New chapter. This one is long-ish (four pages in word). Anyways, enjoy, and as always, please comment!
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Chapter Fourteen
A Noctowl crooned as the moon rose to its full height, casting dark shadows through the trees onto the silvery snow below. Latias, Latios, Ren, Kairn, and Houndour had been traveling for the entire day and far into the night, following the trail of the Eon Chronicles they had set out to retrieve.
The two dragons floated ahead, weaving between trees as they searched for the Chronicles with their minds. Houndour trotted along with them, his body aglow with fire to keep them warm. The two humans fell behind as weariness took hold, their bodies becoming less and less inclined to obey their minds.
Despite the cold weather, Ren was sweating. Layers of armor and clothing trapped heat inside his body, making him miserable. Kairn fared a bit better; since Ren had the only suit of armor in Griffith's possession, Kairn had less weight to carry, and thus didn't have to work as hard. However, he still felt very tired, and was just about to call for a halt when Ren did it for him.
"I think this is far enough for now, Latias," Ren spoke to his partner. "Let's stop for tonight."
She turned her head to gaze back at him, golden eyes piercing the dark. "We're stopping anyways," she thought to the two humans. "The Chronicles are right here."
Despite their tiredness, Ren and Kairn hurried to catch up to the dragons, and then stopped, looking around. The books were nowhere in sight.
"What do you mean they're here?" Ren asked. "I don't see anything."
"They're here," Latios responded, and then looked down. "Beneath us."
Ren and Kairn followed the feathered creature's stare, their gaze sinking to the snow covered ground. They still saw nothing. They looked at each other, and then looked back at the dragons with confused expressions.
"Buried?" Kairn asked. "You mean they're buried?"
"So it would seem," Latios thought to him. "Although it is rather odd…" he trailed off.
Kairn thought for a moment, and then unsheathed his sword. "The only thing to do is to dig them up, then," he said. "Houndour! Could you clear away this snow?"
The dog-like pokemon nodded, and then intensified the fire playing over its body, becoming a living inferno. The remainder of the group moved back in an involuntary attempt to escape the intense heat. Soon, a wide circle of ground lay exposed and smoking. Houndour moved out of the way as Kairn came forward with his sword to dig at the ground. Ren soon joined the attempt, and then the three pokemon began to help by scooping away dirt with their claws.
"That's fairly pointless," a voice suddenly sounded. Ren and Kairn both stood quickly, swords at the ready. The two dragons floated from their places, eyes flashing in each direction as they searched for the owner of the voice. They did not even try to adopt disguises: they knew they had been seen.
"I'm right here," the voice continued. Each member of the group looked in a new direction, still not seeing anyone. "Here!" the voice said, growing agitated. When the company still could not find the owner of the voice, it grew very angry.
"Are you blind!?" the voice asked loudly. "I'm…right…here," it added with deliberate slowness. A barrel-chested man cloaked completely in black appeared right in the middle of the five friends amidst cries of shock.
"You do see me, yes?" the man said.
Latios, Latias, Ren, Kairn, and Houndour all nodded, gaping.
"Excellent," the man continued sarcastically. "As I was saying, digging won't do you any good. There's a solid metal plate about three feet beneath you. There's no way you can get through. Come along." With that, the man proceeded to walk away at a brisk pace.
The company followed hesitantly after exchanging glances. Then they all began to speak at once. "How did you--" "Where are we--" they started, but the man cut them short. "My name is Eli," he said before rapidly answering the questions the group had tried to ask. "I got so close to you without you noticing because you are all obviously not used to traveling in the dark. If you had been in danger, you would be dead right now." He flashed a stern gaze back at them. "As to where we are going, it is somewhere that we can escape this blasted cold," he finished tersely, continuing to walk.
There was silence as the party followed the mysterious man, not wishing to aggravate his obviously bad mood. They were worried that Eli was going to take them a very long distance, but they were soon relieved when they came to a small lean-to built under a large tree. Eli stooped inside, beckoning them to do the same.
The group crowded under the meager shelter, pressing against each other. This had the effect of making everyone completely uncomfortable. Kairn was about to complain just as Eli reached down and grasped a shining, metal ring seemingly bolted into the ground.
The ring was connected to a large door that led into the earth, which Eli now threw open. An orange glow shone out of the newly-revealed hole, illuminating the inside of the small shelter as a wave of heat emanated from the opening. The five friends looked on as the man swung himself into the doorway and grabbed hold of a ladder that led down a vertical shaft. They then began to follow after the man looked up into their orange-lit faces and beckoned impatiently.
The shaft led into a spacious, perfectly square room. As Ren reached the bottom of the ladder and stood in its center, he noticed that the walls seemed to be uniformly plated with a burnished, orange-colored metal. He made way for the rest of his companions as they came down the ladder, and then watched as Eli made his way to a pokemon standing in one corner of the room.
"This is Torkoal," the man said, patting the creature's head affectionately. The pokemon had orange scales, as well as a shell the color and texture of charred wood. Openings in the shell revealed that it contained something very hot: fire and smoke drifted upwards from Torkoal's back.
The fiery creature turned its head slowly to gaze at the newcomers. It then snorted a puff of white smoke through its nostrils, which the party took as a greeting.
"Torkoal has been with me for a very long time," Eli said. "He keeps the house warm during winter, and helps me drive off intruders." The man looked directly at Kairn and Ren. "I don't like intruders," he said. "However, I'm making an exception just this once. Count yourselves lucky."
