Of Darkness and Shadows
Part Three
(Warning: adult situations, gore)

The pain of Duo’s injuries was magnified a hundred fold as the dark power of the Deathscythe flooded through him.  Not for the first time he regretted his ancestors ingenuity in the creation of the glowing weapon.

    Bright green light flooded the room from the weapon’s blade and the very air hummed with energy as he felt the stirrings in the shadows.  The Lumiaria would protect Quatre, which was good because he didn’t think the healer would be able to defend himself in his weakened state. So that would mean that he’d only have to protect Salipo.  He was sure that both the Catron and the dark elf could handle themselves even against the Calimari.

    Sensing movement to his left he put himself between the young woman and the threat he felt.  A pale purple hand extended from the shadows, the claws on the hand were long and sharp - colored by dry blood and pieces of flesh.  Within seconds the bald, deformed head emerged followed by the thin, elongated body.  Even though Duo had grown up around the Revered Magus’s monstrously unnatural army he had never quite become used to them.  He wasn’t sure exactly how they had come to be but he was willing to bet money on the fact that they’d come to their present state through the Magus’s necromantic magic.

    Bracing himself, feet spread wide he held the Deathscthye in an easy and natural grip.  As a weapon it was anything but natural but all Shadow Tribe nobility was trained to use a scythe from the time they could walk and despite the constant power flowing through him he was able to move unheeded with it in his hand.  He waited only seconds before the Calamari struck its claws searching for his blood.  Easily side-stepping the fast but clumsy movement, Duo brought the glowing blade around in an arc removing its head as well as severing it’s body in two with his second blow.  As he expected the severed body parts continued to flay on the ground in an attempt to get at their intended prey.

    That, however, was the least of his problems.  Warnings sounded in his mind as other Calamari entered the room.  Looking around himself Duo quickly assessed the situation, Wufei and Heero were back-to-back and holding their own against six of them but Trowa was having difficulty protecting Quatre as well as Salipo from another bunch.  Duo had to admit that the Lumairia was good but not many could hold up against five Calamari while protecting two other defenseless people… he realized he’d judged too soon as Salipo used her bag of supplies as a cudgel on any part of the outlandish creatures within reach.

    Twirling the scythe in one hand he concentrated on the other, forming a small but hot ball of fire, even while he slashed at the Calamari around the three of them.  One claw lashed out at the blonde woman, drawing blood and ripping her shirt.  Moving between the two of them he sent the small fire sphere at the mindless soldier and smiled tightly in satisfaction as the purple skin sizzled and dropped from the skeleton.

    Fire was the only real way to destroy the Calamari he’d discovered that little secret the hard way when he had been much younger.

    Unfortunately he didn’t have that much magical energy left, not after everything he’d gone through.  Seeing the other’s strength wavering under the unrelenting strain of battle he made a quick but hasty decision.

    “If you five wish to survive, get behind me.  NOW!”  Duo didn’t wait to see if they would actually listen to him, he knew they would as soon as they realized what he was planning to do.

    Concentrating on the energy within the Deathscythe he used his own power to change and manipulate it into a strange green colored fire that quickly encircled the scythe, but unlike his own fire that wouldn’t burn him this fire licked at his flesh hungrily and it was all he could do to keep a firm hold on the weapon.  Quickly, following the practiced moves of the pattern dances he’d learned all his life he moved gracefully in and around the Calamari, sparing none in his path.  His enemies didn’t refer to him as Shinigami, the great God of Death, for nothing.  The name was well deserved.

    The smell of charred flesh filled the room quickly and Duo had to shove the fact that he was sliding around in melted bodily tissue to the back of his mind to keep from loosing what little food he’d actually eaten in the last few days.

    He came to an abrupt stop as the last of the Calamari fell and at the very same instant he banished the strange fire though it left his knees so weak that he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to stand on his own for long.  Concentrating he sent the Deathscythe back to whence it had come, sending a good part of his burned hands along with it.  Once again he was reminded of the fact that the magical weapon was not to be controlled but to control.

