Outlands
Part 2
By Mieren
---
Touma leapt out of his gateway into something out of a nightmare, Mana staggering to a halt behind him with a stricken look on her delicate features.
Ritsuko was curled up in a corner bleeding from innumerable lacerations, Ryoko holding her as they cried. Kento stood protectively in front of them with a tetsubo of orange flames in his hands, struggling to keep the swift tendrils of fog away from himself and his family.
Lanfear jerked slightly at the sudden appearance of two more opponents, her shock shifting quickly into wicked glee. Touma didn't hesitate before barreling into her at full tilt, reaching his dragon form before he had covered half the distance between them. Silvery talons sank deeply into the black leathery hide before him even as his silvery blue energies were dispelled by the raging fogs. Pale blue flames entered the fray, immediately followed by vivid orange, both weaves unraveling upon contacting the boiling white.
A burst of bronze light radiated throughout the room as Ritsuko suddenly regained consciousness. Ryoko only had time to cry out in protest before she vanished in a swirl of energy, metallic brown wisps of fire remaining on the floor where she had been sitting.
"Take Ritsuko and go," Touma grated out, muscles bulging fiercely as they came ever closer to tearing from the strain of holding Lanfear to the ground. "Follow them, Kento. I'll hold her here." He jerked erratically when long fangs sank into his exposed throat, ending further speech. Go!
Biting her lip forcefully in an attempt to control her shaking, Mana obeyed, turning her energies from Lanfear to Ritsuko and Kento. She backtracked to Sage's house, knowing that no one would be there. Eyes watering forcefully, she opened an untraceable gateway back to Rowen and Mieren's house, allowing the weaves to collapse behind her on the chance that they could still be deciphered by eyes other than her own. A mass of visible energies would still be untraceable if in the form of a useless tangle.
Mana had barely reappeared in the clearing with Kento and Ritsuko before Ryoko bolted out of the trees towards them, tears streaking her pale face. The reunion was short-lived, Vera's piteous cry resounding through the air, causing Mana to choke on a soft, heartbroken cry.
"Touma! No!"
Mana sank to the ground, blind and deaf to the world, oblivious to Ritsuko's trembling embrace. Even had Vera not cried out, she would have known that her love, her soul mate, was gone. Len moved over to his twin sister, trying desperately to comfort her and finding himself to be largely, if not entirely, unsuccessful. He looked up to the sky with dull eyes, jaw trembling visibly.
"Brother."
---
A flaring white light ignited in the kitchen suddenly, causing Mia to back away in confusion and fear. She gasped when a familiar bound and writhing figure fell from the white flames of the portal, landing heavily amid a burst of rabid cursing.
"Ryo! Get in here!"
Footsteps echoed through the house as the black-haired man charged down the stairs and through the dining room into the kitchen. Ryo's eyes widened when he saw his friend thrashing angrily on the floor, eyes glazed in agony.
"Rowen?" he gasped, eyes instantly locking onto the bands of mist holding his friend immobile. He frantically called ruby flames to hand, struggling to snap the strangely sturdy weaves that were charring the pale flesh of Rowen's wrists and ankles.
"You can't break them," Rowen panted, still trying to flatten his hands enough to pull free of the simple bindings. "Slice off a few fingers on one of my hands."
"What the hell is going on?" Ryo cried out, hesitantly calling a dagger of scarlet flames to hand.
"Lanfear is back," he snarled, jerking again at his bonds and hissing in pain when one of the milky cords cut partially through his right wrist. "Mieren needs our help. Hurry!"
"But I thought she was dead," Mia whispered.
"Hardly," Rowen panted, choking on an expletive when Ryo carved the outer two fingers off of his right hand. He jerked his hands free of the semi-solid bindings and summoned a dagger of blue fires to his good hand. Every muscle through his back tensed as he swung the glowing blade in a tight arc, lopping off the entirety of his left heel.
"We need to gather everyone," Ryo began, stopping at Rowen's acrid glare.
"That's what we were doing," he hissed, pulling his bloody feet free and lurching upright unsteadily. "I would have used telepathy, but she would have heard us. The Warlords were already gone by the time we got to them. We need to go before…" he trailed off, eyes blanking slightly.
"Rowen?" Mia asked softly, fearing his response.
"M-Mieren's gone," he stammered.
"Just like that?" Ryo exclaimed, instantly regretting it when he saw the pain in his friend's eyes.
"Lanfear is much stronger than she used to be," he murmured, opening a portal of blue flames behind him. "She was moving so quickly, I couldn't even see what she was doing. W-we need to get back to the others."
Mia was the first to move towards the rolling flames, leaving Ryo to help Rowen through the quavering gateway. The flames flickered and vanished an instant before she stepped through, a new gate forming inches behind it.
