Chapter 3
Armored men rushed Van's limp body out of the hall. Allen stood amidst the rubble, his brow creased with fatigue. He spied Hitome quivering in one corner and approached her. "Are you okay?" he queried, placing two sturdy hands on her shoulders. Hitome mustered enough strength to nod slightly.
"I sensed… I sensed tremendous power and I wanted to see what was happening," Hitome explained. "I'm sorry," she said with lament, dropping her gaze.
"You don't have to apologize," Allen reassured her gently, "You're not a prisoner."
"Why did he attack you?"
Allen sighed. "Vengeance for his kingdom I suppose. His mind was filled with unnecessary rage and temerity. I do not trust him… I fear him," Allen confessed. He lifted Hitome's chin to meet his gaze, "Will you come with me?" Entranced by Allen's tender eyes, Hitome could only nod.
Allen chuckled, "Don't you want to know where?"
Hitome blushed, "I trust you."
"Let's take a trip to Illiad, see if anything can jog your memory. I need to report back to King Aston. Van may be hotheaded, but he is right. We can't wait like sitting ducks for Zaibach to pick us off," Allen explained with determination.
Hitome let herself be led by Allen towards the courtyard of the castle. Allen placed two fingers in his mouth and a piercing whistle resonated. Allen looked at Hitome with an expectant smile on his face. Hitome brushed the hair from her face as a large gust of wind disturbed the air around them. Hitome searched the sky for the source of the commotion and gasped as an enormous winged dragon landed playfully in front of her. Hitome looked at Allen for approval and ran her hand over the pure white scales of the ancient creature.
With graceful ease Allen hopped onto the dragon's back. The dragon snorted in reply. He reached out his hand to Hitome. When Hitome hesitated, Allen inquired, "Never seen one before?"
"I've seen them, in the wild, but I've never ridden one before. I was always told to avoid them."
"Why avoid such majestic creatures?" Allen whispered a command into the dragon's ear. The dragon bent its head and lowered its neck for Hitome. Gripping Allen's hand tightly, Hitome swung her leg over and squeezed her eyes tight. When she dared to open them once more, she was hundreds of feet above the sky, the Asturia fortress merely a miniature below them.
A delightful smile played across Hitome's lips as a cool breeze drifted across her face. Allen was pleased at the first sign of joy he spied upon her face.
"Have you ever flown before?" Allen asked her.
Hitome began to shake her head but the memory of the angel lifting her from the bloody and barren land below her manifested acutely in her mind. "Once," she confessed. A thought struck her and Hitome turned her face towards the heavenly knight seated protectively behind her. "Was it you who saved me? At the cliff?"
Allen studied her, perplexed. "No," he replied shortly.
"Oh."
"I found you sprawled in front of the castle doors, wet and bloodied. And my blood boiled at the thought that anyone would hurt someone so fragile and beautiful. But how you came to me I do not know, but I'm glad the heavens entrusted your well-being to my care, for I will make sure no hurt ever crosses you again." Allen's words were profuse with sweetness and sincerity; Hitome could conjure no fitting response.
The serene moment was snapped suddenly as a hideous sight pierced their eyes.
"Oh," Hitome's mouth was agape with shock as her kingdom, Illiad, approached quickly into view. Black smoke encircled the once blossoming country. The lifeless rubble emanated pain and sorrow. Dead bodies and weaponry were strewn across every inch of the charred land. Allen helped Hitome off the dragon and held her tightly.
"I didn't know it was…" Allen, a man of an effusive and fancy vocabulary, could find no words befitting this spectacle. "Would you like to leave?"
"No," Hitome decided firmly. She broke away from Allen and wandered towards the castle. "I want to help you. I want to keep this from happening to Asturia."
Hitome's eyes welled up at the ravaged palace. Decapitated and bloodied corpses littered the hallways. Flashbacks of raiders assaulting Illiad pulsed in her mind.
"Do you remember anything?" Allen approached her gently.
"Men, on dragonbacks, clad in black armour," Hitome described her memory. Allen nodded supportively and followed her deeper down the winding hallways.
Hitome remembered terrified shriekings of agony. She touched her fingers to the stonewalls and felt warmthn She drew her hand back in repulsion, her fingertips stained with blood. She exhaled shakily and forced her feet towards the main hall.
Hitome halted at the grand doors shielding the main hall. Something ominous bubbled beneath her mind, a memory so terrible that it clawed at her heart, leaving gaping wounds that screamed with anguish with every beat of her heart.
"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," Allen told her, pulling her back gently.
"I need to," Hitome declared without hesitation, pushing open the doors.
Darkness enveloped the two as they crossed into a picturesque hell. The impenetrable walls had sealed in the shrieks of torture. They reverberated off the walls, causing Hitome to shrink into the supporting arms of Allen. A musty smell of blood and sweat enveloped them. "Do you sense it?" he whispered to Hitome.
"The fear? The pain?" Hitome shuddered. She stepped forth, entering the black cave. The resonating screams amplified, shocking Hitome in waves. She clasped her hands over her ears, but the screeches seemed to come from inside her mind. Memories of hands clawing at her flesh throbbed in her mind. She heard Allen call her name but he seemed so far away. She withdrew into her grief, falling forwards with sudden force. Her eyes snapped open when her head collided with the stone floor. Even in the darkness she could see the reflection of her own emerald eyes upon a piece of broken mirror. Believing it to be a clue to her suppressed past, she grasped it with her fingers, only to find five other fingers clenching the precious item in a death grip. She traced the lifeless hand with her gaze, finally resting on a melancholy head of dark black hair. Curious, Hitome impulsively reached out and brushed the sleek hair aside. A horrified cry lodged in her throat as Hitome recognized the face of her own mother. Her mouth agape with revulsion, Hitome passed into darkness.
When Hitome dared cross into consciousness, she was once again upon the back of the winged dragon, lodged tightly in Allen's arms.
"Are you okay?" Allen asked, an evident expression of deep concern etched upon his countenance. When Htiome could assemble no reply, Allen caressed her hand with his own. "You fainted, it took me so long to find you. I was so worried. I should never have taking you there, I'm sorry. I didn't know it was so terrible, to see such malice and brutality…. Maybe it's best if you just forget."
However Allen consoled her, Hitome could not recover from the distress of seeing her own dead mother. She clutched her fists tighter, attempting unsuccessfully to squeeze out the image. She felt warm liquid seep through her right hand. She opened her hand to find the mirror fragment pressing into her pale flesh, drawing fresh blood. She closed her fingers around it possessively, wanting to preserve the only shattered piece of her past.
"Faster!" Allen commanded the dragon, his tranquil exterior broken with alarm. Hitome looked in the direction of Allen's attention and saw Asturia ablaze with turmoil. It was being attacked.