Chapter 18 - Found

Iris

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There were four guardsmen in the room, standing stiffly at attention, matching gray-green uniforms only a dulled tint over the metal and steel that made up the floors, ceiling, and walls. A doorway led down to another floor under the ground, where the largest portion of the actual facility was; the cells.
Outside, it was a quiet and still night. In this section of the town, there were no boisterous bars and no glimpse of stragglers in the streets or alleyways. The starless sky was a blackened, sooty gray.
There was a sudden crash, louder than a gunshot in the utter silence. The guardsmen looked up, startled. A flash of white light through a high window from the west side of the building, and then the orange-yellow glow of fire. The men jumped up and rushed out as muffled alarms blared from a distance away.
As soon as they were gone, Valkyre slipped noiselessly into the room, dark violet eyes quickly checking over the room for any sign of danger. He waved quickly with his hand, and the wires of a security camera in a corner of the ceiling fitzed from the concentration of magic, throwing out a meager handful of sparks before the red light flickered off. The angel walked on quickly, boots making just faint taps on the metal stairs as he went down.
Upstairs, he'd merely set a distraction. He had to hurry before the guards returned. No doubt the fire was almost out by now.
Downstairs, it was darker, steel floors blackened with grime and dirt, lights dimmed and flickering. Valkyre blended right in, slipping from shadow to shadow. He travelled down the hallway lined with cells, eyes flickering quickly past steel bars at the occupants inside, but he didn't falter, continuing on. No Iris yet.
The angel paused as he looked forward again. A guard stood against a wall near the end row, clearly outlined in neon and artificial yellow-white of a bare bulb dangling from the ceiling. A faint but strong barrier aura emanated from the bars and walls of the last cell.
A guard, a magic barrier. A dead giveaway.
The guardsman turned, startled, as Valkyre stepped forward into the pool of light cast from the bulb. "Hey, what"-
The hunter's wing swept out and struck the guard heavily in the head. He held his stance for a moment longer, then crumpled to the ground. A hissing murmur ran from the few cells nearest; Valkyre ignored them. He stepped quickly into the light, then past it, reaching up to touch the bars of the last cell but stopping as he remembered the barrier.
"Iris," he whispered.
The boy was there, all right. The same still, lean form, shoulders hunched and head lowered so he couldn't see the face, the dullen, silvery hair draped over the small figure. He looked so small and weak, still clothed in the same threadbare shirt and pants, legs curled up in front of him, metal cuffs around his ankles running along chains to heavy plates nailed to the wall. There were shackles around his thin wrists too, binding the two together, joined by a sightly thinner chain from around the boy's neck. Completely unnecessary, crude.
"Iris," Valkyre spoke again, louder, trying to draw the other's attention. The form shifted slightly, chains clunking heavily on one another. Finally, he looked up.
He shouldn't have been so surprised. But he was. Something broke in Valkyre when he saw Iris' tired eyes, blank as stone, sunken gray and emotionless. There was a smudge of dirt on his cheek, but he hadn't erased it. His hair half-hung over his face, tangled and soiled. But it was just how... absolutely apathetic he looked, like there was no recognition or realization. Like... he'd given up, ceased to care. About anything. About him, Valkyre. About himself.
"Iris, I"- The hunter broke off, startled. He hadn't noticed it before, shrouded by the boy's long, mussed locks of hair. The angel swore under his breath again.
A charm seal. It could hardly be called any type of seal at all; it looked like just a crude, child-made necklace of the oddest items put together- a murky-white feather with triangular bits cut from the edges and dried brown blood along the end of the quill, a tuft of ugly brown fur, a porous bone drilled through with a hole, a gray-blue piece of what looked like a snake's shedded skin.
They were, in reality, just as ugly as they seemed to be- they were magical bits of the different types of creatures they'd come from- angel, demon, were, all sorts of creatures.
It was supposed to serve like a seal, but it wasn't anything like a finely-honed, carefully crafted true seal made from the right stones. These were the raw essences of a being's magic, and the effect was supposed to be that it would subdue an opposite type of creature. But it didn't soothe as real seals did; it forcibly brought up one's blood to a physical object, which would rule it down only through plain contact and aura, which caused outright pain and shattering nerves as it pushed down the other blood. The charms were considered crude and only used if absolutely necessary; and, in this case, often enough on criminals.
And Iris' seal was a string of all of the charms put together- all of the bits of feather, skin, and bone torn from bodies- probably all dead by now. It had... to feel horrible. No wonder Iris was so still, so wordless. ...But still...
"Iris, please!"
Valkyre felt a sinking feeling as he tried again; the boy only blinked slowly, face still expressionless. ...What'd happened to him?
The angel hissed and whirled away from the cell, sweeping his wings behind him. He paused, alerted by the faraway pounding of feet and shouting voices. The guards were returning.
Valkyre glanced around the cell doors nearby. A hand gripped one of the metal bars, bright eyes glinting out at him. The angel sighed, then stooped down and jerked the set of keys off of the unconscious guardsman's form. He picked calmly through the keys, then walked over and stopped in front of the nearest cell block. Someone inside looked up at him, flashed a stained-tooth grin.
"Listen up," he said, voice low and smooth, but loud enough for the others around the hallway to hear, "I'm going to let you out." Murmurings ran around. Valkyre ignored the others' whisperings, only mildly blinking as the one in the cage before him shuffled forward, a gaunt face and stubble on his chin, dim lighting showing pale scars over his dirty skin.
"I consider this a favor to you all, so I expect a little favor in return."
He glanced around; some of these were just impure creatures trying to live, others were true cutthroats and criminals. He didn't expect any of them to really listen to him, but it didn't matter. He doubted any of them would really care enough to try and kill him; it would be completely pointless. He reached up and unlocked the first cell, pushing open the creaking door, stepping back.
"Take out the goddamned guards," he muttered under his breath. Valkyre moved past the cell and unlocked the next amid the burst of talking and cries around him. A few more locks, then he tossed the set of keys to the nearest creature that'd shuffled out of his cell.
The angel ignored the bustle, ignored the stamp and shout as the alarms nearby went off and the guards' shouts could be heard, footsteps coming down the stairway. More cell doors swung open; more figures stepping into the dimmed lights; some of them might well've been a bounty he'd captured himself, but it didn't matter anymore.
Valkyre stepped back to Iris' cell. The boy didn't react, only remained slumped where he was, head dropped again. The angel frowned, then stepped back, glow of angelic magic gathering in his palm. A sweep of his hand before him and the barrier shattered with a blast that echoed and jarred Valkyre's bones, the steel bars bending and crumpling like they were made of paper, folded and twisted out of the way.
The hunter stepped inside quickly, reaching down and breaking the chains around the boy's body with a touch and more magic. The links made a light, hollow clink on the steel floor.
Valkyre paused and stared Iris, but the boy didn't even lift his head in acknowledgement. He paused, then reached down and ripped away the charm seal. The broken necklace clicked and rattled as it hit the ground. The angel saw Iris flinch, drawing in a quick, sharp breath. He looked up, blinking, eyes blank, empty. It seemed like forever before he finally spoke up. "...Val... kyre?"
The hunter sighed softly, then gathered up Iris in his arms, ignoring the sting and shiver as the boy's presences slipped over his skin. He barely weighing anything, body limp and still, doll-like. Valkyre stepped out of the cell, hands gripping tightly to Iris' cold, smooth skin, fragile as paper. He couldn't help it; he leaned down to study the young boy in his arms, cradled like a newborn infant, so delicate and precious.
Iris looked up, slowly, eyes half-lidded, bleary. He smiled, just slightly, softly, almost impossible to see. Valkyre felt his heart swell, and he realized why.
It was because he loved to see Iris smile. Just that rare, fleeting glimpse at someone inside the shell of myths and magic, that flickering candle of soul in the empty abyss of antithesis...
The boy reached up a hand, touched him just above the bridge of his nose, on the fading, healed wound of the knife cut from the night before. Valkyre trembled slightly as the fingers ran down and paused on his lips, soft touch like a fluttering kiss, sweeter than dewdrops. Then Iris dropped his hand, closing his eyes with a little sigh.
Valkyre shook himself mentally, stepping forward again. He halted at the figure before him, head cocked to one side, eyes a swirl of green-blue, cheery, mirthful. "'Believe this belongs to your lil' pup," he quipped, holding out his hand. Something dangled from it, glittering. The tearstone.
The other cocked his head to the other side, then quickly looped the necklace over Iris' drooped head. He turned, and there was a brief stretching, ripping sound, tearing up the human cloth as the hindquarters showed and the hooves clipped on the ground, and then the centaur was gone.
Valkyre saw Iris' face settle, peaceful. He brought the boy's cool body a little closer against his own, then ran.