"Touma!" he cried out, lunging through the rippling flames, the portal snapping shut behind him as Ryo moved to follow.
"Shit," Ryo growled. "There's no way he can win that." Concentrating fiercely, he managed to recreate the first gateway from memory, ushering a protesting Mia through roughly. "Wait with the others. I'll see if I can help him." When she vanished completely through the trembling fires, he steadied himself for a second, praying that he remembered the patterns correctly. The strands of energy in place, he charged, emerging into a scene of chaos.
Lightning leapt wildly through the ruined remains of a once nice house, infernos of blue and silvery blue flames standing side by side amid a sea of swirling fogs. Ryo moved behind them quickly, opening his mind to the endless energies he had only recently learned to control. A crimson conflagration ignited around him, heat surging through his veins as he continued to summon energy. He didn't resist when he felt his body shifting around him, remembering all too well how the others had gone through the same when fighting. Opening his eyes slowly, he attacked, vanishing from view with his first step.
Everything around him seemed to move in slow motion as he moved closer to his target, twin swords of fire appearing in his hands as he approached the first strand of fog. Remembering the futility of overpowering the milky tendrils, he swatted them roughly to the side and continued with his sprint. He skidded to a halt and backpedaled furiously when Lanfear spun at the last instant to face him, her eyes flashing crimson as she matched his speed almost effortlessly.
Ryo gasped and tried to leap away as his fiery katanas were wrenched out of his hands by some unseen force, but was held immobile by several cords of mist. He could only watch helplessly as his own power was turned against him, the twin swords of fire running through his stomach and chest. Gasping for breath that would not come, he slowly sank to the floor, the crimson flames around him guttering and dying out.
Slowly, painfully, he pushed himself to his feet, hands pressed tightly around the swords buried deeply in his chest and stomach. The agonizing angles of the swords made his movements slow and labored, but he was unwilling to allow his mind to be numbed by the pain, to shut down. Panting uselessly around blood filled lungs, he sent an order to his friends, praying that they would listen and obey.
Go back to the others, he snarled, launching himself in one final attack. At the last possible moment before colliding with his target, he wrenched a fiery sword from his stomach. Shocked that he was still alive, let alone moving, Lanfear was unable to respond quickly enough, the bloody sword slipping jerkily through her ribs.
What in the hell do you think you're doing? Rowen screamed at him, trying to move past the fogs to help him. Ryo's glare stopped him short.
I'm dead already! Regroup, damn you, Ryo spat, a choked whimper escaping his throat when the second sword was ripped out of his chest and rammed in at another angle.
Ryo…
Do it, Rowen! Get Touma out of here, he commanded weakly. He glanced over his shoulder with hard, glazed eyes, painfully aware that he was only alive because Lanfear was still toying with him. And… tell Mia that I'm sorry and… that I love her.
Scowling, Rowen snapped open a short series of invisible gateways behind him and pushed Touma through roughly, dissolving the flames behind his son. Touma's cry of shock and betrayal still rang in the air as Rowen attacked. He was slapped casually aside, Ryo landing heavily atop him. Rowen slipped his arms around his unmoving friend and prepared to leave, freezing in horror when Lanfear held up Touma by the scruff of his neck for inspection.
"Lose something, boys?" she sneered, hefting the unconscious man a few inches higher into the air.
"But that's impossible," Rowen trailed off, struggling vainly to stem the blood flowing between his fingers. He bit his lower lip. His son was in the enemy's hands but one of his lifelong friends was going to die unless he did something quickly. Desperate, he threw Ryo through another portal and attacked, canines extending suddenly as he neared his target. He hated admitting what he was but desperately needed the strength of his other half.
Still smirking haughtily, Lanfear calmly sidestepped him and held out her right hand, delicate streamers of mist swirling into an opaque portal. Rowen lunged wildly for his son, missing horribly when Lanfear slapped him out of the way once more. In an instant, Touma disappeared into the swirling mists and blackness, his father's cries echoing harshly through the empty room.
"Poor, poor Child of Hashiba," she wailed, voice dripping with sarcasm and scorn. "All alone in the world. His delicate wife and fragile son gone forever." Faking a sob, she buried her face in her hands and began trembling with laughter.
Rowen pushed himself slowly to his feet, silently seething. The sapphire flames around him vanished in a violent flash, a small shock wave emanating from his rigid form. He raised cold blue eyes to meet amused jade, baring his fangs as he did something he had sworn thirty-three years ago that he would never do again, no matter what the situation or provocation. He opened his mind to the dark arts.
---
Len's eyes widened slightly and he stiffened minimally, head swiveling to a clear area in the trees an instant before a portal of sapphire flames appeared. Ryo dropped limply out of the raging fires, covered in blood and completely still. Gau and Sage were beside him immediately, two hues of iridescent green flames rising into the air as they struggled to save their friend's life. Mia hovered nearby, eyes wide and jaw trembling.
