"Dorono is it?" Thiowa smiled, then she looked at Heshrou.
"You have gotten the supplies."
"Yes," he said, and he took of a large
pack he was wearing on his back, and began to dig through some of the contents.
"I have everything you asked for, extra clothes for traveling, food, I presume
that we all have the weapons we'll need at our side, and..." A light smile formed
on his lips. "I also grabbed something else for you milady." And he took out
a beautifully crafted reed pipe. "I crafted it myself Thiowa; awhile back, and
I just never found the time or place to present it to you."
Thiowa's amber eyes sparkled, and the gold in
them seemed to radiate. "Heshrou... I... I don't know what to say."
"It's okay if you don't like it. I can just
take it back," Heshrou said crestfallen.
Thiowa laughed. "It's not that. I love it very
much, I just couldn't think of words to describe its beauty." And she gave the
ex-head of militia a hug, and I was the only one to see his cheeks flame a little
red under the green of his scales.
Suddenly the sound of feet pounding through
the underbrush sounded, and Thiowa backed away from Heshrou taking out her raspier,
while the later pulled out his sword, and prepared for a fight. I had just enough
time to pull out my blade when several trained Krawk swordsmen came out at us.
Heshrou, Thiowa and I fought the incoming Krawks
with skill, but they were pushing us back. Only two were left standing when
Heshrou fell down with a dagger imbedded in his right leg, and his arm all bloodied
up. The fire Krawk standing over him lifted his sword, preparing to strike,
but at that instant, a gray shadow jumped on him, hissing and scratching up
a storm. Its one yellow eye blazed as if scratched up the fire Krawk's eyes,
keeping it away from Heshrou until I lifted him up off the ground, and then
with a wave of its bushy tail, the creature jumped away into the night.
"Come on!" Thiowa yelled waving her raspier
over her head. "Let's get out of here!" and she started to run with me behind.
I slid to a stop, and looked behind where Heshrou was lagging behind due to
his wound.
I ran back to Heshrou, and bent down, "Get on
my back Heshrou. That way I can carry you out of here. Otherwise, at this rate,
you will surely become captured or killed by any more guards who come!" Heshrou
looked at me solemnly, but then he seemed to shrug it off, and jumped onto my
back, and I started running.
Soon we had caught up with Thiowa who had turned
to wait, and then all three of us were off running as the sound of more Krawks
pounding through the underbrush behind us could be heard. "Hurry." She hissed,
and with a wave of her hand began to run with me right behind.
We ran as fast as was possible in an attempt
to escape the Krawk guard, but even so, they were gaining ground, quickly. I
could have ran faster, but I did not wish to leave Thiowa behind, for she did
get me out of the wormhole that I was stuck in, because she was starting to
lag back. I slowed my pace to keep up with her, and running next to her side,
I allowed myself a chance look behind at our pursuers. There were many, all
of them Krawks with swords, spears, and other weapons of the sort, and they
were in a mad lust to get us.
I turned my head back just in time to have something
bound over my head holding a sword firmly in her hands. Her long dark purple
hair with lime green stripes waved as she fended off the first of the Krawks,
and her long black and purple dress waved with the air. The thing that caught
my eyes the most was her wings; two large bat wings sprouting from her back.
She was a faerie of darkness, though why she would help us, I could not guess.
The darkness faerie faltered slightly in her
step, and at that second, another purple form bounded over me yelling "Tron!"
and then swung her sword at the Krawk who was aiming for the darkness faeries
unprotected back, felling the Krawk. This second fighter was a Zafara wearing
a green tunic with gold linings, and knee length blue pants. A cape of black
with a golden dragon in a fighting pose design was waving over her shoulder,
and had a red ruby imbedded in a gold circle as the emblem on the front. Two
blue gloves were pulled over her hands up to her elbows, with cuts to allow
the fingers to stick out, and she fought with a superb grace.
The darkness faerie turned to look at us, "Get
moving ya slowpokes! We can't hold them off forever!" and with a slight nod,
Thiowa, and me with Heshrou on my back ran off through the swamp.
We kept running until we reached a large lake,
and then we finally stopped, panting with all of the running and fighting that
we did. Heshrou rolled off my back, and then slowly began to make his way to
the waters edge. "Where are you going?" Thiowa asked.
"Since I presume we will stay here awhile, I
am off to wash out my wound before it gets infected." And then he hobbled the
rest of the way to the waters edge, and started to splash water onto his wounds.
"Okay, I'll just get some sleep." Then Thiowa
smiled a deep smile. "The first night of freedom."
"Don't be too sure of that," I said to
her. "The darkness faerie and the Zafara warriors were strong, but if they were
beat we could have more Krawks on us within an hour if they track worth anything.
