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A.N. This chapter is belatedly dedicated to Tamwyn, who reviewed this back in '06. Thanks!
There was something wrong here.
He glanced over his shoulder toward the way he had come, finding the hall empty save for the hollow beat of his footsteps. Facing forward, he hastened his stride, his long legs carrying him swiftly over the white-washed tiles. When he realized what he was doing, he deliberately slowed to a more acceptable pace, sneering at himself. What was bothering him?
With a start, he realized what had him on edge.
The hall was completely silent. There were no moans of pain filling his ears and causing goose pimples to rise along his skin - no screams of horror drifting through the air and making the hair on the back of his neck stand at attention. Everything was eerily quiet.
So . . . the Pegasus had finally died. ‘May he rest in peace.’ Sphinx thought, respectfully giving his blessing as he came to a stop before a solid black door. The poor creature had been in this hellish facility long enough, it seemed. The boy was surprised its body hadn’t given out sooner.
Before his master’s door, Sphinx took a few moments to gather himself together. Straightening his back and squaring his shoulders, he stood in a painfully rigid manner, his hands fisted tightly at his sides. Once he felt he was ready, he took a deep breath, wiped all expression from his face, and gave the door a sharp knock.
"Enter," a youthful voice commanded. Sphinx entered, leaving the door ajar to allow a beam of pale light to filter into the otherwise dark room. His one yellow eye searched the shadows for movement, a knot forming in his throat as the voice of his boss cut through the gloom. "Sphinx, you’re back. Good, I have a new job for you."
An eerie creaking to his left caused the ebony haired boy to whip to the side, his throat growing uncomfortably dry at the appearance of a young man in a wheelchair. With his messy brown hair and a patch covering his left eye, the boy appeared rather rumpled and harmless. However, Sphinx knew better than to judge on appearance alone.
Focusing his golden eye on the new arrival, Phoenix rolled himself further into the light and smiled up at the older boy, his lips parting to speak. "I have found the last one. She is here, waiting for you."
Sphinx couldn’t hold back. "And the Pegasus?"
The youth waved a hand, nonchalant, "I had him killed, he was useless. His eyes were green, after all."
Sphinx allowed no expression to cross his face. The poor beast. He had been tortured for months before the phoenix allowed him death. And now . . .
Sphinx had been young when he had been first captured by the phoenix’s father. This life was what his knew now, the only life that mattered anymore. Sphinx had been tortured, just as the Pegasus had been. He was forced to forget his past. It was the only way he could survive his pain. Only the winged man was allowed death in the end. Not Sphinx, for he was now the phoenix’s loyal retainer. Always. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for the younger man. His own right eye now stared back at him with sadistic glee.
And now . . . There was a girl here. And the phoenix was smiling. She must have yellow eyes, then, Sphinx realized. Before Sphinx had been captured, the father of the phoenix had killed the Dragon. Now the Pegasus was dead. That left only the Liger.
"I’ll show you." The crippled Phoenix led Sphinx back out the door and down the hall. They passed the door that the Pegasus had been kept in, and Sphinx wondered if the body had been disposed of, or was it still laying within? Keeping his eye forward, he walked two steps behind the phoenix, careful not to overstep his bounds.
The boy in the wheelchair stopped before a door and waved for Sphinx to open it. Stepping around the chair, Sphinx reached out for the handle, his gut twisting at what he was bound to find inside. Truly, he didn’t want to do this anymore.
The girl was small, around eight or nine years old, he guessed. She sat in the corner, her knees drawn up to her chest and her thin arms wrapped tightly around her legs. Her face was buried behind her knees, her mess of golden brown hair hiding her size from sight. When the light fell upon her, she flinched, causing Sphinx to flinch in turn. He remembered when it was he sitting there, wishing that it all had been a nightmare. Sometimes, alone in the darkness of the night, he still did.
But it wasn’t. This was his life, and this was to be hers as well.
The phoenix wheeled himself into the room, eyeing the girl with a hungry eye. Schooling his features to his usual deadpan expression, Sphinx followed, leaving the door open to admit light, but barring any route of escape for the girl.
"They found her in India," the phoenix said, laughter edging his words. The girl shivered at his voice, cowing back. He must have already gotten to her, then. "When they brought her here, I knew she was the one."
He wheeled the chair closer and grabbed a handful of her hair, pulling sharply. Her head rose under pressure and twin orbs of pure yellow glared at them. Sphinx felt his stomach drop.
