Wolf Moon Part 38
Seconds ago the sun melted into the horizon. In the brief interlude between the vultures returning to roost and hordes of vampire bats taking flight for their nocturnal feast, General Khushrenada lingered atop Hellgate Castle's uppermost parapets.
The Dark Lord of Aragon shielded his eyes against a spike of crimson piercing the twilight-kissed clouds then targeted his ice blue sight on an isolated hill protruding from the treeless, boulder-strewn perimeter guarding the ancient keep.
Inquisitively he tilted his head and sniffed the sporadic gusts that carried a damp, dusky scent and something else.
"Zechs," he whispered but his ex-lover's name was quickly consumed by the buffeting currents.
*********
Six prone bodies, arranged shoulder to shoulder, lined the hilltop's spiny ridge.
From the Warriors of the Rose lofty vantage point, Hellgate Castle seemed to float in a birch bark fog oozing from the barren expanse littered with limestone outcrops, tuffs of feather grass and skeletal stalks of wild oats.
In contemplative silence, Zechs, Wufei, Trowa, Quatre, Heero and Duo studied the castle's granite walls, bi-level parapets and main wooden gate fortified with a latticework of iron bars.
A wisp of wind feathered Zechs' pale bangs. "A frontal assault is unadvisable." he stated the obvious.
Duo shifted his hip to slide off a rock digging into his thigh. "No matter, we're better at sneakin' in."
"It would be wise to wait until night." Quatre added his opinion.
"True," Heero agreed, "the darkness would conceal our approach but it will also hinder our ability to maneuver around the outcrops."
Throughout the impromptu strategy session Wufei mentally reviewed how the particular date correlated with the celestial calendar. "Fate has again intervened." he announced matter-of-factly.
"How so?" Zech inquired.
The Beast tucked ebony hair behind his ears and offered a sly smile to his occasional lover. "The Wolf Moon is full tonight."
*********
Septum looked up from a map drafted on aged parchment flattened on a time-worn table. "What do you want?"
Odin hobbled ten feet across the room, braced his hands on the table and transferred his weight to his good leg. "Damn stairs!"
"The stairs or your lack of fortitude is of no concern to me." Septum declared with an air of indifference.
"You'd better be concerned about Khushrenada." Odin hissed through clenched teeth.
Septum took a sip from a goblet of ruby wine. "The self-proclaimed savior of Aragon will soon outlive his usefulness. His final task is to lure the Warriors of the Rose to Hellgate. When that is done the pompous braggart will become a casualty of his misguided quest for glory."
*********
Now the warrior's quandary was not getting to the castle but how to ascend ten foot walls of smooth rock that offered few footholds or how to avoid the dozen or so sentries circulating around the parapets. Then there was the army of Soulless Slave milling about the courtyard and, lastly, the watchers who made up the Dark Lord's personal bodyguards.
Several plans of attack were discussed and considered. Duo's suggestion that he taunt the sentries by lobbing stones and shouting disparaging remarks about the diminished dimensions of their cocks was rejected by a vote of five to one.
Finally it was decided that secretive infiltration was the better plan. This time Duo's ability to transform into a falcon made him the logical choice for clearing the wall and finding the means to unlatch one the less secure side entrances.
The full moon shone like a great silver coin polished to a dazzling luster. Etched on the "Guardian of the Night" was the ghostly profile of a wolf, head tilted back and mouth opened in a perpetual howl.
Shafts of moonlight slicing through billowy clouds illuminated spots here and there across the desolate plane the warriors had to traverse. The Temple Keeper took the lead. Heero came next, crouching behind what cover he could find until Zechs signaled all clear. Duo trailed Heero in the same halt and start mode of moving forward and so on down the line with each additional insurgent following suit.
Doing their best to blend into the shadows thrown up against Hellgate's eastern wall, the sextet of gatecrashers slunk in a stealthy fashion then drew together just short of their objective.
Duo squatted beside Heero. He craned his neck to study the wall's imposing height. "I'll take to the sky, land on the watchtower, get my bearings then open the gate."
"We'll be waiting." Zechs confirmed. "Even if it's awhile before you reach the gate take no chances. Understood?"
"Patience is my virtue" Duo stated.
Wufei snorted at the Duel Spirit's declaration. "I thought you never told a lie"
Duo leaned closer to his Asian comrade. "Tis not a lie," he offered a wily grin, "just a matter of the degree of my forbearance."
Heero took Duo's hand and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. "Be careful."
Duo replied with a brushing kiss across his husband's lips. "Being careful is my very best virtue and that's no lie."
In the blink of an eye a falcon stood in Duo's place. The radiant Wolf Moon shimmered on sleek, tawny feathers and glistened over shiny black orbs that were once Duo's violet eyes.
The Bird of Prey used an abbreviated flap to carefully alight on the Hunter's extended arm so his razor-sharp talons didn't claw through the cotton sleeve. As Heero stroked the falcon's head, smoothing down crown feathers ruffled by the wind, he felt quite keenly an instinctive connection between himself and the Duel Spirit who possessed the soul of both man and bird.
"May angels guide your flight." Heero whispered so only his lover could hear.
