Okay. Something very important happens in this chapter. But it also involves something which may be a bit squicky for more sensitive readers (heck, I even got a little squicked out by it, but these are also my characters involved here and I don't like being mean to them). Okay, maybe not squicky, per se, but definitely wince-worthy. So don't say I didn't warn you.

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Coen was the first through the front gate. He flung himself headlong at the nearest rat-person. The beast, not expecting a rear attack, was dead before he could register what was happening. Coen didn't pause, continuing his advance toward the safety of the Serdian troops. He caught glimpses of the dragoons above taking on the task of fending off the avians. Phoenix's army was beginning to retreat due to the sheer shock of the sudden attack.

The Serdians were retreating as well. Which meant this was not meant to be an all-out battle, just a rescue mission sent after a rescue mission, with the intention of doing as much damage as possible. Coen had to wonder who had sent the knighthoods, as he and Lavitz had certainly not alerted the other soldiers to the situation. But even though the enemy had been scared for now, there was no telling how quickly they could regain control of themselves and turn on the knights again. They had to get safely out of reach before that could happen.

Dodging blows from someone's weapon, Coen lashed out with his sword in retaliation. He felt the blade connect with something, but he couldn't tell what it was in the madness that was the retreat of both armies. He slid himself to one side to avoid another blade, then rushed forward again. The knighthoods were just ahead...

Something hissed past his ear. Startled, he almost tripped over the arrow that had embedded itself in the ground at his feet. Damn it, they've got archers. Spotting some fairly large boulders ahead, he sprinted for them and dove behind them. He took a moment to catch his breath, then dashed out again.

He was met with a piercing pain in his right side. He gasped, twisting and falling onto his back. An arrow narrowly missed his unguarded arm. Wincing, he rolled onto his hands and knees and managed to pull himself back to thee relative safety of the rocks. God damn...fucking hurts...

When he had propped himself up against the stone, he took a few moments to assess his condition. An arrow stuck out of his side, its head buried deeply in his flesh. Damn it. Damn it. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the shaft with one hand and slowly pulled it out. He had to nearly bite his tongue off to prevent himself from shouting several profanities during the process.

He tossed the arrow to one side, pressing his hand against the wound as blood began oozing out. Damn it all to hell. There's no way I can make it back to the knighthoods. Even if he could get up and walk, that would only make the wound worse and he could very well kill himself trying to catch up with his countrymen. I'll die if I sit here and just wait for the rat-people to find me. How do I get myself into these situations?

He fumbled with the Moon Scintillation's box, pulling it from the pocket he had hurriedly stuffed it in during their escape. I finally get a hold of this thing and now I'm stuck here and it's going to fall back into the enemy's hand once they find me.

In all its travels, the red wood box had cracked slightly, just enough to keep it from closing properly. Coen was able to flip open the lid with one finger. The Moon Scintillation took up most of the room inside, gleaming like a dull pearl in its carved-out seat in the box. It seemed to glow from within with a faint, withered light. Like a dying star. That's what it looks like.

...but why wouldn't it be dying? Didn't King Albert say something about the original Moon Gem and its human host sharing energy? If this object is supposed to an equivalent replacement, wouldn't it need to share energy as well?

He could hear people running around him. He was surprised to find that his vision was too blurry to see who or what they were. Damn arrow... He looked at the Moon Object again. It's like a dying star because it's dying. It's dying right in front of my eyes.

I've failed Albert again.

It was then that he realized something. Albert had never mentioned anything about a specific human body being needed to host the Moon Gem, only that sometimes they weren't compatible or something like that, and that the body would be killed from the conflict. I guess most of the royal family were able to handle it.

But this thing will die if something isn't done. And then Albert will die.

If I have to give my life to set things right...

Coen pulled up his shirt to expose the arrow wound in his side. There's a chance one of the knights will find me before the rat-people. This has to be enough to keep the Moon Scintillation alive long enough to make it back to Bale.

