Breath of Fire 1. Meeting for the First Time

_Three-thousand years ago_

_The ones known as the Brood were wiped out._

_The reason known no more,_

_The Brood have become a shadow of a memory._

_But an age old Legend has come true,_

_And the Brood will once again return_

_This is their story._

**Dragon Tears**

**By: OmegaGear**

**Part I: The Age of Man**

**I**

**~ Meeting for the First Time ~**

I was uneasy as we approached the front. Over the past two months, the main Imperial forces had forced the Allied forces back from the Imperial borders of the northern region. With news of Ludian reinforcements on the way, the unit of Riders I was enlisted with was ordered to advance to the front line and spearhead our first attack into Allied territory in nearly a year.

We advanced slowly atop our drakhorns, small dragon-like creatures without wings. The location of the camp probably had something to do with our orders to advance. Imperial drakhorns are indigenous to the northern peaks, making them highly mobile for this sort of operation. Only the Highland Kingdom could match Riders in mountain combat, but there were no reports of them joining the Allied Nations in their war.

The drakhorns walked on their massive hind legs, hunching their backs to allow us to sit on them without difficulty. Their front legs were more like arms, with three massive claws at their ends that could slash through steel. A long horn protruded form the tip of their forehead, allowing them to skewer things in order to break forward. The lumbering beasts served us much like horses served Ludians.

"You alright?" the young man next to me asked. His long silver hair blew in the harsh wind as large drops of rain pelted us from the north. Large muscles breathed slowly under his dark navy blue military suit, the standard for an Imperial rider.

The pants were fairly loose to allow relatively free movement. The bottom of his pant legs were tucked into black boots that went up to just below his knees. His long sleeved dark blue shirt hugged the skin. On top of that was the chest plate, a thin white Kevlar plate that curved around the chest. Thin lacing of mithril at key points allowed the plate to bend when the wearer moved to allow greater range of movement. Mithril also ran along his sides, holding together pieces of leather that attaching the back plate to his chest plate. Long black gloves covered his hands with pieces of Kevlar laced on the top of his forearms. Attached to his waist was a large black belt with the holster to his gun as well as the sheath to his katana. His gun was a standard issue firearm with limited range. It had a wooden handle with a large metal shaft. Gold was laced along the shaft to give it an air of nobility. The katana was longer than the standard of its kind, but thin and light, making it the ideal weapon when dismounted from the drakhorn. Another sword was strapped along the right side of the drakhorn. This long sword was heavy and thick, making it hard to deflect or defend against. Such a weapon was ineffective in man-to-man combat, but served its purpose when mounted on a drakhorn.

"I'm just a little nervous," I replied, trying my hardest not to sound how I felt. As I waited for his reply, I sat still on my drakhorn, head tilted downwards to shield my eyes from the warm rain.

The youth grinned, a smile peaking at the corner of his mouth. "It's good to be nervous," he ensured me. "That means that you're alert." The man turned and looked at me in the face. His blood red eyes, an oddity among any clan, pierced into my sole, even though they bore no hatred towards me. "But remember," he continued, eyes bearing as serious a look as I had ever seen, "don't allow it to consume you entirely. For then it becomes fear."

"I'll remember, Kai," I smiled slightly at my old friend.

Kai and I had been friends ever since childhood. We didn't live near each other or have common friends that brought us together. Our friendship was more like fate.

Unlike human Imperial citizens, we did not have black hair or tan skin. I had fair skin and black hair with a slight blue tint, something never seen before. My bluish-green eyes are attributed to the possibility that I am half Wyndian, but that simply was not true. Both my parents were well established Imperial citizens, born and raised within the Empire. Being so odd in appearance I was shunned by the other kids when I was young. Throughout my early years I was teased in class and kept out of physical activities. It wasn't until I met Kai, a child who was also unique in appearance, that I knew companionship.

Kai was with me every step of the way. We joined the academy together when we were ten. It was at this time that the war with the Alliance was becoming the dominant event in life. Many children from all over the Empire were signing up for the academy, some without the permission of their parents. It was hard to leave my family, but something called me to do this. A voice that was distant, but felt familiar.

Two years after completing preliminary training, Kai and I were recruited by Shryk to be in his rider unit. He happened to be stationed at our training camp after a recent battle and needed replacements. Although we were very young, he saw potential.

Now, at the age of fourteen, we were active members of his rider battalion. The youngest riders to ever be active, we were respected, but received a lot of teasing from the older members.

"You there, Ryu?" Kai's voice asked.

I shook my head, brushing away the fond memories of the past. "Yeah…" I said quietly, still a bit distant from reality. "I was just thinking about how we got here."

Kai grinned again, "I wouldn't worry about that right now." Kai pointed forward as he continued, "think about where we're headed."

We neared the top of the hill, deep within the valley formed by the two tallest mountains of the northern region. The ground had turned to a swampy muck from the heavy downpour. A thin fog of hot air trapped by the valley now surrounded us, soaking our bodies in sweat. The hot air felt heavy when breathed into my lungs. I could hear myself panting softly with each breath, eager to release the air I took in. The rain poured down heavier, thunder now accompanying it.

Four other battalions of drakhorn riders stood at the top of the hill beside us. I figured that together we numbered at least three hundred.

Off in the distance, I could hear the faint sounds of cannon shells exploding. The lines must have begun to advance, if cannons were being fired. My heart began beat loudly within my chest, warming my body as adrenalin was pumped into my blood by natural instincts. The smell of gun powder brushed past my nose, alerting my senses at having reached the edge of battle.

The fog was absent at the top of the hill entering the valley. From where we stood, the imperial line could be seen walking into the cover of the mist, led by a dozen panzer tanks; large chrysm driven vehicles with thick armor plating.

"Take your positions!" A man shouted. It was the commander of my battalion, Captain Shryk. He stood on a giant drakhorn, nearly twice as large as the rest of them. At such a size, most would assume it was unnatural, which was correct. The captains of rider units were given biologically enhanced drakhorns as a symbol of their rank.

The enormous drakhorn gave him the image of authority, being seated higher than his troops. He wasn't taken in by it though. Shryk commanded his men as if they were his equals.

Kai stood straight and firm on his drakhorn with an unreadable face. I blinked a few times while looking him over and was amazed at how focused he was.

"Are you nervous?" he asked me without turning or even moving his eyes towards me.

"A little," I answered while pulling on my drakhorn's reins. The drakhorn growled as its head was jerked by the rope and stepped back to line up more properly with the neighboring riders.

"This is our first big battle," Kai said, still looking ahead, "Before now, we were limited to small border patrols and convoy escorts." Kai became silent after what he said and looked up into the sky. As the rain began to run down his face he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath of mountain air. "The imperial cavalry isn't meant for such assignments."

I thought about what he said as the imperial line disappeared into the thick fog below. Only the faint glow of the tank engines and lamps carried by communications units could be seen now. Every once in a while, the fog would glow a brilliant gold and silver as a shell from a wyndian cannon exploded. The sight was very much like lightning during a dry storm.

"What are you trying to say?" I asked.

Kai kept his face pointed at the sky as he spoke. "These cavalry units aren't enough to face the ludian reinforcements that are on the way."

"So then…" I wasn't sure what it meant, but I felt that Kai had an idea.

"The empire has no intention of continuing the war at this border," he said. He lowered his face so that it was pointing ahead again. "It's too taxing on our supply lines and requires us to divert forces from the open plains that border Ludia to the south."

"Then why get involved on the northern borders to begin with?" I asked.

Kai laughed gently under the cold rain at my question. "Sometimes to advance in war you have to do the unexpected. The Empire knew heavy casualties would be experienced if open war with Ludia on the plains took place." Kai stopped laughing as he explained his reasoning further. "The ludians are stubborn," he said. "Imperial strategists probably learned form spies that they wouldn't involve themselves if the Wyndian borders were attacked."

"So they decided to attack from the north…" I said.

"I think that's about it…" Kai said.

"That doesn't explain why we're being called in," I exclaimed. "Why not just retreat from the north completely?"

"The wyndian forces have been fighting along these borders with us for over a year," he answered. "Moral can sink that amount of time, so a member of the royal family is probably present to keep them up."

I contemplated that possibility. "So you think we're here to capture a member of the royal family?"

"Of course not," Kai said sharply. "There have been no reports of one ever being here. We're here to crush what remains of the wyndian forces before the ludians arrive."

"That's what I thought," I agreed.

"Of course…" Kai trailed off briefly as he thought. "If there _is_ a member of the royal family here, we'll probably be the ones to capture him."

**- x -**

"Your highness, I urge you to turn back!" a soldier cried out to me from behind as I walked forward through the remaining troops. "If anything were to happen to you…"

I spun around on my heels, not wanting to hear the rest of that sentence. "If anything happens to me," I said firmly, "then I'll have died fighting for my people."

The soldier stood still with shocked eyes at my remark. Having made my point, I turned back around and continued to walk to the head of the troops.

"Yes…" the soldier said finally, bowing his head in failure, "but you can fight for your people at home!" The man looked up again and quickly ran to catch up to me, splashing puddles of mud with each step. "The battlefield is no place for a Princess of Wyndia."

"Who are you to say where I belong, soldier?" I asked, scorn entering my voice. I kept my back facing the man, not letting the frustration on my face be seen. "Your only concern is my safety," I said coldly, turning my head slightly to view the man from the corner of my left eye.

"But that is exactly why I must object to this!" The soldier cried, not in anger, but fear. "It isn't safe out there. Without the aid of the Ludians the Empire out powers us greatly!" The soldier was breathing heavily now, his shoulders rising and falling with each breath. "Princess Nina… please, turn back."

I was silent for a long time, thinking about his request. I didn't want to die, but I couldn't turn my back on the soldiers around me who were about to throw their lives away to hold off the Imperial army until the Ludian army arrived from the south. I wouldn't walk away. I couldn't walk away! Determination filling my heart, I straightened my shoulders, "I will lead my people to victory!" I shouted, spreading my wings. The white feathers shined, even in the darkness of the storm, appearing angelic.

The troops around me shouted, lifting their weapons in cheer. Not even the close sounds of battle could be heard beyond their shouting. Their hearts into it, they were ready to fight for their country, even if it was to their deaths.

The soldier behind me bowed his head, crossing his right arm across his chest. "I understand, your highness. I will protect you."

The soldiers quieted down as I put on two gauntlets. They were made of a greenish metal and covered leather gloves that cut off at my fingers. Each gauntlet could act as a shield or a weapon with their wide body and sharp edges. Although they looked heavy, they were actually quite light.

I turned to look at the allied army that remained. The greater part of it was made up Wyndians, which was understandable since Wyndia was the closest kingdom to this border with the Empire. Besides that, there were only a few dozen worrent and beastmen left.

"General," I called out.

"Yes, your highness?" a man asked from behind me.

I turned around slowly to hide my surprise. The general was a fairly old man, probably in his forties. The color of his eyes had paled slightly from age, while his once blonde hair had turned completely silver. His eyes told me that he had seen countless battles over the years, as they looked weary, while his hair simply told me he had seen a lot. His face was stiff with determination, despite having been awake for countless days.

"Prepare the troops for battle," I said solemnly, trying not to sound too excited or worried. "I want all the footmen in front in defensive positions. They will advance towards the imperial line in that formation until melee combat is possible. The worrent and wyndian knights will follow behind them and charge once the imperial line meets with them."

The general nodded as I laid out my plan for our last stand before the ludian reinforcements arrived. "What about the beastmen and cavalry?" he asked.

I looked over at where the beastmen had gathered. They were of the forest clans, armed mainly with rifles and bows. The wyndian cavalry had been severely weakened over the past month, now numbering under two hundred at best. There could have been more, but the number of men was greater than that of the ostarocs.

"I want the beastmen to remain by the camp with the cavalry," I said, finally. "Have their commander order volleys of arrows and rifle bursts fired as the line gets closer to our base." I began to walk forward through the developing line of footmen and knights as I continued to detail my plan. "The cavalry will serve as our last line of defense. I want all of the wyndian infantry formed together with them."

"Understood," the general said as I finished. He turned to his staff of senior officers and relayed my orders to them.

I watched as each man saluted and ran to his division of command as they were given their complete orders.

The footmen began to shuffle towards the front of the army, positioning their body length shields directly in front of them to take the defensive formation. Their line stretched across the entire opening of the valley that lead towards wyndian soil and was at least six men deep. Beyond the second line, the soldiers carried their shields on their sides, making them more adept at charging when the lines finally met for melee combat.

Right behind the footmen stood the second line of troops, made up of worrent warriors and wyndian knights. The worrent warriors carried various weapons ranging from staves and clubs to daggers. The wyndian knights wore prestigious blue robes on top of light silver armor. They were all armed with standard double edged swords.

A third and final line of men formed in the back, near the encampment that served as our base. Nearly two hundred wyndian ostaroc cavalry stood surrounded by the remaining infantry. The infantry was a pretty basic soldier, added to the military nearly a century ago when guns began to be more widely available. Wyndian infantry carried with them short range rifles, making them ineffective at long range, where long bow equipped archers can still strike.

I noted that the beastmen were nowhere to be seen. "General," I shouted.

I looked around before seeing the general making his way towards me from the middle line. He saluted when he reached me and asked, "what do ask of me, highness?"

"The beastmen…" I paused, looking around one last time to make sure that they were gone. "Where have they gone?"

The general didn't look the least bit puzzled at hearing that the beastmen had vanished, making my racing heart slow down a few beats back towards normal. "When the beastmen received their assignment, their leader ordered them to take position in the surrounding valley." He pointed at the nearest valley wall and moved it around to direct my eyes at where they were holding position. "They are prepared to fire volleys from three directions."

"I see…" I said, trying my best to see any trace of the forest clan beastmen. They were stealthy to say the least. "Are the lines ready to advance?"

"Yes, your majesty," the general said while bowing. "They are awaiting your command."

I looked over the lines from my position on a small hill at their left side. Each line was well organized and at full attention.

I heard some faint sounds from the west and turned to see flickering lights swaying in the fog. "Do we know anything about the remaining imperial forces?" I asked.

"They number at least two thousand," the general asked.

I gasped slightly at hearing the number. We were severely outnumbered; at least two to one. "Two thousand…" I repeated.

"There's more…" the general said, beginning to sound grave. "The imperials have twelve panzer tanks in the front line. Our cannons won't be able to destroy them all before the lines meet."

"I see…" I turned to watch the cannons being moved into firing position. "So the front line will be…"

"Crushed."

_Crushed… by machines men have no hope of stopping alone. _I tried to think of something to do, but was shaken out of my contemplation when a loud explosion shook the ground beneath me as one of our cannon's was fired.

The general quickly stepped forward and caught me with one arm. "You'd best prepare yourself, highness. The battle has begun."

I looked into the general's eyes as he helped me up. They had suddenly become something other than their weathered stoic orbs I had peered into just minutes before. They were sharp and determined.

With nothing to say, I nodded and began walking over to my ostaroc.

I had to walk slowly, making sure my feet were firmly holding to the slippery ground as the cannons were fired at the panzer tanks. In the distance, I could hear the blast shells exploding, some louder than others as they struck the tanks. I prayed for the cannons to hit all the tanks, but there was no way that they could get off enough shots before the lines met.

The general followed me to my ostaroc, the large flightless birds that were native to the mountains surrounding Wyndia.

My particular ostaroc was specially bred for use by the royal family. While pure ostarocs had feathers that varied from red to grey and even silver, mine had the purest white feathers I had ever seen. Ostarocs had become the natural companions of the Wyndian people far before the kingdom was established. They now served my people as mighty steeds.

After jumping onto the ostaroc, I allowed the general to strap my feet into their holds along the sides of the bird's shoulders. He patted the bird on the back when I was all set and said, "stay with the cavalry." He looked me in the eyes to make sure I was paying attention and continued. "I leave what happens after our front lines are breeched to you, but until then, stay here where it is safe."

"I understand," I said, smiling respectfully. "I pray for your safety on the field."

"I am honored, your highness." The general bowed before leaving.

By now, a second barrage of shells was fired off by the cannons. The imperial line had gotten so close the explosions from our cannon fire were visible through the mist deep into the valley.

I watched some men on my left reloading one of the cannons. The large metal shaft was glowing a tranquil blue as it began to cool down. The chrysm crystal at its base was glowing a more golden color as power was being drawn from it into the blast chamber.

A sudden movement in front of me caught my attention. The front lines had begun to march ahead into battle, footmen holding their shields high while knights and worrent calmly followed with their weapons ready.

A third barrage of cannon fire was sent over the alliance lines at the closing lights. The explosions of the shells were clearer now, echoing in the deep expanse of the valley walls. I was frustrated at having to stay behind with the cavalry to watch the front lines do battle, but knew it was for the best. The last thing the alliance needed was for a member of the Wyndian royal family to die in a losing battle.

A loud cry was heard as the lines finally met. The sounds of battle began to leak out from the valley, barely touching my ears, but sounding louder than anything I had heard in my life. _It's beginning…_

**- x -**

Climbing onto my ostaroc, a large white bird with a spear like beak, I signaled my men to advance into battle. The troops advanced at nearly a running pace, determined to hold the line until the Ludians arrived. I traveled on my ostaroc in the middle of them, directing them as needed.

When we reached the front, my men charged in. A line of men with shields was at the head, knocking back the Imperial troops. A few officers on ostarocs ran forward, small groups of soldiers following. It was hard to make out what was happening in the fog, but the slow advancement forward told me we were winning.

Walking forward on my ostaroc, I passed by countless dead bodies of Alliance and Imperial troops. No longer alive, they were the same: men and women who died for their country. The smell of rotting flesh and blood invaded my nostrils, making me feel lightheaded. It was like breathing death.

As I got close to the battle, some troops surrounded me, forming a human barrier. They were armed with short range rifles, weapons recently made for front line battles such as this one. As Imperial soldiers pierced through the fog, the men around me opened fire, not letting a single man get to me.

I was confident in our chances of victory until I suddenly heard men screaming in pain and shock just ahead. Their cries were followed by the sound of something being crushed into pieces and the high pitched roar of drakhorns.

I could make out nearly forty large shadows in the distance, obviously belonging to rider units. More men screamed and the fog began to glow a bright orange as the drakhorns used their fiery breath.

"Riders…" I whispered to myself as the fog ahead began to glow ever brighter.

Flames stretched across the battlefield, some of them dangerously close to me. Not even the raging storm could calm the flames. The fire could be heard from all around me and the sudden feeling of doom formed in the pit of my stomach as I saw a drakhorn leap out from the fog, it's yellow and red scales now perfectly visible to me. As it landed, mud was thrown up into my face, momentarily blinding me. I quickly wiped my eyes, not letting the drakhorn or its rider catch me while I was occupied.

"Protect the princess!" a man shouted.

I could hear numerous footsteps from behind as men positioned themselves in front of me. The rider halted his drakhorn, which stood tall on its hind legs before lunging forward and taking one of my soldiers in its mouth.

The other soldiers staggered back as the man was whipped back and forth by his leg in the drakhorn's mouth. He cried for help as he continued to fly in the air. Several soldiers with spears stepped forward and attempted to stab the drakhorn, but it batted their weapons away by using the helpless soldier it had grasped in its jaws.

One soldier managed to avoid the human weapon and plunged his spear into the drakhorns left leg. The beast cried out as the pain reached its nerves, releasing the now dead soldier from its teeth. The rider jerked the rope he was holding to remain on the drakhorn as it fell lopsided for a moment. With his free hand, the rider lifted his long sword and slashed downwards on the retreating soldier.

The soldier fell and rolled to his side to avoid the slash, but wasn't quick enough to dodge the massive blade. His roll came to a violent stop as his left leg was caught and removed by the attack. By reflex, he rolled onto his back and reached for the wound with one hand while lifting his other to plead the man to stop.

The rider must not have been interested. Without hesitation, he lifted his sword and stabbed the downed soldier in the heart. As the body became limp, he removed his sword and turned back around to face me and the remaining soldiers. The drakhorn had recovered from the pain in its leg by now, and stood straight again. The rider yelled something in the imperial language and the drakhorn suddenly shrieked and ran forward.

I pulled back on my ostaroc, causing it to jump back as my surrounding soldiers formed a human wall in front of me. Three of them continued to fire their short range rifles, but the bullets continued to bounce harmlessly off of the drakhorn's thick scales. As the rider almost reached us, the gunners pulled out their swords while the others lowered spears at the approaching drakhorn.

The rider on top of the drakhorn removed his gun as he rode closer. Before reaching my men, he fired a single shot the hit one of the spear holders in the right shoulder. The man dropped his weapon and spun from the force of the blow.

The soldiers closest to him watched him as he fell, naturally attracted to the action taking place. Several soldiers yelled to look out, but their minds were still in a haze. By the time their minds took over their instinctual curiosity, it was too late. As the soldier on the right of the fallen man looked forward again, the drakhorn's horn rammed through his chest. His body jerked and his mouth coughed blood, but it was probably more from nerve spasms than anything fueled by being alive.

The remaining soldiers didn't hesitate any longer. They charged in on the drakhorn and its rider, spears and swords drawn to attack.

The rider turned his drakhorn around to face the troops and yelled something else in imperial tongue. The drakhorn responded by bending its head back and growling heavily. A golden light could be seen within its throat, making it obvious what would happen next.

As the soldiers leapt at the rider, the drakhorn spat its fiery breath. Two men fell to the ground covered in flames. They rolled through the mud while grabbing at their faces and screaming. The remaining soldiers stepped back again to avoid the fire. When the drakhorn ran out of fire to exhale, they advanced again, attacking from both sides rather than the front like before.

Again, the massive creature stood up on its hind legs, elevating its rider above most conventional attacks.

I watched as, one by one, the soldiers were defeated by the lone rider.

The beast looked almost like it was out of control, but the man that rode it was obviously in command of it. Soldiers came from every direction to stop him from reaching me, but they could do nothing to stop him. Those who weren't swatted aside by the drakhorn were easily killed by the rider, a relatively tall man with short black hair.

My ostaroc slowly stepped back as more drakhorns appeared from the fog. More soldiers came to protect me, but their numbers were quickly dwindling. Not even the short range rifles could pierce the armor-like scales of the drakhorns, but my men remained by my side.

The drakhorns began to stomp their massive hind legs as they surrounded the few soldiers that remained, the men that rode them pulling out their guns, preparing to kill us.

Unable to contain myself, I pulled out my rapier and leapt off of my ostaroc, spreading my wings in flight.

**- x -**

As we reached the line we smashed through a phalanx wyndian footmen. Most men scattered as their barrier of shields was torn asunder by the massive drakhorns while a few less fortunate were trampled. The ground literally shook as our drakhorns stormed into battle, their horns acting as battering rams. Alliance soldiers screamed in terror as we arrived, cutting them down in a brutal bloodbath. We quickly moved up to the Alliance line, setting the field ablaze.

The bodies of the dead fueled our fire, giving it life in the storm that nearly flooded the ground. We now stood in what seemed like an ocean of mud and fire, cold rain raining down on us while the heat of fire rose from below.

As the battle raged on, I noted that the wyndian cavalry was absent, meaning there was another line awaiting us up ahead.

"Ryu!" Kai shouted from beside me. "Watch out for their arrows!"

"Huh?" I asked. Before receiving an answer, I heard a high pitched zip above me. I looked up to see a barrage of arrows raining down on us from the valley walls. With a quick yank, I told my drakhorn to turn, avoiding one of many arrows that were coming at me. My drakhorn had caught on by now, acting on its own instincts rather than waiting for me to direct it.

The lumbering beast leapt back as the first wave of arrows struck into the ground. I had to lean over to the side and back to dodge some of the shots, almost falling off of my drakhorn at times.

A drakhorn came tumbling back form the fog, nearly colliding with mine. The rider was thrown off, his body bleeding badly from a wound to the lower torso. I began to move forward again when the fog was blown apart. A fierce wind ripped through, throwing the mist into the flames.

The scene now visible, I saw a dozen drakhorns crowding at one spot while others circled around. The winged warrior flew out from the crowd, and to my amazement, it was a woman. Not even a woman, but a young girl about my age.

The girl floated above the group of drakhorns and threw her arms back. A violent force of wind formed at her hands. Swinging them down at the drakhorns, she released a massive whirlwind that threw them from their feet.

Flames spread as the wind fanned them, forming a wave of fire. The wave came charging at us, drakhorns and riders alike soaring helplessly through the air behind it.

While some riders were thrown, some were unlucky enough to hang onto their drakhorns, only to be crushed as the beasts landed on their backs. Their screams were short, instantly cut off by sudden death.

I jerked my drakhorn back as another came flying at me. The sound of the impact echoed through my ears as mud rained down on me. The drakhorn got to its feet and scurried away into the flames, leaving its rider's crushed body behind.

The Wyndian girl continued to float above us, out of reach. I could see her preparing another spell, an eerie red glow emanating from her hands.

Kai saw it too, and began shouting towards me, "Ryu! Draw your gun!"

I brought my left hand across my waist and reached for my gun. Lifting it from its holster, I took aim on the girl when she launched her spell.

The spell came forth as a small ball of light. My instincts took over, and I found myself blindly firing my gun. After pulling the trigger the switch on the barrel swung downward, striking the chrysm crystal to ignite the powder that propelled the metal bullet. The crack of the ignition pounded in my head, almost disorienting me, as the bullet was launched from the short barrel. The force of the reaction was so great that the recoil threw my firing arm back, pulling my entire back slightly with it.

The ball of light exploded, bathing the field with white light, as the bullet shattered through it.

Although my shot missed, the flash of light took the girl by surprise. I could here the end of her yelp as the loud sound of the shattering spell came to a stop. Through the receding light, I saw her small form fall to the ground.

The girl wasn't the only victim of the explosion, however. My drakhorn reacted in fear, kicking me from its back as it ran off.

The flames now surrounded me. I shielded my face as I made my way through the blaze, searching for the girl. Aside from the crackling of the flames, I could hear someone coughing. Following the sound, I found the girl lying on the ground with her hand over her mouth.

It was a girl alright. My age at best, she had a slim figure that had not yet matured. Although she was young, she had the face of one who had seen a lot, which wasn't surprising for the world we lived in. She was wearing a light blue dress that hugged her skin tightly. The bottom was short, revealing her bare legs. Around her neck was a golden necklace with a crest that rested on her chest; the crest of the royal family of Wyndia.

I lifted my gun and addressed her, "Get up." The words sounded a bit strange and came to me slowly, since they were in an Allied language I was just barely fluent in. It was required to learn the dominant language of the allied nations when joining the military in case of such potential prisoner situations as this.

The girl got to her feet, still struggling to breathe. I hadn't noticed any trouble breathing yet, but I could see why she had problems. Smoke surrounded us, born from the fire the drakhorns had made. Her slender figure was covered with mud from her recent fall, covering her fair skin and face. I could still see her dark blue eyes gazing at me. She was obviously curious about my appearance, but I didn't let that distract me.

"Identify yourself!" I demanded, squaring my aim on her heart.

The girl remained silent, keeping a firm gaze on my face.

I found this distracting; no matter how hard I tried. I was used to being singled out for the way I looked, but this was different. It wasn't disgust or insult; it was curiosity. It almost felt embarrassing to have her look at me for so long, and I suddenly felt an odd heat rush to my face. My vision began to blur a bit, my eyes clouded by a sudden crowd of thoughts in my head. Even with the utmost concentration, my arms began to shake, the gun losing its aim.

"You are just a child…" the girl muttered, barely audible to me.

"Speak for yourself," I retorted, trying to regain my control. "Who are you!"

Again, silence. This should have made me angry, but it didn't. Perhaps more puzzling than her silence was the complete silence I perceived around us. None of my comrades had appeared to aid in capturing the girl. Even the flames seemed to no longer crack with the sound of life.

Maybe it was due to my sudden display of weakness, but the girl was very calm. Her body wasn't shaking at all, and her face was relaxed. Everything seemed to conflict with reality at that moment. The battle was no longer taking place. The only things that existed were this girl and I, standing, facing each other in silence.

Forcing the dream-like sensation from my mind, I repeated my demand, "identify yourself, or I'll fire."

"You won't…" the girl said. Her eyes were filled with innocence as they pierced the shield that surrounded my inner self. I could no longer keep my battle instinct together in order to make her talk.

"I will," I insisted, pulling the switch back to prepare to ignite the chrysm crystal. Although it looked as if it were natural, I was forcing myself to pull the switch back. Something inside me told me that this was wrong; something so deep that it pained me to deny it.

**- x -**

As I reclaimed my vision from the flash of light, I found a man pointing a gun at me, demanding that I stand. My body stiff with fear, I got up slowly, joints locking as I straightened. Through the blend of rain and fire, I could barely make out the figure, but I could see that it wasn't a man, but a boy, no older than me.

Another youth appeared to the right, long silver hair blowing through the flames. "Ryu…" he said. The youth looked at me and then at Ryu again, a concerned look on his face. He said something to the boy pointing the gun at me, but I couldn't understand, since it was in the imperial dialect.

Ryu didn't listen. It looked as if he didn't even notice the other imperial soldier. "Identify yourself!" he shouted, putting a firmer grip on his gun.

I didn't say anything, examining his face. He wasn't like any other imperial I had seen; pale skin, eyes that were a lighter blue than those of Wyndians with a touch of green, and black hair that had a bluish shade under the yellow light of the fire… Quite odd, I thought. He must've noticed what I was doing, because his face began to turn red.

The other youth was now a bit panicked at his ally's sudden display of weakness. "Ryu!" he shouted, standing almost in his face. He shouted something in imperial tongue, but it sounded completely alien to me. This situation made me wish I had listened to my advisor when he told me to study their language for diplomatic missions.

Again, Ryu showed no sign of notice. His arms were beginning to shake, the gun rattling loose. He wasn't a battle hardened killer yet, and I found myself compelled to prevent that from happening. "You are a just a child…" I said, the words almost whispered out of my nervous throat.

Ryu snapped his reply at me, "Speak for yourself!" He was obviously trying to take control of the situation, but was doing a bad job of it. "Who are you!"

I remained silent, avoiding provoking any aggression that may have been hiding deep in his heart. My body was now calm, instincts no longer feeling any immediate danger; not even from the other imperial, who seemed more interested in getting his friend back to reality than capturing me.

Again, Ryu demanded, "Identify yourself, or I'll fire."

His words were weak in substance, obviously forced. He had no desire to hurt me, which I found strange. Maybe it was the biased upraising I had in the castle that made this sensation so alien, but Ryu was far from an oppressive man. "You won't…" I said, truly believing the words.

Ryu pulled back the switch that would ignite the chrysm in the gun, preparing to fire. "I will," he said, his arms still shaking.

The other youth spoke almost in a sad tone. "Ryu…" was all I could understand.

I chose to ignore the man, just as Ryu did, even if he couldn't help it. Ryu's empty gaze told me he was harmless, but perhaps I was just being foolish. "Ryu… that is your name?"

Ryu firmed his grip again, taken by surprise by my question. "How did you know that?" he asked.

"You're friend told me," I said, waving my hand at the silver haired youth.

Ryu looked directly at the other rider, but obviously didn't see him. "You're lying! There's no one there!" Frustration was beginning to invade his face, his eyes now tense. "You…" he hissed, "who are you!"

Feeling like I owed him that much, I gave him an answer, "I am Nina," I said, my voice steady and calm. "Princess Nina of Wyndia."

Ryu was suddenly stiff. His body no longer shook, but he was obviously still distant. Having the information he sought, it seemed he no longer had anything to do with me.

I started to walk towards him, passing by the other rider on the way. I relaxed my wings as I reached him, putting his arms down softly with my left hand. He moved almost like a puppet, his face empty of life. Something inside called out to me, or was it something inside of him? I wasn't sure why, but I reached out with my right hand, my left still resting on his. I touched his face, rubbing the mud from his cheek.

Ryu suddenly took in a harsh breath, as if coming out of a coma. No words were spoken, only action. I don't know what happened in that instant after I touched him, but it knocked me unconscious. That last thing I remember seeing was a blur as I fell to the ground, a sharp pain at the back of my neck.

**- x -**

A/N: I hope you like the re-written version of this chapter. Since I had taken such a huge break from writing this and developed my style further, I thought it would be a good idea to update this chapter a little. All of the events are the same, but details were added. Please R/R. I am especially looking for comments about the changes I made, since I'm thinking about spending time rewriting chapters 2 and 3 as well.

Update 5/14/2011: I really cannot fathom how fanfiction lost all the quotation marks over the years. Thankfully, I still have these chapters on my laptop and am re-uploading them.


	2. Sin and Divinity

_The sin of man is what drives us forward._

_No one ever gained anything from being pure._

_Yet divinity is what man seeks._

_In this war torn land_

_Divinity appeared._

_And like all men before me, _

_I sinned to obtain it._

**Dragon Tears**

**I: Age of Man**

**By: OmegaGear**

**II**

**~ Trust ~**

The last things I remember clearly were the flames scorching the land around me; an endless sea of fire that suffocated my lungs as I fought against the remnants of the Wyndian forces. Like many battles before, the experience was a blur of emotion and instinct, a haze in the calm that followed. This time, however, it was more fragmented than before.

The next thing I saw was the endless sky of black clouds, their storm calming the flames the Empire had lain on the virgin land. The air smelled fresh as smoke mixed with the humid air, creating a fog that the eyes could barely penetrate. The ears were treated to the gentle sound of drops beating the ground with thunder rolling in the distance.

My body was still tense from battle, but an overall calm filled it. I soon realized that I was holding something… someone. It was a girl with blonde hair and wings of pearl white, a Wyndian.

She was unconscious, her breathing a rhythmic pattern that pressed against my chest through the plate of armor that protected it. My arms were wrapped around her, holding her against me gently as if I were protecting her. Her hands were clenching my shoulders, gauntlets of some sort of green metal weighing them down.

I moved a lock of hair aside, revealing her face. It was calm, and clean of any signs of battle; an innocent sight among the horrors that surrounded me.

The bodies of men, black from being fed on by the flames of drakhorns. Once clean soil now saturated with the blood of wyndians and humans, their green grass stained red where it wasn't burnt. She was like an angel shining light on a dark nightmare. She was a light that pierced through the darkness within man, calming the rage.

I heard footsteps approaching from directly ahead. I could just barely make out the shadowy figure of a man with long hair, a gun in his hand. Continuing to hold the girl with my left arm, I took aim with the gun I held in my right.

The figure broke through the wall of fog, its pale skin nearly blending in with the white mist. His white hair blew through the stormy wind, whipping fog aside as he advanced. Blood red eyes, unblinking for what seemed an eternity, looked directly into mine, and I lowered my weapon.

"Kai…" I said, acknowledging my best friend.

Kai did not reply, but remained staring at me with what looked like murderous intent. I could see a deep concentration through his eyes, and it worried me. His gun was pointing directly at my head.

"What… what are you doing?" I asked.

Again, Kai did not answer. I heard a loud click as he pulled back the igniter on his gun, preparing to fire. I was trembling from head to toe, seriously thinking that he was going to shoot me. Had I done something wrong? Was he executing me for treason?

I couldn't remember anything from the battle, let alone committing treason. I took a step back to steady myself and Kai's aim jerked to keep on me.

"Don't move" he ordered, very quietly I might add.

I froze in place, not wanting to provoke him in any way. His eyes had squinted further while his gun moved ever so slowly, aiming for just the right spot. His body was perfectly still, except for the slightest rising and falling of his shoulders as he took long controlled breaths.

I felt a lump forming in my throat and swallowed it down with a nervous gulp. I was so fixated on Kai's behavior that I had completely forgotten about the girl in my arms. Her weight was starting to bear down on my arms having been there for so long, and I couldn't obey Kai's command any further.

It began with a twitch as my arms started to give way to the girl's weight. I quickly bent down on my legs to support her, but the motion combined with the muddy ground caused me to slip.

"Shit" I heard Kai curse under his breath.

Afraid for my life, I tried to turn and run while in the middle of falling. This frantic action only caused my feet to slip out from under me completely. I kicked up mud as my feet flew forwards and the rest of my body backwards, completely taking someone I hadn't noticed by surprise.

The man froze for a second as the mud splattered in his face, but quickly ran at me while yelling. He had a short sword drawn in his right hand, and was raising it over his head to attack.

I didn't need to identify his colors to know he was an enemy, but I could do nothing with my arms busy securing the girl as we fell. I watched as his mud covered figure advanced sloppily through the mud, holding the girl in my arms tighter against my chest. Unable to protect her or myself, I shut my eyes tightly and accepted my death.

I flinched as I heard a gunshot, thinking that Kai had finally shot me. I groaned and exhaled slowly, going through the motions of controlling shock that I had learned. I didn't even realize I hadn't been shot until I heard another man groan and cough. Curious, I finally opened my eyes to take a look.

There he stood, the man that had been running towards me with his sword over his head, a burning wound in his chest. He dropped his sword as blood began to pour out of the wound and grasped it with both hands. The man looked down at his wound and then at me with wide eyes, lips trembling as shock took him.

I looked back at him, eyes just as wide, and backed away as he fell to his knees. He reached for me desperately, coughing out blood as he fell, face forward, into the mud. I only held the girl in my arms tighter as he slowly died. His breathing was short and ragged, and his body started to spasm as muscles twitched through a mixture of shock and thinning blood.

As the man's body stopped moving, I slowly looked over to Kai. He was standing with his right arm bent, gun pointing upwards with smoke coming from the barrel. While he had a stone cold face before, he now looked relieved.

"Kai?" I asked, hoping he would respond to me this time.

Kai smiled slightly as he returned his gun to his holster. His clothes were completely soaked from the storm, and he was ankle deep in blood filled mud, but he didn't seem to mind the slightest.

"Ryu," he started, making his way up to me, "are you alright?"

He offered me his hand and I took it, keeping my right arm wrapped around the girl while he lifted me to my feet.

"Yeah," I said.

I sounded a bit more relieved than I wanted to let off. As Kai let go of my hand I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding and felt my body temperature rise as my system pumped the chemicals it needed to recover from the paralyzing fear I had just experienced.

"You really had me scared there for a second," I admitted.

"What?" Kai asked, sounding like he was in disbelief. "Did you actually think I was going to shoot you?" he asked.

I didn't look at his face. I couldn't look at him at all. I was too ashamed at not believing in my best friend.

"I didn't notice the man approaching me," I said, "and it looked like you were aiming at me."

Kai laughed wholeheartedly after hearing what I said. He covered his eyes with one hand and held his chest with the other as he struggled for breath in between his fit of laughter.

"You've got to be kidding, Ryu!" he exclaimed, still laughing. "Me, shoot you?"

I had to admit, the thought of it was completely irrational, but in the heat of battle or the confusing aftermath, the mind doesn't exactly think logically. I decided to chalk up my slip up to battle fatigue, and hoped Kai wouldn't share the occurrence with anyone else.

I was so lost in my shame that I didn't even realize I was silent for a rather long time.

"Hey, Ryu!" Kai yelled, still chuckling a little.

I blinked as I saw him wave his hand in front of my face and shook my head as I came to.

"Huh?" I asked.

Kai looked at me with a genuine smile.

"I thought I might have lost you there," he said. "You're alright, right?" he asked.

"Of course I am," I replied, a bit confused. He had already asked me that question and I gave him his answer. "No injuries to report," I added, sounding as professional as possible.

"That's not what I mean," Kai said.

He was standing directly in front of me now, his breath, visible in the cold air, touching my face.

"Are you okay up there?" He asked touching my forehead with his finger, tapping it lightly.

"Up here?" I rubbed my head with my right hand. "It doesn't hurt, so I assume so. Did something happen?"

Kai nodded at the girl in my arms, "she happened."

"This girl?" I asked in confirmation, looking down at her.

"Not just any girl," Kai said, "the youngest child of the royal family of Wyndia, Princess Nina."

My eyes went wide in surprise at what he had said.

"The princess of Wyndia?" I asked, disbelief in my tone.

"Yes," Kai answered.

His tone was most serious. He got a step closer and brushed his hand through the back of her head, moving hair around.

"Looks like you a good clean hit," he said. Kai took his hand out of her hair and looked at me again, "she felt nothing."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"The blow to the head you gave her," Kai said. He put his right hand's index finger and thumb at the edges of his mouth and whistled loudly into the air.

"I… hit her?" I asked, more from disbelief than wanting to know. The words came uneasily, and I began to feel a bit weak in the arms and legs. Nina began to slip a bit downwards, despite my arms trying to hold her up.

A drakhorn came walking through the fog, stopping at Kai's hand. He mounted the beast and turned it around to look at me again.

"Of course you hit her," he said. "How else were you supposed to capture her?"

He didn't wait for me to reply as I stared off in disbelief while mumbling in surprise at myself. "Come on," he said. He turned his drakhorn around and began to ride back into the fog, "we'd better regroup with the others."

I gave no reply, but followed Kai through the fog, carrying Nina in my arms. I now held her shoulders in my right arm and her legs in my left, her arms wrapped around my neck to help keep her from falling. My entire body struggled at carrying her while stomping through the deep mud.

Rain continued to make the ground ever softer, my legs slowly sinking deeper into the mud as time passed. We stopped as we arrived at the base of the hill we had transcended into battle. Our commander, Shryk, could be seen a ways off to the south, giving orders to riders who saluted and ran off.

Kai turned his drakhorn and made his way to Shryk, saluting as he arrived. By the time I had gotten there on foot, Kai was well on his way explaining to Shryk who I had taken prisoner.

"No guardians were present at the battle sir," Kai concluded, speaking of the royal guards who protected the royal family of Wyndia.

There were five guardians in existence, each blessed with a stone by one of the gods who called themselves Ryong, or dragons. Nina's guardian was Myn Donos, bearer of the thunder stone, granted by P'ung Ryong, the Wind Dragon.

"Even so, she is the princess of Wyndian, meaning her guardian can't be far off," Shryk said. He looked at me and Nina from atop his massive drakhorn. "He will most likely be riding with the Ludian reinforcements." Shryk called over a soldier that was guiding unmanned drakhorns along a path.

The soldier signaled to another and then came running over. He stopped in front of Shryk and saluted.

"Sir?" he asked.

Shryk returned the salute and said, "Round up the riders that are fit to fight and have them meet me at the drakhorns."

**- x -**

When the riders formed together, there were only a dozen among us, not including Shryk. He sat atop his drakhorn in front of us as he broke down what he wanted us to do in light of the recent events, namely the capture of Princess Nina. As I thought, he gathered us to escort the Princess to Astana, the nearest city of the Empire.

With such a high profile individual of the Allied Nations in our possession, timing was critical. We were to transport the princess to imperial soil while Shryk stayed behind and commanded the remaining troops in the upcoming battle with the Ludians, who were less than a day away at this point.

The rain had finally stopped, the sky clearing a bit to reveal the night sky. Cool, humid air kept a thin fog, even after the smoke from the fire had cleared. The ground was still saturated with rain, making travel through the land bridge between the Allied Lands and the Empire all but impossible for people on foot, meaning the prisoner escort would be limited to me and the eleven dragoons that surrounded me.

"Lieutenant Jenso," Shryk called out.

I stepped forward, "yes sir?"

"You're in charge of the escort mission until you reach Astana," he said.

I was completely surprised by what he said. _Me? In command?_ I wondered to myself. I had never been entrusted with command of a mission before, and this one was pretty important. Surely anyone else in the group would be a better choice, even Kai.

"There, you will deliver the princess to the military base and wait for further orders to be sent by me later," he finished while I was still in my state of shock.

Shryk turned to continue with the mission briefing, but I interrupted.

"Sir?" I asked.

"Yes, lieutenant?" he replied, sounding a little annoyed.

"Why am I in command, sir?" I asked. "Lieutenant Kai Broska is the senior officer here," I pointed out.

"I have another job for lieutenant Broska to take care of," he answered.

Shryk turned his drakhorn to address some of the riders surrounding him. He called out seven names from the group.

"Kyo, Martez, Benrei, Doran, Hal, Jova, and R'yko, you will accompany lieutenant Jenso on this escort mission," he shouted.

The seven men that he called out stepped forward and stood at attention, acknowledging that they understood their roles. I had come to know all the people called over the months in Shryk's rider unit. They were all highly skilled, most of them seasoned veterans who had seen many more battles than I.

Kyo, in particular, had received praise by the Emperor for saving him during a trip to Astana, the city and military base that bordered the Allied Lands just a bit west of the mountains. That was just over a month ago, and since then Kyo's name has spread across the Empire.

Being in command of him was a bit overwhelming for someone as inexperienced as I was. I had commanded troops in only two other occasions, both of which were small impromptu battles with Wyndian spy units. Compared to the mission I was about to undertake, those were merely training exercises.

Not only would I be escorting a princess that was or captive, but one of the five guardians of Wyndia would be after us. Few have lived to tell of their encounters with the guardians, and the tales sound too incredible to be about mere men. No, the guardians were more than that, having the blessings of the Ryong. They were gods among men.

Shryk nodded at the riders who stepped forward and turned to me.

"You'll leave as soon as you're ready. Your drakhorns are being prepped," he said. He then turned and spoke to Kai, "lieutenant Broska."

Kai stepped forward, shoulders back and chest held high.

"Sir," he said.

"Gather Lu, Grey, Vorn, and come with me," Shryk ordered.

He waited for Kai to group with the other three and then walked off. Before vanishing he turned around and said, "Good luck, lieutenant. I'll send further instructions once the Ludian reinforcements have been dealt with." He then turned forward again and walked off, Kai and the other riders following closely behind.

I turned to ascertain the state of the men I had under my command. All of them were in prime shape, few, if any, injuries from the battle we had just partaken in. Among those chosen to accompany me, two were highly trained in ranged weapons; the other five were masters with swords. A well rounded group to say the least, I was in command of a lot of skilled warriors.

They all stood tall, ready to following my orders. Even Kyo showed me full respect, proving to me just how honorable a warrior he was. I decided to stop letting them hang and spoke.

"Gather what you need and return here by 2230. We leave at 2300 hours," I said.

Everyone nodded and said sir before departing. I looked at my pocket watch to discover I had just over an hour before we had to leave. Just over an hour to make sure that our drakhorns were prepped with a weeks worth of supplies including a proper transport for the princess.

I walked over to where our drakhorns were tied up. They were all carrying large sacks on their sides, most of them containing food and other necessary supplies, like tents, blankets, and utensils. Most interesting of all were the drakhorns to be manned by Benrei and Hal. Each carried with them various long range weapons to be used by the sharp shooters.

Hal's was armed with a rocket propelled grenade launcher. A rack of twelve grenades was on the drakhorn's right side.

Benrei's had with it a long nosed sniper rifle with a multi-scope to handle situations of all types. He also carried a grenade launcher, although his was handheld and lobbed fragment shells rather than the high impact explosives of Hal's RPG-Launcher.

The transport for the princess was mechanical, running on a chrysm engine. The vehicle's engine worked by super heating the chrysm inside, utilizing the resulting energy waves to power the moving parts. This was accomplished by absorbing the energy waves into power cells that concentrated them through a small chrysm fragment that sent the energy to the connected machines in small bursts.

The outside of the vehicle was made of pure steel, making it nearly impossible to penetrate with normal weapons. Along the body there were small openings to allow light and sound into the chamber. This ensured that there was enough air for the captives while allowing communication between the driver and any guards in the vehicle as well.

It was a class of vehicle that was reserved for transport of persons or items of high importance, leaving me to wonder why it was present at the battle field… I didn't complain, however, since it made transport of the princess much easier.

For the princess, there were four guards present within the chamber, each armed with base infiltration gear meant for forming human blockades. This gear included full body length shields and wide field bolt rods, which emitted electric bolts at ten thousand watts in a five foot diameter spread.

The driver was fully covered with a Kevlar plated suit. The suit allowed him enough movement to control a vehicle and perform under normal conditions while making him nearly invincible to light, ranged weapons.

I checked the interior of the chamber and saw that the princess was still unconscious. She was lying on a bed that was bolted to the right side of the vehicle. Her gauntlets had been removed and were stored in a locked box in the front compartment of the vehicle.

Besides the bed, there was a seat for the princess and a barred gate to keep her a safe distance from the guards to ensure that she couldn't take one of them prisoner.

The guards themselves were seated on benches along the sides of the chamber facing each other. They sat up straight, staring straight forward with their bolt rods resting against their shoulders, the butts of the handles cradled in one hand with the other firmly griping the steel chamber on its top.

Deciding to stay and wait for the others to return, I checked my gear. All of it was still armed from the battle, although the gun was wet, meaning the chamber would probably need cleaning to allow proper flow from the chrysm crystal to the ignition mechanism.

With the rain gone I no longer had to fear getting wet, so I stayed outside as I cleaned the chamber. By removing the bullet case, I was able to access the chrysm chamber and dry it out with a cloth.

After it had been dried out I clicked the trigger to make sure it was flowing properly. A blue spark shot out as the crystal was struck by the trigger. A blue pulse trailed afterwards, sending a beam of light into the bullet chamber and bursting. The resulting energy expanded to quickly fill the small chamber, causing the energy to rush outward through the shaft with a loud hissing whistle.

The pitch of the whistle meant that it was functioning as it should, the small crystal supplying sufficient energy to propel a metal bullet at speeds exceeding the sound barrier. Had a bullet been in the chamber, the hiss of the ignition would have been masked by the explosion of the energy striking the bullet, creating a much louder cracking sound. I replaced the bullet case and armed it with a single bullet, the small weapon's capacity.

By now, the others were beginning to return. Benrei and Hal were the first to return, carrying with them their small hand arms. Theirs were a bit different than mine, possessing larger chambers that held six bullets.

Benrei and Hal went to their drakhorns and prepped them to move out. They checked that the weapons carried on the sides and back were easily accessible while still being firmly locked so they didn't fall out or get triggered by moving around too much. When they both finished checking the weapons and ammo cases they mounted their drakhorns and rode them to their positions on the sides of the convoy.

The rest of the unit had arrived, and mounted their drakhorns. With the entire unit ready, there were three riders in front including me. Benrei and Hal were positioned on the sides of the transport while Kyo and two others were positioned behind.

We were about to move out when shouting broke out through the entire camp and a horn was heard in the distance.

"What the hell is that?" I asked.

The camp erupted into action as men shouted orders to each other and ran around gathering weapons and supplies. Drakhorns were mounted and cannons were rolled out while groups gathered for their commanding officers.

As some men ran past us I got their attention.

"Hey! What the hell is going on?" I asked, yelling as loud as I could so that they could hear me over all of the activity. In the distance, the horn was heard again.

"The horn of ludia!" one of the men cried.

"The ludians have already arrived!" another exclaimed.

The horn was heard again, closer this time, and I looked to the east. In the distance, I could see a fairly large army approaching, but couldn't see what it was made up of. At the edge of our camp, several lines of drakhorn riders had already assembled while cannons were moved into place.

As the footsoldiers lined up with the riders, I noticed that we still outnumbered the enemy, but the element of surprise gave the ludians a distinct advantage. Our army was in disarray, and still recovering from the last battle. Without the aid of the cannons, we would surely lose.

"Ryu!" I heard someone shout to me.

I looked to where the voice had come from and saw Shryk, Kai, and the others coming towards me on their drakhorns. Shryke raised his hand to signal the others to halt and pulled back on his reigns.

"It would seem the ludians have arrived ahead of schedule," he said.

The horn of ludia bellowed in the distance, closer than ever. It was more than just a distant drone. Now, it was the signal of war, and the rumbling of an army approaching could be heard accompanying it. The camp erupted into collective shouts as the soldiers mentally prepared for battle.

"Go, and make haste," Shryk ordered.

He turned his drakhorn around and Kai and the others moved behind him to follow. Before they moved out, Shryk turned to me again.

"Take the path through the marshlands," he said. "Move quickly, and never look back."

"Why the path through the marshes?" I asked.