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AN: Looooooooong chapter to make up for anything/give you guys sustenance for a little while.
It's tough, coming back to school after the midterms... I'm suffering too, just so you know... got gym class and driver's ed. x_X Hope I don't crash!
Well, I don't really like this scene, it seems a bit... cliche... or something of the sort...
But I'm glad my commenters are still there, yes I am. :) I try to make Iris [and all of my stories for that matter] not too unpredictable, but also different than the norm... If you can tell what's going to happen from moment to moment, please tell me. -_-; Also, I try to keep things realistic [ha, in the fantasy category] and all.... I always hated stories with a million terms from a made-up world [why I could never read through a Tamora Pierce book] so this mysterious mass of... stuff will just be, 'the state' or 'the eastern continent' or shoot, I'm not gonna give them names, I never remember them anyways. -_-;
Rather iffy chapter overall though... I need something I'm better at writing with.
Also, yet another note... I have noticed now that the chapters are screwed up in the scrollbar... that pisses me off more than it should, [o_O] but just ignore and browse carefully... ^^; I'm hoping it's something that'll fix itself out in time... hopefully... Sorry if it's inconvenient for any of you. :)
I've been working ahead some in Iris, and I feel nice, so next chappie's due on thurs, got it? It's a shorter one, actually, but heck, this one's good, right? [Good as in, long. ^^;]
Well, thanks for the return of the comments, and please keep them up! I really do beg for attention... it's sad... I can't help it, I'm so sorry... [ego, the ego... must control the ego...]
Btw, this is definately gonna over-take Nocte chapter-wise. I just know it. And I'm still going strong! ^__________^- [very excited]
Thank you all! Ciao. :) ::bows::

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