Sins of A Red Dragon
Part Six: Something to Remember
Hours earlier... before dawn
A dark body moved from shadow to shadow trailing after the small group. He just managed to stay out of sight as one of the demons glanced behind.
Fahd didn't like this turn of events. He didn't expect the group that Shinjou was calling his partners, to accept him with open arms but they refused to continue if he was included. That set all the alarm signals off for Fahd. He tried to talk Shinjou out of this deal that had all the ear marks of a pending disaster. Shinjou was totally blind to the danger and was determined to continue.
All Fahd could do is follow them in stealth. He promised his niece that he would watch over her love but this put him in a distinct disadvantage. He was out of the loop and left in an observation position where all he could do was react. That could make him too late to help. The demons and humans were jumpy and suspicious. Even in his Unicorn form, it took all his power to avoid detection. He once again silently thanked the gods for the moonless night as he waited for the watcher to continue on. He was falling further behind. He looked toward the east and saw that the sky was starting to turn grey with the coming dawn. He was quickly losing his coloring advantage.
Fahd hoped it wasn't much further to their destination. By his calculation, they have been traveling long enough to be in Suzaku by now, and that worried him more. There were more human settlements in Suzaku than demons. Bobcats were the main high demons of that region and they were not into village occupation. They dwelt in dens like his mate's people and his children. The sun was just starting to rise above the horizon when the party stopped on a rise that overlooked a sleeping village.
The group talked briefly and then left Shinjou standing alone on the ridge. Fahd held back and scanned the surrounding area. Not far beyond the ridge Shinjou was standing on were more ridges, higher up and back behind the Mage. Fahd turned his attention to the village. Shinjou's partners said that the village had been taken over by demons but that was not what he was seeing. The dwellings were intact. The fields were attended to and well planted. There were no patrols watching for enemies. There was no sign of demon work there at all. It had to be an innocent, peaceful human village! Shinjou had drawn that strange water sword which he liked to use as a focal point for his power instead of a staff. A fog started to rise around the Mage as he started calling up his power. Fahd saw movement on the ridge behind Shinjou. He instantly recognized Kalid. It was a trap, and Shinjou was falling right into it! Fahd leaped forward to stop Shinjou but he already knew it was too late. He was too far away.
The dead raised from the ground and immediately attacked whatever was in their path without thought. The screaming was awful. Fahd kept trying to reach Shinjou's mind as he ran but the Mage was concentrating too hard on calling up more dead. Fahd had no choice but to change into his human form so he could use his voice. He yelled and called Shinjou's name as he continued to run toward the Mage.
Shinjou thought he heard his name and paused in his spell casting. He looked down on the village, expecting to see demons fighting his creatures. Instead he saw unarmed humans fleeing in terror and many of them laying dead on the ground. Shinjou's heart froze with horror. He looked around for his companions but they were nowhere in sight.
"What have I done?" he cried out in despair. He saw one of his creatures approach two children and reversed its spell. It crumbled to dust but it was just replaced by another one. Shinjou closed his eyes and called on his power again but this time he was reversing the spells. He worked as fast as he could but it was much easier to call the creatures from the dead than it was to send them back. The screaming and dying continued no matter how fast he worked.
Fahd sighed with relief when he saw Shinjou start his reversing spell. He changed his form back into Unicorn and set his focus on Kalid. He knew he couldn't help the Mage any further but he could stop the one who started the conspiracy.
Fahd took no more than two strides toward Kalid when he heard the whistle of an arrow and a woman's voice crying out "BURN IN HELL YOU MURDERER!".
Fahd slid to a stop and swung around to see Shinjou gasping with an arrow through his heart.
"NO! NOT HIM!" Fahd yelled so mentally loud that the Priestess dropped her bow and next arrow to the ground as she clasped her head. He ran up to her, transformed, grabbed the weapons, swung and launched an arrow at Kalid, all in one fluid motion. The arrow's path would have been true to the mark if Kalid hadn't moved. He didn't even see it coming. But once he had seen what he had come to witness, he turned to leave. The arrow, instead of hitting the heart bounced off the shoulder blade. It left a deep cut but far from fatal wound intended. Kalid saw who shot the arrow and fled.
