Where dips the rocky highland
Of Sleuth Wood in the lake
There lies a leafy island
Where flapping herons wake
-Lyrics to 'Stolen Child' performed by Loreena McKennitt
Elements of Great Design Part 34
Anna sighed as she buried the side of her head into Wufei's thick fur. Deep in her slumber, she never caught onto the wistful expression nor the warmth in the wolf's eyes as he watched her. Tucking his head close to his wife's curled up body, the Earth Keeper enjoyed the peaceful moment for as long as he could before the rest of their 'family' woke.
The sun was almost over the horizon in its steady climb when the first signs of life made themselves known in the form of stirring sounds within the two tents across the lowly burning campfire.
Pulling back the flap of the door to their tent, Heero stepped out into the open with Duo right behind. A hand running through his sleep-mussed hair, the Fighter smiled sadly at the sight of their pair huddled closely together. Humming to himself, the Black Mage grinned at the same picture as he set right to work in unearthing the structural spokes of their shelter so that he and his lover could begin pulling it down right away.
Before long, Quatre and Trowa entered the world and shared the chore of preparing the fresh meat that the last lookouts of the evening had brought in for their breakfast.
Quietly lowering himself into a squat beside the redhead as she mumbled something inarticulate and clung on all the tighter to her husband, Yuy gave Wufei an apologetic look. Nodding shallowly, the wolf allowed the soldier to reach out and gently shake his bride's shoulder as he called in a near whisper, "Anna. Time to get up, little sister."
With a sigh, Fraise-Chang blinked her deep blue eyes open. At the sight of her partner and Heero, a tired smile spread across her face as she muttered, "'Morning." She giggled at the quick lick to the tip of her nose and playfully swatted the chuckling wolf's snout.
Climbing to her feet and lifting her arms overhead, the archer let out a wide yawn while Wufei rose to his paws to arch his back in a steep stretch. The movement caused the gold wedding band hanging from his neck to glisten in the early morning light.
"So, any idea on whether or not we are any closer to finding Quatre's Elemental Stone?" Anna asked the Fighter.
Reaching into the pouch at his hip, Heero lifted his hand and opened it to reveal the small, clear crystal in the center of his palm. As the four beams emerged from the corners of the compass, he focused on the blue beacon that had guided them for the last few days. The rest of the team stopped what they were doing to follow the line shooting beyond them. To their wide-eyed realization, there was a clear end to the ray where before there seemed to be none.
After a certain point miles ahead where the terrain was still too far off to make out perfectly, the radiant stream no longer continued.
Trowa rubbed his chin in thought as he searched his memory of the landmarks that lay in that part of Gaia. His visible emerald eye growing, he realized aloud, "The Lete River. It runs maybe a half-day's journey from here. I would put my life on betting that the stone is there." When he looked to the horrified faces of his friends around, he winced in thinking to his choice of words given Howard's vision. "Um... sorry," he smiled sheepishly. "I would bet my status as a Dragoon on it."
"Better call, love," Quatre sighed. Shuddering off the dark thoughts that tried to creep into his mind, he commented, "It would only make sense that the water Elemental Stone would be around the only river that runs throughout the mainland until it spills into the seas of Gaia." Frowning, he tilted his head and stared back into the distance where the compass had pointed to them. "I cannot say that I have ever been to this stretch of the river."
His head shaking, Barton replied, "Nor have I, so I cannot say what lies in that direction."
Duo rubbed his hands together, smirking, "Well, there is only one way to find out and that's to get there." Gesturing back to the spit of meat that hung over their campfire, he suggested, "Let's have our breakfast and get going. The sooner we get to the stone the better the chance that we won't run into trouble along the way." No one was about to argue that logic and so the team prepared themselves for the last, hard push to finding their first weapon.
* * * * * *
By the time the White Fang found a safe enough stretch of woods to hide in well beyond Salamand and the miles that would likely be taken in the next few days, word of the growing reinforcements had reached spread wide and quickly through Gaia. Within a week, it had reached the ears of a team of scouts that had worked around the clock to warn the closest realms that they needed to evacuate.
