"We'll stop here to make camp," Heero announced. They had stopped near a tree whose roots provided fairly good cover.
"Don't make a fire, it attracts attention," He said, "I'll keep watch tonight to make sure the vampires do not come by."
The other three nodded and disappeared under the roots.
"Here Lee," Trowa said, handing her a blanket. "You can use this."
"Thanks Trowa, but do you have something now?"
He shook his head. "I'll be fine. It's a warm night."
"But..."
"No buts," Trowa cut her off. "Just take it."
"Ok," Lee sighed, "But I'm taking it under extreme protest!"
"Fine with me," Trowa said.
"Oh Trowa," Quatre sighed, "Take mine. After all, you had to sleep on the floor last night. It's not fair to you."
Trowa smiled his thanks to Quatre and took the blanket from him. He laid it out in the hollow under the roots close to Lee's blanket. Then he lay down and stared up at the stars through the roots. Lee looked at the stars, still wierded out by the fact that she didn't recognize any of the constellations. She was on such a strange new planet, and everything had happened so fast that she hardly knew how she got there. She curled up under the blanket and closed her eyes. But she was unable to sleep. Trowa was to one side of her, and Quatre was leaning against the wall, curled up to keep himself warm. She could hear Heero pacing up above.
"You cold Quatre?" Lee asked. She glanced at Trowa, who was already asleep.
"I'm fine," Quatre answered. But Lee didn't believe him. "Here," She said. She offered a bit of the big blanket to him.
"A-Are you sure?"
"Of course I am! I'm not going to let my friend freeze to death!"
"O-OK," Quatre moved over and draped the blanket over his legs, keeping a safe distance from her. Lee chuckled and lay back down. This time she fell asleep.
The dreams kept coming to her, each night more vividly. She saw everything in terrifying detail this time. She could hear the 'mother's' voice, and see her features, and the vampires face, platinum blonde hair and icy blue eyes. She could hear the tune, but she didn't recognize it. She knew she would have forgotten it in the morning. She saw the vortex again, and a bolt of lightening hit her, and suddenly, her dream was over.
When Lee woke up again, Quatre and Trowa were gone. Only Heero remained, and he was up top; he looked like he was still watching for vampires, even though the sun was almost fully up.
She put on her cape and started to climb out. Heero offered her a hand as she finished climbing out. She took it and brushed herself off. "Thanks," She said. She looked around. "Where are Quatre and Trowa?"
Heero glanced around the camp as if he hadn't noticed they were gone and then he said, "They went to get some food and water."
"Oh," Lee sat down next to the small fire that had obviously just been lit for breakfast, and pulled on her shoes. The two of them waited in silence for a while.
"Lee, is that your name?"
"Yes...what's up, Heero?"
Heero looked like he wanted to tell her something, but he closed his mouth. "Its nothing," He said. He looked up as a sound came from the forest.
Then Quatre emerged, riding something. As they got closer, Lee realized what it was. "A unicorn!" She gasped. Quatre grinned and slid from the unicorn's back and rubbed its nose.
"How did you...?" Even Heero seemed amazed.
"We found three of them in the forest, and Quatre managed to persuade them to bring us to the elfin tree village."
"Amazing, I didn't know you were a tamer." Heero said to Quatre. Quatre beamed and led the unicorn over to the roots. He whispered a few things to it and then sat down by the fire. Trowa followed from behind them with two more unicorns.
"Wow..." Lee stepped up to one of them.
"Go ahead and pet her," Quatre said.
Lee held out her hand and the unicorn nuzzled it. Lee squealed with delight.
"They know where the village is," He said, "They offered to take us there."
"Good," Said Heero, "So what's the catch?"
"A catch? With unicorns?" Quatre laughed. "No catch, just that only three of them offered to take us. There's an entire family in the woods."
"So you can talk to them?" Lee wondered.
"Of course I can."
"How?"
"I'm a tamer," Said Quatre, "It's in my blood to be able to communicate with animals."
"You can actually talk to them?"
"Not really 'talk', just, understand. It's hard to explain."
"That is so cool!"
"We should eat and get out of here," Said Heero. "That way we can get to the elfin village quickly."
"Good idea," Agreed Trowa, "We need to keep moving."
So they sat down and started eating the berries and nuts Quatre and Trowa had brought. Quatre offered some to the unicorns as a sort of exchange for their help. Lee ate quickly. She couldn't wait to experience riding a unicorn!
When they were finished, Quatre went up to the largest unicorn and called Lee over to him.
"Since I'm guessing you've never ridden a unicorn before, you'll be riding with me. They tend to get nervous around inexperienced riders; even the tamed ones. And since this is a wild one, it will be kind of hard."