Before he had time to convince himself otherwise, he pressed the Moon Scintillation against his side. It burned against his skin. Biting his shirt, he pushed against the stone. He could feel it making its way into the wound, pulling apart his flesh where the cut was not big enough. A pain like icy fire shot through his body, and the Moon Object seemed to realize that it had a host; Coen was sure he felt it moving inwards a bit on its own. Closing his eyes against the pain and trying not to cry out, he kept up the pressure until the Moon Object was fully inside his body. Only then did he slump back against the rocks, weakened from the experience. He tugged his shirt down to hide the wound.

Gods above, it's going to kill me...it hurts...so much...

Someone was standing above him. He looked up, squinting against the light. He couldn't see who it was, only a dark silhouette.

"Coen! Can you get up?" He recognized the voice as belonging to Lavitz.

He tried to say that no, he didn't think he could, but he couldn't tell if he actually managed to say that out loud or if it was clear enough to be understood. Damn...pain...

There was a silence, or what would have been silence if not for the pounding in his head. "Coen, I know you had the Moon Object. Where is it?"

Again Coen looked up at the older knight. He strength was leaving him, although he couldn't tell whether it was the wound or the Moon Scintillation's influence.

"Oh Soa, don't tell me..." The First Knight was roughly tackled to the ground by one of the enemy. Coen couldn't tell if it was a large rat-person or one of the feliforms.

Coen felt a painful jerk as someone pulled him off the ground, and then nothingness.

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Using the caves as prisons was a good idea, actually. Tons of stone surrounding them, meaning escape would be difficult at best. It was almost as bad as Hellena. Lavitz closed his eyes. He hated prisons. He had spent far too much time in Hellena than his liking. And then to think that he had returned of his own free will, to save his king from possibly the same horrid experience he had while he was in there.

And I only spent a few days in there. Guess they made a special point of making important people feel 'welcome.' He glanced down at Coen, who lay stretched out on the stone floor in front of him. I almost died in a prison. No, actually, that's not the whole truth...

He cut himself off with a sigh. There was no use in dwelling on the past. Even though their future looked very bleak indeed.

At least they were in the same cell. Lavitz had spent their first few hours inside the mountain tending Coen's wound. He couldn't believe Coen would have been so stupid as to try to host the Moon Scintillation himself. And he couldn't even think of a reason why he would do that. Sometimes, Coen, I really have to wonder about you. Did you father scare all your common sense out of you as well?

The young knight had been delusion for quite a long while. Kept asking where he was, where was Niira, who the hell Lavitz was. Lavitz stopped answering him early on. Coen would only forget in a few seconds anyway.

And then the Third Knight had finally just passed out. The speed with which the Moon Scintillation had affect him worried Lavitz, but there was nothing more he could do for the young man now. If they ever got back to Bale, and if Coen was still alive by then, the doctors were going to have a very difficult task in removing the Moon Object from him. The Wingly Lloyd had used magic to simply rip the Moon Gem from Albert's body, but humans had to do things the old-fashioned way--cut someone up and hope they didn't bleed to death before you could sew them back together.

Lavitz actually chuckled then. That was how his wife had worded it, at any rate. She had always been quick to tout the virtues of the Northlanders' ways of healing people. Her race was far more adept at manipulating magic than most humans, and she never let him forget it.

His thoughts wandered to Yamin, her carefree attitude towards the world. Moon Chaser. That was what her name meant, and it reflected her tendency to not always be mindful of reality. But it was that hopeful optimism that had first drawn him to her.

Was she like that even when I had to leave her due to my job?

He shook his head. He knew this line of thinking well, and it only ever ended with him feeling horrible. Instead, he chose to meditate on his current situation. Even if he could figure out a way to break loose of the cell, he had no idea how to get out of the cave-riddled mountain. Not to mention getting back out of the fort again. And he couldn't just leave Coen here. He wouldn't do that to anyone. He cared about the younger knight greatly, ever since he and Niira had been friends as children. To just let him die in here alone would be something Lavitz could never forgive himself of.

But trying to drag the unconscious man out would make any escape pointless. They would only be captured as soon as they stepped out of their cell.

Damn it Coen...I'm sure you had some twisted reason behind doing this, but it is not helping me here. Sometimes I get the impression that you're trying to out-do me with the stupid impulse decisions. We don't need two leaders of knights like that. We really don't.