Of Mystical Gates

Chapter Three

Melville's Best Friend

The pixie was excessively questioned. The travelers wanted to know all he knew. What were Dornas like? Had he ever seen a Dorna? What did the Dornas ask them to do? What were they like? Were they good fighters? Quatre quickly became tired of all the questions. Duo bombarding him with questions was not making him feel welcome to the group. It made him feel like a messenger of sorts.

"Well, have you?" Duo asked stepping over a log. Quatre fluttered about aimlessly. He hated walking. He was very glad to have wings.

"Can you stop asking these things? I would greatly appreciate it if you would." Quatre said.

Duo stopped talking to the elf and concentrated on Trowa. He asked him how he'd been, what he'd been up to, how his wife wasetcThe heroes had come to a huge waterfall. The crystal clear water seemed to glide down to meet its partner at the base of the cliff. The hushed chill welcomed the men, and they sat down to drink. Save for the water, there was no sound. Even Duo had learned how to respect the majesty that lie before him. Seeing something interesting, Quatre broke the silence by flying over to examine the perplexing object. The grounded young men stared at the pixie.

"I thought so. I can't believe our luck. How fortunate!" Quatre chirped.

"What is it?" Trowa questioned.

Quatre floated back with a handful of sparkling crystals.

"What are those?" Trowa once again questioned.

"These are called the Malian crystals. We were lucky to find them."

"What's so special about them, Quatre?" Duo asked.

"Well, the Dorna are shape shifters." The men continued to sit, waiting for Quatre to finish.

"The Dorna, if they shape shift too much, loose most of their power. Without a boost, they die."

"But, I thought they were immortal." Duo stated.

"It's just like us. We can live forever if we are not killed. We've taken a great risk leaving our kingdoms to join in a fight. We can never die as long as no one tries to rid us of our life. So, this is how the Dorna are. Only, they can be killed, too."

"That hardly seems fair." Duo said.

"Such powerful creatures need many drawbacks. They could one day take over this world."

"Dorna would never do such a thing. Now, listen. Each Dorna is given at birth their very own crystal. They use the crystal to recharge themselves-you know. To gain more energy. Unfortunately, their crystals also run dry sometimes. They replenish their Malian crystals with the wild ones, like these." He spread out the crystals for the creatures to see.

"Does man know of this?" Heero asked.

"I don't think so. I highly doubt it. It's most likely that they use the crystals as money."

"We'd best get going" Heero stated, and arose to leave. "Trowa, I want your bird to fly ahead of us. If she sees anything wrong, tell her to call out. Don't make her fly back in order to warn us."

Trowa did as he was commanded, and sent the phoenix off.

It had been a week. Nothing stopped the immortals from their journey. They had received no trouble from goblin or dwarf at night, and no animal by day. The travelers considered themselves lucky. Duo jumped idly from tree to tree whilst the others walked. Quatre was carried on Trowa's back, as he was asleep.

"We should be in their realm now. I can smell a new creature close to us." Duo shouted from the tree. Trowa awakened the sleepy Quatre, and questioned him on their whereabouts.

"Oh!" the pixie flew off Trowa's back, stunned.

"We are here, my friends. We are in Queen Relena's realm!"

The men inwardly sighed. The journey had taken much out of them.

"Go that way. We will find the Dorna in that direction." Quatre sang.

"You're a little too excited, Quatre. I thought you had seen a Dorna before." Trowa stated.

"Yes, but no outsider has ever seen Queen Relena."

"I doubt this time" Heero was cut off as the men heard a phoenix cry. As soon as they looked into the abyss of the sky, Ani fell from it.

"Ani!" Trowa called out, and caught the bird. It lay dead in his arms. "Oh no." Trowa touched it. His best friend didn't move. Trowa closed his eyes, and let his tears fall for his friend.

"Trowa, you have to get up and fight. It takes something terrible to kill a phoenix." Quatre whimpered. "We will need your strength for this battle, may friend."

Obeying, Trowa quickly prepared for battle. Every sword was drawn, every bow was arched, and through the trees they heard it come.