The path through the marshes was slightly to the south, and would take at least a day longer. We would have to travel through forests and plains before reaching the marshes in three days time. The land bridge that cut through there was the only way to cross on foot.

"The drakhorns can handle the environment better than horses," he said.

I knew immediately what he was talking about. Once the ludians caught on that the princess was captured during the battle, they would send riders after me. No matter how long our forces held them back here, that was all they could do.

More than likely, the ludians would force us to retreat before the dusk, giving me no more than a day, at best, to build a lead on them. While the empire used drakhorns, ludians used horses for their cavalry, and were much faster. Indeed, I would need the marshlands to slow them down if worse came to worst.

"Understood," I said, finally.

Shryk nodded to me and whipped his reigns, jostling his drakhorn into action. He rode off with Kai and the others following close behind, joining another group of riders that moved to the front as the cannons began firing.

Blue flashes illuminated the retreating night sky as each cannon fired, spitting out flaming shells. The ludian army continued to charge, but spread out as the shells began to rain down, exploding upon impact.

The lines thinned while they altered their paces, allowing spaces to develop between them to move. I saw explosions flare from the ground, but was amazed at how the ludian army was able to move to avoid the blasts. I didn't doubt that some still fell pray to the explosions, but the usual gaps in the front lines did not seem to form from a loss of numbers.

I turned way from the approaching battle and looked at each of my men. They all looked at me with attention, but I could sense the apprehension in them. They felt the same way I did, most likely, wanting to join the fight rather than run as fast as we could. It could not be, however.

I signaled to the driver of the transport and then motioned my arm forward, causing my drakhorn to move. The riders followed closely, keeping a maximum of twenty feet between them and the connecting rider. The transport moved at a steady pace between us, the engine letting off a low hum as the energy was released in waves. A golden glow could be seen within the engine compartment as the energy discharge peaked.

As the convoy began to move, nothing, but the fading night, could be seen in the distance. The constant firing of cannons echoed in the back of my head as I heard shouting begin to build. The front lines must have engaged each other, but I did not look back.

My only concern was the mission I was given, to deliver the princess at the military base at Astana. Getting there would not be easy if we didn't reach the marshlands before the ludians caught up, and if Nina's guardian was with them, there was no telling how quickly that could happen.

The empire did not know much about the guardians, but from centuries of history, it was believed that they possessed some sort of link with the people they swore to protect. We did not know why, but the guardians swore to protect the royal family of Wyndia.

If it was true that the guardians could sense the ones they protected, then avoiding detection would be nearly impossible.

I shook my head when I suddenly realized that I was letting my mind wander. I couldn't worry about that now. Keeping my attention on the mission, I guided the convoy westward through the forest path, pushing just a little harder to pick up the pace.

The night was on its way to ending, dawn already settling to the east. The sounds of battle could still be heard as we disappeared into the forest, but I was relieved when the sounds continued to get further and further away.

Even so, the ludians weren't very far off. Our best hope for getting away was that the muddy ground would cover our tracks before they came across them. If that was the case, then searches would need to be spread over many paths that lead towards the empire.

By then I hoped to be near the end of the open plains that led to the first island of the land bridge. Once there, we wouldn't have to fear an attack from the sides, because the land bridge allowed travel through a very limited area.

The convoy remained relatively silent as it continued through the forest path, the riders around me watching the trees closely for possible attacks. The fog was considerably lighter as we got deeper into the forest, making travel through the dense woods more tolerable to the human eyes.

Hal scanned the distant tree-line with his multi-scope, switching between infra-red and night vision to see through the fleeting darkness. While normal ludian soldiers would be spotted with relative ease, my men were more worried about something else that was after us.

No one really knew what to expect from a guardian. No one was really sure if they were still human after being blessed by a god. What abilities did they possess besides the obvious elemental powers supplied by the stones given to them? None of us really had any desire to find out, but if we did, we planned on surviving to tell the tale.

Astana was six days away, and that was if we traveled the entire time. With stops to rest, including long ones at night to sleep and eat, it could take up to fourteen days if we stuck to the marshland route.

Hopefully, before we reached that many days, we would regroup with one of the three imperial armies currently stationed along the northern border. If we didn't, the journey ran the chance of consuming all our supplies before it was over, making the final stretch more troublesome.

I shook the thoughts away as the sun peaked over the horizon, casting my shadow before me. To get to the Empire, all I had to do was follow my shadow.


	3. Ludian Intervention

_For three days I haven't spoken._

_Silence is my way of showing discomfort._

_Yet, I want to cry out._

_Cry out to him…_

_For I feel betrayed…_

_My heart feels betrayed._

**Dragon Tears**

**By: OmegaGear**

**III**

The past three days have been nothing but the constant drone of the chrysm engine pulling this transport and the hissing of drakhorns around it. Three days of moving along a bumpy path towards imperial soil. I don't know when it started. All I remember is seeing him at the battle and feeling he wouldn't hurt me, but he did.

He was the enemy, so why did it feel so wrong? What was inside me, telling me to forgive him?

I felt it for the first time when he opened the doors of the transport to give me food and water. He asked if I was alright, but I didn't reply. I just gazed into his eyes, an angry look crossing my face. He left without incident and the transport would begin moving again. For three days this continued, and it would soon happen again as I felt the transport come to a halt.

I sat on my bed, staring out the small rectangular hole to my right at what was outside. We were in a forest again, having passed the grass lands. It should've taken a few days longer to accomplish that, but we must've taken a more southern path than I thought, to have forest cover.

As I had predicted, the doors opened, creaking on their hinges. As they opened, a breeze blew outwards as all the hot air escaped. Light from outside flooded the once dark transport. It was him at the doors again.

He walked into the transport, the four guards nodding at him as he passed. This time, however, he carried with him nothing. I watched as he unlocked the gate to my area of the chamber and let the door open.

He stepped aside and motioned with his arm, "Would you like to go outside?" he asked.

Before I could answer with words or actions, the four guards got to their feet and pointed their weapons at me. One stepped forward, but he stopped them. He swung his arm out to his side, giving them the silent order to stand down.

The guard who stepped forward asked him something, which was replied to in the common tongue of the Allied Nations.

"It's been three days," he said, turning his head to address them with a sideways glance. He looked at me in the eyes, a look of sincerity. "She's been cooped up in here the entire time. Let her enjoy some time outside." He again motioned me to get up, "The choice is yours."

I got up and began to walk forward slowly, wary of what was going to happen. As I got near the door the four guards let me through, but were still ready with their weapons. As I reached the opened doors, the light of the noon sun nearly blinded my eyes, which had become accustomed to the dark. I quickly brought my hand up to shield my eyes as I stepped down from the transport.

As I exited, the man shouted something I couldn't understand, making me pause momentarily as I watched for a trap. After a short moment of complete silence, I decided that it was safe and stepped down from the transport doors.

There were riders on top of drakhorns surrounding me. They turned to watch me, but gave me space to move around. None of them spoke, and they moved as I advanced. They always kept the same distance from me as I walked forward; a distance that gave me privacy but allowed them to keep a close watch. The man who let me out followed me outside, keeping a bit closer than the others.

I took a deep breath through my nose, letting the smell of fresh air revitalize me. It was certainly a lot cooler than the humid stench that developed inside of the transport. The sun felt good on my skin, warming it from the cold sweat that covered it. I stretched my arms and revealed my wings.

They sprouted from my once bare back, spreading to nearly twenty feet from tip to tip. Having been hidden for so long, feathers were released into the air as they were freed, floating lightly in the wind. I turned around slightly to see him watching me, a somewhat blank look in his face. He turned around and began to return to the transport when I finally spoke, "I'm sorry, Ryu."

Ryu paused before reaching the transport, but didn't turn around. "What for?" he asked, "It was I who captured you." He then continued to the transport and took a seat on a large stone near its rear. The other riders had stopped their close watch over me and moved their drakhorns to a stream a few feet from the transport to cool them down.

Even though drakhorns were beasts that breathed fire, their bodies needed to keep cool. Drakhorns were primarily mountain creatures, used to the cold winds that accompanied high altitudes. There were other species in the drakhorn family that lived in the fire caves of volcanoes, but their high body temperatures made them impossible to ride on. It didn't help that outside of volcanoes they would die rather quickly from their blood temperature dropping so much.

I wanted to continue to speak, but I decided against it, turning to enjoy the freedom I was given. I walked over to the stream and kneeled down at a spot along the bank fifty feet from the riders who were filling containers with water while feeding their drakhorns. I ran my hands through the cool water and washed off my face. It felt good to have fresh water on my face, cleaning the sticky feeling sweat had left on it. I looked up to the blue sky as I let the cool water run down my face and neck, a cool feeling spreading through my body. Letting out a sigh, I tipped my head down and splashed more water on it, this time running my fingers through my hair afterwards. My hair was a mess of clumps, having been in a humid environment for so long. I had to use a bit of force to break them apart and straighten them. It didn't really do much good, but it felt good to wash my hair with the fresh stream water.

As I continued to wash my face and hair, Ryu came up to me and offered a tray to me. It had a glass of water, bowl of rice, and a plate with vegetables and meat. Ryu held the tray out and asked, "Are you hungry, highness?"

I smiled slightly and took the tray, knowing that the food he gave me was probably better than the rations he and his own men ate. "Please," I said, setting the tray on my lap as I sat down along the river bank, "call me Nina." As I began to eat I explained, "I am not your princess."

Ryu nodded, "as you wish, Nina." He then returned to his rock near the transport and began eating a rations pack.

I felt like offering him some of my food, but I knew it would please him more if I just ate what he gave me. I sat there, bathed in the sunlight that peaked through the trees, eating on the rocks of the river bank. For that moment in time, it felt like I was free again.

The sounds of nature were all I heard as I ate. Birds were chirping in the trees above, their song immersing me with pleasant rhythms. It was almost as if there was no war in the world beyond the forest.

As I finished eating, Ryu walked over to his men up the stream. I watched as he talked to each of them and motioned them back to their positions in the convoy. Once they all cleared the river, Ryu came over to me and offered his hand to me. He said, "It is time to go, Nina." He said it in a way that wasn't demanding, but asking for understanding. His words were sincere.

Understanding that I had to listen, I took his hand and let him help me to my feet. Once I was up, he let go and stood there as I wiped off my clothes of the dirt they had collected. He then walked beside me as I returned to the transport. The four guards were standing outside of the doors, weapons resting against their shoulders.

Before entering the transport, I returned my wings into hiding. They vanished into my back, a trail of feathers floating to the ground behind me. As I did so, the forest became quiet. The wind died, as did the chirping of the birds. The only sound was that of running water.

Ryu reacted and placed his right hand on the handle of his sheathed sword. He stepped out a bit and looked around with strict eyes, scanning the forest for anything out of the ordinary.

I watched him as he did so, researching the expression on his face. It didn't change the entire time he searched the trees. It was a serious look, but it had something in it that made it more than an instinctual expression. There was an emotion there that gave off a feeling of safety to me. He wasn't looking out for himself or his men; he was looking out for me.

After a minute of searching with no results, Ryu dismissed the sudden change in atmosphere and helped me step into the transport. At that moment the sound of something moving in the brush behind us caught his attention.

Ryu spun on his heels while drawing his sword with his right arm and swung it horizontally. The blade made a swishing sound as it cut through the air and sliced a white feather in half. Again, his face wore that expression of seriousness. His body was perfectly still as he paused to examine what was happening. He stood there, his blade still pointing towards the source of the noise, but nothing was there. It was my feather he had cut.

One of the guards walked up to Ryu and asked him something.

Ryu looked back at the four guards around me and then at me. His eyes pierced into mine, as if he were trying to tell me something. After a while he returned his gaze to in front of him, watching the remaining feathers I had dropped as they fell to the ground, one of them in two pieces. Ryu continued to watch them as a breeze lifted them into the air. He followed them upwards with his gaze and looked deeper into the forest. After another brief moment he took a deep breath and slid his sword into its sheath. When he got back to his drakhorn he said, "It's nothing…"

Ryu mounted his drakhorn as I was locked into my cell within the transport. From within I watched, through the small openings in the walls, as he walked to Hal on the right side of the transport. I could just barely hear him tell Hal something in imperial tongue.

I sighed at not being able to understand the imperial language. Ryu was kind enough to speak the common tongue of the Allied Nations when in my presence, but it didn't help too much since everyone else spoke the imperial language fulltime.

I moved over to the right side of the transport and watched the two from the little hole. I could see Hal loading a fragment grenade into his grenade launcher and activate his sight-scope. After returning his grenade launcher to its holster he made a quick sweep of the surrounding area with the scope and then put the scope back on his belt.

I returned to my bed and sat on it, my back leaning against the metal wall of the cell. After a few minutes the convoy began to move again. I sighed and turned around, pressing my face against the wall to get my eye as close to the rectangular opening as possible and watch the outside world pass by.

**- x -**

I don't know what came over me back there as we were about to leave. The strangest feeling spread through my body, like we were being more than watched. It felt like someone had been watching us without even being there. Like he or she could somehow expand his vision through the eyes of others… Could it have been Myn Donos using an ability he possessed?

More than ever, I was worried. We had covered a lot of ground the past three days, but our distance from imperial soil did not reflect that since we had chosen a longer route through the forest to stay with the T'ursk River as well as the cover of the trees. We were probably a day behind at this point, but at least we weren't out in the open.

The feeling hadn't really left me, even though we had been on the move for several hours. I often found myself looking up at the trees, possibly expecting to see Ludian sharp shooters crouched in the branches taking aim on us. But there was nothing in the trees waiting to strike, just the leaves blowing in the wind. That didn't stop me from worrying though. I couldn't shake the feeling inside, and it pointed to nothing but danger. I took a look back at Hal, who nodded to assure me that he hadn't located anything out of the ordinary with his scope.

We were moving at a fast pace, pretty much reaching the limits of the drakhorns. My ears filled with the sound of a stampede as our drakhorns tore through the forest, their massive legs sending tremors into the ground. The trees passed by as a blur and my arm was beginning to feel sore from having to hold so tightly to the reigns of the drakhorn in order to stay on. Behind me, I could hear the transport rattling on its wheels as it sped across the bumpy path. The sound of its chrysm power core was barely audible through the rumbling caused by the drakhorns.

I pushed us even harder as we got near the end of the forest, unable to shake the feeling of being followed. At the rate we were going, an incoming attack would not be heard until it struck, since the sound of our drakhorns flooded any other noises out.

Finally, we broke out of the forest and were in the open plains. The plains spanned for miles, nothing but the large, grassy hills and the T'ursk River for the eyes to see. Following the river would take us to the first break in the land bridge, which is where we would stop and rest until a favorable tide came.

The sun had nearly set by now, its dim light glowing to the west, directly in front of us. I looked skyward at the golden orange colors. Light clouds of white floated overhead, reflecting the golden hue of the sun. I looked over to my right to watch a passing hill that stretched so high that the clouds seemed like they moved behind it.

That's when I saw the outline of several people heading for us from a tall hill to the north. It was difficult to make them out with the light casting shadows on them, but their horses and green garments made it all too obvious. They were Ludians on horses. They were about three minutes off… and their intercept angle made escape impossible unless someone intercepted them first.

This development caused my heart to jump a bit, but it didn't satisfy the strange feeling that I had while moving through the forest. That felt more like something superficial meant to warn me about something a lot greater than a unit of Ludians. Nevertheless, they were a threat, and had to be dealt with.

I signaled back to the two riders behind me, telling them to continue on. Afterwards, I fell back on my drakhorn and told Kyo's men, Doran and Martez, to stay behind with me while Kyo led the convoy. After they nodded, we broke off from the convoy and headed up the hills to the north to intercept the Ludians.

I saw a smoking object fly up the hill and arc downwards from the south. Hal must have fired his grenade launcher to give us a head start. The grenade exploded above the Ludians, spreading flaming debris over the riders. While most of them escaped unharmed, four of them fell from their horses and went tumbling down the hill. Their horses ran on, trampling over their unsuspecting bodies, causing two of them to fall with them. The other riders had to scatter to avoid their fallen comrades and horses, but they didn't stop to help them.

"What do you think" I asked Martez as we charged towards the hill. "Rangers?"

"They're too well armed…" Martez answered.

"You think so?" I asked.

"Rangers are lightly armed scouts fashioned for speed and evasion," Doran explained. "Those men are wearing armor much too heavy for that."

"So then…" I paused as I thought about the men we were facing. "It's time to see who has the better cavalry; the Ludians, or the Empire."

The Ludians now numbered eight, a more manageable number for me and my two partners to handle. They spread out in a line, preparing to joust with us. I knew better though. As we neared the line I pulled out my sword and held it horizontally at my side in my right hand, looking as if I accepted the joust. The two men beside me followed suit, but I had no way of telling what they were planning.

As I got closer I could make out the bronze faces of the Ludians, their dark brown eyes had the look of death in them, meaning they were more than capable of giving their all for their country and the safe recovery of Princess Nina. Their smoky brown hair was all cut short, a standard military cut in the Ludian ranks. Silver armor strapped across their shoulders and chests shined in the golden glow of the setting sun, casting a yellowish tint onto them.

They all had short swords in their hands, meaning close range combat would be quite a challenge. The short bastard swords of Ludians were forged for quick, strong strikes. While they had limited range, and recovery time between attacks was a bit long, their blows could easily knock someone back or off balance if blocked, making their long recovery time unimportant.

As riders, we carried longer swords than Ludian riders. Even our shorter katanas were longer than bastard swords. Although, unlike the heavy Ludian bastard swords, our katanas were light, so I was confident that we could match speed with them. The only issue I had was if the battle dragged on. Ludians had a lot of endurance because of their heavy weapons, and dragging them out would tire us much quicker than them.

It was too late to really plan anything out, as the Ludians were just moments away. I pulled my arm back, preparing to attack as I approached them. Martez had broken off to the left while Doran went to the right. They were now at the far ends, just to the outer sides of the outermost Ludians.

The Ludians didn't really respond to our actions in any way. They kept their line and held their swords out to attempt to cut us down in one pass and continue their pursuit of the convoy. Their horses pushed forward at full speed, their eyes unblinking as they came.

Finally, I made my move. I slapped my drakhorn on the back of its head twice and it hunched downwards. As I was about to meet with the Ludian I was lined with, I bent my knees, keeping my body from resting on the seat of my drakhorn. Just before colliding with the Ludian rider, I sprang off of my drakhorn. The drakhorn threw its shoulders up as my feet applied pressure to their pads from my vault, helping me spring a bit higher. The combination of forces vaulted me well over the Ludian's head.

As I was launched, I twisted my body at the waist, bent my torso to change my center of gravity and throw my body into a spinning flip. As I peaked over the Ludian rider I released the pressure I was exerting on my torso to allow it to spin more freely and held my arms over my head to regain control as I began to drop. With the Ludian behind me, I made one final twist to prep my body to land on its feet and swung with my backhand, taking the Ludian's head off in one fluid movement.

As I landed I watched the Ludian's head spin as it fell to the ground and rolled down the hill. His body rode the horse for a brief moment longer before becoming limp and rolling off to the ground. The horse continued to run without its rider, a bit wild now without someone to control it. The rest of the line continued their advance, meeting with Doran and Martez.

They jousted, but with no intent of doing it head on. Instead, they pinched the line by taking opposite angles. Their drakhorns collided with the outer riders, using their massive size to literally throw them to the ground. The moment was filled with screams from men and beast alike. Doran and Martez cried out as they struck, their drakhorns roaring along. Their victims screamed as they were thrown off their horses, which squealed as they were toppled by the drakhorns.

Doran's victim didn't go out without a fight, however. Before he began to fall, he had begun to swing his sword at Doran's neck. Once Doran made his move, the rider had began to spin due to the momentum of his swing and being thrown off his horse. This caused the attack to drop a bit, striking at Doran's chest.

Doran crossed his sword across his chest to block the Ludian's attack as he fell and then jumped onto the next rider in the line. He grabbed the man from the left side, making it impossible for him to bring his sword over to try to attack. Doran spun around the man while gripping him and throwing him off the horse. He rolled to cushion his fall and sprang to his feet to face the Ludian he had taken with him.

Martez did the same with his first Ludian, throwing him down with his horse. The second one was more than ready to attack and swung before Martez could really react. Martez raised his right arm and blocked the attack. He tensed his muscles and leaned in to keep his sword locked with the Ludian's. The Ludian was unable to unlock their swords, and his arm was pushed back as they passed each other. As his arm reached its limit of motion, his body was torn from his horse, causing him to tumble to the ground.

The other Ludians, three in all, stopped their advance and turned around to aid their comrades. The ones, who had fallen, got up, save for the one who lost his head to me. They all stood ready to attack as they waited for their friends to catch up. Martez had dismounted his drakhorn and sent it off with the others to await our return. The Ludian riders did the same, willing to fight us on fair grounds.

Doran was the first to get involved, the rider he had jumped on being a bit itchy for revenge. The man pretty much ran at him, screaming as he swung his sword downwards at his gut. Doran complied by setting the back of his blade against his left palm and holding it across his chest. The blades met with a loud clanging sound and locked as the two struggled in a sort of tug of war. It ended quickly as Doran pushed the man back, his arms thrown into the air.

Doran moved quickly and struck the man in the nose with the butt of his sword handle and again between the eyes with the same hand's fist. The attack was so quick it looked almost like a single strike, but the man's reaction clearly showed that he was hit twice, his body flailing each time his face was hit.

In response to their ally being thwarted, the remaining Ludians charged. One ran at Doran, two at Martez, and the remaining three at me.

Doran met his with ease, kicking the downed man aside as he stepped forward and blocked the charge. His attacker was a bit slow, swinging his blade through basic attacks. Doran had no trouble parrying the attacks, but refrained from making a move as he saw the other man get to his feet and prepared to join.

Martez went into a dizzying display of spins and twirls with his blade to deflect each attack coming from both of the Ludians. They had him surrounded, which made things difficult for him, but there was nothing that I could do to help him. He didn't seem too worried about being in the middle of the two, making no obvious effort to change it.

I couldn't watch him any longer as I was approached by the three remaining Ludian soldiers.

The three men who attacked me were a bit less in a hurry. They didn't gang up on me like the others were on my partners, but one at a time, switching out from different directions to try to catch me off guard. As one of them approached he swung his blade sideways, using a twist of his torso to add some force to his blow. I was holding my sword rather high, so I needed to angle my blade down to block the attack. I accomplished this with a simple twist of my wrist, easily reaching the blade in time. I then side stepped and spun my blade around his and batted it aside.

The man went with his blade, caught off guard by the sudden loss of an opposing force. As he ran off to the side one of the other two jumped in to take his place. This one was much quicker, making several small, quick attacks at my head. It was easy enough to block them by motioning my sword from side to side, but that was his goal; to get me into a rhythm and catch me off guard with a sudden change.

As I thought, he changed his pattern with a quick shift in his wrists. His blade dropped after an attack and came swinging from below. The only way I could avoid the attack was by releasing my grip on my sword and throwing my arms to my sides. I did so, and his sword struck mine, sending it flipping into the air.

With my hands free of any weapon it appeared I was defenseless, but I quickly reached for my gun with my left hand. The Ludian finished his attack by spinning his arm around in a complete circle and spinning his sword as he changed his attack. As he took a step forward and motioned to take my head off, I threw my gun out of its holster and spun it around to grip its handle.

While taking aim, I raised my right hand and caught his incoming arms to hold his sword back. A blue glow illuminated the Ludian's face as the gun went off, sending the burning bullet through his gut. The burst caused by the gun echoed through the plains followed by the scream of the man's pain.

The man fell back and dropped his sword, hands clenching his wound. The third stepped forward to block my path to the fallen soldier and stood in a low, stiff stance. By now, my sword had begun to fall from its wayward flight. I caught my sword and spun it around once to get a good grip on the handle. I held the handle firmly in one hand as I replaced my gun in its holster. As I did so, the soldier charged me.

He had a very different approach than the others had, combining speed and power to create a very effective assault. Each block I made with my sword sent heavy vibrations through my arms, causing my muscles to expel more energy than they had to. His attacks were rather random, fueled by his rage. While this allowed a strategic move to be more effective than normal, his rate of attack didn't leave a big enough window of opportunity to act. I kept my motions tight, preserving as much energy as possible.

I was gradually pushed back by the soldier. With each swing, I had to retreat a step in order to have enough room to block the next. It was more of a battle of attrition than anything else. I was more than skilled enough to block his attacks; it was simply a matter of lasting longer. It was easy for me to keep my pace up, since my motions were so short, but his was beginning to slow. His attacks became wider after a minute or so, and had a longer recovery time.

This gave me the chance that I needed. The soldier had to change the way he attacked because of his newfound sluggishness. This prompted him to put more power in his attacks in hopes of knocking me off guard. He made a long downwards swing at my shoulder, which I blocked by sidestepping and shifting my shoulders to spin my blade into a horizontal position.

The force of the blow was a lot more than I thought it would be, forcing me to bend my knees to reinforce my efforts to hold it back. My arms shook violently as the muscles received pulse after pulse of blood and adrenalin to continue to push as hard as they could against the soldier's own.

The soldier began to pull back a bit, springing off of me by letting my blade push him. This time, we charged at each other, attacking while blocking each other's blows. Contact between our blades was frequent and fast, sending yellow sparks into the air between us. The contact force of each blow was so great that our blades bounced off of each other and literally threw us off balance.

I could no longer stand the strain of constantly banging my blade straight against his. I pulled back a step and spun my blade in my hands before stepping forward again. This time I swung by spinning my sword in circles and crossing it at varying heights to keep him guessing. Not only was this easier on my arms, but by using the weight of my blade to keep it spinning I was able to attack much faster. My arms seemed to feel free of all weight, letting the pull of the blade flying through the air direct their next move. The sound of my sword whipping through the wind became louder, sending waves of sound that could be felt hitting my face. I barely noticed the sound of my blade striking his anymore, and it looked as if he was having trouble keeping up.

The soldier altered his own attack plan as I came at him again, loosening his stance a bit and moving his blade side to side to block my attacks as best he could. At first, he was able to keep pace with me, parrying each of my arcing attacks without much trouble recovering. But as I began to attack faster his stature began to wither. He began to walk backwards at a moderate pace as I continued to attack relentlessly, my sword becoming a constant blur as it was spun and crossed over at a dizzying pace. His blocks were becoming weak, his arms being thrown by the force of my strikes. It was at this time that I stopped my circular attacks and made aimed attacks.

It was clear that my opponent was reaching his limit. He was leaning forward, resting his hands against his knees whenever he could. He finally fell to the ground as I gave everything I had in a single attack across his torso. He blocked the attack, but was too tired and weak to stand against it. My motion didn't stop at all when it met his blade, sending him to the ground with ease.

I stepped forward to make the killing blow, but was stopped as the first man who attacked me returned. As before, his attack was wild and easy to avoid. He swung at an angle, aiming for my chest, which I blocked the same way I had his first attack long ago. This time, however, he anticipated my next move. As I spun my blade around, he pulled back and swung again to parry it. Impressed with how quickly he adapted to my technique, I decided to take it up a notch. I had regained most of my strength from fighting the third man, so I was able to give this one everything I had.

I decided on a freer stance, gripping my sword in my right hand while holding my left arm out to my side. My entire body was looser than in my previous bouts, giving me more fluid movement. Defeating the Ludian Rider was all too easy. He made a single lunge at me, stabbing his sword outwards. I sprang off of the ground, hopping back a bit to avoid the attack and laid my blade on his. With a twist at my waist, I spun around, dragging my sword up his blade and at his face as I swung my arm out. He had no time to react to my move, still running forward in his stabbing charge. His entire body became tense as the tempered steel first cut into his head, biting into his left eye, nose, and lower right cheek. His hands twitched, releasing their grip on his sword, which fell to the ground with a thump. As my sword cut deeper into his skill, blood began to run down its metal blade. His body now began to spasm, arms flying back and through the air as his torso began to twitch as well. Finally, my blade completed its cut, taking half his head off, which flew to the side, leaving a trail of blood behind it. As I stood there with my sword pointed to the sky, still in the stance I had at the end of my attack, his body fell backwards to the ground, nerves still causing spasms in the dead body.

As I cleaned my sword off with a cloth, I looked around for the others. At first I couldn't see them, since night had begun to settle in. there was just barely a sliver of the sun left on the horizon. A dark blue overcast chasing after its golden light. I began to walk down the hill, hoping to find my comrades. I passed by the dead bodies of several Ludians, but didn't catch even a sign of any imperial dragoons having been present at the battle.

Finally, I heard someone calling my name. I looked to my right to see a man, Doran, waving his arms. He was kneeling down and there was someone lying in front of him.

I quickly ran to Doran to discover that it was Martez lying there, as I had feared. He was alive, but had a deep wound in his gut, which would bleed him to death if it was left unattended. I whistled for our drakhorns to come over and applied pressure to Martez's cut while we waited for them. When they arrived I shouted, "Doran, get a med kit!"

Doran said nothing, but got to his feet and ran over to his drakhorn. He retrieved a large metal case from one of the bags on its back and brought it over.

As he did so, I removed Martez's chest plate and raised his shirt to allow access to the wound.

Getting back on his knees at Martez's side he asked, "What should I do?"

I quickly thought through the proper way to seal a wound, but it would take too much time… "Martez," I said, pausing before telling him what I planned to do. I waited a moment until he looked at me. Finally, I said, "this is going to hurt."

Martez coughed before he spoke. "Sir," he muttered, "Forget about me!" He continued to cough as he spoke, prompting more blood to leak form his wound with each contraction of his stomach as he did so. He grabbed me by the arm and tilted his head to look me straight in the eyes, "The mission is more important. I can be replaced!"

I lifted his hand form my arm and placed it on the ground by his side. Quietly, I said, "Kyo is in charge of the convoy now. It is my duty to do my best in having us all return to it safely." Without waiting for him to argue, I pulled out my gun and released the bullet case. The small metal case dropped to the ground, revealing the bullet chamber and the chrysm chamber behind it.

Doran watched me with a look of shock on his face. "Sir…" he said, almost fearful, "what are you doing?" He gripped Martez's hand and suddenly let out his words in frenzy, "Martez can make it! It's only a wound to the gut! We can seal the wound and take him with us!"

I didn't give any sign of changing my plan, because I had no intention of changing it. I unlatched the shaft of the gun and removed the ignition chamber it locked in place. "I have no intention of leaving Private Nache here, Corporal." The chrysm chamber clicked as I stripped it from the ignition wiring, completely revealing the small blue crystal. "However," I continued, holding the small crystal in my left palm, "we can't spare the time to seal the wound by normal medical procedures."

Doran seemed to calm down, and let go of Martez's hand. He stood up and walked over to me. The chrysm crystal illuminated our faces with its blue glow as he hunched in close so Martez couldn't hear. "Sir," he whispered, "what are you going to do?"

I covered the crystal in my fist. The crystal felt warm, even through my glove. I stared at the distant sky, running my plan through my head. I turned my head speak directly into Doran's ear and whispered, "I'm going to cauterize his wound shut." I opened my hand to let the chrysm crystal shine its glow on us again, "I'll do it by stimulating this crystal."

Doran looked back at Martez. I followed his gaze, looking at him lying on the ground, breathing calmly as he put pressure on his wound. We returned our faces forward as Doran objected, "Sir, that could give him chrysm poisoning!" His words were quiet, but had a strong tone behind them.

"I know," I said, pulling out a thin rod from my belt. Dragoons always carried these rods with them. At the end there was a claw-like structure, meant to hold chrysm crystals. The rods harnessed the power of the crystals to feed the energy back into them in the form of electrical currents. This caused the crystals to be stimulated and glow brighter, creating a sort of lamp. It also caused the crystal to become really hot. Hot enough to burn flesh almost instantly. "But as the commander of this mission," I continued, "it's up to me to decide the best course of action. I will take full responsibility if he is affected by the chrysm."

Doran stepped back and saluted, "understood… sir."

"Good," I said, setting the crystal into the rod's claw tip. We walked back to Martez and kneeled on opposite sides.

His breathing was beginning to get heavy. The loss of blood was causing him to become dizzy and tired, his eyes blinking involuntarily. I set my lamp into the ground and looked at Doran. I told him to, "Prepare some burn cream and a bandage wrap."

Doran complied and opened the med kit. Martez twitched slightly as he did so. "Sir…?" He asked.

I put my hand on his shoulder to hold him still. "Calm down," I said, slowly setting him down again, "It's going to be alright."

"The burn cream is ready," Doran said, holding a small container with a white cream inside. Beside him there was a roll of white cloth, the bandage wrap.

I nodded and lifted my lamp back out of the ground. "Do you know what I'm going to do, Martez?" I asked, switching the lamp to its maximum output. The crystal began to glow brighter, throwing blue light over us. The crystal began to hiss as more energy was fed into it and it reacted.

"I think so…" he said, calming down a bit. His breathing became more controlled, and it seemed he was ready to stand the pain.

"Alright," I said, preparing to begin. I placed my left hand on Martez's chest and applied adequate pressure to keep him still. Before beginning, I looked up at Doran and said, "You better help hold him still." I nodded my head over, "hold his hand so he has something to grip and hold his shoulder down."

Doran did so, holding Martez's hand firmly. He pressed his other hand against his shoulder, preparing to hold him still once I began.

I lowered the lamp slowly, the crystal at its end hissing as the moister in the air around it was super heated. Martez's breathing became more rapid as it got closer to his wound, the heat reaching his body. Finally, I pressed against his open wound, dipping the tip into his flesh.

Martez screamed as the crystal began to burn his wound, jerking as best he could under our hold on him. He clenched his teeth and tightened every muscle in his face as I continued to run the crystal down his wound, cauterizing it shut. Sweat began to run down his face and his breathing became deep and rapid. Every time he exhaled he tightened his abs, as if it would help relieve the pain somehow.

It took only a few seconds, but it seemed like an eternity, even for me. Having to do something like this wasn't easy on anyone. Even afterwards, when the crystal had been withdrawn, Martez had trouble holding back cries of pain, letting whimpers out through his clenched teeth as he breathed harsh breathes. After withdrawing the lamp, Doran and I kneeled beside Martez, each of us holding one of his hands. He gripped us tightly, as if holding onto his last shred of life. We did this for nearly twenty minutes as we waited for the burn to cool.

As I felt Martez relax his grip, I knew the burn must have cooled enough for us to administer the cream. I continued to hold his hand as I told Doran to apply it. He got the container and began to mix the white gel with a flat tool. As he began to put the cream onto the wound, Martez took a deep breath, feeling his burn suddenly become ice cold. The cream soon began its work though; keeping the flesh it covered warmer than normal to prevent him from going into shock.

After Doran finished spreading the cream, I placed a disinfectant patch over the wound. I asked him to try to sit up, which he did with a bit of help. As Doran held him up, I wrapped the bandage around his torso, making sure that it was tight, but allowed enough movement for him to walk.

Martez pulled his shirt down and lifted his arms as we placed his chest plate back on. Although he was still sore, he was able to get up and walk by himself. He breathed deeply with each step, but at least he was okay.

After a brief moment, I said, "We'd better go."

Doran and I helped Martez onto his drakhorn and locked him on with a belt so he wouldn't strain himself while riding. After getting onto our own drakhorns, I slapped mine on the back of the neck and we continued westward.

The sun had fully set by now, and the night began to grow dark. That strange feeling began to fill me again. The attack we had just experienced wasn't difficult to overcome, especially considering who we were holding captive. I tried to keep my mind clear as we rode off to the west. It didn't help to think of the worst. All I could do was hope that there was nothing else waiting for us or the convoy as we rode through the darkness of night.


	4. Link

_I thought I had finally opened my eyes,_

_But blind, I still was._

_Only then, had my eyes begun to open;_

_To see the truth._

**Dragon Tears**

**I: Age of Man**

**By: OmegaGear**

**IV**

**~ Link ~**

I awoke as the transport came to a sudden halt. Voices could be heard outside, shouting at each other to watch out and protect the transport. I remained still on the bed, afraid to move the slightest bit. My heart was pounding like a drum in my chest, the sound of each beat resonating through my ears. Every sound from outside caused my nerves to jump, fear running through them. I heard some rushed footsteps pass by as someone shouted orders out. Someone named Benrei was ordered to take them out, whoever they were. The rest was silent to my ears as my head began to pound.

A searing throb spread through my head, causing me to grasp it with both my hands and pull my legs up. The pain spread throughout my body, causing it to go cold. I had felt it once before… years ago, when Myn Donos first became my Guardian. He was close… and he was using his mental link to find me. The sound that went through my mind was inhuman, screaming in every which way. Flashes of someone else's vision appeared in my eyes, Myn exchanging his senses with my own.

The noise in my head suddenly stopped, and I could finally relax. As my senses returned, I could hear some gun shots while men shouted. The four guards inside the transport were at their feet; two of them covering the door while the others watched my cell.

I heard a man scream as a dent was made in the left wall of the transport. The four guards all responded by arming their weapons and pointing them at the dent. As things began to settle the sound of footsteps could be heard outside, moving around the transport. The doors suddenly began to creak as they were dented, only outward this time.

The guards responded to the new threat and stepped back from the doors. They shifted their weapons and fumbled with them as they took aim on the doors that were being torn apart. The sound of metal being bent out of shape echoed through the large chamber as the doors continued to be slowly pulled apart. Suddenly, the noise stopped, and the doors settled in their current state, allowing bands of light to leak through cracks. Not a sound could be heard besides the breathing of the guards and the chatter of a few forest creatures outside.

The guards continued to keep their weapons aimed on the doors, their bodies as still as statues. Still, the outside of the transport sounded quiet, perhaps a little to quiet. There was no sign of any drakhorns outside, or dragoons for that matter.

I looked around the chamber of the transport, listening as best I could for anything that could be outside. Still nothing but the normal sounds of the forest touched my ears.

The guards began to relax slightly, lowering their weapons a bit to let their arms rest when a low hum resonated through the transport. The chamber shook gently as the hum became louder, causing loose objects to rattle. The shaking became more violent as the hum was joined by the sound of metal being bent and torn, but no visible damage could be seen around the chamber. Suddenly, the doors of the chamber were thrown open by a destructive force. The chamber shook violently as an explosion ripped the doors off of the transport and threw them into the air. As the transport settled, the guards re-armed their weapons and took aim where the doors once were.

Nothing, but the black silhouette of a robed man could be seen through the cloud of smoke that blew through the opening. The light of the moon outlined the man with a thin lace of silver.

Although the men standing against him had no idea who he was, I knew. He had been by my side since the day I was born; a Guardian blessed with the power of lightning and bound to my fate. The man that stood before us was Myn Donos of the Holy Lightning.

All of the guards opened fire on Myn. Their stun weapons were totally useless against him, since his body absorbed the bolts of electricity that would send any other man to the ground unconscious. I couldn't blame them for trying, and pitied their helplessness.

By now, they must have been able to figure out who Myn was, because they had stopped firing and stood like statues in their fear. As Myn stepped into the transport, one of the guards charged at him with his weapon held like something he meant to bludgeon him with.

I closed my eyes, having no desire to see these four men perish at the hands of something no mortal could ever hope to defeat. As the first screams reached my ears, I curled into a fetal position with my arms wrapped around my head. I flinched as I heard flesh tear and covered my ears to try to avoid any further sounds from existing.

Mere seconds had barely passed and I already could smell burning flesh and blood. I wanted to throw up, but was too frightened to move. I had seen Myn kill countless men over the years during heightened times of war, but never adjusted to the otherworldly experiences.

I felt several thuds as bodies hit the ground followed by an unsettling calm. I slowly lifted my hands from my ears and heard the dead air of a forest that animals had fled from. Peaking through barely opened eyes, I saw the bodies of the four guards. Smoke was still rising from their wounds, red cuts surrounded by blackened flesh.

Myn stood just beyond the bodies, looking calm for someone who had just slain an entire group of imperial dragoons. His dark blue eyes were devoid of any emotion, and his lips were relaxed in the thin existence between a smile and a frown. I didn't want to think about his emotional control too much, but assumed that he had learned to not let death affect him after living for over five hundred years.

"Princess Nina," Myn beckoned in a calm, almost soothing voice. "Are you hurt?"

"No…" I answered. I could barely hear myself, so I didn't know if Myn was able to either. I slowly relaxed out of my fetal position in the far corner of the transport and sat up on my knees. "I'm alright," I said, a little louder this time.

"I'm glad to hear that," Myn said. His monotone voice left chills in my chest, even after fourteen years with him that I can remember.

Myn stepped over the bodies. His white robe glided over them gently, reflected his calm demeanor. "You shouldn't wander off by yourself, your highness," he said.

Before I could say anything, Myn reached towards me with an open hand. I accepted his hand and let him pull me up from my corner. His grip was strong, yet gentle; something that gave me a sense of security. Even through his black gloves, I could feel warmth surrounding my hand. "I wanted to see with my own eyes," I said.

"See with your own eyes?" Myn asked. He sounded more judgmental than inquisitive.

"Yes," I answered plainly, even though it didn't sound like he wanted an answer at all.

Myn turned and exited the transport. He kept his back turned towards me as he surveyed the surrounding forest. "And are your eyes satisfied?" he asked.

"No," I said. I walked to the open end of the transport and held onto the ends of the walls as I leaned forward. I waited for Myn to turn around before saying anything more. His blonde hair blew in the light wind that came through the trees, covering his eyes when he faced me. "What I have seen in the past month has made me understand what the world is truly like."

"And what have you come to understand?" he asked.

"I understand that the war we're fighting has no purpose, and threatens the whole world," I said.

"I see," Myn said. He turned back around and walked a few steps before stopping and whistling to call something to him. "You have much to learn before you will understand what this war is about."

I jumped down from the transport and walked to where Myn was. His face had become uncharacteristically grim after what he had said. "What do I have to learn?"

Myn's face remained dark, and silent. I could hear the footsteps of several horses approaching. "Then I will continue to see things for myself," I declared. I spread my wings for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. Their white feathers shined in the light of the full moon, appearing as silver blades against the darkness of the forest and the night sky.

"We're returning to Wyndia," Myn said. A small group of Ludian riders had arrived. A single rider-less horse accompanied them.

"But what about the borders?" I asked. "The imperial army has crossed onto Wyndian soil."

"Do not worry yourself, highness," he said. He was trying to calm me by remaining calm, despite my tone. "Your brother is leading the allied armies of Wyndia and Ludia against the imperials at the northern border."

"Jeda?" I asked. I was a bit surprised that a member of the royal family of Wyndia had actually been sent to lead the allied forces.

"That's correct," Myn said. "Before you so brazenly fled the capitol and took it upon yourself to lead the remnants of the first Wyndian army, Jeda was given command of the second army and sent to assist them from the south."

"Assist them from the south?" The whole idea had a big hole in it, and that hole was the great sea that separated the north and south borders between the Allied Nations and the Empire. "How were they able to cross over the great sea in such large numbers?"

"The details of their journey are not important, your highness," Myn answered sharply. He guided me to the free horse and hoisted me onto it. He looked like he was about to say something when he suddenly held his breath. His eyes became strained and looked cold as they wavered in his stiff face.

I could feel my mind connect with his and watched through his eyes. As he turned to look towards the east the forest seemed to stretch back into the shadows as a strange growl was carried by the wind. My body began to feel hollow as the wind passed around me, leaving behind an emptiness that felt like death. A voice spoke slowly in a language I could not understand when Myn suddenly cut the link.

I drew in a deep breath of air and nearly fell off of the horse as I tried to regain my senses. Myn caught me and jumped into the saddle of the horse so that I was seated just in front of him, between his arms. "We have to go," he said.

I didn't say anything, as my head was still spinning. I could barely feel my body pull back as the horse began to move, but faintly felt my head hit Myn's chest. He wrapped one arm around my waist while the other held onto the reigns of the horse. Unable to think of anything, I instinctually grabbed onto the arm wrapped around to keep myself from falling off and let it carry me to the kingdom I had escape just over a month ago.

**- x -**

"They're all dead…" Doran said.

I pulled out a small rod from my belt and snapped the chrysm shard at its end into its crevice. The crystal began to glow a bright green, allowing me to see a bit better.

I got down from my drakhorn and walked along the scattered bodies of men and drakhorns surrounding the dismantled transport. Large dents covered the body and the doors were no longer attached. As I leaned into the open end to take a look around, my face must have turned pale. I quickly fell back, and covered my mouth and nose as the stench of burning flesh filled them. Even in the black of night, the site was gruesome enough to sicken me.

"Whatever did this… it had no passion for human life," I said, still fighting my stomach's demand to move upwards.

"There's no sign of the princess," Doran noted.

I looked around at all the bodies and could spot nothing that resembled a female, but it was hard to tell with only the glow of my lamp and the moon supplying light. "She's definitely not here anymore," I said.

"Look, over there," Martez said. He pointed towards some silver shards on the ground where the trees opened into a natural path.

I ran over to the shards, but they were blown away as I reached for one of them. As they twisted in the air and reflected the moonlight, I was able to figure out what they were. "Feather's from Nina's wings…"

"Do you suppose she escaped during the attack and fled through the sky?" Doran inquired. He had also gotten off of his drakhorn and was kneeling over Benrei's corpse.

I took a look around with my glow-lamp and shook my head. "There's no way the princess could have escape this kind of attack." I walked towards the feathers again and kneeled down slowly to look at them. "Whatever happened, it was meant to take her from us."

"Do you suppose this was done by Ludians belonging to that group of riders we ran into?" Martez asked. He was leaning forward slightly, resting his body as best he could while seated on the drakhorn.

"I doubt it," I replied. I was sure of myself, and got the impression that the others were too. There was no way Ludians could massacre a group of dragoons like this. "This sort of damage is beyond human capabilities," I said as I reached for one of the feathers.

As my fingers touched the soft feather, a sudden chill ran up my arm and into my chest. I tried to pull away from the feather, but my whole body had become numb, allowing the cold feeling to move into my head. I heard a voice speak to me in a tongue I had never heard before; not in all of the Empire. I heard a strange shriek through the painful haze that filled my mind and could suddenly see a dozen horses moving east through the forest.

Just as quickly as the sensation had begun, it faded into the silence of the forest. The feather my fingers were pressed against had wilted into a grey stem with frazzled hairs. "There's only one thing in the known world that could have done this," I said. I got to my feet and looked down the natural path. In the green light of my lamp, I could make out faded footprints of horses. "A Guardian," I concluded.

"Myn Donos," Doran elaborated.

I walked back to my Drakhorn and leapt back onto the saddle. "I'm going after them," I said.

"By yourself?" Doran asked.

"That's insane, Ryu!" Martez exclaimed. "Look around you! How could you fair any better?"

"I don't know…" I looked down at Benrei, where Doran was still kneeling and heard the voice in my head again. It was faint this time, and wasn't accompanied by the strange vision and painful overflow of emotions. I pressed the palm of my hand against my forehead to try to get rid of the voice and it faded away, just like it had before.

"I want you to take care of things here," I told them.

"Understood, sir," Doran started. He stood up and held his lamp so that he could see my face. "But I still don't think you should go after them by yourself," he said.

"I appreciate your concern," I said, "but I won't be taking them head on." I turned around to speak with Martez, who was sitting up now. "I want you to try to contact any nearby imperials and explain the situation."

"Yes, sir," Martez saluted and began to slowly undo the harnesses that were holding him on the drakhorn.

"I'm going to search for the princess and her escorts," I said. "Once I do, I'll activate my tracking beacon and continue to keep watch on them." I tapped a small pocket on the left side of my belt, turning my tracking beacon on. It beeped once, followed by beeps from the trackers carried by Doran and Martez. I tapped my beacon once more to turn it off.

"Understood," they both replied.

I pulled on the reigns of my drakhorn and turned it towards the path the feathers had snaked through. "It's only a few more days to Astana," I recalled as I thought about what we should do. "Once you're done here, continue traveling there and await the orders Shryk is sending. If I am unable to find a way of getting the princess back within a week of locating her, I'll journey back to Astana."

I loosened the chrysm crystal on my glow-lamp, dimming its green light. Snapping the reigns of my drakhorn twice, I began riding back towards the east, hoping that I would be able to find any trace of the Wyndian Princess or her escorts.

The strange vision that had showed me her briefly continued to linger in the back of my mind, playing the words that voice had spoken. I had no idea what they meant, but they sounded ominous, and perhaps they were. I would have to stretch my body as well as my drakhorn's to their limits in order to catch up to the princess's escorts.

I mentally prepared for a vigorous journey alone.


	5. The Knock and the Call

_Ycbhomy uieh arryh jsocy._

_Syt at jsiv saky tny zolt lyol._

_Msoac tny lkayl ar uieh ohcl._

_Ord tnhiegn Nyozyr lnoss uie hoar! _

**Dragon Tears**

**I: Age of Man**

**By: OmegaGear**

**V**

**~ The Knock and the Call ~**

I breathed slowly as I peered down from a tree that broke the canopy of the forest. Below me, about a mile to the east, the faint orange glow of a fire could be seen.

For over two weeks, I had ridden my drakhorn eighteen hours a day, stopping only to get water, if it was at all possible, and to sleep. Eating wasn't too hard while riding as long as I slowed the pace a little, and my drakhorn could survive an entire week off of a medium sized animal. Finally, I had found the trace I was looking for.

A light rain had caused their prints to mold into the damp dirt, leaving a clear trail, even at night. Within a day of following their prints, I spotted a camp site they had abandoned after the night, the burnt remains of their camp fire still smoking.

I was lucky that their more southern route kept them in the forest. Although horses were faster than drakhorns, they couldn't take advantage of that speed in the forest.

By gazing at the stars at night, I guessed that the princess and her escorts were heading directly to Wyndia, the capitol of the Wyndian nation. On foot, the journey would take well over two months, but I didn't think it would stay this way. More likely than not, they would probably stop at Winlan and finish the journey on an airship, leaving me behind to trek back to Astana, six weeks away by that point.

I guess I hadn't really thought this through, because after following them directly for nearly a week, I hadn't made any moves towards any sort of plan. Still, something beckoned me to continue my pursuit of the princess.

I blinked out of my deep contemplation of my situation when a bright blue glow appeared next to the orange one. The glow was unlike any I had seen before, far from the usual green of pure chrysm, or the purple of its refined form.

As the glow became brighter I noticed that the sky had become darker. I looked up and realized the entire sky had been overcast with black clouds. The forest around me also became dreary. Cold winds howled through the trees while the air became stagnant.

I climbed down from my perch on the tree and pet my drakhorn on the side of its neck three times. I whispered something in its ear and it growled quietly, understanding that it was to stay while I checked things out.

As I turned and began walking through the trees, I felt a weight begin to bear down on me, ever so gently. I wouldn't have noticed it, except the back of my head began to pound as well, becoming louder as I got closer to where the blue glow was.

**- x -**

I sat and stared into the camp fire as Myn stood up. For the past week he seemed a bit distracted, although he still commanded his unit and the journey to Wyndia as well as ever. He began to have us set camp earlier and leave the next day later. Our pace was changed every few hours for no reason at all. Were we being followed?

I had no way of telling, but I wasn't really trained to pick up on followers when escaping hostile territory.

Myn didn't talk much at night, even less than he usually did, which wasn't much. He seemed content with keeping whatever he was thinking to himself and letting the rest of us follow him clueless.

As I tried to think about what was going on, the wood in the fire crackled and burning embers floated upwards. I followed the winding dance of the embers to the sky and noticed that the once blue expanse had become black.

Beyond the camp fire, I noticed that Myn had surrounded himself in an orb of energy. I had seen him do this before, and assumed it was some sort of meditation, although he had always stopped whenever I saw him in the past. Now, he was doing it, despite my presence, which made me wonder again.

I decided it was best to leave Myn to whatever it was he was doing, because it was something that only guardians did, obviously. I leaned back against a large stone as rested my head on my hands as my wings draped around my arms.