Vera's strangled gasp initiated a round of flinches through those gathered, many looking to Len for an explanation. It came in something less than a whisper.
"Father."
---
Rowen continued to advance as his muscles bulged unchecked around him, rapidly gaining height as he neared his target. Lanfear, however, seemingly infinitely amused at his efforts, made no move to counter, standing unconcerned as he drew nearer. Black flames met the fogs with results that would have been breathtaking had the situation not been so terrifying. Black lightning surged through the house, the jagged streaks of darkness glowing with a preternatural blue light that slowly spread until everything was coated in the unearthly blue glow. The obsidian streaks glittered with shimmering opal flecks of partially destroyed fogs.
Shocked at the powers displayed, Lanfear paused for a moment, watching interestedly as Rowen continued to draw energies to himself, his eyes finally slipping from crimson to onyx. Having lost the battle for control, the pain and consternation disappeared from Rowen's tense face, leaving behind only bloodlust. Roaring angrily, he charged, clouded mind only vaguely recalling who he was supposed to fight.
Lanfear sidestepped him calmly as he neared and opened her mouth to call out a biting remark, gasping instead when a dagger of air laced with black flames buried itself in her throat to the hilt, tip protruding from the other side. She jerked the blade free and threw it back at its owner, pressing one hand against the gaping wound in her throat, white flecked blood seeping past her slender fingers. Rowen dissolved the blade in midair and continued his attack with barbed whips of wind, many of the bladed cords striking their target.
Amused more than angry, she stepped back from the slashes and began dodging with practiced ease. After thirteen years in virtual hell, she had perfected evading sudden attacks that were almost impossible to locate with her eyes alone. Swatting aside the newest blade of air, she countered with her own elemental attack, one that he would be unable to evade. The floor beneath Rowen opened suddenly, tendrils of earth reaching towards him with alarming speed. Rather than allow himself to be captured, he simply lifted into the air and sped away from the hole in the floor, too numbed by the black flames around him to recognize the ruse. Airborne, he was open to the ever-shifting fogs from all directions, yet confined to the dimensions of the room he was in. Within moments, he was firmly entangled in the snowy strands, the black flames surrounding him slowly flickering out and vanishing altogether.
Cut off from the dark energies he was holding Rowen lost his massive stature rapidly, hanging motionlessly in the mists. Helplessly ensnared, he could only watch groggily as a translucent portal swirled lazily into existence just beyond his blurred eyes, awarding him with a view of the absolute blackness his son had vanished into only a few minutes ago. Realizing he was as good as dead, he remained stubbornly in his vampire form, knowing that he could withstand more injuries, perhaps survive long enough to find his son and wife in the abyss. He didn't resist when he was flung through the icy portal, falling unending into the burning fogs in the absolute blackness.
---
Ryo groaned weakly, blindly swatting at Sage and Gau as he struggled to regain his feet without assistance. He did not object, however, when Mia and Nasuti slipped his arms over their shoulders and held him upright.
"We have to go back," he panted, fumbling to form a gateway and swearing loudly when the poorly woven spell collapsed. "Rowen can't last alone…" he choked out, trailing off when no one moved and raising his dull eyes to Cye, the boy still mumbling under his breath and staring into space.
"Father's already gone," Len murmured, barely discernable past Vera's sobs. "So are Touma and Mother."
"And the Warlords," Cye said suddenly, climbing stiffly to his feet and stretching roughly, several loud pops echoing loudly through the trees. Oblivious to becoming the center of attention, he raised his eyes to the heavens and tensed slightly, wisps of turquoise flames licking his slender frame. "She's coming."
"We'll regroup at my house. We can form a barrier there to keep her from sensing us again," Sage snapped out, readying a portal instantly and gasping when it shattered under a whip of teal flames. "Cye!"
"Like this, Sage," he murmured, opening several dozen gateways leading to various places across the countryside, many of them forming into chains or continuous loops. Before anyone could move through or question him, he abandoned the weaves, collapsing some and tangling others together. Startled yelps and gasps rose from children and adults alike when they suddenly sank into the ground, dropping into a large cavern. A pale blue luminescent sheen coating the walls made it clear that the area was already well warded through Cye's efforts.
"She'll be running all over Japan," Ritsuko murmured appreciatively.
"And China," Cye tacked on, summoning several small fires to alleviate the darkness. He glanced up suddenly, eyes flashing. "Where are the great cats?"
"What?" Kayura stammered, caught off guard by the sudden vehement question.
"The guardian's companions," he growled. "Shadow is still at Mana's. Where are the other beasts? Child of the Clan of the Ancients, why have you not summoned them here already?"
