Part Seven
Spreeander's eyes glistened with imprisoned tears.He had to keep himself from pouncing on Pherlladen,and finally lowered his head and buried it in Pherlladen's neck. He was alive and he remembered who Spree was.
Pherlladen let Spreeander subtly fall apart,his own vision clouding with tears as he felt Spree's upon his own fur.
* You scared the hell out of me *,said Spree almost inaudibly. Pherlladen managed to scoff and stifle a chuckle, tears still spilling over onto his face.
* For a moment, I thought you might be dead *,Pherlladen hissed this so quietly only Spree could hear it.
* I'll never leave you, don't you know that? * Spreeander replied,choking back a sob.
* I do now. Are you all right? *
* I'll be fine. What about you? *
* I'll be okay now that you're here.*
Spreeander smiled into Pherlladen's coat and they were silent,weeping for a yet a few more moments.
Epharen held tears back from falling as she watched them,felt the relief, the joy, the earth shattering depth of their love. It was the most beautiful of things she thought she had ever seen or would see in a long time. But part of the tears in her icy blue eyes were of her own relief that Pherlladen was all right. She did not know what she would've done if he had...
Epharen sensed that all had left her,and she was alone with Spreeander and Pherlladen. Oh well. All she needed was them anyway. Epharen was on her own now. And she would seek what only she knew. She would seek the Energy Drainer.
Shallie stopped; what was she doing? She couldn’t listen to some Sharro that she didn’t even know! Shallie turned, her eyes flaring as she relized that someone had been going through her memories. Having had them stolen once before Shallie let out a racious growl and stalked down the way she had come.
The world seemed to be silenced, the greater sun was beginning to ascend; it’s bright radiance forcing Shallie to scquint. She was going to find Gyepsy and her cousin, but as she was about to resume her run felt the silent alarm of Zenat. Shallie twitched, she had to go back... but he would be there... what had Caaris done now?
**Damn you.** Shallie thought as she sprung forward, her direction changing towards Caaris’ hideout; all thoughts of Lantrea gone... as the other Sharro had seemed to have disappeared again.
She had told Caaris to protect Zenat! Why was she in distress! Shallie opened her mind to the strong channels she had built with Caaris and searched his feelings for any clue she could gather. Caaris was angry, and afraid; a dark dread had settled on his chest and he felt as though he couldn’t breath.
Shallie shook her head, she had stopped running... Caaris...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Caaris struggled, the faint glimmer of Shallie’s searching mind evaded his panicing thoughts. This could not be happening! Caaris despritely wanted to thrash out, to roar, to claw... to be able to do something!
One of the Sharro standing over him laughed; Caaris had a strong mind, but somehow he could not fight the force that had paralyzed him. In a renewed anger Caaris reached out, his mind coiling around that of the laughing Sharro, it’s own mind left unguarded.
Stopping the creature’s heart, Caaris mentally laughed. The other Sharro rushed to their dead comrad, but they were far too late. Their bright eyes settled oon Caaris, fear in their stare.
Epharen's head snapped up,her ears pricking. Something was going on. Many things. Not near but far away,in many different places all at once. She could sense Caaris in some sort of danger and Shallie in yet another fit of anger over something. Zenat had gone after her and she could not find Lantrea at all with her mind. Epharen let her head bow back down after a long while with it in an alert position. She knew what to do for sure. She could go find Caaris and aid him,though why in hell she would want to do that baffled her. He was tolerable at the moment,she decided. At the moment.
She could seek Shallie and return as her follower and help her best friend. Or at least the person who had been her best friend before. But she could still feel a grudge,a pain,an anger ever so faintly there in her heart like a splinter. But there was no doubt in an aspect of her being that she still wanted to be Shallie's best friend,that she still loved her deeply. But that splinter was still there,nagging at her.
Epharen sighed in frustration with herself. She was not sure. As usual. Damn her uncertainty!