"Your majesty?" one of the Ludian's that was escorting me with Myn asked for my attention.

"Hmm?" I looked over to where the man called me from and saw a man of medium height. He was a by-the-book Ludian in terms of appearance; tan skin, dusty brown hair, and light brown eyes. "Yes?" I asked, wondering what he wanted to speak to me about.

"I was wondering…" the man hesitated briefly before continuing. "What is your Guardian doing?"

"Myn?" I asked for confirmation, although it wasn't really necessary. I never called him "my guardian," so it took a split second for me to realize he was talking about Myn. "I have no idea," I answered.

**- x -**

The invisible weight that pressed down on my shoulders became heavier as I continued to slowly advance towards the strange glow. I could feel my chest heave as I slumped my shoulders and allowed my head to drop. It felt like my feet were dragging through thick mud, but all I could see beneath me was pure black.

By now, the pounding had reached a volume that dominated my ears, preventing me from hearing any of the sounds around me, leaving me open to any ambushes that may have been lying in wait, but still, I advanced.

Time began to appear to slow down as the forest stretched into a darkness that consumed me. The weight that was pressing down on me was suddenly lifted, and I felt as if I had left my body. My legs couldn't feel the ground they walked on and my arms felt like they were a second behind from where they really were.

I suddenly heard whispers in the distance, but could see nothing as I looked for the source of them. All I could see was the eternal darkness that had swallowed me and the eerie blue light that beckoned. The pounding at the back of my head seemed to melt into the darkness as well, becoming a distant rhythm.

The voice I had heard so many days ago spoke to me again, repeating the same words as before, but I still could not understand them.

"Ycbhomy uieh arryh jsocy. Syt at jsiv saky tny zolt lyol. Msoac tny lkayl ar uieh ohcl. Ord tnhiegn Nyozyr lnoss uie hoar! Is what it said. Over the past few weeks, I had been able to remember it more clearly, although it didn't help me get any closer to discovering what it meant.

The voice was that of a female. That much, I was sure about. It spoke calmly, like it was reading something rather than saying what was on its mind. The same four sentences, over and over again.

As I continued walking towards the light, I entered a trance. The beating had become silent, as did the voice. Now, all I could hear was my own breathing. I don't know how much time had passed, but when I finally regained complete control of myself, the light expanded, showering me with white.

As the light blinded me, I heard the voice whisper to me, "Ryu ij tny Ryong."

**- x -**

I awoke from my light staring trance as I heard the boom of thunder. The ground shook gently beneath me and white light engulfed the entire camp.

The wind became a cyclone as it swept through. It blew out the camp fire and lifted the remaining embers into the sky. The black clouds that had blanketed the clear sky faded away, allowing the full moon to peer at us once again.

As the wind died down, I opened my eyes to see that Myn had stopped his strange meditation. I had seen him stop before, but it was usually more graceful. I guess that's how it ends, rather than how it stops.

Some of the Ludian companions had taken positions around me, but looked relaxed after they also realized that the phenomenon was just Myn ending his meditation. They all turned their attention towards Myn when the sound of a stick snapping was heard.

Beyond Myn, where he was gazing, I saw something break through the shadows of the trees that encompassed our camp. I suddenly felt nervous, and my hands began to sweat. My wings had become unusually stiff, and my face felt as cold as ice. Breathing became a chore as my throat turned dry as sand and my lungs felt heavy.

The figure that had broken through the shadows beyond our camp walked forward slowly. As it walked beneath the light of the moon and stars, I could just make out its silhouette. It was a man whose shoulders were slumped and its head lowered like they were carrying a great weight upon them.

My heart began to beat faster and my breaths became quick, shallow spurts. Something about what was happening didn't feel right to me. I thought that maybe Myn had linked with me again, but I couldn't delve I into his senses, so I was feeling this anxiety on my own accord.

When the man's face was finally visible, I wasn't too surprised at who it was. After all of the anxiety that had suddenly gripped my senses, I had a feeling that it would be him. "Ryu…" I whispered to myself. I was wondering why he had come to us.

Over the past week, I had come to suspect that we were being followed, and Ryu must have been, but why reveal himself so suddenly? Was he not alone? Were there others with him?

If there were other waiting in the trees or the shadows, Myn gave no sign of knowing they were there, which he most likely would. Myn could sense the auras of living creatures around him, so sneaking up on him was nearly impossible.

I watched and listened from where I was sitting, worried about what may transpire between Ryu and Myn. My anxiety increased as I could only conclude that this would end in Ryu's death, but Myn interrupted that assuredness when he spoke. Myn never spoke to people he was about kill.

"So, you did hear them after all," Myn said, sounding a little pleased. It was the most emotion I had ever heard out of him, and it sounded sadistically amused.

Ryu didn't answer, but appeared to be taken completely by surprise at Myn's voice. He fell back a few steps and looked around frantically as he reached for something at his hip. I couldn't see too well from where I was sitting, but knew that he must have been reaching for his sword.

Myn didn't react to Ryu's sudden defensiveness and remained calm with his hands resting at his sides. "So quick to act…" Myn lifted his right hand to his hip and placed his palm on the butt of his sword's handle. "Is your inner beast answering the call?" he asked.

I didn't quite understand what he was talking about. Did he mean the primal instincts that all humans had, or was he talking about a more warrior-like meaning?

Myn didn't seem to understand either, as he still refused to talk, but was more composed now. He must have been able to recollect his wits while Myn was talking.

Myn grinned, sounding a little nasty. "Your silence… says so much to me…" he said. Myn pulled his sword from its sheath and rested the flat end on his shoulder.

To this, Ryu reacted. He pulled out his sword; a long, double edged sword. Taking the handle in both of his hands, Ryu bent his knees and prepared to attack or defend at any moment.

"So tell me… Ryu," Myn trailed off. He rocked his blade a bit, letting little veins of lightning crawl along its edges. I was a bit shocked that he knew Ryu's name, but assumed that he had somehow acquired that piece of information while linking with me over the past few days.

Ryu looked equally surprised, and I could see him twitch a little at hearing Myn call him by his name.

"How does it feel?" Myn asked.

There was a long silence as Ryu stood there giving no answers. I remained as quiet as possible, not wanting to miss anything that was happening. By now, the ludian guards around me had also taken to watching the event continue, probably hoping to catch a glimpse of a guardian in action. I had no desire to see Myn kill another person, especially not Ryu. I didn't know why, but I didn't want to see Ryu get hurt.

"What?" Ryu finally asked in return. He sounded unsure of himself, but also hostile to let us know his guard was not down.

"You know what I mean," Myn said. "Ryu… Ryu ij tny Ryong," is what Myn had said. A language I had never heard before, especially from him.

I swallowed the dry lump in my throat. I didn't understand what was going to happen between these two, but I knew that it had something to do with what Myn had told me about having a lot to learn and understand about this war.


	6. P'ung, the Storm, and the Sky

_The time will come,_

_When the world will change._

_He will rise,_

_And we will again return to the sky._

**Dragon Tears**

**I: Age of Man**

**By: OmegaGear**

**VI**

**~ P'ung, the Storm, and the Sky ~**

My head was spinning when I finally woke up. I don't know how long I was out, but it was long enough for night to pass me by. A burning golden light was flooding my eyes when I opened them. I had never witnessed such an intense light. Was I dead? Had the princess's guardian killed me that night?

I tried to move from my position, but was immediately welcomed by intense pain all over my body. Obviously, I was still alive.

"Oh, you're finally awake," a girl's voice said. I tried to look over to where the voice came from, but was again stopped by my soreness.

"Ugh," I tried to speak, but my voice seemed to be weak as well, leaving me effectively paralyzed.

"I wouldn't try to speak, if I were you," the girl said. She sounded sincere, yet sarcastic at the same time. My vision was beginning to clear when the girl leaned over me and removed a towel from my forehead. All I could see was her silhouette through the light.

"W… where… am I?" I managed to rasp through my throat. Speaking hurt almost as much as moving, so I decided to keep any talking to a minimum.

The girl replaced the towel on my forehead, which cooled it quickly. "You're on the airship Elina," she said.

An airship. That would explain why the light was so intense. We were probably flying over the clouds, letting the sun hit us straight on.

"We're currently heading for the city of Wyndia," she said. I heard footsteps leading away from where I was lying and then a pause as a door opened. "We should be arriving in three days."

I heard the door shut and assumed that the girl had left. I tried once again to move, struggling against the constant pain. Finally, I managed to prop myself up on my elbows. The first thing I noticed is that I was no longer wearing my military uniform. In fact, I was wearing nothing except my boxers. The rest of my body was a patchwork of bandages and medical wrap.

I slowly looked around the room I was in. It was a lot more extravagant than I was expecting it to be; certainly more so than a prison cell. The walls were made of wood, and had cloth drapes hanging over them from the ceiling. Three windows lined the outer wall, all of which were open. A large blue flag hanging by the windows had the crest of Wyndia on it.

The furniture in the room was also made of fine wood. A small coffee table stood in the middle of the room on top of a blue carpet surrounded by three chairs and a couch.

Based off of my surroundings, I concluded that I must be traveling in a royal family airship, and not a military airship. That would also explain why the sound of chrysm engine was muddled by the sound of propellers. This was the first time I was riding on a royal class airship, but I had read about how they had decorative propellers to emulate the old style and beauty of the first airships.

I noticed that the three windows in the room were open, allowing a cool breeze to flow into the room. The breeze felt nice on what part of my body wasn't bandaged, particularly my face. I sighed and lay back down, unable to do anything else in the situation I was in. I began to wonder what would happen to me upon arriving at Wyndia, and slowly drifted back to sleep.

**- x -**

When I returned to the bridge Myn glanced at me from where he was standing. "He's awake," he said.

How did he know that Ryu had woken up? I contemplated this as I walked over to the main viewing window at the front of the bridge. Since we were on a royal class airship, the entire bridge was surrounded by a ring of giant windows instead of steel plates and electronic viewing screens.

When I gazed out the windows at the endless expanse of the sky, I could hear some odd wailing in the distance. I can't describe what it sounded like, only that it was beautiful.

Myn walked over to my side and placed his hand on the window we were looking out of. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"What is it?" I asked, wondering if Myn knew what the sounds were.

Myn trailed along the length of the window with his fingertips and smiled. "It's the song of P'ung Ryong," he said.

I watched Myn's hand move over the glass and noticed some shadows ahead of us. "P'ung Ryong… the god of the sky?" I asked.

"That's right," Myn said. "The larwi sing the song of P'ung Ryong whenever she's nearby."

"Nearby?" I asked.

Myn nodded and pointed out of the window. "Look," he said.

I watched as strange, whale-like creatures broke through the clouds. There were at least a dozen of them around us, filling the entire ship with their song. The larwi glided threw the air with their long wings, which looked like fins the way they were positioned and shaped. Their orange bodies shined brightly in the noon sun, which was hanging at the same level we were flying at.

The larwi circled around our airship, leaving trails of cloud vapor in their wake. One of them turned around and looked back at us. It looked curious, the way it was staring at us, but it didn't seem to be threatened. Myn smiled, "At'l cy," he said.

The larwi chirped and returned to its brethren, continuing the song of P'ung Ryong. I watched them sink back under the lower layer of clouds while listening to their song. "What are they saying?" I asked.

"I cannot say," Myn said. He walked over to a seat next to the command chair and sat down.

The captain of the ship nodded as he did so. The captain was much older than I. His hair had become a more dusty shade of blonde with time, and his skin was rough from years of military service. He stood over six feet tall and had a large build that made him appear more intimidating than he really was at his age. Being the captain of a royal class ship, he was probably close to retirement.

"You'd better sit down, your highness," he said. "We'll be entering the storm soon."

"The storm?" I wondered. I walked over to the seat on the opposite side of the command chair as Myn's and sat down.

"Yes," Myn said, glancing out ahead of us. I followed his line of sight and saw a giant black cloud getting closer. It looked very uncharacteristic of the blue sky we were flying through, with barely any clouds in view besides that of the storm.

"Tell the rest of the ships to come in close," Myn said.

"At once," the captain said. "You heard him."

"Yes, sir," a man said at the communications station.

As the comm. Officer relayed his orders, Myn addressed my question. "The storm is in reference to the area of the sky that P'ung Ryong occupies. An expanse of black clouds filled with the eternal storm that embodies P'ung Ryong."

"An eternal storm that travels across the sky…" I had never seen such a storm.

"It doesn't travel very far," Myn clarified. "Have you ever heard of the P'ung Tap?"

"Only, vaguely," I admitted. I knew that it was where Myn was blessed by P'ung Ryong, but had no idea what the structure looked like.

"It's a tower to the east of Wyndia," Myn said. "P'ung Ryong never wanders too far from there, and his storm is always filling the tower with energy."

"Filling the tower with energy?" I had heard of a tower that Wyndia drew power from. Was it the same tower as the P'ung Tap?

"That's right. It's the same tower that the nation of Wyndia uses to power their machines."

"I don't get it," I said. "How can P'ung Ryong's storm always surround the tower if she leaves the sky above it?"

"In time, you'll learn that there's more to the gods that govern nature than their physical forms," Myn answered.

I was going to ask him to explain right there, but suddenly felt the entire ship shake gently as a rumbling noise overtook that of the chrysm engine and the propellers. I looked out the front viewing window and saw the edge of the storm spread over us.

Once we entered the area of the storm, I was amazed at what I saw. Black clouds swirled like the waves of an ocean. Purple and blue bolts of lightning struck in every direction from point to point amongst the clouds. Bright flares lit up the clouds as random bolts exploded. Although we were flying through the darkest clouds I had ever seen, the open air within the storm was well lit by the constant pockets of light left behind by lightning bolts.

"Raise the electron charge field," the captain ordered. An officer behind us acknowledged his request and activated the field.

The majority of the power in the ship was shut down in order to manipulate a charged energy field around it that would repel lightning charges. As I watched the clouds pass by, small ripples spread across the invisible field as lightning bounced off of it. The two escort ships followed suit, activating their own fields.

"Power to life support systems is holding steady," the engineering officer reported.

"If this storm is so dangerous, why are we flying through it?" I asked.

"Because, flying around it would take too long," Myn answered. He spread his arms to give his explanation some visual flare. "The storm spans over a thousand square kilometers, and is at least ten kilometers from its base to its peak. You might remember such a giant storm over the valley that the battle you witnessed took place in?"

"The battle I witnessed?" I knew what he was talking about, but didn't quite remember the details of the storm. Indeed, the storm had lasted for days with no end in sight, but I hadn't given it much thought. "That was the storm of P'ung Ryong?"

"Indeed it was," Myn said. "I've never seen it move so far away from the P'ung Tap…" he trailed off. Myn sounded a little concerned about the storm being so far away from the tap. "In fact, it's been over a century since it last left the tower…"

**- x -**

I awoke from my light slumber when the ship suddenly began to rock. Light no longer showered my face through the now shut windows, and when I got a glimpse of the outside, all I could see was an endless sky of black clouds throwing blots of lightning at each other. The darkness that filled my room was frequently replaced by white flashes of light from bolts and explosions.

I had never seen such a violent storm, yet it felt oddly familiar to me. I could hear strange wailing in the distance. It was rhythmic, almost like a song. The song brought a calm feeling to me, like I was safe in this storm, despite its ferociousness. I started to hum along with it, setting its tune into my memory.

The song almost seemed to make sense to me. As I continued to hum its tune, something began to from in my mind. I couldn't quite bring it into focus, but it was slowly becoming clear.

The image I was trying to form in my mind as I hummed along looked like a place. It appeared to be high in the sky, but it wasn't on top of a mountain. It was bigger than any city in the entire empire, and looked too grey and lonely to be something built by one of the alliance's nations. It was completely alien to the world that I knew.

I lost track of the vision when the song was interrupted. Whatever was singing out there had started crying out something far more diabolic. It sounded like fear.

**- x -**

"Hmm…" Myn tapped his foot as he glared out of the front window.

"Is something wrong?" the captain asked.

"The larwi…" he began to say, but stopped as he stood up. Myn walked over to the front viewing window and placed his hand against it.

"What's wrong with the larwi?" I asked. Since entering the storm, I hadn't been able to hear them singing anymore over the rumbling of thunder.

"They've stopped signing," Myn said. "Listen…"

I tried to listen closely, but couldn't hear anything over the noise of the storm. Suddenly, my senses were expanded as Myn linked with me. I felt like was outside of the ship, in the storm itself. The wind and the clouds whipped past me as Myn searched for the larwi, taking my mind with him. Finally, I heard the larwi, except their song had turned to what sounded like cries of alarm.

"What's going on?" I asked.

Myn removed his hand from the window and returned to his seat. "There's something out there," he said. "Helm, reduce speed to twenty percent and transfer engine power to the chrysm ether pulse."

"Roger," the helmsman said.

"Is something wrong, sir?" the captain asked form his seat.

"I believe that there is danger nearby," Myn said plainly.

"I see…" the captain said. He fell into silent contemplation, and then turned towards a man to his left. "Tactical, prepare the chrysm ether pulse," he ordered.

"Sir, using the chrysm ether pulse could cause the field to lower," the man at the tactical station claimed.

"I understand the stress that using the pulse will put on the generator, but we have no choice," the captain insisted. "Is the pulse ready?"

There was a brief moment of silence as the tactical officer got to work. After about a minute, he answered "CEP is ready, sir."

"Right…" the captain turned forward and scanned the clouds ahead for any visible danger. Bolts danced in front of us, bouncing off of the force-field surrounding the ship. "Contact the other ships and tell them to change to yellow alert."

"Roger," the comm. Officer said.

"Fire the pulse," the captain ordered. His voice was calm and steady, even though we were taking measures that could lead to battle. He raised his right hand and threw it forward with its index finger pointing straight ahead as he gave his command.

"Firing," the tactical officer said.

The ship shook slightly as the pulse was detonated from the power generator. The hum of the wave almost sounded like a drum beating once and echoing through the walls. A pale purple pulse wave shot out from the ship and into the storm. The pulse caused the storm clouds to ripple as it passed through them. The CEP was an airship's version of sonar. Unlike water, air let sound waves flow too easily for any feedback to be detectable. CEP worked by highlighting any energy charges the pulse came into contact with.

"Scanners read over a hundred energy signatures, sir," the tactical officer reported. "There's too much interference from the lightning storm to be able to discern any sort of energy signature coming from a manmade object."

"What about the force-field?" the captain asked.

"Energy flow to force-field is holding steady," the engineering officer confirmed.

Myn looked over to the engineering officer. "Keep an eye on those energy readings," he said. "Tactical, fire another pulse and have the scanners make a map of the energy signals."

"Roger," the tactical officer said.

Another pulse flew through the clouds. A screen to our side displayed a map of yellow dots signifying all the energy signatures it came into contact with. The captain and Myn looked at the map for a moment.

"Again," Myn said. A new map was displayed, showing another random pattern of dots. "Again." Another new map was made. "Again," he repeated. This continued for a minute until Myn told him to stop.

"Did you see something, sir?" the captain asked.

"Scroll through the maps, one each second," Myn said.

We watched the screen as the maps were scrolled through. The dots scattered randomly, but within fifteen seconds, one dot could be seen moving alongside us, about 700 meters to our left.

"Looks like we have a stalker," Myn said grimly.

"Examine that energy reading," the captain ordered.

The tactical officer began working on isolating the signature. He read out the data he received as he continued to investigate it. The information didn't make much sense to me, since I didn't study mechanics at all at the castle. My attention was captured by his conclusion though. "My estimates show it to be a carrier class ship."

"How did something that big penetrate so deeply into Wyndian territory?" The captain asked. He seemed to be talking to no one in general and had his head resting on his palm with his finger tapping his cheek.

The comm. Officer turned from his console and lifted his headset. "Sir, the other ships are requesting your orders," he said.

The captain was silent for a long moment. He kept glancing back at the map, which was now drawing out a calculated path of point that was determined to be the ship. The point kept within our scanner map, moving along with our own direct path. "They know we're here…" he said. "We don't the fire power needed to take on a carrier ship…"

"Myn? What are we going to do?" I asked. I was scared. I had never been inside of the storm of P'ung before, and now we were about to engage in combat within it.

Myn smiled when he heard my question. "Don't worry, your highness, we won't die here," he said, sounding very sure of himself. He got up from his seat and straightened his coat. "We cannot fall. Not while we're in the storm, under the eye of P'ung Ryong, my master. Helm, full speed ahead! Order the remaining ships to follow at our flanks!"

"What?" The captain asked, shocked at Myn's orders. "Are you sure you want to do that?"

"We have no other options," Myn said. "Quickly, or slowly, battle is the outcome."

"I guess you're right," the captain admitted. He turned to the helmsman and nodded. "Make it so," he said.

"Roger," the helmsman replied

I tensed as we accelerated. I could feel myself get pushed back into my seat by the force of the ship picking up speed, and was amazed that Myn was able to remain standing.

The ship started to rock more violently as it was battered by more turbulence from the surrounding storm. My entire body was shaking with the ship, causing a disorienting feeling in my head as my brain began to get rattled.

"Increase power to the field," the captain ordered.

The engineering officer transferred additional power to the field, as ordered. The ship began to fly more smoothly as the field absorbed the impacts from the deflected lightning bolts better and cushioned the ship.

"Have all personal assume their battle stations. I want the main cannons ready," the captain said.

The comm. Officer began directing the ship's crew into complete battle operation mode. I glanced over to the tactical station at a map of the ship. There were several small lights, one in each section of the ship. As each section reported in, and confirmed that they had completed their preparations for combat, the corresponding light would turn green.

The royal class ship we were in was far from a warship, and paled to the might of a carrier ship, the largest war airships in the imperial fleet, but it still was capable of defending itself.

"Sir, the escort ships have confirmed that preparations are complete," the comm. Officer reported.

"Tell them to hold their fire until my command," the captain ordered. The comm. Officer did what he was told and the captain looked over to Myn. "Well, guardian?"

"Right," Myn responded. He looked upwards to the left as a giant bolt lit up the entire sky before us. A giant shadow could be seen for just over a second as the light of the bolt began to fade. "There it is…"

"Sir, scanners are picking up several additional power sources joining the carrier ship's path!" the tactical officer exclaimed.

"What!" The captain walked over to the tactical station and bent over the main monitor. I looked over at him from where I was sitting and waited for him to look at what the tactical officer had brought up. "Damn…" he cursed. "They must be gunships… an entire fleet of ships…"

"The carrier ship's power reading is increasing!" the tactical officer began to work on his console as the situation continued to develop. I couldn't see what he saw, but I felt the same dread he was giving off. "Estimates are beyond what our scanners can understand!"

"That's impossible!" the captain exclaimed. "There has to be some kind of mistake… the energy readings of the ships must be getting confused as one," he said desperately.

"They've changed direction!" the tactical officer exclaimed. "They're heading directly at us!"

I looked forward as the shadow in the clouds over us had become visible in the lingering light of the storm now. It was far bigger than even a carrier ship. I became frozen with fear as the shadow grew larger and the clouds surrounding it began to break up as it neared their edges.

"Order all ships to open fire at that shadow!" the captain shouted.

The ship rocked violently as the main cannons fired. I was thrown from my seat and landing next to Myn's feet. He pulled me up and I watched as giant shells flew into the clouds and lit them orange and red as they exploded upon impacting whatever was making the shadow.

Myn's hand tensed around mine as the shells exploded, and he spun around towards the captain. "Order them to stop!"

"What?" The captain asked, looking absolutely baffled by Myn's request.

"Order the ships to cease fire!" Myn shouted, elaborating on what he wanted to be done.

The captain stood at the tactical station. He looked completely confused, and didn't move before a third barrage of cannon fire shook him out of his trance. "Cease fire," he said to the comm. Officer, sounding very reluctant.

"Roger, transmitting orders," the officer replied, sounding equally as disappointed.

The ship became completely still once the cannons stopped firing and we all stood in silence. An alarm began to beep at the tactical station and the officer shouted. "The target is right over us! We're going to hit it!" he said.

Everyone ducted where they were or grabbed onto a part of the room as they braced for impact. Myn held me tightly to his chest as he stared at the shadow just ahead of us.

The ship shook and a loud roaring sound filled the bridge as a massive whale looking creature with large tusks broke through the clouds and passed in front of our ships. It was much bigger than the larwi I had seen earlier. Several larwi also broke through the clouds overhead, following the larger creature.

The giant creature and the larwi vanished into the storm clouds below us, and our ship settled.

"What… what was that?" I asked, still shaking.

"That was P'ung," Myn said. His embrace around me loosened, and I could breathe a little easier.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief that what the scanners were reading was really the god of the sky; the native god of Wyndia. "Stand down red alert," the captain ordered lightly.

"Still…" Myn spoke softly as he released me completely. He looked at the shifting clouds where P'ung and her larwi had flown from and appeared unsatisfied. "Why did they sound so distressed?"

As if it heard him, a large black ship descended from the clouds, nearly ramming us from above. Myn took hold of me again and dropped to the ground, using his body as a shield for me. As we landed, he wrapped an arm around the back of my head and pressed it against his shoulder. I couldn't see anything that was happening, but the sounds were real enough for me.

I could hear the captain screaming out orders and the clamor of people at consoles as battle maneuvers began. Over their voices, the sounds of the main cannons and the hull taking fire rattled my ears. I could feel the firing of the Vulcan cannons against the back of my head.

I suddenly felt weightless as the ship dove deeper into the storm. I heard the helmsman yell for everyone to hang on as we began to turn sharply. Without anything to hold onto, I slid across the floor with Myn on top of me.

Finally, we leveled out and Myn got off of me. When I got to my feet I nearly fell down again as the ship was jolted by an explosion. Myn caught me quickly and supported me as we got back to our seats.

"Captain," I beckoned. "What's the status of the situation?"

"We've taken heavy fire, your highness," the captain said. "Our escorts are in good shape, but a royal class ship just isn't meant to…" the captain couldn't finish his sentence as another explosion rocked the bridge.

"We have a hull breach!" the tactical officer reported. "Captain, the field is failing. We can't remain inside of the storm at this rate!"

"Damn…" the captain slammed his fist on the armrest of his chair and grits his teeth. "How far is it to the base of the storm?"

"It's impossible to tell," the tactical officer admitted. "At least two kilometers…"

The captain was silent at hearing the situation. I looked out the front viewing window as infantry fire bounced off of it. The two escort ships were positioned in front of us now, standing between us and the enemy ship.

It was larger than our escort ships combined, and certainly had more firepower. Its entire body was made of black steel. Like most airships of the current age, it no longer needed a helium balloon to maintain flight, but had the same type of body anyways. The balloon portion of the ship above the actual vessel shaped like a torpedo with a point at its nose that extended nearly an entire body length past the front of the ship. The back end had giant fins on each side to assist in turning. The fins themselves were made of six giant steel arms, with then plates held between them to catch the wind.

The main body of the ship was build like a normal sea fair ship, except along the sides of the back half were giant tubes. Those tubes were probably the thrusters that moved the ship forwards and backwards. Along its bottom, four giant saucers protruded a little past its belly. The saucers were glowing blue and had electricity spinning around them like the turbines of an engine. I recognized them as the electromagnetic floatation engines that were created half a century ago for specific use in war ships. They were what allowed ships to fly without helium balloons. On each side of the ship, a massive wing protruded from the main body at a 45 degree angle downwards. These wings were used to keep the ship balanced, but were probably loaded with weapons.

The sum of its parts made the warship look very menacing. Indeed, it looked almost demonic in nature, striking fear into my heart as it floated before us. The lightning of the storm served only to make its presence more threatening.

Our escort ships continued to fire on the ship with their main cannons. Small explosions appeared on the hull of the ship, but no serious damage seemed to have been done. There was a moment of silence as the escorts reloaded, and that was when the imperial ship showed its superior power.

A giant cannon at the tip of the ship's belly fired a single shot on one of the ships. A fireball bigger than anything we could throw back at it flew through the sky and struck the ship on the right, engulfing it in fire.

"Sir," the comm. Officer yelled as the escort ship began to sink as explosions tore it apart form the inside. "The Wynn is going down."

"Damn…" the captain cursed. "Tell the Bais to keep out of that main cannon's line of fire!"

The Bais, the other escort ship, shifted its position so that it was no longer directly in front of the imperial ship, and out of its main cannon's reach. As it glided sideways to its new position, it continued to fire its machine guns, but the hale of bullets were of no use against the giant ship.

The imperial ship humored the Bais by returning fire with its own machine guns, which must have been quad cannons by the looks of its firing rate. The Bais held up against the light arms fire, but the imperial ship unloaded a new weapon.

It was something I had never seen or heard of before. A bright red laser, almost too thin to see from the distance we were at, shot from the tip of the nose of the balloon section and sliced through the Bais. The Laser snaked around the Bais's outer hull, until stopping at a point that took it through the center of the rear half.

"What the hell is that?" The captain demanded.

"Unknown!" the tactical officer said. "There are no known records of an airship using any weapon that matches the description of the one we're seeing."

"What about the Bais?" the captain asked. He turned to the comm. Officer and yelled, "Report!"

"The Bais reports no external damage from the unknown device. All systems are functioning at acceptable levels," he said.

"Captain!" the tactical officer yelled. "Something's happening! The source of the laser's energy reading is increasing!"

We all turned to look at the enemy warship. The source of the laser grew bright and fired a giant blast of energy that slid down the laser like a cart on a track. The blast spread around the Bais upon impact. Sparks of energy traced around the hull and vanished into the body of the ship, but no damage seemed to have been done.

"Report!" the captain yelled.

"The Bais's energy readings are normal," the tactical officer reported.

I sighed. I was fearing the worst when I saw the energy spread over the ship like a net.

"Something's not right…" Myn said, almost too quietly for me to hear.

"Hmm? What was that?" I asked. I looked over to Myn, who was staring determinedly at the two ships locked in combat. The Bais was firing its main cannons again, but the imperial ship was completely silent.

"Wait…" the tactical officer brought our attention to a small alarm on his console. "The Bais's energy core is increasing its output beyond its peak levels!"

Before anything else could be said, the Bais exploded. The explosion was larger than any I had seen; at least ten times the size of the ship itself. Beyond the flames of the explosion, only small piece sof burning debris could be seen. The entire ship was completely destroyed, leaving no chance for any survivors.

The Elina shook violently as the shockwave passed through us, but no damage was received. Another tremor went through the ship soon after, accompanied by a loud clanking sound.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Damn…" the captain cursed. "They've locked their anchor into our side."

I looked up to see the imperial ship coming in closer. With it nearing our position, its size became even more dominating. It was almost as big as a carrier class ship.

Lights could be seen blinking along the wings of the sip. At first, I thought they were the warning lights meant to be visible at night so that other ships wouldn't run into it, but they soon revealed themselves to be spot lights.

The spot lights scanned over our ship and filled the bridge with white light that nearly blinded me. I shielded my eyes with my arm, and tried to look around the room, but couldn't bear to open them.

The floor began to shake as the ship came in close, its engines vibrations resonating through our ship. I heard a loud clank as the ship docked with ours.

"They've docked," the tactical officer reported.

"We're being invaded," the captain declared. He got up from his seat and looked over at Myn. "You'd better get Princess Nina to an escape pod," he said.

"We'll see," Myn said.

"It's your duty to protect the princess," the captain reminded him.

"Yes… but they won't kill her," Myn replied. "Something's not right…"

"Whatever," the captain said. "We've done what we can. She's under your protection now." The captain walked over to the communications station and hit a button. He leaned over and yelled into the receiver. "We're being boarded. All hands prepare to engage in hand-to-hand combat," he said.

As everyone on the bridge began preparations for battle, Myn grabbed my hand and brought me to my feet. "Come, your highness," he said. "We have to go."


	7. The Nameless One

_This is a tale of war between friends._

_Destiny challenged us,_

_And so we chose to end the world_

_In order to meet our mortality._

_There was nothing to regret._

_Nothing..._

**Dragon Tears**

**I: Age of Man**

**By: OmegaGear**

**VII**

**~ The Nameless One ~**

I fell onto the floor as my bed flipped onto its side. The ship had just been hit with something, and it wasn't a lightning bolt. I could tell from the sound from outside that the ship I was on had engaged in combat.

I tried to get back up, but my body couldn't provide enough strength to push itself up. I rolled onto my back so that I would at least have an easier time breathing.

The ship rocked and swayed constantly, if not by attacks, then by the storm. I could hear the wooden shell breaking off of the metal body as more explosions rocked it. The pristine beauty of the ship was probably long gone now, revealing the grey manufactured body beneath. At least this ship was anew one. Had it been a true antique vessel, it would have fallen to the first shot.

I felt my body float from the ground and suddenly went tumbling into a wall as the ship took dive. I felt like I was being pulled apart when I hit the wall. My bock sent a sharp pain through my entire body, causing me to jerk in reflex. My reflex, in turn, caused great pain in my ribs and chest. As I grabbed my chest, I fell forward to the ground again, and remained there, wallowing.

"What the hell are they doing?" I asked myself, cursing at how much pain I was in.

I could here several footsteps pass by my door along with voices shouting commands to each other. I tried to call out to them, but before I could even formulate a word, my throat burned from trying to shout out loud.

The sound of metal bending and colliding together echoed through my chamber. The ship shook for a moment and then settled into the gentle vibrations of the passing storm. The activity outside of my room continued, and the fuss became clearer with the battle at a halt.

"Prepare for boarding!" someone shouted. "Everyone, to the cargo hold, now!"

A bunch of people shouted that they understood and the footsteps disappeared down the hall beyond my door. There was a moment of silence until I heard more footsteps approach my door. They were much slower, probably walking, and didn't seem to carry the urgency of the others.

The footsteps stopped outside of my door, and I could see the shadows cast by their feet in the open crack at the bottom. There were at least two people out there.

"Why are we stopping here?" A voice asked from outside. It was a girls voice; the princess? I couldn't quite tell, since the voice was muffled by the door, but it was definitely a girl's, and I couldn't imagine another girl besides the princess being onboard the ship.

"I want you to stay here, with the boy," a man replied. No doubt about it. That was Myn, so the girl must be Princess Nina.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because, you'll be safe," he said. The door opened slightly, letting me hear them more easily. I could see Myn's hand on the knob from where I was lying on the ground. "I'm going to the other ship."

"Alone?" Nina asked. "No way!"

I heard a groan and the door shutting. "This is not open for discussion, your highness," I heard Myn say through the door. "This isn't a normal battle."

"Which is exactly why I want to come along!" she yelled back. "You said so yourself I needed to learn more about this world and what's behind the war. This is my chance!"

I waited for Myn's reply, interested in what was going on to cause such an argument. He said that this wasn't a normal battle. What was so special about it? I continued to wait, but no answer came. I looked over to the door and saw that the shadows were still near the crack, meaning they hadn't left yet.

Instead, the door swung open with a screaming princess falling through the opening. I watched her fall to the ground and roll over as the door shut behind her. "You can't do this!" she screamed. "I order you to open this door!"

Princess Nina got to her feet and ran to the door. She tried to turn the knob, but it had been locked. "Myn, do you hear me!" she asked. She pounded on the door with her fist a few times, but no answer was returned. "Damn it…" She turned around and brushed off her dress. "Why won't he let me come along… huh?"

I smiled weakly when she noticed me. I could do much, as my body was too weak to really move on its own, so I probably looked kind of stupid as I laid there, with my chin pressed against the ground and my butt reaching for the stars.

"Oh, my god!" Nina explained. "Ryu!" She ran over to me help me up to a sitting position.

I groaned as she moved my body, eliciting more pain, but at least I was sitting now. "Thank you, your highness," I said.

"Are you alright?" she asked sweetly. I couldn't help but feel a little bashful. I wasn't used to being around pretty girls, since I had spent most of my… "Mature" life in the military. I watched as she checked my bandages and wraps for anything that needed attention. Her touch was warm, bringing a sense of comfort to me.

"Yeah…" I said finally. "What's happening?" I asked.

"We're being boarded by an imperial ship," she said. Nina stood up and walked to the doorway. I saw her aura glow red as she cupped her hands together and summoned a ball of fire. The room was filled with the orange glow of fire and I could feel the heat on my skin. Nina twisted her hands around the ball and threw her arms forwards, throwing the ball.

The ball flew into the door and exploded. Stray sparks of fire and ash floated to the ground while the smoke from the spell settled into the air. When it cleared enough for me to see again, there was a large hole in the doorway and the Princess standing near it. "I guess you won't be joining us in Wyndia after all," she said.

**- x -**

I felt a little guilty after I left Ryu's room. He was in pretty bad shape, and probably needed someone to watch over him while the battle took place, but I had to see what was bugging Myn so much.

I rounded the last corner leading to the cargo hold and stopped by the sealed door. I could hear gunfire as well as the sounds of melee weapons. There was constant shouting and crying, but I couldn't make out anything that was said.

I froze as I touched the doorknob. There was no telling what was going on inside, and I would immediately become a target for the imperials to capture.

Taking a deep breath, I swung the door open and ran inside. I found myself on the upper deck of the cargo hold, which was nothing more than a walkway that traced the entire room. The deck below was at least thirty feet down.

I looked around at the activity in the massive chamber. Imperial troops were scattered around the lower level in battle with a group of guards. A dozen soldiers ran across the walkway in front of me preparing projectile weapons to provide support while a final group of men were shouting at each other in front of some kind of giant suit of armor.

The armor suit was humanoid in shape, but was far too big to be for any human clan. It was about as tall as members of the ox or shell clan, but too small to fit their wide frames. Its head was as wide as its actual torso, making it look pretty ridiculous had it not been for the menacingly shaped eyes. It had no hands at the ends of its arms. Instead, it had what looked like cannons, but I had never seen cannons that small before, and they were too big to be projectile launchers.

"Get down!" a man shouted from behind me.

"What?" I asked, turning around. I saw a green flash and dropped to the ground with a yelp as a chrysm blast flew over me and hit the wall. I was tossed to the ground and nearly fell off of the walkway by the explosion of the chrysm blast.

"Your highness, what are you doing here?" a man asked me.

I coughed as I got to my feet again and forced an eye open to try to find the source of the question through the smoke. "Who's there?" I asked weakly, still trying to breathe clearly.

Before I could get an answer, I heard a man scream and others cry out in shock or fear followed by a loud thud. Someone shouted for everyone to fall back and requested for cover fire from the left side.

I walked forward to see what they were so excited about and nearly fell in horror at what I saw. A giant at least ten feet tall was advancing from the Imperial ship. It was wearing a giant suit of armor that was the imperial dark blue. Its shoulders were wide while its torso was thin by comparison. Its short legs gave it a low center of gravity and sturdy position on the ground. Its feet looked more like hooves the way they were shaped. Besides its already impenetrable armor, a massive shield was carried on its left arm. The helmet it wore completely covered its face.

"Firing!" a man shouted. A group of four men fired their projectiles, one after another. Small balls of flaming metal flew at the giant, but it was able to dodge the attacks by side stepping quickly or blocking with its shield.

When the firing stopped for the men to reload, it charged forward at the men on the ground. They all scattered to avoid its rampage, but not all of them could escape in the cramped area they were taking cover in. I heard screams and the sounds of bending metal and shattering wood as the living tank threw men aside.

"Damn it!" A man next to me cursed. "That sentinel's tearing them apart! What's the hold up with the raptors!" he shouted.

I wondered what he was talking about. Raptor was a term I wasn't familiar with outside of the classification of birds. Surely we didn't plan on using birds against this giant he called a sentinel?

"This is raptor four," a man said. His voice was mixed with static from a radio. "All systems are go."

"Then get the hell out there!" The man shouted. He was leaning over the railing and pointing at the ground where the sentinel was while looking over to the left where that strange suit of armor was sitting before.

I say was, because the space was empty now. I heard the sound of engines firing up and saw the giant suit of armor take flight and land on the ground floor across the way from the sentinel. "What the…? It's alive?" I asked. I was astonished at what I saw.

No one paid any attention to me, and focused on the battle. "Clear everyone out of the ground floor!" a man shouted. He was swinging his arms wildly to direct everyone to the left side where the raptor was. "Raptor four, engage!"

"Roger that," the armor suit said. It moved a little slow when compared to the sentinel, but at least it was big enough to withstand its brute force. The raptor began circling to its right as it fired its main guns, which appeared to be chrysm charge blasters by the looks of the green projectiles.

The sentinel replied by also circling to its right, keeping a safe distance away from the raptor. It didn't fire back, but the imperial troops behind it did. Their small arms fire didn't seem to affect the raptor, while the sentinel blocked the troops from the raptor's shots. It was a complete stalemate the way things were going.

"I don't have time for this…" I hissed through clenched teeth. I looked around and pointed at the man shouting orders at everyone. "You there!"

The man paused in mid command and looked over at me. "Your highness? What are you…"

"Never mind that!" I shouted. "Where's Myn?" I asked.

"Myn?" The man looked over towards the breech in the hull. "He crossed over to the imperial ship a while ago."

"He did…" I said. I wasn't too surprised that he went there. He didn't seem too alarmed about the boarding and was more concerned about something that didn't feel right to him. I had decided that I needed to cross over to the imperial ship, but didn't see how. The opening to the ship wasn't directly protected, but was constantly covered by the crossfire between the raptor and the imperial soldiers. I had to do something rash.

"Your highness, please return to your quarters," the man asked me.

I ignored his request and stepped onto the railing looking over the lower deck. The men around me shouted for me to get down, but I had already decided on what I would do. I spread my arms and fell forwards with my wings spread. No one on the lower deck noticed me when I landed at the far end from them.

I tilted my head up to assess the situation. I had a straight path to the opening leading to the imperial ship. The raptor and several guards were on the left side of the cargo chamber while the sentinel and imperial soldiers were on the right. Both sides seemed content with using their giants as shields while they unleashed harmless small arms fire every now and then.

I remained crouched while I chanted a fire spell. The sounds of the battle around me fazed into a distant hum as my energy flowed through my body and into my right hand. It began to feel warm as the flames formed together into a small orb.

I lobbed the small fireball into the air, and waited for my chance. No one noticed the small ball as it whirled through the air with a quiet whistle. The ball exploded into a bright flash of fire and light that was much greater than its sound. The occurrence caught everyone off guard, giving me my chance to make a break for the door.

I sprang from my crouching position and began sprinting as fast as I could. I became completely absorbed in my run; the sound of my feet against the steel floor, the pounding of my heart, and the steady rhythm of my breaths. I saw the imperial soldiers take aim with their weapons out of the corner of my eye and lost my concentration.

My feet got tripped up as I froze in mid step. Everything started spinning while I fought to regain my balance. My instincts went crazy as sparks nibbled on my body while stray bullets flew past me in all directions. The clamor of my feet became a lout echo as I came to a crashing halt inside of the imperial ship, unharmed, much to my amazement.

I took a moment to catch my breath and let my heart slow down. Although the imperial ship's docking bridge had a direct opening to my ship, I could barely hear the battle going on beyond it.

The imperial ship was strangely silent. Besides the humming of the various machines throughout the vessel, nothing could be heard. Dim blue lights lined the hallways as I began to search for Myn. They barely illuminated the area around them, making it difficult to see too far ahead of me.

I heard the faint sound of something impacting into another in the distance. I wanted to call out to see if it was Myn, but thought it better to remain silent and not alarm any imperials that may have been nearby.

As I reached the end of the corridor I found myself inside a large chamber of some sort. The dim lights along the ground were nowhere to be seen, and the only source of illumination was a single flashing red alert light in the center of the ceiling. The air felt cold and stale, leaving me with a bad feeling in my stomach.

Giant objects filled the chamber, almost looking like walls, since they reached over my head. I ran my hand along one of them. It felt as cold as ice.

I heard something shuffling to my right and froze. I could hear someone stepping very slowly towards me as well as a faint hum that got louder as the person approached. As I continued to watch and listen for the person, I heard another pair of footsteps walking just as slowly.

I wanted to move, to hide, but knew they would hear me if I even breathed normally. It didn't help that the air in the chamber seemed to be getting colder.

I wiped my forehead and nearly gasped in shock. My body was warm, even though it felt cold, like it was swimming in ice water. This chilly feeling was like nothing I had experienced before. The colder and staler it got, the more it made me think of death.

I heard voices now. One sounded like Myn's, and the other was that of a woman. I couldn't understand what they were saying from where I was standing, but it didn't sound very friendly. I was just glad they weren't imperial guards that had spotted me.

The footsteps stopped, and I decided to take a peek out of curiosity. I slowly crept towards the edge of the giant wall-like object I was standing against and looked around it with the corner of my eye. I could make out two figures. The one closer to me was definitely Myn. I'd know that white robe anywhere. The other person, the woman I had been hearing just then, was much harder to spot. She was wearing something dark, because I could only make out her face from where I was. They stood, facing each other, ready for battle.

I was surprised to see that the woman was using the same stance as Myn. She stood with her off-foot forward and her off-hand reached outward with its palm open, as if to grab or repel something. Her right leg was bent, carrying most of her eight while her right arm held her sword over her head with the blade pointing towards Myn. The stance was purely offensive, and required a lot of physical training just to use because of the strain it puts on your favored arm.

Seeing her choose the same stance increased the feeling in my stomach ten fold.

The two charged at each other, letting their swords meet as they both swung downwards. The woman was able to stand toe-to-toe with Myn as they tried to force each other back while their blades were locked.

Myn threw the woman back with a mighty heave that sent her sword to her side and left her open. But even with Myn's fast actions, the woman was able to recover, and defend herself as he charged at her with a flurry of attacks.

Myn's legs crossed over each other in a complicated set of movements that almost looked like a dance as he forced the woman to retreat to the edge of the chamber. With her back to the wall, I thought that Myn would win for sure. He swung at her chest, but his wrist was caught by her left hand.

As fast as she had blocked him, the woman punched Myn in the stomach and sent him staggering backwards, allowing her to take the offensive. The woman's motions were as elegant as Myn's, and even faster. Her strikes looked overwhelming, but Myn was able to remain calm as she drove him back towards the center of the chamber.

Now I could see them without peeking around my hiding place and saw the woman more clearly. Her skin was very fair, a sharp contrast to her black hair and auburn eyes. Under the flashing red light of the alert, I could just make out her clothes every now and then. She was wearing a skin tight dress that went about a third of the way down her thighs. It looked to be as black as her hair, save for the patterns along its bottom and sides, which were some brighter color. There were plates of armor on her shoulders and forearms, but other than that, she didn't seem protected.

Upon reaching the center of the chamber, the woman stopped her relentless barrage and took a moment to relax her stance a little. Myn did the same, and the two began to circle each other, which they must have been doing while I was listening earlier.

This was the first time I had ever seen someone able to match Myn move for move. Ryu was able to survive that fight with him before, but that was more about power than any skill. This woman was able to meet every attack with both skill and power that was equal to Myn's, if not more so.

Myn took a small step forward and made a feint stab. The woman reacted by sidestepping his attack, but Myn was ready. With no power in his stab attempt, Myn was able to spin around and attack her from behind easily.

The woman caught her mistake and leaned forward while she dropped her sword behind her to block Myn's attack. Using the force of his swing as leverage, the woman vaulted backwards into a spinning flip and landed to his side. Before Myn could react, the woman hit him with a quick jab from her left hand. She followed with her own upwards stab that just barely grazed his face as he fell back.

Myn rubbed the cut on his cheek briefly and then threw an open hand that seemed to reach for the woman. Lightning appeared from his chest and crawled up his arm until it shot form his hand.

The woman flinched as she caught the lightning in her left arm, but seemed to absorb it with relative ease. Smoke rose from her arm as they both stood still, glaring at each other.

"Fine…" the woman said coldly. "If that's how you want to do it, Myn," she reached up with her left hand and said, "I won't hold back anymore."

"Won't hold back anymore?" I whispered to myself. She had been holding back?

The woman began to glow very faintly. A dark purple light surrounded her as something formed in her hand. Myn also charged his left hand with energy. Electricity crawled all over his body as he continued to feed his left hand.

Myn formed a circle of light with his left hand and threw all of the energy through it at once. The many bolts of lightning all formed into one giant bolt as they flew through the circle and shot towards the woman. The woman bent down on her knees and planted her hand on the ground. The entire ship shook as whatever had formed in her hand traveled through the floor and burst outwards. It looked like darkness itself as it consumed Myn's lightning bolt and split into countless tentacles.

Myn jumped backwards and side to side as the tentacles all went for him, exploding into nothingness as they collided with the ground, or any objects in their way. His right arm was tied up by a few of them, and he was brought to the ground, where the rest of them bound him.

I suddenly forgot about the danger in being spotted and called out for Myn as I stepped out form my hiding place. The woman locked onto me with her gaze and I froze as Myn began to glow a bright white. With a triumphant cry, Myn tore the darkness that bound him with a giant wave of energy that filled the room with blinding light.

As Myn got to his feet, the woman continued to glare at me. Her eyes held no contempt for me, but had the look of death in them. I began to feel numb as they pierced me with their gaze. Her eyes seemed to look through me, like I was nothing, and perhaps that's what I was to her; nothing.

The woman returned her attention to Myn and grinned. She sprinted towards him and they locked blades once again. The woman lifted her sword form the embrace and swung again. Myn followed her attacks, blocking and parrying each time. It looked like a stalemate until the woman caught Myn with a horizontal slash followed immediately by her left fist. Myn caught her sword with his, but didn't see her left hand following it.

Her knuckles hit him in the side of the face, causing him to lose his concentration. The woman took the opportunity to throw his blade up, leaving him completely open. She followed that with a downwards slash as she bent her knees and got as low as she could. The blade cut through Myn's robe, but didn't seem to touch his flesh. The woman turned the downwards slash around and made a quick horizontal attack that cut Myn's leg. Myn fell backwards and dropped his sword.

The woman got up slowly and sheathed her sword while she laughed. "You never did have what it takes," she said in Wyndian tongue.

Myn gave no response, and got to his feet with a look of defeat on his face.

The woman turned back towards me and smiled coldly. "I'll let you live this time. We have what we came for."

I looked behind me as I heard several footsteps. I saw several imperial solders carrying a man followed by the sentinel that had been rampaging in the cargo hold of my ship. The man being carried was Ryu.

I tried to reach for Ryu, but was shoved aside by one of the soldiers. Myn remained where he was as they carried Ryu to the woman.

One of the soldiers and the woman spoke to each other in imperial tongue. Afterwards, the woman nodded and they began to carry him away past Myn.

"Stop," Myn muttered. He got to his feet slowly and kept his sword out. "The boy comes with me," he said.

The woman laughed. "You're in no position to give me any demands, Myn," she said. She walked over to where the soldiers had stopped and motioned them to continue. Now she stood between Myn and the retreating men. "I won our fight, remember?"

"But," Myn started to talk, but was cut off.

"Don't give me any of your destiny bullshit," she said sharply. The woman began to follow behind her troops down a corridor leading deeper into the ship as she continued to talk. "I have my own reasons for coming for this man."

Myn lifted his sword from the ground and yelled back at her, "I won't let you take him!" Myn began to glow again, brighter than ever before. His arms spread like they were praising or preaching while his mouth sang out almost harmonically. All around the chamber, more voices joined with Myn's, singing a single note together, causing the entire ship to shake as he continued to glow brighter.

I couldn't see anything past Myn, but heard the woman through the singing. "Fool! You'd kill us all for the sake of your stupid prophecies!"

Myn didn't give a reply, except for signing even louder, almost becoming a war cry among the other voices. Then, another voice sang out, singing a different note than Myn and the other voices. This voice must have been that woman's.

As the energy was released, I was thrown back by an intense wave that sent me into the wall near the hallway that led towards my ship. Upon impact, I only felt pain for an instant. After that brief moment, everything turned to nothingness.