Fahd cursed under his breath but didn't follow. Instead he ran to Shinjou who by this time was on the ground dying. He slid to his knees beside Shinjou's body, pulled out the arrow and tried to apply his healing powers but it wasn't working.
>"Your efforts are useless. I shot him with a purifying arrow. Death is inevitable," the priestess said. "Why are you trying to save him, Unicorn? He nearly killed my whole village!"
"It wasn't his fault. He was tricked," Fahd defended.
"Tricked or not, he did what he did and for that he is damned," the Priestess said.
"Fire," Shinjou choked out.
"What?" Fahd asked, bending closer.
"Fire destroys them. Tell Isabo..." Shinjou coughed. "Tell her, sorry, she was right. Tell her I love..."
That was all he said. Shinjou died in Fahd's arms. His damned spirit was whisked away to Spirit World; locked up; no negotiations; no second chances. A gentle soul trapped in hell with no hope of redemption.
Takara's crying finally broke through Isabo's grief. She looked toward her through her own tears and saw Kyo rocking the body of her dead sister. Her niece was laying on the ground beside him. Kyo was obviously in no shape to care for the baby so Isabo rose and stumbled over to the infant. She bent down and gently picked up Takara, trying hard to see only the baby and not the ashen colored limp body in Kyo's arms. Hearing him cry brought on her tears again. She cuddled Takara to her breast as she hurried away.
Isabo had started up the path to the cave when she heard wings flapping. She turned and saw Kyo flying away with her sister's body held in his talons. She wasn't sure where he was taking her but she guessed that he was taking the body to a place that was special to them, and lay her to rest there. Or maybe he would cremate her. To Isabo, it didn't matter. To her, her sister was a spirit now. The body was just a discarded shell. She grieved because Jalala's moving to the next life was so unexpected and that she would no longer be a part of their lives; at least not as she was. Unicorns aren't suppose to die. Yet Isabo had likely seen more death among her kind than anyone else. That is what made life so precious to her. Jalala's death made the life in Isabo's arms far more important. Jalala gave her life up so her baby could live, just like their mother did for Isabo. The circumstances may not have been the same but the love was. Isabo would make sure that her sister's daughter lived
She had reached the cave. She went into the bedroom and laid the baby on the bed. The she laid down beside Takara and curled protectively around her.
"We'll live with the Dog Demons," Isabo said to the baby. "InuTala just had a baby and I'm sure she won't mind nursing you too until I have my baby. I'm not pregnant yet but I'm in heat. Tonight will be our mating night and I just know I'll get pregnant right away. You'll like Shinjou. He is so kind and loving. I'm sure he will be happy to make us a family. I wish my mating night wasn't on the same day as your mother's death but Jalala will understand. Jalala was your mother. She was a beautiful woman and Unicorn. She was everything you should want to be when you grow up. Your father is a Great Dragon and that is very special. You are so unique. You have combined the blood of a Unicorn and a Dragon. Both your parents are immortals so you should be immortal too. Just remember that even though immortals don't age or sicken, we can still die. That's what happened to your mother."
Isabo was rambling and she knew it but she couldn't help it. It was the only thing that was holding her grief and fear at bay. She couldn't shake the feeling that something else was wrong. The feeling intensified when she spoke of Shinjou but it wasn't anything she could pinpoint. It was just that bad feeling she felt yesterday, intensifying. She wished Shinjou would hurry up and "come home". She'd had enough bad feelings for one day. Finally she drifted off to sleep but her anxiety transferred to her dreams and she got little rest.
A loud roar startled her awake. Takara woke too and started crying. Isabo pulled the baby to the center of the bed and kissed her forehead. She left the bedroom and ran to the entrance. There was definitely a fight going on. She transformed and ran down the trail.
Once clear of the waterfall she saw the combatants. It was her father and Kyo.
