Love Conquers All Part 8
One guarded step at a time Heero moved farther into the macabre tomb. Inside there was an impenetrable bewitching twilight. A preternatural fog crept over the floor, clinging to his legs like vaporous serpents. The dampness was infused with various gases given off by the decomposing corpses. Only his single mindedness to reach Duo kept him from succumbing to the poisonous concentration.
There was an odd current that ebbed and flowed in much the same way that a human's breathing kept to a regular pattern. The "breathing" feathered the torchlight causing it to give off a ghostly glow. Strange sounds like droplets dripping repeated in a rhythmic meter growing louder in the absolute stillness. It was conceivable that, if a person were to become trapped in the perennial midnight, the constant dripping would soon drive that person insane.
Heero's arm extended further pushing the torch out ahead as far as his reach would allow. The mist-filtered light was immediately devoured by the dank duskiness leaving Duo's champion to grope along in halting steps. Something akin to walking on eggshells crunched under his boots. But Yuy knew that it was not an egg's discarded casing that crumbled underfoot but the brittle bones of the pitiful departed souls who could find no peaceful rest in the Dragon's keep.
A startled gasp stuck in the brave soldier's throat. An icy quiver clawed its way through his insides. Springing from the gloomy void a hollow-eyed skull popped out inches from his face. The skinless head was slick was a greenish film of fungus. The slime foamed in a syrupy coating oozing from the skull's vacant eye-sockets. A toothless mouth offered a gruesome grin from its slackened jaw.
To add to the ghastly discovery and its sickening results dozens of hard-shelled beetles, each at least two inches long and covered in the gooey slime, quickly crawled back inside the visionless "eyes" to evade the unwelcome torchlight. A pair of hind feet and a long hairless tail, no doubt belonging to a large breed of rodent, scurried after the exiting bugs to also elude the light.
Heero's stomach knotted. A gut wrenching wave washed over in a cold sweat. Drawing back from the horrible sight his back bumped another gaunt form whose decay-slick cranium also "smiled" in the same mimicking manner. The mockingly pleased skull set atop an equally green skeletal frame held to the wall by rusted iron shackles. Both knee joints had long ago rotted away. This disunion left the thighbones dangling like ghoulish wind chimes.
The contact snapped the skeleton's right arm allowing it to slip through the iron ring. The freed bones clattered to the floor where they scattered about in an unorganized fashion. Yuy froze in place to avoid any further collisions with the rotting residents. "I would say that the chambermaids haven't cleaned in here for awhile." he joked hoping that making light of his awful surroundings would help allay his shock.
Carefully Heero moved again keeping a straight path down the center of more skeletons lined up on either side like hellish soldiers awaiting inspection. As he walked it felt as though a thousand fingers brushed against his arms and legs and, at each point of contact, his skin burned with a frigid tingle.
Puddles of putrefied liquid, shining with the same green sliminess, were also avoided on his way to the other door. More waterlogged bones were strewn along the way in a haphazard pattern. Judging by the large number of these green-gray pieces of discarded framework Heero guessed that they represented quite a few unfortunate victims.
Finally he reached the end of the distasteful mess. His hand closed about the door's handle and he began to pull. A multitude of voices cried in unison, "FREE US!" The anguished plea moaned both outside and inside Heero's mind.
He turned to study the gruesome gauntlet he had just passed through, "I am not a Priest. I cannot help you."
The united voices wailed out, "You are a warrior, avenge us."
"How?"
"Kill the Dragon."
The door pulled back dragging on the bothersome bones. Dim light filtered in from the hall but the King's Captain didn't look back to see what other horrors it might expose.
Quatre, his color improved and the trembling gone, stood beside Trowa. His angelic smile greeted the returning ally. "We were beginning to worry." he confessed, "Are you all right?"
Heero nodded, "We have to find Duo and get him out of this madhouse.
"Ryuujin?" Trowa asked knowing Heero could not deny his destiny.
"He will be destroyed." Heero promised, "Once Duo is safely hidden beyond the outer wall you can guard him while I return to seek out the Dragon. That vile Son of Satan will pay for his defiling acts. I will reap the vengeance of all that is holy upon his despicable soul."