Silence greeted him, shocked looks passing through the group when Cye's accent slipped slightly, almost bordering on sounding like the demon tongue for a moment. Mana was the first to recover and confront her son.
"No one thought about it when we were gathering," she started thickly, not understanding why he had addressed Kayura and Ritsuko by that title or why he had used her name a moment age instead of calling her "Mom" like he had since he had learned to speak again.
"Call them, Guardian," he said firmly to Ritsuko, summoning her staff to hand and tossing it to her. She was so shocked that she almost dropped the golden staff, stammering slightly as she began chanting. "Tell them to gather at Zairian's Ledge." She froze, face paling to the purest white and jaw trembling slightly.
Mouri choked, eyes bulging. "What did you say?" Cye glanced at him but didn't respond, arching one eyebrow and muttering something that was barely audible. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, the elfin sorcerer tried again in his native tongue. "Where did you tell her to send the great cats? Answer me, boy."
"Are you deaf, Masayuki? Surely your sharp ears heard what I said. You would never have been chosen to scout without exceptional hearing abilities."
Mouri paled violently, stepping back defensively. "How did you know my birth name? I never told any of you. Not even my children in this dimension knew."
Cye didn't answer, no longer paying attention to the terrified sorcerer. "Damn it, Guardian. Tell the beasts to go to Zairian's Ledge. They will know what to do."
"What is Zairian's Ledge?" Gau asked suddenly, brutally reminding everyone of the level of his telepathic abilities. Nasuti glanced at him out of the corner of her eye but remained silent, recognizing the harsh look that had appeared on his face.
"I legend, I think," Mouri stammered, visibly shaken. His voice dropped to a whisper. "I hope."
"No one's exactly sure," Ritsuko breathed, the staff in her hands beginning to glow once more. "But if he knows the name without ever hearing it, I can only assume that he knows what he's doing." A small ripple radiated through the air from her staff, the almost invisible wave disappearing into the stone surrounding them.
"That's hardly descriptive of what or where it is," Sage growled.
"There is no 'where' to it," Mouri mumbled, swallowing roughly. "I don't really know what the ledge is either. All I know is that you're not supposed to say his name."
"Who is he?" Len asked suddenly, looking up with slightly glazed eyes.
"There are too many stories, legends, to know for sure," Ritsuko whispered.
"Some say that he is the creator of the sorcerers," Mouri said dully.
"Creator of the essence of magic."
"Of life in the dimensions."
"Of the dimensions themselves."
"Others say that he is a dormant force that will eventually awaken to destroy the dimensions," Mouri whimpered, closing his eyes as though in pain.
"Every living soul and the lands of the afterlife will dissolve in his hands."
"The power of the Light itself will be extinguished at his whim."
"The rumors say that he's over forty million years old," Ritsuko intoned numbly.
"Pity that the rumors don't say that Zairian does not exist," a cold voice sneered, echoes resounding from all directions. Sage and Gau were the first to spin to face the proper direction, the rest of the group following more slowly in a state of shocked panic. Len had to physically tackle Vera to keep her from charging blindly into battle.
"You are faster than I would have credited you for, astral planer," Cye responded darkly, moving to stand directly in between the group and the shadow still crouched in the far corner. He calmly held one hand behind him, an unseen force keeping the others from rushing forward to help him. "I thought that you would be searching the countryside for hours."
"Child of Mouri?" Lanfear breathed, stepping out of the flickering shadows, eyes wide with disbelief when she saw his youthful form. Not waiting for a response, she lashed out with a rope of fog, eyes nearly rolling from her head when he casually swatted it aside, the rolling mists dissolving under the boiling teal flames surrounding him.
"Incorrect, Manifestation of the Shadows," he snapped, slipping unerringly into the demon tongue. Shocked, she took a step back, slowly shaking her head. Lips twisting into a bloodthirsty smile, Cye advanced, oblivious to the fact that she towered over him by more than two feet. As he drew nearer, his eyes slipped into the deepest obsidian, irises and whites disappearing in an instant. Matching leathery wings slowly unfurled behind him, his russet locks flashing to black an instant later. "I am Zairian."
"Liar," she whispered, features hardening resolutely. "LIAR!"
Howling in defiance, she conjured a sea of fogs to engulf the slender boy in front of her, concentrating too fiercely on her attack to keep track of the others when they vanished suddenly, no flames of power visible to her sharp eyes. Only gentle ripples in the air alerted her to the energies used, yet the weaves were invisible and she could not track them. Cye's lips slowly peeled away from his teeth in a grimace of agony as his skin melted under the churning fogs and slid from his trembling frame. His eyes flashed teal a moment later and he lurched backwards feebly, tears streaking his blistering cheeks when the pain suddenly registered in his mind. A ripple of teal pigmentation rippled through his wings, leaving them with a strangely mottled appearance. The russet coloration of his hair only partially returned as he continued to move away, leaving behind numerous onyx streaks in the once shining locks.
