Original Stories Fan Fiction / Realism Fan Fiction ❯ Aqua ❯ Silent Dreams ( Chapter 19 )

Chapter Nineteen

Silent Dreams

 

 

Lackardel stared listlessly at the small gathering of Letrangra. They had far less numbers than he had anticipated. Four foot soldiers, one captain, and a girl-child against his men and him. It hardly seemed fair to the enemy.

 

His eyes slid back to the girl as the Letrangra circled back around. The captain was whispering something to her and she was ignoring him. “Captain,” Terald said quietly. “I think that girl is their new weapon.”

 

“What does it matter?” Lackardel said guardedly. “She is with them now, which makes her the enemy. Go,” he ordered his men as the girl screamed, “No, stay away.”

 

Terald and Jonathan sprang down from their protective trees and attacked at the same moment that another two blurs did. They landed among the Letrangra and engaged two of the foot soldiers in combat as one of the other two took on the other two. The second flashed by them and headed straight for the captain.

 

* * *

 

Aqua turned her head away from the Letrangra captain and scanned the trees for any sign of Darain. She saw his white ears, saw his face not a hundred feet away. Their eyes met and he smiled. She knew what he was about to do and it made her blood run cold at the mere thought of it.

 

“No, stay away,” she screamed an instant too late.

 

Two forms dropped from the trees above as Darain and Fay attacked from the side. The two from above engaged two at their side while Fay engaged the other two and Darain shot directly for the Letrangra captain.

 

The alien captain threw her behind him and attacked the Night-n-Gale prince in earnest. Aqua slammed into the trunk of a tree as a fifth shape materialized and came at her. She had just enough time to catch sight of the lime green ears before she had to duck the blow that would have shattered her ribs. The tree splintered and showered them with a haze of wood chips.

 

Aqua sprang around the Night-n-Gale and ran for Darain. She sprang back again as a black eared man appeared in front of her. “Leave him be,” the man hissed, coming at her, only to be blocked by a Letrangra.

 

She circled around and found Darain being overwhelmed by the Letrangra captain. Ducking a stray blast she ran forward and kicked the Letrangra captain in the side, sending him skidding ten feet away. Darain was in worse shape than she would have thought for just a few minutes of battle, bloodied and hunched over in pain.

 

The Letrangra captain strode angrily forward. He shouted something at her, but she didn't hear it as blood pulsed in her ears. She stood between them and crouched into a defensive position. The sounds of battle dimmed as she focused on her one enemy…and attacked.

 

* * *

 

Lackardel watched in astonishment as the girl moved away from him with the agility of a skilled fighter. She was brought up short by Jonathan, who was instantly overtaken by his previous opponent. He watched as she ducked around them and went straight for Darain and the Letrangra captain. She surprised him further by protecting Darain and attacking the one that was supposed to be her captain.

 

* * *

 

Aqua brought her arm over her head to block the descending blow. She swung her leg around and swept his legs out from under him. The heel of her foot came down on his stomach and made him gag.

 

She sprang back when he rolled over onto his side and came up in a crouch, a growl vibrating deep in his chest. Neither noticed that the sounds of battle had ceased around them as the combatants turned to watch their fight in shock.

 

“For a child, that was very good,” he said without smiling. “I would hate to kill you before we get the chance to use that power of yours. Just back off and let us deal with the Night-n-Gale scum.”

 

A low snarl left her lips as she charged forward and dodged around the punch he aimed for her stomach. Aqua rammed her shoulder into his and sent him skidding into a tree. As he recovered his balance, he saw too late that she had followed after him.

 

Claws extended from her right hand as she plunged her fingers through his shoulder. The Letrangra captain yelled in pain as venom entered his blood stream through his wound. He grabbed her wrist and yanked her away, sending her through the air.

 

They watched in horrified amazement as she twisted her body midair and landed with cat-like grace, one had dragging in the dirt to stop herself as the other was drawn behind her. Light glowed in amazing intensity as she summoned her long dormant power and gathered it in her upraised hand.

 

“Grab her!!” the Letrangra captain screamed as he saw that she was gathering enough power to kill him.

 

As the three remaining Letrangra sprang forward to do as their captain ordered, Jonathan, Fay, and Terald engaged them once more as Lackardel made a beeline straight for the prince. Their one goal was to rescue the prince and get him home safely, the goal for which he had killed Arisan.

 

When he saw that his men would be unable to stop her, he sprang to the side in a desperate attempt to save his skin. Aqua's cold, green eyes followed his every move, so sure that she had him defeated that she didn't realize until the last second where his course was taking him.

 

Lackardel had almost made it to Darain when Fay and a Letrangra blocked his path. He skidded to a halt so that he wouldn't hurt Fay and blasted her enemy out of existence and then saw the Letrangra captain closing in on his target.

 

Aqua launched herself after him as he neared Darain. “NO!!!” she screamed as the Letrangra captain dodged around the Night-n-Gale prince and had his claws at Darain's throat in the same movement. She skidded to a halt as he smiled a sickeningly sweet smile at her. He knew.

 

Darain had no chance to think, let alone move, before he saw the Letrangra nearing him. When the danger that the creature represented sank in and he took a step back, the Letrangra captain already had his claws at his throat.

 

“What will you do now?” the Letrangra asked sweetly.

 

As Fay took a step forward, Lackardel grabbed the collar of her ruined shirt and yanked her behind him. “Don't,” he said softly. “He'll kill the prince in an instant.”

 

“It's not that I'm worried about. It's Aqua,” Fay replied quietly, “and what her capture will do to him.”

 

Lackardel's eyes flicked unwillingly away to rest on the auburn haired girl and looked back to the prince and the Letrangra. “We'll worry about that later,” he replied.