Lowering the letter in his hands, a wide smile spread across King Zechs' face as he whispered, "Relena." He reached up to wipe the stray tear that began to slip from his eye. Facing his moved wife, he held the leaflet of paper up and said, "I always knew that my sister would make a brave, wise Queen. The numbers that she has inspired to help us just might be what we need to drive Mariemaia's army out of Gaia."
Of course there was no certainty of that... in fact there was a better likelihood that there would be no end to Abaddon's monsters until the world was consumed with his darkness. However, to give into those fears would mean handing their lives and all of Gaia over without a fight.
Her eyes reddened from having read the announcement herself, Noin reached over to take his free hand into hers and squeezed it. "Relena has done remarkably well," she grinned wistfully. "Perhaps we will be reunited soon."
Raising and kissing the back of the Queen's hand, Merquise nodded, "Yes, let us pray for that."
* * * * * *
"You all now know what you are looking for thanks to the force that was sent to the Lete River," Mariemaia said to her officers' faces in the three glowing 'mirrors' before her.
Waving her hand to make the display of the Elder's brilliant remains that had been discovered vanish at her side, she drew a deep breath and pressed, "I know that I do not need to tell any of you the importance of reaching the Elemental stones before the Alliance reaches them, but securing them is the one and only guarantee that we have in succeeding in our conquering of Gaia."
The ogre of the leading trio reassured in a deep voice, "You have our promise to see that the stones will never leave their resting places." The Behemoth and gremlin in the other portrayals nodded solemnly.
With a sigh, the redheaded girl smiled sadly, "Thank you." Her eyes growing, she raised a finger as she added quickly, "And do not allow any hands to touch the stones in an attempt to move them." Shaking her head, she muttered in the irritated explanation, "We have already had an... incident with the Water Stone. Apparently only the Keepers of those weapons are allowed to lay a finger on them."
Recalling her earlier conversation with the first team to find their stone, she winced at the vision of the two frozen beasts that had set their talons on the blackened rock. Forever encased in their unbreakable icy cocoons, their locked wide-eyed expressions of fear and agony sent a shudder through the young sorceress's body.
Mariemaia cleared her tightening throat. It was unnerving enough to know that four Elders had given their lives so that the Alliance may find the stones. To know that the blackened rocks were still powerful enough to protect themselves was especially unsettling.
Folding her hands together behind her back, the girl focused on her audience once more. "Beyond finding and guarding the stones, nothing more is to be done without my direct order," she commanded.
Their heads bowing, the officers replied as one, "Yes, Mistress."
"Get back to work, then," the girl smirked. "Good hunting to you all." At the wave of her hand, the brilliant 'mirrors' vanished back into thin air. Releasing a deep sigh, she sat on the edge of her tall bed and dry-washed her face with her hands.
So much was riding on this defensive tactic. The Alliance was no doubt on the move once again and with an actual compass to guide them every step of the way, they had the advantage in locating the Elemental Stones. Since there was no way of knowing which elemental weapon they would be after first, all that Khushrenada could do was hope beyond hope that her teams would beat them. "Let it be Water," she whispered to herself as she lowered her hands. "Please let it be Water they are after, Creator."
Her eyes growing at the end of her silent prayer, Mariemaia realized that she had no right to beg for the gracious light of the Creator to help her now. And yet... she longed to be forgiven by Him for how things had completely spiraled out of her control. Perhaps He would still understand... would still love her even in her most grave of choices.
....No. Such a thing could never be. Not after she had destroyed so much... so many lives.
And yet, there was nothing in the world that would ever make the child pray to Abaddon.
Though she may have used the Dark Lord's creatures because of the nature of her magic, she was far from comfortable with the notion of worshiping him. When she eventually was damned to his hell, there would be retribution for that. Surely the whole of her afterlife would contain endless torture... but then she deserved that at the very least.