"Grandma?" he quavered, swallowing roughly and slipping brokenly to the jagged stone beneath him. "What's going on?"
Lanfear jerked back, momentarily losing her hold on the mists swirling around her as she studied the trembling form only a few feet from her.
"Avatar," she laughed sarcastically to herself, raising one hand slowly to summon her powers once more. "I should have known you were faking, boy. There's no way you could survive that kind of energy," she scoffed, chuckling more loudly when the liquid turquoise eyes locked with her cold jade widened slightly. "Who provided the knowledge, child? Mieren? Mouri? Surely the others would not know such things."
Cye choked on a sob of pain, pushing himself resolutely to his feet and taking a step back, eyes never leaving the swirling fogs. Inhaling sharply, he sank into the stone, dropping himself ever further and faster into the churning depths of the earth. His mind reached out desperately when he heard the stone behind him cry out in protest to the passage of a large force. He was so preoccupied with increasing the distance between himself and his grandmother's doppelganger that he almost passed the salvation he had called out to, bringing himself to a sudden halt in an underground stream. Cold hands locked around his throat instantly, tightening fiercely until the talons tipping the fingers bit deeply into the charred flesh of his neck. A slow smile appeared on his young features as his entire body went icy, feeling and thought disappearing in the rushing depths of the chill waters around him.
---
Kento was the first to untangle himself from the pile of limbs and groans, rounding furiously on Len.
"How could you leave him there?" he raged, features pained.
Half-glazed eyes looked up at him wearily as the last traces of crystalline flames died out around the youth. Len shifted his gaze, scanning the tense faces around him before answering.
"That wasn't Cye," he murmured, brows furrowing slowly. "Not exactly."
Shin was the first to nod in agreement, the immediate acceptance the only thing keeping Kento from throttling the white-haired youth. Vera swore suddenly, diverting his attention and shocking everyone to silence.
"He just lost!" she spat, eyes tearing.
"Once again, not exactly," Len argued.
"We don't have time for this," Sage snapped.
"Agreed," Mouri growled, finally pulling himself together after what he had seen. "We must counter before she tries again."
"And how do you suggest we do that?" Kento demanded. "She's only playing with us!"
"I suggest that we try the same thing she tried on us thirteen years ago," Akira said firmly. Gau nodded in agreement.
"The pentagram," he concluded thoughtfully.
"Or hexagram," Mouri suggested. "That might work better."
"Or not."
At the sound of the newest voice, Vera spun on her toes and charged, Len's desperate lunge missing her horribly as she careened past. Obsidian scales met bluish black in a deafening clap, flames meeting fogs in electric cracks. Vera was thrown towards the others with horrifying ease, unfurling enormous blue-tinged black wings to steady herself just before crashing into Shin.
A sudden flurry of shapeshifting passed through the group, Mana, Ritsuko and Mia quickly retreating to a safe area to avoid the ensuing chaos. Mana looked as though she wanted to join the battle but couldn't bring herself to leave her friends unprotected. Ryoko and Katari circled around them protectively, slapping away the stray bolts of energy that escaped the battle even as Ritsuko struggled to form a shield around the slender black dragon in the center of the fray.
Lanfear calmly sidestepped vicious slashes, her gaze repeatedly straying towards Shin, Vera and Len as they darted in and out of her reach. A smirk slowly formed on her features as five of the older warriors she was familiar with formed a ring around her slowly, hoping she was too distracted with the younger opponents to notice what they were doing. Vastly amused, she watched indiscreetly as they silently pooled their powers.
"Now!" Mouri snapped, teal flames rising into the sky at his call. Answering bursts of power erupted simultaneously around him, the four new energies moving to meet his and each other. Kento, Ryo, Sage and Kayura stiffened slightly as they became four points of the forming pentagram, the energies coursing through them nearly lethal. Mouri staggered slightly but held his position, a steely look crossing his face.
Shocked at the sheer amount of energy they had managed to summon, it took her several moments to realize that all of the younger warriors had moved out of her reach. Growing slightly miffed, she stretched her mind against the multicolored barrier around her, a vicious smirk forming on her features when the weave buckled slightly. Boiling fogs began to rise around her quickly at her call, the milky tendrils infiltrating and unraveling the weave brutally.
Something cracked across her spine with tremendous force, causing her to momentarily lose her hold on the rolling mists. Shocked, she turned jerkily inside the barrier to lock eyes with a young white dragon, onyx mane falling heavily about his spindly neck and bony shoulders. She could feel the energies around him, but her eyes saw only a slight rippling in the air, barely catching the crystalline shimmer of the flames around him. Before she could begin again, the sapphire-maned black dragon that had attacked her originally moved into the outer circle of the pentagram.