Both were out for blood but Kalid was faster and more experienced. He drew first blood, a deep wound that could cause Kyo to bleed to death if not treated.
Isabo mentally yelled "Stop" and jumped in between them, changing to her human form. Kyo backed off immediately but growled at her.
"Why bother. She's gone and it's his fault," Kyo said.
"Because you promised her that you would be a part of Takara's life," she said back.
"If Jalala's dead, it's your fault," Kalid accused. "Dragons where never meant to cross breed any more than Unicorns. Isabo, I've come to take you back."
"What are you talking about. I'm not going with you. I'm staying here and I'm going to mate with Shinjou," Isabo said. "You can't stop me anymore."
"I already have. There is nothing more left for you here," Kalid said.
For the first time Isabo noticed the gash in her father's shoulder. Color drained from her face. "Father. What have you done?" she asked, feeling her knees weaken.
"What I had to do. What you forced me to do. I will not have any daughter of mine polluted by alien seed."
Suddenly a golden lariat landed around his neck. And then another one, and then a third. Isabo started to move toward Kalid but Kyo pulled her back against him, protectively. She struggled against him, crying out for her father until she heard a voice say "Don't interfere".
It was not Kyo's voice. She looked at her uncle. "Fahd?" she said, searching beyond him for Shinjou.
Fahd held out what looked like a sword hilt to her and dropped into her trembling hands as she reached for it. When she saw what it was, she collapsed to her knees. Shinjou carried that sword with him everywhere. It was a Mage's sword, his father's sword. It formed a blade with mere water. It was his focal point and his talisman. There was only one way he could be separated from it.
"Shinjou is dead, Isabo," Fahd said. "I'm sorry. I couldn't stop it. The whole thing was a carefully concocted plan of your father's right from the beginning."
Isabo screamed out her grief.
The Fox demons forced Kalid to the ground.
"I did it for your own good," Kalid yelled. "For the good of our kind!"
Fahd walked up to the Unicorn lying helpless on the ground.
"You're a fool, Kalid. You were never even close to being the leader Rais was and not half the Unicorn Jalal was. You never could see the big picture. Unicorns are immortal Kalid. My mate, Shinjou, the humans, everyone, that mated outside our species, have mated with mortals. Jalala was the only exception. Mating with mortals means one day we will lose them. If you had been more lenient and understanding, most of us would have returned to the herd when we lost our mates. Instead you have alienated and scattered the herd. Not only that, but you have shown our weakness to the demons. You angered them enough that they abandoned their loyalty to us and sold our secret to the enemy. So, not only have you destroyed us, you have also put the Dragons at risk. Think about this as you join poor innocent Shinjou on his journey to hell."
Fahd turned his back on his step-brother, gathered up his grieving niece and walked up the path to the cave. Kyo trailed after him in human form.
The Fox leader walked up to his head.
"Hi! Remember me?" and with that, cut off his head and horn.
"Why didn't you stop them?" Kyo asked.
"Because it had to be done." Fahd said. As they entered the cave they could hear the baby crying. Fahd placed Isabo on the couch and went into the bedroom. He came back out carrying the baby. "Jalala?" Fahd asked. Kyo shook his head. "Kyo, I'm so sorry. If you need me to, I'll be happy to take the baby in. She'll be safe with us. Both of you can visit anytime or even stay with us too. What is her name."
"Takara," Kyo said. "I'd appreciate it if you take her in Fahd. I'm in no position to raise a baby alone. It's time I returned to my wandering ways. I'll fly the two of you home and then come back to care for Isabo for as long as she needs me.
Kyo knelt beside Isabo and placed a hand over hers. She still gripped Shinjou's sword to her breast as she stared off into space, silently crying nonstop.
"Isabo, I'm going to take Fahd home. Takara is going with him. I'll be right back." Kyo stood and then bent down and kissed her forehead. Fahd followed suite and then they left.
When Kyo returned, Isabo was gone.
Song - "Farther Away" - Evanescence