    “Duo?”

    He blinked slightly, attempting to focus on the speaker and finally was able to give the blond elf a half crooked grin.  “Sorry about the mess your highness.” He was deliberately ignoring the open concern in the pale blue eyes that watched him, but it was costing him more than he was willing to admit to remain standing as if nothing was wrong.  Pain was something he had taught his mind to handle but his body was often traitorous when it decided that enough was enough.  It was one of those times that Mind over Body wasn’t going to work no matter how long he pretended it would.

……………………………

    Wufei found himself staring in barely held back horror as he looked at the hands and wrists of the Shadow Prince.  They were blistered and bleeding unlike anything he’d ever seen before, and he’d seen a lot of injuries including burns.  The burns as well as the other injuries the young man had already sustained should have made him keel over in pain long ago and yet the boy remained standing there, smiling as if he felt nothing.  Perhaps the young man had lost his mind, it was the only logical thing that he could think of the support the fact that the injuries appeared to go unnoticed by the other young man.

    He watched as Quatre, having found his feet earlier, moved forward; gentle face marred in concern.  “Duo, by the Ancestors, your hands…”

    But just as the small blond was about to take the hands into his own and use his healing skill on them Duo pulled back out of reach, frowning slightly.  “You can’t do this, you’re too weak, you need to rest.”

    “I’m fine Duo.  Just let me help you, you’re in so much pain and I could…”

    The Shadow tribesman shook his head emphatically causing his long chestnut braid to swing jerkily along his back.  “No, you need to rest and see a healer and so does Salipo.”

    Wufei wasn’t entirely too surprised to see the Herbal healer step forward stubbornly, “And what about you?  It seems to me that you’re the one with the most severe injuries.  You should see a healer first.”

    There was a bitter laugh that tugged at Wufei’s heart for reasons he couldn’t begin to understand right then.  “I’m not important.  It’s already too late…  I’ve let down my people and my brother.  I was their only hope and I screwed up again.”  He glanced down at his hands but there was no self-pity there, only acceptance.  “This is as good a punishment as any for my failure.”

    His cousin’s eyes went wide in disbelief.  “Punishment?!  For what?  You were only trying to help your people!  You don’t deserve to suffer for anything that you’ve done so far!”

    Amethyst eyes looked searchingly over his cousin’s face, looking for what though, Wufei wasn’t sure.  Then quietly, so softly it was even below that of a whisper the Shadow Prince spoke, his voice wavering unsteadily.  “I’m not so sure about that but it seems as if it isn’t in my control this time.  I just don’t have the strength to fight what you want to do.  So, do what you want.”  With that the boy collapsed.  There was no other way to describe it, it was as if all the energy had been sucked out of him and he’d fallen like a sack of grain.

    Wufei found himself by Duo’s side before any of the others, checking for a pulse, which he found to his immense relief despite its weakness.  He looked up meeting Quatre’s eyes over the prone form.  “He’s alive, but barely.  Are you strong enough to help him?”

    But he might as well not have asked the question at all because by the stubborn set of the blonds’ jaw he had already decided to do what he could for the fallen boy and despite his gently nature, Wufei knew from personal experience that there was no arguing with him once he’d already set his mind on something.  Not even Trowa would be able to change his mind.

    Feeling strangely detached he sat back on his hunches and watched as his deceptively fragile cousin held his hands over the injuries and a pale blue light spilled from them, entering the body.  The glow was easy to follow as it progressed through the too thin form.

    Next to him he felt Heero shift and looked up, meeting hard cobalt eyes.  Not many people could read his friend and body guard very well, at least not like he could, and right then he could tell that even the duty-bound Catran wanted the Shadow tribesman to die.  It wasn’t something that was understandable, at least not if you considered the history between the United Realms and that of the Shadow tribes.  There’s had always been a never-ending fight.  True, it hadn’t been an entirely hostile exchange until King Solo had taken over the thrown after his father had passed away and, if Wufei was honest with himself, it hadn’t started to become hostile until a few years after Solo’s reign had begun.  It made him wonder if there wasn’t some truth to what Duo had said earlier.  If only the Shadow Prince survived, he promised himself to listen to what the other had to say.  It had been far too long since any real communications had actually taking place between the Kingdoms and maybe that wasn’t entirely the fault of the Shadow tribes.

