Would this world end the same way? This world, this life? This life had ended in Darkness. It was not meant to be, or was it? No, no...it couldn't have been. Those flames, they were not meant to be. The screams.
Tossing, turning. Cornered. A girl ran in her dreams, frightened. Letting out a cry, she heard no answer in response. Two voices echoed back...one close by. The other was muffled. She kept running.
Emerald crowned pines shot up to kiss the sky, and the last stars of night twinkled away. Still she ran, into the darkness.
The sun, daring to shine light upon something so lost. The rocky cave, its edges surrounded by a tangle of thorny roses. All of it leading into one focal point, within the darkness.
A pale, beautiful woman. Lost, lost...in eternal sleep. Nary a breath escaped her lips that was not swallowed up in the pitch-black. Clad in blue and white, on she ran, in her dreams.
There was nothing, nothing. Why could she find nothing? She prayed for anything to come pluck her from the terrible darkness. The neverending sea of black. And those eyes. Those terrible, demonic eyes. They never stopped staring at her, piercing through the darkness. Suddenly, warmth pressed firmly to her lips. She felt the heat return to her body. What was this light? But then, a crash, from somewhere beyond her dreams. She felt the oddest sensation.
Duck lips??? Did ducks even have lips? Even so, those words floated to mind at the sensation that touched her mouth. ...Duck lips?
And sunlight poured in...
******
Climbing out of his hammock, Lagrey shielded his eyes from the morning sun. Stretching, the young Winger reached sleepily for his shirt, his hand finding only an old piece of parchment on the table next to his bed. His blue-grey eyes snapped fully open as he remembered: today was the day! Yes, indeed. Finally, he would use the map he had discovered to unearth the TREASURE! Throwing on his clothes, Lagrey let out a happy cheer. Which was promptly stifled.
"Quaaack! Do you have to do that all the time??" came a slightly irritable voice from the next room. Lagrey stopped abruptly.
"Heh. Sorry, Daisy." he said, grabbing his map and making his way into the kitchen area of the cozy home.
Lagrey, though he looked out of place, was quite comfortable in Duck Village. And though he got some strange looks on occasion (mostly from his adoptive 'sister', Daisy), just about everyone in the Duck Clan was used to having a Winger around.
Clutching the treasure map tightly in his fist, Lagrey walked out into the village proper. Duck Village, he always noted, was so very suited to ducks. There was water everywhere, flowing underneath the firmly built gangplanks that connected everything in the village. He didn't blame them for building a village so very in-line with their own lifestyle (he figured they wouldn't like a Winger-style village anyway, though he'd never seen one proper, he had an idea of what they must be like), but it was still uncomfortable sometimes. For one, he thought as he slapped his arm, the mosquitoes. Ducks had all those feather to ward off such evil bloodsucking insect menaces, but he did not.
"There you are, Grey. Sleeping late again. I knew you would." came a quack from in front of him. He had nearly run into his best friend in his haste. The duck before him looked essentially like any other duck, though perhaps his tail feathers were not the most desirable looking set in the village. His name was Donny.
"Sorry, Donny. Even with a late start, we still have the edge." the Winger declared. His friend shrugged.
"Well, I hope you still have the map. Your sister may be cute, Lagrey, but she's got a terrible record of pitching important things in the trash." Donny said with a wink.
"Quit hitting on my sister and we can go." Lagrey said with a grin. "This time, I swear it, is...the JACKPOT!"
"I bet, quack." Donny muttered as they left the lakeside village.
******
Lagrey had scarcely known his parents. Apparently, his father was still out there somewhere, and he had known his mother briefly before she had vanished, presumably captured by Tinto slave-traders on the outskirts of Grassland. However, such incidents seemed isolated, especially in the Duck Clan. Lagrey was used to living a pretty eventless life.
Not for long, though, if his hunch was correct. According to an ancient map he and Donny had stumbled upon, somewhere hidden near the Kuput Forest was a temple that had been lost for a hundred years or more. He was sure that it concealed endless riches. After this expedition, he would have it made. He could pay to have his father found, if he so wished. He could build a grand palace in the village for his family and Donny's. It would be great.
Heading northeast, they traveled for an hour or so, paying close attention to the map, before they reached the general area in which this ruin was supposed to be in. The grass grew at a length that stretched over their heads, right up to the edge of the dark Kuput Forest. Donny, who was shorter than the Winger, was having trouble keeping up.
"You okay back there, Donny?" Lagrey checked as he pushed aside the huge overgrown stalks of grass. Hearing something of a quacking cough in reply, he figured that was good enough.
"Maybe I should have the map, you know?" Donny said irritably. The young Winger snorted.
"Maybe you should have brought your axe, you know?" he said in a mocking tone.
