Winged

Chapter 13: The Raid

Later that night, Leo lay on his bed and stared at the ceiling for hours. Aside from the guards on duty, the whole Keep had gone to sleep, but not Leo. It was impossible, with all the stuff troubling his mind, especially since he heard about Ephideus. It was true that Leo didn't like him very much, but after all he had heard about the White Mask's prison, the thought of anyone he knew being in there made him wince.

If Hikaru had come back she would have backed me up, he thought. After Ephideus' capture, Hikaru had left the other scouts to deliver the news to the elves in Laimíreaude, Eithon in particular. So she wasn't in the Keep when Leo suggested to Frederick, Themba, and everyone else he could find that they should form a rescue party to save Ephideus. No one listened. No one thought it could be done; they said it would be impossible to break into wherever Ephideus was being kept and come back.

"It is suicide," one soldier said.

"We can't risk many to save one," said Frederick.

"No one here can do it, Leo," Lucy said. "No one wants to go back there. Believe me."

The once brave and proud Asaelian soldiers had lost their spirit. Leo had noticed it on his first walk through the corridors of the Secret Keep. Some of them had been tortured, many others had heard of their comrades' suffering. They were scared, cornered in an underground hideout like rats hiding from a cat.

"Meow."

Leo turned to his side to see Lucy's cat quietly staring at him with those glowing, yellow eyes of his.

"Hey, Cat, can't sleep either?"

For a moment, Leo almost expected Cat to respond, but he didn't. Instead he climbed onto Leo's bed and sat on his chest, still staring deeply into Leo's eyes.

"Um, I don't have any food for you, Cat. You should go ask Lucy."

The cat didn't go away; instead he looked at the window and then back at Leo, never blinking.

"What, you want to go outside?"

The cat looked at the window and back at Leo, and repeated the motion two more times.

"You want me to go outside?"

Cat nodded.

That was weird, Leo thought. Was the cat actually trying to tell him something?

"What do you want me to do outside?" a thought crossed Leo's mind; it would definitely be strange, but he had been in that world long enough to know anything was possible. "Wait, are you thinking about Ephideus?"

Cat nodded again.

"Well, I'm thinking of him too. What if he is being tortured right now? But it's no use. No one is going to do it. I tried, but everybody just came up with that 'needs of the many' crap. It's like everyone lost their strength, you know? They are all scared."

"Meow."

"Yes, I know," he said with a slight smile. "Hikaru wouldn't be scared; she would've knocked the fear out of all of them by now. Forget soldiers, she would go rescue Ephideus herself if no one followed her. But Hikaru isn't here, and I'm not really sure when she's coming back. To be honest, I'm worried she might not come back at all. She could've been captured by now."

"Meow."

"I know, I know, she is awesome and stuff, but being a jerk aside, Ephideus is pretty awesome too. And they were together when he was captured. If she couldn't stop it then, what if she can't stop her own capture? For all I know, they could be cellmates by now. And even if she does come back soon, what if it's too late, you know? What if we rescue him and he is already... beyond repair?"