The world bucked suddenly when the dragon entered the weave, the cords of energy unraveling and reforming instantly to create a hexagram speckled with numerous runes. Lanfear jerked slightly, hissing angrily as the air around her became molten, the fogs she had summoned slowly dissipating.
Akira motioned imperiously at the others as he slipped unhindered through the outer circle of the hexagram to stand on the innermost region of power. Ella and Len were the first to follow suit, claiming other inner points for themselves. At Len's furious glare, Nasuti and Gau hurried forward, Shin following an instant later to stand on the final free point. A second hexagram formed reluctantly inside the first, Lanfear jerking in pain and trying unsuccessfully to sink into the ground.
"She's trapped," Mouri panted, turning glazed eyes to the small group standing a short distance away. "One of you needs to finish her. We can't move or the weave will collapse."
Katari and Ryoko exchanged frightened looks and moved forward as one towards the concentric hexagrams and their scowling prisoner. Katari was the first to shift, dropping onto all fours and jerking slightly as her skeletal structure changed suddenly, leaving behind a slim, amethyst-eyed white wolf. Grinning weakly at her friend when Sage and Kayura gasped softly in shock, Ryoko followed suit. Only straining slightly, she slipped into the form of a small griffin, bronze feathers accenting her deep metallic brown flanks and sapphire eyes flashing. She grimaced slightly when she saw Kento's incredulous look as she passed, just knowing that her mother was about to have a seizure. Like Katari, she had never before displayed any of her powers.
Together, they slipped easily through the glowing barriers, readying vicious bursts of energy as they drew nearer. Brilliant lavender and deep metallic brown blasts intertwined into a terrifying conflagration of power as Lanfear watched with a slightly fearful expression marring her features. The false trepidation slid from her face in an instant. Emitting a deafening roar, she slapped the blast towards its origins, crowing happily when the two young warriors leapt nimbly aside with mortified shrieks. Weary of playing the role of the crippled captive, she began summoning the eternal fogs again, laughing to herself when none of the warriors on the hexagram points shifted, trusting the two young girls to swat the cords away from them as they futilely strove to keep her contained.
More amused by their efforts than annoyed, Lanfear doubled the intensity of her attacks, eyes flashing from red to white as she struggled slightly to force her energies past the runes and hexagrams. Pained cries began arising from the almost everyone on the outermost points as mists met flesh. The younger combatants slowly began to crumple from the effort of repelling her attacks while holding their spell in place. They may have succeeded in holding the barrier in place for a few minutes longer if it had not been for one vital distraction. Katari fell to the mists, her shrieks ringing through the churning air.
"No!"
The simultaneous cry from Sage and Kayura erupted even as the outer hexagram dissipated, their temporary inattention giving her the necessary time to punch through their defenses. The resulting backlash of energy left only Mouri and Vera standing, though the former was swaying unsteadily and clutching his head in agony. Kento simply vanished.
The first of the barriers gone, the second was simple to destroy, pained howls filling the air as the intricate weaves were severed. Lanfear laughed softly as young demons circled her warily, desperately struggling to recreate the weave they had been holding only moments before. Kento's furious howl resounded suddenly through the dazed group, his gaze flickering over Len for a moment.
"Armor of Hardrock! Dao Gi!"
"Child of Fung," she purred, eyes lighting up. "Will you never learn?"
Still laughing softly, she called out something under her breath, watching expectantly as shadows and smears of gray began streaking the armor. Her eyes snapped up when Mouri's furious oath cut off mid-syllable. Clicking her tongue irritably, she made a mental note to start shielding the battlefields while she was toying with someone. Wisps of energy still lingered in the air, but like before, she could not see the weaves, the glowing afterimages of power nonexistent. Knowing she could follow their mental signatures later, she returned to her work, gloating happily when her captive sent a variety of vulgarities across her link with the armor. Having made a copy of the armors so many years ago, she knew quite well how to tap into them and any soul they touched.
Kento's eyes suddenly flicked across the empty clearing, a smile playing on the corners of his mouth. Shocked that he could still move, she tweaked the bond she had attached to the armor, scowling when he suddenly dissolved out of his armor and sank into the earth like a lump of runny clay.
"Earth elemental," she grumped, eyes widening when the armor shifted suddenly in front of her, throwing her a crude gesture and sinking into the ground. "That's new," she muttered sarcastically, idly wondering how he had regained control. Probably something to do with his elemental abilities complementing that particular armor, she decided quickly, shrugging in resignation and readying another portal. She had never been able to gain control of their elemental powers, anyway.
"Going somewhere, Warrior of Shadows?"