She could not expect much from Pherlladen or even Spreeander for that matter. They were still wounded and very weak, especially Pherlladen. If they encountered danger,neither had a very good chance of living through it. Epharen was responsible for them now,she could not endanger them.
So where was she to take them? Should she take them somewhere and then leave them to go aid Shallie or Caaris or just to be of some damn use? She could take them back to headquarters...Epharen mulled over all the possibilities, examening all of her options.O,why did there always, always have to be multiple choices?
Epharen sensed Shallie heading back to Caaris' place,where she was now. All right,so she could stay here and wait for Shallie. Epharen decided this with a blocked mind, so that no one could sense what her intentions were.
Epharen turned to Spreeander and Pherlladen,who now lay near each other in a very calm state. Pherlladen was looking slightly better already,she was glad to see. He looked up at her with those warm brown eyes, awaiting for her to speak. She inwardly melted but said nothing for a moment. She just stared at him,the light in her pale blue eyes wavering.
He was so beautiful. So...she could not find the words. She heard some sort of song in her head as she looked into his eyes, and it seemed like her heart stood still as something dawned on her.
Epharen snapped out of her reverie.
* Pherlladen,Spreeander. You must leave this place. Try to go back to headquarters and stay out of sight as best you can.* She instructed them in a whisper,the color surrounding her words an urgent sort of purple.
* What about you,Epharen? * Spreeander questioned as he stood.
* I will remain. I have my own purposes,but you and Pherlladen must leave. If danger arises,neither of you are in any condition to fight. *
Epharen then paused and stepped closer to Spreeander who stared at her with reluctant eyes.
* Take care of Pherlladen *, she said.
Spreeander nodded and any doubt that was previously there dissapeared. He had to watch out for Laden,and Epharen was right in saying it would be safer if they left.
* Watch yourself,Epharen *,he murmured with that familiar tone of an older brother.
* I will *,she answered as she bowed her head.
Spreeander pressed his head to her's briefly as a gesture of encouragement and assurance. He then turned from her and nudged Pherlladen up to stand. Pherlladen followed Spreeander wordlessly,but as he dissapeared,he looked over his shoulder at Epharen.
* Let this not be the last time I see your blue eyes,//Leaninos// *,he whispered only for himself to hear.
And he turned his gaze away from her again as he followed his best friend.
Watching in silence, Leyla growled as the two Guardians exited and soared off. There was little time left! The sun was rising, and the Nonoshan would be out soon enough; that was all she needed! A night that was supposed to be successful turns out to be a nightmare... damn those Guardians and Nonoshan.
Leyla turned her view back to where the Sharro named Caaris had emerged. There was still another Sharro left inside; it’s signature was unknown to Leyla, but she hardly cared. Whoever it was would stand little chance against her, and she gloated over the fact that she was so strong.
Rising, Leyla fluffed her fur and kept to the receding shadows as she came to the edge of the opening; her bright eyes flashing as she looked within. There they were, a female for sure, and a Guardian... a rather disturbed one, but Guardian nonetheless. This meant nothing more then a hunt to Leyla, she wanted to fight... she wanted to feel pain... she wanted blood!
Hiding herself in the darkness, Leyla appeared as a shadow in the dark corners of the dwelling; the bare dressing of the placer amusing her as she thought about the evil Sharro that owned them.
**Greetings.** She said, her voice coated with a fake sweetness as her eyes began to glow with anticipation. **I see you have been having some troubles this night... could you use aid from a Sharro as myself?** Leyla, still shrouded by darkness, and seeming to bring it with her as she moved; brought herself closer to Epharen as her words seemed to echo in the blankness of the other’s mind...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Caaris awoke with a start; everything was dark, and the strong stench of metal assaulted his nose as he breathed. Caaris rose shakily, at least he wasn’t paralyzed anymore... but there was something else. Attempting to send out some mind waves to figure out where he was, Caaris discovered that he had been blocked; his sendings returned to him hollow, and empty.
