Sword of the Stars Part 9
Divided

WHAT?

Grantis pressed himself to the ground and put his hands over his head, shielding himself from the Dark Lord's wrath. The entire tower shook as the master of the Abyss stared at his loyal Sorceress with utter fury.

YOU HAD HIM RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU AND LET HIM ESCAPE?

The transparent image of Ling shrank away from her master. "Forgive me, my Lord," she said in a tiny voice. "I was not yet re-energized from the teleportation spells." The Dark Lord raised a hand. "But I can find him, my Lord!" Ling added quickly. "I can follow him! I know his energy pattern. I can sense him." The Dark Lord made a fist with his raised hand. Ling screamed and peeled at her neck as if something was choking her. "I will find him, my Lord!" she squeaked. "I swear it! I will find him!"

DO SO QUICKLY, LING. MY TIME RUNS SHORT. HOW ARE WE TO FREE OUR ALLIES AND RULE THE COSMOS IF I PERISH?

Ling was released from whatever had been holding her. She sucked in air with relief. "I will not fail you, my Master. I will bring him to you as soon as I can."

DO NOT MAKE ME WAIT TOO LONG, LING. I WILL BE WAITING FOR YOU.

Ling nodded. "Talpa and I will find him, my Lord."

GO, THEN.

Ling bowed deeply before the image of her faded away. Grantis raised himself to his feet and glanced questioningly at the Dark Lord. "Will they be conquering Daylonia, my Lord?"

NOT IMMEDIATELY, GRANTIS. BUT FEAR NOT. THIS WORLD WILL BE YOURS, AND ALL I ASK IS THAT YOU SERVE ME WELL.

"I will, my Lord," Grantis said, licking his lips greedily. "I will."

~*~

Ling took a deep breath and exhaled slowly to calm her nerves. She turned around to find Talpa leaning against a tree with his arms folded.

"That went well," the General said dryly.

Ling tossed her hair over her shoulder and looked away from his eyes. She hated the infernal mask he wore. It was hard to tell what a person was thinking without seeing their face. "The Dark Lord is far from pleased, Talpa. It is best we find the boy as soon as we can."

"Can you lead me to him?"

Ling thought for a moment, feeling the boy's energy fleeing from Garrania. "Yes. I'd be able to point him out in a crowd of millions now. To me, he glows. I can follow him."

"Then let us be on our way," Talpa replied. "Are you fully re-energized yet?" She nodded. "Good. I'll gather some men."

~*~

"There! There it is!"

Heero looked up at the sound of Quatre's voice. He was pointing at the wall of mountain they were coming to. At last, they had reached the site of the Orb of Earth. Heero wanted to be out of the saddle. He couldn't take it anymore.

He felt Wufei shifting behind him. The Cleric was also tired of sitting.

When they arrived at the mountain, Heero pulled Bolt to a stop. The horse wasn't tired at all. In fact, the animal seemed to want to run some more. Duo and Quatre jumped down from Cloud. Heero and Wufei did the same.

Heero stared at the mountainside. "How are we supposed to get into the cavern?"

Duo frowned and touched the hard rock. Instantly, a part of the rock disappeared, leaving an entrance six feet high and five feet wide.

"Interesting," Wufei mused.

Duo peered into the darkness. "We'll need lanterns."

"Way ahead of you, Duo," Quatre said, handing a burning lantern to Wufei. "Ready, everyone?"

Heero nodded. "Let's go." Duo went inside first, followed by Wufei and Quatre. Heero went last, preparing his weapon before he did.

Soon after they entered the cavern, they were plunged into complete blackness. Only the light coming from Wufei's lantern allowed them to see where they were going. They crept along the hall for several minutes, and then they heard something that sounded like the rattling of bones. The others froze in their tracks so quickly, Heero almost ran into Quatre.

"Did you hear that?" the blond asked in a tiny voice.

Heero nodded. He heard Duo's katana leave its sheathe. "Where is it coming from?" his friend asked.

Quatre gripped his staff tightly. "It sounds like it's coming from both sides of us."