The falcon emitted a soft chirp from his curved beak then stretched his great wings to their full span. He caught an updraft, circled once over the remaining warriors' heads then soared to a dizzying altitude. A shrill cry was returned by the wind seconds before the Duel Spirit was lost from sight.
Zechs put the warrior's fate in Duo's hands. "Now we wait."
*********
Odin, his left leg stretched out by the fireplace in hopes of easing the stiffness, gave a sideways glance as Treize plopped down in an adjacent faded velvet chair.
"What has you in such a pensive mood?" Odin wondered, "Other than this morbid fortress, the horrible food and the constant cold seeping from the walls?"
"They're close." Treize responded with a hint of melancholy.
"Aye, your traitorous paramour and his band of bastards." Odin stated then winced when moving his leg registered a pang of pain.
Treize centered menacing eyes on his Captain. "Watch what you say if you wish to keep your tongue."
At the risk of inviting bodily harm, Odin locked his best brooding glare on his Commander. "If you truly desire to claim you rightful place in Aragon then you can show no mercy, not even to the Temple Keeper."
In less than a heartbeat a hand clamped around Odin's throat. "Never speak of Zechs again." the Dark Lord growled.
As powerful fingers crushed Odin's windpipe until his vision dimmed around the edges, he managed a pitiful plea for what could be his last breath. "Please." was whimpered as black dots swimming before his eyes merged to blind his sight.
With a forceful exhalation, Treize broke the choke hold. "Any further comments?" he hissed.
Odin rubbed the red ring of fingerprints encircling his throat. "No sire." he sputtered then mumbled under his breath. "Not until I dance on your grave."
*********
From his post atop the eastern watchtower, Duo employed his superior eyesight to study the courtyard that was partially obscured by swirling funnels of fog. He could see plenty of movement and his equally enhanced hearing picked up varied voices dampened by the blanched mist.
There were human conversations; soldiers complaining about their assigned duties or the absence of whores. There was also the garbled incoherency of forsaken men and women who, through vile sorcery, been stripped of their souls.
A few mindless slaves wandered aimlessly but most were crowded into makeshift circular corrals constructed of poles set in the ground, secured with sturdy ropes.
Directly below the Duel Spirit's tall perch, two men hidden behind a stack of firewood engaged in a rough release of sexual frustrations. Their grunts and groans and panting had no problem reaching Duo's sensitive ears.
For an instant Duo longed to be pinned by the weight of Heero's body, to be peppered with kisses, stroked by calloused fingers until his skin burned and to feel the bittersweet pain of their union as his lover thrust hard and deep.
Even in his altered form Duo could remember breathy declarations of his love for Heero accented by grunts and groans and the screaming of his husband's name as they plunged together into a mutual, mind-blowing climax.
The moment of desire was hastily pushed aside. Duo couldn't afford to dwell on pleasures of the flesh. Instead he centered his thoughts on what he had to do and what terrible things would happen if he allowed a lapse of concentration to compromise his attention or his remembrances of lust and love to cloud his judgment.
*********
The moon sought sanctuary in a cloud's downy embrace. Morose gloom enveloped the courtyard. Two sated men collapsed into a sweaty tangle of arms and legs oblivious to the falcon's scrutiny.
Duo let the wind buoy his wings to carry him aloft into the murky night sky. A streamline form slipped soundlessly through the air and came to rest less than a foot from the eastern gate.
A sentry patrolling along the closest parapet paused and peered between square stones framing the breastworks. Duo folded his wings, merged with the shadows and froze in place.
"See something?" the sentry's counterpart wondered.
"Nay, just the moon playin' tricks."
*********
His patience wearing thin, Heero sat on the ground, back against the wall, boots planted in the rocky soil and his sword balanced across his bent knees. To his right Quatre and Trowa held hands and shared private a tête-à-tête. Zechs, displaying a tranquil facade, sat next to the whispering lovers, Staff of the Rose angled across his chest.
Merely inches from the still-secure gate, Wufei checked the fuses of six clay spheres filled with Thunder Powder, returned the explosive canisters to a burlap bag and passed it down the line to Quatre.
"You trust me with your toys?" the Manipulator teased.
As always Wufei had evaluated the situation and had come to the most logical conclusion. "You have no need of flint to spark a fire and light the fuses." he confirmed Quatre's unique empathy with the natural elements. "Also," he continued, "I will take up this gauntlet in my pure form and a wolf only requires cunning and a taste for blood."
A click refocused the warriors' attention. On the wall's opposite side the shrill scraping of metal on metal sent chills up Heero's spine. Rusted hinges protested with similar harsh tones then the gate, bottom corner digging into the ground, opened in jerky degrees.
Finally the crack widened enough for Duo to stick his human head through the gap. Violet eyes twinkled. "What ya waitin' for a formal invitation?"
Single file the Temple Keeper, the Manipulator, the Cleric and the Demon Hunter snaked inside.
A blue aura fluttered on the wall. Wufei on four paws, his shaggy black coat glimmering in the moonlight, padded through the gate. The tip of his bushy tail brushed the gatepost then the portal closed to seal the Freedom Fighters of Aragon within the Dark Lord's lair.
TBC...
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