Suddenly, the path opened up before them. Down an embankment, in a clearing that was surrounded on one side by huge, ancient trees, and overgrown weeds on the side they were approaching from, was the temple. It seemed more cavelike than templelike, but there were two old stone columns overrun with thorns at the entrance. In fact, the entire entrance to the cavern was surrounded by thick, thick brambles.
"That looks painful, quack." Donny said regretfully.
"But think of the reward!" Lagrey said as incentive. "We'll be set for life with this treasure!" Bright-eyed, he glanced at his friend, who seemed much more doubtful of the impending rewards.
"Now I do wish I had brought my axe..." the duck said.
Lagrey glided down the embankment to the fringes of the thorns. He could see, just barely, a path underneath them leading to the cave entrance. Looking at the size of the thorns, he gulped. Good thing he was flexible.
Bending this way and that, and ducking (don't mind the pun), Donny and Lagrey crept slowly through the maze of utter pokeyness. Not being experts by any means, they got fairly cut up despite their caution. But after a good hour of bramble navigation, they reached their goal: the cave-temple entrance! Lagrey could scarcely contain his excitement.
"This is it, Don." he said triumphantly. "We did it! I just hope we can carry the treasure out through those brambles."
"I'll barely be able to carry myself out." Donny muttered. The Winger eagerly went forth into the darkness.
The corridor was nearly pitch-black as the daylight faded behind them, but soon torchlight replaced the sun and they stumbled forward. After a few minutes of walking, they reached an open chamber, well-lit by several torches around the room.
Lagrey's jaw dropped. It wasn't treasure, but---
"By the gods, quack..." Donny murmured. Lying perfectly still on two ornately-carved cots that stood side by side were two figures.
On the right was what appeared to be an ancient man. His skin was like old leather, worn and wrinkled. He had long gray hair that sprouted like a plant out of the hooded purple robe he was clad in. Spidery gold runes crisscrossed his robe in eye-catching patterns. He appeared to be...asleep, perhaps? He certainly didn't seem dead, though he looked old enough to justifiably be.
But it was the left cot that Lagrey couldn't take his eyes off of. On it lay the prettiest girl he had ever seen. She had pale, smooth skin--like snow, he thought--and blonde hair that was just as pale. She had pink lips, and her eyes were closed in gentle sleep. She wore a blue headband in her hair, and a blue and white dress. Her hands were clasped around an ornamental staff. Slowly, her chest rose and fell.
She was mesmerizing.
"What...what is this? Some kind of tomb or something, quack?" Donny said, breaking the silence. Even the air felt like it had been trapped back in that chamber for centuries.
"I...don't think so. Look, she's breathing!" Lagrey pointed out. Donny glanced over at the old guy.
"So's he. This is weird, Grey. I don't like this, quack."
"Hmmm...why do you think they're here?" the Winger wondered.
"Maybe this is some freaky Alma Kinan sacrifice or something. I know those forest women do all kinds of odd things like that..." Donny suggested.
"That could be, but... something feels different. Why would they have a sacrifice that's asleep?" Lagrey figured. He walked over to the girl and tapped her gently. Nothing happened.
"Are you sure they're not zombies, quack?"
"I doubt that. Maybe it's...a spell or something. You know, like in those fairy stories. Heh, watch this." Lagrey said. He leaned down towards the girl on the cot.
"Quaaaack!" Donny protested. "What are you doing? You aren't gonna kiss her, are you? She could be a vampire, look how pale she is!"
At that point, Lagrey didn't care if she sprang up and ate his soul---he had to kiss that girl. He pressed his lips to hers, and nothing happened at first, though he was starting to feel something---almost like her lips were moving---when Donny shoved him out of the way.
"Let me, quack! She's pretty, for a human, and heck if you're gonna be the only one to kiss her before she sucks our blood!" the duck insisted, pressing his bill rather roughly onto the girl's mouth. It...didn't work out quite well. Lagrey grabbed the duck by the tail feathers and pulled him off, only he used so much force that Donny crashed resoundingly into the old guy's cot, knocking him completely off.
"Now you've done it, quack!"
******
Her first sensation was one of confusion as she sat up slowly. What on earth was she laying on? Where was this?
Then she noticed a rather startled Winger, and terrified Duck, both staring at her as if she was about to eat them.
"Ummmnnn..." she moaned, rubbing her head. That was when she saw a wrinkled old hand clawing its way out of a cloud of dust that had been kicked up by something on the other side of a cot opposite her.
"Are you...a vampire?" the Duck asked her plainly. She shook her head, still trying to get her bearings. She felt so groggy!
Then the images that had plagued her for so long snapped back into her brain. The fires, the doom---how long had it been?!
"Ohhhggh, I feel like a thousand hangovers..." moaned a familiar voice that appeared to be attached to the hand. But something was different.
