dg_cain | Whispers of the Heart-Chapter 3: Signs of an Omen

Here is chapter three of Whispers of the Heart!
Enjoy the experience!

Title: Whispers of the Heart
Author: nadeshiko1
Characters/Pairings: DG/Cain, Glitch/Az, multiple Tin Man characters, mutiple OCs
Rating: PG-13
Warnings/Spoilers: Tin Man, all three parts. L. Frank Braum's Oz books.
Summary: The Eclipse is over, but the O.Z. needs to heal. DG & Az can only do that by finding its missing guardians before evil tries to destroy the land once more.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Just playing in the Tin Man sandbox.
Previous Chapters: Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2

Whispers of the Heart – Signs of an Omen

The old ruin had not seen human life in centuries. It once was a great castle that was home to an exceedingly gifted witch and wizard who practiced their particular type of magic in the halls and rooms of the great castle. Then, one day, they disappeared and the castle had been ransacked and torched by several warrior humans. The castle became a shell of its former self. As time passed, flora and fauna began to take refuge and forge lives there. The secrets that lay beneath the structure were buried deeper as the layers of earth and flora began to build up.

The dark cover of night was an easy cloak to fold into. The cloaked man kept his hood covering his face as he and his lamp-bearing followers made their way into the ruin of the castle. The leader breathed in the air. It still smelled like home to him even after five hundred years. He led his followers deeper into the darkness of the ruin until they reached what looked like the remains of a cellar. In the middle of the room was a raised, round structure made of stone that was hidden under a number of layers of dirt.

The leader stretched out his arm to reveal a gnarled, bony finger sticking out of his cloak, pointing to the ground. Discerning the silent message, two of his followers carried shovels in and began to dig the dirt away. As the structure began to show through, the men put their shovels away and removed the dirt away with their hands. As soon as they were finished, they scurried back into the darkness. The structure was revealed to be a decagram. At each point was an ancient symbol, but none except for the leader could interpret it, but he made no notion to do so.

In the cloaked man’s hand were eight little candle holders hanging from chains with small lit candles already inside. He stepped onto the structure and then stepped off the structure to place a candle on the ground where each point of the pentagram was pointing to. When all the candles were passed out, he stepped back onto the structure. Two of the points were without candles, but the followers dared not to question their leader's ways. Two more diggers emerged from the darkness and began to dig where the candles were.

What was dug underneath where the candles were was revealed to be eight different small chests. The chests were in good condition, considering buried in the earth for five hundred years. They each were made of handsome dark wood and shiny metal bordered the edges and made the hinges and the locks. Intricate designs of unknown origin were carved into the wood.

Once all of the chests were dug up and set before the leader, the diggers scurried back to the darkness as the other two had. The cloaked man stepped down from the structure and looked over the chests. Which one should I choose to exact my revenge? His eyes settled on one that seemed to have designs of wolves with crazed eyes hunting down and killing humans. A cruel smile could be seen in the low light under the leaders’ hood. Yes, this one will do nicely.

He picked up the chest with his gnarled hands and rasped out, “Bring in the Innocent.” Two more men emerged from the darkness dragging with them a small boy. The glistening streaks of tears could be seen on his face when he came into the low light.

He struggled for a bit, but stopped as one of the men bent his shoulder painfully backward as the men pushed him to his knees. The boy gave a soft whimper, determined to not let his fear or pain show through. But, he couldn’t hide it, the cloaked man could smell it on him. The boy stank with it, which made his cruel smile widen more to show his decaying yellow teeth.

With one hand still holding the chest, the cloaked man reached inside his robes to bring out a dagger. He kneeled before the boy and set the chest in front of him, still holding the dagger in his hand. He grasped one of the boy’s arms and the man holding that arm let go. The leader yanked the boy’s arm painfully forward, close enough so that it was touching the leader’s robes.