 

The Letrangra captain smirked at her pained expression. “Come on,” he goaded her. “Finish me, if you can finish him.”

 

“Let him go,” Aqua snarled, though she trembled as she tried to unsuccessfully shove her fear to a deep corner of her mind.

 

“No. The goal was to collect you and the prince and now we have both,” the Letrangra said gleefully.

 

Darain's hazel eyes locked with her green ones as she stared at him. He smiled grimly at her. “So much for my brilliant plan,” he said. “Kill both of us and live.”

 

She swayed dangerously at his words as a low snarl sounded from Lackardel. “There's another way,” she said softly, then turned her head to Lackardel. “Are you the Night-n-Gale military commander?”

 

Lackardel's eyes narrowed at her as he asked, “What's that got to do with anything?”

 

“Answer,” she barked at him.

 

He reluctantly nodded.

 

A slow smile spread across her lips. “Good. You'll keep him safe,” she said before turning her attention back to the Letrangra.

 

Time seemed to slow for Darain as she carefully raised her glowing hand to her chest. “Aqua, no,” he snarled and tried to launch himself towards her, only to be brought up short by the Letrangra Captain's hold on him. Warm blood trickled down his skin to pass over his collarbone where the claws nicked his throat.

 

Aqua focused her attention on the frowning Letrangra captain. “You have one of two choices,” she said in a softly dangerous voice. “Either release Darain alive and allow the Night-n-Gales to go free or return to your king with my corpse. I'm sure he won't be happy to hear that you lost him his weapon.”

 

The Letrangra glanced from her hand to her eyes and back again. “That doesn't guarantee that you'll come with us quietly, or even that you won't try and kill us once he's gone.”

 

“Aqua,” Darain said sharply, but no one listened.

 

Crack!!!

 

Everyone flinched as someone's arm was broken. Fay shifted slightly to see a gleeful Letrangra sitting on Terald's back with the Night-n-Gales arm twisted at an odd angle. Her eyes flicked to Jonathan and saw that he was in pretty well the same position as Terald, but with his bones intact. It made her sick to know that Aqua's threat was the only thing that stood in the way of their capture and eventual death at the hands of the Letrangra, that her capture would mean their freedom.

 

The Letrangra captain studied her intently for a moment, then a sickly grin spread across his lips as he decided to call her bluff. “I don't believe you,” he said in that smooth voice of his.

 

Anger flashed across her face as her hand flashed with that dangerous light again. As she prepared to blast a hole in her chest, she paused to take in Darain's desperate struggles and smiled slightly at him. That was when a new figure emerged from the trees.

 

Amber's hard, blue eyes took in the situation as she said, “Don't push her, she's serious. She wants Darain to live and she'll do what you say just as soon as he's safely away.”

 

The Letrangra captain glared at his charge before shoving the Night-n-Gale prince away. “Fine, the scum goes free,” he hissed.

 

Aqua's hand still lingered over her breast as Darain started towards her. She forced back the tears and took a step away from him. The months she had spent with him would stay with her for a lifetime, a lifetime in which she knew she would go through hell, again.

 

“Aqua,” he said softly, reaching for her as she took another step away. “Come on.”

 

“Go,” she said thickly.

 

Lackardel wasted no time in surging forward and grabbing his prince up. His cold eyes flicked from Amber to the Letrangra captain to Aqua, where they lingered on her tears. He nodded briefly at her before blasting into the air.

 

The Letrangra sitting on Terald and Jonathan reluctantly got up and allowed their quarry to go free. Fay grabbed Jonathan's unbroken arm and pulled it over her shoulders as she saw that he was flying unsteadily. She chanced a glance back down at Aqua and saw, with a stab of worry, that the Letrangra had converged on her crumpled form.

 

* * *

 

As soon as Darain was out of sight, Aqua collapsed to her knees and gave into the tears she had forced back for his sake. Her heart throbbed painfully as the power in her hand flickered and died, as it sank in that she would never see her first and only love ever again.

 

The tears came freely now and she didn't even notice as the remaining two Letrangra converged on her and snapped something hard and cold around her wrists. She didn't resist as they hauled her to her feet and one hoisted her into the air, though she did notice when one the Letrangra captain grabbed Amber and slung her over his unwounded shoulder.

 

“Knock her out,” the Letrangra captain snarled and she sank gratefully into the black abyss of unconsciousness.

 

* * *

 

Darain gave a yell of fury and struggled against Lackardel's iron grasp. “Take me back,” he tried to order the military commander. “Take me back to her.”

 

“You're an idiot, prince,” Lackardel said coldly.

 

Despite his fear of losing her, his struggles stilled as he heard Lackardel's words. He didn't care anymore if he lived or died, all he could see was Aqua's smile and hear her laugh. “I may be an idiot, but I am not a coward. Take me back,” he demanded. “She saved me and now I have to do the same for her.”

 

Lackardel sneered wordlessly. “You love her,” he said in a detached voice.

 

Darain opened his mouth to snarl something at the captain, but he choked on the words. He had no answer to that.

 

The Night-n-Gale commander laughed humorlessly. “Love is but a silent dream you wish you'll never wake up from, but when you do, it hurts like hell. You regret falling for her in the first place when she's gone,” Lackardel said hollowly as his heart thrummed painfully.

 

“If I regret anything it's knowing you,” Darain said quietly as the beautiful blue and green planet fell away beneath them.

 

“Then respect her wishes and survive,” Lackardel said sharply. “She was willing to commit suicide to make sure you got out of there alive.”

 

Darain said nothing as he stared behind them. “Silent dream,” he murmured quietly, unaware that he had said anything.