"...Cro...Crowley? Crowley, is that you??" she asked aloud. There was a cough in response.
"Sarah!" came the voice. "Thank the gods you survived, too. Where's that blasted---"
Then she screamed as the figure came into view. It...it was Crowley, certainly---but how did he get so OLD? He looked ancient!
"What's going on here...?" the Winger asked uncertainly.
"C-Crowley..." Sarah choked. "L-look at yourself..." She gestured to a polished surface on one of the walls that might serve as a mirror. Crowley turned around, took one look, and shrieked.
"I'm ...OLD!" he noted with utter shock and dismay.
"What happened, Crowley? Where are we??" Sarah asked, worried.
"You're in Grassland, near the Kuput Forest..." the Winger offered helpfully. Sarah sighed, relieved.
"We must have blacked out---someone carried us here." Sarah concluded. "But that doesn't tell us how---oh...oh my god!" Holding her hands to her mouth, the girl watched in horror as Crowley's skin appeared to ripple and change. Before her eyes, the years were shed, until suddenly he was the same she had always known him--twenty-three, red-headed, freckle-faced. No wrinkles, no age.
"This is frightening, Sarah..." Crowley said, his eyes wide. He turned to the Winger and Duck. "Please, take us to Arana Cane Village as quickly as possible."
The Winger and Duck blinked in confusion.
"Alma...Kinan?" they said.
"Arana Cane. Have you heard of it? I admit, it's a bit out of the way, but..." Crowley said, taking charge like he always did. Sarah, however, sensed that something was terribly wrong.
"I've never heard that name before, I'm sorry..." the Winger apologized. "If you want, we can take you Duck Village, and you can stay there for a while. I think you've been asleep...for a very long time."
"Oh, god..." Sarah murmured, her eyes welling up with tears. Crowley moved to embrace her. "What's happened to us, Crowley??"
"I don't know, Sarah. Let's at least go with these folks for now, all right?" he said, unsure even of himself.
"Uh, I'm Lagrey." the Winger said somewhat awkwardly.
"And I'm Donny, quack." the Duck introduced.
"...very well...I'm Sarah." Sarah said, extending her hand for the Winger to shake. Instead, he knelt, and kissed it. She blinked. "...Were you the one I felt kissing me??" The Winger reddened.
"I'm Crowley, and I'll bust your chops if I ever hear about something like that again." said the red-haired mage gruffly.
"Y-yeah, sorry..." Lagrey said.
"Haha, quack." Donny laughed.
"I most definitely felt you, too!" Sarah marveled. How long had she been some kind of kissing exhibit without knowing it?! So many questions, and no answers...
"Hmph. I certainly didn't feel anyone kissing ME, ever." Crowley muttered as he let himself be led towards the exit.
"Sorry, we kissed the girl. You, we just kind of knocked over." Donny said bluntly.
"How touching." Crowley said. Sarah brought up the rear, her mind deep in thought. As they emerged into the sunlight, she found to her dismay that she didn't recognize any of her surroundings. She was positive that Crowley didn't, either, but he was obviously shaken about other matters--such as, what on earth had caused him to age so rapidly, and then turned him youthful again? It puzzled her.
******
As the four of them made their way to Duck Village, Sarah couldn't help but wonder that, if she had been sleeping, how long it had been. A week? A month? ...A year? ...More than a year? She shuddered.
Duck Village, though Sarah had never been there, was at least familiar. She had remembered the Duck Clan being settled in roughly the same area in her memories. It was a peaceful place, as well. Terrible images were chasing her down, and she tried to get them out of her head by concentrating on the beauty of the village. The locals were very hospitable as that Lagrey person explained their plight to an elder---apparently, the Winger himself was not a native---and they were whisked into a warm hut where they were practically spoon-fed delicious food and badgered with questions.
But Sarah couldn't concentrate on any of this. Her thoughts were with her family and friends---Sarlus and Elzona, her own parents...were they alive? Had they escaped? Circe and Blaine, Crowley's parents...surely he was thinking of them as well. And Master Mazus...for some reason, the thought of him brought tears to her eyes, as if she knew some terrible memory of him that she could not unlock, but she knew not what.
That evening, she finally got Crowley alone.
"Crowley, listen..." she began softly. He shook his head.
"I already know, Sarah. Tomorrow at first light, we're going back. I've got to know what happened." he said determinedly.
"Me, too..." she murmured.
As darkness fell, and she was shown to her bed in her own little room, she knew no harm would befall her in Duck Village. She was safe now, she was almost sure of that. But she lay down in the comfortable bed with private doubts. She knew that as soon as she left the world of waking, the nightmares would return, biting at her heels. What if she never woke up, like before? What if she was once more trapped in that devil world?
She closed her eyes, and sure enough, evil eyes gazed at her out of the blackness.
Those eyes that never looked away...