“Blood of the innocent, spilled to protect my creation from the harm of those who protect the innocent,” rasped out the leader. He raised the dagger up as he said these words and then sliced the boy’s arm. Now the boy did cry out in pain. The leader yanked the hand again so that the blood that spilled from the arm landed on the chest before him. The drops of blood hissed as they hit the chest.

After a few moments, the leader let go and the boy yanked his arm back to cradle it as best he could, with the other man holding his other arm. As if drawn to it, the blood gathered into a small pool on the top of the chest and then slithered into the inside of the chest through the key hole. With a satisfying “clank”, the chest unlocked. The leader threw the lid back, only to reveal ash inside, the blood making a small puddle in the middle.

At first, time stood still and nothing happened. Then, the inside of the chest erupted in black flames. The leader began to cackle loudly. Through his horrid laugh he waved his hand over the flames and said, “Go, they will soon be at the Northern Island looking for Firey. You know what to do, my pet.” The flames then shot upward, circled for a few moments, and then shot off towards the north.

The cruel smile returned to the leader’s face. Soon those little princesses will feel my wrath for destroying you Stellania, my love. They will pay with their very lives.

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“Absolutely not.”

The royal family, Jeb and Wyatt Cain, Ambrose, and Raw had just finished having dinner with Adonis and were now in the parlor in the West Wing, where the bedroom suites were. The whole time was spent sharing stories of Adonis’ time in the marsh and the defeat of the Black Witch. The topic of the quest had come up several times, but both Lavender and Ahamo had steered the conversation to other subjects. After sharing stories for a couple of hours, Lavender and Ahamo had a page escort Adonis to his own suite to rest and recuperate from his ordeal.

While they were making arrangements, DG and Azkadellia used their magic on the parchment that Adonis had given them. As soon as their hands touched it, words began to form on the paper into nine riddles, including the one Althea had mentioned in the message. With help from Raw, Ambrose, Cain, and Jeb, the sisters were able to come up with some ideas for where the other locations for the guardians might be. They even began to pour over a map that Ambrose had brought from the library to mark where the guardians might be held.

As they were doing that, DG had come with some of her own ideas what the last part of the riddle concerning Althea might be. None that she came up with were rather pleasant.

She had just settled on one she thought might be correct when Ahamo and Lavender came in. As soon as they saw what they were doing, the Queen forbade the girls from going on such a dangerous mission.

“It is out of the question.” The queen’s voice was no longer soft and pleasant. It was hard and as cold as steel and hardness had come into her eyes that DG had never seen before.

“Your mother is right, girls,” said Ahamo, in a much kinder voice than his wife’s. “Both of your powers are too weak to deal with such a task as this. And Azkadellia, my dear, you are too physically weak to be gallivanting off into parts unknown of the O.Z. to do such a foolhardy mission.”

“Foolhardy,” DG repeated, sarcasm dripping from it. “Did you not hear what Adonis and Althea’s message said?! If we don’t free the guardians, the White Wizard will destroy our world and us along with it.”

“You and your sister were able to destroy the Black Witch with the help of the power of the emerald, surely you’ll be able to do the same with the White Wizard,” said Lavender in a no-nonsense kind of tone.

“If the White Wizard was powerful enough to trap all of the guardians and seal them in prisons made of powerful magic, how in the world do you think that we can stand up to him?!” said Azkadellia in a heated voice.

DG gave her mother a hard look. Why was she so dead set against going after the guardians? That’s when she saw it. Behind the hardness in her eyes was the distinct feeling of fear. But what did Lavender have to be afraid of? Then it hit her.

She stepped towards her mother. “Mother, we are going to come back. This mission won’t be the end of us.” Her assumption hit home as she saw tears well in her mother’s eyes at her words. She grabbed her mother’s hand and led her to one of the couches to sit on. Azkadellia followed and sat on the other side of her mother holding her other hand, Ahamo standing near them by the couch.

DG looked at Cain. Could she really make her mother understand and not frighten Cain at the same time? She breathed deep made her decision.

