Just as Cheza too broke into a run towards Mahina Darcia, the noble who sat so quietly in the back of the room the female hadn't noticed him, was suddenly behind Cheza. Kiba tensed and Mahina snarled as the man gripped the back of Cheza's neck yanking her clean off her feet and into the air. The flower maiden's body swung about limply and Cheza cried out from suddenly being handled so roughly. Darcia held Cheza like this for a moment looking over the two wolves that stood before him. From the one eye that wasn't cover by his mask Mahina could see a darkness flickering before he grabbed the mask with his free hand and pulled it off. The nobles once covered eye snapped open and Mahina's rage almost gave to bewilderment at what she saw. The human's left eye…it was…
"A wolf's eye" Mahina observed, that was it! That was how he knew they were wolves!
A look of madness came to Darcia's face once his wolf eye became visible and with clenched teeth he gripped Cheza hard and threw her across the room. It was like everything suddenly moved in slow motions before Mahina's eyes; she watched stunned as Cheza sailed across the air before her back collided with a small pillar at the other end of the room. The she-wolf swore she, too, could feel the pain of solid stone against her spine spreading up and down her back. This time Cheza shrieked in response to the rough treatment letting the room echo with that shrill cry that only canines could hear.
"Cheza!" bellowed Kiba
"You bastard!" Mahina snarled out, her fur was bristling and her fangs were bared "I'll kill you!" the she-wolf snarled furiously not thinking twice about charging the noble that could so effortlessly harm Cheza.
Darcia was ready for Mahina, something Mahina honestly hadn't expected. When the female was close enough he grabbed a sword he had strapped to his side and swung it. The blade was very long and wide, Mahina was only barely able to dodge it stooping low enough to slide across the tiled floor so it swung over her. Kiba quickly jumped into where Mahina was forced to leave off lunging at the noble with everything in him. Darcia swung his sword back around and the pair clashed loudly granting the air its first taste of blood from the battle. Darcia's sword had cut across Kiba's face but he landed softly behind the human and, after a quick glance over Mahina, turned back around to face him. Darcia didn't escape the first exchange unmarred either, Mahina could see the long line across the side of his face and the blood that ran from it when he turned back around to look at them.
"So wolf" Darcia broke the tense silence "have you come for revenge"
'You will not hurt Cheza' Kiba responded
"Cheza…" Darcia murmured "… she is being that we created, a mere embodiment of a lunar flower. Why is it that your desire for her is so desperate?"
'I don't know who you nobles are or what you're trying to do' replied Kiba 'and to be honestly, I don't really care. Cheza's all that matters, she's gonna show us the way to paradise'
"You damn wolf" Darcia snarl, Mahina wasn't sure what it was the Kiba said to offend the human but whatever it had been it enraged him. "All of this first began with your wretched breed" he snarled out before gripping his sword tighter than before and charging. Kiba didn't miss a beat leaping high into the air and meeting the noble midair as he landed. This room echoed with the sounds of nails and teeth clashing with steel as Kiba and Darcia fought on charging at one another over and over again. Of course, Mahina didn't just sit back and watch the battle go on. Just after the noble and the white wolf clashed for a third time the she-wolf charged into the battle baring her teeth in a loud snarl and snapping at the human's ankles just as he was turning around to slash at Kiba. Darcia, however, was quick on his feet jumping back just as the female was about to snap down on his tender flesh. Darcia slashed his sword down at Mahina but the slender wolf quickly dodged his attack leaving the sword to hit the tiled floor so hard it rung. Kiba rejoined the battle leaping clean over Mahina with teeth bared and claws ready. Darcia swung his sword again but this time he connected slashing at the white wolf making the room echo with his yelp of pain and sending a sharp line of red across the floor.
'Kiba!' Mahina looked behind her checking Kiba who had fallen backward from the attack. Her decision proved to be a bad one for almost as soon as she looked away from her opponent his shadow loomed over her. Mahina tensed, she turned back around preparing to snap at Darcia but the noble was too quick and before the she-wolf could do anything she found herself feeling the man's fingers wrapping around her neck before she was lifted off the ground. It was startling how strong this man was; Mahina's wide eyes stared into Darcia's as he held her firmly in the air for a moment allowing her to struggle against his grip in vein before he swung Mahina hard and slammed her hard against the nearest wall forcing a strangled yelp out of the she-wolf.
'Mahina!' Kiba struggled back to his feet.
Mahina couldn't respond even if she had anything to say back to Kiba. Pain skittered up and down the females back like nothing she had felt before at the hands of a human. It spiraled down up her spine and left her stupefied until she began to realize that she couldn't breathe. Darcia still hold of Mahina's throat; he had he pinned to the wall by it and dangling off the ground and slowly his grip became tightly until the she-wolf felt herself beginning to choke. Mahina gasped reaching up and gripping the noble's hand by his wrist and clawing at it the best she could but he showed no sign of feeling anything she dealt him. It was only after a few minutes of struggle that Mahina felt warmth join the pain spreading across her back. There was something warm and wet running down her back where it had hit the wall and the more it ran the weaker Mahina quickly began to feel herself becoming.
