Hello fans of this story and welcome to another chapter. I'm sorry that its a bit short and its also not very exciting but to be honest, that's kinda to be expected. Now that we're getting to the end of this capture part of the story, its going to start dying down. I apologize that's its going to be dull and slow. But I promise I'll try and make it more entertaining.

Anyways, at least try and enjoy it for me minna. I would love to hear back from you guys like always. Also, sorry its kinda "meh" I didn't really know what to do with this chapter too much.

Whispers In The Dark

Chapter 13

Reunion

As they exited the forest, Conrart couldn't help but grow more and more anxious. His concern grew more and more for the safety of Small Cimaron's king. Saralegui has been missing from their side for an estimated ten hours. Conrart did not want to believe that Saralegui was captured as well in his attempts to save Yuri. He tried to stay positive and believe that his majesty was alright and that he was in this town asking questions about Yuri's disappearance.

"Conrart, we should be entering the town in just a few moments. What would you suppose we do once we arrive?" Gunter asked.

Conrart answered immediately to Gunter's question. "We look around for his majesty. If we fail to find him, we ask the towns people if they had seen or heard anything."

Gunter felt that was answer enough and did not ask anything else. So instead they spent the next few minutes riding, absolute silence as they made their way into the town.

Saralegui could not have gotten far, even on horseback and without rest he could only get so far. Conrart, however was praying that his majesty did stop for rest and is nearby. They could not afford to lose the king of Small Cimaron.

As they left the forest, they saw what appeared to be a large hill just up ahead. However, it was not necessarily the hill that caught their attention, it was what was on that hill that did. A horse. It was Saralegui's horse.

Conrart whipped the reins on his horse and began to accelerate up the hill. The horse's shoes clicking on the dirt and the grass. The horse tied up on the branch of the tree heard Conrart coming towards her and she back away a bit. Conrart made his horse stop and he got off from his steed and walked over to his majesty's horse.

"You have nothing fear." Conrart placed a hand on the horse's mane and gave it a gentle pet. The horse let out a noise of gratitude and rub itself against Conrart. "Where is his majesty? He would not have just left his horse behind?"

"There." Conrart looked behind him as Berius looked out over the hill and its grassy landscape. He kneeled down on the grass and ran his fingers over a small and barely visible trail of dirt between the blades of grass. "This trail was definitely made by his majesty. It is the exact length of the tails on his cape."

"Are you absolutely sure of that? His majesty may not even be the one who created that trail? How can you be so sure?" Gunter asked.

"I know it is his majesty." Berius stated sternly. He stood silently for a moment before he started to follow the trail, in hopes of finding his majesty. Conrart and Gunter looked at each other before heading off with Berius and followed the trail.

As they made their way into the village, they noticed that the people were busy with the usual everyday tasks. Some were collecting firewood. Others were picking herbs and vegetables. Some even did the laundry. Those who were not as busy where those that they questioned while Berius continued to follow the trail without them, since he believed that this trail would lead him straight to his majesty, he did not need the villagers assistance.

At first the search was getting nowhere as no one had seen his majesty, however at one particular house further up north, a elderly man said that he had seen a young blonde being carried away by a young brunette who he knew as a friendly neighborhood friend. He said that the blonde did happen to look just like his majesty, but it was very early in the morning that he did not make anything of it. With that information noted, Conrart and Gunter could now confirm that Saralegui may still be in his village if the elderly man's words were indeed correct.

"His home should be just around here. The elderly man said it was just passed the trees." Gunter said as he looked around.

"The trail has stopped." Berius said as he stood up tall for the first time in a few minutes. He looked around from his spot at the end of the dirt trail. "It must be this one."

Gunter walked over to Berius and looked from his point of view and saw a small cabin home just up ahead of the trail. He waved over Conrart who eagerly made his way over towards them. "That cabin just may be where he was sending us. We must at least investigate. His majesty could well be inside."