Finally returning to the present, her eyes widened at her realization that they were filled with unshed tears. At a couple of rapid blinks, those drops ran freely down her face and she quickly reached up to wipe them away with the back of her hand. This was not the time for self-pity. She had made her bed and she would lie in it... even if its foundation was burning.
With a gasp, Mariemaia shook at that visual... of her burning. The Keepers of Fire and Earth would love nothing more than to make that happen should they ever meet again after what she had done to them.
A strong knock to the door had the girl all but leaping off her bed in surprise. Pulled from the haunting vision of the archer's heated stare of rage and the Monk's lips curled back in a vicious snarl, she panted heavily and slapped a hand against her chest to calm her racing heart.
Quickly regaining her composure, she hurried from her bed to answer at the same time that another knock began. Opening her door, Khushrenada paused at the unexpected man standing in the hallway. "Uncle Dekim?' she greeted in confusion, a small frown etching across her face.
That forced smile that she was so used to seeing on the old sorcerer's face made its cold presence known. "My dear," he replied in a quip tone. And as quickly as that grin appeared, it faded along with his calm demeanor as he growled lowly, "When were you going to tell me that you were aware of how to find the Elemental Stones?"
"You were spying on me?" Mariemaia gasped, eyes wide for only a moment before she matched the frustrated glare on her.
Stepping out into the corridor and closing the door to her room behind her, she snapped under her breath, "The fact that I withheld anything from you does not matter in the slightest since I have it covered. Tell me how you would have had me act any differently than I have in sending off soldiers to find the stones and bring down the Alliance before they get their hands on them."
Dekim drew a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. Lowering his hand and meeting the girl's narrowed eyes when he recovered his patience, he stated, "My darling, I only spied because I have felt as though you were hiding something from me. And as it turned out, I was right."
He opened his hand and his arms at his sides, shrugging as he laughed bitterly, "We are all that we have in this world, child. How could we possibly protect our interest if we are not on the same page on where we stand?"
Managing to find a sense of calm, he said, "There is more you are not telling me. The Elemental Stones would be of no concern since the Earth Keeper is without his true form." His head tilting, he insisted, "Now, what has changed to make you take these new measures?"
This discussion was exactly what Mariemaia had hoped to avoid. But now there was no way around it. Like her uncle had declared, they were the only two people in the world that were looking out for each other. To bury the truth further from this moment on was not only useless but foolish as well.
Biting her lip, the dark sorceress admitted softly, "One of my messengers had tracked the Alliance, as they call themselves. The team consists of all four Keepers, a Fighter... and a son of Shinigami."
To the widening eyes watching her, she winced, "The last has found a way to bring the fire wielder close enough to death without actually killing her so that the the earth manipulator may return to his own body. Even though they still cannot both be in the world of the living at the same time in their full capacities, they have just enough to be trouble to us."
Face reddening, Barton's hands clenched into fists at his sides. Anger like he had never felt towards his niece coursed through every fiber of his being,
But there was not a thing that he could do in reaction towards her... not if he was to reach his ultimate goal of complete control over the forces that she'd brought into Gaia. So, he simply stood there, the only movement coming from his full-bodied trembling as he fought every immediate action he wanted to take.
In a rare situation of rightly deserving the old man's ire, Khushrenada bowed her head. "I know now that you were right in Eblan," she all but whispered. "I should have killed that Monk. Had I listened to you, we would have absolutely nothing to stand in our way. But..."
But she still did not think she had it in her to take a life at her own, direct whim. It was so much easier to detach from that responsibility when the nasty deed was carried out by Abaddon's monsters... by those beasts who were expected to want nothing more than death and destruction.
Once again holding onto his control over his emotions, Dekim released a long sigh that carried with it his edge. The redness in his skin fading, he admitted, "There is nothing that can be done about the past mistakes. Lingering on them will do nothing but take our focus from doing as you have been by working every angle we have to prevent more errors."
