Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ An Unexpected Ally ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

~An~Unexpected~Ally~

~Chapter 8~




Alex finally came upon a country, but didn't slow Diamond down. She galloped right through the gates, startling the guards. She came to a halt in front of a large group of villagers, who backed away, surprised. It wasn't everyday a woman on a firey black horse that was tossing it's head and stamping with blood running down it's stomach came in the gates.

"Where's your healer?!" She demanded, trying to steady Diamond. One of the villagers pointed to a building a few miles away, and she let Diamond loose.

Diamond skidded to a stop in front of the building, sending up a large cloud of dust. Alex jumped down with Dilandau's arm over her shoulder before Diamond even came to a stop and walked into the building. Instantly, she was swamped with healers; 4 of them took Dilandau away from her, and 2 others dragged her over to a bed. "Leave me alone, I'm fine. He's the one who needs help, not me."

"Miss, you have two serious arrow wounds, and you just bolted into our country, please
let us do our job and heal your injuries." She gave up and collapsed onto the bed, ignoring them as they pulled off her jacket. She allowed them to lay her back and she drifted off, enjoying the feeling of a soft bed under her back at last.


When she came to, she found she was in a small room with sunlight pouring in, and Dilandau was laying beside her in the same bed. He was on his side, she was pressed up against his chest close enough that she could actually feel his heart beating, and his arm was draped over her. She blushed at the position they were in, but didn't move; she was too nervous about what he would do if he found out they were in a different country while he was still injured.

So instead, she just slipped farther into the warm blankets and stared out the window. She could feel the bandages on her side and her shoulder, and closed her eyes as they started throbbing again. Dilandau shifted in his sleep, and his grip on her tightened, pulling her closer to him. Her entire body was now pressed completely against his body. She could feel the bandages on his leg and felt a wave of pity wash over her as she realized it was her fault he was injured. She closed her eyes and thought about the vision she saw.

>>>There was fire all around her. A huge battle was going on around her, but everyone was ignoring her. Bodies were strewn everywhere she looked. Alex shuddered at the sight, and walked away from the battle. A few miles later, she heard people talking. She walked over at the sound of it, and caught sight of a large group of people hollaring and jabbing sharp tools at two little girls on the edge of a cliff. A closer look showed her that they were actually cat-girls. They threw the tools at the girls, causing them to fall off. One man broke free of the group and he jumped off the cliff after the girls. She watched in shock as two beautiful wings burst from his back and he caught the two girls in midair.<<<

Alex opened her eyes, and saw that two hand madiens had come into her room and shook her awake.

"Miss, your horse is in the stables outside, and we have some food ready for you when you're hungry." They then left, and she sighed. She felt Dilandau shift again, and glanced at him. He
had woken up, and was looking around.

"I was wondering when you were going to wake up." She said quietly. He stared at her for a moment, then blushed. "You do blush easily." She closed her eyes and layed back down, falling asleep again. Dilandau stared at her, surprised. He usually didn't like being so close to other people unless he was battling or punishing them. *So why don't I mind being so close to her? Especially in this position.* He sighed, shrugged it off, and layed down beside her, falling asleep quickly, his arm still around her waist.


~3~hours~later~

Dilandau woke up to thumping and cursing. He sat up and looked over to see Alex hopping around on one foot, struggling to pull her boot on. She tripped and almost fell, then managed to gain her balance. She hopped backwards a few steps, tripped again, and fell this time. "Damn!!" She managed to pull it on, laced it up, and stood up. She then repeated the task with her other boot, walked over to the dresser and grabbed her sword then strapped it on, grabbed her jacket and punched her arms through the sleeves.

"Wha...what's going on?" He asked, watching her rush around the room, collecting their stuff. She jumped when he spoke, then ran over to the bed.

"Thank-god you're awake. Come on!! We gotta go!!!" She snapped, grabbing his arm and pulling on it, trying to get him out of bed.

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Somebody's attacking the country we're in!! We have to get Diamond and get out of here!!!!" Dilandau got up, still dazed and wincing from his leg, then followed her out of the room into the hall. People were running around everywhere, frantic. He stumbled as an explosion went off, shaking the entire building, then walked down the hall with Alex as he pulled his jacket on.

Alex ran down the stable hall until she found Diamond. He was stamping and snorting, terrified by the explosions. Alex led him out and climbed up, then held her hand out for Dilandau. He mounted Diamond and the black horse cantered out of the stable into the open, where Alex halted him.
As Diamond walked around in a circle, panicing, Alex looked out at the battlefield. The entire city was on fire, and people were scattered everywhere. Diamond pranced around in a circle again for the third time, and Alex finally let him run out into the burning maze that was the city.

Dilandau stared at the burning buildings closing in on him, and almost fell off as Diamond reared to avoid a falling beam. Their path was now blocked. "Damn. We're gonna have to find another way out of here."

She turned Diamond around with difficulty, and both of them fell off as Diamond reared again as a building collapsed, blocking their other way out. Alex had fallen onto Dilandau with her stomach across his waist, and she had trouble forcing herself to her hands and knees.

A shrill whinny caused her heart to leap up into her throat, and she jerked her head up to see several men capturing Diamond by throwing ropes around his neck. Alex froze, then bolted to her feet. "Diamond!!" She tried to get to the horse, but Dilandau held her back. "Let. Me. GO!!!!!"
Dilandau grit his teeth, struggling to hold her back, but she managed to get away from him. She was a few feet away from Diamond when one of the men grabbed her from behind. She struggled to get out of his grip, but she wasn't able to. One of the men also grabbed Dilandau, and before he had time to respond, hit him over the head, knocking him out.