"You're right. We must not waste time." Conrart replied as he made his way down the trail. Berius quickly headed after Conrart, wanting desperately to see his majesty's face again. Gunter followed as well.

Knocking on the wood door, the three servicemen waited for an answer. When the door opened, they saw a woman, a very pregnant woman with long brunette hair that pulled back into a pony tail hanging over her shoulder and she had dazzling purple eyes. She stared at the servicemen for a moment. It took her a moment to recognize Berius and she smiled.

"You must be here for his majesty." She said looking specifically at Berius. Gunter and Conrart she did not recognize so she did not make the statement towards them, but more towards Berius. She stepped away from the door frame and made some room for them to enter. "He's in the front room, however, I ask that you do not disturb my husband. He's working very patiently on his majesty?"

"What do you mean by "working?" What have you done to his majesty?" Berius asked.

The wife waved her hands against her face. "We have done nothing to harm his majesty. It is quite the opposite actually. We are trying to help his majesty."

"How so?" Conrart asked.

They walked into the front room and saw just what is was that the woman was talking about. His majesty was sitting on the couch, his breath ragged as he held his chest. Sitting on the floor in front of him, who could only opted down to be the husband was quickly mixing many herbs in a bowl.

"Your majesty?!" Berius briskly walked over to his king and stood beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "What happened your majesty?"

"He can't speak right now. His breathing is too ragged." The brunette man spoke as he continued mixing.

While Berius stood by his king, Conrart spoke to the wife who watched over her husband from a distance.

"How did this happen? Do you have any idea what caused his majesty to react this way?" Conrart asked. The wife was about to respond when Conrart placed a hand on his chest and smiled. "I apologize. I forgot to ask your name."

The wife smiled and bowed to Conrart. "My name is Angela. Its a pleasure to meet you."

Conrart held out a hand. "My name is Conrart Weller. Its a pleasure to meet you as well, Angela."

Angela couldn't help but blush at Conrart's charm. "Well to answer your current question, we believe that his majesty touched a plant that was either poisonous or caused an allergic reaction while he was resting on that hilltop. So he's been trying to mix together an herbal antidote to fix his respiratory problems that will not only rid the poison if its inside of him but help him overcome his reaction to help him get his breathing under control."

"I see. Well I hope that all goes well and his majesty recovers." Conrart replied.

"This is terrible." Gunter cried out. Conrart and Angela looked over at Gunter as he began to panic. "If his majesty is ill, then it will take time for him to recover. Time of which we do not have. We must find out own highness. He is still out there, trapped and kidnapped with little lord brat."

"I understand your concern Gunter. I want to find Yuri just as much as you do, but right now we are all responsible for his majesty's health and safety. We cannot just leave him here." Conrart replied.

"I understand your concern as well Conrart but what about his majesty? Do we just stop our search for him and leave it up to Gwendal and the others and hope that his majesty is found? I refuse to sit back while his poor majesty has to suffer."

"Its finished." Everyone looked back at the brunette as he sat down beside his majesty, placed a hand behind his head and helped him drink the herbal concoction. Saralegui slowly downed the herbal medicine and continued to take deep breaths once the small bowl was pulled away from his lips. "I'll admit that the medicine isn't the best tasting thing in the world but you should be breathing back to normal soon."

Saralegui felt himself calming down as he felt the brunette's fingers running through his hair. He was utterly exhausted from the scare of his reaction to the mystery plant. He had not even noticed anything out of the usual on that hill so to go through something like this was completely out of nowhere and unexpected. He felt as if he was going to die. He did not want that, he continued to fight, to hold on long enough so that he could get the medicine in his system. He wanted to be able to continue his search for Yuri. He wanted to see him again.

"T-Thank y-you." Saralegui said in a soft tone.

The brunette pat Saralegui's shoulder before moving away from him. "It was no problem your majesty."

Saralegui looked up at Berius whose expression was finally washed over with relief. "I-I'm sorry."

