Blade(Part 4): Midnight

Chapter 10: Dameon

Dameon's eyes shot open. Shala's opened after his, then Kai, then King Matthias. Dameon could only feel dread rushing through him at the thought of his sister being hunted by the Peacekeepers for the rest of her life. Now that she knew what she was, who her real mother as, and especially that she had one of Xyhra's weapons, Catherine would have to run and hide for the rest of her life just to stay alive. Skaola's Peacekeepers may not be her problem anymore, but the Peacekeepers around the rest of Zenartha might. Their mother had to have known that she knew who she really was, now, too. Dameon could only imagine what kind of terror Xyhra was feeling for Catherine. As Dameon said, though, they could both take care of themselves. Even so, the life of someone on the run and hiding for the rest of their lives was only a life of fear and secrecy. After what happened in Noglidas with Decimus Zeno, Dameon would have to live that sort of life himself once Aziz was killed. With half of the Colonial Republic's soldiers being young, inexperienced, and seriously traumatized as a result of the Revolution, though, Dameon wouldn't be afraid of them if they did manage to find him.

"Hey," Shala said, with a hand on Dameon's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"She knows," Dameon gasped.

"Who?" asked Shala.

"Catherine," Dameon answered. "She knows who she is, now."

"How?"

"One of my mother's weapons was hidden on the lower ring," said Dameon. "Damn. She'll be hunted by the Peacekeepers for the rest of her life."

"Dameon, she's a Blade of Midnight," Shala reminded. "She's already killed three different Peacekeepers. Do you honestly think any one of them will attack her and live to tell about it?"

"Oh, no," Dameon answered. "But do you honestly think she won't have to run from them for the rest of her life? I mean, I might have to hide from the Republic's military."

"Let's worry about that once we're done with Aziz," Shala suggested.

"Yeah, good idea," Dameon agreed. He stood up, and took Shala's hand to pull her to her feet. Kai and King Matthias both stood, too.

"Who's snoring?" Kai wondered. Dameon listened closely, and he did hear a person snoring. Not loudly, but loud enough to hear over the noise of the birds and rivers of the Furnace. Akanotahkon was sitting against the side of Polarpi's chest with his head leaned back. He must have fallen asleep while everyone else was unconscious. Polarpi himself was awake, as was Araxes. Dameon couldn't help other than chuckle at the sight, and walked up to him, past Polarpi, to shake him by the shoulder. His eyes shot awake, and he jumped to his feet.

"You're awake!" he cried. "Are you alright?"

"We're fine," Dameon promised. "Let's keep heading towards the temple. I know exactly where to go."

"Yeah," Akanotahkon agreed. He climbed onto Polarpi's back, while Dameon, Shala, Kai, and Matthias climbed onto Araxes, then both dragons lifted themselves into the air. They stayed below the top of the trees of the forest, and Dameon pointed to where he was being drawn to. They flew past the trees of the forest, until Araxes shook with a roar of pain. Gunshots and explosions began to erupt throughout Araxes and Polarpi's flights. Both dragons repeatedly flew up and down and turned side to side in order to avoid the airborne explosions. Dameon held onto Araxes' back as tightly as he could, but as the dragons flew forward, the explosions became more frequent, and the anti-air defenses became more intense. One very close explosion knocked Dameon, Shala, and Kai from where they were sitting. As they fell, King Matthias leaned to the side and grabbed Dameon's hand, who felt Shala's own hand gripping his ankle, while Kai was grabbing hers. King Matthias strained to pull the weight of all three of them back onto Araxes, but he couldn't, especially with the explosions erupting around him constantly.

"Dameon, listen!" the King shouted. "We can't be far from the temple, now! I'll draw their fire on Araxes. You all get to the temple on Polarpi!"

"Will you be alright!?" Dameon shouted.

"There's only one person who can stop all of this, and it's you!" Matthias reminded. "Now, go!" He let go of Dameon, and he and the others fell and landed on Polarpi, who Akanotahkon had flown under Araxes to catch them.

"There's a lake up ahead!" Akanotahkon shouted. "I'll pretend to crash Polarpi into it, so hang on! And hold your breath!" Shala wrapped her arms around Dameon's waist, gripping him as tightly as she could, and all of them took in a deep breath of air. Akanotahkon flew Polarpi downward, and the dragon folded his wings to his sides as a blue lake came into view. The storm dragon crashed through the water, but as he descended to the bottom of the lake, he fell again, into a dry space, other than droplets from the lake's water slowly dripping down. Polarpi landed on a floor of solid stone, and Dameon looked up to see the lake's water suspended above them.

"Woah," Kai gasped.

"That's..." said Shala, her eyes widened with awe. "How is that...?" Dameon climbed off of Polarpi's back, then Akanotahkon.

"There's something you don't see every day," Akanotahkon observed.

"No shit," Dameon agreed. He then looked around, following the aura that was drawing him to what must have been the upper ring's temple. There was a tall, wide doorway on the wall of the cave. It was large enough even for Polarpi to fit through.

"Well, we've come this far, haven't we?" Shala suddenly said, as she and Kai climbed from Polarpi's back.

"Is that where we need to go?" Kai asked.

"Yeah, it is," Dameon answered, drawing his ancient sword. They went through the doorway with their weapons drawn, into a wide, silver hallway. Strange railings were on the floor, and robotic arms were hanging from the ceiling.

"Do you think this might have been some kind of hangar for the Ilentias' aircraft?" Shala wondered.

"No, the hangar might be at the end of this corridor," Dameon corrected. "I think this is just a transport passageway." After what seemed like forever of walking further and further through the corridor, Dameon began to sense a dark presence ahead of them all. It was familiar, but powerful than it should have been.

"Woah," Akanotahkon gasped.

"Yeah," Shala agreed. "What do you think is waiting for us?"

"I'm pretty sure don't want to know," Dameon answered. "My mother said that the monsters here are absolutely terrifying, remember?"

"I do remember," said Akanotahkon, as they came to the end of the hallway. Whatever darkness was hanging over the temple was growing stronger with every step they took, and Dameon's heart began to race. As they reached the end of the corridor, they entered what was a garage or hangar of some kind, filled with strange, ancient vehicles and aircraft that seemed like dropships.

"So, it is a hangar," said Shala.

"Observant, Guardian," a voice suddenly said. It was an evil, frightening, and impossibly familiar voice that came with the darkness they were following. As it drew closer, Dameon finally recognized it. There was no possible way that whoever was carrying this darkness could be, though. The demon gave off the immense darkness then revealed himself from behind a wrecked dropship. Dameon felt dread rushing through him, but he noticed Kai had tears in his eyes.

"Xerxei?" he shuddered. It was Xerxei.