Wufei swung the lantern around, searching for the source of the noise. He yelped loudly. Heero turned to where Wufei was facing and couldn't believe it. Standing before the Cleric was a walking skeleton, armed with a sword and shield. Heero blinked, too shocked to be frightened.

Duo acted quickly, slashing the undead warrior with his katana. The skeleton fell apart and the bones tumbled to the ground. Heero heard more bones behind him. Instinctively, he spun around and slashed with his twin-blade, going through two more skeletons. But as they fell, more awaited him. Quatre's staff was whirling at an incredible speed, knocking skeletons apart all around him. Duo's katana slashed through the air in complicated patterns, slicing through any enemy unfortunate enough to get in its way. The skeletons were far from difficult adversaries, but they had sheer numbers on their side. Heero had never had to move his weapon at such a speed to keep up with them. When it was finally over, they were standing almost knee-deep in bones, swords, and shields. Heero looked around. "Did we get all of them?"

Duo sheathed his katana. "I hope so," he said, glancing around the room. "I don't want to have to do that again."

Quatre breathed a sigh of relief. "That was exhausting. Let's get out of here before--" he cut with a shriek.

Heero whipped his head toward the blond. "What happened?"

The nobleman stood very still. "Something touched me! Something's moving!"

Heero didn't move a muscle. Then he felt it, too. The bones were moving against his legs. "No! Duo, they're coming back together!"

"What?!" His friend looked down at the pile of bones. They were all shaking now, melding together again. Several bony hands reached up and grabbed at them. Heero cried out and kicked them away.

"Get them *off* of me!" Quatre shouted, peeling the hands away from himself.

Heero's feet were pulled out from under him and he fell to the ground. The bony hands had firm grips around his ankles. The coldness of death caused him to lose all feeling in his feet. He tried to pull them off of him with one hand, but more of the bones were grabbing at him now that he was on the ground. He dropped his weapon and began prying the other bones off of him with his hands. "Someone do something!" he shouted. "We can't keep this up forever!"

"Stop, lost ones!" All of the bones halted at the sound of Wufei's voice. A faint blue light filled the cavern. Heero looked up at the Cleric. He was glowing blue, with one hand raised in the air, and the other holding the white crystal he wore around his neck. A cool breeze was blowing, Heero realized. Wufei made a smoothing gesture with his hand as he lowered it. "Sleep, lost ones," he commanded, his voice echoing. "Return to your rest and embrace the welcoming of Heaven. Sleep." The bones grabbing at Quatre fell to the ground. "Sleep." The bones holding Heero released him. "Sleep." The bones became lifeless once again.

Wufei released his glowing crystal and the cavern returned to normal. "Is everyone all right?" he asked.

"I can't feel my ankles," Heero said as he tried to raise himself. Wufei picked his way through the bones and knelt down next to him. He laid his hands on his left ankle and closed his eyes. His hands glowed a soft blue color, and the numbness vanished. Then he did the same for his right ankle. "Thanks."

Heero stood up and looked at Duo. "Are you all right?" his friend asked him. Heero nodded. Then, Duo turned to Wufei. "Why did you wait so long to do that?"

"I didn't know if it was permitted," the Cleric replied. "As a Healing Cleric, I cannot attack anyone, but we do have rituals to calm the dead spirits."

Heero frowned. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't they already dead?"

"Yes and no," Wufei explained. "Usually, we use our Calming Litany to calm spirits that are floating invisibly in the world. We call those wayward spirits the 'lost ones', for they have nowhere to go, so they roam the land. I didn't know if dead spirits still inhabiting their skeletal bodies would be regarded as 'lost ones'. For if they are still within their bodies, can they truly be considered 'dead'--despite what they look like?" Wufei tapped his chin. "I reasoned that if they are simply staying here and attacking people for no purpose, they can be considered lost ones. I have stretched the rules for lost ones a little further than I should, but I broke no code among Healers. What I did was justified."

"That is good to know," Quatre said. He gestured to the pile of bones. "So, they are dead for good now?"

Wufei nodded. "Yes. I have sent their wayward spirits home. Shall we continue?"

