Midoria's Heart

Midoria's Heart 28 - Ashes of the Past

Hey guys! Here's the next chapter :D

Hope you like it!!!!

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Chapter 28 - Ashes of the Past

 

There was a long moment of silence; none of us really knew what to say. Worry and fear plagued our thoughts - how could this have happened?­ My memory flashed back to the vision of the two men who had been headed towards the mountain... They had been looking for the Sword too. They must have gotten here before us.

"What are we going to do?" I moaned, more to myself than anything else.

"What we planned to do all along." Daniel's voice, surprisingly, was firm; decided and strong. "We can't give up, just because things didn't go our way here. This is a test - a chance for us to prove ourselves. We can't fail. The entire kingdom depends on us."

Tears pricked my eyes; I knew he was right, but I couldn't stop the hopeless feeling that was boiling up inside me. Even if we did get to the Staff and the Key before our enemies, how would we find the Heart without the Sword?

"Thinking like that will get you nowhere... or are you planning to give up and embrace the Darkness?" The voice was unmistakably Kamen's, and it sent shivers down my spine.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you helping us?" I demanded.

"I'm not helping the others," he replied scornfully, "Just you. And why should you care? Haven't you heard the saying 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth'? You shouldn't complain about my help."

"I'm not complaining... I just think you have an ulterior motive." He laughed at that, the rich, deep sound filling my mind.

"Who says I don't? You know nothing about me, little one... Ignorance is bliss, they say. And for now, that is how things will stay." With that, he was gone; leaving my mind abruptly, as he seemed to be in the habit of doing.

He had a point, though. Giving up was not an option. I would not let him win, and destroy everything I loved.

"Alright, then. We'd better get moving if we want to have any hope at all of getting to the Staff in time," I said, turning to face the others.

"It'll be at least a two day flight, maybe three if the weather's bad," Jay commented.

"Then let's go." Lisimi said.

We turned and headed back through the portal that had brought us here, moving quickly through the cavern and tunnels until we reached fresh air once more. Without pausing, we each unfurled our wings and threw ourselves out into the open air. With any luck, we'd actually get to the hills where the Staff was foretold to be in time...

~♥~

I don't know that I've ever flown as fast for as long as we did that day. It was early morning when we left the mountains, and we flew almost continuously, pausing only briefly at midday to rest and eat.

I can't even begin to describe the emotions that coursed through me during those hours, nor the thoughts that swirled around in my brain. I couldn't bring myself to be hopeful, or to think that we had any chance of making it in time. At the same time, I couldn't even begin to entertain the possibility that we would fail.

So I hung in a delicate balance between hope and desperation, all the while pushing forward like soldiers marching into battle. Our foe was unseen, but there was no turning back now. Our only options were to fight or lose everything that we held dear.