Alex struggled to get away from the two men that were now holding her back, but all she could do was watch as they knocked out Dilandau and dragged Diamond away. She'd had enough and was about to break a few kneecaps, but before she could, they knocked her out as well.


Alex woke up and groaned silently, as her head was throbbing from where she was hit. She opened her eyes and saw that her wrists were chained to the wall with the chains long enough for her to stand, and she was on her knees at the moment in some dungeon. It was small, cramped, and disgusting.

She pulled at her wrists, then glanced through the bars across the hall and saw Dilandau's sword leaning against the wall. A few minutes later, she heard footsteps and the sound of something being dragged coming down the hall. Alex watched as a large guard opened the cell and tossed Dilandau into it. He landed on his hands and knees, groaning. Alex could see several brusies, and his leg was bleeding badly again. The guard kicked him in the gut and Dilandau was forced to the other side of the cell. The guard took his sword and hit Dilandau on the back with the blunt side of the blade.

"Zaibach scum. And your little princess is next." He snapped, pulling his arm back to land another blow. This hit landed on the back of his neck, causing him to fall flat on his stomach. The
guard had had enough and walked away, locking the door. Alex watched as he came into her cell and walked right up to her.

He reached down and gripped her chin roughly, yanking her head upwards. "Well now, you're quite a pretty one, aren't you?" She growled, snapped at his fingers, and hissed. He jerked his hand back, then gripped his sword. "Why you little.." He raised his sword, and she closed her eyes, waiting for the blow. When it didn't come, she opened her eyes, and was shocked to see a man around Folken's age gripping the guard's wrist.

"I believe you have duties to attend to." The man said with a voice that chilled the very air as he spoke. The guard opened his mouth to object, but the man narrowed his eyes. Just from this action alone, the guard seemed to shrink back slightly. He must have been dense though, because he was about to object again. The man simply squeezed his wrist, and the guard begged him to let go. The strange man let go instantly, and the guard slinked off, gripping his wrist.

Alex stared at the man in shock. He glanced at her, the barest hint of a smile playing at his mouth at the look on her face, then he turned and left. She pulled hard at the bonds at her wrists, but all she got in the end was loss of energy.

"I have got to get out of here somehow." She continued to struggle against the chains holding her back, but stopped when a shadow fell over her. She looked up and saw another guard staring down at her.

"You caused one of our best guards to recieve a broken wrist. You need to pay for that."


Dilandau groaned, struggling to his hands and knees, wiped the blood away from his mouth, and stood, one hand holding onto the bars to steady himself. He looked across the hall into Alex's cell, and saw she was locked to the wall by chains on her wrists with a guard staring down at her in a threatening way.

"Hey." He said with slight difficulty. The guard didn't hear him and raised his sword, sharp side facing her, about to attack her. "Hey!" The guard looked over at him that time, his eyes narrowed.

"What?" He snapped. Dilandau smirked.

"Is that how weak you seriously are? That you would pick a fight with a WOMAN, and one that is chained to the wall at that." Alex looked up at him, a slight glare in her eyes, warning him not to go too far. But the guard reacted just the way he wanted him to: He walked out of Alex's cell and entered his.

"What are you suggesting? Would you rather me take you on in a battle?"

"No."

"I figured." He turned to leave, but Dilandau stopped him.

"I would rather take on you and let's say, 6 others, 7's a lucky number." The guard turned back to him.

"You're claiming that you could take on me and six of my comrades?"

"Not all at once, that wouldn't be fair. I want each of you to be able to experience my skill by yourself." The guard laughed.

"Such guts for a little boy." This comment caused Dilandau's blood to boil.

"I am no little boy. I may only be 15, but I have spilled three times as much blood as you and all the other guards in here combined have."

"And how is that possible?"

"You can accomplish alot when you're the head Dragon Slayer of Zaibach." The guard seemed startled by this, but tried to recover.

"Fine, we'll take you on, and I hope you're ready for a large defeat, LORD." He spat. He turned to leave again, but once more, Dilandau stopped him.

"Let's make this interesting. Say it'll be kind of like a tournament. And, let's put a little bet on too." The guards interest was peaked.

"What are you planning on betting?"

"My freedom. I win, me and my, 'woman', as your friend called her, get to go free."

"And if you lose?" Dilandau laughed.

"What makes you think I'll lose?" The guard just crossed his arms. "Fine." Dilandau's eyes landed on Alex. "I have an idea of what to bet." Alex tensed, then swallowed hard.

"Oh shit." She hissed, her eyes widening. The guard looked over at what Dilandau was looking at, and his eyes narrowed at what he meant.

"You're going to give me your woman?"

"To do what you want with her."

"And what about you?"

"Hello? The only way you can beat me is if you kill me in battle. That's the rule."

"You mean I can't just disarm you? I have to kill you?"

"Yeah. Disarming is boring, and if I lose my sword, big deal. I can still kill you in hand-to-hand combat. Even if you still have your weapon. No problem at all." Dilandau grinned. "Don't tell me you're going to back out of my challenge?"

"No of course not! I'll go find 6 of my best men and tell them." He then left, and Alex glared at him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?! You're betting ME?!? What if you lose?!" She snapped, standing up and walking towards him until she ran out of chain, then stood there, pulling at her wrists.

"No problem, I won't lose." He said, loving how this was infuritating her.

"But what if you DO?!"

"Then you'll have to live with these guys. I don't see the problem." She gave up then, backed uup to the wall, collapsed against the wall, slid down to the floor and sighed, hanging her head.

"I'm praying to God that for once, you're right, Dilandau. I seriously hope you win."


A/N: well, this next upcoming chapter sure will be interesting. yeah, that's all i'm gonna say. no smart allec remark, just a small, harmless comment.