DG gave her mother a kind smile. “Mother, did you know what the scariest thing was when I came back to the O.Z.?” At her mother’s questioning eyes, she continued. “It wasn’t the Longcoats, the Alchemists, the Munchkins, or even the Black Witch trying to kill me through Az. After I found Ambrose in Munchkin Land we traveled south west for a little while until I heard screaming.”

Cain widened his eyes. She wouldn’t. Would she?

“I followed the screams to the top of a small hill. Down below was a small house surrounded by Longcoats and two of them were holding a man to his knees while Zero beat him senseless. His wife and son came out to stop them, but were snatched up by more Longcoats.” DG paused as her mother gasped and let go of DG and Azkadellia’s hands to put a hand over her mouth.

“DG.” DG looked behind at Cain. His eyes were so full of pain from the experience of her finding him. Jeb was near him with sadness and hatred in his eyes at the memory of Zero’s attack on his family. “Please don’t.”
DG knew that he wouldn’t like it. Hell, he might even hate her for it, but it had to be done. It was the only way her mother would be able to understand. “Cain, I know you don’t approve or like it, but please let me finish. I have my own reasons and none of them are to hurt you in any way.”
Her baby-blue eyes pleaded with his stormy-blue ones. He breathed deep and nodded at her to continue.

DG turned back to her mother. “Without any thought at all, I picked up a stick and began running down the hill with it towards the house to wield it at them, hoping that I could at least do something.” DG closed her eyes at the memory and gave a small chuckle. Lavender, however, became more afraid. How could her daughter find this funny at all? “It ended up being a recording of the event through one of Ambrose’s inventions. The Longcoats, the man and his family all disappeared and the house and the land aged eight years. Then, Ambrose and I saw the Iron Maiden and inside,” at this DG looked at Cain, “was Wyatt Cain.”

DG turned back to look at her mother, Azkadellia, and her father. “He’d been trapped in there for eight years and had to watch Zero torture him, Adora, and Jeb over and over again.”

DG then took a deep breath, knowing that what she said next would be hard for anyone to swallow. “I think that I know what the rest of the riddle is about Althea.” Now everyone was listening, intently. “Creature and guardian of fire, Trapped forever will you be in a sea of ice of course talks about the Northern Island where she is being held captive, but…,” DG took a deep breath to calm her nerves and avoided her mother’s eyes, “Favorite tin heroes you have made, Will be slain forever in front of your eyes means that she is being forced, by some sort of spell or invention, to watch Tin Men being killed or captured before her eyes.”

DG then chanced a look at her mother. Her face was contorted with pain at the thought of what DG had seen and what more than likely lied ahead of her on this journey. “I’ve been talking with Ambrose and Cain, and they tell me that Althea cared for the Tin Men deeply. Adonis himself said that she was captured trying to save them from the Black Witch and the Longcoats. If Cain watching his family being tortured for eight years made him suffer the way he did…then imagine what Althea’s been through- is still going through right now! Even if we didn’t find them just to save our world again, it would just be right to let them out anyway!”

Azkadellia took one of her mother’s hands in her own, causing the Queen to look at her. “DG’s right, Mother. We need the guardians help to save the O.Z. from being destroyed. With their help, the O.Z. can be restored to it’s former glory.” She cupped Lavender’s cheek and smiled. “You won’t lose us, Mother. We’re not going to leave you.”

“And to make sure that that unhappy event doesn’t happen,” all three turned to see Ambrose walking towards them, “I will accompany the princesses on their journey.”

The women rose and DG went towards him. “Thank you Ambrose. Are you sure that it’s alright?”

“Ambrose? Doll, don’t you know that I’ll always be Glitch to you. And yes, of course it’s alright; wild horses couldn’t keep me away from helping you two ladies.”
Ambrose gave her a wide funny smile and mischief glistened in his eyes. Immediately, DG knew she was talking to Glitch, her forever faithful friend. She hugged her friend tightly and whispered, “Thank you, Glitch.”