Berius smiled down at his king and shook his head. "It is I who should be sorry."

Saralegui stood up from the couch, his stance shaky and wobbly. He held onto the edge and walked over to Berius. He stopped when they were face to face.

"Why?" Saralegui asked.

"It was wrong of me to disobey your orders. I knew that you wanted to continue the search for his majesty longer. I should have listened. I apologize." Berius said.

Saralegui laid his head on Berius' chest and felt Berius' arms wrap around his small frame. He felt tears in his eyes as they threatened to fall.

"I was foolish. You were right, to rest was what was best for me. To take off as I did was what almost got me killed. I should have stayed in the room until morning. However, I cannot say that I am all too sorry for leaving." Saralegui looked up at his uncle. "I want to find Yuri. He is very important to me. I will never be sorry for doing what I believe was right, but I am sorry for not trusting you."

All was silent in the cabin as Saralegui spoke. The sound of the leaves rustling from the trees could be heard. Saralegui stepped away from Berius and unclasped his cloak so that it fell to his feet.

"During this journey, do not look at me as your king. As of this moment, I am only a dear friend of king Yuri and I want nothing more than to find him as quickly as possible. Do you understand me?" Saralegui said.

Berius understood why his majesty is doing what he is, however, he did not feel comfortable not calling him highness. He was indeed his highness. However, since these were his orders, he must follow them.

"As you wish your majesty." Berius replied with a hand to his heart.

Saralegui turned back to face the brunette who had helped to save his life. "Thank you again for saving me. I looked forward to your return to the platoons of my army."

"I will see you soon your majesty. I'll be back before you know it."

Saralegui picked up his cloak and started out of the cabin. "We must hurry. We are wasting time that we do not have."

The hot sand radiated onto their already hot skin as they walked. The sun beating down on them. It was a very hot and muggy day.

Looking around the sandy desert, the small boy saw something up ahead that made him stop in his tracks. He tugged against his mother's sleeve and he pointed in the direction of what it was he was looking at.

"Mommy, look over there."

The woman looked over in the direction her son was directing her to and she couldn't believe her eyes. She saw the smoke trail, just barely visible at the moment, but it was a deep black and it looked to gradually getting larger.

She held her son back and sat him down on a nearby hillside. It was the same hillside where she was held for a long time when she was forced to mine esoteric stones as punishment for trying to elope with a man from the demon kingdom. It was also where she was reunited with her son at long last.

"Stay here, your grandfather and I will go and check it out."

"Be careful."

The woman quickly ran towards the smoke. She knew this area all too well so she had an idea as to where it was coming from.

"This is dangerous. Norica be careful for your son's sake."

Norica looked back at her father and smiled. "I understand. I'll be as careful as I can be."

They stopped at the judgement hall and took a few breaths. Norica held a hand over her mouth and kicked in the door. Smoke slowly started to pour out of the building, the flames and smoke seem to have not reached the first floor too much yet. Norica looked back at her father and the two quickly head inside the building to check and see if anyone was inside. They knew that natural fires of a building were rare unless tampered with so it was possible that someone was still inside that needed help.

Running through the halls, Norica was frantically calling out to anyone to see if someone was still inside. She could feel her heart hammering in her chest as she saw the fire slowly spreading.

She saw a staircase up ahead and waved for her father to follow after her. Heading down the steps, she could feel a definite temperature change. It was much hotter. Like stepping into an oven.

Norica stepped further into the underground room and she could smell something that was foul and made her want to rench. She walked around the underground chasm and started to search for people.

"Hello, is anyone in here?" Norica shouted.

The flames continued to burn and crack as she walked further inside. Her father was not that far behind. What she saw in the next room was what made her stop in shock. Her eyes shook with fear as she saw all of the bodies and the blood.

"W-What happened in here? Norica asked herself.

"A horrific tragedy." Norica's father replied.