Duo kicked his way out of the bones. "Yeah. Let's go."

Heero followed his friend out of the chamber. Wufei and Quatre followed. The halls were quiet now. Heero guessed they had taken care of any other skeletons that might have come by. It wasn't long before they came to a wider room. At the other side of it was a thick door made of bronze. Duo touched it and pushed.

"It's locked or something," his friend said. He ran his hands over the surface. "But I don't feel a lock anywhere."

Heero frowned and peered closely at the door. "That's odd." He looked around the chamber and noticed two unlit torches on either side. "Hey, look. Try lighting the torches. Maybe there's something around here that we have to find."

Wufei frowned, but opened the glass door of the lantern and used the flame to light one torch, then he walked to the other side of the room and lit the other. When both were burning, the cavern shook and the door slowly opened. Wufei dropped the lantern. It shattered when it hit the ground and the candle went out.

Heero held his twin-blade ready. Duo and Quatre had their weapons armed, too. When they door was completely open, they crept inside the next chamber. Unlike the rest of the cavern, it was lit by a glowing object on an altar in the center of the chamber. It was large and empty, except for the altar and the two life-like statues of ax-wielding warriors.

Duo pointed to the glowing object. "That must be the Orb of Earth!" He led them to the altar and smiled. "We did it!"

Heero frowned. Something didn't seem right. "We're just supposed to take it? That's it? That doesn't sound like much of a challenge."

"Do you *want* challenge, Heero?" Quatre asked.

"No, but it just seems a little...too easy." He tapped his friend on the shoulder. "Do you remember what your father used to tell us? 'If something seems too easy to be true, there's probably danger nearby.'"

"I remember," Duo said, "but what am I supposed to do? Leave the Orb here?" His friend picked up the Orb. As soon as the crystal ball was lifted from the altar, the statues began to grumble.

Heero's danger-sense kicked in immediately. "Duo, I'm getting that feeling again."

Duo glanced at the statues and gasped. "Oh, gods!" He handed the Orb to Wufei. "Keep that safe!" Wufei took the Orb and backed away.

Quatre stared at the barbarian statues and shook his head. "And I thought the skeletons were bad." He twirled his staff. "We have to fight them, don't we?"

Heero nodded. "I guess so."

Duo raised his katana. "Let's go!" He raced toward one of the statues and slashed at it. The statue parried the blow with its large bronze ax. As Duo and the statue began to duel, Heero decided to attack the other statue. He dashed toward it and thrust his twin-blade at its midsection. With its large ax, the statue blocked Heero's move and attacked with one of its own. The barbarian was surprisingly fast for a stone statue. Heero dueled with it for several minutes with nothing to show for it. Even when he did manage to strike it, his twin-blade left no mark on the statue. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Duo sail into the wall of the chamber. His friend fell facedown on the ground.

Quatre rushed into the fight, continuing what Duo had begun. But he did no better than Heero's friend. The rock statues were just too durable. It swung its ax and knocked Quatre's staff out of his hands. He dove out of the way as it made an attempt to get him, too. Duo returned, then, looking angry.

Heero found his concentration on the fight wavering. All this effort and he was getting nowhere. What could they possibly do to stop the statues?

"Why don't you try fooling them?" Quatre called. He was standing protectively in front of Wufei. "They're rocks, they can't be that intelligent!"

"That's it!" Duo cried. "Heero, lure yours over here with mine!"

Heero smiled at his friend's cunning. Of course. Maybe metal wouldn't harm the statues, but their huge axes would certainly do a thing or two. As he continued his duel, he began backing up. Inch by inch he crept backwards, and the statue followed him. When Duo's back pressed against his own, they waited for both statues to swing their axes overhead and crush them. At the last moment, they leapt out of the way and rolled to their feet. The statues' axes each crashed down on the shoulder of the other, causing them to crumble and fall to the ground almost immediately.

Heero put his twin-blade away. "*That* was exhausting."

Duo smiled and touched the Orb. "But we have what we came for."

"Is there an easier way to carry it?" Wufei asked. "It is a little big."

"Maybe Yohan will know," Quatre replied. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Heero nodded. "Good idea."