I think that it is best to post a guard. We can switch every hour or so."
"That is a good idea Dorono," Heshrou said,
limping up to our side. "I volunteer to go first," he said, putting his
sword in its sheath. "I doubt that I could sleep right now anyway with this
wound, and he pointed at his leg.
"Thanks," I said before laying down to
get some sleep myself, which quickly came.
I awoke to a slight shaking from Heshrou, and
as I opened my eyes, I mumbled, "Is it my turn for watch?" Heshrou however,
put his finger to his lips, and pointed up into the sky next to the full moon.
I looked up just in time to see the form of
the darkness faerie pass over it. "It is that faerie," Heshrou said not
taking his eye from the shadow that was she. "She may have helped us back there,
but I don't know if we can trust her. She is a darkness faerie after all." Her
shadow disappeared over the line of trees.
"We may not have a choice," I said, looking
for a glimpse of not as much her, but the Zafara, for she reminded me of Zana,
a much more experienced Zana that is. "We will just wait until tomorrow to see
how this plays out. Here, you get some sleep, now that I'm awake, I couldn't
just go back to sleep. Besides dawn will be here shortly, best to get sleep
while you still can." And then with a muttered 'Thanks' Heshrou curled up and
went to sleep besides Thiowa. I smiled down at them before looking back up into
the sky.
My two hours passed without incident, and the
sun was just starting to show its face on the horizon when Thiowa woke up seeing
me looking up into the sky teary eyed, with my injured wing at my side. "It
must be horrible to not be able to do something you love," she said, rubbing
my wing. I turned and smiled at her as she pulled out the reed pipe that Heshrou
had given her. "Let's see how this plays, huh?" and she laughed her pure laugh,
and began to play.
The notes played out perfectly, and it was a
beautiful melody though short. "That sounds magnificent," I said. "Heshrou
did a great job in his craftsmanship."
"Thanks, and glad that you like it Thiowa."
There was Heshrou, awake after all.
Thiowa smiled a deep smile. "Can you too play?"
she asked the Krawk warrior.
"I've played since I was a young Krawkling.
I always keep mine around, though it is in no way as beautiful as yours Thiowa."
And he pulled out a reed pipe from his pack. "Let us play together milady."
"Of course, let's play 'Dream's Shadow'." And then the two broke out, with
perfect harmony, into the song. It was filled with saddening notes, and long
pulled out ones. At the very end with a couple of high-pitched notes, Thiowa
ended it with a drawn out low. She looked over to me afterwards. "Is everything
all right Dorono?" she said with affection, "Your eyes are watering."
"That song brought memories to my mind,"
I said, wiping my eyes with the backside of my paw. "Memories of my friend Zana
Taru. If she even lived, I doubt that I will ever see her again."
A sudden loud laugh from the trees behind us
turned me around. "You can't be too sure about that, can you?" There was standing
the darkness faerie, a smile on her face.
"What are you doing here?!?" I yelled preparing
myself for a fight if one was to break out.
"I am only reuniting old friends," she
said, stepping to the side to reveal the purple Zafara who had been concealed
behind the darkness faerie's wings.
I suddenly realised why she reminded me of Zana
Taru so much. It was because she was Zana Taru, only dressed in an outfit of
immense beauty. "Zana..." I whispered. "Zana Taru," I said with a smile,
and she ran over to me, and jumped in my arms.
"I thought you were dead," she said to
me in my ear.
"As did I with you, but all that maters is that
we are not."
"What's that?" Zana said backing up. "Look behind
you Dorono."
I looked, and there was a small gray creature
with a single yellow eye. I recognised it right away as the creature that I
had kept seeing. It was a Meowclops, and it was slowly walking up to me. I put
out my paw, and the Meowclops came over, and rubbed against it. "Hey little
guy. You've been following me around haven't you?"
"Yup," he said in a childish voice, and
I practically jumped at that. I hadn't expected him to respond. But I guess
like Tarnox, this Meowclops could talk. "I was told to follow you by Valvex.
She said that you would get into trouble, and that I would have ta help." Then
the Meowclops let on a big grin. "My name is Elecwator, what's yours?"
"Um... Dorono," I said, just getting used
to this little feline.
"Elecwator," Thiowa said stepping up. "I
never got to thank you for delivering my message. Thanks." And she patted him
upon the head, and the little kitten gleamed with delight.
Zana Taru looked up to the darkness faerie.
"That reminds me, thank you for the cloths, the sword, and thank you for helping
me find Dorono."
"No problem," she said in response.
"So this darkness faerie was helping you?" I
asked.