	8. The Mark of Kings

_When light is at its dimmest, it will appear._

_No man, beast, or machine is above it._

_All must bow before its power._

_It is supreme over all._

**Dragon Tears**

**I: Age of Man**

**By: OmegaGear**

**VIII**

**~ The Mark of Kings ~**

I ran through the rain soaked streets, searching desperately for something, but I didn't know what. The city I was in was unfamiliar to me. The buildings reached into the skies, piercing the clouds and into the storm. The streets were much wider than even those of the imperial capitol, with more than enough room for an airship to land. As I continued to run through the unfamiliar territory, I looked frantically for something I'd recognize. There was nothing.

The signs were all written in some strange language that didn't look even remotely familiar to me. While the imperial and allied nations had their fair share of languages, they at least used the same twenty-six character alphabet. The signs in this city used symbols I had never seen before.

Lost in my confusion, I rounded a corner of an alley and stopped for a moment. I bent over and rested my hands on my knees as I caught my breath. While the rain was coming down hard, I was under the cover of a small canopy and could see my reflection in a puddle.

My face looked a little older than I had remembered it to be, and my clothes weren't those of the imperial military. I was wearing a thin grey chest plate over black clothes with red shoulder and leg plates.

"What…" I mumbled in shock as I touched my face. I ran my fingers down my left cheek to see if this was real, and I felt everything. My hands were covered by gloves and guards that were of the same fashion and color of my outfit. I looked at the palm of my right hand as some stray raindrops landed on it.

"What… what is this?" I asked out loud. I looked around me for anyone that could tell me any information, but the alley was completely deserted. Come to think of it, all the streets I had passed up to this alley had no other people other than myself.

I felt completely lost, and began to feel afraid. Nothing made any sense, and all I could do was scream. I pulled my arms back and screamed at the top of my lungs; a terrible cry that echoed through the empty streets.

I kept screaming until my lungs could exhale no longer. I stared up at the sky with angry eyes as the rain drenched my face.

I lost track of time as I stared at the falling rain and the bolts of lightning stretching between the high-rises of this foreign city. Strangely, I thought I could hear something besides the sounds of the storm; something much calmer than the forceful rain and violent rolls of thunder. It sounded like children singing in a church, except it was very distant from me.

I immediately left the alley I had occupied for so long and looked for any signs of the faint chorus. I could see no sort of activity worth noting, but had a feeling. Something in my heart told me to run towards a building that I could make out on the horizon.

The building was a massive tower that nearly reached the black clouds. I couldn't make out any details from the distance away I was standing, except for the four spires at the corners of the otherwise flat roof.

Suddenly, the singing that I thought I had heard earlier appeared right behind me. Although the voices of the children still sounded distant, a single, female voice was loud and clear. It was a beautiful voice that sung a song with no words. It was just her singing with the sounds of her voice.

I turned around to see who the girl was and saw a woman a little older than I was, or possibly my age the way I looked now. Her skin was fair, with a slight pink blush on her cheeks. Her long black hair was tied into a single giant braid that ran down her back, except for two smaller braids along the sides. The two smaller braids were clipped to the side of her head, looped once to form almost a ribbon appearance from looking at her straight on, and then fell freely to her sides. Fairly long bangs covered her forehead, and blew past her orange-auburn eyes with the wind.

She wore a simple black dress with a thick orange stripe that began at her collarbone and went all the way to the bottom, which was about half way down her thighs. The left side of her dress extended much farther, reaching her ankle while the right side only went a little past her knee, and went around her back-side until it reached the long strip on her left. The top of the dress went a little past her shoulders. The baggy covering that became the short sleeves were black with orange stripes along the middle on the top and bottom.

She struck me as a very beautiful woman, but something about her gave me a strange feeling. I felt like I knew her, somehow.

"Do… do I know you?" I asked.

The woman stopped singing and looked at me with her graceful eyes like she had just noticed I was standing in front of her. I noticed that the other voices also became silent when she stopped her song. "Koalyh," she said softly.

"I beg your pardon?" I asked. What she said didn't seem to make sense. "Is that your name?" I asked, pointing at her. "Koalyh?"

The woman shook her head and pointed at me. "Koalyh," she said, a little more firm this time.

"M… me?" I asked, looking at my hands.

While I was busy trying to make sense of what she called me, the woman had stepped forward and placed her gloved hand on my icy cheek. "Koalyh," she said again.

I jerked away form her hand and grabbed at my chest when she touched my face. I suddenly felt a sharp pain, like my heart had just been shot. I dropped onto my knees and breathed through clenched teeth as my entire body began to succumb to shock.

I looked up at the woman with pleading eyes, unable to cry out to her for help. She didn't look the slightest bit concerned. All she did was stare at me with a small smile at the corners of her mouth.

Maybe it was mind going, or maybe it was a fragment of a memory, but I saw something at that moment. We were no longer in the city in the middle of the stormy night. We were in the blue sky of day. She was standing behind a broken window, staring with cold eyes, and I was falling with a wound in my chest.

**- x -**

The stone corridors of castle of Wyndia were cold, even though it was a warm day. I was walking through them slowly as I made my way towards the chapel of the great bird. I had been searching for Myn ever since I was cleared to move about freely, and was finally told that he was meeting someone in the chapel.

The chapel was a strange place to be meeting someone. It was a sacred place that was used only for ceremonies, and was never open to the public except for those times. Besides that, the royal family and those they give permission, can go there freely, although there's nothing there except for the crest of the great bird. I guess Myn wanted someplace quiet to meet this person.

I stopped at the large double doors that led into the chapel. The two guards there stiffened at my arrival and saluted.

"Uh…" I started. I felt a lump in my throat, and a little embarrassed. It had been months since I was in the castle and treated with such chivalry. "Has Mr. Donos arrived yet?"

"Yes, ma'am," one of the guards said.

"Okay," I replied simply. I began to open the doors slowly when something came to mind. "Oh, and thank you," I said, having remembered my manners.

The guards gave no hint of noticing my gratitude and continued to look like stone statues on their watch. I didn't want to bother them anymore, so I opened the door a little more and squeezed through the crack I had made.

Inside the chapel, the natural lighting through the stained glass windows formed an interesting pattern on the path that led to the crest of the great bird. I didn't see Myn or anyone else around the front near the crest, and began to wonder if they had already left.

"Princess," I heard Myn say from behind and to my right.

I squeaked when he took me by surprise and jumped around to look for him. Myn was sitting in the last row of seats next to another man, who I also recognized.

He also had the golden blonde hair of a Wyndian, as well as the fair skin. His eyes, however, were a captivating emerald color, instead of the typical light blue. His striking face was made all the more amazing by his simple clothes, which were limited to a white robe.

Like Myn and the other guardians, his face's age was preserved perfectly by his immortality.

"Oh, Sir Williams," I said while bowing. "I didn't know you were the one Myn was meeting here."

The man next to Myn chuckled at me. "Of all the people we've met in this century, you're the only one to still use our family names, Ms. Wyndia," he said, emphasizing my family name.

I felt my face blush with embarrassment, "I'm sorry, if it bothers you," I apologized.

"Not at all," he said. "It helps me remember them…" he said. "It was so long ago… but please," he urged me, "call me Yuri."

"Yes, of course… Yuri," I said, feeling a little awkward at calling him by his first name.

"We're very busy right now, your highness," Myn said coldly. His eyes were closed, and his arms were crossed. "What do you want?"

"Um… well, I…" I tried to form together my thoughts and a sentence that would explain what I wanted, but his seriousness caught me by surprise.

"Come now, Myn," Yuri said lightly. He put his hand on Myn's shoulder and chuckled again. "Is that any way to speak to the princess of Wyndia?" He looked at me with a childish smile and elaborated, "And your dearest child at that."

Myn didn't seem the least bit affected by Yuri's words. He sighed quite loudly and sounded annoyed. "She is not my child," he said, just as coldly as before.

Yuri laughed louder this time and took a moment to get under control. "That's true…" he said softly, "but as her guardian, the relationship is sort of like that, isn't it?"

Myn didn't answer the question, and only let out another annoyed sigh. His eyes were now tightly shut, like he was trying to block out what Yuri was saying.

"And after all…" Yuri said slowly. He was more serious now, and made sure his words were clear. "Is she not one of the children that will inherit the world?"

Myn made a choking sound and cut Yuri off by throwing his arm across his throat. "That's enough!" he yelled.

Yuri didn't show any sign of fear. His eyes were calm and steady, as was his breathing.

"Myn!" I begged him to stop.

"Such things should not be discussed with commoners present," Myn hissed.

"Commoner?" I asked. I was amazed that he had referred to me as a commoner. I wasn't prideful about my status as royalty, but I had no intent of being called a commoner. "Just what do you mean, commoner?"

Myn gasped at my question. His eyes looked a little scared, but then they had a look of sincerity. "Forgive me, your highness. I didn't mean to speak out of line," he explained.

"Oh, but you did," Yuri insisted. Myn looked even more depressed now, meaning that what Yuri said must have been true. "You were always afraid to let anyone mortal know about the powers that govern this world," Yuri explained.

Myn released Yuri's throat from his arm and slumped where he sat. Yuri took a moment to straight the neck of his robe before continuing. "But if what you have told me is true, then now's the time to reveal everything," he said.

Myn stood up and looked at me. He looked into my nervous eyes and then closed them as he tilted his face towards the ground. "Not everything," he said.

Before I could ask any questions, the door opened and a guard ran in before taking a knee in front of us. "Sir Donos," he said, "Dr. Elya sends word that the prisoner is awake."

"The prisoner?" I wondered. "Do you mean Ryu?"

Yuri stood up and stepped out of the aisle of benches. "It's time to go," he said.

Myn nodded. "Your highness," he beckoned. "Come with us, and you'll learn more about the world."

**- x -**

"Well," a man in a white long coat said as he took a seat next to my bed, "Before your guests arrive, I have a few questions to go over with you."

"I have guests?" I asked. I had just woken up from a nightmare, and my body felt like it had been dormant for days. I didn't recognize the hospital I was in, or the city outside of my window.

"Well, that's one way of putting it," the man said. He tilted his head and looked over his clipboard. After a few minutes of him nodding and mumbling to himself, he placed the board on a table and looked at me. "You seem to be fine, physically," he said.

"I feel fine," I said. I squirmed a little in my bed.

"Do you know where you are mister…" he paused and took another look at his clipboard, "Jenso?"

I looked around my room again. It was a pretty plain white hospital room with some newer pieces of medical equipment. I shook my head and said, "No, I don't."

"Well, that's to be expected," the man said. He stood up and walked over to the window and crossed his arms behind his back as he gazed outside. "You are in the city of Wyndia," he said.

"Wyndia?" I asked.

"Yes," the doctor nodded and turned back around to face me. "More specifically, Castle Wyndia, where the royal family resides," he said. "You're currently in the infirmary while your wounds heal," he finished.

"I see," I said as I took it all in. I didn't remember much after being captured by Princess Nina and her guardian, Myn. I remember waking up on an airship, but it came under attack and I lost consciousness soon after.

"Well, it appears that your guests have arrived," the man said. He got up and walked over to the door, but stopped before opening it. "I'll just let them in. If you need anything, just ask for Dr. Elya."

"Thank you," I said.

The doctor opened the door and shut it behind him quickly. I heard a few voices outside before the door was finally opened, and my so called guests entered. I wasn't too surprised. After learning that I was in Wyndia, I had come to the conclusion that my guests would be Princess Nina and her guardian. I wasn't expecting a third person however.

The third person in the group had a pretty simple white robe on. His features pretty much fit in with your everyday Wyndian, except his eyes. People with green eyes weren't too uncommon, even the princess had them. This man's, however, were a very deep emerald green, looking like gems themselves. I wouldn't have thought too much of it, except something about him felt strange. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but it felt like he was similar to Myn.

"This is the one?" the man asked.

Myn nodded and answered, "He's the one alright."

Princess Nina looked at the two men with a scolding glare and then smiled at me. "How are you feeling, Ryu?" she asked.

"I'm fine, thank you," I answered, trying to sound as sincere as she was friendly.

"That's good to know," Nina said, smiling happily. Although she sounded sincere, her face looked overacted, since she was probably overcompensating for the other two she was with. "Isn't it, Myn?" she asked the man next to her.

"Of course, your highness," Myn said, sounding a little sarcastic, or stuck up even. He looked over to the man next to him and offered him to step forward. "Go ahead, Yuri," he said.

The man beside him walked up to my bed and placed a hand on my shoulder. He pressed down firmly to keep me still, eliciting a groan from me.

Princess Nina tried to stop Yuri, but was held back by Myn when she attempted to reach him. "Myn, you have to stop him, he's hurting Ryu!" she exclaimed.

"Just relax, your highness," Myn assured her. "You wanted to learn more about the world, correct?"

"Yes," she agreed, sounding a little reluctant, "but not like this!"

"Don't worry, he won't get hurt," Myn insisted.

I struggled a little under Yuri's hold on my shoulder, but he didn't press any harder, so I began to relax. He placed his other hand on my forehead and took a deep breath. I noticed my forehead began to feel cool under his touch and suddenly my whole body felt like it was on air.

Princess Nina gasped in awe, and Myn let her step forward to get a closer look at me. I felt a little anxious with her staring at my face like that, but the overwhelming sensation that had consumed my body form what Yuri was doing covered any blushing that may have occurred.

I didn't understand what was going on, but it was important enough for Myn to want to show the princess.

Yuri removed his hand from my forehead and released his hold on my shoulder. "So it's true, then," he said.

"Yes," Myn answered. "After nearly three thousand years, the time has come."

"What time has come?" Princess Nina asked. "What was that on his forehead?"

"It's something that this world has not seen for three millennia," Myn said. "It is a mark that signifies nobility among those with dragon blood; the mark of kings."

"People that have dragon blood?" Nina wondered. "Do you mean the brood that legends speak of?"

"That's right, your highness," Myn said. "To you, they are men of legend; people with incredible power that only fantasies can imagine, but to us, they are real… or at least they were."

"What happened to them?" she asked.

"Well, it's a long story," Yuri said. It didn't sound like he wanted to tell it, either.

"Hey," I said, trying to get some attention. I was tired of being out of the loop, especially if the loop was around me. "Just what the hell are you talking about?" I asked.

Before either of the two men could answer, Princess Nina interjected. "When Yuri touched your forehead, a mark appeared," she said.

"A mark?" I asked. I didn't know what to think, or believe. In all my life, I never had a mark of any kind on my forehead.

"That's right," Myn answered. "You're probably wondering why you haven't seen the mark before," Myn half stated and half asked.

I wanted to take him by the shoulder and shake the mumbo jumbo out of him, but when I tried to move at that moment, my entire body ached enough to stop me. "Yes, I am," I said. I was trying my hardest to keep my temper in check. I didn't like how these guardians talked. It must have something to do with the fact that they've lived for so long.

Yuri seemed to be amused by how I was acting. He said, "I'll fill that one in." He took a moment to clear his throat, which annoyed me to a point. I noticed that Yuri liked to glorify things when he talked, from what little I had heard of him anyway. "There's plenty of time to learn all the facts later, so I'll just skip to the part you're interested in now," he said. "Your mark is a sign of power among your people. Your power, however, is spread out within us, the vessels of the Ryong. The reason it appeared just now, is because it was reacting to the power within me."

I thought about what he was saying; power among people, vessels, Ryong, and reactions. It sounded like something you'd hear about in a fairy tale or some crazy religion. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Yuri groaned in frustration and tapped his head while he thought. "Man, this is harder than I thought it would be," he said.

Myn laughed quietly and said, "of course it is. You think everything is easy." He walked up to me and placed his left index and middle fingers on my forehead. "I think it'd be easier to do it this way," he said.

"Hold on," I said, a little worried about what would happen this time. "Just what are you doing?"

"I'm going to link with you and give you understanding," he said.

"No way!" I protested. "I'll stick to normal means of communication, thank you," I said.

"There's no need to worry," he told me. "It won't hurt."

"I don't want to… link," I said.

"Come on, Myn," Yuri said. He slapped him on the shoulder and began walking to the door. "This is getting us nowhere. He just needs some time."

"Time…" Myn let the word hang in the air between everyone. He walked to the door and let Yuri out before turning around. "Let's go, your highness," he said.

Nina seemed to be taken by surprise, since she squeaked a little like she had been in some kind of trance. She ran over to where Myn was waiting and turned around before exiting. "I hope you feel better soon, Ryu," she said sweetly.

After the door shut behind them, I thought about what they had said. "The mark of kings…" I said to myself, repeating what Myn had called the mark that had appeared on my forehead. I touched my forehead with a bit of difficulty since I was still sore, and rubbed the spot Yuri had touched. "What does he mean?" I wondered.

**- x -**

"What was all that?" I asked as soon as we had closed the door behind us.

Myn and Yuri began walking down the hall back towards the stairs leading down towards the main floor without answering me. I ran to catch up with them and waited patiently for them to start talking. As we reached the stairs, they stopped and faced each other.

Myn crossed his arms and shook his head, and said "we don't have time to fool around."

Yuri sighed. "What's the rush?" he asked. "You know as well as I do, that the one who bears the mark of kings has a long journey ahead of him. He'll have plenty of time to learn everything as he goes along."

"I'm not worried about the boy accepting his destiny," Myn said. "There's something else we must deal with."

"What are you talking about?" Yuri asked. He sounded like he was completely surprised, but I had an idea of what Myn was referring to.

"It's that woman, isn't it?" I asked him.

I was talking about the woman Myn had been fighting inside of the imperial airship two weeks ago. I was knocked out when Myn and the woman were singing those strange chants. I don't remember exactly what had happened, except that the ship was shaking strangely, and their energy became so bright, I was blinded. Then, I was struck by an incredible force that first felt like colliding into a wall, and then like having the life sucked out of me. The next thing I saw was the ceiling of the infirmary room I had been placed in upon arriving at the castle.

"What woman?" Yuri asked.

"It was Yua," Myn said. She was the one that attacked us while we were coming here."

"Yua did that?" Yuri asked. "Why would she attack you?"

Myn closed his eyes. He seemed unsure, for the first time since I had known him. "I'm not sure," he said. "But, she it sounded like she didn't want to believe, anymore." Myn looked up at Yuri and said "it sounded like she wanted to find her own way."

"Find her own way…" Yuri repeated the last few words that Myn had said like they had some sort of importance.

"Excuse me, but who is Yua?" I asked.

Myn and Yuri continued to mew in silence like I wasn't even there. Whoever she was, Yua must be important to whatever it is that's gotten these two to act so strangely. It was obvious that they had some history with her, and I was beginning to suspect it went further than a simple acquaintance.

I was tired of being left out, especially after Myn said I would learn more about everything if I came with them. I decided that I could do more important things with my time and began to leave when Myn finally spoke up.

"She's a vessel," he said as I passed him to reach the steps.

"Excuse me?" I said, not quite understanding.

Myn turned towards me. "Yua is a vessel for a Ryong," he said. "A very powerful Ryong, and if she would turn against us, I fear that we don't stand a chance."

The words he spoke and the tone that said them left me with a hollow feeling. My legs felt like they were going to collapse beneath me, and each step down the stairs was a challenge. By the time I had reached the bottom, my legs were shaking under my weight, and I stumbled over to a nearby bench.

Upon taking a seat, I had a look around. I was in the main corridor of the barracks now, which lead to military quarters, armories, mess halls, and training centers. While the greater part of the Wyndian military was trained and deployed at bases outside of cities, each city had a small fort in it. The capitol's fort was actually part of the royal castle, where the royal guard was trained and stationed.

I bent over and breathed slowly while I waited for my body to stop shaking. I felt a breeze as various people walked by. They all mostly ignored me, since it was impolite of them to look upon royalty the wrong way, and most of them didn't want to find out what the wrong way was.

As I realized this fact in my life again, Myn's words slipped to the back of my mind. I sighed and propped my face up with my hands while my elbows rested on my thighs. Sometimes, I wish things didn't have to be like this. Everything around me was so serious, and had so many rules. Sometimes, I feel like escaping to a normal life, where I can speak to someone without them bowing, or averting their eyes.

"Hey!" I heard a child yell from down the hall. I didn't look, since I doubted it was meant for me and continued to stare at the ground a few feet in front of me. I heard footsteps running my way followed by additional calls. "Hey! Nina! You're back!"

"I know that voice, "I said to myself. I tilted my head to look over and saw a little boy, running towards me with his arms waving in the air to get my attention. His short blonde hair was longer than I remembered, but the last time I saw him was before I left the castle nearly six months ago to see what was happening at the front He looked a bit taller too, although he was still the same kid as far as I could tell. "Alexander, it's you!" I exclaimed, trying to hide my sadness with an overbearing happiness act.

I stood up as Alexander had just about reached me and met him with open arms as he hugged my legs. "I missed you, Nina! This castle is full of nothing but boring old men without you around!" he whined. He was rubbing his face against my stomach as he spoke, giving me a warm, fuzzy feeling.

"I'm sorry, Alexander," I said, rubbing his head while playing with his hair. "But I had to leave to make sure everything was alright outside of the castle."

"I know, Nina," he said, sounding a little less whiny this time.

He released my legs from his death grip and I kneeled down to look at him face to face. "Have you been keeping up with your practices?" I asked.

Alexander nodded cheerfully and punched invisible targets. "You bet!" he exclaimed while he continued to fight invisible enemies. "You're looking at the future leader of the royal guard!"

I giggled at his enthusiasm. Alexander has dreamed of serving the royal family as a knight ever since his family moved into the castle when his mom became a maid. His father had died three years before that while serving as a basic foot soldier.

"I bet I am," I said, playing along with him. While it was playing for me, I'm sure that Alexander was being serious. I was the only one that played along with him though, and am probably the only reason he gets lessons from some of the knights in the castle during their off hours.

"Alexander!" a woman yelled as she hurried down the hall. I looked over and saw that it was his mother. "How many times do I have to tell you, not to disturb her highness?" she half asked and half scolded him. "Please forgive the interruption, your highness," she begged while bowing to me. "He's just a child."

I smiled and raised my hand to tell her to get up. "It's okay, Julia," I said sweetly. "I don't mind at all."

"Oh, thank you, your highness," she said, sounding so gracious I felt like I had just spared her life or something. "Come on, Alexander, what do you say?"

Alexander pouted and said, "thank you, your highness."

I thought he was laying it on a little thick with the pouting, but it was kind of cute. "You're welcome, Alexander," I said. I gave him a peck on the forehead and let the two leave.

I watched them depart and sighed. It felt good to let myself go like that, if even for a brief moment. I looked out of a window and noticed that the sun had just about reached its highest point. "Wow, it's almost lunch time," I said.

I began to make my way towards the royal chambers, where my lunch was probably waiting for me at the same seat it always was at the royal table. I sighed again, because I realized it was going to be my first meal at the royal table since getting back. I had spent the last two weeks since returning to the castle recovering from my injuries and was fed inside my personal chambers. I was probably going to be looked down on and lectured a lot by my father and his many advisors.

"Well, I'd better prepare myself," I mumbled. I took a deep breath before opening the door that lead me out of the barracks and began the long journey towards my punishing meal.

**- x -**

A/N: Yeah, this chapter is a little bit boring, but I promise that the next one will bring back some action. I've gotten the meat of it done, and it shouldn't disappoint… unless you're expecting some apocalyptic battle between armies that number in the thousands. Then you'll be sadly disappointed.

The next chapter in particular is being written over many late night sessions, and each read through is bringing up more typos and errors than my tired brain can handle at the time. If anyone wants to beta read it for me, you can contact me on AIM at R0B0 KY. Just remember, those are zeros, not Os.


	9. Yua

_It is destiny that finds us._

_It is destiny that binds us._

_We cannot escape._

_We can only delay the inevitable._

**Dragon Tears**

**I: Age of Man**

**By: OmegaGear**

**IX**

**~ Yua ~**

It's been just over a week since Myn and Yuri first discussed that mark on Ryu's forehead, and ever since then, the castle has been in a state of unrest. The king, my father, has kept mostly to himself, pacing in his chambers or sitting in his throne lost in some kind of trance.

Myn and Yuri have remained near Ryu, discussing things between the two and continuing to try to speak with Ryu.

They haven't told me much else about the mark, Yua, or anything else they might be hiding, but I've decided to give it time. What they have told me makes it sound like something is going to happen very soon, and it's going to explain a lot more than they can.

Each day has gone on like a marathon of attrition. Not looking into each other's eyes, and keeping to our own business, even if it's something as trivial as preparing food. It was during that very task when I finally got a break.

"Nina!" Alexander cried out cheerfully as he came running into the kitchen. The boy was as high spirited as ever. Whatever it was that has caused everyone to hang their heads hasn't effected him in the slightest.

"Good evening, Alexander," I replied, smiling as best I could. I continued to stir the soup I was preparing as I spoke. "What brings you here?" I asked.

Alexander chuckled to himself at first and then leaned in for a closer look at my soup. "What are you doing, Nina?" he asked innocently.

"I'm preparing soup," I answered. "What does it look like I'm doing?" I wondered what could have puzzled him enough about cooking to warrant him asking about it.

"I know what you're doing," he said, "but why are you doing it? Isn't cooking meant for the maids and butlers?"

I laughed at his remark and nearly dropped my spoon into the soup. "You're so silly, Alexander," I said. "We have cooks and chefs to prepare the meals in the castle."

"Oh…" he said, taking in the new piece of information. "That still doesn't answer my question. Cooking still isn't your job."

I half laughed, half sighed at his words. "As a princess, I don't really have a job," I said sadly. I didn't want to make Alexander feel bad, so I immediately perked up and added "which is why I get to do whatever I want." I put my hands on my hips and made the best snob face I could.

Alexander laughed at my act and nearly fell down. "Well, okay," he said, "but why would you want to cook?"

I tasted the soup before answering and determined that it was finally done. I lifted the pot and placed it onto a pad on the butcher block and removed my oven mitts. "Because I enjoy cooking," I said.

"That's not true, Nina," he said. He sounded more like he knew it was something else rather than that he didn't believe me.

"What do you mean?" I asked. I put my hands on my hips again, except it wasn't an act this time.

Alexander hopped onto a counter top and took an apple from a basket. "I've been hanging around the barracks enough to hear a thing or two," he said while juggling the lone apple in his left hand.

"Really?" I asked, trying to sound curious. "And just what have you heard?"

"I heard that you've been preparing meals for that imperial prisoner all week," he said. He wasn't being judgmental, or mischievous. He was just enjoying himself.

"You wha?" I couldn't finish my sentence. How did he know? How did anyone know? I felt my face blush and cleared my throat while I turned around to hide it. I began fiddling with some random ingredients on the table in front of me to pretend I was busy.

"Ah, so it _is_ true," Alexander said. He sounded happy, like he had just uncovered a treasure. "Nina has a boyfriend!"

As much as my face had been blushing earlier, it must have been ten times worse now. I spun around and started screaming random denials while I flailed my arms around. "That's not it at all!" I yelled. My breaths were shallow, and my muscles were tense. I took a moment to clear my head and returned to the food I was preparing. "I'm just trying to make him feel comfortable," I said.

"Why?" Alexander asked.

"Because it's a nice thing to do," I answered.

"I know, but why be nice to an imperial?" he asked. "Aren't they the enemy?"

I put down the ladle I was using to fill a bowl with the soup I had just prepared. "Yes, they are," I said. "But that doesn't mean we can't treat them nicely."

"Well, if you say so," he said, sounding cheerful again.

I finished filling the bowl of soup and put it on a tray with a bread roll and a glass of milk. Dinner was usually served with some form of ale, but Ryu was still recovering, and was too young to be drinking that junk anyways.

"So, why did you come down here anyways?" I asked as I started to clean up the remaining ingredients I had taken out.

"Oh… yeah!" he said, sounding like he had forgotten. "Did you hear?"

"Hear what?" I asked.

"The airship Longiness is going to be docking here tomorrow!" he said. He sounded like a boy about to meet his hero.

"The Longiness?" I asked. "The ship my brother commands?"

"That's right!" he said. "He's coming home from the front, which must mean we drew the imperials back!"

"I suppose we did," I said, sounding satisfied, rather than happy. It was good to hear that my brother was coming home, but it paled in comparison to what Myn and Yuri were building. They seemed to believe that this mark was bigger than any war man could witness.

"Well, I'd better go take this to Ryu before it gets cold," I said, removing my apron and throwing it onto the butcher block.

I was about to take the tray and leave when Alexander stopped. "Hold on, Nina," he said. He took the apple he had been juggling and placed it on the tray. You can't have a meal without something sweet to finish it with!"

I giggled and rubbed the top of his head. "Thank you, Alexander," I said.

"Can I come with you?" he asked, sounding hopeful.

"Why would you want to come with me?" I asked.

"Oh come on, please?" he begged, completely ignoring my question. "I've never seen an imperial before!"

I thought about it for a moment. Ryu _had_ been more talkative each time I visited him, so maybe he wouldn't mind another visitor. "Well… okay," I said reluctantly.

"Yes!" Alexander immediately made a break for the door.

"But, you have to promise to be polite," I said.

"Don't worry, I will!" Alexander opened the door and held it for me while I carried the tray. He had the biggest smile on his face I had ever seen, and for once, all my troubles seemed to disappear. I returned the smile warmly and began walking towards the infirmary.

**- x -**

"Well, Ryu, it looks like you're just about done recovering," the doctor said. He was flipping through his clip board, as usual, and tapping a pen. "I should be able to clear you for release tomorrow."

I thought about that possibility for a while. "Where would I go then?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said. "Normally, you'd be sent to the prison, but I hear that you're a special case."

"I see…" I said. I looked towards the window at the setting sun and sighed. "A special case…" I mumbled to myself.

The door opened on the other side of the room and I heard Nina gasp. "Oh, I'm sorry Dr. Elya, I didn't realize you were doing a check-up on Ryu," she said.

"Not at all, your highness," the doctor said politely. "I was just finished with him."

I heard the door close and two pairs of feet make their way towards me. I turned around slowly to look, wondering who could have come with the princess. I was just hoping it wasn't Myn to feed me another lecture about the mark on my head.

Much to my surprise, it was a child that had accompanied her.

"How are you doing this evening, Ryu?" Nina asked, as she always did at this time.

I sat up in my bed and rest against the wall so that Nina could place the tray she was carrying onto my lap. "I'm doing much better, thank you," I said.

I took a sip of the soup and hummed my satisfaction at how it tasted. It was beef barley with carrots and freshly ground peppercorn, a spice the princess loved to use. "The soup tastes great," I said.

"Thank you," Nina said cheerfully. She smiled while I continued to drink my soup slowly.

I took the roll that was on the tray and tore off a chunk before spreading some butter on it. "So, who's the kid?" I asked.

Nina looked over to the child while I began eating my roll. I looked at him too. He was fairly young, and looked completely bewildered.

"His name is Alexander," she said.

"Ah, so he's not your younger brother," I said.

"What? Of course not!" Nina yelled jokingly. "You know I'm the youngest of the royal family," she said. Nina gave a little pouting face, like a spoiled brat would. "He's a child that lives in the castle," she said. "He wanted to come with me to visit you today."

I looked over at Alexander again. He looked like he was going to explode. "Is he nervous?" I asked.

"Maybe…" she replied. Nina placed a hand on his shoulder and rubbed it slowly. "This is the first time he's ever seen someone from the empire," she said.

I thought he was going to suffocate holding his breath like that, but he finally broke. "What do you think of Nina, sir?" he asked. He sounded pretty excited to ask that.

I must admit, I was a bit taken aback by his question, and it seems that Nina was too.

"Alexander!" Nina screamed while pulling him towards her by the shoulder she had been rubbing. "What are you doing!"

Alexander laughed like a child that had just pulled a prank, and perhaps he had done just that. I didn't know if I should answer or not, so remained silent as the boy broke free of Nina's grasp. He ran over to the other side of my bead and leaned in. He whispered, "Isn't she pretty?"

To this, I lost my concentration and blushed. Nina must have caught my reaction, because she was immediately on the other side of the bed and pulling Alexander away by the ear.

"Ow!" Alexander cried. "That hurts, Nina!"

Nina dragged the boy to the door and then opened. She positioned him in front of the opening and released his ear. "You little devil!" she cursed. Nina shoved him out the open door and shut it behind him. Nina turned around and let out a deep breath. She put her hand at her chest and just stood there.

"Um… your highness?" I asked cautiously.

Nina reacted by quickly asking "huh?" and then planting her back against the door in embarrassment. "Ryu…" she said. She hid her face from me and stood with her back against the door.

This silent battle went on for about a minute before I broke it by putting my spoon down. "The soup was delicious," I said.

Nina looked a little disappointed in what I had said, but smiled warmly after a brief moment. "Thank you," she said.

Nina dusted off her dress with her hands and opened the door. "I have to go," she said.

"Right," I replied. The air still felt awkward after that scene, and I think both of us just wanted to forget about it. "Goodnight, Nina," I said, calling her by her first name only, like she wanted me to.

Nina smiled with a slight blush in her face. "Goodnight, Ryu," she said.

After the door shut behind her I started eating the apple that was on my tray. I thought about what Alexander had asked me and chuckled to myself. "Yes, she is," I said in regards to him asking me if Nina was pretty.

My thoughts were interrupted when my forehead began to burn suddenly. I dropped the apple I was eating and felt my forehead with my hand. My hands didn't feel anything when they touched it, but it still felt like it was on fire.

As the burning became worse, I began to understand it, slightly. The pounding in my head, and the anxiety in my body; it felt like a warning of some kind. My instincts were on edge, and the tension in my body was building uncontrollably. It was like there was something, or someone, approaching. It felt like impending doom.

**- x -**

Alexander was nowhere in sight when I exited Ryu's room. That little rascal was really something. I'd never felt that embarrassed in my life.

I still felt a little flustered from what Alexander had tried to do. Sure, I liked Ryu, but it wasn't like that. I was just trying to be nice, like he had been to me when I was his prisoner. Even if it had been that way, I knew it could never be. As a member of the royal family, my fate was already sealed. I would be married to someone of prestige by the time I turned eighteen, and most likely it would be to the younger prince of Ludia, Enrique.

I sighed and started to walk. I didn't have anywhere to go in mind, so I just walked aimlessly for quite a while. When I finally decided to stop, I found myself in the central courtyard, where the royal garden was.

I walked around the garden and let the cool night sooth my body. I could hear birds chirping in the trees surrounding the garden and let their simple song fill my ears. For a moment, the birds were all I heard, and the wind was all I felt. For the first time since coming back, it felt good to be home.

"I'll have to show Ryu this garden," I said. I spread my arms and spun around in the cool breeze and looked up at the moon. "I wonder if daddy will allow me to show him around." The question was to myself, because I knew that Ryu was going to be released from the infirmary soon.

Daddy was strict with prisoners from the empire. Although he was a kind man, his idea of a lenient punishment was imprisonment for life. He never tortured prisoners for information, but I don't think life imprisonment was any better. I wondered if Ryu would have the same fate, or if Myn could convince him otherwise.

"Ah, It's you," I heard a man say from somewhere in the garden.

I looked around, but could see no one in the dim light of the moon and stars. I was going to call out and ask who was there, but heard a woman reply before I could.

"You don't sound surprised to see me," she said.

I tried to follow the voices. I made sure to walk slowly and make as little noise as possible. With no artificial lighting, it was easy to remain out of sight as I searched for the source of the voices.

"No, just happy," the man replied. He sounded familiar.

I rounded the corner of a wall of hedges and froze mid-step. I saw two people, not too far from me. One, unmistakably, was Yuri. He was no longer wearing the simple white robe, but his normal clothing. He was wearing what loosely resembled a suit, except that the coat was a bit longer, going halfway down his thighs, and his pants were less dressy. A green stripe about eight inches wide ran down the middle of his coat on the front and joined with another that ran from shoulder to shoulder and went around the neck.

The woman wasn't recognizable from where I was standing, but I could tell who she was. I had only seen her one time previous to this, and it was under the exact same circumstances. It was the woman that Myn and Yuri called Yua.

Yua was standing with her back turned to me and Yuri. She had her arms at her sides. Her fingers were wiggling slowly in pace with her shoulders, which rose and fell with each breath. She was looking straight ahead. "You know why I'm here, Yuri," she said.

Yuri stood in a more easy going position. His arms were crossed with his right shoulder resting against a tree. His feet were cross with all his weight on one foot while the tip of the other tapped the ground. "By any chance, is it to see me?" he asked. He didn't sound very serious, but also a bit hopeful.

Yua turned around, and I could see the anger in her eyes. I had never seen such hate filled eyes before. What had looked like auburn to me before now looked blood-red. "Shut up," she said with a sharp edge to her tongue.

Yuri stopped leaning against the tree and stood on both his feet. "You're as beautiful as ever," he said, sounding quite serious.

Yua didn't seem to sway the slightest bit by his flattery. "I've come for him," she said.

Yuri changed his tune right away. "So what Myn said is true," he said. He uncrossed his arms and stepped out of the shadow of the tree. "You're going to try to go against fate," he said.

"Fate?" Yua asked mockingly. "I have lived for over three thousand years, Yuri," she said. "Longer than any other vessel has." Yua pointed at Yuri as she continued her preaching. "I've seen more than anyone has, and I've seen this fate for what it is."

"And what exactly have you seen?" Yuri asked.

Yua smiled at his question. It was the kind of smile that had the taint of sick pleasure to it. "The day that the chosen one realizes his destiny, is the day this world will meet its end," she said.

Was she serious? She sounded like she believed in what she had said. And if it's true that she has lived for over three thousand years, then she is older than any of the guardians I know of. Yuri is the oldest in Wyndia, and he's lived for just over a thousand years. Could her long life have brought her wisdom beyond what the others knew?

"That was always a possibility," Yuri said, "but it is hardly his fate."

Yua stopped smiling and now had a sort of scowl. "It won't be, if I have anything to do with it," she said.

"And what are you going to do?" Yuri asked.

Yua smiled coldly again. Her eyes became slits as she tilted her head upwards and looked down on Yuri. "I will kill him," she said.

Yuri reacted to her statement by suddenly taking a defensive position. "I can't let you do that," he said.

Yua laughed as coldly as she had smiled. "You going to fight me?" she asked.

Yuri looked ready to swing, but continued to stay back. "If I have to," he said. He didn't sound very confident.

"I'm unarmed," Yua said. She wasn't scared with her lack of a weapon. I understood that she was calling Yuri on his honor.

"I don't have my weapon either," he said, answering her challenge.

Yua closed her eyes and chuckled while she shook her head. "Alright, it's your move," she said.

Yuri charged at Yua and swung at her face with his right hand. Yua ducked under his attack, which took him right over her head. She stood up and lifted him off of the ground as she sprang into a back flip that slammed him back down.

Yuri rolled back onto his feet as Yua finished her flip and spun around to keep her in sight. This time, Yua attacked. Her movements were wilder than when she was using her sword in her fight with Myn. She started with three quick jabs from her left hand that forced Yuri back a few steps. Before he could counter, she did a quick strike to his gut with her right hand that caused him to stumble. As he bent forward to roll with the punch, Yua pulled her right fist back a few inches and then launched it upwards into his chin with an uppercut.

Yuri was sent flying back from her uppercut, but managed to flip in midair and land on his feet. He bent down on his knees as he landed to absorb the impact and sprang off the ground at her. He assaulted her with his own barrage of fists, alternating his hands and points of attack to keep her guessing. Yua blocked and dodged with relative ease, and eventually was able to catch him off guard.

One of Yuri's punches went more to the side than the others, leaving him open. Yua dodged back and to her right while catching his wrist with her right arm. While holding his wrist, Yua leaned in and elbowed Yuri in the side of the head. As Yuri fell backwards from the blow, Yua pulled on his wrist and lifted him back towards her. As he reached her again, Yua connected another blow to his head with the hand that was holding his wrist. This time, Yua released his wrist and allowed him to fall, but finished her combo with a left forearm to his back.

I wanted to help, but knew that I could do nothing. I could do nothing for Myn back then, and I could do nothing for Yuri now. She was as Myn said, a vessel for a very powerful Ryong. I turned my eyes away as Yuri got up slowly, visibly in pain.

Yua waited for Yuri to get up, and looked ready to attack. Her knees bent, arm pulled back, and waist bent. She was in the position to put everything into one punch, and Yuri looked completely out of it. I couldn't believe that he could have been beaten so quickly. Yua leapt at Yuri as she brought her right fist around. This one punch was meant to end him now.

I screamed and ran out from my hiding place as I saw her fist about to connect. "No!" I cried, trying to shaker from her concentration. To my dismay, she did not seem to notice, but neither did Yuri. Yuri's entire body vanished into a white mist, and Yua fell right through it.

"What, what just happened?" I asked, although not loud enough for either of them to hear.

Yua got up and brushed the dirt off of her dress with her hands. She didn't look surprised or scared, only angrier. "Not even that can save you," she said.

I took a closer look, and noticed that the strange smoke still loosely held Yuri's form. The cloud began to weave itself together to better form his body, and Yuri soon appeared in full. "Even if you kill me now, I will have won," he said.

As angry as Yua was before, she was at least twice as angry now. Her fists were shaking with fury as she her face took on a whole new level of rage. "You will die!" she yelled.

Yua ran at Yuri and swung at him with a right hook, but again met thin air as he became white mist and glided harmlessly past her. He reformed behind her like a ghost and attempted to hit her form behind.

Yua didn't bother trying to turn around to see what was coming. She immediately back flipped as Yuri was becoming solid enough to hit her and vaulted over him. Now she was attacking from behind, and Yuri was still recovering from his missed attack to do his smoke trick.

Yuri blocked her first punch by throwing his left elbow back. While pushing against her fist, he twisted his waist and swung with the back of his other hand.

Yua absorbed his backhand with her shoulder and hopped back. Yuri followed her by spinning around in the opposite direction from before, and swinging his left arm into a back hand, which was blocked by Yua's right forearm.

The two of them broke contact and fell back a few steps while facing each other. Yuri began circling Yua slowly, always keeping his eyes on her. Yua followed his trial, but did not leave her placement. Without warning, Yuri ran at her, but did not attack. Instead, he allowed Yua to attack, and vanished into a cloud of white smoke as she attempted to punch him.

Yuri's cloudy form quickly flew behind her, but Yua followed him closely. As he reformed and attacked, she was already blocking, even with her back turned. Yuri reassumed his cloud form and floated through her.

Yua appeared to be catching onto Yuri's tactics. She was following the movements of his cloud form, like she could see his body before it formed. As he appeared in front of her, she was already turning her torso towards him and bringing her arms around to block. Yuri's right arm was locked by both of hers, which formed an x. She split her arms apart, throwing Yuri's hand into the air and leaving him open. As she struck at his chest, Yuri fell apart into smoke again. This time, he floated back quickly and reformed, with his hands holding onto her extended arm.

Yua froze for a split second, but quickly regained her resolve. She jumped up and used his solid hold on her arm as her pivoting point. Her body became horizontal to the ground and her right leg found its way around the back of his head. Yuri tried to sidestep to escape, but by not letting go, he limited his ability to move, and found his head locking behind her right knee. Yuri immediately assumed his cloud form, completely releasing Yua from his grasp.

Yua fell, since she had been relying on Yuri to keep herself propped up. Upon landing on her back, Yua spun both of her legs around like a helicopter propeller in a sort of break dance and used her hands to spring back up.

The fight became more frantic now. Yua was pretty much stationary, twisting and turning to follow Yuri's movements as he changed form solid to gas for only seconds at a time. Yua's attacks remained fast and accurate, but repeatedly met only the open air of his cloud form.

Suddenly, Yuri stopped circling around and flying through Yua with each move. Now, he kept retreating, allowing Yua to begin a string of attacks that flowed together like the steps of a dance. He reformed to block each move and the floated back another foot. After a low spinning sweep, Yua jumped into a spinning flip kick, which proved to be a mistake.

Yuri had been waiting for an opening, and this was it. He stayed in one place and let Yua's attack send her through him. As he materialized, he grabbed Yua's left arm and pulled her towards him. I thought that he had bested her, finally.

Yuri attacked her while he held her, but Yua blocked his right hand and then locked his left arm between her left arm and right elbow. Yuri struggled to break free, but was unable to escape her hold. He resorted to trying to kick her knee, but Yua met him move for move, blocking and locking his leg with her own.

With a quick twist of her shoulders, Yua sent him spinning to the ground, but Yuri evaporated before landing and floated upwards and around her. Before Yua could react, Yuri reformed behind her and locked his arms under her shoulders and behind her head.

Yua struggled for a moment to test his hold on her and then smirked. "Clever trick," she admitted.

Yuri didn't seem to be amused. "You knew from the start that I could do that," he said.

Yua laughed at his comment. "You're right," she said. The way she said that made me feel sick. She sounded like she had been toying with him, and that she had him in her power.

It looked like Yua was trying to wrestle free again, but I was wrong. She struggled to bend her knees and then flipped up, using his hold as a pivoting point again. Yuri continued to hold her to stop her from escaping, but that wasn't her intent at all. Yua bent her head back so that it was next to Yuri's and pressed her left thigh to her chest, bringing her knee right into Yuri's face.

Yuri immediately released Yua and rubbed his face. Yua landed gracefully and elbowed him in the stomach without any sign of thought. As Yuri fell forwards, Yua turned around towards him and caught him with her right hand. I couldn't see exactly what was happening from where I was, but Yuri seemed to be in excruciating pain. He was holding onto her right arm with both of his hands, and seemed to be tying to pull her arm away from him, but was unable to.

I heard a sick tearing sound as Yua twisted her arm slowly, eliciting a cry from Yuri. Yua brought her face to Yuri's and placed her mouth to his ear. She whispered something to him and then released him.

Yuri collapsed onto the ground and grabbed his chest as he assumed a fetal position. His whole body was twitching and his cries and groans were like madness brought by his pain. Yua stood over his defeated body with a cold look in her eyes.

"Uie morrit ltip cy," she said. Yua turned around to leave and I ran out to stop her.

"Wait!" I shouted.

Yua stopped, but did not turn around to look at me. "What do you want?" she asked.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked. I walked over to Yuri and kneeled by his side. He was still groaning quietly and grabbing the wound on his chest. When I looked at it, it looked like she had managed to tear into the flesh with her fingers. The pain must have been unbearable.

"What does it matter to you?" Yua asked. "You don't know anything," she said.

I was shaking now. I wanted to say so much, but I could feel myself losing control. I was on the verge of pouring out my emotions. What could I possibly say? What did any of this mean to me? At the moment, it meant nothing. I couldn't understand anything about it, let alone have it mean something to me.

This fate that caused Yua to act this way may not mean something to me yet, but I had something to believe in. "Why do you have to hurt everybody like this?" I asked. Tears had already begun to run down my cheeks. I wanted to wipe them away, but I was completely absorbed by my flood of emotions. "How can you kill people for your own selfish dream?"

Yua turned around and looked me with her red eyes. Those eyes were like hatred itself. Angry by nature, and now blood red with a fury that was driving her forward. "A dream…" she said. She walked over to me lifted the tip of my chin with her finger tips. She slowly brought me up to my feet and looked closely into my eyes. "Do you think I'm doing this because of some stupid dream?" she asked harshly. She grabbed me by the throat and lifted me into the air so that she was looking up at me.

I struggled to loosen her grip, but Yua was much too strong. I began to choke air through my compressed throat and felt my head get warm while the rest of my body became numb. I wanted to cry out for help, but could barely make even an audible squeak.

Yua's eyes looked completely insane with anger as she stared into mine. "I don't fight to achieve my dreams," she said. "I fight to escape my nightmares… this nightmare!" she shouted as she released me and made fists with her hands. Yua lifted them into the air and stared at them like they were in shackles.

I coughed hard as my lungs inhaled and exhaled heavily to supply enough air to my blood. I looked up at Yua and she seemed to calm down a little.

Yua turned around and began walking away. "I won't kill him tonight," she said. "It is not yet time," she said.

I heard footsteps approaching quickly from behind and looked back to see who it was. Myn came running out of the shadows of the trees and pulled out his sword. "Yua!" he shouted. He looked over to me and Yuri and his hand tightened its grip on his sword. "What have you done!" he demanded.

Yua did not reply. She continued to walk away slowly while Myn ran after her.

Myn attempted to slice her in half at the torso with one strike, but Yua disappeared. It wasn't like when Yuri became a cloud of white gas. Instead, Yua simply disappeared into the darkness of night, leaving no trace of her presence.

Myn looked ran around the area for a minute or so, searching for any sign that Yua may still be there, but eventually returned with his sword sheathed. He kneeled down and turned Yuri over. "What happened here?" he asked.

At this point, I couldn't hold it in any longer. I broke down into tears. I tried to wipe my eyes, but I couldn't stop crying, so the effort was wasted. "It was awful," I said through short breaths. "She tried to kill Yuri."

"Get a hold of yourself," Myn said. He was a little harsh with his words, but I understood why. I needed to be strong. Myn took a look at Yuri's wound and let out a sigh of relief. "She didn't pierce his heart," he said. He placed his hand on Yuri's forehead and mumbled some words I could discern.

Yuri was blanketed in white light for a brief moment, and now looked to be sleeping quietly.

"Yuri will be fine," Myn said. He put a hand on my shoulder and rubbed it slowly. "It'll take more than that to kill a Ryong," he assured me. I felt a little bit better, but was still fighting back tears. "Please, tell me what happened," he asked of me.

I choked down my tears and slowly went back to normal. I sniffled through my nose and continued to cough as I spoke. All the while, Myn pondered what Yua was doing here, and why she would fight Yuri for no reason.

**- x -**

I breathed heavily in my bed and wiped the sweat from my brow. For the last ten minutes it felt like I was burning from the inside. My head was like an inferno, yet my flesh felt cool to the touch.

Those ten minutes were like nothing I had experienced ever before. The burning in my heart was more intense than even the adrenaline of battle. The tension in my body was overwhelming, and my instincts were crying for action. Yet, my mind was in disarray.

It felt like I could hear the thoughts of three people at the same time. Voices of struggle and confusion filled my mental ears like a crowd of angry rioters. While what they said changed frequently, there was one that stood above them all. The voice was that of an angry woman. She was shouting about ending something, escaping something. She sounded determined to do whatever it took, and it was this that made me sweat with anxiety. It wasn't just the words, or the feelings behind them. There was something there that made me feel connected, like I was involved somehow.

As her words became louder in my head, I could feel her emotions swell as well. Her hatred was like a fire engulfing my body. It towered over everything else that had come to fill me, but there was something else there as well. I could sense an underlying fear with the hatred.

My mind couldn't take the strain of the voices, and I began to lose all sense of reality. As my vision began to blur, I reached out. I struggled to find something to hold onto, something to keep me myself.

The light in the ceiling directly above my head began to dance around. It was more than a simple hallucination. The light didn't just spin, or circle around. It swayed back and forth and twisted to avoid the reach of my fingers. I tried to reach it, but it refused to be touched by my hands.

I struggled through the tension in my body and the confusion in my mind to concentrate on the dancing light. I would reach with one hand, then the other, and then both. As it became harder and harder to keep my mind concentrated, my vision started getting hazy.

The air felt heavy in my throat, and made my mouth feel like sand paper. My eyes saw everything as if I was lying in a hot arid desert.

The voices became more intense, and the decaying state of my sense spiraled ever more with them. Now the light I was trying to reach rattled around like the building was in an earthquake. The tension in my body felt like I was being crushed and split at the same time.

Two of the voices became louder. A man cried out in pain while the woman shouted angrily, and then, everything became clear again. The voices faded away and the light became stationary. The room stopped shaking and the air felt cool again. My body no longer burned inside, and I didn't feel the overbearing anxiety from before.

Although I felt more relaxed, I also felt empty. After having felt so much, and then losing it, I didn't feel the same. I felt like something left me with the voices. I felt like I was alone.