Jumping several feet into the air, she landed on her toes facing the voice only to find herself staring at an empty patch of earth. Silently cursing herself for being so edgy around the boy, she began looking for one of Mouri's descendants. She was certain that the black-haired boy that looked so much like Mieren was Cye's brother, their minds echoing one another so closely. If one could speak the demon tongue so fluently, then surely the other could as well.
Her eyes caught a ghost of an image in her peripheral vision and she spun instantly, seeing only empty air. Her mind reconstructed what she had glimpsed so fleetingly, a shaggy mane of black hair falling heavily around a pale face, dark eyes hidden behind the loose locks and a raven black cloak hanging heavily around a thin figure. Panting slightly, she continued to search, chest tightening when soft, deep laughter tickled the edges of her hearing.
---
Dais remained hunched forward as he staggered through the endless blackness, occasionally tearing his gaze from the fogs to glance nervously at his three friends, thankful that they weren't paying attention to him. During his time in the Dynasty under Talpa's control, he had had only brief moments of freedom where his mind had been his own and he had made the most of it. Towards the end when they had been fighting the Ronins, he had remembered nothing at all and was infinitely grateful for that one blessing. For more than five hundred years, he had been hiding something from his friends. Almost fifty-three years had gone by since that secret had grown exponentially, and still he had said nothing. Now, his illusion unraveled in the wasteland around him, he kept shooting nervous looks at Sehkmet as they pressed ever deeper into the frozen nothingness, his best friend hanging stiffly from the arms he had looped around Dais and Cale. Anubis only peered around worriedly, effectively blind in the darkness and trusting Cale to lead him safely through the nightmare they were trapped in.
"I s-see s-something," Sehkmet chattered, trembling fiercely. Dais couldn't blame him. Sehkmet had never been able to stand low temperatures and it was colder here than were the Mountains of Omnipotence in Mieren's home dimension. Anubis didn't look to be doing much better.
"W-w-where?" Anubis asked through a locked jaw, tightening his grip on Cale and pulling himself a little closer for the warmth he so desperately needed. Cale was the only one of the group not suffering from the severe temperatures, but unlike the others, Dais was unwilling to admit to needing help. He did not want the others near him.
"Over th-there," he stammered, pointing vaguely towards a whirlwind of mists centered above a single unmoving lump on the frigid dusty grounds.
Dais's gaze shifted slightly towards the indicated mound. Breath catching in his throat, he staggered towards the whirlwind of mist, mouth working silently when saw the still form. Without waiting for the others acknowledgement, he darted into the boiling fogs, hissing angrily when his skin instantly blackened under the burning whiteness. He only slowed enough to throw the limp form over his shoulders before careening out of the other side of the cloud with his unmoving cargo. Skidding to a halt, he deposited the chill form gently on the ground and began checking for signs of life, only looking up once when he heard Cale approach with Sehkmet and Anubis hanging from his shoulders.
"W-who is it?" Anubis choked out, completely blinded by the darkness.
"Mieren," Cale answered numbly, unable to tear his gaze from the battered and half-melted figure at his feet.
Dais flinched in agreement, understanding his friend's thick voice. None of them had ever believed that Mieren would fall so quickly, so easily. Over a decade ago, she had fought her double for hours on end before losing ground. For them to have found her in this state, she had to have been lying in the fogs for several hours, unconscious judging by the still bleeding stumps ending three of her limbs prematurely. Had she been awake, she would have healed herself. She had lost to her other half in a matter of minutes after they were defeated. He nearly jumped out of his skin when she stirred slightly in his arms, clouded ruby eyes rolling slowly to meet his own molten gaze.
"I… I'm sorry," she breathed, a single tear sliding down the melted scales of her cheeks. Her next words were barely audible even in the complete silence. "I tried." Dais opened and closed his mouth several times before he managed to force his throat to work.
"It's not your fault," he murmured, trying to sound comforting. His words sounded like a goodbye even in his own ears. "Sehkmet…"
"He can't do anything," Mieren growled, slowly pushing herself out of his arms with what little remained of her liquefied and incinerated wings. "She shielded us, but only our innate elemental abilities, the only things that would have worked here. She's taunting us. She knows that we haven't the strength to force any magic to work here, to shatter the shields. We haven't the strength to do anything in the astral plane. Nothing is the same here. We couldn't have done anything even had we not been here." She trailed off at a sharp crack that resounded endlessly through the still air, turning betrayed eyes up to Dais's upraised hand. Another tear slipped from her glazed eyes. She flinched again as he lowered his hand, expecting to be slapped again.
"For the last time, this isn't your fault," Dais snapped, voice quavering slightly as he struggled to sound harsh. He stubbornly ignored his friend's incredulous gazes. Mieren was going into shock and he couldn't think of any other way to snap her out of it. "Now, you obviously know where we are. Tell us how to get out of here."