Her wounds from their last confrontation, they had reopened.
"It's because of you" Darcia stared hard at Mahina who glared back "you and your kind stole everything from me" the noble's once madden expression was now calm as he took in Mahina tightening his grip when she struggle before he looked to Kiba "and in return you gave me a curse, and grief, and suffering; and my eye transformed into one such as yours. It's the price I paid for being cursed by paradise and now…" Darcia's eyes shift down to Cheza, the flower maiden lay unconscious just below Mahina's feet "all that surrounds me…is despair" the noble spoke raising the sword in the hand that did not hold Mahina and pointing the tip right at Cheza's neck.
"Ch-Cheza" Mahina choked out now trying to pry Darcia's fingers loose from her throat but she could barely do that, she was losing blood fast and was starting to see spots.
'Don't!' Kiba yelled out before the noble could bring his blade even closer to the flower maiden 'what is it? What do you want?'
Mahina didn't think Darcia would answer, through this all she had thought that he had wanted Cheza. It had been Darcia would suddenly appeared in Freeze City and took Mahina away, it had been his ship that Cheza had escaped from the day the pack had finally met her and it had been Darcia who nearly killed them all to get her back. However it didn't appear as though he had been doing any of this for Cheza at all if he could so easily threaten to kill her. Darcia was silence for a moment before he raised his gaze and locked eyes with Mahina.
"…have you found it?" the question broke the silence in a berating tone "have you found paradise?"
'We will' Kiba answered 'no matter what!'
"…and what do you expect to find there?"
'…A future' Kiba answered
"…" Darcia's looked Mahina over but the she-wolf could see in his eyes that he was contemplating Kiba's answer. Finally, the noble looked back at Kiba with mild curiosity "a future?" he echoed
'Not hope' Kiba explained 'Or despair; just a future, nothing more.'
"…" Darcia's gaze lingered on Kiba for a moment longer but eventually he turned back around to face Mahina. His grip lessened a bit allowing Mahina to breathe just a bit and he turned his gaze upward, a look of defeat came to Darcia's face "I no longer have any need…for a…future." The room was tense now and Mahina wasn't sure what could possibly happen next, would Darcia choke the life out of her or would he stab Cheza? Kiba was fast but he wasn't fast enough to save them both, even if he went for Cheza this nobles grip was strong enough to snap Mahina's neck with ease. Whatever happened next it had to happen quick because Mahina's vision was starting to get blurry, she could feel her consciousness slipping from her. She strained herself to look at the white wolf; Kiba's fur was standing on end, his teeth were fully bared and he was growling. The white male tensed up looking to have made his decision but before he could act on it…
BANG!
A gunshot rung out through the room for a bullet aimed towards Kiba that the white wolf easily dodged leaping out of the way and swinging around to see who had tried to shoot him. Blue's human stood in the doorway of the room with that gun of his trained on Kiba taking a second to cock it before aiming once more. Footsteps echoed down the hall behind him hinting to the wolf hunter having company. To Mahina's surprise Cher suddenly appeared at the door behind the wolf hunter and soon her former husband appeared behind her. The scientist scanned the room but eventually her eyes found Mahina and her situation and grew wide.
"Mahina…" the woman muttered out but she made no attempts to run in and save her- though honestly if she did what could she do- instead she watched. Whatever journey Cher had had after her last run in with Mahina had definitely changed her, the she-wolf could sense it but still…
'You stupid woman' Mahina couldn't help but think to herself because she grew too weak to say it 'You've learned too much, now you can never go back…' she wanted to be mad at Cher, to scream at her and scare her away but Mahina's strength was waning, she'd lost too much blood too quickly. The female's eyes were beginning to roll into her head as she gasped for air. This had to be the end, she decided, death was coming for her and she would never see paradise. But, something very different happened from what she expected. Darcia looked behind him at the new arrivals to the room and after a tense silence he lowered his sword and released his grip from Mahina's next. The she-wolf dropped to her feet but eventually slid down to the floor in her weak state smearing blood all over the wall behind her, she inhaled immediately now that her airway was no longer blocked and looked up at the noble. Darcia stared back at her for a moment but then turned away from everyone and walked towards the back of the room. He was no longer a threat to Mahina or Cheza or at least not at the moment. When she could finally breathe steady again Mahina turned her attention back towards the maiden sprawled on the floor beside her, she wasn't moving and Mahina wasn't even sure she was breathing. "Cheza…" the she-wolf spoke out dragging herself the small distance toward the Cheza before pulling the dainty flower into her arms.
"Kiba! Mahina!" Toboe's voice reached Mahina's ears and she looked up to see the pack had caught up to them. Toboe, Hige and Tsume stood at the door while Blue stood in front of Kiba and in the path of her human's shot. The wolf hunter who once had his gun locked on Kiba now lowered it stunned; Mahina could see the disbelief in his eyes for his knew his dog well enough to know that this was Blue.