**- x -**

I would like to thank AngelKitty for beta reading this chapter and giving me some advice on the final part. It sounds and reads a lot better now :)


	10. Consumed in Darkness

_He was a man feared for his power_

_He could split the seas_

_Crack the Earth_

_And smother the flame of life_

_He was the god emperor_

**Dragon Tears**

**I: Age of Man**

**By: OmegaGear**

**X**

**~ Consumed In Darkness ~**

It was barely morning when the royal welcoming party formed in the main dock of the castle. The Longiness was expected to arrive shortly, and everyone was in a hurry to prepare for the return of the elder prince. Guards hustled about in formation, preparing a standing salute for the prince. The band formed a line down a path that lead from the edge of the dock to the platform near the castle entrance, where I was situated with my family.

I was dressed in my ceremonial gown, a long pure-white dress with no straps to hold it up at the shoulders. Instead, the dress had a capelet that tied around my arms and shoulders rather than draping over them. The top portion of the dress was fit to hug my figure perfectly while the skirt was loose, so it would flow in the wind like the feathers of the great bird. At least, that's what it was supposed to signify. The back of my dress was low cut to reveal my shoulder blades. This allowed my wings to remain out without damaging the gown.

I was standing next to my older sister, Elina, who was wearing a similar dress, although hers was lightly tinted blue. Her dress' color signified serenity, and combined with mine, formed the colors of the Wyndian flag.

My mother, Katrina, stood in the center of the platform, next to my father. Her lavish gown was design in the same image as mine and my sister's, but was far more extravagant. The torso was the same light blue as my sister's gown, with a white capelet that covered her shoulders. The capelet was tied above her bosom by a ribbon and had a neck ruff made of white feathers. The skirt of her dress was made of several layers in several shades of blue and white. It was like the very essence of the sky captured in a single piece of clothing. Her silver crown was simple compared to the kings, but its simple beauty could not be mistaken. Upon closer examination, one would see the legend of the great bird formed by the silver wire. A woman bares the mark of the wing and offers her life to her people. The power of the wing transforms her, and together they rule the sky, becoming Wyndia's greatest jewel. This jewel was symbolized by a giant blue diamond, and was the only gem in the crown.

My father, King Walter Frederick Wyndia, was wearing the royal armor handed down for centuries. It had a chest piece made of silver plated steel with the Wyndian symbol for order extruding from the chest in gold. Atop the armor, he wore a cape that was royal blue, a dark contrast to the dresses worn by the women in the family. This blue was different from any other used in the entire country. It was a shade reserved solely for the king's wardrobe. His golden crown sat atop his head like the shining sun that hangs high in the sky. Light reflected from its intricate designs and illuminated the jewels.

The younger of my two older brothers, Elliot, was standing at my father's left side. He was wearing a more modest outfit. He also wore a royal armor piece, but his was less impressive, having the same general design concepts, but the crest of long life was carved into the silver plating, instead of being drawn onto it with gold. Over his shoulders, he wore a blue circle capelet that was quite a bit longer than mine or the queen's. While ours barely went below the shoulders and look more graceful, his went down to his thighs. The flat-cap on his head hung to one side.

Myn and Yuri were standing in front of the platform where the pathway from the dock ended. They were wearing their normal clothes, but that was okay, since they looked formal enough. Yuri didn't look like he was feeling any effects from the wound inflicted to his chest the night before.

Trumpets sounded as the gates of Wyndia began to open. The giant circular gate hung in the center of the towering wall that encompassed the capitol city of Wyndia, which was formed in the wall of a mountain. Within the circular gate, the crest of Wyndia was carved as a symbol of our rule of the sky. The legend of the great bird could be read around the edge of the circle, even from the castle, the farthest structure from the gate. As the sun rose each day, its light would reflect off of the polished stone, illuminating the writing.

The giant gate opened from its center slowly as each half retreated into the wall. The sunlight coming from behind the castle reflected off of an airship as it traveled through the widening crack. The silvery white ship was another example of Wyndia's elegance and beauty. The airship Longiness was the flagship of the fleet. Its long slender body was plated with the strongest metals mined in the country, giving it an armor that could trade blows with the mightiest warships. The ship, when viewed from above, looked much like the blade of a sword, with its wings forming the hilt and the engines its handle.

As the Longiness flew over the city slowly, I could hear the cheers of the crowd in the street. It was heartwarming to hear everyone so united in the break of a new day.

A man marched out to the front of the soldiers standing in formation. He turned and yelled out commands as the ship approached, directing the groups. When all was said and done, the man returned to his position at the front of the group, facing sideways from where the ship would land. Now, only the sound of the band could be heard as the Longiness began its landing.

The giant ship was larger than the entire dock, meaning it had to dock by allowing the towing claws to grasp its landing struts. It looked a little odd, but it was how the ship always docked at the castle. As it settled down in the docking bay of the castle, a red carpet was laid out from its main doors by two soldiers.

The doors opened and the man that had been ordering the soldiers before yelled for a salute. The two groups on each side of the carpet stomped their feet together and raised a hand to their brow in a salute. A man wearing a long hooded white robe walked down the ramp. I couldn't see his face as he approached, and no one followed him.

When he stopped in front of us, there was a dead silence. I looked around and saw that while everyone was trying to remain at attention, they all made glances towards the empty doors. My father stepped forward and asked, "Why have you come alone, Cassandra?"

Cassandra? She was a woman? I could hardly believe it, but after taking a closer look, I guess the features under the robe were a bit more womanly than I had initially thought.

Cassandra took a knee before my father and bowed her head. "Forgive me, your highness," she begged him. "I was unable to protect your son, and he fell in combat," she said.

Everyone broke down into a clamor when hearing the news. Before things got out of control, the man leading the soldiers yelled for them to return to attention.

"This cannot be," my father said out of denial. "Surely, you jest. My son… Kurtis, where is he?" he asked. He was starting to sound a little hysterical.

I wanted to look over at my father, but I was trying as hard as I could not to cry at hearing that my brother was dead. I could feel my lungs quivering in my chest, yearning to let out the air I was suppressing while fighting back my tears.

Cassandra remained on one knee as six men exited the Longiness carrying a large casket on their shoulders. They brought the casket to the feet of the king and lowered it gently to the ground. "I'm sorry, your highness," said Cassandra. One man opened the top half of the casket to reveal that it was empty except for the royal plate my brother wore and his sword. "We could not find a body," she said.

My father collapsed where he stood, but was caught by my brother and mother. He began crying heavily, and voiced his distress.

My mother was also crying, although not as heavily as my father was. My brother and sister were both standing with tears around the rims of their eyes, but they managed to remain strong, somehow. I wanted to be as strong as them, but I couldn't. Under the stress of fighting my rush of emotions, my shaky knees finally collapsed, and I fell backwards to the ground.

Myn was quick to catch me around the shoulders and helped me remain standing. "Are you alright, princess?" he asked.

"Yeah…" I answered slowly. I wiped my eyes and allowed Myn to hold me up. I didn't think I could stand up on my own strength at the moment. I looked over at the woman kneeling before my father and asked, "Who is she?"

"That is Cassandra," Myn said. He lifted me a bit higher and I rested my head on his shoulder. "She's been around for a long time," he said," protecting the princes of this kingdom."

"She is a Ryong?" I asked. She must have been, if she was the protector of the royal family.

"Yes, although she's never really told me," Myn answered. "She's very quiet."

She's never told him? What was that supposed to mean? "Then how do you know?" I asked.

"When a woman doesn't age for three hundred years, you generally get the idea," Myn said.

My father struggled back onto his own feet and looked down on Cassandra. "How did this happen?" my father asked.

"Your highness…" Cassandra paused. "Perhaps it would be best that such matters are discussed in private," she said.

"Yes, of course," he replied. He began to walk foreword, looking like he could faint at any moment. My brother remained at his side, holding his arm. "We must speak at once…" my father said as he stepped down from the platform. He gazed down into the casket and feel to his knees. He threw himself onto the wooden cover and began to cry harder than ever. My mother ran to him to comfort him, but her own tears prevented her from speaking a word.

I joined in the mourning of my brother's passing, losing myself in the sea of sorrow. My sister hugged me tightly. I returned the hug as best I could, but my strength was dwindling. As I lost all control of my emotions, I let the rest of myself go. My mind no longer thought of my brother. I only knew the pain of loss.

**- x -**

I was just finishing getting dressed when I heard a commotion going on outside. "What's the occasion?" I asked as I pulled the simple white shirt they provided me with over my head. The clothes they gave me to wear in the castle weren't the best out there, but I'd take it any day over that drafty hospital gown I had been wearing for weeks. Beside the simple shirt, I was also given a pair of blue pants and a pair of shoes. The pants were kind of loose, but a pull string at its waistband allowed me to tighten it enough to stay up. The shoes were almost like slippers. They had very little traction and no means of tying or clipping them tightly.

"Hmm? Oh, the Longiness must be arriving," the doctor said. His back was turned to me while he looked something over on his clipboard. "The elder prince is returning from the battle at the front after nearly two months."

I walked over to the window and watched as a circular hole opened in the wall that surrounded the city. I had never seen anything like it, and the airship that entered through it was equally as magnificent. I heard of the ships Wyndia built. They prized beauty as much as they did power. The ship I saw was proof of that.

I must have been mesmerized by what I saw, because I was taken completely by surprise when Dr. Elya tapped my shoulder.

"Mr. Jenso!" he said firmly.

I flinched when I realized he had been tapping me and took a quick look around. "Sorry," I said. "I guess I let myself go a little there." I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly.

"That's quite alright," he assured me. He began walking towards the door and motioned for me to follow him. "Come along, Mr. Jenso," he said. "I'll escort you to your quarters."

I slipped on the shoes he provided me with and followed Elya out of the room where we were joined by the two guards that had been standing watch. We began walking down the stone hall when I was overwhelmed by a strange feeling. I stopped walking and looked out arched window to our side.

"Is something wrong, Mr. Jenso?" the doctor asked.

"I don't know…" I answered. Was it just a chill coming from the windows lining the outer wall that I felt? No, it felt familiar. It felt like anger, and fear. "Look out!" I yelled.

I pushed the doctor against the wall and spun around. The two guards pulled out their weapons. One of them had a sword while the other held a gun. They probably thought I was planning to escape, but before I could explain myself, a woman dropped down on one of them. It was the woman from my dreams, the one wearing the black and orange dress. She was the one that had so much hatred and fear involving me.

The woman punched the other guard as he turned to shoot her. While he stepped backwards the woman stepped off of the guard she was standing on and flipped him up into the air with the heel of her boot. As the guard flipped up into a roll, the woman slammed her fist into his stomach and brought him down to the ground with so much force the solid stone surface cracked.

I saw the other guard regain his balance as this happened and take aim at her head. I tried to make a break for it, but he quickly turned his gun towards me. I froze while I was still bent over, about to spring into a run.

The woman didn't seem to care who he was aiming at. She grabbed the guard's arm by the elbow with one hand and the gun with the other. In one quick motion, she grabbed the gun from her and hand spun him into the air while she spun around. As she finished her spin, the woman brought her leg up and kicked the man out the small window behind him.

I didn't wait any longer. While the man flew out the open window, I ran away as fast as I could. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew it was a lot safer than staying and fighting that woman. After taking a few turns and running down some stairs, I came up to a pair of large doors. I quickly threw one of the doors open and slipped in before slamming the door shut. I leaned against the wooden door and took a moment to catch my breath when I realized where I had stopped.

I looked around the giant mess hall at the uncountable number of guards that had stopped eating their breakfast to turn and look at me. No one had to say anything, because I knew what they were all thinking at that very moment. The prisoner was escaping.

As the some of the guards began to get up and make their way towards me, I felt something explode within me. It felt like I had become awake for the first time, and had an unlimited amount of energy.

I turned to the nearest guard, who pulled out his sword as he began running at me. I slid to my right as he tried to stab me and grabbed the handle of his sword. He tried to push the blade through me while I held onto the handle, but I kept it still. I backhanded the guard in the face and twisted the sword and lifted it up to block another guard that jumped over the first one as he swung.

I traded blows with him a few times before finally nicking him with the tip of my blade. The guard jumped back and reached for the cut on his cheek, giving me a clear shot at him. Instead of killing him, I simply kicked him in the ribs and ran as another dozen guards tried to circle around me.

By now, all the guards in the mess hall had gotten up from their seats and were moving in groups to trap me. Most of them were unarmed, but that didn't matter when they outnumbered me by so much. Before they could corner me by the wall, I flipped over a thin line of men and landed on a table. Two guards jumped up after me, one in front, and the other behind me.

The table shook and rattled when we moved, making it hard to keep our footing. At least the guards on the ground weren't attempting to trip me. They seemed satisfied with letting everyone get a fair shot at taking me down face-to-face.

The guard in front of me took the initiative and attacked me while the one behind me motioned for someone to give him a weapon. I swung and met each of his attacks with equal power, but the guard had the advantage, since his handle was much longer, and allowed him to hold it with both hands. This was a double edged sword, however, because it also required him to turn his body more when making horizontal attacks while I could simply turn my right arm to make a full sweeping motion.

This must have slipped the guard's mind, because he allowed himself to spin into a horizontal sweep, which I ducked under. While the guard was turned around, I swept his legs with the back end of my sword and brought him down onto the table on his stomach.

As I got up and turned around, I saw something sharp coming for at my eyes. I arched my back as much as I could to avoid the reach of the sharp object. When I saw the object retreat and straightened my back, I saw that the other guard had been given a spear. The guard lunged at me again, forcing me to retreat back a step. There wasn't much I could do against a spear with a sword.

The guards surrounding the table began cheering as the man with the spear continued to chase me back. He began to vary his attacks by lunging at my head and sides. I twisted and turned to avoid the spear, but was becoming more and more unbalanced with each step.

As I began to tilt off balance, the guard lunged at my feet. I hopped over the spear's point and spread my feet so they landed around it. Before the guard could pull back and attack me again, I jumped and spin kicked him in the side of the head.

More guards jumped onto the table as their comrade fell off and I quickly jumped across the aisle to the next line of tables. I kicked over bowls and plates at the guards as they crowded around and ran into the middle of the line of tables, away from the edge the spear wielder had chased me to.

This didn't really help much though, because a group of men tipped over the table behind me, putting me near an edge anyways.

With nowhere to run to, I had to take the offensive. I charged at the guard on the table ahead of me and batted his sword aside before elbowing him and kicking sideways off the table. The next man came at me with a short sword and a shield, making him a lot more difficult to deal with. He blocked my attacks no matter how I placed them with his circular shield and retaliated with quick thrusts that chased me back to the edge.

When I got to the edge, another man jumped up onto the table and grabbed me from behind. He locked my arms so I couldn't fight back, leaving me wide open. The man with the shield was intent on taking me in alive, so he pulled his shielded arm back to swing the metal plate at my head.

I struggled to break out of the man's grip, but he was a lot stronger than I was. In desperation, I began to move my body as much as I could all at once, and the back of my head collided with his nose.

The guard immediately let go of me, causing me to fall onto the table out of harm's way. I rolled onto my back and saw the man with the shield smack the other guard in the face again, causing him to go spinning to the ground. I rolled back onto my hands and floor kipped back up under the other guard's extended arm and punched him in the ribs.

I was moving to knock him down for good when someone grabbed me from behind. I grabbed the arm around my neck and heaved the man over me as I bent over and released him into a throw. The man flew into two others that were standing on the table across the aisle from me, who landed on three other guards on the ground.

Among the yelling, I heard something snap. I looked up to see the doors I had come through break off of their hinges and fall onto the guards I had just sent to the ground. Everyone stopped yelling and paying attention to me. We all looked over towards the now open doorway and saw the same woman that had chased me all the way here.

"Shit," I cursed.

The woman walked over the door, causing muffled screams from the men underneath it. Unlike her savage nature I experience before, she was approaching with a much more womanly sway in her hips and a seductive smile.

This certainly caused everyone to be taken off guard. When she reached the soldiers nearest to her, the woman caressed one of their cheeks and neck. He seemed to enjoy it, but not for long. As her fingers ran down his neck, the woman suddenly wrapped her hand around his throat and lifted him off of the ground.

At seeing this assault, everyone broke into a frenzy again. A large group converged on the woman, who discarded the man she had been strangling. The soldiers didn't use weapons against her, and the woman didn't draw her sword from its sheath at her left hip.

One would think that a dozen grown men could take on one woman in hand to hand brawls, but this woman was obviously a lot more dangerous than I previously thought. Her blows were quick and precise. Each blow landed squarely at vital areas, almost always taking the victim out of the fight with one hit. It didn't matter if they took her on alone, or two or three at a time. Her brutal attacks and incredible skill outclassed them.

I didn't get to watch for long, because the men around me started going after me again. I kicked the guard I had been fighting before the interruption and started hopping from table to table. Men hopped after me and reached up to pull me down every time I leapt over an aisle they were occupying, but I managed to remain untouched.

I stopped on the last line of tables and ducked as a man tried to kick me off with the heel of his boot. I quickly stabbed him in the stomach with the tip of my sword and punched him with my free hand. He fell off of the table reaching for his wound while another man went flying over my head.

The guard crashed into the wall, causing noticeable damage to the large grey stone bricks. I turned to look at where the woman was fighting the much larger crowd of guards and saw more of them getting thrown or punched away like pieces of garbage. The broke one's nose with the palm of her hand, elbowed another in the stomach, and then threw them both backwards by crossing her arms and then throwing her fists back.

Now the guards were getting desperate, and ran to the racks of weapons they had put away when eating. They grabbed swords, shields, spears, axes, knives, anything they could get their two hands on. Even the guards that had chased after me joined the bigger group, finding the woman far more dangerous. The rearmed mob formed two circles around the woman and paced around her like a pack of hungry wolves. The woman looked at all of them and then slowly retrieved her sword from its sheath.

As the blade of the sword slid out of the leather sheath, I felt the air in the room become stale. I could feel an aura coming from the sword, as if it were alive. It breathed and pulsed as she twirled it through the air, and when she tightened her grip, it cried for blood.

The first guard made his move. He swung at her with a broad sword in his hands. The short, but powerful, blade collided with hers above her head. The woman stepped aside and let the man fall forwards with the force of his attack and twisted her blade in a circle that grazed the back of his shoulder. Another soldier immediately took his place. He twirled his spear over his head and came at her with quick lunges. The woman easily twisted her body around the spear as it came at her until she grabbed it at the top of its shaft.

They struggled for a moment to try to pull the spear from each other's grasp, but neither seemed to be strong enough. Or rather, the man wasn't strong enough. The woman was simply standing in place making sure to keep her grip on the wooden pole. In one quick snap of her elbow, the woman pulled the spear free and then jabbed him with its blunt end repeatedly. She started by thrusting it into his face, then his shoulders, stomach, and finally, his legs.

The man fell onto his knees from the beating. The woman flipped the spear over, cutting him up the middle of his face, and threw it right through another guard's chest.

With their numbers dwindling, the remaining guards all moved in on the woman at once. I couldn't see anything that was going on, and I didn't want to stick around to see the outcome. I promptly hopped off of the table and slipped out the door on the other end.

As I shut the door I found myself in an empty hallway. I could still hear the battle behind the closed door, and walked away quickly. I looked out a small window and saw that I was on the second floor near a large garden. A quick scan of the area showed several ways into the massive area, and one such way was almost directly under me.

I quickly ran down the hall and rounded down the first set of stairs I found. When I reached the bottom, I found myself face-to-face with more guards. These guards looked a lot more professional than the others, and they weren't being caught off guard while eating. I was lucky enough to catch them while they were looking for trouble like me.

They were better equipped than the men in the mess hall. Their thin plate armor was coated over their loose fitting clothes. They didn't have helmets, but something told me they didn't use them in order to have the full capabilities of their senses. They were armed for better agility and speed than a person that would wear a full armor suit. The guards turned to me and placed their hands on the handles of their sheathed swords. "Where do you think you're going?" one of them asked. They stood in perfect form, like highly trained elite soldiers would.

I didn't answer them. I quickly scanned the room I was in. It was a hallway that stretched down in both directions. Doors lined the wall opposite to me, with a short path leading to some double doors directly ahead. I recalled the path I had taken after seeing the garden and concluded that those doors must lead there.

"Answer me!" the guard demanded. He pulled out his sword, a rather long double edged sword that made a low hum as it sliced through the air. "Speak now, or surrender," the guard said.

Before I could even think of something to say, I crashing sound came from upstairs. I imagined that the woman had finished the guards in the mess hall and was now after me again. I dashed at the guards who reacted by crossing their swords between them, in front of the path towards the double doors. I jumped as high as I could and flipped over as the guards raised their blades to block me, barely avoiding them.

I pushed open the doors as I reached them and found myself exactly where I wanted to get. The giant open area was filled with trees and shrubs that I could hide behind while trying to formulate some peaceful way to surrender while escaping that insane woman.

I heard some people having a conversation nearby and quickly dove behind some bushes. I peeked out to see some guards chatting with two maids. They looked very solemn, like something terrible had happened. I turned my right ear towards the conversation and tried to listen. I couldn't make out everything, but it sounded like something happened with the royal family.

With the small group of people spearing occupied with their conversation, I slipped out of my hiding place and snuck around them. The garden I was in was a lot more like a park. I guess I was in the central courtyard, by the looks of it. Stone walkways lead people through it as quickly as possible from door to door, and the entire area was actually framed by an open hallway with the wall between the grass and the stone being nothing more than a row of arches.

Guards were standing or patrolling everywhere I looked. I was beginning to think that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to come here after all. I ducked behind a tree as a pair of men passed by and peeked around again. The security pattern was tight, especially for daylight. Pairs of guards were patrolling in such a way that they crossed each other frequently, to leave no space unwatched for too long. It would be impossible for me to remain unseen. Still, I had to try.

As I began to move again, a commotion started not too far from me. I thought I was caught for sure, but the guards were all yelling and running in a direction away from me. I backtracked to the tree I was hiding behind and watched three pairs of guards run back towards the door I had come from. The two guards I ran through must have been alerting everyone to my presence.

I must have been wrong, because the commotion sounded a lot more intense than some guards discussing the whereabouts or an intruder. I heard metal clash, and people yelling. I could only think of that woman finding her way here, and quickly ran away without even looking to verify my theory.

"Hey!" I heard someone shout as I darted down the lawn towards an arrangement of hedges. The hedges seemed to be enclosed around something, and formed what appeared to almost be a maze to me. They were too tall for me to look over, and the branching paths didn't give me a good idea of if I was going in or out.

I heard several other people moving through the maze, obviously after me. I continued at a brisk pace, trying not to rub against the hedges as much as possible. No matter how much I turned or ran, it sounded like the footsteps were catching up to me.

Finally, I found myself in the center of hedge maze. The circular area was about twenty feet in diameter. There were three benches that formed a circle around a rather tall tree where numerous birds were chirping. There were two paths besides the one I used to enter this area.

I was at a complete loss. I knew I couldn't go back the way I came, but the other two paths didn't look very good either. Before I could even decide, the guards that had been chasing me emerged from one of the paths in front of me.

There were three of them in total, all of them using short swords. They spread out as they entered the center, making sure to cover me enough so that I couldn't run out one of the exits.

I had dropped my weapon a while back, so I was at a severe disadvantage. The guards didn't seem to care that I was unarmed, and began closing in on me all at once.

I looked at each of them as they approached, preparing for the first attack. Something didn't feel right. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I felt like someone was watching. I looked around beyond the guards and listened for anyone else approaching, but sensed nothing either way.

As one of the guards passed under the tree in the center, something fell from it and hit him on the head. The guard flinched from the impact and ducked. He looked up at the tree and rubbed his head.

As the guard got up, the branches above him rustled and a strange shadow dropped down behind him without making much of a sound at all. As the darkness landed, it took the form of the woman that was chasing me and grabbed the man by his neck.

The man tried to pry her fingers off with his hands, but couldn't seem to get a grip on them. The woman lifted him off of the ground and ran her sword through his chest. As the man screamed, the other two took notice and stopped approaching me.

The man's body began flinching under the woman's grip, and he was coughing blood. Within seconds, he slowly died, and his body stopped moving.

The woman released the man's neck and let the body slide off of her blade. As the blood ran from its hilt to its tip, I could feel its desire for more crying out. She spread her arms and twirled her sword in the air, letting the blood drip into a circle around her.

The two guards watched this with disgust and attacked at the same time. The woman blocked the one on her right as he attacked and punched him back so that she could turn around to block the other.

The two locked blades several times, going high and low in tight combat. As the other guard got up and approached from behind, the woman ducked under the sword of the one she was fighting.

As she stood up again, the woman punched the man in the chest and then kicked him back. As if she knew where the other guard was, and what position his body was in, the woman spun around and sliced horizontally with so much force, her sword cut his in two. Before the guard could even react to his misfortune, the woman sliced in the other directing and cut him from his right shoulder to his left armpit.

Now I sensed the blade's will more than ever, like it was controlling its own movements. The new blood on its sharp edge was bringing it into a frenzy. The woman sliced horizontally again, cutting open the man's gut, and then upwards to his left shoulder, and finally across, taking his head off. It all took no more than a second.

The decapitated body fell forwards to the ground while the head rolled to the woman's feet. The other guard screamed at losing his comrade and ran at her. The look in his eyes, he had completely lost it.

The woman turned around slowly and had the sickest smile on her face. It wasn't evil, but mocking. Inside her mind, she was laughing at the man. As the man wildly slashed downwards, the woman spun around him, letting him run past her harmlessly. As she completed her spin, she extended her sword and cut the man's back.

The man stumbled at the cold steel cut through him, and collapsed onto his stomach. He continued to struggle, trying to find some way to get up and fight, but his body refused to move beyond his shaky spasms.

The woman walked over him and stopped with her feet surrounding his waist. She stabbed his back between his shoulder blades and twisted the sword until he stopped moving. Once he did, she looked at me and said, "Now it's your turn, Ryu."

**- x -**

"Cassandra!" Myn yelled as we ran out of the chapel after her. Cassandra had just finished speaking with the king and was now walking briskly away. When we caught up to her we slowed to her pace before Myn continued. "Cassandra, are you sure?"

Cassandra seemed to not hear Myn. I couldn't see anything underneath her hooded robe, and she was very good at remaining rather calm. "Sure about what?" she asked.

"About what happened at that battle," Myn said. "Did you really see what you saw?" he asked.

Cassandra stopped walking suddenly. We were walking so quickly, Myn, Yuri, and I nearly passed her before also stopping. I could now see the bottom of her face underneath the hood. Her skin was very pale, and had a strange blue tint to it. Her lips were also blue, a bit darker than the sky, but brighter than my father's royal garments. "Of course I'm sure," she said.

Yuri spoke before Myn could. "But we didn't feel anything," he said. "Such an act would surely cause the spirit energy of the draconians to resonate."

Draconians? I had never heard of them before. Were they related to the Ryong that Myn and Yuri were vessels for? Before I could ask, Cassandra began to speak.

"I don't know why the draconians didn't resonate," she admitted. "But it was unmistakable. The feeling of death approaching, the sea of darkness descending around me, everyone cried out in more agony than I've heard in over a thousand years. I felt it sucking the lives from those people, as it melted their flesh and bones. The fire that spread wasn't hot, but cold. Its flames consumed the earth, turning it an ashen gray like the very grounds of Hell." Cassandra appeared to be shaking underneath her robe as she described what she saw. "There isn't a doubt in my mind that it was a hex," she said.

Myn and Yuri both dropped their heads. They seemed saddened by what she was saying, and I guess I could understand why. I had heard of hexes before, but never knew they were real. The legend of the Fou Empire of the first age included a weapon possessed by the God Emperor. It was a weapon that used a person's sorrow, hatred, and malice to consume the land in darkness. The legends spoke of unthinkable horror resulting from a hex. People would melt into the ground, being reborn as mindless monsters in the mists left behind. Plants would turn to ash, and water would become a poison. It was a weapon that could only exist in legends, and yet, Cassandra was describing it exactly as it was in the stories.

"Then the empire has been able to rebuild the lost technology," Myn said.

"That's what troubles me," Cassandra said.

"What do you mean?" Yuri asked.

Cassandra began walking again without warning, forcing us to run for a second to catch up to her. We moved through some double doors into the main corridor of the castle before she began talking again. "You both know, as well as I do, that the forbidden arts of the god emperor and Yuna were all destroyed after the second age," she said. "The world was nearly destroyed in the war for them, and since then, there's been only one remaining record," she said.

"Fou himself," Yuri said.

"That's right," Cassandra confirmed.

"Yua…" Myn said darkly. "Yua has revived the hex cannon technology for the empire?"

"It would seem," Cassandra said rather speculatively," that Fou's ambitions still exist, even after ten-thousand years."

"That's ridiculous," Myn said. He began pacing in front of the other two with his hands crossed behind his back. "Fou was the lesser of the two, and was consumed when the joining created Yorae," he said. "His will was lost," he said.

"You know as well as I do that Yorae has separated its parts again," Cassandra said. "As their vessels, we have a portion of their memories, and who are we to say that doesn't include their desires?" she asked. "It is the only way to explain how the hex was used," she said.

"Cassandra is right," Yuri told Myn. "I do not know why she would do it, but there is no other explanation."

"Uh…. Excuse me," I interjected. The three looked at me with a mixture of surprise and annoyance.

Myn let out an audible sigh and said, "What is it, princess?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're talking about," I said.

"You don't need to understand," Myn said.

I was about to protest, but Yuri reacted faster than I could. "Easy, Myn," he said. "Let's not be too hard on her after such a heavy loss. Don't forget who she is," he said.

Although I don't like flaunting my status around, I felt I needed to be a little more firm when dealing with Myn now. "That's right," I said. I put my hands on my hips and stood up straight, demanding respect.

Myn chuckled at my display while turning around. "If only you knew, princess," he said, almost grimly. "There is a time for everything, and it is not yet time for you to learn about Fou," he said.

"I've heard of him before," I said. I was a little snobby when I spoke, but I was getting aggravated. "He is the god emperor in the legends that predate history."

"Fou is no legend," Yuri said. "He was more real than anyone could imagine." Yuri walked a little closer to me as he spoke, making me feel a little intimidated. "Some say the legends are true, but merely an exaggeration, a twisting of natural anomalies and tricks. Some think he was merely a man that was able to use alchemy to perform magical wonders. Others believe the stories to be nothing more than fairy tales, meant to shape the empire as an evil power." Yuri was now standing right in front of me, looking down into my eyes. "But they're all wrong," he said. "The god emperor was exactly as the legends say he was. He was a god."

I could feel my skin crawling under Yuri's gaze. His seriousness and the look in his eyes only magnified what he was saying. The stories of the god emperor spoke of unimaginable power, and the most terrible acts. The most dreadful was that of the hex. If such a man truly existed, and still did today in Yua, there was no telling what could happen.

While I thought about what Yuri told me, Myn seemed a little uneasy. He suddenly looked down the hall with his shoulders noticeably tense. His left hand clenched his sword's sheath while his right hand rested on its handle.

"What is it?" Cassandra asked.

Myn stared down the hall intently for a moment before turning to Cassandra. "Did you just feel something?" he asked.

Cassandra look up like she had heard something and then down the hall, just as Myn had, "Yes…" she said. "I can hear it."

"What is it?" I asked. "What do you hear?"

"The draconians are resonating," Cassandra said. "They're singing for their master."

**- x -**

The woman that stood before me pulled her sword from the man lying on the ground. She was just as I had dreamed her, fair skin and long black hair which was worn as a long, think braid and two small ones on the sides. Her auburn eyes looked a little redder than in my dream, and gave her a sort of evil appearance, despite her young features that were otherwise cute and innocent.

Her black dress only went halfway down her thighs, except for a long strip down the outside of her left leg that went all the way to the ground. The sleeves barely went past her shoulders, leaving her arms completely bare except for the gloves that went to her elbows. On top of her cloths, she wore thin pieces of armor on her forearms, elbows, and shoulders. A large belt rested on her hips. While belts were commonly worn tightly to hold clothes up, hers was loose, just tight enough to not slip down her hips. It looked like she only wore it to carry around her sword on. Her black boots went a little past her ankles and looked durable and fashionable at the same time. They definitely could last long journeys, but looked a lot more comfortable than military boots.

I would guess that she was no older than twenty-five.

"Who are you?" I asked.

The woman had a pleasant smile on her face, but her eyes didn't mirror that feel. As they gazed at me, they looked amused, like I was insignificant. "My name is Yua," she said.

"Yua," I repeated to myself. "Why are you trying to kill me?" I asked.

"How do you know that I am?" she asked. The way she asked didn't sound like she was surprised. It was more like she was asking me if I was sure.

I was going to give an answer when a thought struck me. How did I know? I tried to think of the reason, but all that came to mind was a scramble of sounds and emotions.

"That's right," Yua said. She began walking towards me as the barrage of images increased in intensity. "You can hear them too, can't you, Ryu?" she asked.

I tried to step back slowly, but discovered that my body did not want to cooperate. My legs felt like they were frozen to the ground while my body felt like stone. Yua was standing in front of my face when she spoke.

"I know, because they resonate more than ever whenever I am near you," she said. "You heard them last night, didn't you?" she asked. "Their voices crying out to you, for mercy, for salvation, for… peace."

I coughed and choked as it became harder to breath. The air was growing stale, just like it had before. Was it her that was causing it? Was Yua what I had felt?

"Or… was it revenge that they cried for, hmm?" Yua asked. She grabbed my shoulders and squeezed them hard. I began to feel cold. Her touch was like ice, and it was spreading through my body like poison in my blood. "Was it vengeance, Ryu? Or perhaps it was chaos?"

I could hear the voices now, clearer than before, although they spoke in a language I did not understand. Bright spots appeared around us like a chorus of angels. Was I hallucinating or were these the source of the voices?

"You can see them… can't you?" Yua asked. She looked into my eyes and smiled. There was something sick behind those lips, a twisted pleasure at torturing me like this.

"What… what are they?" I asked weakly. My body was beginning to feel numb.

"They are your sorrow," she said, "your hatred, and your malice." I felt the sharp pain as Yua squeezed me harder and pulled me closer. She put her mouth to my ear and whispered "they are the darkness that consumes you."

Just as I felt like I was going to lose consciousness, Yua released me. I collapsed onto my hands and knees and coughed up blood. I breathed heavily while the cold fled my body. The ice in my veins slowly flowed into a raging fire. I was overcome by a strange desire.

Yua walked back towards the tree and held her sword in front of her face in both hands. As the blade's aura spread forth, the floating lights vanished. Yua turned around and faced me again with her sword resting at her side. "Get up," she demanded.

I stood up slowly and Yua threw one of the dead guard's swords at my feet. It didn't take a genius to figure out what she wanted. She wanted to fight me. I didn't understand why, but I complied. Something inside me cried out for this. It felt more primal than any instinct I'd felt before. It was like I was born to fight her.

**- x -**

Author's notes:

Well, I hope you've enjoyed my story so far. I realize things have changed a lot since the first two chapters in terms of writing style. Those were written quite a while ago, and I've had time to polish my skills a bit since then. Please leave any comments and suggestions you'd like to make :)


	11. Voices

_I am that which sleeps in all minds._

_A darkness in all hearts_

_The instinct that lives_

_The power that consumes_

**Dragon Tears**

**I: Age of Man**

**By: OmegaGear**

**XI**

**~ Voices ~**

"Singing for their master?" I asked. The question wasn't directed at anyone, and was mainly asking for an explanation. "Who are they?"

Myn put a finger to his lips. "Shh…" he whispered.

I became perfectly still and listened closely for any singing. As I concentrated more and more on my ears, all my other sense became numb, leaving only the hollow silence of the stone hallway to remind me that I was alive.

Myn and Cassandra walked over to the wall facing outside and began to feel along the stone with their hands. While Myn leaned his head down in a sort of meditation, Cassandra put her ear to the stone and began to breathe deeply while whispering something to herself.

Thankfully, Yuri didn't join them in their strange behavior and remained idle next to me. "What are they doing?" I whispered.

"Listening to the draconians," he whispered back.

"Draconians?" I replied in question. I hadn't heard of them before.

Yuri leaned closer to me so that I could hear him better. "Yes, the people that inherited the world of the second age. You know them as the brood," he said. "The spirits of the dead dragons are everywhere, watching the world in silence. When a Ryong of a certain type channels his power, the corresponding draconians resonate, giving him power."

"A Ryong of a certain type?" I asked. I wasn't quite sure what he meant, although I had a general idea. Myn and Yuri were both blessed by P'ung Ryong, the god of the sky, but Myn was granted lightning while Yuri was given wind.

"Yes," Yuri replied. "There are eight powers that govern the world. In order to watch over the world, the draconians were born with them. Each draconian could command one of the powers, and were forever bound to it. There were only two exceptions."

"Two exceptions?" I asked. "Exceptions to what?"

"While draconians could be born into any of the eight powers, two of them were very rare. So rare, in fact, those born with them were heralded as royalty. Ultimately, those two powers could command the other six. They were not bound to their one power."

"I see" I said. It made sense, I guess. "What were these powers?" I asked.

"Darkness, and the light," he answered.

"The powers darkness and the light," I said to myself. "Sounds pretty simple," I told him.

"It is not quite that simple, your highness," he said. "There's more to those two powers than simply regal status," he said. "After all, there was another reason for praising those born with them."

"What sort of reason?" I asked.

"While the other six powers were elements in the physical world, the last two were not. They were the powers of will. These two powers were the ultimate ends of the draconians. It went beyond bonds of blood, and eventually brought them to war." Yuri paused and seemed to be lost in sadness for a brief moment. He took a deep breath and continued. "Because, you see, all draconians must choose between the darkness and the light. They must choose to rule or protect the world as gods."

"So… those born with those powers… they were praised, because…" I couldn't quite grasp it. Everything was there, but it wasn't coming together.

Yuri must have seen my confusion, and finished my thoughts for me. "They were the power of will," he said. "They had the power of the people that chose their side. They were as close to gods as you could get in this world."

"They were gods and the power of will, the darkness and the light," I said. I thought about it and what was happening now. This was all leading to something. "Darkness… That's why Yua is more powerful than you, isn't it?" I asked. I looked up at Yuri, who seemed a little surprised by my words. Before he could say anything, I asked "she's the Ryong that governs darkness, isn't she?"

Yuri didn't answer right away. It was like he was afraid to admit it, but I could tell by the look in his eyes that it was true. "Yes," he said, "she is the one that commands the darkness."

"But why did the draconians have such power?" I asked. That was the only thing that didn't make sense to me.

Before Yuri could answer, Myn broke out of his meditation and turned around towards him. "She's close," he said.

"But there's something else," Cassandra said. "There's something different about it this time."

The three looked at each other. Myn and Yuri looked like they had become sick. I couldn't tell what expression Cassandra had under her hood though.

"You don't think…" Yuri began to ask.

"Ryu," Myn answered.

The tension was so great it was almost like I could feel it. Myn was visibly stirred by their revelation and began running down the hall with Yuri and Cassandra following close behind. I trailed behind them as best I could.

So much was happening. The history of the world that had become legend was resurfacing. I never imagined that such wonders actually happened, and that they were destined to reoccur. I had to follow them. I had to see this power the draconians were bound to.

**- x -**

Yua stood so that her left side faced me. She was standing up straight with her arms resting at her sides. Her right hand held her sword tightly. Her confidence could be read all over her body and face.

The sword I was given was a short sword. Its handle was only long enough for one hand to hold it, and its blade was fairly shorter than Yua's. Still, I could feel confidence building in me. I was anxious with anticipation of the fight, the challenge. I stood with my right side facing her, legs bent and sword arm forward. I raised my left arm and held it out to better balance myself, and began to execute breathing exercises I had learned over the years.

My body began to fill with energy as my muscles received a rich flow of oxygen. My mind cleared as the open air washed away everything, but the coming battle.

Yua waved her left arm, presenting herself. She was ready, and beckoned me to come forward, and attack.

I twisted my right foot into the ground, building pressure to spring off of. I wanted to be at my best for this fight.

My senses were on fire. As the air blew around me I could smell the aroma of the flowers in the garden. My ears picked up every sound, the birds, the falling leaves, and even the blades of the grass as they danced in the wind. It was like I had become one with the environment around me.

I took a deep breath and concentrated on the cool air as it traveled into my lungs. I felt at ease, and exhaled. As the last of the air fled my lips, I moved.

I ran at Yua as fast as could. I was hunched down low with my shoulders pointing forward. My feet dug into the ground, using the dirt that collected beneath them to spring faster. My adrenaline was building with each step, and it peaked as I reached her.

I attached swiftly, only allowing my blade to lock with hers for s split second. In that brief moment of contact, I could feel that she was too strong for me to break through, and quickly withdrew. I pulled my sword around and attack form the other direction, but Yua blocked me easily. I pulled away again and attacked several times, swinging my sword back and forth in the air, which she mimicked in order to parry my sword away from her face.

On my last stroke, Yua twisted her wrist so that her sword prevented mine from coming out of it. As our blades locked, I looked into Yua's eyes. The auburn red globes had a look of pleasure in them. She was enjoying this.

As I had thought, Yua was too strong for me to pressure her when our blades were locked. Not only was I unable to push her back, but she easily guided my blade around in an arch over my head. In this position, with my sword locked under hers, I was wide open, and she knew it.

Yua punched me in the face with her left hand and released her pressure on my sword. I don't think I've ever been hit that hard before, and yet, it didn't feel as bad as I thought it would. My ears were definitely ringing, but there was only a slight burning left behind where she hit me.

I staggered back as a reflex to getting punched in the face, and rubbed my eyes to fight off the daze in them. As I dropped my hand from eyes, I saw Yua pulling back her right arm, preparing to attack. I quickly lifted my right arm to block, barely managing to do so in time. With no time to fully recover from Yua's punch, I was driven back by her relentless assault. I soon found my back pressed against the hedges and ducked under a wide swing, which sliced right through the thick brush and had pieces of it flying everywhere.

I rolled out of my ducking position and past Yua, who was still following through her last attack. At the end of my roll, I used my hands to spring off the ground and twisted around before landing on my feet. Yua followed me quickly, already attacking by the time I had landed.

Her attacks were getting more brutal. As each horizontal slash collided with my idle blade, shocks were sent through my arms. With such a short handle, I had to overlap my hands in order to hold it properly with both arms, which was necessary just to keep it form getting ripping from my grasp. Even this was failing, as I could feel my grip loosening with each impact of our blades. My arms were getting tired of the constant beating they were holding against.

I didn't have to wait for my body to fail, however, as Yua suddenly switched off of her horizontal barrage with an upward swing. I had to split my arms to prevent my hands from being sliced off, and that's exactly what Yua must have wanted.

Before I could even think of what to do next, Yua grabbed my left arm with her left as her right arm circled around out of its attack. Yua turned around with my arm in her hand and bent over, lifting me off of the ground in a mighty heave and threw me, upside down, into the lone tree in the center of the area.

The aching in my arms was nothing compared to the plethora of new pains that spread when my back hit that tree. It was an instant of the most intense pain followed by a raging fire that spread through my nerves. As I fell to the ground my body felt like dead weight.

I slowly rolled onto my back and got up. It felt like everything was spinning, but I knew it had to be me. My legs felt uneven, and had to keep moving back and forth just to keep me standing. After a few steps, I collapsed back onto my hands and knees. I shut my eyes to try to clear my sense, but it still felt like everything was spinning.

"Is that it?" Yua asked. "Is that the best you can do?"

I coughed when I opened my mouth to try to answer her. My body was exhausted, and needed all the air I could breathe in. She was too strong. I could feel it in my arms every time she attacked. My bones were literally shaking under my flesh and my muscles were tearing themselves apart while they pushed against her blows.

"I expected so much more from you, Ryu," she said. "Although, I guess there's only so much you can expect from someone so young."

I once again struggled to my feet. My dizziness was slowly becoming a slight light headedness, allowing me to focus better.

"Ah… looks like you still have some fight left in you after all," she said. She was obviously amused by my determination, but I was so absorbed in my instincts, I didn't really care.

Yua began to slowly walk around me. She led her feet, one in front of the other, in a slow, rhythmic step around me that kept her facing me. I turned slowly and sloppily as I followed her movements. She was graceful it was almost hypnotizing to my cloudy senses.

When Yua stopped, suddenly, and prepared to charge, I reacted in turn. I'm glad I did, because she moved so quickly that I was barely able to block her. It was almost like she flew at me, and I felt a wall of air hit me when our blades impacted. The sound of the impact was beyond reality. It was more than two metal blades colliding. It sounded like a bolt of lightning tearing the earth. My arms nearly buckled right there, but by some miracle, they held on.

Although my legs did not yield, my feet did. They were pushed back, dragging through the dirt by the force of Yua's attack. While this caused me to have more ground to leverage my weight on, it did not do me any good. Yua was still able to force me to bend backwards.

With the strain of her pressure on my back, I had to give in. I fell backwards onto my back and quickly rolled to my right back onto my feet. As I had thought she would, Yua attempted to drive her sword down into me while I was on the ground.

I spun my sword in my hand to get a better grip and ran forwards. Yua dragged her sword backwards out of the ground and swung it around, whipping a chunk of dirt into my face. I stopped in mid step and wiped my eyes with my free arm.

Before I could fully recover, I felt Yua take me by the neck. She lifted me off of the ground and began to squeeze lightly. As my throat began to close in her hand, my body became heavy, and I dropped my sword. Her eyes stared into mine, haunting, and searching me. "What's wrong, Ryu?" she asked.

I tried to turn my face so I could look straight at her, but her grasp on my neck was too tight. When I tried to speak, all I could do was choke out thin breaths.

"You fight like a human would," she said. "Weak… and alone."

I grabbed Yua's wrist with both my hands and tried to loosen her grip. Although she looked like the average woman, her arms felt like metal when I attempted to twist it.

"Why do you struggle?" she asked. "Why fight to deny what you are?" Yua squeezed a little bit harder, causing me to choke for air. "You know you're better than this," she said. "You know, because they told you so."

At that moment, my mind became detached from reality. It was like I had become unconscious from being strangled, but not quite. I could still see and hear, but I had no control over my body. The voices of a great many people all cried together, "Vy ohy uieh lthyrgtn, uieh yuyl, ord uieh yohl. Bymicy iry vatn el, ord vy vass jagnt vatn uie," and despite not understanding their words, it all made perfect sense to me.

With newfound resolve, my body came to life. It moved without my control, guided by the voices. It fought for them, and they fought for me.

**- x -**

When we finally reached the central courtyard, several bodies were lying around with guards surrounding them. A few were being loaded onto stretchers to be taken to the infirmary while a priest was kneeling at others, giving a final prayer to send them to the afterlife.

Myn and I kneeled down to examine one of the soldiers that were still alive. The man had large cuts that pierced his armor and into his flesh. Blood leaked out from the openings in his leather plating, and it did not look like he had long to live.

I held his hand to comfort him while Myn took a closer look at his wounds.

"My god…" he said after examining the wound on the man's lower torso.

"What is it?" I asked.

Myn looked at me quizzically before answering. I felt like he was seeing if I was worthy of an answer, and felt a little offended, and insignificant. "These wounds are not from any normal blade," he said. "The skin around the cuts has already begun to rot," he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "How is it doing that?"

Myn looked at me again like he really shouldn't be telling me, but he still did. "They are cuts from the Dycir Bsody, one of the weapons blessed by the dragon god, Yorae," he said. "It's more fitting to say that the Dycir Bsody is cursed, however, as any who fall prey to it are consumed by darkness, and die a swift death in agony that feels like an eternity."

As Myn spoke, the man whose hand I was holding began to struggle for breath. His pupils dilated, and his skin became pale. The hand that I held became ice cold, and shriveled nearly to the bone. I could suddenly see his veins and arteries through his skin, a tangled web of red underneath the white flesh.

I released the man's hand in shock and fell backwards onto my butt. I backed away quickly and watched as the man continued to deteriorate into a meatless skeleton wrapped by skin and veins.

He was screaming now, a horrifying cry of despair. The sound was unnatural, and was probably more his body gasping for air than his mind reacting to the pain.

Myn stood up and pulled out his sword. He mumbled something with his held bowed and then drove his sword into the man's chest.

The man flinched for a second, and then laid to rest. Even at peace, his face still showed the pain he had suffered.

I held my hand to my mouth and fought back the urge to puke. My knees were shaking, and my stomach felt like it had just been punched.

Myn replaced his sword into his sheath and turned around towards the courtyard. "Do you sense anything?" he asked Yuri and Cassandra.

Cassandra stood at the edge of the courtyard, staring towards the hedge maze at the center. "It's strange," she said. "The draconians were all shouting and then suddenly silenced." Cassandra pointed towards the hedge maze. "But they're definitely there," she said.

"Do you suppose we're too late?" Yuri asked "that it's over?"

As if to answer his question, the sky suddenly became dark, and the wind began to pick up. The ground shook softly under our feet and Myn, Yuri, and Cassandra all covered their ears and fell to their knees. The remaining guards all formed a semi-circle around me to defend against whatever was happening.

"What's wrong?" I asked. I ran over to Myn and grabbed his shoulder. "What's happening?"

Myn looked at me through a tortured face and said "I've never heard them resonate so loudly before."

The sky was now completely black, casting a shadow over the castle. The wind blew harder, but the ground gradually stopped shaking, and the three stopped acting like they were being deafened by noise. They got up slowly and took a moment to recover, but eventually returned to normal.

Myn pulled out his sword and crossed his arm across my chest to push me back. "Yuri!" he yelled, "byvohy!"

Yuri and Cassandra also prepared to fight. Yuri summoned a ball of white energy between his hands and formed a long staff from it. The staff became solid, and he twirled it in the air before getting ready. The staff was pure white with a dragon head carved at each end. The weapon looked very light, but very painful to be struck with.

I couldn't tell what Cassandra was using for her weapon, but a short blade could be seen extending from each sleeve. The blades dangled from her sleeves like they were at the end of strings while her arms rested at her sides.

Myn stepped in front of me with his left arm still extended to protect me. "Nina, get down," he ordered.

As I kneeled down behind Myn, the hedge garden suddenly exploded. A fierce wind hit us as the shockwave expanded, tossing the unprepared guards back against the castle walls. Myn, Yuri, and Cassandra all managed to remain standing, and had erected a force-field around them that extended to protect me as well.

A mixture of black mist and golden light shot up into the clouds, tossing debris in every direction that fell like rain. Several large chunks flew our way, including the mangled trunk of the tree that had occupied the center of the maze.

Myn backed me up a little as the trunk came crashing down, and I screamed out of surprise. After the hail stopped, I peeked around Myn to take a look at what was happening and could just make out Ryu and Yua's forms within the tower of black and gold.

Yua was engulfed in the black mist, like it was coming from her body. The way it snaked around and moved behind her was almost like it was alive. It looked like an abyss that was consuming the sky.

Ryu was glowing in the golden light like a sun. I could barely make him out in the blinding light, and could only do so because of Yua's mist, most likely.

The two seemed to be holding each others hands and struggling for control as they spun in the air, the black mist following after them like a monster trying to consume its prey.

As they began to fall towards the ground, Yua suddenly disappeared. She seemed to vanish into a puff of smoke, almost like Yuri had the night before, except a little different. It was more instantaneous, and there was no trail of mist to follow her with. The black smog that was surrounding her hung in the air after she disappeared.

Ryu flew forwards slightly, and into the mist, before receiving an elbow to the back of his head when Yua reappeared a second later. As Ryu flew towards the ground form the blow to his head, Yua disappeared back into the mist surrounding her and it coiled itself around Ryu. A second later, Yua emerged form the mist, flying upwards into an uppercut to Ryu's chin that sent him back up into the air.

The black smog consumed Yua again and flew up past Ryu until stopping as he began to fall again. The living cloud twirled in the air and opening like a mouth, and Yua flew out. She flew into Ryu with her right shoulder and drove him into the ground, pushing him forward and leaving a cut in the dirt.

