Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon's Future ❯ Rogue Dragon ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 2: Rogue Dragon

Yukari dashed through the forest as fast as she could run, chasing Darvi as he raced along ahead of her.  It was good to finally be free from house arrest in the castle.  Her hands felt shriveled from all the laundry they'd washed and hung out, and dry from the dust of all the rugs they'd beaten.  Almost out of sight, Darvi dropped to all fours and took off at his full speed.

"No fair!" Yukari shouted and she leaped into the air.  Her wings flared out from her shoulders and three powerful downbeats carried her above the treetops.  Flying swiftly, she caught up with Darvi as he pounded along on the ground below.  His tail was stuck straight out, parallel to the ground, and his hair streamed along his back.  He was extremely fast.  Yukari could keep up with him flying, but not on foot.

It had never occurred to her that her father's admonition against letting people see her wings might possibly apply to Darvi, too.  She had learned to fly under Darvi's careful tutelage on these excursions into the forest.  She wasn't sure if her parents even knew she could fly.  She wasn't about to demonstrate for them, though.  She suspected that it would just get Darvi in trouble, as so many of her games seemed to do.

Below her, Darvi slowed to a halt and Yukari angled down to land near him. 

"That was fun," he panted.  "I really needed to stretch my legs.  I hate getting stuck indoors."  He flopped down on his back and stared up at the sky.

"Me, too," Yukari agreed as she stretched out beside him.  It was a warm day and the sky was a brilliant blue, completely devoid of clouds.  "I love being outside on days like this."

"It's the best."  Darvi yawned sleepily, showing pointed teeth.  "Let's take a nap."  He rolled onto his side and curled up.

Yukari giggled.  "You're always napping."

"I'm a cat."  He yawned again and closed his eyes.  "Just for a few minutes."

Yukari lay on her back, staring at the sky and listening to Darvi breathe.  She didn't feel like napping, but neither did she mind waiting for him to do so.  He'd told her what Hitomi had said about separating them and she was determined to behave better.  She was not going to do something that cost her Darvi's companionship.

The sound of something heavy breaking through the underbrush made her sit up and look around.  She saw nothing and the sound stopped as soon as she moved.  She sat still, waiting to see if there was anything really there.  Another crackling noise made her reach over to nudge Darvi nervously.

"Darvi, did you hear that?"

Darvi opened one golden eye.  "Hear what?" he asked sleepily.

"Something's moving in the bushes over there."  Yukari pointed toward the forest to her left.

Darvi sat up on one elbow and lifted his nose into the breeze.  "It's just a dragon.  Ignore it.  It will go away."

"A dragon?  Really?"  Yukari stood up, staring toward the woods excitedly.  "I've never seen a dragon up close."

Darvi sat up completely.  "It's better just to leave them alone.  They're peaceful enough, but it's better to be safe."

"But I just want to see it.  We don't have to get too close."  She started forward, but Darvi immediately leaped up and caught her by the arm to stop her.

"Absolutely not!" he exclaimed. "We're going back."

"Oh, Darvi, please?"  She tried to take another step, but he pulled her firmly in the opposite direction.

"We're going back!"  He began to drag her back the way they'd come.

Yukari resisted at first, but a sudden bad feeling made her give in unexpectedly, and the force Darvi was exerting on her sent her stumbling to her knees.  At the same instant, the dragon charged toward them.  Branches and brush snapped as the creature crashed through in their direction.

"Run!" Darvi shouted.  He yanked Yukari to her feet and pulled her along beside him.  "Take off!  I can outrun it!"

"I can't!" Stark fear was pounding through Yukari.  Dark, frightening feelings were pressing in on her mind, making thinking difficult.  She needed a moment of concentration to put her wings out, and her mind was too flooded with terror.

"Up here!"  Darvi changed direction, and a moment later they were climbing up a stony outcropping as quickly as they could.  "There's a cave up here!"  Darvi dragged her up the last few feet and shoved her down into a crevice between two boulders.  He crowded in on top of her, shielding her with his own body.

The dragon roared in frustrated fury.  Yukari screamed in terror in response.  She could feel the dragon's anger and hate.  It made no sense!  Dragons were peaceful creatures.  She could hear the dragon clawing at the rocks and she screamed again.

"I'll protect you, Yukari!"  Darvi cried in her ear, but she could hear the fear in his voice.

They were going to die, and it would be her fault.

- - - -

Hitomi gasped.  She had not had a vision since returning to Gaia.  The horrible, spinning sensation that made the room disappear and perched her on top of a stony hill staring into the maw of a roaring dragon left her reeling.  And then she saw Darvi huddled in a crack in the rocks below her, with Yukari just visible underneath, and the world dropped away.

