Cross Ange: The Knight of Hilda

Chapter 4: Dark Knight

"Find them. My children."

The voice again. It seemed to come from everywhere. Rio looked around but all he saw was an endless sea of black. Behind him came the wail of an infant and he turned to see a group of men loading a baby locked in a cage into a car. Not far away, another group of men were holding back a woman who was desperately struggling to get free.

"Please!" she begged as they faded from sight. "Please don't take my daughter! She's not like the others!"

"Please don't tell," a voice whimpered as another image appeared in front of him. This one of a girl, no more than ten, cowering at the base of a tree. Her short brown hair trembled in fear of him and her green eyes were overflowing with tears. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to break it!" Just like the baby, the little girl faded from sight and in her place, a man and woman lay motionless on the floor, a bottle of poison lying between them.

"Find them," the voice said again. "My children. Show them the truth. Bring them to me."

"How?' Rio finally asked. "Where are they? Who are you?" In response, a pinprick of golden light shined in the dark. The light grew in size and intensity, nearly blinding him until a shape took form in the light and Rio found himself unable to look away. Before him stood a creature larger and greater than anything he could ever imagine. It's brilliantly pristine body blazed with a golden light while at its sides, a pair of massive wings extended to a length that seemed as if they could cover the entire world. As eyes like flaming jade gazed down at him, the creature threw back its serpentine neck to open a three-hinged jaw and unleash a roar that pierced Rio straight to his very being...

...The sudden jolt snapped him awake and Rio once again found himself in the real world. He lay on the floor of the cabin, his last memory that of a warm body pressed against his and a mane of fiery red hair in his face. In his lingering delirium, he attempted to move and a wrenching pain in his groin twisted him into a fetal position as everything came rushing back to him.

"That...bitch!" he growled. What the hell was she thinking? Was she really so crazy as to think that she could just walk up to the Dawn Pillar and rescue the other Norma just like that? Fighting through the pain and rising nausea, Rio focused the Light of Mana into his manhood until it subsided to a dull throb. Once he could move, Rio pulled himself to his feet and reached for his datapad. If he was lucky maybe Hilda was still in the perimeter. He turned on the sensor app and the red dots moving across the screen towards the center were all the warning he had before his body reflexively threw itself to the floor as a hail of bullets smashed through the window he had just been standing in front of.

"Hold your fire!" a voice yelled. From down on the floor, Rio checked the pad again and saw four dots in a position roughly 20 meters from the cabin. A fifth held position behind them while a bit further away, another four circled around the cabin in pursuit of another that was nearing the perimeter's southern rim. "You in the cabin!" the voice called. "We have you surrounded, throw down your weapons and come out with your hands up!"

"Damn it!" he cursed as he rolled to behind the couch where he yanked aside the throw rug. "I do not need this right now!"

As the four officers closed in on the cabin, Dark kept watch from a respectable distance. Though he doubted any booby traps had been set this close to the safe house, he would rather let the police take the risk. Besides, Master Embryo's instructions were to eliminate any and all witnesses after securing the Norma. No sense wasting his own energy if the cabin's defenses could do the job for him. The officers meanwhile had finally reached the cabin's porch. One peeked through the bullet ridden front window before turning back to Dark and waving his hand to signal all clear. Dark nodded and gave them the sign to breach the door.