Caaris, though still and silent, began to feel a horrible feeling creep up in his stomach; he had never felt so alone before... and he hoped never to have to feel the same way ever again.
Blind in the darkness, Caaris gently pressed his nose to the metal wall, and following it found out the width of his cell. Turning and following the next he found the the door, fresh air rippled out from under the crack.
He could see the paws of the Sharro outside, but he was unable to receive any sendings from them; Caaris moaned, this was more then he could bare...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zenat opened her eyes; what had happened to her? All she could remember was that fight with the Creashaw... after that she could only vaguely remember what had happened.
Focusing her vision, Zenat sat up; she was back at the base, that was easy to see, but who? Oh, there they were... it was none other then Durwe, he seemed to follow her everywhere.
**What happened?** Zenat snapped, though she felt groggy, she was far beyond caring about manners, and with Durwe she hardly cared either way.
**I am not allowed to tell you...** Durwe said, though by the look in his eyes Zenat knew that he would have told her... damn the Shepards!
*Shallie!* crying desperately, Lantrea sprung out from the underbrush and into the midst of the Gathering place.
She stood still and tall, eyes roving almost wildly about for the sign of her Leader. Was it possible she was in danger? Was Caaris onto her somehow? So many questions raced throughout her pensive mind at one time...
A sudden rustling with slight mirth came from the underbrush. What could it possibly be NOW!? Lantrea walked warily forward, and parting the bushes...found none other than...Gyepsay and Syremina!
*You little demons! Which way did Shallie turn! Tell me!* Lantrea insisted angrily. But not wanting to sadden her friends, her voice settled more calm. *Can you help me find her?*
Epharen sighed heavily as Spreeander and Pherlladen finally dissapeared from her sight,although she could still feel their fleeting prescences. Okay,so now she was alone. But not for long,if indeed Shallie was headed here. And Epharen also had a feeling that Shallie would not be the only on to come back here.
Carris. Epharen sensed his disorientation,his physical pain. Where he was, she could not tell,but it was nowhere favorable and he was not alone.
Zenat. Where had the snake gone? She was in simliar circumstances as Caaris, Epharen sensed. Where she was now exactly was unclear to Epharen,but she knew it was nowhere she would particularly like.
Epharen brought herself up to her feet and started pacing about in circles. She cast out the net of her mind and sought out scents and prescences. No,she was definitely alone as of now. Good. She needed this solitude,no matter how temporary. And indeed, Epharen's solitude would be temporary.
She tried to make sense of things. She need to find the Energy Drainer. Dark thoughts of the creature grew in her mind like a shadow. Epharen was the only one who knew of one's prescence at the battlefield clearing. It was faint,just as it always was for the conveniance of the Energy Drainer. But she had sensed it. She had seen it in the memory of the Nonoshan that she'd fought with.
They were like parasites,those creatures. They were neither living nor dead,but shadows that fed on the energy of others,living off their victims. It depended on how hungry they were. Sometimes they would steal only a little. Sometimes enough to make the victim very tired.More made them exhausted.Further more made them dangerously weak. And sometimes they would drain so much of their victim's energy,it would die.
That was what nearly happened to Pherlladen. She was bloody glad it hadn't. But it had been close. Too close.
Epharen stretched her head to touch her nose to the ground. She smelled the soil with distaste. There was much hidden in the earth.She could smell it. And sense it in the air. Feel it in her the depths of her own soul.
Epharen sighed again as she lifted her head. She sat,staring into the darkness,and waited.
*You little demons! Which way did Shallie turn! Tell me!* Lantrea insisted angrily. But not wanting to sadden her friends, her voice settled more calm. *Can you help me find her?*
"So there you are. Gaurdian." Gyepsay said. But it didn't sound like Gyepsay. And in the rising sun one could almost make out that Gyepsay and Syremina didn't look the same. A fading bluish mist surrounded them. Lantrea had made a big mistake.