*********
The Shadow Spy materialized through the bolted door standing silently so as not to disturb his Master. Chang stood before a trio of stone caskets, each with their heavy lids removed. Behind the opened boxes three indistinct outlines stood just beyond the torchlight's limits. Chang chanted from a tattered text he held reverently before him.
"Master. My report." the veiled agent spoke lowly not wanting to interrupt and risk the Dragon's wrath.
Chang nodded but kept his back to his Shadow Spy.
"The intruders have reached your Incantation Chamber." he dutifully reported.
Chang tilted his head then quietly closed the ancient Book of Spells. Still he didn't turn around.
"Master?" the Spy whispered not certain his report had been heard. "What should I do?"
"Nothing." came the husky reply.
"But Master they will take your pet."
The Lord of Dragon's Lair pivoted slowly. His narrowed eyes rested on the shadowy servant. The Shadow Spy couldn't read his Master's expression that seemed to be a mixture of annoyance and wonderment and, oddly, a measure of pleasure.
"They are more resourceful than I thought, but their bravery and cunning will not change the inevitable." Chang proclaimed, "Let them believe they have won, that false notion will encourage them not to be as watchful. I have awakened my champions." he continued waving a hand at the phantom images lurking in the darkness. "They will see to it that the troublesome trespassers will pay for their insolence with their lives."
"But your pet...I thought..." the Shadow Spy began but he was quickly silenced by a annoyed glare from his Master.
"I have given my Demons permission to do what they like with the immortal betrayers." Chang smiled as he envisioned the Demons feasting on the priestly pair's flesh.
"As for the foolhardy human," Chang spat out the disparaging description with acidic distain. "he will meet a more painful end. It seems fitting that his demise should come in extended stages. Don't you think a slow evisceration would be appropriate? I will hang his entrails on the courtyard gate and display his head on a pike as proof of my absolute authority."
The Shadow Spy bowed his head nodding in agreement but his conscience was troubled by the Dragon's plans. But whether or not he approved of his Master's intensions he knew to hold his tongue. Opposition in any form was not tolerated.
"Yes the mortal's death will be particularly pleasing since he is the last barrier to my Pretty One's heart." Chang stated, "My pet will not be harmed but brought back to me in total submission. What better way to finally break his spirit than to watch his lover die. That will be my greatest victory. The sound of Heero Yuy begging my Demons to end his suffering will be burned into my lover's soul. The memory of his soldier's excruciating demise, the ultimate abandonment, will remove the last hindrance of hope. His willfulness will be destroyed and then he will be mine forever."
The Shadow Spy silently considered his Master's words; in principle they rang with truth. But he also knew much about the human heart for the Dragon's agent had once been a mortal warrior. He had been flesh and bone before he challenged the Devil and lost. Now he dwelled for eternity in the shadows, doomed to always exist in the lonely limbo between daylight and darkness. Still he had not forgotten how strong the human spirit was, how it had the ability to survive long after the will to live had been taken away.
True Chang might, by killing his pet's lover, dominant Duo's body and mind but Chang Wufei would never truly win. For all his satanic powers, the Devil's bastard-child could not conquer love. The Dragon's doomed agent also knew that his Master's possession of Duo would be short lived. At the first opportunity the human captive would surely commit suicide for the need to be with his soldier would overpower any sway Chang might have over his imprisoned slave. In the end Ryuujin would lose it could be no other way.
*********
Three shadows elongated on the corridor's wall. The blue-gray tagalongs matched their fleshy counterpart's movements perfectly as the soldier and his eternal comrades followed Heero's connection to Duo. Yuy's instincts were their only guide but Quatre and Trowa had no doubts that the heart-path was true in its directions. Heero stopped at an entrance to a large rectangular room, extinguished his light and laid it aside. Inside the soft glow of touches lining the walls provided sufficient light but did nothing to improve the chilly currents flowing through the opened door. His sword angled across his body and without a word Yuy walked in leaving his fellow warriors to follow in silent anticipation that their long and arduous journey was over.
The Captain did not waver in his route. Duo was there of that he was certain. But the link with his lover was faint, more frail than he would have thought it should be at such close range. It was like Duo was drifting away and if Heero didn't find him soon his precious soul mate would be beyond reclaiming. An archway carved in the right wall gave off the strongest vibrations. Again Yuy moved with positive steps.
