Infiltration 4
“KiNa? ShiKon?” SoYa rapped at the door with his open palm, trying to get someone’s attention from the other side.
What are they thinking, locking me in here? What’s going on?
All sorts of awful scenarios began to flash through SoYa’s mind. Perhaps the Manor had found the Zemitree. The children were rounded up and captured. He was placed under office arrest until someone could come back to deal with him. All while he slept!
Oh no… oh no!
He redoubled his efforts, beating on the door more loudly. “Hello! Anyone out there?”
A shimmer of white flashed across the corner of his eye. The light was weak at first, struggling to take form. But almost as soon as he noticed it, something began to happen. The light strengthened, pulsing and growing stronger, soft particles and shimmer extending around him, meshing with his own energies. He didn’t need to hear the sound to recognize what it was.
“Zemi?”
The light swirled and capered about the room in response, floating weightlessly as the form of the white dragon became more noticeable. There was something urgent in the way it approached, bounding through the room. Then with one final leap, it passed through the door.
“Zemi… wait!” the man pleaded, pressing against the door with both hands. “I need your help!”
A long moment of silence hung over the office. Then, the soft mind-whisper filled SoYa’s senses.
~The door isn’t locked. It has a blocking spell cast on it.~
“What?” the mind mage blinked. That’s when he realized that Zemi was right. The door locked from the inside only.
~Diffuse the spell. You must hurry.~
“Diffuse?” SoYa stared at the blank grains on the wood. “I don’t know how to use that kind of magic, Zemi. I’m a mind mage.”
~You are only as limited as you think you are.~
The man ran his fingers through his hair and paced back and forth next to the door. “This isn’t helping.”
~The children are in danger. Will you let this stop you from reaching them?~
His eyes widen and he returned to the door, voice shaking, “Did the Manor take them?”
~No. But they have taken on a dangerous mission. This could mean their lives.~
SoYa could feel his heart rate rising. He didn’t understand what was happening, but he didn’t really need to. Taking a deep breath, he pressed his palms against the wood again. He could now feel the tingle of magic on the other side, though it felt alien and unknown.
~Let me Guide you, SoYa.~
The dragon’s mind speak was soft and concerned, as it echoed in his head. Zemi seemed just as worried about the children. Something about that comforted SoYa.
“Do you know what to do?”
~Of course. I Guided your father though unknown magic many times in the past.~
SoYa shook himself out, concentrated on the humming of magic, then nodded. “Show me.”
The presence that filled him was immense and otherworldly, like trying to wrap his head around the power of the stars. His first instinct was to withdraw as he saw the wood at his fingertips begin to glow with a gold-white light. Still, the light was warm and comforting. A soft musical sound rippled through his mind, calming him and making a very gentle connection.
In that moment, the world around him changed. Everything seemed sharper, more real. He could sense the lifeforce of the giant tree around him, magnifying the Arweinydd’s energies as they flowed into his body.
Everything turned inward, focusing on something deep and hidden. Secrets of the past that threatened to burst through the darkness that imprisoned them.
SoYa could trace the lines of magic that held the door closed to him. He could somehow see through the eyes of the light-dragon, making out the runes and patterns of a spell he was unfamiliar with. Somehow, it all made sense, as if it had been his own magic cast over the doorway.
He willed the magic.
It moved for him.
The energies that lit the patterns began to shift and change, growing gold-white in color. Then, they took on the light of SoYa’s signature magic, a soft violet glow.
He had control over the spell.
Closing both of his fists, the energies began to crackle violently. Then with a final explosive force, the spell shattered, sending SoYa reeling back from the door.
He caught himself on the edge of the desk, the air knocked out of his lungs. The door swung back and forth on its hinges, blasted open by the spell’s release. Outside, SoYa could see the capering light of the dragon.
~Follow me!~
With no time to catch his breath, he grabbed his staff and raced after the zooming white blur of dragon-light. SoYa didn’t need Zemi to tell him where they were going. He knew the danger was at the Manor.
Nighttime was drawing low across the land, but SoYa wasn’t daunted by the shadows. He knew the way to the city by heart. Nothing was going to get between him and protecting his children.