"Oh my god, Myn, you have to help him!" I screamed. What was happening was like a nightmare. Yua's actions were like nothing I had ever scene before, and were causing such destruction.

"Nina, stay back here," Myn said as he began to move forward. "Yuri, Cassandra, let's go," he said, nodding at each of them before advancing past them.

Myn approached Yua in a straight line in his usual combat stance while Yuri and Cassandra circled around to her sides.

Yuri walked to the right with his left side pointing at Yua. He was holding his staff in his right hand with one end pointing at the ground and the other at the sky. His appearance was rather misleading, so calm and loose.

Cassandra moved to the left much like Yuri did, except her right side was facing Yua. Her arms were resting at her sides still, a blade protruding from each sleeve. They hung there, swaying slowly in the wind.

The three stopped approaching when they were about twenty feet away from Yua from each of their positions. Yua had her back turned to them, and did not seem to notice their presences yet. Ryu did not seem to be conscious anymore, but his body was still glowing brightly.

Yua stood up from her crouching position and turned around to face Myn. "You just couldn't sit this one out, could you?" she asked.

"What do you plan on doing?" Myn asked her.

Yua took a step forward and got out of the cut in the ground she had made. "What's the matter? Are you afraid I'm going to kill him?" she asked, sounding more than a little sadistic.

Myn didn't answer immediately. I couldn't see what kind of expression he had, since his back was turned to me, but I could tell that his body was tense. "Why else would you be here?" he asked in return. I couldn't see this conversation getting anywhere, since they just answered each other with more questions.

"Well, then why don't you come and stop me?" she asked, half serious. She was more taunting him than asking the actual question.

Myn responded by reaching towards her with his left hand. Lightning formed around his arm and flew from his palm at her. Yua halted the bolt with her right hand, and it harmlessly was absorbed into her.

Myn stopped his attack and lowered his arm. He looked around the area like there were people watching everywhere, but I saw no one when I looked. He returned his eyes towards Yua and she smiled mockingly while presenting herself with her right hand. Her swords were in their sheaths, but she was ready to take them on anyways.

The three charged at Yua together, but attacked in turns. Myn started off with his sword, but Yua ducked under his high strikes and side stepped around anything else.

Yuri spun his staff over his head and swung downwards as Yua was busy dodging Myn's attack, but was blocked. He pulled his staff back and then lunged forward with it quickly, aiming at her feet. His quick attacks forced Yua to step back and perform fancy footwork to avoid being tripped.

Yua was doing fine until Yuri made a long lunge at her feet. Yua split her legs and let his staff fly between them. As Yua jumped up to move over the staff, Yuri lifted it to follow her, and prevented her from escaping. As she began to fall back to the ground, Yuri flipped her over with a single sweeping motion.

I got a little excited at seeing Yuri land a hit, but Yua quickly turned it to her favor. She managed to land on her hands and dropped her legs down on Yuri, locking his head between her feet. I thought she was going to strangle him, but instead, Yua back flipped onto her feet while throwing Yuri into Myn at the same time.

When Yua was back on her feet, Cassandra was standing right behind her. It looked like she would catch her by surprise, but Yua was well aware of Cassandra's actions.

Without turning around, Yua raised her arms and blocked Cassandra as she slashed at her with her blades. Eventually, after twisting her waist one way and then the other to block Cassandra's attacks, Yua turned around completely. Her movements were fast and short, keeping her arms inside of Cassandra's reach in order to block against her arms, and not her blades. This kept them extremely close, and made for a tense situation.

Although she was having no trouble keeping up with Cassandra, I could sense a slight hesitation in Yua. Her movements were odd, almost submissive. She allowed Cassandra full control of the entire fight. I also noticed that she never attacked, even if Cassandra left herself open a little too long after an attack, even though she could have easily hit her back.

This went on for about a minute before Yua blocked both of Cassandra's arms at the same time, twisted them, and then locked them under hers. Cassandra tried to pull herself out, but Yua's grip was too strong.

As Cassandra continued to struggle, Yua leaned in until her face was practically inside of her hood. I could make out a faint smile from where I was watching from and saw her lips move as she said something.

Cassandra screamed after Yua was done and head-butted her in the forehead. Yua released her arms and fell back while Cassandra back-stepped and retracted her weapons back into her sleeves. "You!" she cursed while beginning to surround herself with a white mist. While Yuri and Yua's mists from my past experiences were like smoke or fog, Cassandra's sparkled, like tiny specks of glass.

Yua raised her arms like she was summoning a great power. She began to rise off of the ground and the black smog encircled her again. It twisted tightly around her body and began to lose its living appearance. It was almost like Yua was absorbing it and all that remained was a thin, dark aura radiating from her body like light from a bulb. When she was done, Yua returned to the ground and lowered her arms.

By the time Yua had finished, Cassandra was attacking. She raised her right hand and concentrated the surrounding mist into its palm. Grasping the mist in her hand, Cassandra slammed it into the ground causing it to shake violently for a second before giant ice spikes exploded forth at Yua.

Yua avoided the spikes by leaping back, but couldn't retreat any further when another wall of spikes broke out of the ground behind her.

I couldn't see anything beyond the wall of ice that had grown out of the ground between me and the others. I could hear Myn and Yuri fighting Yua behind the ice while Cassandra began to float high into the air. The mist that surrounded her seemed to be gathering into larger shards of ice is it circled her body.

The ground began to shake again, except this time it was different. When Cassandra had punched the ground, it shook like an earthquake. This time, it felt like the entire ground was being dragged towards someplace, causing everything that wasn't attached to it to slowly rattle and scuffle in the same direction.

Even when I was standing, I was slowly being dragged towards the wall of ice by the odd shaking. Eventually, I fell, prompting me to crawl on my hands and knees like a wild animal in a vain attempt at escape.

Just as I had started to gain some ground, the shaking became more intense, rattling my entire body so hard I became dazed. I rolled over and continued to scoot backwards as the wall of ice loomed over me. The massive wall had begun to crack under the stress of the earth beneath it shaking.

I was nearly at the well when I suddenly stopped. I felt something wrap around my left wrist and pull me back. I looked back to see Myn floating behind me, his hand pulling me to safety.

Myn lifted me up and wrapped me in his right arm. I looked at him and pushed myself out of his arms. I spread my wings and flapped them lightly to float over the ground and turned back towards the crumbling wall of ice. "What's happening, Myn?" I asked.

"Yua… she's…" Myn suddenly covered his ears and screamed. Cassandra and Yuri were also screaming, looking like the most excruciating sound was tearing their ears apart.

I could barely hear their cries, but the look on their faces was terrible. Twisted and contorted beyond natural means. They had tightened so much in concentration it looked like they would burst.

I floated over to Myn and placed my hands on his shoulders. He was trembling heavily and twitched under my touch. "Myn, what's wrong?" I asked. "What's happening to you?"

"The voices…" Myn said. He struggled to speak even the slightest.

"Voices?" I wondered. "You mean the draconians?"

The air suddenly felt different as I heard ice shatter and crumble. A strange golden light was cast over everyone with sharp blade shaped shadows stretching over them. I looked over towards where the wall of ice had been. Black mist and golden light seemed to move to strangle each other as the ground was torn apart in their wake.

The golden light expanded like water filling a tank while the black mist tried to contain it like a hand grasping a ball. It was strange, while the ball of light seemed relentless and wild; the black mist appeared to move intently, thinking of the best way to contain it.

The light was so bright I had to turn my eyes away as it engulfed almost the entire courtyard. It grew near me now, its warmth blanketing me while the black mist sent shivers down my spine. I fled from the ball of light, and just as suddenly as it had appeared it exploded into a pillar that reached into the clouds.

I covered my ears from the deafening sound and felt the shockwave of the explosion hit me like a solid wall, rather than thrown air. The wind was knocked out of me and I was thrown backwards by the blast. I shut my eyes and curled into a ball, wishing I could just disappear from this hell.

The air gradually settled from the explosion of light and I slowly opened my eyes. I turned around and watched as the mist grew larger, like smoke from a fire.

The black mist surrounded the pillar and consumed it with a shrieking call like none I had heard before. The sky shook more violently than in the greatest storm, and the cry split the land like the pillar did the sky. All that was left in its wake was a smoky crater where the garden I spent much of my childhood in once was.

I sat there, breathing in the air like I had just emerged from the deepest ocean. I felt the tension in my body finally subside and looked around me.

Nearly the entire courtyard had been reduced to dirt and burnt ash. The bodies of guards laid scattered along the edges of the blast while Myn, Yuri, and Cassandra were all kneeling and staring into the sky like they had seen a ghost.

I myself felt like I had seen something that was not of this world, and as the sky cleared to the early noon sun, all I could do was join them in staring.


	12. Moving Forward

_The world has changed._

_It continues to change._

_But change is not forever forward._

_It is looping back_

_To the beginning…_

**Dragon Tears**

**I: Age of Man**

**By: OmegaGear**

**XII**

**~ Moving Forward ~**

My head was throbbing as I awoke. I could barely breathe, but I didn't know if that was due to any harm done to me, or the state of the air. It felt thick and rather vile and stunk of something I couldn't define; like death, only worse.

I exhaled sharply and felt like part of me was lost with that breath. My lungs forced me to cough after each breath. It felt like they were bleeding, but I knew better. Had that been the case, I would be coughing blood, not mucus.

I groaned and tried to focus the thoughts in my mind before taking a look at my predicament. I tried to remember how I got into whatever I was in, but whatever wasn't a complete blank was little more than a blur. I remember fighting a woman named Yua in Wyndia castle, but don't remember ever finishing that fight. I tried to remember, but clawing at the small pieces I had didn't do me any good. Finally, I gave up and decided to start working on my current situation.

When I opened my eyes everything was blurry. All I could see were different shades of grey, so I decided that I must have been someplace dark. As I tried to look around some more, I discovered that I was restrained at my hands and feet. I couldn't move at all.

I tried taking a deep breath and felt like I was inhaling more than air. Something cold brushed over my face and into my lips, like misty fog, except it made me want to hurl. The putrid substance seemed to strangle me when inhaled so deeply, so I stuck to short breaths after that.

As I began to adjust to my situation, I thought I heard some people whispering beside me. I looked over as best I could and called out. "Who's there?" I asked. I spoke as best I could, but it was hard to project when I felt so weak.

No one answered to my call, and a heavy silence hung in the air. I began to wonder if what I heard was just my imagination when more whispering reached my ears from my other side. Again, I looked over and called out to what I thought I heard, and was again replied with silence.

I looked around some more, but my vision still hadn't quite focused. Unable to spot anything that resembled a person, I decided to just wait. I figured that as long as I was tied up, someone would come around at some point to ask me questions.

As I waited, I slowly drifted back to sleep.

**- x -**

"Nina…" I heard someone call out to me.

It sounded so distant, yet felt so close. I mumbled in response and tried to get up, but I suddenly realized my entire body was sore, persuading me to rest.

"Hey, Nina!" I heard the same person call out to me again. It was a child; a boy, perhaps.

"Huh…?" Was all I could say. I managed to speak a bit better this time and even saw some light peeking through my shut eyes. I wanted to open them, but the felt so heavy, and the light actually hurt a little.

"Come on Nina!" the boy shouted. Now I could feel something tugging on my arm. Although I was sore all over, it didn't hurt too much, and the sensation seemed to help me recover my senses a bit.

"What? Huh?" I asked again.

The tugging stopped abruptly and I felt something soft pulled over my body up to my shoulders.

"Now, Alexander, let her majesty rest," I heard a woman say.

Was it Julia, I wondered. I mumbled a bit more and tried to move under the blanket that had been put over me, but felt the wear on my body even more and decided to give it a rest. I sighed and let myself drift back to sleep, still wondering where I was, and what was happening around me.

**- x -**

Whispers, I can hear them again. They sound closer to me now, and won't stop. Curious, and mischievous, they remain in the shadows, hidden form my eyes, or do they? I opened my eyes, and for the first time I saw the place I was being held.

Wherever I was, I was outside, since no walls could be seen. Dark grey stone floors spread far off into a strange black mist, which covered much of the land beyond. The night sky hung over me without a single cloud and a full moon hanging high in the sea of stars.

The whispers continued to mingle around me, but I had grown used to them. I could not understand their banter, nor did I really want to. I simply wanted to forget about them, but just as I was about to tune them out, one of them became much louder.

"What was that?" I asked. I was almost sure that someone was close by. That last voice was loud enough to be face to face, but no one replied to my call.

I waited a moment longer and several voices spoke together, something I couldn't grasp, and then faded away. In the silence of their wake, I heard footsteps approaching me from behind. Was this too my imagination?

"So, his highness is finally awake, I see," a woman said. The voice was cold and amused. I remember it well. It was the voice of that woman that had attacked me in Wyndia, Yua.

"W-what do you want with me?" I asked.

The footsteps continued until I heard them stop just behind me. For a moment, no one spoke until I heard her turn and continue to walk around whatever I was tied to. "I don't want anything from you, Ryu," she said.

I could see her out of the corner of my eye now and turned my face as best I could to watch her. "Then, why am I tied up. Why are you holding me prisoner?" I asked.

Yua had her hands crossed behind her back like someone trying to intimidate a man being interrogated. The look in her eyes was like none I had ever seen. They were so cold as they pierced into my soul. "You must be restrained," she said.

"Restrained?" I asked. I wanted some clarification.

"Yes, restrained," she repeated. She was now in front of me and turned sideways to me. "Beasts such as you must be restrained," she said.

There was such disgust in her words. What did she mean? "What do you mean, beast?" I asked.

Yua laughed and walked up to me. She grabbed my jaw with her right hand and I suddenly felt an immense amount of despair fill my heart. My body felt like it was ready to faint from carrying a heavy load for far too long and I wanted to cry out my suffering. Yet, was this my suffering? The feelings and burden that I felt, were they mine?

Yua removed her hand and the feeling suddenly stopped. She turned her back to me and scoffed. "The mark of kings," she said, sounding disgusted again. She laughed mockingly and said, "it is nothing more than the symbol of an uncontrollable beast."

"The mark of kings?" I asked. Myn and Yuri had mentioned that earlier, in Wyndia. "What are you talking about?" I asked.

"You mean you don't know?" Yua asked. She sounded surprised and turned back around to look me in the eyes. "So, Myn and Yuri haven't told you yet?" she asked.

I stared back into her eyes. They looked somewhere between auburn and orange, burning with a fire I had never seen before. "I… didn't want to listen," I admitted, remembering when they had tried to talk to me about it.

"Ah, so that was it," she said. She grinned and turned her back to me again. "A beast," she said.

I didn't say anything. She was insulting me, but I didn't want to give in, to shout back and prove to her that I had a temper, and could possibly be a beast. Instead, I glaredat her, waiting for her to explain what she was talking about.

"Why so silent?" she asked. "Have nothing to say for yourself?"

I remained silent and glared at the back of her head, just waiting for her to turn back around. I could usually take things in stride, since I had been teased a lot when I was younger, but this woman was pushing all the right buttons. Not only was she insulting me, she was also judging me and getting some kind of sick pleasure from it.

"You are the king of all dragons," she said, finally. "That mark on your forehead is proof of that."

The king of all dragons, I wondered. Excavations and historical studies in recent centuries spoke of a dragon kingdom, but nothing was known as fact. I couldn't believe she said I was such a thing. "I don't have a mark on my forehead," I said.

"Of course you don't," she agreed. "That's because you are still only a beast," she continued. I could see her shoulders rise and fall as she spoke. She was really trying to control herself whenever she shouted about me being a beast. "The mark of kings only shines in response to me and the other Ryong," she said.

"Ryong?" I had heard that term before, but where? I tried to remember, and realized that it was also from the historical studies the empire was conducting.

According to what I had read, the Ryong were some kind of religious figures thousands of years ago. No one knew for sure, but it was believed that their era dated back to the original Fou Empire, before the second age, which was the earliest documented part of history. By then, the Fou Empire had already been destroyed in name.

_This does me no good!_ I thought. I shook my head and tried to focus on the present. "What are you? And why do you call me a beast?" I asked.

Yua turned to face me again and stomped up to my face until our noses were nearly touching. "I call you a beast, because that is what you are!" She shouted. Her eyes were burning into mine. Their anger was like a flame eating at my soul. "You are untamed, barbaric, and savage. You cannot control the power of your heritage, and are therefore, a beast!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" I shouted back. She wasn't making any sense. What power did I have?

"Of course you don't, beast," she hissed.

Yua turned back around and took a few steps away from me. She turned her face so that she could see me through the corner of her eye. From my point of view, it looked like she had become possessed. Her orange-ish auburn eye was inhuman as it glared at me.

"The blood that flows through your veins," she started to say. Her tone had become controlled, but still carried a sharp edge of contempt. "The blood of a savage beast," she finished. She brought her hand down to the handle of one of her swords and grasped it. "The mark of kings is symbol of the ultimate power of your people," she said.

Yua faced me again and pulled out the sword she had taken in her hand. I couldn't hide the fear in my eyes as I watched the dark colored blade exit its sheath with a ringing sound. The white light of the moon shined on the strange blade, revealing strange carvings on its flat edge. As I gazed upon them, they seemed to speak out to me, whispers carried by the air that gave me an ominous feeling.

"To tame that power, the one who is destined must obtain the power of all eight elements," she said, "fire, water, lightning, wind, earth, life, shadow, and holy. Upon receiving the eight powers, the destined one will take on the form of Yorae, the king of all dragons, and usher in a new era of order for this world."

I listened to her words. Her story sounded like the old legends of how the world emerged from an endless see of mud and was transformed into a green paradise by what the empire called the endless.

"However," Yua said, "You will fail us all."

"What?" I asked. I heard her sword hum and felt a wave hit me as if the blade had just pulsed with life.

"I have seen it," she said. She grasped the handle of her sword tighter and another pulse sent another wave into my body. "The sky was red from the endless fires as all life was burned to the ground. The green lands of this world were turned to black ash, and the oceans turned to deserts of sand and dust. Billions of people on their knees pleading for mercy as the black terror in the sky passes undeserved judgment upon them, sending them to their graves in shadow and flame."

Yua's hand was trembling as it lifted her sword and pointed it at me. "You will destroy this world, rather than save it!"

**- x -**

"Mmm?" I mumbled as I awoke again. I rubbed my eyes as I sat up and took a look around.

I was in my room in the castle, tucked into my bed like normal. The room was dimly lit by a single fuel lamp sitting on the table across from the bed, meaning it was already night time.

"Was all that just a dream?" I asked myself as I attempted to get out from under the covers. I felt a sudden jolt of pain run through my body and quickly realized that everything I had remembered most certainly was not.

"Heh, I guess not," I said. I continued to slowly climb out of my bed and made sure that I was presentable. I was no longer wearing my usual attire, and had been dressed in a night gown.

I threw on a sweater to make sure I was warm and slipped on my slippers and made my way to the door. I opened it slowly and peeked through the crack to see if anyone was outside, but saw no one, not even a single guard. "That's kind of strange," I said.

"What's strange, your highness?" I heard a man ask me from the side of the door I couldn't see through the crack.

I jumped away from the door and nearly fell from the surprise. Opening the door a bit more, I poked my head through and looked over to where the voice had come from to see Myn standing with his back against the wall and his arms crossed.

"Oh, it's you, Myn," I said. "I was just thinking that it was kind of strange for there to be no guards around after what happened."

"I am keeping watch over you," he answered.

There was a moment of silence as I watched Myn. His eyes were closed and it looked like he was contemplating something.

"Um, Myn?" I asked quietly.

Myn opened his right eyes a bit and peeked towards me. "Yes, your highness?" he asked.

"Um… I was wondering…" I was still a bit confused over what I remembered, and slowly stepped out into the hall before finishing my question. "What happened?" I asked.

"Hmm…" Myn looked like he was thinking about what to say when he stopped leaning against the wall and let his arms rest at his sides. "I'm not so sure, myself," he said.

"You're not sure?" I asked. I was certain that Myn would know something, but from the looks and sound of things, he was genuinely confused as well.

Myn crossed his arms again and rubbed his chin with his right hand. "Well," he said while looking over to me, "I am sure about some things, but others I'm not."

"Well, what do you know?" I asked.

"All I really know is that Yua is somewhere with Ryu," he said.

I thought about what I saw before I had fainted. A pillar of golden light shot into the sky followed by Yua's black mist, leaving nothing but a smoking crater behind. "Somewhere with Yua, you say." I pondered what could possibly be going on.

"I can't really be sure," Myn confessed. He shrugged his shoulders, which kind of surprised me. He was usually so serious, especially when it came to Ryu and Yua. "But I'm sure that Ryu's alright, anyhow."

"How can you be so sure?" I asked, a little anxious to know.

Myn gave me a sincere smile. "If he was dead, I would know, because the draconians would tell me," he said. He looked out the window and sighed. "Today, when Yua confronted Ryu, something happened."

"You mean, besides my favorite courtyard being turned to dust, right?" I asked. I knew it was silly to ask, but I knew Myn wouldn't tell me anything unless I asked something.

"Heh, well, that would be the obvious answer," he said. Myn was being pretty laid back about everything. It felt a little unsettling. "But you see…" he was saying.

Just then, a gust of wind blew past us. It was pretty strong for being indoors, and I had to use my arm to keep my hair out of my eyes.

"Good to see you're finally awake, your highness," I heard Yuri say.

I turned around to see him standing with a smirk and saluting me. He was as carefree as ever, but I thought that even he would be down after what had transpired.

"Geez, what is with you two?" I asked.

"Is something the matter, your highness?" Myn asked.

I stared at the ground and tightened my hands into fists. "You're both acting like nothing happened!" I shouted.

An uneasy silence followed my outbreak before Yuri and Myn both smiled to assure me. "Nothing is wrong," Myn said. He put his hand on my shoulder and gently squeezed it. "It may appear that we're taking it easy, but that couldn't be further from the truth."

Yuri put his hand on my other shoulder and also squeezed it softly, making me feel a bit more secure. "Myn, Cassandra, and I don't have much time left," he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked. I looked up into Yuri's eyes, almost afraid of the answer.

"Yesterday," Myn answered, "the threads of fate finally began to weave together. Ryu was able to resonate with the draconians."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It means that it is time for us to fulfill our oath," Yuri said. He released my shoulder and looked over to Myn. "Of course, we're not sure how to," he admitted.

I couldn't help but frown at his sudden admittance to being completely clueless. "How can you not know?" I asked. My head felt like the room was spinning from all of the confusing messages they were giving me.

"Nina," Myn said. I was shocked back to reality by his choice to address me by my first name. He only did that when he was truly serious. "Up until yesterday, Yuri and I knew our paths. For over a thousand years, the Ryong have been waiting for the time when the king of all dragons would appear. We knew the day would come, and we know what must be done, but…" He suddenly stopped speaking and looked a bit frustrated.

"What is it?" I asked. "If you knew of this day, what's the problem?"

"It's not that simple," Yuri said for him. "We only know what must happen, but not how it will happen," he finally said.

It all made sense to me now; Yuri and Myn's constant disagreements over their methods and goals over the years, Yua's dark omens and Yuri not denying them outright, everything. Despite having some grasp on the history and the fate of the world, none of them really know what's going to happen.

"I… I think I understand now," I said. Yuri and Myn both seemed to be a bit happy that I was starting to understand. I guess, despite Myn's refusal to really tell me anything, and his insisting that I stay out of it, he's come to accept that I want to be part of this. Although, I wasn't sure why I was so intent on being part of what was going on. "But, what happens now?" I asked.

"Well, we're heading out on the Longiness tomorrow morning," Myn said.

"The Longiness? What for?" I asked.

"We have to find Ryu," Myn said. He hesitated for a moment and then continued. "And I want you to come along," he said.

"You want me to come along?" I asked. I thought about it for a second and then laughed. "As if you could stop me," I taunted him.

"Then I suggest you get prepared for the journey," he said. He and Yuri took a few steps back and bowed before turning to leave. "You probably won't be seeing home for a long time," he said as they walked away.

Not see home for a long time? I wondered what he meant. Would we not return after finding Ryu? Or did he expect finding him to take a long time? I thought about it as I returned to my room and then contemplated what I would do to prepare for a long journey. I didn't have a lot of suitable clothes, and the airship would have any food and water supplies I would need.

"I just don't know…" I said to myself as I looked out the window. We were about to embark into an unlit path.

**- x -**

It had been a few hours since Yua left me after our conversation. Actually, it was more like an interrogation. By the end of it, she looked like she was just about ready to execute me, but instead she marched off into the mist and I haven't heard a sound since.

My arms were starting to really hurt from being restrained and my shoulders were on fire from the stress of my weight pulling down on them. My muscles were getting really sore, and some of them felt like they were going to burst.

Just as dizziness started to settle in, I heard those strange whispers again. "Ah, I don't even care anymore," I told myself, which was just about right. I could make out what the whispers were saying anyways, and they never answered my calls.

"I wonder…" I heard Yua say.

I couldn't tell where her voice was coming from and looked around as best I could. The night sky was at its darkest as the moon began its slow descent towards the horizon, and the mist seemed to be thicker than before, meaning I couldn't see a damn thing.

"Mor uie yzyr erdyhltord vnot A'c louarg?" I heard her say. It was obviously a question by the way she said it, but the words made absolutely no sense to me.

"Huh?" was all I could muster in response to her question.

She didn't answer right away, but did eventually say "I didn't think so."

I was able to figure out where she was this time. She was directly in front of me, and when I looked in her direction I nearly choked on my breath as a pair of glowing eyes cut through the darkness.

Yua emerged from the mist with both of her swords out and I could feel her aura radiating from her body. It must have been my imagination, or a hallucination from being tied up for so long, but I could have sworn her aura was actually causing the physical world around us to shake.

"What good is as king if he can't understand his own people?" she asked. She sounded a little insane, and looked even worse than she sounded. Her eyes looked like they were possessed by a demon, and she had the most wicked smile on her face.

I could feel my heart pounding and the cold sweat running down my face. My whole body felt like ice and no matter how much I wanted to speak, I couldn't.

"No answer?" Yua hissed. She crossed her swords in front of her chest and twirled them down to her sides. "Are you so stricken with fear that you can't even speak!" She shouted.

I flinched as I felt her aura increase in intensity. As it expanded around me I felt my body become weak. It suddenly felt like I had been through an endless struggle and my body was on the verge of collapse. Now I knew for sure that it was causing the physical space around her to shake, as I could feel my own body start to rattle as whatever I was tied to also shook.

Yua started to growl as she totally lost control. "A spineless little whelp like you will never be able to obtain Yorae!" She screamed. Her aura exploded into a giant cloud of black mist, sending dust and debris flying into my face and my hair back like it was blowing in the wind.

An eerie glow bled through the mist like a flame in the fog of night. I watched as it grew larger and suddenly realized it was getting closer. The must parted, revealing Yua, surrounded by a purple aura that radiated an evil presence.

"It must end," she said.

"What?" I finally said. My eyes opened wide as my mind began to panic. Instinct and reason began to struggle for control, both desperately trying to convince the other that they were the right way to survive this situation. But, when I tugged on my arms and remembered that I was bound, I realized that there was no way to survive.

"Johyvyss, Koalyh," Yua said. It was strange, because I could have sworn there was some sadness in her tone.

Yua came charging at me, the black mist following her like an evil spirit encompassing its possession. I was panicking more than ever now, and all I wanted to do was disappear. Ever since coming into contact with the princess of Wyndia, my life had become complete hell.

"Ah!" I cried as I saw Yua raise her swords to strike me down. _This is it!_ I thought. I was going to die right there. I shut my eyes, not wishing to see her face again before I die.

I heard the shattering of rock and an explosion of energy as Yua's swords slice down at me. I didn't scream, or maybe I didn't have time to. I felt the strain on my body lift away, and thought that it must have been over. I was no longer of the living, and no longer felt physical pain.

That idea was erased when I felt my head collide with the stone ground. "Ouch!" I cried. I rolled onto my back and rubbed my head where I had landed. "What the hell? Did she miss?" I asked myself.

Yua towered over me as her aura went up another notch. The ground shook more violently, but now it felt like the earth itself was trembling to her power.

"Uie…" she hissed.

"… eep!" was all I could say. It was probably nothing more than my own words getting caught in my throat, because I was too afraid to formulate any solid thoughts.

Yua lifted the sword in her right arm and sliced it through the air, sending a wave of her aura flying at me. I quickly rolled onto my stomach and got to my feet before helplessly jumping only to be thrown as the blast exploded where I was lying.

I tumbled and rolled when I landed and found myself dizzy when I got up. I couldn't tell where Yua was anymore, but it felt like her aura was all around me. I felt like I was going to faint and looked up to try to get my mind off of the ground. "Oh crap," I said.

Yua was directly above me, free falling like a hawk diving to catch a fish. She had her swords pointing out from her sides like wings.

"Oh, my god!" I cried. I dove out of the way as Yua came crashing down. The initial blast felt like a bomb going off, but her life sucking aura soon replaced it.

I felt like time was slowing down. Why was I so sluggish all of a sudden? I tried to run away, but my body didn't respond the way I wanted it to. Was I in worse condition than I thought? I wondered.

"Tnyhy al ri ylmopy!" Yua shouted as she rose from the crater of stone she had created.

I staggered back and forth as I tried to balance myself and slowly backed away. My eyes kept going from being unfocused to seeing clear double vision and my head was spinning in circles. Reason was slipping out of my reach, and my instincts were starting to creep from my heart as panic chilled my brain.

"Yzyr aj uie ylmopy cy, tny jihylt vass mirlecy uie!" Yua continued to shout. She came running at me with both swords ready and each footstep felt like a drum going off in my head. Was this what impending doom was like?

I fell backwards onto my back. When I tried to get up, my legs refused to take the load and left my grounded. I looked for a way out, but could see nothing but an endless sea of trees and black fog in every direction beyond the stone structure we were on.

Yua's right sword came flying down at my face, and I snapped. I could literally feel my mind go as my hands blindly clapped together, catching the blade between their palms.

Yua struggled against my hold for a second and then seemed to calm a bit as she realized what I had done. Her aura eased off a bit and she looked down at my hands holding her blade in place. "How is this possible?" she asked.

Yua stepped back and I didn't take a moment for granted. I quickly launched myself at Yua and grabbed her wrists. I tried to get her to release her swords, but she was a lot stronger than me. It didn't look like Yua was struggling at all to keep me from hurting her.

We stayed like that for a few seconds when Yua suddenly head butted me. My mind became a mess when the hit registered and I immediately released her wrists to hold my own head.

I stepped back and rubbed my forehead while using my other arm to help keep myself balanced. Despite being extremely dizzy, overall I was feeling more alert as I could sense Yua's aura calming down a bit more.

Just as I began to focus again, I felt Yua's fist dig into my gut. I choked the air out of my lungs and went flying back as she connected her other hand into my chin with an uppercut. I don't know how, but she managed to hit me a third time in my side, causing me to spiral in the air as I flew.

"Guh…" I groaned as I looked up. Yua stood over me with her swords back in their sheaths. Her eyes still had a killer look in them, but they twitched with a hint of frustration as she grabbed me by my shirt collar. This was nothing like the last time I had fought her.

Yua brought to eye level with her and glared into my eyes. I weakly looked back and felt like she was search for some answer in me. Without a word spoken, Yua dropped me to my knees and pulled out one of her swords. She spun it in her right hand, took one look at it and then brought it down on me with a cry.

I felt the sharp blade hit my shoulder and then a cold chill cut through my body. I trembled at the sensation, but felt no pain. When I peeked to see what had happened I saw Yua staring back at me, equally as puzzled and breathing heavily.

"Is this fate?" she asked me.

"Is what fate?" I asked back.

Yua looked at her sword as she turned it from side to side. "It won't kill you," she said. "Dycir Bsody, why?" she asked.

"Dycir Bsody?" Was she talking about her sword, or someone she knew?

Yua lifted her sword until it was pointing to the sky in front of her face and gazed at the moon. She inhaled deeply and shut her eyes gently.

For some reason, I watched. I probably should have run away at that moment, but felt compelled to stay.

Yua kept her eyes closed and opened her mouth as she sang out a single note. Her voice seemed so peaceful at that moment. No longer did it feel threatening or angry; now it was a beautiful song.

I felt something inside me start to beat. Not my heart, but something deep inside my mind. It felt like something that had been asleep was starting to wake up, because even though I was sure I had never experienced this before, it felt so familiar.

Yua began to glow purple again, and black mist consumed her. I heard many voices join in her chant. They were the voices of men, women, both child and adult. They sang with her and as more joined, the giant cloud of mist that had covered Yua began to build up into the sky.

As I watched, I suddenly felt like were not alone. I looked around, but saw no one, and yet it felt like I was in a crowd. The unmistakable feeling of another's presence near me brushed by in every direction as the awe inspiring chant continued.

As the pillar reached beyond where my eyes could see, I looked forward again.

Yua's purple glow was starting to expand beyond the walls of the black mist, breaking through in small bands of pale light. As it broke through completely, the voices around me sang out louder than ever before and shook the ground beneath me.

I fell backwards as the light flowed past me, surprising me with how bright it was. The voices stopped, and when the light dimmed down, the mist no longer towered into the sky.

As I looked up into the sky, the glow completely died and I heard something slam on the ground. When I looked to where it came from, I froze. There, where Yua once stood, was some kind of creature.

The being stood a bit taller than Yua, probably just under six feet. It was obviously a female, as it was still more or less a humanoid and had the features of a woman. Her skin was very pale and almost bluish, or maybe it was the light, while her calves, feet, forearms, and hands were covered with black scales. Her eyes were the same color as Yua's, but her long silver hair flowed freely down her back in contrast to Yua's braid.

She was not completely human though, and her hands and feet had large claws instead of nails. She stood on her feet much like a drakhorn did, on their balls with the heels elevated. Just below her waist, a large tail reached to the ground and tapped the cold stone. Long wings sprouted form her shoulders and were the same black color as her scales. Also, two horns were on its head, pointing back.

"W-who are you?" I asked nervously.

The creature looked at me solemnly and slammed her tail behind her. She gazed into my eyes and the sense of familiarity crept into me again.

"Why are you still here?" she asked.

The voice sounded like Yua's, but was a little different. I couldn't describe how it was different, but it was almost like there were two people speaking at the same time.

"Yua?" I asked. "What happened?"

She slammed her tail behind her again. "I won't give you a second chance," she said. She raised her hand and a ball of pale purple light formed in her palm. The ball sun around as sparks of energy crackled from her fingers and into it. "Leave," she ordered.

"But, I have nowhere to go," I said. I don't know why I was arguing to stay. It really made no sense to stay there with her, but the idea of walking aimlessly into the black fog of the forest didn't sound too great either.

"That doesn't matter to me," she hissed. She clenched her hand into a fist and the ball exploded with a flash.

Accepting my fate, I turned around and found some stairs at the edge of the stone structure. As I began to descend into the black fog, I heard Yua call out to me. A little afraid that she had already changed her mind, I slowly turned around.

"Just remember that some day, I will kill you," she said.

I didn't respond, but the words weighed heavily in my mind. Somehow, I managed to survive today, but I knew that I didn't stand a chance against her. I was already dreading the next time I would meet with her, thinking that whatever luck saved me today wouldn't help a second time.

With one last deep breath, I entered into the black fog of the forest. I didn't know where I was headed, but knew that I had to keep moving forward.

**- x -**

Okay, this formatting issue with is kind of annoying, but it's livable. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please leave your comments.


	13. What Lies Ahead

_In to the shadows he will walk_

_All manner of demon and beast will challenge him._

_Guided by fate_

_He will prevail over all_

_And all shall know_

_And bow to the king_

**Dragon Tears**

**I: Age of Man**

**By: OmegaGear**

**XIII**

**~ What Lies Ahead ~**

"Ugh, thanks for waiting," I huffed as I dropped my rather heavy suitcase onto the metal floor. Getting around while I was in such terrible shape was rough, but I insisted on doing so. After all, if this journey was going to be as long and hard as Myn said, I would need to learn to depend on myself for support.

"It's not like we could have left without you, your highness," Myn said. He was standing a few feet in front of me and bowed.

"Please," I pleaded," all this formality stuff can be left behind with the castle." I lifted my suitcase up with both hands again and started to slowly walk down the hall towards the lift.

"Of course, your highness," Myn said, following beside me.

I dropped the suitcase and sighed. "That means you can call me, Nina," I said.

Myn lifted my suitcase with relative ease and continued to walk to the lift. "As you wish, but it is still a choice," he said.

I watched him for a moment and was getting a little frustrated. "No, that's a demand!" I shouted.

Myn stopped walking and stood completely still. He turned his head slightly, but didn't look at me. "Very well, Nina," he said. He resumed walking to the lift. "We'd better hurry along then," he said.

"Right!" I exclaimed, running to catch up.

I dropped down to his pace when I got back beside him and followed him into the lift. Yuri was already waiting inside and bowed to both of us before closing the door and pulling the switch to descend towards the crew quarters.

"Geez, you both need to learn to lighten up around me," I said.

Yuri grinned. "Nah, I just do that because I know it annoys you," he said, chuckling. I had forgotten how immature he could be.

Myn seemed to also recall memories of Yuri's less than stellar behavior. "In Yuri's case, I think it is best that he learned to be more up tight, if you ask me," he said.

"Hey, don't be that way," Yuri said. He put his arm around Myn's shoulders and pulled him close like best friends do. "We've been comrades for what, seven hundred years now?" he asked.

"Just about," Myn admitted.

"Well, in that amount of time, I've learned that I need to be lighthearted to balance out your all business approach," he said.

"Please," Myn grunted while struggling to get out of Yuri's grip on his shoulders. The two twisted and turned until Myn finally weaseled out of his hold. "Just admit that you can't take things seriously," he demanded.

Yuri stood at the far corner of the lift with his mouth hidden behind a folding fan. He fanned himself lightly and chuckled. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said. Even with the fan covering half his face, I could see the wide smile. "Besides, I take things seriously when they count," he said.

Myn's brow twitched slightly and he suddenly lunged at Yuri. "Would you stop fooling around and put that fan away!" he shouted.

Yuri easily sidestepped Myn's lunge and shut his fan by slapping its end on his back, sending him tumbling into the wall. "Tsk tsk," he teased. He slipping the fan inside of his coat and chuckled. "Now who's being childish?" he asked.

Myn groaned and brushed himself off before recomposing himself. He cleared his throat and tried his best to look completely serious. "Whatever," he said.

The lift stopped and Yuri slid open the door. As we walked through the halls, several guard saluted us before continuing whatever they were doing. I guess I would have to live with that kind of treatment no matter where I went.

"Well, here we are," Myn said.

I looked at the door we had stopped at. It was decorated quite ornately and had been painted the royal blue color of Wyndia. "Oh, is this going to be my room?" I asked.

"Of course," Myn said. He opened the door to reveal a room that looked like it was taken right out of the castle.

The polished floor looked like it was made of marble and was shiny enough for me to see my reflection in it. A large circular rug covered the center of the floor where the foot of the bed was. The bed itself was even larger than my own back home, and was fitted like it was meant for the king. The walls were all painted a calming pale yellow that kept the room well illuminated with minimal light, and the tall windows had the most beautiful blue drapes over them.

"Wow, it certainly is nice," I said. I gave the room a once over and almost felt like a kid opening a present.

"Well, even war ships like the Longiness need rooms for the royal family," Myn said. He placed my suitcase down next to the cabinet by the door. "This room is where your brother stayed while commanding this ship," he said.

"My brother…" I said. Hearing about him saddened me and I look around the room again through different eyes. I could almost see him gazing out the window as the ship shook gently as it began to leave port.

"Forgive me, your highness," Myn begged. "I did not mean to remind you of sad memories," he said.

I wiped a stray tear from my eyes and sniffed back my sadness. "It's okay," I said. "And please, call me Nina."

Myn and Yuri were silent for a moment and then bowed. "Of course, Nina," they both said.

I heard them turn to leave and watched them exit through the open door. Before closing it, they turned around. "We'll be on the bridge," Myn said. "Please, try to relax, Nina."

After they shut the door I made my way to the tall window in the center of the wall facing outside. I watched as the city of Wyndia passed below.

The city had just begun to wake up with the crack of dawn, barely lit by the rising sun. I could see the head of people moving along the streets like ants as they scurried off to set up shops or make deliveries. Birds flew below where I was watching and dove down into fountains spread throughout the city, chirping in the cool waters. I was going to miss the city.

As we began to ascend higher into the sky, I looked off into the distance. The giant wall that enclosed the city began to get lower in my eyes, and soon I could see the mists trapped by the valley formed around the mountain that the capitol city of Wyndia was built on.

I didn't know where I was going, or what was going to happen, but my journey had finally begun.

**- x -**

I don't know how long I had been walking through the dark forest of black fog and entangled trees. I could usually use the moon and stars to deduce the time of night, but I could see nothing of the sky beyond the black fog I was in. I didn't even know if it was still night, but it sure felt like it.

The air was still chilly, and the forest didn't chirp with morning life. Ah, that was silly of me to think anyways. This fog was always chilly, and there was no life in this forest to chirp at the break of day anyways.

For hours I had been walking aimlessly through the forest, and it got harder and harder to breathe as time went on. I never came across another life form, but I could have sworn that I heard the occasional whisper. This usually resulted in me stopping and looking around while calling out for an answer. No one ever answered though, and when I focused back on getting out of the forest, I had absolutely no idea which direction I had been going.

"This is hopeless," I said to myself.

I took a moment to try to catch my failing breath and felt my lungs start to burn. My stomach grumbled loudly and I pressed my arm against it. "Sorry, buddy, but there's nothing around here to eat," I said. Now I knew I was going crazy, because I was talking to my stomach.

My stomach grumbled again, and my lungs started to burn hotter. I collapsed onto my hands and knees and wheezed several times as I felt my head start to pound. The forest started to spin and I felt my mind start to give way to unconsciousness. I could hear voices echoing in my head, whispering words I couldn't understand.

As my condition worsened, I grabbed my head between my hands and shouted. "No!" I cried.

Suddenly, it stopped. Everything went back to normal like nothing had happened and I took a look around. The black fog floated around me calmly and the twisted trees stood perfectly still. I could even breath a bit easier now, and the burning had subsided slightly.

I took this time of relief to look around my surroundings again. The trees of the forest spread far off into the mist and reached high above it as well. Their bark was a strange pale grey and looked like it had been changed, twisted and mutilated, by the mist somehow.

The ground was little more than a mixture of gravel and ash, and what water there was looked like the black murk of a bog. No grass, flowers, or even weeds grew here, and the patches of life I had passed were as grey as the trees.

"I wonder how long it's been," I said to myself. I smacked my lips and noticed that my mouth had become nearly bone dry. I was starting to get dehydrated.

Just then, I heard something move behind me. I turned around and prepared to defend myself, but saw nothing beyond the fog. I listened for the signs of my insanity, but this time no whispers teased my ears. Instead, I heard a branch snap to my right and the chirping of insects.

I quickly spun to my right and lashed out with my arm. I hit nothing, but this time I could see the silhouette of something moving in the trees at the edge of my viewing range. I took a timid step forward and watched the pale shadow move. I couldn't tell what it was while it was masked by the fog, but it looked like it stood on four legs, and was a fairly large creature.

The creature stopped moving through the fog and it looked like it had turned its head to look at me. After a short stare off, the creature turned its head up to the air and I saw it open its mouth. The mouth had to be at least a foot long, and had teeth as long as daggers. A long, snake-like tongue flicked at the air and the strange animal started to make a caw sound.

The caw echoed through the forest and I thought I heard increased movement in all directions. I looked around and could see other creatures moving in the trees, but none of them had come close enough for me to see clearly in the fog. Unable to think, I started running.

I had no idea if I was still going forward, or just running back the way I had come, but after countless changes and loss of direction, it didn't matter anymore.

I looked back and forth to my sides as I ran, watching for anything that moved. Shadows continued to stir in the trees, shaped like any number of creatures; snakes, lizards, elk, and tigers, but not quite like any animal I knew.

More of the creatures started to call out to the forest. Caws, chirps, croaks, bellows, roars, and clicks rang from everywhere. This caused my eyes to race from tree to tree, searching for any of them that had gotten close to me, but none of them had revealed themselves to me yet.

I continued to run for what seemed like an eternity, but I had no way of telling how long it had been. My lungs were starting to burn again, but this time it was probably from exhaustion. I ignored the pain.

I was getting over my panic, and was now focused on what I was doing. I didn't want to stick around for whatever the creatures of the forest were getting ready to do, so I kept running, even when my lungs felt like they were going to give out. Somehow, no matter how long or hard I ran, my body found a way to persevere.

I heard rapid footsteps approaching me and convinced my legs to run faster. No matter how hard I ran though, the footsteps getting closer until I heard something rustle to my right followed by a howl. I spun around to take a look for a direction to dodge and saw some kind of winged panther creature attempting to pounce on me.

A quick roll kept me out of harms way, and positioned me so I could watch the creature as it landed. The beast growled as it turned around to attack, but as it was about to jump at me again, an even larger creature dropped down from the trees and wrapped itself around it.

The panther like animal howled and wrestled to break free, but the other creature, which looked like a snake, except with the jaws of an alligator, had it trapped for good. I could hear a bone starting to snap as the panther-like animal was crushed and its howls turned to yelps and cries as it slowly died.

I didn't wish to see anymore of this savage display and quickly made a hasty retreat. After a few minutes longer of running as fast as I could, the sounds of the forest began to die in the distance. I slowed down a pace and concentrated a bit more on my surroundings. The creatures sounded like they were much further away now, and there was no movement in the trees around me.

Just as I started to calm down, I suddenly tripped on a tree root and fell to the ground. I rolled several time to help soften the blow and coughed when I stopped. I wiped the dirt off my face and was getting up when I heard something move behind me again.

I froze as I heard branches snapping as something slowly approached and heard the strangest sound. It sounded like some kind of croaking, but almost like it was laughing at me. The strange sound stopped and was replaced by heavy, deep breaths. I could here feet stomping towards me, I felt a lump form in my throat.

Slowly, I turned around and saw something at least eight feet tall clearing the mist into my field of vision. The animal didn't look natural at all, like it was made of parts from several creatures. It walked on four stubby legs that were as wide as tree trunks and had thick little claws like those of a tortoise. Its torso looked like it belonged to a wild boar, except that the belly was covered with giant scales and its sides had long fur like that of a bear.

When it got closer, I could see its head and felt my lump grow bigger. It had eight large black eyes that all blinked at the same time as well as giant fangs that were visible even when its massive mouth was shut. A strange, green liquid dribbled from its mouth.

The creature looked at me and tilted its head like it was pondering what I was. It was at this time that I noticed how long its neck was. It had to be at least two feet long, matching the long tail behind it. Its tail though, was longer than the creature was tall, and had even thicker scales than its belly did. At the end, I could see some kind of growth that looks both sharp and strong. It looked like it could use its tail to break boulders.

After the creature stared at me some more, I decided to take control of the situation and got to my feet. I slowly took a step back, away from the creature, but stopped when I heard it growl.

"Uh, easy now," I pleaded. I put my hands out and used them to signal it to relax.

The creature didn't seem to understand and took a step towards me. The ground shook as its foot stepped down, and startled me. I fell onto the ground again and quickly crawled away as the creature opened its mouth and missed at me. The giant fangs within its jaws looked even bigger than the ones I had seen on the first creature.

The creature shut its jaws with a snap and made that same croaking laugh sound as I scurried further back with a yelp. That's when I noticed its tail rise into the air above its head. The tail snaked back and forth as the creature stared me down almost like it had its own set of eyes.

I got up again, but this time I kept low with my knees bent. I watched as the tail continued to flick back forth, ready to strike me at any moment. I was prepared to dodge, but my mind was starting to get a little cloudy, probably a mixture of exhaustion and breathing in the strange air for so long.

The tail stopped flicking and snapped still. I watched as it reared back and prepared to jump when it lunged forward. Instead, as I saw the first signs of it attacking me, I felt a sharp pain in my chest and dropped onto one knee while clenching it. I could feel the danger of the tail striking me, and through my pain I rolled to the side and felt the ground tremor as it cut into it.

I tried to stand up again, but the pain in my chest pulsed and I felt it like a sharp blade cutting into my heart as I fell back down. My whole body was shaking as I tried to fight the pain, but it only got worse.

I could sense the creature as it turned around to get its eyes on my again and rolled backwards until I was sitting as its tail came crashing down in front of me. I shielded my eyes from the debris, but could react in time as the tail pulled back and slapped me sideways.

I flew until I crashed into a tree and fell limp onto the ground. The pain in my chest wasn't as intense anymore, but that was probably because my ribs were killing me now instead.

I heard the creature turning around again, probably looking for my dead body. As I heard it hissing I slowly got up onto my knees. I leaned against the tree I had hit and took deep breaths that ended in coughs.

I had resigned myself to my fate. After all, I had just spent hours running aimlessly through a forest filled with black fog made of god knows what, was getting dehydrated, hungry, and now hunted by the mutant creatures that lived there. It was a sad way to end, but I learned long ago that we didn't get to choose how we died, so all I could do was accept it.

The creature began to croak again and more than ever it sounded like it was laughing at me. Something about that croaking laugh made my chest burn. Something about it just wasn't right. "No…" I groaned as I got to my feet. I rested against the tree and felt my strength starting to return.

_I don't have to accept dying like this!_ I thought. I stood up on my own strength again and turned around to face the creature. It had lowered its head like it was going to charge, and its tail was flicking back and forth as it had before.

The burning sensation inside of me increased as I approached the creature. I felt like I was being consumed by some inner spirit, and my strength was endless. My vision was clearer than it had ever been before, and it was almost like I could see what was going to happen.

The creature seemed a bit surprised by my bravery, but only for a second. It quickly resumed its position to attack and hissed.

As I continued to approach the beast I felt the burning in my heart spread through my body until it filled my arms. The burning seemed to concentrate into my hands and I felt myself get lost to my instincts. I was being driven by something other than myself, and as I took one last look at the creature before making my move, I said the one word that came to mind.

"Cirltyh," I said with the deepest contempt. _Monster_, I thought to myself. That is what I had called it.

At that moment, the creature roared and came running at me. I responded by throwing my self at it, everything becoming a blur to my eyes. I couldn't control myself, and had no recollection of what was happening. I heard cries, roars, snapping bark, and rocks crumbling. I could feel my body make contact with the creature several times, but wasn't aware of what was happening. My hands and feet kept feeling hard impacts, and yet, I don't remember striking at anything.

The blur of sight and sound continued for several seconds longer until I felt a particularly strong blow to my gut. My senses instantaneously cleared and I was fully aware of what was happening as I went fly backwards through a tree trunk.

This only lasted until I landed however. Upon coming to a stop, I felt myself go again as I became overwhelmed with anger. My body felt like it was stretching itself apart, and my energy was overflowing, ready to burst.

My nerves experienced the most excruciating pain. I could feel my bones changing and my muscles growing. I felt three bumps form on my back and slowly move to my tail bone and shoulders. My flesh at those points began to tear, allowing new bones to grow outwards.

I arched my back and felt like my spine was going to pull itself apart as the bones continued to grow, forming the structure of a tail and dragon wings, just like those Yua had.

A cold sweat ran down my face, but it felt like it was burning under the cool perspiration. My jaws also began to hurt unbearably. I reached up to my face and applied pressure to my cheeks to try to subdue the pain. That's when I noticed that my hands were no longer human hands. They had long claws and their back sides were covered with little green scales as were my forearms and elbows.

As I looked at my palms I started to have trouble breathing. The panic in my mind mixed with the shock of what I was seeing and the pain I felt was causing me to break down.

I heard someone speaking to me in my mind as I felt control slip away. I couldn't understand it, but for some reason I felt like it was telling me to keep fighting; that everything would be alright.