Three startled breaths were drawn in unison as the immortals and the human took in their first sight of the smaller room's horrid atmosphere. Trowa felt his partner shiver as Quatre's empathy was again bombarded with the anguished torment of the countless victims of Ryuujin's cruelty. "By all that is holy." Quatre sighed calling for some divine intercession. But he knew, in the unconsecrated evil of the Dragon's Lair, no heavenly help would be forthcoming.
In more muted torchlight Ryuujin's implements of despair and pain somehow seemed a fitting addition to the terrible room. The death masks and their hideous features also kept to the intent of the hellish decor. "Duo could not be in such a wicked place." Quatre declared hoping against hope that this time Yuy's instincts were wrong. One look into Heero's sad eyes told the Fair One that his hope like everything else in this foreboding prison had been forsaken.
Quatre and Trowa followed the human's gaze to the room's furthest wall. An eerie white fog floated only there as if it was trying to hide that portion from view but the soupy haze did not completely succeed in its mission. A small form surrounded by lengths of chains lay in the corner's angular recesses. The mist-veiled outline was draped in some kind of material making it impossible to identify the shape beneath. "Duo?" the unsure question quivered from Heero's lips as he struggled to feel the fleeting connection.
Trowa's hand on his back encouraged the tentative soldier to take a step. Heero paused drawing in a deep breath to steady his nerves and fortify his courage before closing the distance between himself and the mysterious shape. The dark material was a thin blanket. The figure concealed under the woven cover was bowed into a tight fetal curl, knees pressed to its body. Long hair, snarled in knotted confusion, covered the head like a mourning veil shielding the features from Heero's searching eyes. Heero laid his sword my his feet and crouched beside the still form.
Squatting in the fog Yuy could not see any rise or fall from the body's torso. He heard no sounds of breath being drawn in or let out. With trembling fingers Heero lifted the matted mane afraid of what he might find. As the hair raised from the fog he saw that it was auburn although the silken and usually shiny red hues were now rough and dull.
In the mist Heero and his immortal allies knelt around the silent figure. "Oh merciful heavens." Heero whispered finally seeing his lover's face and realizing that it was tinted with an unmistakable death-pallor. The only color that could be discerned in the low light was deep purple circles under Duo's eyes. His eyelids were slightly parted and the empty gaze behind them showed no signs of focus.
"He is not gone." Heero told himself as he was certain his and his lover's link had not been completely severed.
Heero fumbled under the blanket trying to find his lover's hand believing that his mate was not too far gone to sense his touch. The clink of metal against metal and the cold feel of steel gave only a moment's warning before Duo's shackled hand cleared the blanket. His wrist was bruised and swollen under the iron ring, totally encircled by the blue discolorations. Dried blood and filthy grim tinged the folds of his skin. His hand was cold, his fingers limp as Heero started to clutch Duo's hand to his chest. The short length of chain connecting the second iron band tugged at Duo's opposite wrist which followed the upwards lifting in a sluggish manner.
Trowa reached around Heero passing his hand over the shackles. A sparkling blue line jumped from his fingertips to the iron bands. With a sharp snap the band's catch sprung open. Duo's hands dropped free plopping down on his chest. It was obvious he had fought the metal bindings and Heero was amazed that in the fighting he had not broken his wrists. Duo had a strong resistance to control. Submissive behavior had never been part of his stubborn nature. One way Duo had chosen to show his devotion to his soldier had been to give up that part of his nature and let his lover to be the dominant one in their lovemaking.
Easing his arm under Duo's shoulders Heero carefully sat him up until he was able to slide under his lover's lax frame. Supporting Duo's back against his chest, he cradled his head as it wanted to lop to one side. Even in such close contact Heero still could not feel Duo breathing. Laying his hand over his heart there was not trace of its beating.
"No you can't leave me." Heero whimpered shoring up his hold and rocking his soul mate back and forth as a mother would comfort her child. Had Duo slipped beyond recovery? Was there nothing more that could be done?
Heero locked his tear-moist eyes on his comrades. " Do something!" he demanded, the order screamed in anger-choked words.
Tears streaked Quatre's fair cheeks. "We can heal but we cannot reverse death." he whispered as the possibility of total failure crashed in on the God of Light.