"Yes," Zana said. "If it weren't for Tron
here, I never would have found you."
"Thanks Tron," I said looking up at the darkness
faerie, hoping that I got her name right, "for looking out for Zana. Now that
we are together once more," I said turning to face Zana Taru, "We can continue
our search for the Flower of Trinifucus." And she nodded to show her approval.
"Did you saw the Flower of Trinifucus?" Tron
said looking down at us.
"Yes."
"I know where it is, but it is a dangerous path
to take."
"I am willing," I said solemnly. "It is
the only way."
Tron looked down to the ground. "I can take
you only halfway there, then you'll be on your own."
"Why can't you take us all the way there?" Zana
asked Tron looking quite confused.
"Well, you see, I am not exactly a model citizen,
and after I blew up a few things, Valvex kicked me out, with a 'Never come back'
as I walked away," she said with a slight grin.
"So you were kicked out. Great," I said
with a small laugh. "Well, take us as far as you can Tron." Then I turned to
face Thiowa and Heshrou, and smiled. "Thank you both for rescuing me. May we
meet again... hopefully."
"Come on!" Tron yelled to me, for she was already
walking off with Zana and young Elecwator, so with a swish of my tail, I ran
after them. "We are headed for the coast," she said, "Valvex lives on an island
out there, and hopefully by the time we reach the coast your wing will have
healed enough for you to fly," she said the later to me especially.
"How'd you know that my wing was damaged?" I
asked with a certain gleam in my eye.
"It is!" Zana said looking me over.
"Well, when one can fly herself, she knows when
a wing has been damaged, and yours defiantly is." Tron looked it over for a
bit. "Are you sure it isn't broken?"
"I hope it isn't," I said truthfully.
"Let me check it out," Tron said, and then
without waiting for me to answer, grabbed my wing, and started pinching it here
and there, until I let out a big yelp when she hit the bad spot.
"OUCH!!! That hurts faerie," I growled.
"Well it should," she said with a scowl.
"Your wing has a fracture, small, but it still is a break, and at the rate you
seem to be going, it will never heal correctly."
"But it must," Zana said softly. "We need
him to fly me to that island so that we can find the flower, and save my mother's
life."
Tron didn't say a thing, and instead reached
behind her, and from who-knows-where pulled out a glass vile, and handed it
to me. "I always carry one of these around, just in case. Now, drink up Dorono."
"What is it?" I asked.
"A healing potion. I swiped it from a water
faeries bag when I got her lost."
'Defiantly not the role model,' I thought as
I took a big gulp from the bottle. Expecting a rank taste, I found it to be
quite sweet, the taste of freshly picked berries, and something else that I
couldn't identify. Satisfied with the taste, I drank about half of what was
left in the vile, which wasn't really that much.
Right away I felt a change coming on. My wing
first got a tingly sensation, and then it numbed up. I spread out my wing, not
feeling any pain, for I couldn't even feel the wing itself, and looked at the
hurt spot as a sickening cracking sound could be heard.
"Bone's fixen itself," Tron said as if
used to this by now.
"Makes a real nice sound," I said sarcastically.
"Yeah, kinda like it myself," Tron said,
and I looked at her to see if she was serious, but as usual, he face was impossible
to read.
I looked back at the wing as the numbing quit
and the tingling returned, which soon quit too. "Wow..." I said bending my wing
around, not even feeling a slight strain. In fact, it felt better then it had
ever before felt in my memory.
"It's not over yet Dorono," Tron said with
a cocked eye.
"Hm?" I grunted, but then I felt more then saw
what the darkness faerie meant. All past cuts and bruises that I had disappeared
before me, and I was covered in a sense of well being. The feathers on my wings
seamed to fan out, and become larger, and my fur felt as if it had grown an
inch. I suddenly felt refreshed from my travels, and felt as if I could run
the distance of Neopia without stopping for a breath; I felt... I felt that
I could get the Flower of Trinifucus for Zarrel. I knew that I could.
"That is the bonus of drinking such a drink
of the faeries," Tron said with a smile on her face. "Come on, the day
drags on, and we cannot linger forever. I will take you to the coast, and you
will have to find your own way from there."
"Wait!"
I turned, and there was Thiowa running up with
Heshrou limping behind, "What is it?"
"What do you think?" Thiowa said with a smile,
which I shrugged to. "We are coming too."
"Yes," Heshrou said as he finished limping
up to us, and looking down, I saw a trickle of blood coming from his wound.
"Okay," I said, and then remembering the
still 1/3 full vile, I tossed it to Heshrou. 'But first, you should drink up
this." And with a smile, he took the vile, and we were ready to go once more.
To be continued... | 