I fell to my knees and curled down into a ball as the pain began to die down, or maybe my nerves just couldn't feel it all anymore. Either way, I was starting to regain some sense of control and concentrated on breathing.

I took quick, deep breaths, exhaling sharply each time to help me relax. I could feel my transformation ending and my aura burning hotter than I thought possible. It was like I could feel every pore breath, every muscle pulse with blood, and my senses sensing the world around me like it was an extension of my own body.

My body tensed as my aura began to build. My mind was overcome by rage and needed to unleash its fury.

The beast hissed at me while flicking its tongue. It lowered its head to charge and glared at me with its eyes, blinking all eight of them several times. It kicked its feet back, preparing to charge and howled as loud as it could, causing the forest around us to shake.

I mimicked its motion and also howled. My voice no longer sounded like my own. Instead, it sounded demonic and the howl was more beast than man. As I continued to cry out, I tensed every muscle in my body and could feel my aura expanding around me.

My body suddenly felt weightless, and I could no longer feel the ground on my feet. I glanced down to see that I was floating, my wings flapping slowly to keep me aloft.

The beast didn't seem to be affected by my transformation, or my flight, and made one last kick in the dirt before charging at me.

I had no idea how to control my flying, but it came natural to me as I floated back until I reached a tree and then sprang forward with my legs. I went flying faster than I could ever run and focused on the beast that was coming towards me.

As we were about to meet, we both cried out, and everything became a blur.

**- x -**

A wind chime swung by the window nearest to my bed, shaking me out of my trance.

"Hmm?" I wondered. I looked over to the chime and saw its long metal bars clanging against each other as they gradually came to a stop. "How did that happen?" I asked, noticing that all of my windows were shut.

I got up to walk over to the wind chime, but was interrupted when I heard a knock on the door.

"Yes?" I asked, "Who is it?"

It's Myn," Myn said from behind the door. "May I come in… Nina?" he asked, hesitating shortly before saying my name. I guess he still needed time to get used to calling me that.

"Yes, of course," I said.

Myn opened the door and stepped in. He was wearing a rather bland cloak that covered his entire body down to his feet.

"What's that?" I asked.

"This?" he asked, looking at what he was wearing and moving his arms to show it off to me. Not that there was anything to show off about it.

"Yeah," I answered. I looked him up and down. "What's with the rags?" I asked.

Myn looked at me seriously and put his hands on his hips. "Your highness," he said, addressing me by my title in the most serious tone. "We'll be spending time in enemy territory while on this journey," he said. He lifted his hood over his head, which did quite a good job of covering his face, but overall it made him look suspicious. "It is necessary that we wear disguises," he said.

"And you call that a disguise?" I asked.

I walked over and circled him once to get a closer look. "If you ask me, that looks almost as suspicious as your normal clothes," I said.

Myn flinched at the insult, but didn't defend his choices in attire. "That may be so, but it at least hides my true identity," he said.

"Oh, right," I said, still not convinced. "Tall man, broad shoulders, walks like he's a human tank," I counted off my fingers as I started listing points about him. "And not to mention overly proper mannerisms," I said, placing my hands on my hips and chuckling. "That get up isn't going to help you hide one bit," I said.

I could sense Myn's frustration and was really getting a kick out of it. I found it hard to believe that someone with seven hundred years of experience was so clueless when it came to dressing to not direct attention.

"Well, this is all I have," he said.

"Then you're just going to have to work on your behavior," I said.

Myn now looked at me more serious than before. "What must I do?" he asked. His determination was so strong it could have shattered any barrier.

"Well… for starters," I scratched my cheek while trying to stop myself from laughing. "You're going to have to ditch that stick," I said.

"Stick?" Myn asked. He dug around his cloak and then came up with empty hands. "I don't have a stick," he said.

I giggled at his obliviousness, which only proved my point. "Of course you don't," I said, sounding as sarcastic as possible. "What I mean is that you have to start acting more like a normal person," I said. I watched him ponder my suggestion and thought of an idea. "Or better yet, a wandering mercenary with no manners at all," I exclaimed.

"What?" Myn asked. He scratched his head. "How is that supposed to help?" he asked.

"Well, then you can still at least keep your stick," I said.

"What stick!" he shouted. He was really getting steamed about not knowing what I was talking about.

I sighed and walked over to my suit case. "Never mind," I said. I opened the suitcase and looked through the clothes I had packed. "Alright, now to pick out my disguise," I said while rubbing my hands together. Playing dress up was always fun as a kid, so I was a little excited to do it again.

Myn cleared his throat. "Actually, Nina," he said, "Yuri, Cassandra, and I have already picked out your disguise."

"You have?" I asked. I looked at him questionably and squinted one of my brows. I hope it wasn't as retarded as what he was wearing.

"Yes, so if you'll please come with me," Myn said while showing me to the door. "There is much that needs to be done."

I waited while he opened the door and walked out while he held it. I was just getting through the opening when I heard the wind chime swaying again. I stopped and looked over at it. The metal rods clanged together slowly while the wind chime rocked back and forth on its string.

Myn was also watching the wind chime and had another of his serious looks carved into his face. I could hear him humming to himself as we watched the chime stop and then felt his hand on my shoulder.

"There's no time to waste here," he said.

I followed him out of the room and waited for him to shut the door. We walked away in silence.

**- x -**

_What happened?_ I wondered.

Everything was lost in a rush of adrenaline, and when I came to, the beast was a smoldering carcass and I had a disgusting taste in my mouth.

"Blew!" I spat out some saliva and tried to get rid of the taste, but it wouldn't go away.

I wiped my mouth with my hand and took a look around. That creature and I had caused a lot of damage during our fight. Trees lay split in half or torn down completely. Man sized craters were littered all over the ground like a hail of giant stones had just plastered the earth, and the ground itself was smoking.

I wiped some sweat from my brow and noticed my appearance again. Since everything was such a blur, I had convinced myself that it was only my imagination, but here I was, looking at my transformed hands.

"What's happening to me?" I asked, and noticed my change in voice. I could still hear a little of my own voice in it, but a ghostly voice accompanied and covered it.

"Ah, my voice…" I rubbed my throat as if it would help.

"Di rit by ojhoad" I heard someone say. It sounded like a little girl.

"Hmm? What's that?" I asked, turning to where I thought the voice was coming from. _Do not be afraid_ I thought. _Is that what she said?_

"Ny al ltohtarg ti erdyhltord," another voice said. This one was a man's voice.

"Understand?" I asked, turning back around.

I couldn't spot anyone within my viewing range inside of the mist, and saw no movement beyond. It was strange though, because I could have sworn that the voices sounded like they were right next to me.

"Di uie erdyhltord?" the girl asked.

I looked over again, but saw nothing. I remained silent and began to back away while glancing back and forth in front of me.

"Di rit by jhagntyryd," I heard a younger man say.

I froze as I felt an odd warmth behind me. I could feel my heart race in my chest and tried to calm down as I slowly turned around to take a look at who was there. Again, there was nothing. I was so shocked by the blank area I saw that I spun around and swung my arms.

"Maybe they're invisible!" I exclaimed. I didn't realize it then, but it must have looked like I was losing my mind.

"Vy'hy hagnt nyhy," I heard the older man say.

I took a look and saw three pale purple balls of light, barely the size of tangerines, floating around.

"There?" I asked, pointing at the three balls.

"Uyl" the girl said. The middle ball bounced up and down in the air as the voice spoke, so I assumed that it was the girl.

I walked closer to the balls of light until they were hovering just over my face. "What are you?" I asked.

"Vy ohy tny locy ol uie," the girl said.

"Hmm…" I mumbled. I tried to concentrate on what she was saying, but I couldn't actively translate. But something deep down inside seemed to understand. _We are the same as you,_ I thought. "The same as me?" I asked.

"Uyl," the girl said.

I thought about it some more and then looked at my hands again. "And… what am I?" I asked.

"Uie, ohy iry ij el," the younger man said.

_You are one of us,_ I thought. "I guess… but what are we?" I asked.

There was a moment of silence as the three balls floated around. I could here whispers being traded between them, but couldn't make out any of the words.

"Vy ohy vnot tny vihsd irmy mossyd dhomiraorl…" the older man said. "Draconians," he added after a moment of deliberations.

"Draconians…" I repeated after him. The term didn't sound familiar.

"Vy ohy dymyrdortl ij yrdsyll ord ormyltihl ij bhiid," the girl said.

I rubbed my chin and wrinkled my brow in deep contemplation. "Sorry, I don't understand a word you're saying," I confessed.

Two of the pale balls circled around each other above me and got closer to my eyes.

"Dymyrdortl ij endless!" the younger man yelled.

"Ormyltihl ij brood!" The girl yelled.

"Hmm…" I thought about what I could understand. I think I heard endless and brood in there somewhere. The endless were believed to be what the first age of men worshipped as gods while the brood were a race of dragon men that were supposedly wiped out during the second age. In history, the brood appeared just as the endless stopped being worshipped. Were these small balls of light the spirits of long dead brood?

"So… you're dead," I said.

The three balls seem to not understand what I was saying and just floated in the air. The experience felt similar to watching three clueless kids staring back.

I sighed. This conversation wasn't going anywhere, and I didn't feel like spending anymore of my time trying to understand their language or get them to understand mine.

"Whatever," I said. "Maybe next time," I said while waving at the balls. I turned to leave and took a few steps before one of the balls flew past me and stopped in front of my face.

"Uie celt nyoh el iet!" the old man shouted.

I looked at the ball for a second and arched an eyebrow. "Are you threatening me?" I asked.

The ball got closer to my face and I felt like it was trying to read my face. "Uie celt nyoh el iet!" he shouted again.

"Ah, get out of here!" I yelled. I tried to swat the ball away, but my hand went right through it. The ball retreated a few feet away and started to fly back and forth like it was looking for something.

"Vy vass coky uie erdyhltord," he said.

"Vy vass coky uie erdyhltord," the girl said behind and to the right of me.

"Vy vass coky uie erdyhltord," the younger man said behind and to my left.

I looked back at the other two and saw that they were doing the same side to side motion as the older man was. They started to talk, but the gibberish was coming out so quickly that I didn't bother listening too closely. It didn't sound like they were addressing me anyways.

After a while of this, the three balls began circle around me and formed a single ring with their light trails. I started to hear more voices that sounded just like the whispers that had been haunting me ever since I woke up and saw the black mist around me begin to glow faintly.

The sounds of the forest started again and animals of all kinds began calling out. Were these spirits the cause of the animals stirring?

As the fog began to glow brighter, I could make more little balls of pale purple light floating towards me. These were the sources of the whispers all along, but what were they? Were they really the souls of the dead? If so, how were they able to speak to me?

I watched as all of the balls gather around me and began to slowly circle me with the original three. Several animals broke through the mist and walked to the edge of the gathering of spirits.

The spirits continued to circle me while they began to depart dozens at a time into the sky and began to join together to form something. I watched in awe as the orbs joined together and became one, forming the body of a dragon out of their light that flew over the mist and blew a clearing where I was standing within the ring of mutant animals.

As the dragon floated higher while spreading its wings and flapping them, I felt my body relax. I couldn't take my eyes off of the majestic creature of light and felt overcome by a sense of familiarity. My forehead began to feel a little warm, but I ignored it as the dragon looked down at me.

As the afternoon sun broke through the opening that the dragon had made, I noticed for the first time how deep the fog really was. It reached much higher than I thought, possibly ten stories.

The light of the sun washed over me I squinted my eyes. The dragon stopped ascending when the sun shined through it like its heart and roared. The sun's beam concentrated into a thin band that touched my forehead. I flinched slightly, but my body, for the most part, was completely frozen.

I blinked as the dragon looked down on me. As my eyes closed, something flashed before my eyes. It was so quick I couldn't decipher what it was. The heat of the sun started to warm my body, and I felt my exhaustion for the first time as my nerves came to life again.

The warmth of the sun was almost like a blanket wrapping around my body and I dropped to my knees. My body was starting to feel tired, and I was having trouble keeping my eyes open. As my consciousness began to slip I saw more vision flash in my mind. I saw visions of dragons flying through the sky, fire and war scorching the land, a darkness spread over everything, and a pillar of light piercing into it.

I closed my eyes and let the visions be the only thing that I saw. I could hear them faintly now as they occurred. I watched as a city of a million people perished in a sea of fire, as darkness spread over the world, and despair filled the hearts of all men. I recognized the scenes I was watching. They were of the great dragon war that started the second age of men; the first chronicled war in history, but it was thought to be more myth than fact.

The visions began to get longer as I felt myself start to really drift off. I tried to open my eyes to keep myself awake, but I could only open them enough to see small slits of actual vision.

I could see the dragon floating over me. It roared again and caused a rush of visions to flood my mind. The sudden mental experience caused my grip on myself to snap and I felt my body go limp. I could still see, but my vision slowly began to blur as the rest of my mind shut down, leaving only the visions.

The last thing I remembered seeing before completely drifting away was the dragon growing brighter and brighter.


	14. Monster

_He will know great pain and much suffering_

_The pain of knowing all suffering_

_He is destined to bear it all_

_Cast aside his flesh_

_And become hope for all_

**Dragon Tears**

**I: Age of Man**

**By: OmegaGear**

**XIV**

**~ Monster ~**

I sighed as a soft hand held my hair up while another combed it. I looked at myself in the mirror and already missed my light blonde hair. After much convincing, Myn had my hair dyed brown and green contacts put over my eyes to help hide my identity as a wyndian while on imperial soil. I had to admit, it didn't look bad, but it just didn't look right.

"Is something the matter, your highness?" Cassandra asked as she combed more of my hair to make sure all of the dye had dried.

"No…" I said.

I watched her work the comb through my hair and sighed again.

"It's just that… this is so much," I said.

"So much?" Cassandra asked. She finished combing my hair and put the comb away.

"What's so much?" she asked.

"This," I said while pointing at my hair. "Everyone else is just going to wear cloaks, so why do I have to get a complete make over?" I asked.

Cassandra leaned over me and looked down at my face. I looked back up to her and could see her left eye glowing light blue within the shadow of her hood. I didn't know why her left eye glowed like that, but if she wanted to hide it, it was fine with me.

"You're a bit different, your highness," she said.

"Please, call me Nina," I insisted.

Cassandra didn't say anything to acknowledge that she would honor my request, but her next sentence gave me my answer.

"You can't walk around the imperial land looking like the princess of Wyndia, Nina," she said.

"I know that, but did I have to dye my hair?" I asked. I grabbed a lock of hair and tugged it out to show my disapproval.

Cassandra took the lock of hair from my hand and softened it back into place by rubbing it with her hand.

"Nina, please," she said. "You can't direct attention to yourself while on the ground by doing that," she said.

"I know…" I said.

I was excited when Myn asked me to come along, but more and more it seemed like he just wanted to make sure that he could baby sit me.

Myn walked in carrying some clothes and placed them on the table next to me.

"These are for you, Nina," he said.

"Is this what I'm supposed to wear?" I asked.

I looked over to the pile of folded clothes. They looked pretty basic, like the cloaks that everyone else was wearing, except cleaner. They were probably put together better too.

"That is correct," Myn said.

I got up form my chair and picked up the top piece of clothing. It unfolded while I lifted it and held it out to look at it. It was a brown dress with no glamorous features at all. It looked to be made to fit me, and had a simple tie string in the front to secure it once it was on. The skirt of the dress would probably drop just below my knees.

I looked at the rest of the clothes and felt a part of me die as I got to each one. There was a white gown with long sleeves to wear under the dress, a dark brown hooded jacket, and boots that looked like they belonged to a farmer.

"Are they not satisfactory?" Myn asked.

"Hmm? Oh, no, they're just fine," I said. "I was just expecting something a little less… common," I admitted.

"As long as we're traveling you'll have to get used to it," Myn said.

I looked into the mirror and ran a hand through my now auburn hair.

"Even on the airship?" I asked.

Myn watched me from behind, so I could see him in the mirror.

"We won't be on the airship much longer," he said.

I turned around. "Why not?" I asked.

"Nina, I don't think you understand what we're doing," he said. He walked over to me so that I could look up to his face. "We're not just going to find Ryu and go home," he said.

"I know that," I said. "But why do we have to leave the airship?" I asked again.

Myn smiled and let a little chuckle escape his otherwise serious mood. He held up his arms and turned slowly to direct my eyes to the room aorund me with his hands.

"The airship attracts too much attention," he said.

I guess that made sense while we were in imperial land, but we could still use it in Wyndia or Ludia, couldn't we? If time was of the essence, then we would need to cut corners wherever we could.

"We'll still use it when we're in friendly territory, right?" I asked.

Myn shook his head. "You just have to get used to roughing it," he said.

"Hey!" I yelled, insulted. "I've roughed it before," I said. "Let's not forget it was me that went to the front against everyone's wishes and roughed it for over a month," I said.

"We won't be taking the royal tent with us either," Myn said.

"Eh… what?" I asked. "Wait… why not!" I cried.

"Because that attracts too much attention too," he answered.

"Oh, come on!" I begged him to reconsider. "What will we be using then?" I asked.

Myn didn't look the least bit swayed by my puppy dog expression.

"We'll be using a normal tent, your highness," he said. He was starting to sound a little irritated, and it definitely showed in him addressing me as 'your highness.'

"Well, okay, but I still don't see why we're going all out like this," I said, deciding to give up on convincing him to change his mind.

Myn didn't seem to want to go into it any further and started to walk to the door. He stopped at the door and turned around to look at me.

"We'll be arriving at our destination tomorrow morning," he said. "Get some rest."

As Myn shut the door behind him, Cassandra got up form her seat behind me and started to clean up the tools she had used to dye my hair. I watched her a second before turning back to the mirror and playing with my hair again.

_It's going to take months to grow this out! _I whined to myself.

"Do you not like your hair, Nina?" Cassandra asked.

"Wha!" I cried, taken by surprise by her question while being lost in my own world. "Erm…" I cleared my throat. "No, my hair looks fine," I said. I smiled at the cloaked woman. "You did a great job, Cassandra," I said.

"Thank you… Nina," she said.

I giggled and turned back to the mirror. I turned my head both ways to look at myself in different angles.

"I was just thinking about how long it was going to take for this to grow out," I said.

"You needn't worry, your highness," Cassandra said.

I sighed at hearing her call me that.

"Sorry… Nina," Cassandra said, picking up on my message. "Back to what you are worried about, you needn't be that way," she said. She walked over and ran her hands down the sides of my head, softly straightening my hair. "The dye will wash out in a matter of weeks, which is why we'll have to redo it every two weeks," she said.

"We have to do this every two weeks?" I asked. I looked at the tools scattered on the table in front of the mirror. "Seems a lot of trouble to be lugging around while roughing it," I said.

"It's no trouble at all," Cassandra said. "Besides, it's easier to restore than it is to start," she added.

Cassandra took her hands away and stepped back so that I could stand.

"You should go get some rest… Nina," she said. "I'll finish here by myself."

I nodded and thanked her one more time before making my way to the door. As I was leaving, Cassandra stopped.

"Nina?" she asked.

"Yes?" I answered.

"Don't forget to take out your contacts before going to sleep," she said.

"Right, of course," I said, a little embarrassed that I had actually forgotten about the colored contacts I had to wear as part of my disguise. I could feel my face get a little flushed as I patted myself down for the contact container.

"Ah… where is it?" I asked myself while searching again.

"It's right here," Cassandra said while holding up a small grey box.

"Ah, thank you," I said as I approached her.

Cassandra held up a hand to tell me to stop, and I did. "I'll bring it to your room with your clothes once I am done," she said. "Please, go get some rest."

"Right… thanks again," I said, feeling my face blush a little more. I don't know why, but I felt embarrassed about the way they were pampering me, since they were talking about roughing it.

"I'll see you later… Nina," Cassandra said. The gap between her sentences and my name were getting a little shorter, which made me smile genuinely.

"See ya!" I exclaimed happily while shutting the door.

Once I had the door closed and my back to it I exhaled sharply and sighed.

"I'm pathetic," I said.

Today had made me realized how unaccustomed I was to doing things for myself, and here I was going on a long journey with who knows what as a goal. More importantly, ths journey took me straight into enemy territory, so friendly faces would be few and far between, if they existed at all.

"Well… tomorrow I'll do my best to show Myn I can handle anything," I declared while looking at my fists. I was determined to say the least.

"What's this about showing Myn?" I heard a man ask.

"Gah!" I spun around and saw Yuri standing with his hands behind his back and chuckling. "Yuri, don't do that!" I scolded him. I put my hand to me chest and felt my heart slowly return to normal while I calmed down.

"Sorry, Nina," Yuri apologized. He walked past and waved. "I was just heading to the viewing deck when I heard you," he said.

"… Whatever," I grunted. I crossed my arms over my chest and walked in the opposite direction. "I'm going to my room," I said.

I didn't hear Yuri say anything else and sighed. "First thing to work on is my guard," I told myself.

"Yes, that certainly would help," Yuri said.

I spun around again with a yelp, but saw no one. I turned back around to continue to my room when Yuri suddenly appeared, upside down and hanging from a light.

"Yo," he said.

I screamed and felt like my bones had just jumped out of my skin.

"Yuri!" I yelled. I tightened my ahnds into fists and tired my best to appear angry, but the shock was still fresh on my nerves, and betrayed my act.

Yuri laughed and dropped down from the light. "Sorry, I thought doing that would help lighten the mood," he said.

I was still trying to catch my breath when I replied. "Whatever you say, Yuri," I said between breaths.

I walked past him again and remained completely silent.

"Well, I guess I'll be seeing you then," Yuri said.

I ignored him completely and just kept walking. I was intent on getting to my room with no further interruptions, but kept my ears sharp for anything Yuri might be trying to pull.

When I got to my room I slipped in and shut my door with a bit of force.

"Oh, that guy… oh!" I shouted. For being a thousand years old, he really was immature. Ever since I could remember, Yuri always did have a thing for being a skirt chaser. "Bleh, he makes me sick," I said while remembering when he was hitting on a maid while she was giving me a bath when I was two.

"Oh my god…" I said. I put my hand up to my mouth and almost felt like I could hurl right there. _He's seen me naked! _I said to myself in my head.

"No!" I screamed.

I must have rocked the whole ship with that scream, but I didn't care. I looked around the room for something to do; something to take my mind off of what I was thinking. I spotted a sword hanging on the wall over a desk.

"That should do the trick," I said.

I walked over to the sword and got it off of the wall. It was a bit heavier than what I was used to handling, but still lighter than what the soldiers used.

"Looks like a rapier," I said. I pulled out the sword and sure enough, it was a long rapier with carvings in its blade and jewels in its handle.

I held the blade up in the light of the setting sun and took a deep breath. _Some practice will do me some good. _I thought, and began to practice my stances.

I pointed the sword forward, holding it in my right hand and had my left hand on my hip. I began to side step slowly while slowly rotating the blade, keeping it moving to keep my reflexes sharp. I imagined facing an opponent and took a step forward while flicking my blade at him.

A ploy, obviously, but it was meant to get a chance to study my opponent. I saw the man step back in my mind and bat my blade aside with his.

"Not bad," I said to my imaginary opponent.

Now it was my opponents turn. He stepped forward and did the same flicking move I had done, which I also parried with ease, but he wasn't finished. As his sword was batted aside he followed through and brought it down on my blade, striking it down and leaving me open. He took this chance and stepped forward and again while lunging forward with his blade to stab me.

I couldn't hope to block the attack with my sword and quickly thought of what to do. I stumbled back and avoided his charge, but was off balance. Quickly, I leapt into the air and flipped over him. This left us with our backs turned to each other.

By now, I was really getting into my imaginary training exercise and was spun around while taking a step back and pointed my sword at my opponent. I was envisioning him turning around when I heard the wind chime in my room dangle.

I turned to look over at the wind chime and dropped my sword.

"How does it keep doing that?" I asked.

"You should never let your guard down," I heard my opponent say.

"What?" I asked while turning back around._ Am I losing my mind now? _I asked myself.

My eyes went wide as I peered into Ryu's eyes as he stood before me. He was smiling and glaring at me with malicious intent.

"How did you…" I started to ask while backing away.

Ryu smiled, showing a set of sharp fangs where his teeth should have been. A light wind blew his hair from his eyes and revealed the mark on his forehead that I had seen when he was in Wyndia. It was glowing blood red and made me feel nervous.

The wind chime dangled again and Ryu lifted his sword. I tried to lift mine to challenge him, but my arm felt like lead and refused to move. _No, this can't be happening! _I thought.

"Now!" Ryu yelled while jumping at me. His sword was raised over his head, and his body was giving off an aura that fell over me like the heat of the sun.

All I could do was scream.

**- x -**

I don't know what happened after I succumbed to the numbness in my mind, but when I finally awoke I found myself in the trees. My head was pounding, and I was having trouble thinking. I tried to reason how I got myself in the trees, but found myself distracted by every sound I heard.

I roughed my hair with my hands out of frustration and was shocked t what I found. The horns that I had grown before fainting were still there. I thought that it had all been a hallucination since I fainted and had no recollection of climbing the trees, but they were real. In fact, the horns were even longer and much thicker than I remember. Upon this realization I also suddenly noticed how heavy they were on my head.

I cursed silently and looked around. I couldn't see the ground from where I was, and that wasn't good. If I was remembering correctly, the black fog of the forest was pretty tall, so there was no telling how high I was. I observed the tree I was in and scratched it with my claws. The bark chipped off pretty easily, and my claws were able to dig into the dried trunk behind it. Without a second thought, I dug my claws in again and swung off of the branch I was sitting on until I was hanging on the tree's trunk.

Carefully, I clawed my feet into the trunk so that I was better situated and began to climb down the tree like it was a ladder. I was making good progress and almost forgot about my misfortunes as the calm sounds of the upper forest animals continued around me. Up there, the animals sounded a lot more like normal birds and other treetop creatures.

My left foot suddenly hit something and lost its grip in the tree. I tensed my entire body and dug my other foot and both hands into the trunk as hard as possible. I looked down and saw that what I had hit was a branch and let out the breath I had been holding.

I let myself relax a little knowing that I was safe, but that turned out to be a mistake. As I released my hold on the tree, I heard the sound of bark chipping off and felt my weight shift slightly. Before I could even try to figure out what was going on I felt my claws slide from the tree and my body falling. As I fell I looked around for something to grab onto, but none of the passing branches reached far enough. When one finally did, it ended up being right under me.

I hit the branch hard on my back and went spinning down in a different direction slightly dazed. Several smaller branches brushed past me, leaving small scratched over my body and face, but that was the least of my worries. I didn't know how close the ground was at this point, but the panic in my mind told me it had to be close.

Instinctually, I reached out blindly and felt my arm go right through a thick branch with a loud snap. I hissed at my new pain, but fought through it to keep focused on surviving. As I opened my eyes again I found myself heading right for a giant trunk and tried to spin out of the way. My back hit the trunk as I spun and bounced me off with little pain, leaving me aware enough to dig my claws into the tree before opportunity passed.

As my claws sliced through the dead bark and dried wood I looked over and saw another tree not too far away. Not wanting to take a chance on the tree holding under my rapid descent, I planted my feet on its trunk and sprang off of it towards the next tree. This gave me more control over my momentum and slowed my fall substantially.

When I reached the tree I shut my eyes tightly and said a silent prayer to the gods. I reached out with my arms and clenched my fingers as I felt them slam into the bark and dug deep. It felt like my hands were digging into knives as they cut through the bark and wood and the strain on my body threatened to knock me out, but it soon ended. When I came to a stop I let out a deep breath and took several more as I heard the last few ships of bark fall and hit the ground not too much later.

"Guess it wasn't that much further to the ground," I said to myself as I continued to take deep breaths and thanking the gods that I was still alive.

"Did you hear something over there?" I heard someone say in the distance. Unlike the whispers of the spirits from before, this voice sounded like it was actually in the forest and not just in my head.

I became stiff and listened closely as several pairs of feet slowly advanced towards me from below. The sound of clanking metal accompanied the footsteps, making me think that the people approaching were heavily armored. The footsteps stopped and I looked down into the fog. I couldn't see anything but black below me, meaning the ground was at least twenty feet from where I was.

_Damn!_ I cursed in my mind, not wishing to say it and have whoever was down there hear me.

"Do you see anything?" another man asked. There was another moment of silence until another man spoke up.

"I can't see anything in this damn hex!" he yelled.

_Hex?_ My interest was piqued by that word. _Is that what this is?_ I wondered.

"Ah forget it," the first man I had heard said. "It was probably just another of those monsters created by the hex."

_Monster created by the hex… _I thought. _Is that what I've become? _I began to feel something inside me burn. Somehow, I was angered by the notion that they were talking about me, even though I knew they weren't.

"The beasts in this cursed forest are something else," a fourth man said.

Whatever was burning in my chest went up a notch at hearing that term, 'beast.' I suddenly remembered that night when Yua called me a beast. She said I was wild, untamed, and uncontrollable. How could she call me that when she turns into a winged demon? I grew angrier as I realized that what I had become looked hauntingly like what Yua had transformed into. I looked back and my wings and stretched them reflexively while listening to the men below me.

"You're telling me," the second man said. "Even with what we were told from the ancient texts that detailed about the affects of the hex, I wasn't prepared for those monsters."

I rotated so that I was facing downwards with my hands now below my feet and saw a faint glow where the men must have been. The glow moved around methodically, obviously searching for any sign of life surrounding them.

"You didn't have to see what I saw," the third man said.

"What was that?" the second man asked.

"Br, just thinking about it gives me chills," the fourth man said.

There was a moment of silence before the conversation continued. "

We saw the remains of a large beast," the third man said.

"So?" the second man asked.

"Well, we didn't think much of it either, except that the forest around it was a smoldering crater," he added.

"Like it was set on fire?" the second man asked.

"Yeah," he replied.

"But the monster's flesh looked more like it had been melted," the fourth man said. "It was nothing more than a twisted pile of bones lying in a puddle of blood and liquid flesh."

I heard someone groan like he was going to hurl. The story didn't sound too appealing to me either, but another idea sunk in more than my disgust. I was getting this sick feeling that they were talking about that creature I had fought until I became whatever I had become.

"The smell was disgusting," the third man said. "Whatever did it is probably one of the bigger monsters of this forest."

Again I felt my chest burn hotter and felt my muscles tense as I tried to contain myself. My mind was starting to get hazy, and even though I couldn't think straight, my emotions were speaking volumes to me. _Kill them!_ They screamed in my mind.

"Obviously a savage beast too," the fourth man added.

_Burn them to the bone! _My mind cried out. I began to struggle with my own body as I felt it begin to move, taking a step down the trunk towards the men.

"What are we supposed to de if we run into this monster?" the second man asked.

_Kill them all! _My arms moved down and pulled me another foot slower to the group of men. I tried to hold back, but no matter how much I struggled, my body continued to move on its own.

"Kill it, obviously," the first man said. The voice sounded a little familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It sounded like the men were all wearing full helmets made of metal, causing all of their voices to be altered just a little within the facemasks. "Our orders are to examine the progress of the hex," he added. "They didn't say anything about keeping anything we encounter alive."

_They want to kill you too! You must kill them to survive! _By now I could hear myself growling quietly as I continued to approach the men from above. The glow was much closer now, just barely at the edge of my range of vision where the fog became too thick for me to see anything.

"Do you hear that?" the second man asked. He was really nervous at this point, probably because of the story his companions had told him.

The forest was silent for a few seconds, and I think that even I had become perfectly quiet, although I wasn't really sure. "Hear what?" the third man asked him.

I advanced a little further and could make out some shadows in the glow now. I was also aware of my growling again, but wasn't able to stop my body or my mouth.

"There it is again!" the second man yelled. The glow from their lights moved around quickly as the men searched for what he was talking about, but they didn't seem to see me.

"I don't see anything," the first man said.

"I don't see anything either," the second man agreed nervously," but it's what I'm hearing, that growling!"

"Calm down!" the third man said. "It's not like any of those animals would sneak up on us," he said. "They're nothing but mindless beasts," he added.

_We're nothing more than mindless beasts? _The voice in my head shouted. _I'll show them the true meaning of a mindless beast! _I stopped advancing and watched the shadows continue to search for me. The lights were now slowly scanning the trees, but the fog was preventing them from reaching me. I scratched the bark under my right hand and let it fall to the ground, attracting the attention of all four men.

"What was that?" the fourth man asked. All four men moved towards where the bark I had scratched off dropped and stopped roughly right below me by the tree I was hanging from.

"There's nothing here," the third man said, taking one last look around with his light.

At that time, I scratched some more bark off of the tree and let it fall down over the men. As the men all reacted to the bark hitting them, I saw their lights all point upwards directly at me and growled back at them.

"There's something up there!" the second man screamed. I saw one of the lights shake nervously and then disappear as he must have fallen.

"Get a grip on yourself, Kensuke!" the first man barked. One of the lights moved to point at where the fallen one once was and then pointed back up at me. "It's probably nothing to worry about," he said.

_Oh, how wrong he is! _My mind chuckled. I heard a gun shot and suddenly felt the bark beneath me get torn to shreds. I nearly lost my grip on the tree, but managed to remain up.

"Did you get it?" the fourth man asked.

To answer his question, I leapt down from the tree and spread my wings to glide down slowly. As I descended to the ground I could make out the four men, all wearing giant suits of armor that made them look more like machines. Able to finally locate them, I pointed my wings back and let myself fall into a dive.

The men didn't see my diving at them, and thus I caught them completely by surprise. I crushed one of the men beneath me as I landed and grabbed his chest plate. I was trying to pull it off when the other three men all began to approach me. The man beneath me was still alive, but sounded dazed.

"Help me!" he cried. It was the fourth man.

The other three approached me slowly with their weapons drawn. All of them were carrying large lances, which was understandable with how they were armored. Any other weapons were too small for the type of movement they were performing.

I stopped pulling on the chest plate beneath me and stood up. I felt my wings spread and a hiss escape my lips, but wasn't consciously doing either action. As everything progressed, I felt like I was watching from behind a camera, and could do nothing to affect the events.

I felt my aura radiate from my body and spread into a barrier around me as my wings spread to their full length. The wall of chi energy exploded outward and hit the three men. They struggled against it, and with their added weight from the armor, were able to stand their ground. Seeing this, I released another blast of energy, but used it to propel myself into the air, denting the chest plate of the man below me.

I could tell that the three men were still recovering from the energy wave that had hit them and quickly rushed at them in flight. It was strange, but as I flew at them, I could feel the forest around me, like it was filling me with energy. When I was within striking distance of the closest man I stopped my momentum and spun while floating to build more force into my fist and sent it flying into the man's armor around his torso. I watched as the air around my fist blew away as my aura concentrated into my fist and spread around it like a glove of fire.

I heard the loud sound of solid steel being dented and a cry of pain as inside the suit the metal must have pierced the occupant. He fell backwards from the impact and tried to keep balanced on his left foot while his right shot up. The man failed and went crashing into the muddy ground while one of the remaining two approached me.

This man didn't wait for me to get the first move and charged with his lance. I easily floated over the giant metal lance and grabbed it with my right hand as it passed under me. I supported all of my weight on my right arm and flipped over the man. He stopped running as I passed over him, but was too slow under all of his armor to react to my movements.

I felt the forest around me come to life and fill me with energy again as I spun around out of my flip. Without even thinking, I shot out my leg and kicked the man on the back of his head at the end of my spin, releasing the energy in my body through my foot in an explosion of force.

The man cried out as he fell forwards onto the man that was lying on his back. I finally landed and looked back to see that the first man I had crushed had somehow managed to get up. With him standing again, and one other man still yet to be confronted by me, I now stood in the middle of them. Each man was about ten feet away from me at my sides, staring at me through their face mask helmets. The only sign of them being alive under the metal suits was their breath in the chilly air coming out of the cuts in the face plates.

The two started to slowly approach me slowly as the other two help each other up. With all four of the men standing again, they started to circle me until they were evenly spread out. With each of my sides, front, and back covered, combat would be much more difficult.

I wanted to just fly away with my wings, but no matter how much I willed for something to happen, my body still did not listen. Instead, my body filled with the energy of the surrounding forest again, causing a slight wind to blow around us. The black mist spun around me as the energy entered my body, and I could feel the burning desire to fight, to give in to my instincts and emotions, begin to grow stronger.

I crossed my arms over my chest and held my head down as I collected the energy. I felt the wind die around me and knew that my limits had been reached. With a cry, I spread my arms and released the energy through every cell in my body and outwards like a bomb.

I could see each of the four men all at once. My mind's eye was able to see underneath their steel armor and at the human flesh beneath. I could sense their presences around me as if I was touching them, and it was almost like I was in tune with them. Every breath they took, every beat their hearts made, and the pulsing of their muscles could all be felt as I felt my energy touching all of my nerves. This new acute sense of my surroundings warned me as one of the men prepared to charge, causing a chain reaction in my body without any input from my mind.

A rush of emotion made everything a blur as my body took action. When my senses cleared, I saw one of the men in front of me and quickly spun my fist around into the side of his head to drop him. As my fist connected with the man's helmet I sensed another of the men and everything became a blur again. I felt the wind whipping over my body sharply as I moved, but my eyes only saw a blur of motion until again I stopped in front of someone, and everything was clear.

I had stopped while hunched down on my knees, causing the man to tower over me. The instant I saw him clearly, I jumped up to my feet and slammed my fist into his chest. The man was launched into the air from the force of my punch. Such an impact would shatter bone, but my hand felt no pain as I drove it into the cold steel plating covering his body.

My body effortlessly moved to the third man as it had the first two, landing a spin kick to his stomach that threw him backwards into a tree. By now the fourth man was standing in complete shock. I could sense his fear through my whole body and relished in it. Without so much as a thought, I found myself snapping his knee with a quick kick and then jumping up as he feel. My feet landed against his chest plate and kicked up so that I launched into a back flip. I could see the man I had thrown into the air with my fist, still falling down, and flipped into a downwards kick that struck him on the top of his head.

The man went crashing down into the ground without a sound, and I could feel a sudden loss of energy around me. A small spot of warmth no longer beat, and I realized that he was dead. I felt ashamed of what I had done, but another side of me was overjoyed at what was accomplished. Whether or not this was truly a side of me, I didn't know, but I was quickly taking a permanent backseat to its control over me as time progressed.

The three men that were still alive were all moving again. I could feel their pain, but bore no pity for them. At least, the side of me that was in control didn't. The man whose knee I had broken called out to the others.

"Get out of here!" he shouted.

I heard the other two stand up and sensed their tentativeness as they teetered on the edge of fighting and running. I disregarded the two and turned to the man that was lying on his back with his right knee bent unnaturally. The man seemed to glare back at me, and shouted out to his comrades once more.

"There's no sense in trying to kill this monster!" he cried. "You guys have to run!"

"But what about you?" the pair called out together.

Before the man could answer I began to slowly walk forward. _I am no monster! _I cried out deep down inside. I once again struggled to regain control, and for a split second, I could have sworn that my body hesitated in mid step. I, however, failed to fully grasp control, and my body continued on its path as if nothing had happened.

The man on the ground flinched as I approached him and started to crawl backwards, away from me. He kicked with his left leg and pulled with his arms while dragging his useless right leg, but with all of that heavy armor on, he wasn't moving nearly quick enough to outrun even my slow march.

"Forget about me!" the man shouted back. He was no longer able to hide his fear from coming out in his voice, and I could sense him shaking within the confines of his armor. "There's no way I can escape with my leg like this," he said, just a little more under control. Perhaps he was starting to resign himself to his fate.

As I neared the man, he backed into a tree and looked back and forth for a way to run, but didn't move. He slowly looked back at me and stopped struggling underneath his armor. I saw his body settle down and the metal plating slowly rise and fall as he breathed long, controlled breaths.

"Just go," he said.

I heard someone step away to retreat, but the other did not follow him. I had reached the man by now, and reached down with my hands. He visibly flinched as my hands reached for his neck, but the man did not try to fend me off. I wrapped my hands around the thin plating around his neck and pressed tightly until it dented and conformed to their shape. With a firm grip, I effortlessly lifted the man up and hung him over my head so I could stare up at him while he struggled under my hold.

The man began to choke and cough as his lungs took in less and less air through his closing wind pipe. Killing him like this would have been easy to do. Just a simple squeeze with both hands and he's die from his neck being crushed, but something inside told me to do something else. Instead, I released one of my hands from his neck and moved it up to his face. I felt the thin cuts in the face plate that allowed the man to see as well as take in air with my fingers.

I could sense the man's fear flowing through my nerves as my fingers ran over the cold steel, and without warning, crushed the face plate in my palm. As my fingers dug into the small plate, the man screamed and began to struggle, but the hold I had on his neck kept him from getting free. When I had a firm grip on the plate, I pulled it off and allowed the black mist of the forest to slowly seep into the man's suit of armor. As I had thought, the heavy suit was somehow able to block it out.

"No!" one of the other men shouted. I didn't look back to acknowledge that I had heard them, and kept my eyes fixed on the man I was holding over me. I could just barely see his face as the black mist started to fill his armor through his open helmet. It was twisted and contorted most unnaturally, letting me know just how much pain he was in.

The man's body started to whip around and spasm violently, but I held him in place with my hand around his neck. His armor began to rattle as his body shook. I could feel his body changing as the vibrations went through my arms. His body began to smoke, and the scent of burning flesh filled my nose.

The man's cries and screams were muffled now. It sounded like he was drowning in water, but I couldn't tell what was really going on with him. As blood began to leak from his mouth, I learned that the reason was that his lungs had filled with blood. As he continued to cough, the man's grunting turned to inhuman growls and hisses.

"Come on, let's go!" one of the other men shouted.

I moved my right hand back to the man's neck and resumed strangling him. His beastly cries became more urgent as his air was nearly completely cut off, and the cracking of bone could be heard as his body spasm and bent in ways it was not meant to.

"No!" the other of the two men shouted. I could sense his aura growing stronger as he succumbed to desperation. He was teetering towards a blind rage.

"Damn it, Kai!" the other man yelled. I could sense them struggling, but suddenly lost my train of thought.

_Kai?_ I wondered. The name sounded familiar, but with the way my mind and emotions were, I couldn't remember clearly. I slackened my grip on the man's neck and let him fall limp to the ground. The heat that had consumed my body quickly cooled as my aura calmed from its recent rage.

My emotions retreated from my heart, and I could feel my mind clearing like water out of a bucket. I wiggled my fingers like I was awake for the first time in my life and then clenched my hands into fists as I realized I was in control again. I slowly turned around to look at the two men struggling to go in opposite directions. I concentrated on the man radiating the stronger aura, the one that wanted to keep fighting.

His aura burned brightly in my minds eye as I sensed its power. Even though it spilled forth with contempt for me, I felt a sense of familiarity to it that kept me from feeling threatened, but why? _Who is he?_ I wondered.

"Kai?" I asked. I put my hand to my throat, shocked by the sound of my voice. It sounded demonic, despite still carrying my normal voice in it.

"Did you hear that?" the man wanting to retreat whispered, just loud enough for me to hear. "It can talk!" he cried, sounding hysterical. He must have thought that the gases in the forest were driving him to insanity.

The angry man's aura calmed slightly, but remained vibrant to my senses. He stopped trying to struggle out of his friend's hold, but still prevented him from dragging him away.

"Me?" he asked.

I tilted my head to one side to contemplate his question. I dug deep into my mind, searching for answers, but my memory was still a mess even though I could control my body again. _Kai… why does it sound so familiar… Why can't I remember? _I grabbed my head with one hand and rubbed it firmly as if it would help make things clear, like wiping a window.

Kai stepped forward, his aura now giving off a feeling of apprehension. "That's my name that you said," he told me. His voice sent a mixture of signals to me. He sounded angry, yet curious. The sound of his voice also caused more reactions inside of my head.

I suddenly saw a vision; a flash of a memory. In it I saw myself as a young boy. I was crying, and behind me was a group of kids, all within a year of my age, laughing and pointing at me. Suddenly, someone called out from behind them and the group turned around. I also looked, and saw a boy with short white hair breathing hard with his hands trembling into fists. He was also my age.

"Leave Ryu alone," the boy shouted.

_Ryu?_ The memory faded away and I felt my body become weak as I was suddenly completely in reality again.

"Ryu…" I said.

Kai's aura now grew curious at what I had said. "What was that?" he asked. "What did you just say?"

Hearing his voice caused more flashes of my life to come out. I saw more and more memories involving a boy named Kai, varying from my days a small boy to a teenager. As the memories progressed through time, the boy aged, and his hair grew longer while developing a slight shimmer of silver. His voice also matured, and it matched that of the man speaking to me now. _Kai… was my friend… and I… My name is…_ The puzzle still wasn't complete.

"Kai…" I said again. I was still struggling with myself, and wasn't really aware of what I was saying.

"Answer me, monster!" Kai yelled.

The sound of contempt in his voice and the words he spoke caused a whole new batch of memories to come to me. While the first batch was of happier times, these showed several instances of prejudice and ridicule towards me and Kai. Yet, no matter what the circumstance, Kai was always by my side, and always defended me, as I did him.

"I am no monster…" I struggled to say. I found it hard to speak as my mind continued to build itself back together, and the words came to me one at a time as more and more memories filled me. "I am…" I started to say, but stopped as that last piece kept out of reach.

"You're a monster," he accused me again. He pointed at the two men that I had killed. "You murdered my two friends like a savage beast!" he yelled. "Only a monster would do something like that!"

"No!" I yelled back. I remembered more memories.

Now I watched as I stood up for Kai and the last piece finally fit in.

"I am no monster!" I yelled at Kai. I spread my wings and arched my back so that I was shouting out to the forest. "I am Ryu!" I cried. My words echoed loudly through the forest, causing the trees to blow like a great wind was passing by. Numerous animals called back to me, roaring their own pride in what they were.

An unsettling silence fell on us as my cry died in the distance. The rest of the forest around us also fell silent, but the air around us was anything but calm. Our auras were so tense I could have sworn I was seeing them with my eyes and not my senses.

"R-Ryu?" Kai asked. His voice betrayed his uncertainty and surprise.

I wanted to answer him, to try to make sense of what was going on, but more memories flooded my mind at hearing him say my name. I grabbed my head with both hands and rubbed my temples furiously as I cried in agony. It felt like my head was going to split in half from the memories filling it too quickly.

As my memories all came flooding back, I could sense the presence of hundreds of beings around me. The feeling felt alien, yet familiar at the same time, and the flash of a dragon made of purple light made me realize what was happening. I had thought it was a dream, but the spirits of the forest were real.

"Kai…" I called out to my friend as I fell to my knees. I dropped my head to the ground and dug my fingers into my hair. I could barely control my breathing, and felt my body spasm from being tense for too long.

"Ryu?" he asked. From the sound of his voice, I could tell he wasn't asking if I was alright. He was asking if it was really me. I couldn't blame him, because the form I was in looked nothing like the me he would be remembering. No, he was right. I was a monster.

"No…" I gasped as I struggled to keep my mind from giving in to the thought that I was a monster.

No matter what my form, no matter what my actions, giving in and accepting being a monster was the worst thing that could happen. I had to keep fighting. I had to keep my humanity. The vision of a black dragon setting a white city ablaze appeared in my mind. A vision that the spirits of the forest had shown me and that Yua had spoken about.

"No!" I screamed.

I jumped to my feet and spread my arms in defiance. I spread my wings and gathered air in them before flapping with as much force as I could, throwing myself into the air while sending a cloud of dust and dirt towards Kai and the other man. As I began to stop ascending, I flapped again, and again, and again, trying desperately to escape. Before long, I broke the top of the black mist and was finally above the forest. The night sky spread around me and the cool air gave me a sense of freedom I hadn't felt in a long time.

I looked up at the moon and saw it was in its three quartered stage as it began to set towards the end of its cycle. "Has it really been that long?" I wondered, remembering that the last time I had gazed at the moon it hadn't even reached the halfway point of its cycle.

I looked all around me for a direction to go, but had no idea of what course of action to take. I was finally free, but what would I do? What could I do in this body? Only one thought came to my mind as I tried to think of who I could trust.

_Mother and father, they'll understand. _I thought to myself. I looked up at the stars and made a general guess on which direction was west. It was a long journey home on foot, but I noticed that I could fly much faster than I could run, so maybe it wasn't too far off. Even at my current speed, it was a trip that would take weeks, but that wasn't important to me now. I had to remain focused and worry about the details later. For now, I just had to get away from the forest.

**- x -**

"Mmm…" I mumbled as I slowly came to.

I could tell that it was night time as my eyes slowly opened and my vision cleared. The pale light of the moon dimly lit my room through the open window curtains.

"Nina?" I heard a man ask. It was Myn.

"Myn?" I asked back. I sat up but couldn't see him in the darkness of the room. "Myn, where are you?" I asked.

"I am right here Nina," he answered.

I could hear him more clearly now and looked right beside me to my right to see him sitting in a chair next to the bed I was in. He was looking at my face, obviously concerned for my well being. His eyes looked sad and slightly afriad on his otherwise emotionless face.

"What happened?" I asked as I began to feel soreness and a slight dizziness in my head. I

put my hand to my forehead and wiped the cool sweat from it before rubbing my temples to try to get some relief. Nothing seemed to work, so I flopped back down onto my pillow and sighed.

"I'm not sure, but Yuri, Cassandra, and I all felt something suddenly and came rushing here to find you collapsed on the floor over there," he said.

I noticed that he was pointing towards the windows and sat up again to take a look. Over by the center window was the sword I had been using to practice. That's when I remembered what had happened, or vaguely at least.

"I fainted?" I asked, although I already knew the answer. That was what had happened, but I couldn't remember why. _What caused me to collapse?_

Myn stood up and walked around my bed to where the sword was lying on the ground.

"We're not sure what happened, Nina, and from the sounds of it, you don't either," he said. He bent down and pick up the sword, examining it for a second before returning it to its sheath. "Hmm… this sword…" he pondered to himself.

"What about it?" I asked. I had been watching him, and he seemed to really be studying the sword.

Myn flinched when he heard my question and quickly addressed me. "N-nothing," he said. "I was just wondering why it was out of its sheath next to you when you had collapsed," he said, almost well enough to convince me that was the real reason.

I wanted to get the real facts out of Myn, but with my dizziness spinning towards a headache, I decided against it, since the effort would probably only make it worse.

"I was practicing," I said.

"Ah, of course," Myn said.

He had recovered by now, and his tone was once again serious. He placed the sheathed weapon on the table by the windows and walked back to the side of my bed, although he was to my left now.

"Please, get some rest, Nina," he said. He placed his hand on my shoulder and gently pushed me onto my back before pulling the covers up to my neck. "We can discuss what happened later," he said.

"I guess so" I said while feeling my body's need for rest. I yawned softly and shifted slightly under the covers so that I was more comfortable. "Goodnight, Myn" I said.

"Goodnight, Nina," he said softly.

I closed my eyes and breathed calmly as I listened to Myn walking across my room. Once I heard the door close I opened my eyes and sighed. I sat up again and looked out the windows at the passing clouds in the night sky. The moon was level with us on the horizon, starting to descend towards the end of another lunar cycle.

The wind chime by the window furthest to the left dangled back and forth as an invisible force moved it like the wind. I glanced at it in wonder as usual. _Why does it keep doing that? _ I wondered. Even Myn thought it was weird that the chime blew on its own, but the look on his face and his responses hinted to me that he knew something about it. _Maybe he'll tell me when we discuss what happened when I fainted. _I pondered while remembering that before everything became blurry, the chime had moved just like it had now.

I looked over to the table where Myn had placed my brother's sword and sighed. As I looked at the sheathed sword under the silver moonlight, it suddenly hit me that my brother was gone. In all of the confusion and frantic events, I had actually forgotten, and it had happened just days ago.

I laid back down on my side and hugged some of the blanket to my chest as I began to think back to the times I spent with my elder brother. I smiled warmly as I remembered him, and slowly drifted to sleep.

