Wolf Moon Part 34
With the hot spring bubbling around them, Duo cradled Heero in a reassuring embrace. Heero rested his head on Duo's chest, took a deep breath and began his nightmarish account that might or might not foretell the future.
Duo listened in attentive silence. An occasional nod offered support. An encouraging squeeze on Heero's hand was employed whenever the recalling became difficult.
Only when the Tracker's courage faltered did Duo interrupt. "Dreams have no power over our destiny." he stated with sure conviction.
Heero sat up with a sigh. "My dream seemed real." he countered as he remembered jerking awake in a cold sweat with his heart hammering against his ribs.
Duo couldn't argue with the physical trauma created by dreams, especially the torment of recurring nightmares. He fixed Heero's cobalt sight with the utmost sincerity. "What you felt was real, your mind believed but that doesn't mean it's a prophecy of things to come."
"But what if...."
Duo placed a finger on Heero's lips. "If your dream was a premonition?"
Heero shook his head affirmatively.
"Premonitions aren't set in stone." Duo challenged the notion of predestination or fate or luck. His finger slid away and he leaned closer. "Do you trust me?"
No hesitation preceded Heero's answer. "As a warrior with my life and as a lover with my heart."
"Lover?" Duo whispered at the word's implication.
Not as bold as before, Heero lowered his eyes. "If you'll have me."
"I'll be damned!" Duo exclaimed in astonishment. "Since the first day I laid eyes on you, nay the very moment, I've wanted you," he confessed, "but knowing your background I gave up hope you'd have an Irish orphan with a dubious past."
"My background." Heero repeated. "Why would that matter?"
Now Duo was not as confident. "You were born with privilege. A grand house and fancy food and a stable of horses and....."
Heero's kiss stopped Duo's rambling reply.
Now wasn't the time for comparing castes or taking account of material possessions. Heero's mother had taught him that nobility was not given by birthright but earned by honorable deeds and selfless concern for every person's well being.
Despite Duo's grief from the loss of his family, his mistrust of authority and his resentment over his unjust imprisonment, he was brave in battle and loyal to his friends. Furthermore the Duel Spirit always used his metamorphic power for good, never for profit or revenge.
No, Duo Maxwell's parentage didn't define his worth nor did his past determine the man he had become.
Heero ended the kiss and pulled back just enough to gaze into violet eyes that showed so much compassion it made him weep. "Will you have me?" he choked out the humble request.
"Forever and a day." Duo pledged his body and mind, heart and soul then sealed his promise with a tender kiss.
With the hot spring bubbling around them, the Tracker and Duel Spirit clung to each other. There were no lustful groping only adoring caresses and gentle kisses. As much as they desired to consummate their commitment, they wanted their first union to be spiritual, a fusion of their souls before the joining of their bodies.
A loud grumble from Duo's stomach rudely interrupted their cuddling. Heero brushed damp bangs from lover's eyes then, spurred on by his empty stomach, declared. "As much as I'd love to stay like this all morning we should dry off, get dressed and eat breakfast."
*********
An after breakfast soak in the hot spring had relaxed Wufei's taut muscles, soothed his sore buttocks and alleviated his headache. Also shampooed hair combed out and secured in a ponytail, clean clothes and his belly satisfied by rice and sweet milk had greatly improved the Beast's grouchy disposition. Wufei sat at the table by the fire pit. Dishes had been cleared, cleaned and replaced with a limestone mortar and pestle and a pewter bowl and spoon.
Three unbleached cotton bags filled with various grainy substances set in no particular order. A square tin box with a hinged lid waited to be filled. He dumped the first bag into the bowl, added five spoonfuls from the second cloth container then transferred the mixture into the mortar.
Heero paused just inside the room's chiseled entrance. He folded his arms across his chest, leaned his shoulder against the rough arch and watched as Wufei used the pestle to pulverize the mystery concoction into fine particles. Two measures from the third bag were stirred in and the grinding continued.
Wufei glanced up. "Come in." he invited the Tracker to join him.
Heero pushed off the wall and took a seat opposite his comrade. "Dare I ask what you're mixing?"
Wufei poured the slate gray mixture to the tin box. "Thunder powder."
A grin flickered over Heero's lips. "Dare I ask what that is?"
"It would be easier to show you what it does."
Wufei pinched up some powder, leaned over and sprinkled it in a pile on the floor. Next he pivoted, picked a twig from the kindling box and lit it from the fire.
"Ready?" Wufei asked with a gleam in his eyes that caused Heero to wonder if a swift retreat might be a wise choice.
Against his better judgment the Tracker held his breath and nodded yes."
The flame kissed the powder.
A sizzle. A blue-white flash.
A thunderous BANG ricocheted off the walls.
Heero to jump to his feet. "What form of devilry was that!" he shouted as he stared wide-eyed where the powder had disappeared to leave a black spot behind.
"No magic just a mixture of natural elements triggered by fire." Wufei explained.
"Where did you learn about...such...things?" Heero stammered as his settled nervously back on the bench.
"The knowledge has been passed down for generations but it wasn't until my ancestors began to veil themselves as human were we able to gather the raw materials to make the powder. My father taught me just has his father taught him."
While Heero understood the process and was keenly aware of the extraordinary results he couldn't figure out the function. "What's the purpose other than producing a bright light and a loud noise?"
This time the glimmer in Wufei's ebony eyes cast a destructive aspect. "When the powder is packed tightly in a casing of clay or metal it explodes with force great enough to undermine foundations or rupture walls. It can also be lethal to any creature."