He didn’t think about how far it was to run. He didn’t think about the time it would take. All the same, he was surprised when he arrived at the city gates faster than he imagined he ever could. He was hardly even out of breath.
~Quickly!~
Zemi darted into the side streets. The city was totally black, only the lights from a few small personal crystals glowing in windows. Whatever had happened, it left the city completely powerless and dark.
Shouts of guards and mocking taunts echoed from the buildings the closer he ran to the center of the square. He could sense some of the children rushing around, evading the authorities. They were dressed like students of the Manor, no doubt some sort of diversion for something bigger.
~Inside.~
SoYa nodded and continued to follow. He didn’t like leaving the children being chased, but they were quite good at what they did, and would be able to escape on their own.
KiNa… what have you done?
When SoYa reached for the doors, they were shut tight. Whatever energy ran the city powered the doors - but now everything was dark and dim inside.
~Over here!~
The dragon bounded up the railing and scrabbled on top of the nearby awning. SoYa could see an open window far up, out of his reach.
Gripping his staff, he craned his head back to stare up the face of the building. He could sense it. Something he never sensed before, locked within. A darkness that wasn’t night spread from the rooftop, leaving prickles of chills over his skin.
~SoYa!~
Zemi sprang up on the sill of the open window and stared down.
“I can’t reach that,” the man told him. “Let me look for another way in. You go ahead.”
~There’s no time! KiNa and ShiKon are up there… you MUST be there!~
“I told you, I can’t!” SoYa argued. “Why don’t you go around the inside and we can see if there’s an open door on the…”
~SoYa!~ Zemi’s voice was sharper than he ever heard before. ~Look at yourself! You can do this!~
“What…?” the man paused in mid-objection. He turned his head, doing as Zemi instructed.
A soft light flickered around him. A light that wasn’t completely Zemi’s. For the first time he realized the glow came from the great pair of shimmering wings that spread from his shoulders.
WHAT?!
It was like in his dream. Only, right now, SoYa was sure he was awake.
I’m… am I…
~Awakened. Now hurry!~ Zemi broke the moment with no accolade.
How long have I been…
~SoYa!~
He shook himself out, then turned back to the open window. He wondered how different flying would be outside of his dream, then took a deep breath and launched himself upwards. His wings spread with ease, like they were a part of himself that had waited a long, long time to be discovered.
It took a little thought and maneuvering to make for the small target of the window sill. Folding his wings a moment too soon left him scrabbling and gripping the frame to pull himself through.
Darkness met him on the other side. The shadows were chased away by the light that streamed from his form. For the first time he realized he was glowing as brightly as the Zemi dragon.
Without further hesitation, he raced after the shimmering creature. They ran down corridors that were strangely silent and unused. This was an area of the Manor that SoYa wasn’t familiar with. A place that was reserved for the High Mages and the administrators.
As they rushed through a hall where the windows were bricked up, he could feel his hair standing on end. SoYa’s breath rasped in his throat, at the sight of ripped walls, a caged gate and a tall dark stairway ahead.
Zemi didn’t pause. He sprang forward up the stairs.
When SoYa reached the room at the top, the light of the dragon flickered, looped around and infused within his own form. He gasped for a moment, feeling the rush of the Arweinydd power take him.
His eyes fell with perfect clarity on the huge dark figure that loomed at the far end of the room. Time seemed to stop.
…Suddenly he knew…
ShiKon, plastered against the wall, tears streaming down her face as she watched helpless.
…The world seemed to shrink around him…
KiNa, one hand raised defensively above his head, splayed out on the floor.
…He remembered…
His brother standing above the boy, claw swinging down for a fatal blow.
“TSUYA!” Magic exploded from SoYa’s hand, and blasted into his brother’s dark form, sending him staggering away from KiNa.
When the Marked turned to face him, the wild snarl changed from fury to shock and surprise. TsuYa mouthed his brother’s name, but didn’t speak it. For that one moment, he had his own mind, but that changed instantly as the forces of Chaos drew up around the dark Champion, the dark bladed scythe appearing in his hand.
“No… no…” the Marked groaned, struggling against it.
Then, one terrible command echoed through the room, taking TsuYa’s mind and will from him.
--Destroy him.--