As she looked around at all of the destruction and the blood and saw faces that she recognized all too well. She ran into the middle of the room and crouched down beside the two and put two fingers to the blonde's neck.

"He's alive, he's just unconscious." Norica noted. She then placed two fingers to the double black's neck and let out a shaky sigh. "He's just barely breathing. I'm not even too surprised by that. The arrows allow much be killing him." She looked back at her father. "I'm going to need your help. I need you to carry one of them out."

"Which one would you like to take?" He asked his daughter as he walked closer towards her.

"Please, take the blonde and start heading out. I'll take the demon king. His injuries are much more severe so I must be extra careful moving him." Norica replied as she slowly and carefully began to life the blonde to his feet. She saw the arrows that littered his body and carefully handed him off to her father. "He's very light so he shouldn't be too much trouble."

Norica handed Wolfram off to her father and he quickly started to head out of the room and out of the building. Norica placed a hand under Yuri's head and one under his waist and slowly and carefully began to lift him up from off of the ground. When he was firmly in her grasp, she quickly started out of the underground chasm. She felt her lungs beginning to burn from the smoke that had entered her system.

'Don't worry your majesty, I will get you out of here.' Norica thought to herself.

Norica had finally reached the top of the ir stairs when she heard them crumble to the ground. She didn't dare look back. Instead, she quickly head down the halls of the court and towards the exit.

She could feel the dried blood his majesty against her fingertips. She knew now that his majesty has been in this state for quite a while and needed medical attention immediately. This inspired her to go even faster. When she finally made it out of the building, she made her way back over towards her son but not too close as she knew that esoteric stones were very harmful to the demon tribesmen who have high magic levels. She set his majesty down beside Wolfram and reached inside her hair. She pulled out a bobby-pin and straightened it out and went to work on taking off the collars around their necks, starting with the blonde's.

When she heard it click, she let out a sigh of relief as it fell into the sand below. She saw the indentation of where the collar was around his neck and frowned, a sick feeling in her stomach at the thought of someone doing something like this.

Doing the same to his majesty's collar, Norica removed the collar from around his neck and grabbed the other one. She placed them off to the side and stood up. She looked at her father.

"What do we do now? We must contact Shin Makoku. We must get them so help." Norica asked.

Norica's father looked out into the distance. "I don't think finding help will be too much of an issue."

Norica looked out into the distance and saw the faint wall of sand coming towards them. She could see the silhouettes of men on horseback and took a deep breath.

"Thank goodness. This is perfect timing on their part." Norica spoke with relief in her voice.

Norica waved over her son and he immediately came running towards her. He stood in front of her and she turned him around. "Now Jolta, I need you to wave your hands and grab their attention. Can you help me do that?"

"Of course." Jolta replied.

So, together Norica and Jolta waved their arms over their heads, trying to direct the men on horseback towards them. As they got closer, Norica began to recognize the one in front.

"Jolta, they're almost here. Keep going." Norica said. Jolta continued to wave his arms as he was told.

A few minutes later, a black stallion stopped before them, Norica knew her memory was correct.

Gwendal looked down at Norica and Jolta and then over to his majesty and Wolfram. His eyes widened from shock and horror. "What the hell happened?" He stepped down from his horse and walked over towards his little brother and his king. He saw the arrows, the blood, and the burns on their bodies.

"Yu-chan!" Shouri shouted as he ran out of the carriage. He ran across the sand and looked down upon his brother. He had tears in his eyes that rolled down his cheeks. He was forced to remove his glasses and place them in his breast pocket. He kneeled down beside his little brother and held his hand. "Yu-chan wake up. Come on. Yu-chan."

Murata stood a few feet away from the whole ordeal. He watched as Lady Cecilie ran over to her son and held him against her chest. "Wolfie! Wolfie please wake up. Look at mommy with those beautiful eyes and say you're okay."