Wufei braced his elbows on the table, fixed Heero's sight and whispered. "It is the ultimate weapon of war. It lies in wait until fire torches its soul then it unleashes the fury of hell."
A spark ignited in Heero's heart, as the powder's full potential was realized. "This could better our outnumbered odds, could turn the tide against Khushrenada."
"Exactly."
Then a sobering thought tempered Heero's eager expectations of the Dark Lord's defeat. "Does Zechs know about..." he hesitated, not wanting to voice the deadly reality.
Wufei breathed out a sigh that spoke volumes regarding the state of his conscience. "He knows but he's a warrior who has taken an oath of protection and he will not forsake his vow. Zechs will try to reason with Treize, use their bond to reach beyond his madness and salvage what shreds of humanity remain but I fear the Temple Keeper will fail."
"You and I," Heero acknowledged, "Duo and Trowa and Quatre, we all share Zechs' vow and it binds us to the same inescapable path to war."
*********
A solitary figure sat on the first stone bench in the Temple watching wisps of sweet smoke curl from the gold incense burners. The blue vapors would coil in lazy spirals then, seized by the chilly updraft, swirl up to the vaulted ceiling and vanish.
"As fleeting as the days of man." Duo muttered softly then frowned when he couldn't remember the end of the verse.
Ignoring the stench of decay wafting from the ossuary, Duo studied the gem-embellished altar in pensive silence. In the stillness a twinge of melancholy encroached upon his contemplative thoughts.
Deep World provided sanctuary; the quinque, a circle of security and now Heero was the guardian of his heart but Duo felt forlorn. He had learned to mask his pain and had earnestly strived to appreciate blessings instead of dwelling on injustice yet he longed for his father's guidance, yearned for his mother's consoling embrace and his brother's companionship.
Years ago Duo did believe. Even after the terrible sickness claimed his family he used his mother's rosary to count his petitions...before a superstitious parish priest and a bastardly sheriff destroyed his last link with faith.
Duo interlaced his fingers in a pose of prayer, closed his misty eyes in a sham of supplication. Outwardly Duo Maxwell still believed but his soul was hollow and he doubted if the void would ever be filled.
*********
At the sound of voices echoing down the passage, Duo dried his eyes on his sleeve, donned his optimistic mask and prepared to greet his brothers-in-arms.
The Manipulator and Priest's arrival was announced by the cadence of Trowa's staff tapping on the floor. In a few minutes Wufei and Zechs sat down opposite Quatre and Trowa.
As the Warriors of the Rose assembled for a strategy session Duo thought how paradoxical it was that a consecrated Temple should be used as war room. The irony was further illustrated when he recalled a sermon he'd heard on beating swords into plowshares.
Moments later Heero ambled in sat beside his partner and took his hand. Noticing Duo's red-rimmed eyes he whispered. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, didn't get enough sleep." Duo lied then mentally berated himself for his dishonesty.
Straight away the session took on a serious attitude. Trowa knew any discussion concerning Treize would be stressful for the Dark Lord's ex-lover but the subject couldn't be avoided.
A soldier's cold detachment replaced a priest's benevolence as Trowa apprised Zechs on the quinque's encounter with General Khushrenada and his army of Soulless Slaves. He stated the facts then presented a plan, not based on a madman's salvation but intent on vanquishing evil.
The deterioration of Treize's psyche, worsened by wine and his bitterness spawned by Zechs' rejection, had destroyed all hope of peace. It was not a matter of negotiation, there was no longer a chance for diplomacy and like Trowa's father, Triton Bloom, an emissary would surely be killed.
The situation broke Zechs' heart. He was desperate to save Treize but the Temple Keeper would not shirk his duty. His only hope was that a trace of sanity remained in Treize's unbalanced mind and there was enough love left in his heart to restore the link he and Zechs once shared.
Zechs Merquise leaned over and braced his forearms on his knees. Silky, silver hair curtained his face and hid the single tear that tracked down his cheek. A shudder shook his body before an expelled breath hissed over quivering lips.
"I dreamed last night."
He raised his head and locked his sky blue eyes on his comrades. "Two dragons stood atop a mountain shrouded in crimson mist. Smoke bellowed from the snouts and fire blazed on their lips.
One dragon wore a breastplate engraved with a lion and a stag bound together by a scarlet cord. The second dragon had a deep cross-shaped scar etched into his scaly chest. Each winged beast brandished a double-edged sword."
"Was there a fortress on the mountain?" Quatre inquired.
Zechs nodded. "A dark foreboding structure with gray stone walls, broad parapets, tall spires and iron bars guarding the windows."
Quatre continued. "And birds, black as midnight with great wingspans, circling a tower, all screeching a single note over and over again?"
Zechs stared in amazement. "Yes but how did you know?"
"I also dreamed last night."
"Hellgate Castle." Wufei growled.
"Septum's lair." Trowa confirmed the castle's ownership. "We should have known that son of Satan was working his influence on Khushrenada's fragile willpower."
Zechs turned to regard the five frescoes depicting the Lone Hunter, the Duel Spirit, the Manipulator, the Cleric and the Beast then announced where the final battle would be waged.
"Tomorrow we journey to Hellgate and nothing on earth or in heaven or in hell will stop us."
TBC...
Author's Note: If you would like to review the warrior's life stories. Duo--part 7. Wufei--part 9. Trowa--part 12. Quatre--part 13. Heero--part 14.
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