Shallie slowed her pace; she could no longer track Epharen, or Caaris, or Zenat. Caaris and Zenat felt far away to her; to far to grasp though she could hardly tell where they were or how they had gotten there in such a short amount of time. But Epharen... Epharen had never left Caaris’ hideout; Shallie could only conclude that her friend was being masked by another Sharro. Perhaps another Telepath... or those Shepards.
**Epharen?** Shallie tested her thought speech, sending bright and urgent words to her friend. For a long while all was still and then she was blasted with her own sending. Writhing with surprise, Shallie knew that something had gone totally wrong.
Anger filled her veins... if she ever got out of this! Rushing towards the place where she had last sensed Epharen Shallie growled to herself. What a night... and it didn’t seem to be over yet.
Epharen was still...almost unnaturally still. She sat in the midst of a strange fog that had drifted into the building. It was dark. Not as black as it had been in the clearing but dark.
She waited. She was not quite sure what it was exactly that she waited for,but she knew something or somone would come here and she was meant to face it. Or perhaps it already was there...
Epharen's thoughts turned back to the Energy Drainer. It was mysterious, strange to her. Yet she knew more than most. But for some odd reason, she felt this naggin within herself whenever she thought of it. It was like there was something she knew but could not remember at the moment. And it was annoyingly frustrating.
Epharen wrinkled her nose pensively.
She could sense Shallie again. And Caaris and Zenat were still were they had last been. But no matter where any of them were,she could not go to any of them. No,something was keeping her here.
And then her thoughts turned again. To Pherlladen. The one she loved. The one she would never have. The one she wanted. The one she needed.
She shut her eyes in wistful, melancholy defeat. And then she jumped slightly as Pherlladen's eyes stared back at her when she closed her eyes. They were there,in her mind. The only light in the blackness. She would never escape them. They would torment her forever.
As much as she subtly loathed Caaris, she thought it just plain stupidity for Shallie to have let him get away when she loved him. She loved him, and he loved her. It was mutual, and that was rare and for her to have let him go... It was outrageous.
Epharen stopped thinking. She suddenly sensed a sharp prescence. It struck her in the face,it was so bold and strong. Menacing. Yet she had never sensed it before,she could not recognize it. Her pale,blue eyes turned cold and hard as she stared into the shadows ahead of her.
And something stared back.
Kerama stared into the inky blackness. He sat waiting. Waiting for the sharro to notice him. What was going through her mind? She seemed to be staring into space, obviously deep in thought. Her body was still. She looked uncertain; as if she was trying to decide whether to go where she wanted, or the direction she had to go. But then something broke her concentration. She seemed to jump, as if a cold shiver went down her spine. Suddenly Kerama realized that she knew he was there. She stared at him coldly. He stared back at her, in a menacing way. Leyla, who had been sitting beside him began:
**Greetings.** She said, her voice coated with a fake sweetness as her eyes began to glow with anticipation. **I see you have been having some troubles this night... could you use aid from a Sharro as myself?**
Stupid Leyla! The lone sharro was no welp. It wouldn’t fall for those tricks that easily. Didn’t Leyla have any clue about the element of surprise, or common sense? He tried to stop her and tell her so, but she had her channels closed to him. Didn’t she know he was there? He smiled and sighed. Idoit. this would be the mother of all cat fights./
Leyla was staring into the cold eyes of the other Sharro... this Epharen.. this Guardian. She chuckled silently to herself, what a joke... those Guardians! The Shepards had long ago taken their place in the Homeland... the High Counsil had ensured that.
Leyla felt another presence... Kurama? That damn mercenary! Shifted her channels to the male Sharro, Lelya angrily sent flashes of bright red and then growled to him...