Black and terrible, breathing fire. The demon spotted the heroes, and felt it was time to eat. Its eyes were large and black, and if one looked into them, they saw the gates of purgatory.

It stood 4 stories high, and 2 stories wide. His skin looked as if it had been made from ash, and horns penetrated every inch of his back. His head resembled that of a football in length, and horns emerged from that as well, giving it the appearance of a bull. The heroes stood their ground, and the demon breathed a small amount of fire their direction.

"We are gonna' die."

How in the world do Dorna have such horrors in their kingdom? Thought Heero.

"It will pay. It will pay for what it's done to me." Trowa cried, the tears still fresh on his skin. The demon laughed. The very sound shook the wood, and Duo was forced off of his tree.

"Quatre, what is this?" Heero yelled.

"I have no idea, but it's going to die."

Heero looked at the pixie. He was determined to kill the demon. Quatre started muttering something, his hands held in prayer.

"He's working on a spell, Heero. Let's attack now before we loose our chance." Duo cried.

The men attacked. Fire smoldered everything in their paths, as the heroes tried only to dodge the fire. They couldn't lay a hand on the beast. As the fire charged at them, Duo conjured up a shield.

"I can't hold this long. You two go and stop it!" he yelled.

The other two charged at the monster. Trowa's arrows wouldn't penetrate its skin, and Heero's sword left no mark.

"Let's take this up a notch, Heero."

The weapons soon shone with a terrible light, and the eyes of the holders gleamed. They could still hear Quatre's spell as they slammed their weapons into the monster's flesh. A pain filled scream echoed off every tree, and the demon's blood spilled over the weapons. Heero's sword blasted the goo off, and he lunged for another attack. The monster, however, saw him coming, and grabbed his body. Heero could feel his flesh burning in the fiery grip of the hellish being's fist. He let out a small cry. His skin was on fire. He could feel himself slowly cooking. The monster threw him before Heero felt his tendons curl. He fell against a tree, unconscious. Trowa watched in horror as Heero fell, assuming he was dead. Duo reared his sword and stabbed the monster, once again drawing blood. The sticky hot mess was all over Duo. It covered him like lava would a city. The stench filled his mouth and lungs, making it difficult to breath. Once he did, however, he realized the fumes were toxic. He fell to the forest ground. Quatre prayed louder.

Trowa jumped to a tree, planning an assault on the creature's head. Instant death, Trowa hoped. The creature eyes Quatre with a sudden hatred. He reared his head back, and breathed deeply. No spell would save the pixie from the fires of hell. Quatre was met with the blaze, and called upon a shield. Slowly, ever so slowly, the wood began to chill. Trowa began to grow cold, enough so, that he could see his breath. This was Quatre's doing. He was trying to freeze the demon. Trowa wasted no time. He leapt from the tree, firing blazing bright arrows at the creature's head. One punctured his eye, and the creature stopped his fire, and grabbed his eye. With his one good orb, he managed to spot Trowa, and did the same to him that he did Heero. Trowa soon joined Quatre's side. Quatre still prayed. He was steadily loosing power, and it had become hard for him to breath. A spell of this magnitude was not one Quatre attempted often. The snow was slowing down the creature a bit, but it still tried to kill the remaining hero. Right before Quatre lost grip with reality, he saw a Dorna woman trying to comfort him.

"It will be okay. I promise." He felt her warm essence leave, and as he felt himself falling into oblivion. Before he fell, however, he saw her single-handedly kill the beast. He let out a blood-curdling scream, and died. He smiled as he heard the creature fall. The same warm arms surrounded him again, and he heard her speak.

"Hold on. Don't give up yet. My people will help you, just, please hold on."

Before he drifted away, only a single thought ran through the depths of his mind:

Queen Relena was holding him.

Disclaimer: No own. I have the day off from school (snow day!!!!!!), and I figured I'd write. My statement of no writing for a while has yet to come true. (sigh) Oh well, I hoped you guys liked this chapter!