Azkadellia felt a hand on her right shoulder. She turned to see Raw beside her with a kind smile on his face. “Raw would like to accompany Azkadellia and DG on journey. Will need my help to find friends.”
Azkadellia smiled at her friend. “I would be delighted to have you come with us Raw.” She hugged the Viewer and then he hugged DG.

Lavender and Ahamo stepped towards the Cain men. “Gentlemen, I cannot stress how important this mission is for my daughters,” said Lavender with sadness in her eyes. “I need them both to be protected since their power is the key to freeing the guardians. I am most certain that the White Wizard will unleash the dark creatures he and the Black Witch created many centuries ago to hunt my daughters down. I ask of you to accompany them and protect them during this journey. Will you do this for me?”

DG glanced at Cain. She felt a fluttering of hope in her chest that he might come on this quest because he wanted to, like Glitch and Raw, not because her mother asked him to.
Father and son shared a look, Jeb nodded to his father and Cain nodded back. Both men turned back to the royals. “Anything you wish of us, we will do, ma’am,” said Cain with a small bow. DG looked away, disappointed with his answer.

Lavender breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, since that is settled, I will alert the staff to prepare horses and perhaps even a wagon for your journey.” She turned to look directly at Azkadellia. “You, young lady, will be sure to do nothing arduous on your trip.” She walked up to her eldest and took her hands in hers. “I know that I cannot stop you from going, but you must be sure to take very good care of yourself. Althea is not only a great warrior, but also a great healer; perhaps she has the power to heal you that we do not.”

With that settled, everyone went back to working on the riddles. As the Cain men excused themselves to have a few words with the servants about preparations for their journey, DG looked up at Wyatt Cain. How she wished upon wish that he ever saw more than just a friend or a duty set by her mother. She quickly looked away from him and back on her work. What she didn’t notice, was that before Jeb and Wyatt left, the older Cain kept his eyes on her as she worked until the closed door blocked his view.

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The dark fire that the cloaked figure had released was now streaking across the sky over the Northern Island. It crashed landed in the forest of dead trees just before the shore line of the lake. The crater made from the crash was about fifty feet wide and the ground looked as if it had been melted in ripples around the main crash site.

In the middle of the crater was a dark rock-like mass that was still sizzling, spouting off orange-red sparks, and showing orange-red cracks. After a few moments, the substance cooled down.

The second it did, a great “CRACK” filled the air as the rock split in half and hot molten lava spilled out. The lava didn’t stay liquid for long. It began to rise of the ground taking on the shape of a human-like body. The lava began to define itself more into the shape of a man. The lava changed from blackish red to colors of human flesh. Charcoal gray smoke swirled around the body to form clothes. He was a gorgeous man with ebony hair that fell to his neck that was tied in a pony tale with blue-green eyes. His well-toned arms and chest were outlined by the simple charcoal grey tunic, black pants, and black boots he wore. He was perfect. But, there was something very wrong about him. His eyes were half crazed as they scanned the coast as if looking for something, like a hunter looking for its prey. His eyes finally settled on a cave at the base of the snowy mountains on the other side of the lake.

He regarded the cave with a cruel smile that showed off his white teeth, the incisors of which were sharpened like fangs. So, they're not here yet. That’s alright; I’m a very patient man. He gave out a satisfying growl before taking a flying leap into the woods. As he leapt, black fire surrounded his body and he transformed into a large black wolf. After a few minutes, a bone-chilling howl of a wolf could be heard above the howling of the North Wind.

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Well, there it is in a nutshell. I know some of you are wondering how the heck is Az going to survive this adventure with her weakened state?! Don’t worry! All questions will be answered in the next couple of chapters I promise!

What did you think of this one? Like it? Hate it?

Please let me know! Reviews mean love!

Preview for next chapter: DG & Cain’s relationship goes deeper as Cain confesses some things about his past. DG, Az, and Cain are visited in their dreams by a few of the guardians!