The Confessor Series
 
Part 1/many
 
 
United Kingdom of Chaska, Midlands
 
 
Three weeks after the Dictator-General had dismissed him, Heero was
getting frustrated. They had scoured every inch of the countryside
of where the massacre had taken place, and turned over every rock in
every nearby village, but there was no sign of the creature. Being on
horseback for days on end was bad enough, but now it felt like they
were riding in circles with no rhyme or reason. Even Wufei, who had
a knack for sensing magic, was unable to find more than the slightest
trace. The weather itself was making life as miserable as possible
too. It had been very hot and humid, but it refused to rain. Sweat
clung to the soldiers' uniforms and dampened their hair. It was
enough to make all of them irritable, and the short remarks came more
and more frequently.
 
Though he knew that the others had faith in his abilities as a
soldier, Heero could sense their growing doubts. He couldn't
blame
them. He had his own doubts too. But failure was unacceptable, so
he insisted they keep on looking. He resolutely spurred Wing, his
white stallion, into a ground-eating jog. The great beast pinned
its ears against its neck in irritation, lather dripped down its
neck, which was dark with sweat. It too hated this aimless
wandering, preferring instead to charge into battle or race its
brethren.
 
Quatre, the only one in the group who had any abilities when it came
to magic, was handling communications through the use of a telepathy
spell. He was able to relay messages from each member of the squad
with a mere thought. Quatre was trying not to let the uncertain
thoughts of the other two filter through to Heero but sometimes he
couldn't stop it. The mental arguments were giving him a
headache,
but he kept the pain firmly tucked away, intent on doing his job.
Sandrock, Quatre's palomino mare sensed her rider's
discomfort and
made her pace as smooth as possible. She wasn't as big as Wing,
but
she was just as loyal to her rider and would fight to the death for
him.
 
Trowa, a former army scout turned ranger, knew that Quatre was in
pain. He could tell just by looking at the pale face and the soft
blue eyes that were often clouded. But Quatre made no comment on it
so Trowa kept silent as well, respecting the other's privacy and
attention to duty. Trowa never said much anyhow, preferring the
solitude of the forests and plains to the uproar of the towns and
cities. He was one of the best trackers in the business. It was
said he could follow a wraith back to its lair and know what it had
for breakfast four days earlier. An exaggeration of course, but not
by much. His own mount, a copper chestnut stallion whose name was
all but unpronounceable in common speak but sounded something like
Heavyarms, was a muscular beast, made more for power than speed. He
wasn't quick, but he could go all day. Heavyarms was probably
the
most even-tempered of the steeds. He had stood without flinching as
a huge grizzly had come barreling down on them. Trowa had, of
course, killed the bear with an expert bowshot through the left eye
mere meters from where they had stood.
 
Chang Wufei was by far the deadliest of the group. He was a
bladesmaster, no less. Put a sword in his hand and he was literally
unbeatable. He was also arrogant, rude and had a vicious temper. He
had been assigned to Heero's squad because no one else could put
up
with him. His skills made him invaluable, but his temperament made
him a liability. His dapple-gray mare Shenlong had a temper to match
her riders. But when it came to close quarter fighting, there was no
horse better trained to kick or strike with deadly accuracy. Wufei
and Heero had worked together before and to everyone's surprise,
they
got along quite well. (Much to the disappointment of those who were
making bets on who would kill whom first) Wufei respected Heero and
followed his orders. Heero treated Wufei with courtesy and listened
to his ideas. In the end, everyone was satisfied.
 
"This is unsatisfactory." Wufei stated with his usual
bluntness,
wiping away the sweat that dripped in his onyx eyes. "Heero, are
you
sure that this creature exists?" He asked for the umpteenth time.
 
"Yes Wufei, it is the only logical explanation for what happened.
 We
will just keep looking." Heero stated with extreme patience.
Only
Quatre caught the impatience flowing off of the leader, and wished
for the hundredth time that he could turn the spell on and off at
will. Being plugged into the other's heads was not his idea of a
good time.
 
Suddenly, Trowa who had been scouting ahead came into view. He was
sitting easy on Heavyarms back with one leg slung over the cantle of
the saddle, playing his flute. The horse was grazing peacefully, not
even glancing up when the others pulled up nearby.
 
"Well?" Wufei asked impatiently, ignoring Heero's glare.
 
 
"It's near." Was all Trowa needed to say. For a few
seconds there
was complete silence then Wufei and Quatre exploded into questions.
Heero let this go on for about thirty seconds then raised his hand to
command silence.
 
"Explain."
 
"It is very good, but it finally let its guard down. I found its
tracks, or should I say its mounts tracks going away from that hamlet
across the river. Up until now it has stayed in populated areas,
blending in. But now it thinks its safe and has gone off to wreak
more havoc on our troops."
 
"Hn. Which way is it heading?" Heero was thinking
furiously, trying
to come up with a way to catch it alive.
 
"It is heading east, probably going to travel through Kings Gorge
to
intercept the cavalry troop on the Korona plains." Even though
Trowa
was guessing, every one in the squad would have bet a month's
worth
of wages that he was right.
 
"Very well, we will split into two groups. Wufei and I will get
ahead of it and the two of you will drive it to us. We must be very
careful, but we have to catch it and bring it back alive." Heero
had
not revealed the last part to the others and the stunned looks on
their faces indicated just how dangerous their quarry was.
 
"A-alive?" Quatre stuttered. This was unthinkable. One
simply did
not bring back one of these creatures alive. One touch from these
things and they were dead, no they were worse than dead.
"How?'
 
 
Heero pulled out a map from his saddlebag and the others clustered
around, peering intently as he pointed to a space on the map.
 
 
"All you have to do is drive it to us, don't worry about
capturing
it, that job is for Wufei and myself. Just make sure it ends up
here, ok? And another thing, Trowa, have your bow ready. If it
touches either of us," Heero indicated to Wufei and himself,
"Do not
hesitate to kill us immediately, especially Wufei. It could mean all
of our deaths if you hesitate." He held Trowas emerald eyes
steadily
with his own. "I mean it, this is deadly business, do you
understand?"
 
Quatre and Trowa nodded.
 
Heero looked at Wufei and nodded. "Lets go."