Chapter 11

“Come on, wake up sleepy,” Nezaki was shaking her arm and trying to wake her.

“Okay, okay, I’m up,” she batted a hand at him and sat up in the pale blue grass and glanced around, “what is it, did something happen?”

“No, but we have to get going, as much as I would like to hide here forever it isn’t a good idea.”

Nanako giggled and stood up, stretching her arms, “So where are we going now?”

“To the palace, or what classes as a palace anyway, we need to find Erin,” he started off in one direction which, to Nanako, looked exactly the same as all the others.

“You’re going to see Erin?”  Kenji caught up to them and walked beside Nezaki, “Why’s that?”

“Because that’s who we need to see, but how did you know about Erin?  I don’t ever remember mentioning Erin around you.”

“You did once, I think, you must have done,” Nanako was listening to the conversation half-heartedly as she watched the landscape change.

The sky was darkening to a deep maroon colour and the grass had faded into bare earth.  Outcrops of rock were springing up from the ground and the whole scene was becoming darker and summarily more spooky.  There were scratching and shifting noises amongst the boulders, at which Nanako found herself jumping and the very source of which could not be seen.

Kenji and Nezaki seemed un-bothered, they continued to walk and chat for about ten minutes, upon which time they found that they were at a dead end.

“Must have taken a wrong turn somewhere,” Nezaki looked around puzzled, “and I was so sure I still remembered the way too.”

“You did remember the way, there has just been a slide since you were last here,” Kenji had moved to trap Nanako and Nezaki between himself and the blocked passage.

“We could always try to climb up… how did you know that?  How do you know anything about this dimension?” Nezaki stood in front of Nanako and glared at Kenji waiting for an answer.

“Because,” the brown haired boy moved forward menacingly, “I’m not what you think I am.”

It was dark but Nanako could see that Kenji was shifting shape, becoming larger and longer, turning black and growing fangs.  Within a matter of thirty seconds he had completely changed, Kenji was gone, and in his place was a large black and yellow lowba.

“But you… you were my best friend since as long as I can remember, we went to school together, we grew up together, how could you?” Nanako couldn’t accept what she was seeing, this was Kenji, but she had known him forever.

“An illusion,” the lowba snickered, it’s voice hissing but still, in a way, Kenji’s, “I was full grown before I ever met you and it was a necessity, if this fool had not interfered I could have let you be.  I dispatched his father for that reason, not realising he had trained his son to do the task.”

“That was you?” Nezaki took a step back, “I knew I didn’t trust you!”

“Yes it was me, and they do say, like father: like son.  Let’s get this over with,” upon saying this he lunged at Nezaki and tried to grab him between his powerful fangs.

Nezaki was too quick, he jumped out of the way and round to the lowba’s tail, where he stood waiting for Kenji to turn around.  Kenji spun quickly, striking out at the same time, but Nezaki was up on his head in a flash; clinging to one of the yellow spines that protruded there.  He took a knife from inside his sleeve and plunged it into the lowba’s head.

Green sprayed from the wound, colouring everything it touched.  Kenji let out a high pitched squeal, before falling to the floor.  His yellow eyes blinked and then slowly closed, his tail twitched once and then slowly sank to the ground and lay still.

Nanako sat on the floor, her arms wrapped around her curled up legs, her face hidden against her knees.  After all this time and she hadn’t noticed once, not one strange thing.

Nezaki walked over to her, ineffectually wiping his green stained hands on his pants that were also stained with the green of Kenji’s blood.

“Are you all right?” he asked as he reached her.

“All…right?” she looked up at him with tear filled eyes, “how could you even ask me that?  I’ve just lost my best friend and I know he wasn’t actually my friend but that doesn’t make it any easier you know!”

“I know but we-” he was cut off by a large hiss from the lowba, who had stood up on his tail and struck at him.

Nezaki jumped but not fast enough.  One fang caught his side, ripping a large gash there, before the creature fell back to the ground.  Nezaki fell sideways tumbling over and over, finally coming to a halt pitched up against a boulder the attack having thrown him through the air as he jumped to escape.  His shirt was now a mingle of green and purple as blood ran from the wound.

Nanako pitched herself across to him, going down on her knees as she reached him.  She glanced over at Kenji as she did so who was again not moving.

“Don’t worry, it’s dead now,” Nezaki propped himself up against the boulder he had hit.

“What about you?  That will heal right?” Nanako remembered what he had said last time about healing quickly.

Nezaki shook his head with a sad smile, “I’ve been poisoned, I can feel it, I won’t heal this time.”

“But there must be something we can do!” she reached out to him her hands hovering over the wound.

“There would be if we were at the palace but not out here and before you say anything it’s a good days journey back and I won’t be able to move within two minutes,” he winced with the effort as he shifted one arm and looked up at her sadly, “you’re on your own now, but don’t worry Nanako you can do it.”

Nanako could feel the tears sting at her eyes, feel the emotion that wanted to break loose but there was nothing that she could do and she knew it.

A sob escaped her throat and as it did so her hands began to glow.  She could feel a warm sensation in the palms of her hands and a tingle at her fingers, just like when she saved the bird.  When she saved the bird!  That was it, there was something she could do.  She let the magic flow its course, saw the bright light, heard Nezaki gasp.

He looked up at her as the light faded, eyes heavy and fluttering, “Thank you for trying, but you can’t help me, lowba poison is immune to that sort of magic.”

His head dropped back, his eyes fluttered closed and Nanako could see his breathing become shallower.  She shook her head and watched as Nezaki stopped breathing and went limp.  Sobs racked her body as she sat there and suddenly she didn’t want to be there anymore, anywhere but there. 

She was running, her feet were taking her, but she didn’t now why or how or where.  She ran on and on until she couldn’t run anymore, upon which she threw herself to the ground on a sparse patch of grass behind a boulder and sobbed until her exhausted body claimed sleep.

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When Nanako awoke she felt warm to her left side and there was more light than there surely should have been at this time of night. 

She rolled over; looking to her left and found the source of warmth to be a campfire.  The red and orange flames dancing made the shadows flicker and she saw a flash of white across the fire.

Sitting up gingerly she peered across the flames and could just make out the form of a crouching figure.

“Hello?” she called, “do I know you?”

“Ah, you’re awake,” the voice was gentle, soft, even kind.

“Who are you?” Nanako could barely make out any features, but she was sure the guy had white hair.

He moved around the fire to squat nearer her and Nanako watched him warily.  He glanced up at her then and she saw a flash of pink eyes, he was albino.  Nanako gasped and sat forward.

“You’re the prince aren’t you?” she asked, “the prince I had to come here to see.”

“Yes I am,” the young man said, “but enough of that, you look like you’ve had a rough time of it and surely you didn’t come here alone, where are your companions?”

“They… they…” Nanako hung her head and sobbed.

“Hey,” he sat next to her and put his arm round her and for some reason she felt she could trust him, “tell me what happened, maybe I can help.”

Nanako shook her head but she told him the whole story anyway.

“You were with Nezaki?” he commented after she’d finished.

“Yeah, I was,” she hung her head again, “but he… you know… did you know him?”

“He’s my brother,” he looked at her and smiled, “I’m sure he’ll be alright, he’s resourceful.”

“But how can he be?  I saw him,” she didn’t know how he could say that, there was no way, “but if he was your brother then he was a prince.”

“Yes he is,” he started to settle down by the fire again, “you should get some sleep, we’ve got a long walk tomorrow and you need some rest.”

Nanako settled down by the fire and closed her eyes; this was going to be a long night.