Blinking in surprise, she slowly lifted her head. Rather than smack her across the face as he would have loved to, the sorcerer smiled and ran a hand over her short, red hair. "I am very proud of you for the steps that you have taken in defending the stones," he complimented, ignoring the bitterness of the words as they passed over his tongue.
"Come back to the throne room so that we may discuss more about this Alliance and what you have acquired from your messengers. Your magic may overpower mine, however I have enough tricks of my own up my sleeves. I might be able to put a sure end whatever this son of Shinigami has conjured to counter your spell over the Earth and Fire Keepers."
Taken aback as she was by her mentor's sudden change in demeanor, Mariemaia was not about to risk angering him all over again by questioning it.
A small smile spreading on her lips, she nodded, "If anyone might be able to come up with a solution to that, I have every faith in that person being you." Allowing the arm that draped across her shoulders as they walked down the hallway, she began, "For the spell to be tricked, the son of Shinigami has a unique serum..."
* * * * * *
Staring at the pile of gold coins in his burly hand, the ship Captain's enlarged eyes blinked. His head of shoulder-length, brown hair with white streaks lifted to focus on the Fighter that had handed the money over... then to the rest of the group standing by. "Well, make up quite the unlikely bunch," he snorted.
His expressionless mask never slipping, Heero deadpanned, "We've heard that a few times." Gesturing to the money, he stated, "That should be more than enough for a boat and crew to take us across the Lete River to our destination, yes? I included extra in case anyone should feel leery about having a wolf aboard."
"Oh, that is not the problem. My men and I have taken stranger pets across the Lete in our ships," the gruff man replied as he eyed the black animal.
If he didn't know better, the sailor could have sworn that the canine looked insulted at being called a 'pet.' The redhead standing beside him reached a hand down to pat the top of his furry head as if wordlessly calling for the attention of his onyx eyes so that she could give him a small smile that made his tail wag lazily behind him.
Pointing out to the water behind his customers, namely to a clouded over isle near the seemingly endless stretch of waves, he frowned, "No amount of money would ever be considered enough to have even the most seasoned of seadogs or pirates to sail a vessel to that forsaken island. The place is cursed. No man or boat that has attempted to reach it has ever returned. It is not called 'The Watery Grave' without reason."
Slowly turning around to appraise the stretch of invisible island miles across the river to lay right in its center, the members of Alliance could not help but feel a bit ill at ease. From where they stood along the banks of the Lete River, the water way was wide enough that its other end faded off into the horizon without even a hint of the other shore.
Were it not for knowing their mission and the potential dangers that lay beyond that mist, their viewpoint on that late afternoon would have been a breathtakingly beautiful one. But thanks to the unknown of what lay ahead, all that they could think of was if anything were to happen to them in the middle of nowhere on that canal, even Quatre's abilities might not be enough to save them.
Pulling his hood further over his head when it began to fall back, Duo looked back to the weathered Captain. "Would the gold be enough to purchase a boat that you would be willing to part with?" he asked. "No crew would be necessary if we could simply have our own vessel to take us."
Instantly seeing the benefits of the idea, Heero nodded to the older man, "You would not be responsible for what may or may not happen to us if we were the owners of the ship carrying off. Just give our horses a safe place to stay until we return."
Rubbing his chin in thought, the sailor muttered, "I still don't like the thought of you heading out there." He pointed a thick thumb over his shoulder towards the darkness in the skies of the north, adding, "Especially with all of the madness that is already going on in the world. That island is the last place in all of Gaia I would want to be at a time like this."
Quatre reached into one of the pouches hanging from his loose, white pants as he smiled, "Then perhaps this would help you feel better about just leaving well enough alone." Producing another stack of gold coins to fill the stunned Captain's other hand, he shrugged, "Consider it payment for your worries that you can forget the moment we are away from port."
The man blinked in disbelief at the money in his possession. Then, breaking out in a near face-splitting smile, he announced, "Clearly wealthy travelers like yourselves are perfectly capable of taking care of yourselves. You have yourselves a deal."