"…!" Darcia servant, a quietly little woman who had stood to the side through that had happened in the past few minutes, suddenly became alert. The glass orb she held in her hand's let out a sharp noise before lighting up in her hands "My Lord, Darcia!" she alerted her master to some new form of danger but it was much too late for that for the minute the words left her mouth the air was shatter with a screech Darcia had made Mahina all too familiar with. The wall behind the young servant suddenly crumbled and just as she turned towards it a beam of red burst forth and completely devoured her leaving nothing behind of her existence and shaking the keep right down to its foundation. Someone was attacking the keep, it was another noble.
"Mahina!" Kiba yelled out running across the room towards the she-wolf but in another streak of red flashed before his path before exploding in a bright flash. Mahina flinched closing her eyes and turning away from the bright flash hoping that she wouldn't have to relive the terrors of the last time the back dealt with such an attack. The ground shuddered from the on slot of none stop attack and before Mahina knew it the ground under her and Cheza was cracking and abruptly went from horizontal to dangerously slanted. "Mahina!" Mahina could hear Kiba screaming as she yelled out in surprise. All around her rubble rained down and all Mahina could do was hug Cheza close and protect her from it.
"Mahina…" Mahina looked up to find Cher and her former husband making their way around the rubble towards them.
"Cher…" Mahina said the woman's name weakly "you stupid woman, why didn't you go back?"
"We don't have time to talk" the man spoke kneeling besides Cher and looking between the three before him "we have to hurry"
"…Take her" Mahina strained to say, the she-wolf opened her arms and passed Cheza over to the blonde who stared at her stunned.
"You're giving her back?" Cher questioned bewildered but Mahina shook her head.
"You decided to continue down this path…now you must walk it to the end…" Mahina could barely hold herself up now so every word she said was strained "Take her and run, Cheza is all that matters. .Safe."
"Cher, come on" the young man besides Cher urged her "this place won't hold up for much longer" but Cher was hesitant and Mahina could see it, there was an odd sort of look in her eyes as she stared down at Mahina. She wasn't sure what it was but it seemed to the she-wolf that Cher had definitely learned something during her travels because she looked at Mahina differently.
"Go" Mahina urged her with a weak nod, Cher returned it passing Cheza on to her former husband before the pair were on their feet again and running for the nearest exit. Within minutes of them disappearing Kiba suddenly appeared leaping over the large slant of floor that had previously separated him from Mahina and Cheza. "Kiba…"
"Mahina" the white wolf was beside her in a heartbeat kneel down before her weakened form, those deep blue eyes looked her over and his nose twitched as he obviously caught the scent of her blood "You're bleeding" he observed before his eyes found the blood on Mahina's back and the wall behind her.
"I'll be okay" Mahina shook her head before motioning to the gap in a wall where Cher had run off with Cheza "that way…Cheza is that way." Kiba looked in the direction while Mahina stopped to catch her breath "She's with that scientist from Freeze city…go before something happens"
"…" but Kiba didn't move to run after Cheza, he hesitated and after what looked like a second of thought turned back to Mahina and moved to lift her off the ground. The she-wolf shook her head and weakly pushed Kiba away.
"Don't worry about be" she said over the loud rumble of the keep "I'll be right behind you, I promise, just go!" still Kiba looked unconvinced but when Mahina fixed him with a stern look he nodded his head and took off through the hole. He must have known Mahina was lying but Cheza was more important, getting Cheza safe was the first priority. Once Kiba was gone Mahina let out a sigh of relief relaxing on the floor despite the chaos around her, she stared down at the floor watching the cracks ground larger and closer to where she was but she felt no fear. As long as Kiba chased Cheza the flower maiden would be safe. The pack could still get to paradise…even if it was without her.
"Scrawny! Hey!" a loud boom exploded somewhere else in the keep but this voice yelled loudly over such noises. Mahina raised her head to see Tsume just barely from between some ruble. The grey wolf looked desperate and he strained himself to try and squeeze the through the space but her was too big so instead he reached out and arm through the open space "Come on! This place is going down we have to get out of here!" the gap… Mahina was small enough to fit through it; a look of hope came to the she-wolf's face.
"Tsume…" she tried to push herself up but her legs simply gave out on her and she fell back to the ground.
"Come on, scrawny, you're tougher than this!" Tsume yelled at her pressing himself harder against the rubble; Mahina was just within reach, if he could just get a grip on her he could yank her out of there. Tsume watched as the female struggled to her hands and knees and began dragging herself closer. That was it, just a bit more "come on" Tsume grunted straining himself the best he could "Come on" Mahina reached up as well unable to drag herself anymore.
"Tsume…" the she-wolf reached
"I've got you" Tsume assured her pushing as much of himself as he could through the space, their fingers were just touching "Come on scrawny!" but then another eerie screech hit their ears and a streak of red flashed across the ground behind Mahina. Tsume's eyes grew wide and for the first time his face went completely pale. No, No, No! "MAHINA!" the she-wolf's name ripped its way out of Tsume's throat just before an explosion erupted behind Mahina. The last thing he saw of her was the hopefully look on her face, the determination to not die just yet in her eyes before the bright flash of the blast nearly blinded him and the ground shook like nothing before. Tsume had to cover his eyes from the bright light but when he looked back there was nothing left of the space where Mahina once was.
The ground had completely caved in and Mahina was gone.