This was it then. The phoenix had found his other eye.
But, it didn’t look like the girl was going to give up without a fight. He wished she would. If she fought, it would only hurt her more. If she didn’t just give up hope, she was bound to be destroyed by it.
She jerked her head, pulling at the phoenix’s grip, ripping out strands of hair. In the next move, she was on her feet, small fists pounding away at the phoenix’s frail body.
"Take me home! I want to go home!"
Frozen for only a moment, Sphinx forgot his job. The girl was brave, but foolish. At the phoenix’s scream, he sprang forward and pulled the girl off his master. Still struggling, she hissed and spat, clawing at his grip and turning her anger on him.
His arms suffered the worst as her nail dug in and drew blood, then her teeth.
Abruptly reminded that she was indeed the liger, he felt her nails turn to claws and her teeth into fangs. She dug in deep and wouldn’t be budged. He turned away from the phoenix, shielding the girl from his anger. Cursing the girl, the phoenix backed out of the room.
"I want her to suffer! Make her suffer! In the morning, her eye will be taken, then she will be broken. You all are mine! The Pegasus failed to realize that and so he’s dead. Don’t make the same mistake!"
He slammed the door behind him, leaving the room in darkness.
Still attached to the girl, Sphinx sat on the cot that served for her bed. He could feel the hot drops of tears from her eyes as they fell to his arms, mingling with his blood. Holding her close, he forgot about the pain in his arm, and instead found a pain in his chest.
Softly, as he rocked back and forth with the girl in his arms, he began to hum a song he’d thought he’d long ago forgotten. Something his own mother used to sing to him when he was scared.
Inch by inch, her fangs retracted from his skin, along with her claws. She moved in his lap, resting her head on his shoulder and turned those eyes upon him. In the darkness, he could clearly see her and he wondered if her sight was as good as his. Probably better, as she had two eyes.
But not for long.
Guilt weighing him down, he patted her hair and moved her onto the bed, despite her protests. "Don’t leave!" she begged in her striking accent, her hands tangling in the cloth of his shirt. "He’ll come back for me if you’re gone!"
He shook his head. "He’ll come back anyway. I’m no protection for you. Just do as he says and you’ll live through this."
"He wants my eyes."
"Just one."
Her eyes widened and focused on the patch that covered his right eye. "He already has yours, then?"
Rather than answer the obvious, he pulled away and walked to the door. There was no comfort he could give. There was no hope within him, none to share. He turned his heart against her sobs as he closed the door and sought out his own haunted chambers.
Opening the door, he found two guards rushing down the hall, their guns held tightly. Deciding against his better judgement to follow, he raced down the hall. He quickly overtook the guards.
"What’s happening?"
"The liger is putting up a fight."
Tightening his lips, he sought out the operation room. Peeking into the door’s window, he saw the mess of the room. Equipment was strewn about the room, blood dripping from the walls. Gaping, he pushed open the door, carefully searching the room.
On the floor, two doctors were laying prone, gaping wounds still seeping blood as vacant eyes stared out at nothing. He crouched on the ground, his one eye seeking out the threat.
His baser nature began to rear its head, his senses enhancing. The air smelled of cat, and faintly, of bird. The liger was still in the room, he could hear the low growl the girl must be emitting. Cautiously moving forward, he stalked the child, his one eye turned to where he knew she was hiding.
Around the overturned table he found her. She, too, was covered in blood. When she saw him, she fell into his arms, sobbing wildly. Her tail, which he’d not noticed before, was whipping frantically behind her, thumping against the wall.
"Good, you captured her."
He looked up at the phoenix’s voice and the girl snarled again.
The phoenix sat in his chair in the door, flanked by four guards, each holding a gun on them. Slowly, Sphinx stood, pulling the girl up with him. She clung to him, her tiny frame trembling violently. The phoenix waved to his guards and they came forward and pulled the girl from him.
She screamed and thrashed wildly, clawing and biting.
The phoenix folded his arms over his chest, a pout turning his lips. "Knock the girl out. Don’t damage her eyes!"
Sphinx stood back and watched, guilt eating him from the inside out. Perhaps there was something he should do, something to help her. Something to help his master.
The guards were afraid of the girl, as well. They were doing a poor job of restraining the liger. While they reached for her, they didn’t actually touch her, flinching back as her claws racked the air before their noses.