**What are you doing here? I thought you were told to return with the others...** Leyla locked her eyes on those of her enemy as she communicated with Kurama, those eyes were almost as hateful as her own... quite an amazing thing if she didn’t say so herself. Again turning her thoughts, and speech channels; Leyla opened up and began to speak again to the Guardian.
**Speechless? I am sorry to hear...** Leyla chucked metally to herself, **that. I am afraid your friends are in great dnager...** Leyla covered her voice with sympothy as she stepped from the shadows. **I sense pain in you, Guardian, and I believe I may be able to help you... I have friends that could make your Laden...** Leyla paused, smiling deaviously. **Love you...**
Leyla knew that this Sharro was not stupid... but there was a small chance that she could trick her into helping through her desires; it had been done before...
Kerama knew that Leyla was angery at him. Yeah. Angry at him for getting there first. Idiot. While he didn't care for Leyla, he would feel bad if she was killed. Well, not really. He didn't understand why she felt that she was better than he was. If he hadn't gone that extra inch she would not have realized he was there and would have started an all out assult.
Females. He would never understand them.
"Leylaniosiewa what are you doing? What are you doing you bici?"
Epharen did not move,nor did she shift her gaze off of the two strangers. She now felt an intense cold sweep through her entire body as she sat in the prescence of evil beings. She could not sense their thoughts, nor did she particularly care to know.
Yet the female soon spoke unto her. She hit Epharen where she knew the Guardian was vulnerable.
Pherlladen. This Sharro offered to Epharen what she most desired. The love of Pherlladen. Yet though Epharen slightly flinched and wavered in temptation,she knew it was not true.
* Take your lies and go back to the
wicked place from whence you came.*
She hissed this vehemently,in colors of solid red,blue,black, showing she was firm and would not be convinced.
* Now,if you are indeed through with
speaking these lies and temptations,
perhaps we may speak of things true
and meaningful....*
Epharen twitched uneasily when she was not answered. She stretched out her long and powerful legs and stood tall, still staring into the shadows. She sensed a male, a female, neither good, nor were they associates. One was of particularly prestigous in rank,she sensed. Ah, a Homeland Sharro.Epharen smirked in satisfaction of her sensory
net. So the female was a Homeland Sharro. She was wicked as well. Why was that Epharen continued to be plagued with evil beings? She sighed in annoyance. It was in her job description, she supposed.
Epharen began to pace in circles. She had a foul mood set about her,and she looked at the surrounding darkness with narrow eyes.
But then, a new pair of eyes caught her frozen where in her footsteps. They stared at her, very much like her own.
And yet they were different. They were odd, like two orbs of dark gold suspended in the darkness. And Epharen recognized them. Indeed.
* Gwaildir *,she called to him, specifically aiming at the set of eyes she focused on so that the other two behind her could not hear.
And he looked into her pale azure eyes and said, * Epharen *.
Kerama knew that Leyla didn't want him there. He wasn't even sure that he wanted to be there. Gwaildir wasn't particularly a true friend of Leyla's, but he wasn't nessesarily a friend of Kerama's eighther. Leyla, he knew would never back down from a fight, but if Gwaildir actually knew this sharro, then she would have to. And everyone knew she wouldn't stand for it. Kerama turned his back to leave. He didn't want to be there when Leyla exploded!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Syremina woke with a start *Gy!!!!* she screamed. She darted about frantically. Her mind raced, sweat ran down her neck. Her eyes flashed here and there. She cied out in anxiety and fustration. Where was her cousin? Suddenly the memory of the morning came back. Gyepsay had dulled her mind and made her fall asleep. What was she going to do? First her cousin ran away from home. Then she lost all her family and friends in the same week. And know that she had found her cousin she was about to commit suicide. This was more than her heart and mind could bear.
She had a monster head ache, and the long journey here made her very tired and soar. But then again she was furious. Almost a crazed maddness filled her. She had to go. She had to find Gyep. And she would feel sorry for any sharro who stood in her way!
Part Eight
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