"Ok," Lee smiled. She didn't care if she had to ride with someone else. A unicorn! Wow! The unicorn bent down on its knees to let her up, and then Quatre climbed on behind her. Quatre wrapped his arms around her to keep her on and when they were ready they started moving. Lee was so excited about riding a unicorn that she hardly noticed how much time went by before they arrived at the village.
When they got there, the first thought that went through Lee's head was 'oh my God'. Most of the huts had been burnt and charred, and the little elves were working hard to rebuild it. The unicorns seemed disturbed by the sight. The four people slid of the backs of the unicorns and they ran off.
"Thank you for your help," Quatre whispered. He looked up and saw Eli directing elves just above them.
"Hello! Eli!" Quatre called, waving.
Eli looked down and smiled.
"Oi, it's the humans!" He called back. "Come on up!"
They headed of to the barrel elevator and the elves lifted them up like they did before. When they got off, Eli greeted them enthusiastically.
"Sally will be so happy to see you," He said. "She's been worried."
"Is she OK?" Lee asked quickly. "She wasn't hurt, was she?"
Eli shook his head. "Not badly, just some burns. You can go down to see her if you want." He pointed them down to Sally's hut.
"Thank you, Eli," Quatre nodded. And the four of them went down to visit Sally. Eli was right when he said Sally wasn't hurt badly. When they entered she jumped up and greeted them. She even gave Heero a big hug, although she had no idea who he was.
"I'm glad you made it out. After you guys left, the vampires lost the scent and left. But not before they burnt this place down." She sighed.
"We're just checking to make sure you're all OK. We won't stay." Trowa promised. "We don't want those vampires to come back after you."
"Thanks guys, but there's no need for so much concern. The elfin people can take care of themselves."
"Are you sure it was the Dark Lord that came down here?" Heero cut in.
"Yes," Sally said, "His advisor kept calling him 'My Lord'."
"Did you see this advisor?" Heero asked.
"I didn't,"
"I did," Lee said. "It was a woman with really long blonde hair and forked eyebrows. I think the Dark Lord called her 'Dorothy'."
"That's him alright." Heero growled. "Which way did they go?"
Sally shrugged. "They flew off into the moon," She said. She paused and though for a moment, then added. "There's a village near the foot of Mt. Terra that has had way more vampire attacks than anywhere else. They have been offering human sacrifices for the last five hundred years because they have so many attacks. I think it may be because the vampires are close by. Have you ever heard of it?"
Heero shook his head.
"I thought not. The people in that village also promised the former Dark Lord that they would keep their location secret from slayers. That's what you are, right?"
Heero nodded. "How do you know this?" He asked.
"I have friends in an elfin village not far from there. We always keep in touch. If you are trying to find the Dark Lord, then you should probably go down that way."
"Can you give us directions?" Quatre asked.
Sally nodded and grabbed a map out of a drawer. She pointed to somewhere on it. Lee noticed how similar the land was to earth.
"Mt. Terra is here." She pointed to a spot that would have been in South America if it were on Earth. "This valley beneath it is called Terra Valley. The elfin village is about three miles south of the village. I suggest you stay there, the people in the town don't like strangers too much."
"She handed the map to them and smiled. "Good luck, my friends." She said. "I'll tell Eli to give you some stags for your journey. It will be a long one."
"Thank you Sally," Said Quatre. "We really appreciate it."
Wufei rode his stag right through Maroon and on towards the elfin village. But he didn't stop there; he just kept on going. He kept riding for several days straight, thinking about how he was going to stop the end of the world.
Wufei had a major grudge against vampires; he hated them more than most people. He especially wanted to destroy the sneaky little blonde female. When he found her, he would kill her without asking questions, and then he would go on to kill the rest of them. He would make vampires extinct, if he had to. It was the only way justice could be served.
He rode on, stopping only a few times to eat and sleep. He had a good idea where the dagger was hidden, but first he had some unfinished business to take care of. He used his magic to light up the path he was following, and he saw tracks in the dirt. He followed them, soon discovering that they were heading in the same direction.
"Hmm," He kept going, and got rid of his light as he neared them. He could hear their voices floating through the darkness.
"So how much longer until we reach that village Sally told us about?" A girl's voice asked.
'Sally?' Wufei thought, 'It can't be the same Sally. How could they possibly know her?' but he kept listening.
"About another day's ride." Said a man.
"We should be able to refill and get supplies there," Said another boy, with a soft voice. "The valley village shouldn't be too far after that."
"Do you really think the vampires live in that mountain?" The girl asked.
"Yes, I trust Sally's information. I've known her for a while and she's never given me incorrect information."
"There's a first time for everything," Said a third man.