Growling low in his throat, he stepped forward and knocked aside one guard. His own clawed hand caught the girl’s hand, pulling her close to him. She whimpered as she gazed up at his one eye. He snarled, twisting her arm behind her back and flicked his eye to his master. In his master’s eye, his other eye, was approval.
The girl’s eyes were tearing, full of broken trust. He refused to meet her gaze, knowing that he was doing that which he hated the most. He was becoming her nightmare just as the phoenix’s father had been his.
With a well placed fist, the girl was out, slumping in his arms. He carried her past his master, feeling a thrill of pride as the phoenix smiled at him.
As soon as he was out of view of his master, that pride left him with a foul taste in his mouth. He took her to her chamber, laying her on the bed and kneeling beside it. He held her hand in his, and allowed him the tears he daren’t show anywhere else.
She pulled away from him, turning a glare his way. He let his hand drop.
"Give up, it’s easier. You won’t escape here. If you make him angry, you will die."
She reached out and smacked her hand across his face. Startled, he touched a hand to his smarting cheek. Only the phoenix had ever hit him before. Briefly, rage filled him.
How dare she? His hand shot out and caught hers, his claws digging into her dusky flesh, drawing blood. She gave a high-pitched squeal, fear filling her scent.
He tightened his grip, feeling his claws sinking deeper in, tearing flesh and pinching muscle. He rose, hovering over her, pulling her into an odd angle. "There is no hope here, only death, only pain. Only those that bow to the lord survive. Learn it, quickly, little girl, or you will be the next to die."
Her nose wrinkled, her own anger filling her. "You could escape. You could die, yes, but you would have your freedom. Do you truly want to live as a slave?"
Her words hit him hard. His eye widened as he felt the truth of her words. He could escape. He could fight and risk everything to live freely. He could die. Shaking his head, he knocked those thoughts out of his mind. He had no use for such ideas.
In one swift movement, he gave a sharp pull and wrenched off her finger. Her scream filled the air, hurting his ears. Blood spilled onto the floor, staining his clothes and hers. It scent of it reached his nose, clouding his thoughts as his baser nature began to surface. He struck out and knocked her from the bed before escaping the room in a near blind panic.
Just outside the room, two guards watched him leave with wary eyes before peeking in on the bawling girl.
Down the hall he stalked, his fear following him. There was no escape. There was no hope. For thirteen years he’d been trapped here, with no glimmer of hope. How dare that girl plant that seed?
Looking down at his clenched hand, he realized he still held her small digit. Disgusted with himself, he threw it away from him and hid in his chambers once again.
He should have known that the phoenix would not have waited too long to get what he most desired. The girl was sitting against the wall, a patch covering her left eye. Her one good eye was distant, turned to the far wall. Her hands were lax in her lap and one was bandaged as well.
Swallowing, he came forward, kneeling before the cot and reaching out to touch her. Instantly her gaze turned to him. Her good hand reached out and cupped his chin.
"He broke you, didn’t he, wild kitten? Just like this?" The dark girl touched a hand to his patched eye, then to hers. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his brow. "He won’t break me. I will not let him win, not like you have."
He touched his hand to hers. "You’re just a child."
"I’ll live and die free." Sphinx lowered his head, bowing, hiding his shame. She patted his hair, soothing him. "It’s all right. If you want, you can fight with me and find your own freedom."
He lifted his head at that. Their odd eyes met and he realized that his loyalty had shifted. He would do whatever she asked of him.
The moment was broken when she pulled away and patted the cot next to her. "Come here, I’ll tell you about my family back in India."
His hand was clasped around the liger’s, fingers entangled. He blinked bleary, wondering at what woke him.
Then he realized that there was a line of light coming from the open door behind him. He sat back, turning fully around to see past his blind side. The phoenix was holding the door open, glaring at them with two yellow eyes. In the dim light Sphinx couldn’t see the difference in color, but knew that the two eyes were not a perfect match.
Foolishly, he wondered what color of eyes the dragon would have.
"I’m done with her. Get rid of her." The boy said, glaring at the cowed sphinx. "I want her out with the trash, Sphinx."
The newly paired eyes didn’t miss how Sphinx’s shoulders hunched at that command. His lip curled into a sneer. "Do you want to keep her, Sphinx? Have you developed a liking for her?"
Sphinx lowered his gaze to the bed, the dull grey sheets.