Ren and Kairn blanched. Latios and Latias felt extremely uncomfortable; Latias decided that this man had kept his intentions in the dark long enough.
"What do you want?" she asked him through his thoughts. "Why have you brought us here?"
The man seemed unsurprised by her method of communication. "Wait here," he said.
With that, the man disappeared into an adjoining room. He was gone for a very long time. Suddenly, Latias and Latios noticed that the Eon Chronicles seemed to be getting closer. Finally, Eli reappeared, holding two books.
Ren and Kairn looked sidelong at each other, wondering how this man had come across the Chronicles. Ren began to feel suspicious that this was the person that had taught Latios. He looked sidelong at the blue and white dragon floating beside him; however, no recognition showed in the creature's eyes.
Eli walked up to Kairn and handed him the editions of the Chronicles. "These books detail the lives of two pokemon named Latios and Latias," he said. "I assume they are you," he continued, looking from one dragon to the other. They inclined their heads in agreement.
"This is why I brought you here," Eli said. "I noticed your Houndour's flame from a long way off, and came to investigate. That's when I saw Latios and Latias, which these books say will hatch when a great evil is at hand. For this reason, I want to help you in any way I can."
The company visibly relaxed, no longer seeing the strange man as a threat. Eli then opened one of the books in Kairn's hands. "I am a blacksmith by trade," he said, stopping at a certain page, "and this segment of the book details how to make many things, namely weapons and armor. Now: each of these requires the touch of either a Latias or a Latios to function. This armor, for example, is layered in dragon feathers, which allows the wearer to alter his or her appearance and even become invisible, just like a Latias or Latios. Seeing as…" he hesitated, looking at Kairn.
The boy looked back until he realized that the man did not know his name. "Kairn," he said.
Eli nodded and continued. "Seeing as Kairn here does not have armor, I figured I would make some for him. If that's alright with you," he added quickly, glancing at Latios. He had noticed that the dragon owned a set of rather sharp claws, and did not want to make him angry. Plucking feathers was nothing short of excruciating, and he wanted permission first.
"I would do it," Latios thought to him, "if it meant Kairn would be safer."
"Of course" Eli said. "There would be steel plating under the feathers, which would be layered with leather to minimize sound. It would be by far the best armor that could be asked for. The wearer would be as unnoticeable as a ghost."
Latios nodded, convinced, and then steeled his nerves as he waited for Eli to pull feathers from his skin. The blacksmith worked swiftly; Latios felt points of quick, sharp pain for only a few moments as Eli removed one feather after the next. Torkoal worked alongside the man, sealing the wound that each feather left behind with a small jet of flame.
Soon, Eli had collected enough plumage to create the armor. He carefully moved the blue and white pile to a tablecloth before wrapping it inside. "That should be enough," he said. Then he turned to Latias. "Would you like me to add some of your feathers to his armor?" he asked, inclining his head towards Ren.
"Of course," she thought back to him. "His name is Ren, by the way."
"Ren," Eli muttered to himself, repeating the procedure he had used on Latios with Latias. He wrapped the small pile of white and red feathers he had collected in another tablecloth, and set it alongside the first. "Good," he said. "I'll start on the armor tomorrow. For now, though, you all look tired. Try to get some sleep."
Eli had no extra beds, so the party lay down on blankets on the floor. Ren stroked Latias' neck as she rested beside him; her thoughts revealed that, despite her outward bravery, she was in pain from having the feathers removed. "You didn't have to do that," he thought to her so as not to wake their companions. "I hate to see you like this…" he trailed off, not knowing what else to say.
His hand strayed too far down her neck and brushed a patch of raw skin. She flinched. Ren gasped and pulled his hand away. "I'm sorry!" he said aloud.
"I'm fine," Latias thought to him soothingly. "It just stings a little. I would rather suffer through this than have you injured; that armor sounds like it's worth it."
Ren relaxed somewhat, although his look of concern did not disappear. "Thank you," he said. "Only...it seems like you're always doing things for me, rather than the other way around. I wish I could do something for you for a change…"
"Rubbing my neck helped," Latias thought to him with a touch of humor. He began anew, being more careful to avoid the reddened areas of exposed skin.
Suddenly he thought to her. "Latias?" he asked. "Do you think that Griffith has told my parents about us being gone yet?"
Latias gingerly turned her head to face him. "Probably," she answered.
"Will they be alright?"
"I'm sure they will be."
"Do you remember your parents?"
The question caught Latias completely off guard. She hesitated, uncertainty emanating from her mind. "I don't think so," she said falteringly. She couldn't remember if her parents had ever spoken with her or not, or if she even had parents for that matter. Ren sat up, looking at her with an expression of shock.
"You don't?" he asked. Latias shook her head.
Ren lay back. No family? He couldn't even conceive what that would be like. If he had never known his parents, or his brother for that matter…
His brother. Ren thought suddenly about Bron, about what he had been like during life. His brother had been strong and brave, always looking out for those around him. Just like…
Latias. Ren looked to the dragon, a new appreciation for her showing on his face. She didn't notice his gaze as he ran his hand over her soft feathers, a silent tear falling to the blanket on which he lay. Eventually, she began to breathe softly, indicating that her discomfort had been replaced with the quiet senselessness of sleep.
"Goodnight," Ren said, wrapping his arms carefully around Latias' neck. He hugged her gently as his mind followed hers into unawareness.
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Quick question: does that weird grammatical thing I did near the end work?