    He watched worriedly as beads of sweat stood out on his cousins’ pale forehead and caught a brief flash of a mirroring emotion in Trowa’s eyes before it was hidden from view.  It truly was a pity that his cousin’s Kingdom could not come to understand that love in any form was something that should never be shunned.  Love was much too difficult to come by to just allow it to slip through your grasp when you finally found it.  He knew that well enough in the case of his deceased wife.  If he’d tried a bit harder to be the husband that Meiran had deserved she might have lived a good, long life.  That was in the past though and there was no point in considering what he could have done differently.  What was done was done and could not be undone.

    He gazed back down at the Shadow Prince’s light skinned hands as they slowly reformed, once again becoming unbroken skin.  Quatre, beyond any doubts, had a once in a generation gift.  No other healer was as powerful, or as skilled.  But even his cousin couldn’t keep up the rate of healing he was putting to use and ever so slowly he sunk back, leaning back against Trowa who was by his side offering any aid he was capable of.

    A tiny small broke over the blonds’ face and he met Wufei’s gaze directly.  There were questions burning in those knowledgeable orbs that Wufei wasn’t ready to answer and Quatre must have sensed that because he let his questions slide for the moment.  “I’ve taken care of the bigger injuries… there were quite a few, more than I had originally thought but he should be fine if he gets some rest.  I think it’s safe to move him from prisoner status to guest dignitary.”

    Heero stiffened slightly.  “Are you sure that’s wise your highness?”

    Quatre didn’t look up at him instead he focused his gaze solely on Duo.  “He allowed me to read his mind Heero and he didn’t even try to hide anything from me.  Trust me, he’s had more than enough suffering in his life already he certainly doesn’t need any more.  Besides that, unless you’ve forgotten what just happened, he did safe our lives.  Those Calamari things are even worse than what our magi had thought.  Far more indestructible than we’d even come to imagine and if Duo hadn’t been using fire to destroy them none of us would have made it out of here alive.  He’s even more important to us now than he was as a prisoner and it seems to me that he might even be the way to have peace be the outcome of this war.”

    “Heero and I will watch over him in our suite until you’ve had a chance to regain your strength.”  He didn’t miss the surprise on Heero’s face or the twinkle in his cousins’ eyes but chose to ignore the both of them as he directed his next words to the green-winged Lumairia holding Quatre’s body upright.  “Trowa I would appreciate it if you could take my cousin to his own rooms and make sure that he gets his necessary rest.”

    Before the blond could disagree the quiet, young guard scooped him up into his arms and walked purposefully from the room without so much as a backwards glance.  He didn’t even hesitate at Quatre’s startled yelp of protest.

    When he was certain that the two were out of earshot he turned to look at his woman friend.  “If you go to the palace healers they will take care of that arm, if they give you any trouble at all tell them that the Warrior Prince will have their heads.”

    “I’m sure they’ll appreciate that.”  The blonde woman said sarcastically though she smirked at him.  “I’ll be by as soon as they have to check on our new friend.  I trust that you won’t be putting him back in chains now that he’s considered an ally.”

    Wufei just glared at her, “That would be unjust.”

    She chuckled dryly as she got to her feet.  “Just checking.”

…………………………

    Heero sat watching Wufei as he gently tended to the Shadow Prince.  He had to grudgingly admit his admiration for Duo’s warrior skills.  He rarely met anyone who he thought could give him a run for his silver, and he hadn’t been sure there was such an opponent for the Warrior Prince.  Now though he wasn’t so sure.  Even despite the harsh feelings he harbored for all members of the Tribes he couldn’t be so certain that he felt the same way towards the pale boy lying on the dark silk sheets of the bed.