He heard the phoenix hiss. "You have no need of friends. Your sole purpose is to serve me. It is your only reason for living. The only reason you live."
Sphinx curled in on himself, his tail whipping around behind him in agitation. He heard the whirl of Phoenix’s wheelchair as he left the room, the door slamming after him.
The little girl sat up with a gasp as she woke abruptly. Her good hand went to her bandaged eye as she blinked into the dark room. "I want to go home," she whispered. She reached out and touched a hand to Sphinx’s shoulder. "I want to go home. Don’t you ever want to go home as well?"
"This is my home."
She moved into his arms, resting her head on his shoulder. Her arms curled around him. "No, this is your prison."
He held her small warm body close, relishing the touch of another. "There is no escape."
"There is, you just have not found it, yet. You have not been looking."
He pressed his cheek to her soft hair, his mind wondering down a path he’d never taken in all his years as the phoenix’s slave.
In silence, she pulled her clothes on, one wide eye trained upon him all the while. Once dressed, she followed him to the door, which he propped open.
"Follow me as quickly as you can." He handed her a small box with a switch. "Once you’re out, flip that, but make sure you’re out of the perimeter fence." She nodded, tucking the box in her pocket.
He pointed down the hall. "We go that way. Don’t hesitate, no matter what." Then he was off, his long legs devouring the length of the hall. The little liger had to run to keep up with him. He pulled her around the first corner, a second, then a third before they encountered a set of guards that hailed him. His hand reached out for hers, and once they touched, his fingers tightened on hers.
He pulled her into the midst of the guards, his eye hard as he quickly made calculations. Suddenly, his fingers were gone from hers, his hand on her back as he shoved her forward. "Run!"
His fist went out to the first guard, knocking him out with one blow. He’d gotten a second guard before the others realized what was happening. The liger took off running, her hair fanning behind her, her one eye watering as she realized that she would have to leave the sphinx in danger.
She heard a gun shot, then, moments later, someone running to catch up with her. Her blind side making her nervous, she decided not to chance a look and put more effort into running.
"Turn left," Sphinx said from behind her, and she grinned as she followed his directions. But the alarm had sounded, loud and harsh over the speakers built into the walls. Sphinx passed her as another set of guards found their way in their path. She dodged under one’s arm and kept running, her chest hurting, her breath hard.
She came to a split and looked first one way then the other, and found the exit. Turning to see Sphinx catching up, she pointed. He grasped her shoulder and pushed open the door.
"There," he pointed, "to the right of the gate, four lights in, there is a break in the fence where the light’s don’t reach. Head that way."
Behind them more guards were rushing down the hall. Gasping, the liger grabbed a fistful of Sphinx’s shirt. "You’re coming with, aren’t you?"
His yellow eye lowered to search her face. "You’ve changed me. I can’t live here." She grinned, drawing a slow smile from him. "Go now, don’t look back and I’ll be right behind you." She nodded and he pushed her out the door.
As she ran, she could hear him behind her, and she worried about that.
Then she heard the gun shots start. The first one had her heart beating out of her chest, but Sphinx pushed her on. She bit her lip until she bled. He was protecting her from the bullets, she realized.
Then, suddenly, his hand was gone from her back, no longer pushing her forward. She slowed, but heard him curse. "Keep running, fool!" She tried to glance back at him, but he was in her blind side.
A few more sound offs from guns sounded, but she was at the fence, finding the hole. It was near the ground, so she shuffled through and into the jungle that was surrounding the fence on the other side.
They were free!
She turned to watch for Sphinx and found that he hadn’t followed her. He had veered left, drawing their shots away from her. Her hands flew to cover her lips as guards surrounded him. One of them shot at him, hitting his chest, dropping him to the ground.
He crouched, much like the cat he was named after. His one eye glittered in the light of torches as one guard waked up to him with a gun aimed.
She turned away as the gun’s report sounded and the sphinx’s death howl took to the air, sending shivers down her spine. Birds took flight and startled her to her feet. Through tears, she saw Sphinx’s body slump forward into the dirt, then she ran, she pushed herself to get as far as she could.
Then she remembered the switch box.
After she flicked the switch, a loud explosion ripped the night, lighting the jungle, bringing dawn over the trees above her. The ground shook, knocking her from her feet and she sobbed, rubbing at her one good eye.
She was free, but Sphinx had never known freedom.