"We can't," she whimpered, eyes dulling slightly.
"Then tell us what you know about this place," Cale spat, beginning to understand Dais's tactics. He nudged Anubis gently in the ribs. Anubis jerked slightly, incredulous expression quickly hardening into something that might have appeared dangerous had his jaw not been chattering so fiercely.
"Well?" he snarled, only managing to maintain his steely composure when Cale squeezed his shoulder encouragingly.
"It was only theorized to exist three thousand years ago when the sorcerers were looking for something they could use in the Demon War, when all of the created weapons of war became angry and rebelled after the War of the Sorcerers. They only thought it might exist because they couldn't explain where the elementals had originated. The theory was not supported. It was too weak, explained too little and was made in ignorance. But at the same time, it was correct. This is the elemental homeland." She paused, turning stiffly to glare at the boiling fogs around her, flecks of frozen blood raining to the barren earth from her trembling form. She gave no indication whether or not she had seen their shocked expressions as one by one, they slowly came to the understanding of why they had been shielded. "The elementals are not beings of magic and do not have such forces in their realm. Their powers work in every plane of existence because this realm is only slightly off from those with which we are familiar. Only two of the three dimensions that make up any area of existence coincide with what we're familiar with. One is based on magic and the other on the elements. I'll be damned if I know where the third one goes. I'm unfamiliar with that particular 'direction' and I can track the dimensions up to the seventh level."
"And these fogs?" Sehkmet choked out.
"They are the essence of the elemental power, the force that created the elementals themselves. But some of the elements are not compatible, leaving the combined essences extremely unstable. Could shred a dimension in a heartbeat if loosed out of the astral plane. Sound familiar?"
"But it looks like what Lanfear was using against us," Cale stammered.
"And what we were fighting thirteen years ago when the dimension cracked and touched the astral plane," Mieren murmured, features hardening as she regained her composure. "Where do you think my other half has been for the past thirteen years?" She froze, eyes narrowing as she regarded Dais with a considering expression. He stiffened immediately, silently praying that she would keep what she knew to herself and sighing softly in relief when Anubis distracted her with another question.
"How did she survive all of these years?"
A considering look passed across Mieren's features as her eyes passed across her profusely bleeding ankles and stub of a left arm. Her eyes narrowed in speculation and confusion as the bloodflow slowly ebbed and stopped without her command, the scales along her charred serpentine form slowly mending themselves. She opened her mouth to respond, clicking her jaw shut as she reconsidered how to answer.
"I have no idea."
Dais cracked his jaw to object to her claims of ignorance, remaining silent only when her eyes roamed over his face curiously, her lips twitching. He struggled to harden his features, wondering how long she had been aware of his secret. Her lack of surprise proved to him that she had seen through his deception long ago, but for some reason had not said anything. His contemplations were cut short by Mieren's sudden vehemence.
"We have to keep moving," she snapped, raising hollow eyes to the swirling clouds around them. She tensed slightly, shifting her weight slightly on her stumps as though preparing to move quickly, eyes never leaving the encroaching fogs. "Rowen and Touma are here," she whispered, eyes glazing. "I can feel it."
Without waiting for the others to acknowledge her statement, she turned jerkily on the bloody nubs of ankles and began moving stiffly into the darkness. Dais was the first to gather his wits and follow, pulling a half-frozen Sehkmet along in his wake. Cale shrugged and followed more slowly, careful not to let Anubis trip on the uneven stony ground. They staggered to a halt when Mieren swerved unerringly into a bank of mists, standing rigidly as her hide blistered and bulged violently beneath her mostly melted scales. Glittering flecks of white began swirling through the fogs and blanketing the frozen stone, flashes of red accenting the colorless sparkle. Dais shook his head numbly, recognizing the shattered scales and flakes of frozen blood for what they were. He reached forward to pull her free, eyes misting in pain when his skin blackened and peeled almost instantly. Mieren only pulled free of his grasp and walked into the clear air lethargically. Only hesitating to gather their attention with her eyes, she pivoted unsteadily and chose another direction, walking through walls of fog rather than bother to find ways around them.
After traveling in what seemed to be a random direction for what felt like several hours to the exhausted group, Dais nervously cleared his throat. Demanding looks from his friends prompted him to ask what they all were thinking.
"Um, Mieren?"
Silence answered him and he sighed uneasily, still holding his scorched arm gingerly to his chest. Sehkmet poked him between the shoulder blades, his eyes flashing sharply in the absolute darkness. Grimacing slightly, Dais turned to Mieren again.
"Where are we going?" he asked uncertainly. Her rough answer caused Anubis to pale and grip Cale's shoulder tenaciously.
"Zairian's Ledge."
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To Be Continued…