Heroes of Darkness

XVI

ALEXANDER

He woke to find himself in a cold, dark place. The air was damp and earthy. Alex heard a muffled breathing next to him. Ironic, he thought. I disobeyed orders, and still did something right. Well, if doing something right was being knocked unconscious and kidnapped by Burningtree. True, if Leo had gone dancing with Elli like he was supposed to have done, he would have been captured instead. He shivered. If only he had listened to Banette sooner.

Banette! Alex' throat caught a lump in it. Where was Banette? Had it wandered off? It was too dark in the cool yet muggy room he found himself in, but he surely did not feel his Spirit Pokémon's presence. He heard the breathing sound again, but it wasn't the ghost Pokemon. When he realized who it was, he felt a pang of guilt.

Alex nudged Elli's leg, or arm it could have been. It was too dark to tell. The ground was soft beneath him, and he heard the crunching of what he assumed to be leaves. There was no response, only the sound of slow, steady breathing. He nudged her a little bit harder.

Finally, she stirred. She let out a little squeal that seemed to echo in the darkness.

"SHHH!" Alex instructed her. At least his mouth hadn't been covered. It was hard to tell, he felt so dirty. How long had they been out and asleep in this place? What place was this? "Are you alright, m'lady?" he whispered.

"I...," her voice was the only thing in the darkness. It was too black to see her. "I'm fine," she whispered back. "Where are we?"

Alex racked his brain, trying to remember the events leading up to their kidnapping. The Pool of Memories had become hot, the water steamy, and Elli had passed out. Alex Specter shuddered again as he remembered the shadowy figure that had approached and hit him. He remembered how he had dropped a golden coin inscribed with that of a flaming tree on the ground.

Burningtree, he dare not utter that name out loud, not in front of Elli. He remembered the story of her friend that had died at the assassin's hand as a little girl. Was he dead already? Was this hell?

Elli began to sob. This was the last thing that Alex wanted. He tried to keep her calm, and quiet, but she began crying anyway. I have to stay strong for her, he thought. That was when he saw the light.

It started small at first, and then the sound of crunching leaves approached even closer. Alex laid down again, and pretended to sleep. He gave Elli a sharp nudge to do the same.

"...did you find the Banette?" a male voice asked.

"No," came a deeper voice of another man. "I'll give the Specters this much, their Pokemon are crafty an elusive. I almost admire them." The footsteps stopped and he heard the hinge of a door, and even with his eyes shut, Alex could feel the heat and the light of the torch illuminating the room.

"So it's true then," came the first voice. "You missed your hit? Got the wrong one?"

"Unfortunately, yes," the deep voice didn't sound disappointed. Rather, he seemed amused. Elli let out a sob again, and Alex's heart sank.

The first voice spoke again. "The client isn't going to like this. You were supposed to get the younger one. The real heir. Everyone knows Lord Specter values him, and Gods know what his mother is willing to pay for the ransom. This ones no good to us, or the client. Burningtree, the Empress has been tracking us like a hungry Mightyena, we can't afford a slip up like this." At the mention of the assassin's name, Elli sobbed louder than Alex would have liked. "Awake at last?" the first voice asked, matter-of-factly.