    His thoughts might have had something to do with the fact that he’d never known either of the other three to judge a person wrongly.  But then he’d never seen someone with the fighting spirit seem so utterly hopeless just moments after a grand fight.  It was simply unheard of among his kind and he’d never seen any warrior brought to that point, not even after a hard round of torture.

    “You seem to be thinking hard about something, care to enlighten me?”

    “It’s of no real importance Warrior Prince.”

    Wufei gave him a soft smile that was the only thing able to melt through his icy shield.  “Heero, how many times do I have to go over this?  We’re alone so you don’t have to use titles, not to mention the fact that we’ve been lovers for nearly a year now.  Keeping up pretenses is all fine and well but you of all people are more than free to call me by my given name without permission."

    He forced himself to relax slightly but restrained himself from pulling the dark elf into his embrace.  “Salipo stated that she would be by to check on the Shadow tribesman, my Lord, it would be unseemly should she step in to find our situation compromised in any way.”

    Wufei shook his head slightly still smiling.  “Salipo has known about my feelings for you longer than I have Heero.  I doubt very much that anything she could possibly step in on would surprise her.”

    “And what of the Shadow tribesman, my Lord?”

    At that Wufei actually laughed, a more rare thing Heero didn’t know of.  “He’s out cold Heero.  I’ll be amazed if he wakes up in the next couple of days.”  There was a strange note in his voice.

    Heero’s eyebrow lifted slightly in question, “You feel something for him?”

    The dark-haired boy rubbed the back of his neck slowly, letting out a low sigh, “I’m not sure I can answer that.”

    “He is very beautiful Wufei, I wouldn’t mind if you did, providing it was not a one-sided venture on his side, or yours.”

    It wasn’t often he caught his friend by surprise but by the look on his Prince’s face, he had this time.  “What are you talking about?”

    “I’m just stating that even if you don’t realize what you feel those of us who know you already know what you don’t and we don’t mind the idea.”

    Wufei looked between the figure on the bed and him a few times before speaking.  “You’re saying I should try to take him as a lover?”

    “I’m saying that you shouldn’t wait to act on what you feel.  If I had not acted on my own feelings for you Wufei, we wouldn’t be lovers now.”

    Heero watched Wufei thinking about it.  “I don’t know anything about him Heero.  And from the way you were reacting earlier I could have sworn you thought he was lower than a worm’s belly, so why the sudden change?”

    At that Heero had to stop and consider his own thoughts and emotions, cataloguing them efficiently before proceeding with his explanation.  “It’s the result of many things, it’s not that I would trust you alone with him for any period of time, you mean too much to me to allow that yet.   But I will say that he isn’t like any Tribesman I’ve ever encountered before, and you know Quatre would have known if he’d had any false intentions towards us.  There is also the fact of his oath of truthfulness that is intriguing.”

    “Intriguing?  Why do you say that exactly?”

    “Simply because it is something that he would die to uphold.  Not many people these days are so honor-bound.  Besides my own People, I believe there are only three others who I can speak that of.”

    Wufei nodded knowingly.  “Those three being me, my cousin and my cousin’s bodyguard.

    “Yes.”

    He calmly waited allowing his Prince seemed to think it over before speaking.  “Well Heero, the way I look at it is that any move towards anything at this point might be too much too soon.  As you said yourself, you’re not to sure you can trust him and not all Races are as open to differing sexual preferences as the dark elves are.  It would probably be best to wait and see exactly how he’s going to react to us and his newly revised situation before we make any hasty decisions.”

    “Of course.  I merely wished to remind you that life is not a spectator sport, that is all.”

    Wufei shook his head and laughed, “And this coming from the person everyone in the Royal court thinks has muscle for brains.”

    Heero smirked slightly, “Well, unlike those flamboyant wastes of skin, at least I have a brain of some kind.”