The others seemed to ignore him. Wufei listened closer; the talk of vampires intrigued him. After all, he was going to the same place. An elf named Sally had told him once where to find the vampires' castle. Sally must have told them the same thing. He would have approached them, but something told him to get a bit more information from them first.
"You're quiet tonight, Heero." Said the girl. "What's up?"
"Hm? Nothing really, I've just been thinking." Heero answered.
"About what?" Asked the girl.
"Nosy woman," Wufei muttered.
"About how you got here. I want to know why any wizard powerful enough to bring you from Earth, did. There must have been a reason."
"You sound like you have some idea's, Heero." Said the kind boy.
"I do. I think maybe Lee has some sort of role in this whole prophecy thing."
So that was it. This was one of the girls brought to Earth by Howard. Well, she had to go back. But which one was she? Was she the deity or the mistake? He would have to find out. There were a few signs as to discovering who had unknown magical powers.
"Maybe she does," Said the first man,
"Or maybe she is just a mistake," Wufei said as he emerged from the bushes. All four of the people looked up at him.
"Who are you?" Heero growled, "How long have you been spying on us?"
"Long enough," Wufei snorted. He looked at the scrawny girl sitting by the fire and snorted. No way was she the deity. He felt no strange aura from her. The deity would certainly give off a magical aura, but there was no way this girl was the deity. He was certain she had no magical powers.
"Have you ever been able to practice magic, girl?" Wufei asked rudely.
"N-no," She stammered, "But I never really tried either."
"Hn, I thought so. Then I'm sure its you who is the mistake."
"What are you talking about?" Asked the first boy, standing up. He had strange hair and green eyes.
"I'm talking about the deity that will awaken the Dark Dragon. My master brought two girls here from Earth. One is a deity, the other was a mistake, a decoy."
"So how would you know which is which?" Heero asked.
"I don't," Wufei admitted. "But I can find out." He looked at the girl. "Were you attacked by vampires a few days ago?" He asked.
"Yes, actually."
"Figures, and you've been travelling with allies who are able to protect you?'
"Yes, Trowa and Quatre found me in the forest." She said.
"I thought so. My master said he set 'the mistake' up with powerful allies who could keep you from harm until you could go back to earth, and also that he gave your location to the vampires."
"HE WHAT!" The blonde one screamed.
"How else do you think they found you?"
"It was sort of strange, how quickly they found us." The blonde admitted.
"So that means I have nothing to do with what's going on here on Mythrill." The girl said confidently. "So I can go home soon, right?" She asked Wufei.
"Supposedly."
"What is that supposed to mean?" She shrieked.
"Lee, keep it down," Heero warned.
"Sorry," Lee mumbled.
"Hn, I couldn't care lees." Wufei said. "If my former master decides to send you back then so be it. And if he doesn't, then we'll have one more useless woman on this planet to deal with."
"HEY!" Lee cried, looking extremely offended. The three boys glared at him but Wufei didn't pay attention.
"Who is your former Master?" Heero asked.
"Howard,"
Trowa and Quatre gasped, Lee looked confused, and Heero nodded. "Hn, so he brought her here."
"By mistake," Wufei said.
"What is your name?" Heero said.
"My name's Wufei." He said.
"Hn, my name is Heero Yuy, these are Quatre, Trowa and Lee. What are you doing down here, Wufei? And why did you leave Howard's instruction? He's probably the most powerful wizard on the planet."
"I left Howard because he brought the deity here. If he had left her, the dragon could never be risen. But now that she's here, I have to kill the vampires, find her and get her to destroy the dragon or destroy her before she can wake it." He sighed. "He's just giving me more work to do to correct his mistakes."
"Hn, so you're after the Dark Lord as well?" Heero said.
"Yes, and his advisor."
"Dorothy?" Lee asked.
"I couldn't care less what her name is."
"Why do you want to kill her?" Quatre asked.
"None of your business." Wufei snorted, "But justice must be served."
"She killed someone close to you?" Trowa asked, sensing his hurt.
"More than that," Wufei growled, "She murdered my wife."
"So you're that Wufei. Sally has told me about you." Said Trowa.
"How do you know Sally?" Asked Wufei.
"She doctored me a long time ago, we've been friends ever since." Said Trowa vaguely.
"Hn," Wufei started to ride again.
"Wait!" Called Quatre, "Where are you going?"
"To Mt. Terra." Said Wufei. "To find the vampire's lair and make them pay for all the lives they have taken."
"Won't you help us then?" Continued Quatre. "After all, we're going to Mt. Terra for the same reason."
"No," Wufei said simply, "You'll just get in my way. I prefer to take my own path." And with that he rode away from their camp and rode through the night towards Mt. Terra.