* * * * * *
"Do you think he could have spared us a bit of a bigger boat?" Chang grumbled as she pulled her legs against her chest. Huddled in the middle of the simple, single-leveled boat as the team pulled away from the dock, she deeply sighed as Wufei rested his head on her shoulder in a soothing gesture.
In his full uniform as he tied the ends of the massive sail in place, Trowa frowned over his shoulder in concern, "You okay, Anna?"
Nodding, the thief hugged her legs tighter and replied, "I. Hate. Being. Wet. And all things considered, I have a bad feeling that I am going to be at some point on this trip." The black wolf chuckled deeply and nuzzled her cheek with his long muzzle.
Duo sat at the redhead's other side to wrap an arm behind her. "Don't worry. We'll be on the island before you know it, sis," he smiled reassuringly. A small, appreciative grin lit Anna's face when she met his violet gaze and she leaned against his side.
Perched on the helm of the simple ship as he noted the dock slipping away, Quatre told the archer, "He's right about that." He nodded to his lover who joined him atop the slightly raised deck.
Raising a hand to the river, the Water Keeper called forth a strong current that carried the boat towards the mist. At that, Trowa raised his own right hand and a strong wind appeared from what had been a calm day. Together, their elements brought the vessel to sail swiftly across the stretch.
Anna straightened from her hunched over position and blinked towards the mist that was fast approaching. "I suppose this is not so bad after all," she smiled sheepishly. Squeezing her free shoulder as he walked past, Heero snickered in amusement and took a place just behind his fellow teammates at the helm.
Together, the team watched as the thick fog neared. Once they were nearly upon the mystical haze, the three sitting in the middle of the boat carefully rose to their feet to prepare for whatever awaited them when they moved beyond the veil.
Breaking into the gray cover, the whole world seemed to have vanished from them in the near pitch that blocked out even the sun. Tongues of flame ignited the torches stationed along the craft at the Fire Keeper's finger snap that echoed off the water. Adjusting to the clouded glow to be able to see a few feet before and around them, the Alliance reached for their weapons when a tall shadow crept up on their right flank.
Just as the warriors were about to unleash an attack upon whatever the twenty-foot tall obstacle was, their eyes grew when it came into the warm light to reveal itself as the old, upturned remains of a capsized boat. Releasing the air that had seized up in their lungs, the Alliance physically eased... but only slightly.
Quatre navigated them through the obstacle course of debris from the many ships that had met their end in the watery abyss. "I suppose that the Elemental Stone was protecting itself while it still had its light," he murmured. In the eerie silence, his nearly whispered comment may as well have been screamed as it made his friends jump at its unexpected presence.
"Well, it will be good to bring you to your weapon so that we can be away from this place," Heero mumbled from the corner of his mouth. Gripping the hilt of his sword, he tried to not pay too much attention to the wreckage that seemed to be all around them.
Finally, the river was clear once more. "We must be coming upon the island now," Barton guessed aloud, spear in a tight hold and his visible emerald eye locked ahead.
Sure enough, the clear shape of a great rise of stone and land could be made out. And the beacon of the Elder shone through like a breath of sunlight. Gasping at the chilling abstract of the mortal that had once been before the sacrifice that spread them across the ridge's arch, the Alliance lowered their weapons lifelessly at their sides.
Though he already was certain to what they were looking at, Yuy removed the compass from his pouch and held it up in the palm of his hand. A flash of light from the torches cascaded through and the brilliant, blue beam appeared to aim for the center of the glowing spell coated on the side of the rock formation.
What gratitude and sadness the team felt for the brave, selfless gifted that had given literally everything they had to guide them beyond life was suddenly replaced at the appearance of hundreds upon hundreds of red eyes burning through the mist...
..and they were everywhere on the island.
"Dear Creator," Heero breathed, all but dropping the compass as his skin paled and cobalt eyes widened as far as they could.
A piercing screech from the skies was the last thing that the Alliance heard before they felt the monster that plunged down to fly straight through the center of their ship and have it smash into two sinking pieces.
TBC...
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