"Van!  Help them!  They're in danger!" she screamed, and collapsed to her knees, clutching her swollen belly.

"My lady!  Is it the baby?"  The worried handmaiden's face swam in front of Hitomi's eyes.  Hitomi grabbed the woman's shoulders.

"The children are in danger!  In the forest.  A dragon!"  A sudden spasm of pain clenched her belly and she hunched over with a gasp.  A flood of warm water gushed out from between her legs.

The handmaiden scrambled back in surprise.  "Your water, milady!  I'll get the midwife!"  She started to rise, but Hitomi's hand shot out and gripped her by the throat.

"Get Van!  Right now!"  She released the young woman's throat as another spasm shuddered through her.

The woman raced out, shouting for both the king and the midwife.  To Hitomi's infinite relief, Van arrived first.  He dropped to his knees beside her with a look of deep concern on his face.

"Hitomi!  Is something wrong?"

"Yukari is in danger!" she panted out, fighting the constricting spasms of her labor pains.  "A dragon!  In the woods, near where I returned."

He jumped to his feet.  "Is Darvi with her?" he shouted over his shoulder as he sprinted away.

"Yes!" she called after him.  Then she hunched over again as an especially strong contraction wracked her.  "Please be in time," she whispered.  "Please!"

- - - -

Van carried his sword naked in his hand as he flew over the forest.  Sesston had protested futilely as Van flew away, insisting that the king wait for his samurai, but Van felt in his gut that there no time.  Hitomi's vision had cried for urgency.  Van flew with all the speed he possessed.

He had no trouble finding the dragon.  Its infuriated roar rang throughout the forest.  As he flashed overhead, he could see Darvi huddled in the rocks below.  Van could not see Yukari, but he knew where she would be: protected beneath Darvi's bulk.  They had been lucky to make it into the outcropping.  The dragon was too heavy to climb up after them.  The stones kept turning under its clawed feet.  But sooner or later, it was going to pull the rocks down on top of them.

Van dropped down behind the dragon and charged it.  It was so focused on the prey trapped above it, that it did not notice him.  He stabbed his sword up to the hilt just below the base of the dragon's tail.  It screamed in pain and spun around, flinging Van across the clearing.  Fortunately, he kept his grip on the sword, so it pulled free when he fell.  He rolled over and sprang to his feet, charging the dragon again.  It drew breath to spray fire at him and he flung himself to the side at the last instant.  As he rolled up onto his knees, the dragon leaped on him.  Van thrust his sword up, letting the dragon skewer itself, and jumped out of the way so the dying beast wouldn't fall on him.  He stared at the dead dragon in surprise.  It was a very uncharacteristic tactic for a dragon, almost suicidal.  Shaking his head in confusion, he yanked his sword free and hurried toward the rock pile.

"Darvi!  Yukari!  Are you hurt?"  He leaped up the rocks just as Darvi poked his head up.

"King Van!"  Darvi scrambled up out of the shelter of the rock crevice and helped Yukari out.

Van swept her into his embrace and held her tightly.  "Are you all right, sweetheart?  Did it hurt you?"

"I'm all right," she answered tearfully.  "Darvi saved me."  She looked up at him, pale and shaken.  "Why did it attack us?  We didn't do anything!"

"I swear we didn't!" Darvi echoed.

"It doesn't matter," Van assured them.  "As long as you're both all right."

He helped Yukari climb down.  She stared fearfully at the dragon the whole time.  When Van released her, she immediately moved into Darvi's comforting embrace.  Van approached the dragon with his sword held like a knife.  "I have to take its energist," he explained calmly.  "I don't want it to fall into the wrong hands."  Yukari turned away and hid her face against Darvi's shoulder as Van cut the energist free, but she glanced back briefly as he held it for a moment before tucking it out of sight inside his tunic.  "Let's go," he said.

The three of them started back toward the city.  They had not walked far before the samurai met them.  The relief on Sesston's face made Van smile. 

"Don't you trust me, Sesston?" he called.  "I'm the King of Fanelia.  No one should know better than I do how to kill a dragon."

"You killed it?"  Sesston exclaimed.

"Yes, I killed it."  Van saw Yukari flinch.

"The energist?"

"I have it.  Let's get back to the city.  Hitomi is in labor."

Everyone saw Yukari start this time.  "Mother is having her baby?!"

"The vision she had of the danger you were in started her labor."  At the look of dismay on her face, Van put a comforting hand on her shoulder.  "Don't worry, Yukari.  Nothing is wrong.  Your mother was close anyway.  But let's get back to her, shall we?"

Yukari nodded, but the unhappy look did not leave her face.  Darvi looked unhappy as well.  The two of them exchanged a long sad look as the party started back toward the city.