During this whole ordeal, Gwendal was quickly setting up arrangements for Yuri and Wolfram to be safely transported out of the desert, sending messager doves and sending his men to Svelera to retrieve a medical wagon. It was important that they get that wagon. It was the only means of transportation that would be able to get them safely across the desert and for medical attention to be given.

Gwendal kneeled down beside his brother and took his hand and examined it it. He examined all the open flesh and his wounds. He found burns on his feet, and arrows in many places but not as many as Yuri had.

"Just what the hell happened in there?" Gwendal asked.

"Whoever did this is going to pay. They'll pay for hurting Yu-chan." Shouri hissed, his power radiating around him.

Murata placed a hand on Shouri's shoulder but it was immediately shrugged off. "Please calm down. You're anger will only send you on a power rage."

"Why are you so calm about this? Your best friend and his fiance are on the ground full of arrows and dying. Doesn't that phase you at all?" Shouri shouted in anger.

Murata pushed his glasses up his nose and glared at Shouri. "To think that I would just stand idly by as everyone feels pain over this would make me look heartless. I may seem calm on the outside, but on the inside I'm furious. I refuse to show it now because it will not solve anything. All that we can focus on now is getting them medical attention and figure out all of their injuries."

"That's all you have to say? Don't you want to find the guy that did this to them?" Shouri asked.

"Of course I do." Murata sighed and placed a hand in his pocket."However, the main thing I want to worry about is getting them back to health. Don't you feel the same? Would you rather waste your time trying to find a guy whose identity you don't know and watch your brother die, or help them get nursed back to health and learn the identity of the man and find him afterwards?"

Shouri sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He placed his hands beside his head and ground his teeth together. He knew that Murata was right. He removed his hands from his head and turned away from Murata.

"Where the hell is that wagon already?" Shouri asked.

"It should be arriving any moment so calm the hell down." Gwendal replied.

"I'm sorry that i'm worried about my little brother dying." Shouri shouted.

Gwendal looked over at Lady Cecilie and she understood what he was trying to tell her. She stood up from beside her son and walked over to Shouri and walked him off, away from the scene and back to the carriage. Murata walked over to Gwendal and stood by him.

"Its alright to be worried." Murata said.

"Are you saying that I'm not?" Gwendal asked.

"Not in the least. I'm saying that, to me, it looks like you're holding in your pain. So, its okay to let it go and be a little fearful." Murata responded. He waved his hands in front of his face. "Not that I'm saying they're going to die or anything."

"You should really stay quiet if you know what's good for you." Gwendal said as he stood up. It was just then that the medical wagon could be seen making its way towards them. Gwendal had his medical team get ready so that they could start working on Wolfram and Yuri as soon as possible.

The wagon pulled up and four men grabbed the two stretchers and began to placed Yuri and Wolfram onto them and load them inside the medical wagon. Gwendal quickly sent his medical team inside the wagon as it was being hooked up the spare horses.

Lady Cecilie walked over to Gwendal and wrapped her arms around his arm. "Do you believe that they will recover alright?"

Gwendal did not respond straight away. He looked at his mother and nodded. "Yes, I believe that if we take our time and let the medical team work, they'll be patched up and awake before long."

Lady Cecilie smiled and looked back at the wagon. "I hope you're right Gwendal."

Gwendal led Lady Cecilie back to the carriage and let her get situated. He then got situated onto his own horse and waited for the signal that everyone was on and the wagon was situated before he whipped his reins and they started their journey back towards the docks.

"Our king is coming home." Lady Cecilie said as she gazed out the window of the carriage. "Your kingdom is waiting for you."

And that's how it is. Yeah, like i said, not much happened and its gonna be on the down load for a little while. Now that they have been found and aren't captured anymore, its not as dark and angsty and exciting anymore. (I apologize for that) but I promise they will wake up...in a few chapters. I'd say by chapter 15 or 16 max. Again, I apologize for it being not to exciting as the earlier chapter and being kinda short. I promise I'll try and make it entertaining again.