Duo took hold of the Orb. When he did, it began to shine. Heero closed his eyes because of the glare. When the light dimmed, the Orb was no bigger than the palm of Duo's hand, and there was some kind of mark on his friend's forehead. Heero placed himself in front of his friend to get a closer look. The mark was shaped like a five-rayed star.

Duo felt his forehead uncertainly. "What's this?"

Heero shrugged. "Some kind of symbol? Yohan will tell you. Let's go."

With a nod, Duo put the Orb in his pouch, and then they began their journey out of the cavern. As they walked, Heero still felt as if something were wrong. He pushed the feeling away, telling himself they'd dealt with all of the dangers already. But even when they exited the cavern, his mind was still telling him to run.

"How come Yohan isn't here yet?" Quatre asked.

"Maybe he didn't expect us to be out so soon," Wufei suggested. "He'll be along. We'll just wait." No one was prepared for what happened next. A group of seven people materialized before them. When they became visible, Heero gasped in horror. That was why he had felt danger: before them stood General Talpa, Sorceress Ling, and five Imperial soldiers.

Heero had his weapon ready before he realized what he'd done. //Don't fight them!// His sub-consciousness yelled at him. /Run away! Don't let them take you!/ He shook his head, trying to make the warnings stop. He couldn't run. Where would he go?

"Greetings, my children," Ling mused. "We've been waiting for you for a long time. What have you been doing down there in that cave? Hiding from us?" She trailed off in laughter.

Talpa raised his sword and pointed it at Heero. "We've no interest in the rest of you. Only him. Let us take him and we'll be on our way. But if you'd rather not cooperate, I'd be delighted to teach you not to cross with the Netherworld."

Heero said nothing. He wouldn't make his friends fight for him. That was their decision to make, not his. Wufei backed up a little. He had no choice but not to fight. Quatre remained silent, but he gripped his staff firmly and held his ground. Duo, on the other hand, unsheathed his katana and placed himself between Heero and the Netherworlders.

"You have to go through me first," his friend said.

Talpa laughed. "My, my, aren't we a brave one? Didn't I fight you in Garrania? You were good, boy, but not nearly good enough to defeat me."

Ling smiled. "Why don't you go home, little boy, before you get hur--" The Sorceress gasped and peered closer at Duo. Heero knew she had spotted the mark. Her eyes were wide with disbelief. "That mark! It is the same as the one on the warrior who wielded that accursed sword!" She stared at Duo. "This...this *boy* could he... Is it possible?"

Talpa shook the Sorceress' shoulder. "Ling! We've no time for this! Time runs short!"

Ling pointed frantically at Duo. "But! He may be--"

"It doesn't matter, Ling! We have our priorities!"

Ling looked angry, but she nodded. She raised her arms to the sky and began to glow red. She brought her arms to her chest and then spread them apart. A wave of red magic swept over them. As it touched each of his friends, they collapsed.

"Duo!" he cried, bending down to feel his friend's pulse. He was alive, thank the gods, but unconscious. He looked up. Talpa, Ling, and the Imperials were staring at him silently. He shook his head. "I'm not going with you."

Ling sighed. "That, my boy, is what all the future hosts say." Before Heero could react, Ling tossed a silvery magic dust into the air. He turned away and covered his nose and mouth, but it didn't do any good. He fell to his knees and dropped his twin-blade, coughing the dust out.

Talpa walked toward him, bent down, and picked up his weapon. "How interesting," the General said, hefting it. "A very impressive weapon."

Talpa's voice was beginning to sound distant. Heero felt drowsy. /No! Run away! Run away! If you fall asleep now, you will never be free!/ Heero ignored the warning. Unable to hold himself up any longer, he fell limply to the ground.

Within moments, he felt his wrists and ankles being bound. He wished he could do something, but he couldn't move. Now the Dark Lord would have a new host and be at full power when Duo fought him. /I'm sorry, Duo... I didn't mean for this to happen.../

That was his last thought. Before he lost consciousness, he felt himself being thrown over someone's shoulder like a carpet and carried off.

TBC...

 

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