| Gundam Wing: Legend of Mystiks Chapter 18 � I can�t find her!� � Dare?� � Seraph! She�s disappeared!� � Calm down, Quatre. I�m sure she�ll turn up.� � Iie! She�s in trouble! She�s being held captive somewhere near here!� Everyone stopped what they were doing and paid very close attention to what their friend was saying. � Where exactly is she?� Everyone was treated to a spell of deja vu as Quatre repeated what Duo had done two nights ago, only the blindingly white dragon wings hinted with gold were much more obvious than Duo�s own. There was a moment of silence, then: � Kakkoi!� Duo sat by Quatre. � Oi, Quatre! You�re an Intrepid Mystik too!� After a minute, Quatre woke and jumped up, still bent on finding Seraph. His wings tipped him over, but only Duo�s hand and flared wings balanced them both. � Whoa!� � Easy there, Quatre. You�re going to bring the place down with an attitude like that.� � Seraph�s in danger!� � Sou, we got that part. Calm down and tell us the rest.� � No time!� Quatre wrenched away, literally rolling backwards out the door into the other wall. He jumped up and dashed downstairs and outside, the others close behind. Then he spread his wings and took off without looking back. Duo and Cosmos followed while the others girls changed to their third form so they could fly and carry the guys with them. They found Quatre deep in the forest, almost right in the middle of it. He was clutching a barely breathing Seraph to his chest and glaring at the Ferals that had surrounded him. The Ferals snarled at him, wanting to get Seraph instead of him. They were about to help when Quatre�s wings flared and a wide, white bolt of lightning slammed into the area where he was. When it was over, the Ferals lay dead and Quatre and Seraph were untouched. *~*~* � More Ferals.� As they were awakened, the others silently got up and moved toward the outside, shifting to their third form. They would easily have the element of surprise in the cover of night. [Shouldn�t we wake the guys?] [Iie.] [Doushite?] Halcyon sighed. [You children. Each of them is the son of a Controller of an Element. It is our duty, as their companions, to protect them at all costs.] There was no more time for questions, because they had landed on the lake shore to face off against the Ferals. The battle had begun. Inside the castle, the guys tossed and turned restlessly. For some reason, they couldn�t sleep. On impulse, they went to check on their female counterparts. They were gone. Hearing shrieks outside, Duo identified them as Ferals. The guys came to the same conclusion at the same time. Since the bridge was up and it was too dangerous to lower it, Quatre and Duo carried the other four out to the battle. What they saw was not what they expected. Six tight circles of Ferals that seemed to be . . . eating. One after the other, Heero, Trowa, Wufei, and Zechs had spasms of pain and dragon wings the color of their respective Elements burst from their shoulders, ripping their shirts. As one, the six boys dove into the pile of Ferals nearest them. Using their wings, arms, and legs, they drove the creatures away to a barely acceptable distance and stood between them and the girls, who all lay unmoving and silent on the ground, blood everywhere. Each male Intrepid Mystik felt panic as their counterparts didn�t get up. He called to her, never taking his eyes off the Ferals. With angry, despairing cries, they flapped their leathery wings once, releasing the fury of their Element on the monsters of magic. The Ferals either jumped away or were killed. The boys cradled the girls lovingly, their wings wrapped gently around the still forms. Their hearts were strangely empty of feeling, numb with the loss of love. They cried, heedless of the Ferals� closing proximity, calling quietly for the return of those who had shown them their power. Then they noticed the closing wounds. Surprised, they could only watch in fascination as the dried blood was washed away by some invisible force to reveal untouched flesh. Their tears . . . Their tears did this. The girls began to shift and open their eyes. � What�s going on?� Standing, the boys released the girls and stepped in front of them, shielding them with their own bodies and their flared wings. Reaching deep into their souls, they found their half-awakened power and brought it to the surface. � Heaven�s Salvation!� � Global Upheaval!� � Searing Inferno!� � Tidal Surge!� � Aerial Breaker!� � Dark Cataclysm!� The girls watched in stunned awe as the strongest Mystik attacks known were fomulated and used by six boys who were just barely knowledgeable of the craft and acting as if they�d done it their whole lives. Abruptly, the attacks blazed out of control, shoving the boys back toward the lake at an impossible speed. Knowing they couldn�t stop it directly, the girls zipped behind their Element Prince and placed their hands on the boys� backs, lending their own power. With a final flicker, the attacks stopped and the boys dropped like stones. The girls glanced at the army of dead Ferals and knelt by the boys in worry, then jerked their heads up at a quiet snarl. There were still Ferals left. |