"Damn it," Heero growled placing a hand under Duo's chin, "I will not let you go." he swore bending over to kiss Duo's ashen lips. "That bastard will not win. Duo do you hear me, Ryuujin will not win." he declared deepening the kiss, determined to use its power to transfer the very breath of life to his beloved mate.
*********
Fragrant blossoms like snowdrift fields swayed overhead. Duo laid naked on a carpet of cool, green grass as warm sunlight filtered through the graceful tree branches. Nestled within the flowering limbs a songbird warbled out a sweet melody.
Duo wrapped his legs around Heero's waist drawing him closer. His also nude lover ravished kisses on Duo's face, his neck, stopping at his chest to concentrate on nipples hardened with passion. Duo moaned as his partner pleasured him in all the ways only a familiar lover can. Duo raised his hips to better align his anal opening with Heero's quite ready manhood. With deliberate caution Duo's soldier entered into his hot channel. Both lover's breathing increased, both held on tightly as Heero's aroused member continued its ecstatic journey.
Finally fully seated Heero paused bathing in the pure joy of being one with his precious soul mate. He kissed Duo once more sliding his tongue inside to taste the deliciousness, to savor the essence that was Duo's alone.
"Love me my soldier." Duo whispered close to Heero's ear then licked over the lobe to further entice immediate action.
With a mixture of lust and love Heero pulled halfway out then pushed in with a focused thrust burying his erection as far as it would go. Duo closed his eyes almost overwhelmed by his happiness. He was with his soldier, his savior, united as one in body, heart and soul. "More." he begged in ragged pants of exhilaration. "Harder." he urged pressing his hips up in an anxious manner.
Heero set to a steady rhythm. He knew his lover so well that every movement, each withdrawal and thrust was designed to bring Duo to the brink but not yet allow him to go over the edge. Duo lifted his arms enfolding them around Heero's neck. Heero placed one hand under Duo's hips to make their union more secure.
With the other hand he reached between their rocking bodies to capture his lover's enlarged manhood. "Yes, my love, yes." Duo growled as his own primitive passion took over.
As a single unit the lovers engaged in a dance as old as time. The sensual music played in their heads, the meter and steps were remembered in their bodies. Picking up the pace Heero lovingly guided his mate to the dance's thundering finale. Several more strokes along his throbbing erection and Duo could feel a tingle growing in his groin.
The flood moved upwards gathering in hot waves then with a spasmodic shudder Duo came surrendering his seed. The release caused him to tighten around Heero's manhood eroding the last of his control. "Duo." Heero whispered with respectful appreciation for his mate's unwavering trust in him as he filled his lover with his most valuable gift.
Duo closed his eyes letting the afterglow carry him to a closer connection with his soldier. Suddenly Heero's weight was gone, his warmth evaporated leaving in its wake a cruel cold. Duo opened his eyes and stared in disbelief. His lover had vanished. Not a trace of his essence remained, not even the faintest scent of his sex lingered in the icy air.
Panic gripped Duo's heart, a pure fear so strong that it froze in his chest and shut off his breathing. "Heero!" he called out to his vanished lover. He looked overhead. All the blossoms had wilted and the only thing that could be seen through the gnarled tree branches was a dead songbird and a black veil covering the sun.
"HEERO!" Duo wailed now suddenly aware that he could no longer sense his soldier at all. It was as if the earth had opened up and drew his lover into the very depths of hell.
Then a distant voice caressed his mind. "Duo." It faded away almost before it was heard. "Duo." It called again now more of a feeling than a sound. It was Heero's voice and he knew his mate was calling from far away almost too far to be heard.
"Heero I'm here." Duo answered the weak calling. "Where are you? Tell me where and I will come to you." he begged as the voice faded further away. "Heero, please."
"Your soldier cannot reach you." another voice declared booming from the blackened sun. "You are mine and he cannot have you."
Duo stared in horror as a great creature dropped from the dying sun's ebony backwash. Growing larger against the inky sky it beat its massive wings swooping down to claim its prize. "MINE!" it roared as wisps of smoke and fire belched from his nose and mouth.
"NO!" Duo screamed. "HEERO SAVE ME!" as the beast's claws snatched up his victim. "NO!" Duo wailed batting his fists against his captor.
TBC...
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