**- x -**

A/N: Well, I hope you all enjoyed this rather long chapter. I didn't expect to spend three chapters in the forest, but I hope no one thought things dragged on too much. Please leave any comments or reviews.


	15. The Dragon's Maw

_To the north lies a great secret_

_Lost since the end of the second age_

_This secret has been asleep_

_Waiting for the day it would return_

_The day that its Queen would rise again_

**Dragon Tears**

**I: Age of Man**

**By: OmegaGear**

**XV**

**~ The Dragon's Maw ~**

I opened my eyes slowly as light began to hit them. I shied away from the light, as it hurt so soon after sleep, and turned over. Yawning rather loudly and smacking my lips, my morning breath started to touch my taste buds. I was just about ready to drift back to sleep when I heard a knock at me door.

I mumbled to myself and then groaned as I turned onto my back and sat up. My body ached a bit from getting out of the comfortable position I was in, but a quick stretch brought me to a hundred percent.

"Come in," I said.

The door opened slowly and Myn slipped in softly. He was wearing his giant robe that was supposed to hide his identity, which brought a slight chuckle to my face.

"Did you get enough rest, Nina?" he asked.

"Yes, I did," I said while smiling at him.

I threw the covers off of me and turned so that my legs were hanging off the side of the bed when I noticed that I was still wearing the dress I had on last night before fainting. I examined the wrinkles in the fabric from sleeping in them and brushed them gently to try to work them out a bit before sliding out of bed.

Once I was on the ground I stretched my whole body with a satisfied groan and extended my wings out of my back. It had been over a day since I last let my wings out, so it felt good to stretch them and have a few flaps.

Myn cleared his throat while I relaxed my wings and I looked over to him.

"What is it, Myn?" I asked.

"Your highness," he started to speak, but paused when he started to address me by my title. "I mean, Nina," he corrected. "While we are on the ground, please remember to keep your wings hidden at all times," he said.

I looked back at my pure white wings and frowned. The thought hadn't even occurred to me, but it made sense to hide them. All the work in dying my hair brown and getting green contacts to hide my identity would have been useless if I kept my wings out.

"Of course," I said while retracting my wings back into my back. The wings effortlessly shrank and vanished into my back like a magic trick, leaving a few loose feathers behind that floated to the ground softly.

Myn nodded and turned to leave, but stopped before opening the door again.

"Oh and please put on your disguise before coming to the bridge," he said.

Without letting my respond, Myn opened the door and stepped out of my room. He closed the door slowly so that it didn't make a sound and I was once again alone.

I stretched my arms some more while I walked over to the clothes that Cassandra had brought up fro me and started to remove my dress. Thankfully, I was allowed to dress myself the morning that I left, so I was wearing a dress that I could remove by myself. I slid the straps off my shoulders and let the dress slowly fall to the ground with a little help from my hands to get it past my hips.

Once I got my feet out of the dress I looked into the full body mirror in the corner and took a deep breath and let it out. I watched my shoulders rise and fall, as well as my breasts. They were getting bigger. Not that I hadn't noticed until now, since for some time I've been noticing my clothes getting a little tighter around that area, but this was the first time I actually addressed the issue with my full attention.

I placed my hands on my bare breasts and lifted them slightly before letting them go. They bounced noticeably and I could feel their weight quite a bit. They were starting to get too big to be ignored while fighting now. Their weight was throwing off my balance at times when I was practicing, and I was afraid of any impact they might have in a real fight.

"I'd better do something about these since we're going to be heading into hostile territory," I said to myself while digging through my bad for my chest bindings.

I retrieved the long white wrap and wrapped it tightly around my chest so that they were held close to my body, but not so tightly that my breathing was compromised.

Once my chest binding was securely wrapped, I put on a clean pair of panties and pulled the plain white gown over my head. The fabric was quite soft, and probably more expensive than what the type of person I was posing as could afford, but that was probably the reason for it being the under garment of my outfit. It was comfortable for my sake, and hidden from all eyes. I slipped my arms through the sleeves and the fabric gripped my skin tightly.

I made a few turns in the gown to make sure it was comfortable when moving and then held up the plain brown dress. The dress didn't have any sleeves, just some straps that hung on the shoulders. I quickly pulled it over my head and slipped my arms through the straps before tying the string in the front to make sure it hugged my body snuggly. This presented a slight problem, since the dress must have been fitted to my chest. With the bindings constricting them, the dress was now a bit baggy at the chest, which looked a little silly.

"Well, beggars can't be choosers," I said while placing my hands on my hips and looking in the mirror. "I'm supposed to be a humble traveler, so it's not like clothes in the wrong size is anything strange." I pulled on the loose piece of clothing at my chest and looked in the mirror. It just looked too weird, since the dress fit her torso perfectly and then became a baggy mess at her chest.

I sighed, accepting that the dress was going to stay that way, since I didn't want to waste my time removing my clothing to undo my bindings. I put in my green contacts, then my brown stockings, and finally, my brown boots. I gave myself a once over in the mirror and was about to leave when I thought of something.

We would probably be heading into trouble at any moment, and I wanted to be prepared. My training in the heraldic arts could get me by in most cases, but having a weapon was ideal. I had completely forgotten to bring any sort of hand weapon to use in self defense, so my only choice was my brother's sword.

I looked over to the table by the windows at my brother's sword and began to have some doubts about wielding it. I still wasn't sure about what happened last night, but looking at the sword caused me to get nervous, and my hands were now sweaty.

_Still, I need to bring something to defend myself with. _I told myself. I swallowed the saliva that had collected in my mouth and wiped my hands on my dress. I quickly grabbed the sword by the sheath and made my way to the bridge.

When I got up to the bridge, Myn, Yuri, and Cassandra were all standing at the front viewing deck gazing out of the large windows. I could see that they were all wearing their large robes that were supposed to disguise them and stifled a laugh. Myn and Yuri only looked suspicious wearing clothes like that, and Cassandra always wore a long robe anyways.

Cassandra, however, wasn't wearing her usual robe of white and pale blue. She was wearing a hoodless robe that was a light tan in color. It was loose around her body and ran down to her ankles with a belt tied at her waist to keep it in place. A dark brown capelet covered the robe over her shoulders and had a hood, which she was wearing. I wondered why she always wore a hood over her head, but never had the courage to ask.

The few times I saw anything of her face made me shiver, because one of her eyes was always glowing like she was possessed. That glowing eye, her left, was all I ever really saw, because the rest of her face was always shrouded by the shadow of her hood.

I waved to everyone on the bridge as I walked towards the viewing deck. They all bowed and saluted, quietly acknowledging me as Princess Nina, causing me to blush slightly. While I had struggled to convince my three companions to address me as just Nina, I decided against any such request of the crew. They were trained to be loyal to the royal family, unlike Myn, Yuri, and Cassandra, whom simply served us on their own terms. Such insolence as calling me by my first name only was beyond the crew.

As I walked down the steps to the viewing deck, Yuri turned around and smiled.

"Yo, Nina," he said while waving.

A chill ran down my spine at seeing him wave to me with that childish smile. I knew I could trust him, but something about his behavior lately just didn't sit well with me. I returned my own smile to him, but it was forced, and my laugh betrayed my uneasiness.

"Uh… hey, Yuri," I said while waving back.

I slowly walked to where the three were standing, unsure if my shaking knees would make it all the way there. When I finally got up there, I leaned onto the railing in the front and let my legs relax a little. As I felt my strength slowly returning, I looked up to see Yuri smiling like a fox.

"Did ya hear, Nina?" he asked, grinning.

I couldn't see what I looked like, but I just know that I gave a look of complete puzzlement.

"Hear what?" I asked, a little nervous.

"Wyndia won its battleball season opener against Winlan," he said.

I didn't think it was possible, but his smile got even bigger.

"W-wha?" I asked, not quite getting what he was trying to say.

"The battleball season started last night," he said. "Wyndia opened against Winlan while Ludia played at Corsair."

"So?" I asked.

What was the big deal? Battleball was just another sport. Well, I had to admit that it was a sport I enjoyed watching. Maybe that's why Yuri brought it up.

"Yuri, grow up," Myn said coldly while gazing out of the windows.

Yuri seemed to be taken aback by Myn's comment.

"What? I'm older than you, Myn!" he argued. "Besides, we can't be all business if we're going to be posing as humble travelers. Knowing about the battleball season will do us some good," he said.

I thought about it for a minute. _I guess he's right. After all, we'll be traveling near the border between Wyndia and the Empire for a while, and the battle ball season has games between teams from all the nations, regardless of the war. Maybe knowing a little bit wouldn't hurt. _

"Ah…" I spoke up nervously. "It's okay, Myn. Knowing a little about battleball won't hurt," I said.

I didn't notice at the time, but my legs were shakinga little and my face was slightly flushed. No wonder I felt so warm.

"Are you alright, Nina?" Myn asked.

I looked down at the ground while I answered, not wanting to show Myn my face.

"Uh… yeah," I said.

Myn didn't pry any further and a silence fell on the viewing deck. I slowly looked forward and saw a forest consumed by a strange black mist.

"What is that?" I asked, thankful that I was able to change the subject.

There was a moment of silence before someone answered.

"That is the hex," Cassandra said. There was a noticeable amount of discomfort in her voice. I couldn't blame her, since she saw this hex occur with her own eyes.

"The hex…" I muttered as the forest consumed by the black mist began to pass underneath the ship. My brother had died somewhere in that black expanse, consumed in the hex's fire.

"Is that where we're going?" I asked.

"No," Myn answered. "But," he added after a slight hesitation, "We will be departing just past there."

I looked up towards the horizon, seeing no end to the forest, or the black mist.

"Where exactly are we going?" I asked.

Myn tapped his foot as he thought about our plans and pointed forwards, slightly to the left.

"There's a small settlement not too far into imperial soil beyond the forest," he said. "It's a village that goes by the name of Romero, and has a fairly neutral standing since the empire doesn't bother with it too much." He moved his hand to the right and stopped just past the center of the window. "We'll be touching down in the valley formed by the mountains up there."

I looked to wear he was pointing and could see the formation of mountains stretch on the horizon as far as my eyes could see to the left of the ship. The mountains weren't that tall, but didn't look very inviting. If I was remembering correctly, the empire was excavating something in those mountains, which was one of the reasons the battle fronts were near here. Whatever it was, they didn't want the allied nations knowing about it.

"It's only a two day journey south to Romero on foot from there," he said. "We'll be taking a chiik drawn cart with us and posing as traveling salesmen."

I turned to look at Myn. His plan seemed so simple in design. Did he really think that it would work?

"But, what about the imperial excavation?" I asked.

I did not get an answer as a man shouted from behind us.

"Imperial airship spotted!" he cried.

I turned back around and looked up out the window. The mist over the forest rippled and parted off in the distance, and a black airship rose from its depths.

It was a cruiser class ship from the looks of its size, and was powered by two giant magnetic field pads in the back, and two smaller ones in the front. The fuselage of the ship was dwarfed by the blimp structure above it, which housed its cannons along its sides. The blimp came to a point at the front, and demonic looking fins and spoilers lined with gold covered the back, seven in all. The giant vessel was unmistakably the same one that I had seen inside of the grand storm.

"It's the Dragon's Maw," someone said behind us in the bridge.

_The Dragon's Maw,_ I thought. Even in broad day light under blue skies, the black airship looked haunting. It ascended from the black mist of the hex and began flying away form us towards the west, most likely heading towards one of the core cities within the empire.

"Has it detected us?" The captain asked.

There was a short silence while people worked at their stations to get a report for the captain. After some communication between several people, a man spoke up.

"There are no signs of us being detected, captain," he said.

"That doesn't make much sense," I said, although not really loud enough for anyone to hear except the people on the viewing deck. "We can see them, and this ship is larger, so they should be able to see us."

"Is has no reason to attack us," Myn said. "We are still over wyndian soil, so there is no need for them to bother with our presence."

Myn turned away form the windows and walked to the steps leading up to the bridge area.

"We'll be heading to the main hanger bay now," he said. "I leave the rest to you, captain." He turned his head over and gestured for us to follow him. I took another moment to watch the Dragon's Maw heading west and began to feel a little worried about our missions, whatever it was.

I took a moment to overcome the chills running through my body and let out a deep breath. Grasping the sheath of the sword in my hand tightly, I regained my composure and turned to follow the others to the main cargo bay.

The walk to the lifts leading to the hanger bay proceeded without incident. As we passed by, people would quickly get out of the way and salute us. When we finally got onto the lift to ride it down to the hanger bay, I felt a little dizzy from my embarrassment that had been rising with each salute.

As the lift began moving, Yuri turned to face me.

"So, this is how I see it, Nina," he said while holding up his fist in excitement. "Ludia is predicted to be the top seed for the playoffs, but my money's on Wyndia," he said.

I nearly fell over at hearing what he said, and Myn's sigh was more than audible. _He's been thinking about battleball the whole time? _I wondered to myself while recovering from my shock.

"Yuri, please," Myn said, obviously annoyed by his choice in subject matter.

"Hm? What's wrong, Myn?" Yuri asked. He tapped his chin with his index finger for a second and then snapped his fingers.

"You're absolutely right," he said. We all exhaled in relief that he understood, but were sadly mistaken. "I completely forgot about the imperial conference," he said while laughing.

We were not amused, and Myn seemed to groan more than sigh.

"Yeah, Chedo and Astana are always tough teams to beat," he said while stretching his arms.

"I pray that you'll be more serious once we depart," Myn said.

"Of course, Myn," Yuri said to assure us. He finished stretching and looked at us with a sincere smile. "You want to be all business," he pointed out, "but this time of year, battleball _is_ business."

I thought about his words, but didn't quite get it. "It's just a sport," I said.

"Just a sport?" Yuri asked, sounding a little offended. "How can you say that, Nina? It's your favorite sport."

"Well, yeah," I said, admitting that it was so. "But it's still just a game," I added, shrugging my shoulders.

"Well, I guess you're just not that into it, then," Yuri said. He put his hands behind his head and stretched his shoulders before continuing. "Battleball is the only sport where the league has conferences in each nation. Even with the war going on, the season goes on like we are in times of peace."

"Yeah…" I said, hanging my thoughts in the air. I already knew everything he was saying. "So?" I asked.

"So, it is a subject of interest for all class of people all over the world," he said while pointing his finger in the air to signify point number one. "Everyone talks about it, and being able to talk with them will help us blend in," he finished, three fingers up in one hand.

"Yeah…" I said while rubbing my chin, contemplating his words. It almost made sense to me, but it still didn't seem terribly important. "I guess you're right," I said, not wanting to drag the conversation on any further.

"Please," Myn said. He sounded quite agitated. "You just want an excuse to go to some games," he said.

"Ah, ya got me," Yuri chuckled while rubbing the back of his head.

The lift doors opened as we arrived at the hanger bay. Myn walked out first, but stopped in front of the doors so that we couldn't follow him.

"We'll see," he said, obviously indicating that we might see a battleball game while on our journey.

Myn continued on his way forward and we quickly followed, Yuri unable to hide his excitement over what Myn had indicated. The walls of the hanger were lined with raptors, the new mechanical suits of armor that were powered by chrysm. The suits had only started production recently, and had yet to enter combat against imperial forces. The only live battle data was from that incident with the Dragon's Maw when the hanger had been invaded.

The giant suits of armor looked more like life forms than simple suits. They were built to completely shield the inhabitant from the elements, meaning poison gases were useless, and environmental phenomena were negligible. The helmets had giant eyes on it that looked like giant eye sockets of a skull, making its face plate look rather scary. The rest of the form was also larger than life, housing an assortment of tools and weapons within its shoulders, chest, and arms.

There was one difference to these models than the one I had seen before, however. These models had large turbines behind their shoulders.

Besides the raptors, rows of little two man planes filled the ground of the hanger. The planes were simple in design: light, and aerodynamic. To properly use them, you needed a pilot and a navigator, who doubled as a mechanic. Besides piloting, the pilot also used the single gun on the front of the plane.

In the center of the hanger I could see the wagon we would be using. It was made completely out of wood, and looked a little beat, although it was still obviously dressed to be that way. While the wood appeared to be old at a distance, up close anyone could tell the age marks were artificial and the feel of it was an even bigger giveaway.

Besides the obviously new build, the wagon was fairly simple. It had a bench at the front for someone to sit and guide the single chiik, a large flightless bird with a long neck and body like an ostrich, but a head that was a cross between a hawk and a chicken's. Behind the bench, the main body of the wagon was completely enclosed, except for the back, which was open.

Inside, the wagon had several large bags filled with god knows what and other types of supplies, including lamps, simple tools, blankets, and some cooking items. There wasn't much space inside for people to sit, but the roof also served as a sitting area.

I was just finishing looking over the wagon when a man came running towards us. Yuri was still going on about battleball, but Myn wasn't paying him any attention and turned to the man, an officer.

"Myn, sir," he said while coming to a stop. The man snapped his heels together and gave a salute.

"Have we arrived?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," the man replied. He was now standing at attention, not looking at anything in particular as he spoke. "We are holding position just outside of imperial airspace and await your orders."

"Understood," Myn said while nodding. "Tell the captain we'll proceed as planned."

The officer saluted. "Yes, sir!" he said enthusiastically.

As the officer turned to leave, Myn faced towards the outer wall.

"Open the blast doors" he ordered.

The loud sound of metal gears starting to turn drew my attention to the wall that Myn was facing. A crack slowly formed across the middle of the wall, allowing the light of noon to leak into the hanger. A soft wind blew in as the doors opened to reveal the outside world, and Myn walked up to the edge of the hanger.

I jumped down from the wagon and looked outside at the mountains in the distance. Now that we were closer, I could see several black airships flying over the maintain range. I couldn't tell what kind of ships they were at such a distance, but they were obviously imperial military ships, and would easily overpower us with their numbers.

"How are we going to get past that?" I asked.

Myn didn't answer me directly, but the way he carried himself told me he had a plan. As the doors finished opening, he turned his head and said, "Yuri, Cassandra, let's go."

Yuri had been spouting more battleball gibberish to Cassandra and laughing hysterically until Myn finally called to him. Almost immediately, he dropped his rant and became serious.

"Right," he said.

Myn's robe began to stir, and thin bolts of electricity circled him. He lifted off of the floor, surrounded in a sphere of lightning and flew outside. Yuri followed suit, summoning a small whirlwind around him while Cassandra was lifted by a sphere of ice crystals. The three exited the hanger and formed a triangle not too far from the ship.

"Princess Nina," a man beckoned to me.

I turned around and saw a man motioning me to the wagon.

"What is it?" I asked.

The man saluted as I reached him and instructed me to get into the wagon.

"The landing's going to be a little rough," he said, offering his hand to me as I hopped up into the wagon.

"What do you mean?" I asked as I took a seat.

Before the man could answer, I heard a loud clank as something metal slammed onto the ground of the hanger. I stuck my head out of the back of the wagon to look over to where the sound had come from. One of the raptors was operational, and slowly walking over.

As the raptor approached, I saw a second one go online with a hiss as its pilot chamber was sealed. The metal giant seemed to breathe in new life as it stood up from its docked position. None of the other raptors seemed to move, but pilots were seated in the open chambers of at least half of them while the two live ones walked over to the wagon I was in.

I heard thunder boom in the distance and the hanger started to grow dark as grey clouds covered the sky. A harsh wind blew in and I could see rain our down when I looked outside. As lightning illuminated the sky, I could make out the silhouettes of three cloaked people with their arms spread, obviously my three companions combining their powers to create a storm.

"What are they doing?" I asked, wondering the reason for the display.

No one answered me as several men raised thick cell walls and locked them in place around the wagon. I suddenly noticed that the wagon I was in wasn't on the ground, but a thick metal plate that served as the base for a cage. As the back wall was raised and locked, trapping me with the wagon, one of the guards spoke.

"They're creating some cover so we can go in closer," he said.

I wanted to ask what exactly was going on with the cage, but the guard turned around before I could ask and motioned for the raptors to move closer. The man guided a raptor to each side of the cage and the top was slowly lowered down. The top was locked down on the cage and the two raptors were docked to extensions at their shoulders.

"Ah, wait a minute," I said weakly. I was getting more nervous by the second as set up continued. By now the storm was raging outside, and I was beginning to wonder if it was even safe to go outside. A giant flash of lightning followed by a loud boom shook the ship, startling everyone.

It took a moment for my heart to go back down my throat, and kept a hand against my chest as I steadied my breathing. Just as I was getting used to the rumbling thunder, the alarm in the hanger went off.

"Are we leaving?" I asked.

The officer in front of the cage took a moment to listen to someone next to him and then shook his head.

"An imperial ship has been spotted approaching us!" he shouted, making sure I could hear him over the increasingly violent storm.

"An imperial ship?" I asked.

I stepped out of the wagon and made my way to the front of the cage. I peered out of the hanger and as a lightning bolt exploded in the distance, the large silhouette of the Dragon's Maw appeared.

"Oh my god…" I gasped.

I heard someone shouting orders behind me followed by the hissing of gas as the pilot chambers of several raptors sealed. The hanger echoed with the movement of the metal giants and soon the front was filled with two lines of them, eight each.

There was a grim silence as the raptors stood ready while the Dragon's Maw floated in front of us. It was within range of cannons, just a little higher in the sky than we were as we continued to slowly make our way towards the mountains to the north. I watched and waited for the battle to begin, but cannons didn't go off as the stare down continued. Myn and the other also had yet to return.

The hanger suddenly became nearly pitch black as the Dragon's Maw began to emit a black gas from its body. The black gas filled the sky, mixing with the storm clouds and shrouding everything in darkness. The Longinus activated its lights, allowing me to see outside, barely.

A thick cloud of the black gas floated towards us and a bolt of lightning revealed shadows inside. The raptors did not move, so I assumed they didn't notice the faint objects for the split second the lightning revealed them. A horrifying shriek, however, caught their attention, and the raptors raised their weapons, a pair of machine guns attached to the tops of their forearms.

Before anyone could order the raptors to advance or stand down, three large, black, and winged creatures flew out of the black cloud and smashed into the front row, causing the second row to retreat back a few meters while the front row scattered apart.

I didn't recognize the creatures at all, but they were unlike any other winged animals I had seen. Most winged creatures were either birds, or mammals, but these creatures had skin that looked more reptilian. Their body structure was very bird like, with the same type of inverted leg joints and massive claws like those of a hawk. Their wings, like those of a bat, spanned nearly as wide as the hanger opening, and their necks must have been at least fifteen feet long alone, their tails even longer. The only parts of their bodies that weren't black were their undersides, which were a pale grey, possibly even white.

"Open fire!" an officer shouted.

The second row of raptors stepped forward and planted their feet as they took aim on the creatures, the middle three gunning for the one in the center while the two at each end of the row looked at the one at the corresponding side.

The raptors all began firing at the same time, filling my ears with loud sound of machine guns blazing. Metal shells bounced everywhere and the winged beasts began to bleed as they were filled with scolding hot bullets. Yet, they did not fall or die as living creatures would. Instead, the creatures began to glow an eerie purple as they shrieked in pain and their flesh let off black smoke. With one final cry, the beasts exploded into pure light, leaving nothing but black smoke in their wake.

As the smoke cleared, more shrieks were heard outside as the storm raged on, blowing the black gas emitted by the Dragon's Maw around the Longinus, giving it a clear lane to the other ship. It now appeared as if we were nested in the clouds as a sphere of clear air opened around us in the mixture of storm clouds and black gas.

The ship shook as the cannons began to fire, filling the sky with yellow balls of burning shells hurtling towards the black ship. The Dragon's Maw returned fire in earnest, smaller guns intercepting the projectiles from the large cannons, littering the sky with explosions that revealed dozens of the flying animals in sky around us.

"Everyone, engage the enemy!" the same man that had ordered them to fire shouted.

The raptors opened the plates on their back to reveal small thrusters that launched them into the air as they exited the hanger. Their turbines began to spin once they were airborne, and their thrusters shut off, allowing the turbines to keep them flying. The metal giants zigged and zagged through the air as the two airships continued to trade fire while the strange winged creatures weaved through the hail of bullets fired at them.

While the eight raptors were able to easily dispatch the trio of winged beasts that had crashed into the hanger, the sixteen in the air had trouble hitting them at all. In the open air, the winged animals were far superior in mobility as well as awareness of their surroundings.

The metal raptor units appeared to be in disarray as they circled around in random patterns, firing at anything that moved. The winged animals flew around them with great ease, getting pegged with stray bullets every now and then, but going otherwise unharmed.

I couldn't figure out why the creatures were just flying in circles around the raptors without attempting to attack, but I soon witnessed the reason. Each raptor was so fixed on its own target, their communication with each other must have ceased, and another of the winged creatures appeared, diving with great speed and crashing into one of them.

The animal grasped its claws on the arms of the raptor and pulled them apart so that it couldn't aim its guns at it. Some of the raptors had stopped tracking their targets at the sudden development and four of them pursued after them. They opened fire on the creature and it exploded into light and smoke just like the first three had, freeing the raptor.

This would have been cause for some cheering, but the four raptors that had chosen to break off in order to save their comrade were picked off by more of the winged creatures while they were occupied. In response to this, more of the raptors still above them directed their attention towards them and fired down on the creatures before they could carry their friends off.

The creatures struggled to keep airborne as the bullets ate into their flesh, and their wounds leaked smoke. Two of them exploded under the pressure of all of the bullets, but the remaining two escaped, and began to circle back up around everyone.

The raptors tracked them, continuing to fire, and were caught by surprise as they followed them until they were looking up and at a group of the creatures that were diving at them. They kept firing, taking aim at the new targets, but were too late. Three more of them were grabbed by the group of creatures, leaving eight in the large formation between the two airships while three were scattered and five were captives of the creatures.

"Damn it!" the officer next to me, outside of the cage, cursed. "Everyone calm down and concentrate!" he shouted into a radio. "Communicate with each other and watch each others' backs!"

I watched as the raptors seemed to change their battle plan and broke off into pairs, although their whole number was still contained within the circling patterns of the winged animals. The four pairs of raptors worked on freeing their captured comrades while the free outside of the main formation got into one group followed the quintet of creatures.

The creatures didn't do anything to the raptors they carried in their claws while they flew with the three raptors in hot pursuit. The four pairs inside of the main formation zipped from side to side as the creatures attempted to dive at them, warning each other while they took turns firing at retreating group.

This pattern of fire and retreat continued for a moment with no signs of any progress until the five creatures were forced to scatter as a spread of heavy cannon fire flew over them towards the Dragon's Maw. There were a few seconds of hesitation as the groups of raptors glanced at each of the scattering creatures until they communicated again and settled together.

Rather than trying to dispatch all of them at once, the four pairs concentrated on a single target while the group of three gave chase. The creature dove low under the rest of the beasts but was halted as return fire from the Dragon's Maw shot past it. As the creature stopped its forward momentum, fire from the four pairs as well as the trio chasing it rained into it until it exploded.

The freed raptor joined the trio and it broke off into two pairs and gave chase to another of the creatures carrying one of the raptors. The four pairs in the main formation targeted this one as well, and they soon caught it in a cross fire from three directions.

The creature swayed in random directions as the bullets tore holes into its wings. As it began to glow purple, another of the creatures grabbed onto the raptor and together, they tore it apart as the injured one exploded. The remaining one held onto its half of the torn raptor as the remaining pieces fell from the sky. It got caught in the fire from the raptors as it had swooped in for the kill, and soon met its fate as well, letting the rest of the raptor fall lifelessly.

The pairs quickly moved to track the next target, but when they located the three remaining raptors that were captured, they were meeting similar fates. The winged creatures roared and shrieked as they smashed the metal suits between them and tore of appendages and plates of armor. Sparks flew and smoke wafted from the suits as their damage became more severe until they eventually exploded, forcing the creatures to release them.

The officer in command of the raptors was trembling as the three raptors exploded into little pieces.

"I want another group out there, pronto!" he yelled to the back of the hanger. A number of people complied and I could hear additional raptors sealing as people climbed into them.

I watched the officer tap his foot while waiting for the squad of eight to line up at the hanger exit.

"I want you to engage the targets and close range. Hold them if you can, and use concussion grenades!" he ordered. As the eight raptors took off, he grabbed his radio. "Raptor squads one, and two, provide cover fire for squad three," he said calmly.

As the third squad finished exiting the hanger, they launched into action. A sharp wind filled the hanger, and everything became silent as it created a barrier in the air that blocked the sounds from outside. One of the winged creatures landed in the hanger, nearly crushing the officer, it must have created that wall of air with its wings.

The creature roared and took a step forward before the two raptors connected to the cage I was in opened fire. They clipped its wings with their guns, but were unable to aim for its body, since the cage restricted their range of motion.

As the creature continued to stomp towards us, completely unfazed by its wings getting holes torn into it, I felt fear leak into my heart. I could feel my body start to tremble, and my hands begin to sweat. I cleared my mind of thoughts of death and concentrated on my heart beat. Taking long, controlled breaths, I began to calm and regained my focus.

I opened my eyes slowly and saw the creature hobbling towards me with its wings reduced to rags by the bullets the raptors had fired into them. The two metal giants continued to fire, trying desperately to finish the creature off, but they could only hit its wings, and it wasn't enough.

I spread my arms and stretched, concentrating my energy into my hands. I felt my arms tingle and began to run a phrase through my mind before chanting it to myself.

"Mei de hemel beeft en de hemelschreeuw in mijn handen…" I said while calling the energy into the spell and lowering my hand to help me focus it. "Myolnir!" I shouted.

A blue ball of light formed in front of me, about the size of a volleyball. As I shouted the last word of my spell, I thrust my arm forward and hit the ball with my palm. The ball pulsed as my palm hit it, and a giant bolt of lightning exploded outwards at the beast in front of me. The bolt impacted with the creature's chest and exploded, leaving a large burn that was visible for only a second. The creature started to glow just like the others had, and calmly disintegrated in a mixture of light and smoke.

I remained in the position I ended my spell with as the smoke cleared and released the breath I had been holding. The two raptors to my sides stopped firing and for a moment the battle outside wasn't noticed by any of us.

The officer that had nearly been crushed when the creature landed in the hanger got to his feet and waved the smoke away form his face.

"G-good job, your highness," he said shakily.

I fell to my knees and breathed heavily as I couldn't hide my emotional state anymore. I slowly recovered and looked up to watch the ongoing battle in the skies, which was becoming far more chaotic with the new orders the officer had given.

By now, the main formation of raptors had split up, no longer held together by circling enemies. The flying creatures had scattered all over the place, pairs of raptors giving chase or tracking them with their guns. I saw a pair of raptors converge on one of the winged creatures and grab onto its wings. While being held in place, another pair of raptors opened fire and blew the creature away.

Another pair gave chase to one of the creatures, moving to its sides to guide it towards another pair that fired a concussion grenade each. The grenades arched towards the creature and as they neared it, exploded with a brilliant white flash. While the pilots inside of the raptors were unharmed by the dizzying effects of the grenades' blasts, the organic creature was not. Almost in the explosion itself, the creature became completely limp and began to fall before the two pairs of raptors gunned it down into a flash of light and smoke.

The raptors, however, were not without their casualties either. Even with them broken into pairs and constantly communicating with each other, sometimes one or two would find they were alone in a tight situation. I noticed a swarm of four of the creatures circling tightly around each other, and thought nothing of it until I saw flashes of a machine gun firing within their tight formation.

I couldn't tell what was going on, but the swarm of creatures was descending quickly as the raptor kept firing. I started to see small pieces of debris drop from the group and the firing stopped as the creatures scattered. They left behind a battered and torn raptor suit, completely devoid of life as it fell through the storm clouds and out of sight.

Another raptor, the one that had been the recently destroyed one's partner opened fire on the quartet of creatures as they scattered before regrouping and taking aim at him. As they flew at him he fired a concussion grenade from each of his guns. The canisters spun as they flew at the diving creatures, but the resulting explosions did not stun them completely. The creatures seemed to be slightly dazed, and appeared to float in the air after the explosion, but quickly recovered. With new found resolve, they dove at the lone raptor again.

I can only imagine the fear and panic the man inside of the raptor suit felt as the four creatures continued to dive at him. His guns fired while his arms swept back and forth to spread his attack over all of them. So concentrated on the four creatures above him, he didn't even notice what was occurring around him.

As the raptor continued to let loose with everything it had, a fifth creature slammed into it from behind, sending it into the claws of a sixth. The creature whipped the raptor back and forth with its legs until the original four joined him, tearing off pieces of the metal suit as they passed by.

With each pass by the creatures, the raptor as well as the creature holding it spun from the force of them colliding. By now, the pilot was dead, and as sparks started to crackle from the severed limbs, the creature released its grip and let it tumble down into the grey clouds.

As the battle raged on, more of the strange creatures appeared out of the black gas clouds, nearly tripling their numbers over the raptors. They stopped flying alone and started to group together until they occupied the area of the sky in front of the Dragon's Maw. The raptors responded by also regrouping, forming a net in front of the Longinus.

There was a stand still as the two sides regrouped and kept to their sides of the sky. Even the two airships had stopped firing on each other, leaving only the sounds of the storm to interrupt the silence.

My eyes were locked on the swarm of winged creatures as they danced around each other in the sky. It was only when the officer addressed me that I managed to stop staring in awe.

"Your highness," he said.

I blinked a few times before looked towards the officer, who looked nervous.

"What is it?" I asked, trying to sound as bland as possible. I didn't want to show that I was afraid, but also didn't want to come off that he had angered me.

"You'd better get into the wagon," he suggested. "We've arrived over the mountains and final preparations are complete," he said.

I looked outside again at the swarm of winged creatures and felt a lump form in my throat. I swallowed the lump and felt it go down, leaving an uneasy feeling in its trail.

"We're going outside into that?" I asked, pointing out of the hanger.

"I'm sorry, your highness," he said sincerely. "We can't hold position here for long."

"Commander!" a man shouted.

We both turned to see a man waving his arm in the air to get the officer's attention. He pointed out towards the swarm of creatures and shouted.

"In coming!" he cried.

I turned my head back forward and saw the swarm of creatures charging at the net of raptors in one giant group.

"Oh… my… god…" the officer spoke slowly, almost completely overtaken by fear. He nervously grabbed his radio and clicked it on. For a second, it looked like he wasn't going to say anything until he shouted.

"Open fire!" he screamed into the small radio, the command echoing through the hanger.

The net of raptors opened fire, spraying the sky with their pair of machine guns in a frenzy of fire and lead. The hail of bullets flew upwards like a geyser as the swarm of creatures filled the entire sky in front of us.

The needles of burning hot lead cut holes into the wings and bodies of the front line of the swarm, leaving wounds that smoked and glowed purple light at their edges. The raptors stopped their haphazard firing and moved together, concentrating on the center of the swarm, keeping the space on front of the hanger exit as clear as possible. As more and more bullets tore into the front of the swarm, several of the creatures fell from it and exploded, leaving a growing hole in the front center.

The swarm of creatures proved not to be brainless beasts, and the outer ring began to spread apart, forming a dome around the raptors as they continued to eat a hole into the center. With the dome spread and threatening to completely envelope them, the raptors were forced to switch off between the center and the sides, trying desperately to keep the creatures at bay.

The raptors managed to break a hole through the entire swarm as it spread itself thin, but their victory was short lived as the ring of creatures around them caved in from all angles. The resulting chaos was a mess of gun fire, sparks, explosions, and flying debris as the creatures flew past, shrieking.

Most of the creatures only winged the raptors, throwing them around a bit while others hit them from a different direction. Plates of metal and parts of components began to chip off as the raptors received more and more harassment, until an unlucky meeting finally occurred.

I watched as the first raptor was destroyed, hit dead on by a creature that dug its class into its chest plate before another form a different direction also slammed into the suit. The two creatures clawed and snapped at the metal raptor, spinning in the air. After a few seconds of fighting amongst each other, the creatures settled for sharing, and tore the suit in two before dropping it.

One by one, the raptors went down as more of them were caught in the claws of the winged creatures or smashed between them. They returned fire on instinct alone, firing everywhere as the creatures swarmed them. Beams of purple light leaked out of the open gaps in the swarm as the creatures exploded, but their numbers continued to increase as more and more of them flew out of the black gas from the Dragon's Maw.

The Longinus' smaller cannons began firing into the swarm, but they had even more difficulty than the raptors with the agile creatures. The cannons moved too slowly to track such fast moving targets, and thus blindly fired into the mass of the swarm, hitting whatever passed into their lines of fire.

The sky filled with purple light as more of the creatures exploded from the heavy fire from the cannons until they scattered. The torn bodies of the raptors fell as the swarm spread through the entire dome of open air formed inside of the storm clouds and black gas.

The cannons tried to follow the creatures, but were far too slow, and eventually stopped firing. The swarm of creatures flew about the sphere of open air, shrieking at nothing in particular as the storm began to calm. The Dragon's Maw remained silent, as did the Longinus.

I looked over to the officer, whom was clutching the radio to his chest. His whole body was trembling, and his voice was shaky as his spoke.

"Prepare to launch squad four," he said.

"Sir?" the man closest to him asked. Everyone in the hanger seemed to look at him, completely surprised at his orders. After the onslaught we had just witnessed, how could the commander possibly order another squad to go in?

"I said, prepare to launch squad four," he repeated. "We will proceed with the mission as planned." The officer turned to me and looked into my eyes. I looked back, seeing nothing but fear, and pleading in them. "Please, your highness," he said, "prepare for departure."

I did not say anything to him. I knew, deep down inside, the man was beyond reason. He had not gone insane, or lost his stability, but his mind was suffering from shock. The horror we had witnessed struck fear in us all, but the commanding officer must have been hit the hardest. I could see it in his eyes, the shame and guilt he felt in sending those men to their deaths. As I stepped into the wagon, I knew what he was thinking. He wasn't going to let their deaths be in vain. He would complete the mission.

I heard hisses in the distance as raptors came to life and felt the wagon shake as they walked to the hanger exit. I did not look; I did not want to look. I stared at the ground with sad eyes as the shaking stopped, preparing to enter the nightmare.

Thunder boomed in the distance, drowning out the sound of the shrieking creatures. The commanding officer yelled out orders to the squad of raptors, but I couldn't make out what they were. I heard their thrusters power up, but the sound of them humming didn't change to a sudden burst that accompanied them launching.

The hum of the raptors' thrusters was eventually overtaken by the sound of rolling thunder. The ship began to shake like it was trapped in an earthquake, causing the wooden joints of the wagon to creak. I grasped the edge of the bench to steady myself and tensed as the shaking became more violent.

"What's going on now!" the officer yelled.

Curious, I stood up at the back edge of the wagon and looked over the roof. I rested my forearms on the edge of the roof while my hands kept a firm hold on it. When I was able to see what was going on, a white flash nearly blinded me, and I almost fell out of the wagon.

I clenched my eyes shut and grit my teeth as I gripped onto the edge of the roof as hard as I could while my body struggled to keep standing. After a bit of scratching at the wooden panels, I pulled my body upright again and opened my eyes.

The swarm of creatures continued to fly like vultures waiting for their prey while the Dragon's Maw seemed to be pulling away. After another second, my eyes picked up on what was really happening. The Dragon's Maw was not pulling out rather, the storm clouds were moving towards us from behind it.

The storm clouds swallowed the Dragon's Maw as they charged ahead, pockets of light flashing as bolts of lightning exploded. The swarm of creatures didn't seem to mind the new development and continued with their vulture-like dance.

Growing darker than the surrounding storm, the oncoming wall of grey clouds stretched over the swarm like a tidal wave. The sound of the rolling thunder seemed to be crawling over us like the clouds were, almost sounding like an avalanche, and the shaking became more violent than when we were being fired on.

The wall of clouds had reached the outermost creatures of the swarm. It reached over them, nearly stretching to the Longinus as it began to collapse with a violent rumbling sound. As the wave of grey and black came crashing down, the rumbling turned into an eerie howl, faintly familiar to me.

The mass of clouds and gas completely blinded us to the swarm as it fell. All I could see through the shaking were bright flashes of blue and white as bolts of lightning exploded while the howling became louder.

The howling and rumbling lasted for nearly ten seconds while the clouds dove under the Longinus. The shaking in the ship moved like a mouse under a carpet as the wave passed, leaving only the howling in its wake.

As the sky outside of the hanger cleared, I saw the sky filled with a swarm of two different creatures. The black winged beasts were still flying around as they were before, although now they kept watch on the new creatures.

The flock of larwi soared through the air like majestic birds, howling to each other. The whale-like creatures looked beautiful even within the swarm of black beasts, and seemed to calm me slightly.

Along with the appearance of the larwi, the storm had seemed to calm dramatically. Lightning no longer struck from cloud to cloud, and thunder no longer boomed. The sky appeared still, like time had nearly frozen, not even wind stirring the scene before me.

"It's the larwi" I said, my voice showing just how much awe I was in.

"Larwi…" the officer repeated after me, trailing off. He remained completely still, and I could tell that he was completely absorbed in what he saw.

The larwi sang to each other, and the black beasts shrieked back. While the beasts continued to fly in a tight swarm, the larwi spread out. They flew together in the form of a giant snake, twisting around the swarm.

The sky began to glow faintly as the larwi continued to fly together in formation, piercing into the swarm. The giant snake formed by the majestic creatures slithered in and out of the swarm, tying knots within it as it crossed paths with itself.

Blue light filled the sky as the clouds surrounding us glowed brighter. The larwi also began to glow blue, looking like pale ghosts as they started to move faster. They twisted around each other while they soared through the air, almost like they were dancing, filling each other with light and glowing brighter each passing moment.

Lightning started to dance in the clouds again. Thin bolts ran over the edge of the sphere like water running through tubes. As the larwi sang, the bolts were joined by more, connecting together and forming a net. The edges of the clouds were saturated with lightning, and the larwi called out to it.

The thin bolts of lightning started to shoot into the formation of larwi, crawling from the head down to the end of the tail. Eventually, all of the lightning was contained within the snake of larwi, wrapping it like a coil. The new formation of larwi and lightning looked like one giant bolt of lightning with hundreds of little branches slicing in every angle.

Lightning pulsed through the snake of larwi like blood from a beating heart. The giant mass of larwi and lightning howled together, shaking the sky with their triumphant call. The black beasts shrieked in reply, but their calls were drowned out by the volume of the larwi. As their call died down, the larwi became dead silent, while the black beasts shrieked uncontrollably.

While the sky settled in the wake of their call, the larwi seemed to slow down as the head of their snake arched over the swarm of black beasts. Coming to a complete stop, the formation of larwi and lightning exploded into a brilliant flash of light.

The giant structure of lightning tore outwards in every direction, creating a cobweb of bolts. Many of the black beasts got caught in the explosion of bolts, exploding into purple light that faded into the lightning. Those that survived the initial blast were killed methodically.

An instant after the onslaught of the explosion, the snake of larwi had exploded. Every larwi became a flash of brilliant light and formed together into a single giant bolt of lightning. This massive bolt hung in the air in the same shape as the snake of larwi had before flying at an incomprehensible speed.

My eyes tried to follow the snake as it struck down the black beasts one by one. The head of the bolt leapt from spot to spot, making me dizzy in less than a second. After a few scant seconds, it was all over. The swarm of black beasts was no more.

The giant bolt of lightning circled in the air for a second while the last bodies of the swarm turned to smoke. It formed itself into a ring and compressed into a tiny ball of light. The ball seemed to dim like it was burning out, but that was as far from the truth as you could get.

Within the dead silence of the sky, the little ball of light hummed as it shrank. As it got smaller, the ball's humming became higher pitched, until it hurt my ears when the ball was no longer visible. The high pitched whining sound faded into silence, followed by a flicker of light, and then an explosion greater than the past two combined.

An explosion of pure energy ripped outwards, its shockwave expanding into a massive sphere. The grey clouds and black gas stirred as the sound boom alone tore through, ahead of the energy shock wave, which pushed them away as it reached them.

The shockwave of energy expanded so quickly, we barely had a second to brace ourselves for the impact. The ship shook gently as the sound boom rattled past us, but the shockwave was a different experience entirely.

The gentle shaking turned into a sudden jolt that threw us all off of our feet. I fell backwards out of the wagon and quickly rolled into a tight ball when I landed to protect my head from any falling debris. My body rolled around as heavy vibrations shook the metal floor of the cage, and my senses succumbed to the chaos.

Sounds of metal struggling under pressure and sparking wires began to echo through the rumbling of the ship. The lights in the hanger flickered before shutting off, leaving only the red alert lights to illuminate the giant chamber.

A few seconds passed, and the shaking began to calm. Everything was silent as the shaking completely stopped, and the ship's lights came back on.

I slowly got up from the ground and rubbed the areas of my body that were sore. My neck, shoulders, and knees all ached from rattling against the steel cage's floor, but I didn't have any injuries.

When I turned around to look outside, I was unprepared for what I saw. Expecting the dark grey storm clouds and black gas, my eyes hurt from the bright sunlight of a clear midday sky.

The sun was just over us, and there wasn't a cloud to be seen; grey storm, black gas, or otherwise. The light blue sky carried no signs of a battle having taken place. Not even a trace of the Dragon's Maw could be seen.

There was a bit of commotion as everyone in the hanger got their senses back. The squad of raptors that had been preparing to launch remained standing at the exit of the hanger, but everyone else was busy checking systems and equipment.

I watched from within the cage as men ran around with tool boxes and parts to make repairs. Some people were even being carried off on stretchers by medical personnel, making me feel a little weak in the knees.

Amongst the commotion, someone started yelling.

"Hey, something's coming this way!" he screamed, making sure everyone could hear him.

Some people looked over to him, including me, but most of the people just kept on doing what they were before he shouted. The officer in command ran over to him.

"What is it?" he yelled as he made his way over.

I tried to listen to their discussion, but was too far away to hear anything but mumbles. When the man pointed outside, I followed his finger's direction and saw Myn, Yuri, and Cassandra floating towards the hanger.

The three guardians floated into the hanger suspended by the same orbs of lightning, wind, and water that had carried them out. Myn's sphere crackled and hissed as it spread out into one bolt. The bolt let Myn down, and was harmlessly absorbed by the ground.

Yuri's sphere of wind simply lets itself get carried into the air as he stepped onto the ground while Cassandra's formed a small ball of water that quickly froze into ice. Cassandra dropped to the floor slowly, and as she landed, the ball fell, shattering against the ground.

I flinched as the ice shattered with a loud crack. The three guardians didn't seem to mind it at all and just walked to the cage containing the wagon.

"Are you alright, your highness?" Myn asked, unsettlingly calm.

I was so relieved to see him I didn't even mind that he was addressing me by my status as a princess.

"Yes, Myn!" I shouted. My voice was a little distraught, but it probably sounded better than I looked. I felt numb, which probably meant I was pale, and my eyes were burning as they were on the verge of tears.

"I'm glad to hear that," he replied, still sounding all business. He reached into his robe and withdrew a small handkerchief. "Here, you may use this," he said, offering me the white cloth.

I didn't say anything, but took the handkerchief and held it to my eyes. I hadn't come to tears yet, but I was definitely on the edge.

"What were they?" I asked, speaking of the strange black creatures that had attacked us.

There was pause as Myn, Yuri, and Cassandra looked each other in a silent conversation. They seemed hesitant about answering, meaning they knew.

"It's not important that you know," Myn finally said.

I shuddered at how cold he was, but wasn't about to give up.

"I want to know," I said firmly.

"Don't worry about it, Nina," Yuri said. He was trying to sound like his usual carefree self, but was obviously a little down. "You'll find out in due time, I'm sure of it," he added.

I sighed, accepting his answer, but telling myself to bring it up in the near future.

"Fine," I said, removing the cloth from my eyes. My frustration had turned to slight anger, which drove my oncoming tears away.

Myn turned to the officer that had walked over.

"Inform the captain that we'll be departing now," he said.

"Yes, sir" the officer said. He saluted and turned to leave while Myn looked at me again.

"We cannot give you all the answers," he said.

Myn walked to the front of the cage while Yuri and Cassandra moved to the back corners, forming a triangle around it.

"Everything will come to you with time," said. Myn turned his face towards me and smiled. "After all," he said, "there is a difference between knowing, and understanding."

I thought about his words as the three levitated the cage between them and started to float as well. After some thinking, I guessed that he wanted me to discover the answers I was in search of on my own.

"I understand," I said.

As we exited the hanger with the two raptors in tow, I breathed in the cool air. It was refreshing after breathing the stale air of the hanger that had filled with smoke and the scent of gun powder during the battle.

While the wind cooled my body, I looked down at the mountain range. The dusty peaks didn't reach too high in the sky where we were, but further to the north white replaced the light brown. Far to the east, imperial ships hovered over the excavation site, completely oblivious to our presence.

I turned around to look back and watched the retreating image of the Longinus. As the silver ship became smaller, I couldn't help but feel all sense of comfort leaving me. It felt like I was leaving forever; like things would never be the same again.

This was it, the start of my journey. The war between the empire and the allied nations was no longer my concern. I was setting foot on a new path that lead through the war, to a greater answer. This answer is what Myn, Yuri, and Cassandra had waited over a millennium for, and I was going to find it.

**- x -**

A/N: There was no Ryu in this chapter, but not to worry, because chapter 16 will concentrate on his story completely. Until Ryu and Nina meet again, I'll probably be alternating between their POVs from chapter to chapter instead of within each chapter. Please leave any comments or reviews, the encouragement really helps.


	16. The Inner Voice

_Nothing happens without purpose._

_There can be no victory without suffering_

_So, for the greatest victory_

_There will be much suffering_

**Dragon Tears**

**I: Age of Man**

**By: OmegaGear**

**XVI**

**~ The Inner Voice ~**

The screams of pain and suffering seemed to come from all around me. Millions of voices crying out; their emotions pouring into my mind as their words flooded my ears. I could sense their fear, sorrow, and hatred. It was an overwhelming feeling that seemed to pound into my head and increased in magnitude with each passing step.

Unable to bear it any longer, I pushed forward, running as fast as I could through a pathway that seemed to grow darker as I proceeded down it. I could feel myself slipping in and out of consciousness, the image before me blurring until I snapped back to full attention and brought everything into focus. This would only last a few seconds, however, as the flood of voices and emotions would again pound me into mental exhaustion.

Everything seemed so unreal. I could no longer feel my body, and the sound of my footsteps seemed to be a distance away from where I was. The only thing I was fully aware of was the voices shouting at me. Unseen, were their faces still, but it felt like they were right above me; around me, within me. As I lost my grip on my physical body, it was almost as if my mind was swept up into the ocean of voices. It surrounded me, and filled me. It consumed me in its giant wave. And as the wave swept over me with what might have been a triumphant roar, I saw myself fall.

My body was unconscious, but my mind remained. All it could see, or was aware of, was darkness. The voices had gone like a passing wind, suddenly, and without a trace. Not a thing was heard within the darkness of my mind, and I once again felt myself begin to slip into unconsciousness. This time, however, I was at peace, having escaped my unseen haunters. But, when I was upon the brink of sleep, something stirred inside of me.

Great warmth spread over me, like a blanket, and again, a voice spoke to me. The words it spoke were unclear, but what it said seemed to comfort me. The voice was that of a woman's; young, and caring. It spoke to me almost like a mother would to its child, but this voice did not belong to my mother. It sounded like it was pleading, for what, I do not know, and perhaps I will never know, as it slowly faded away, leaving me behind with a hollow feeling.

The warmth gone, icy cold gripped me, and I felt more lost than I ever had before. It was like the only thing dear to me had been taken away, and I desperately wanted to get it back. I tried desperately to hear the voice again, to find it within me, but it did not come. Instead, another voice spoke.

"Kass nac" it said. It was a voice of a man, but it didn't sound quite human. There was a lisp in its words, and it echoed around me.

I felt something beat in my chest, like a giant drum, and suddenly felt like I had come crashing to the ground on my back. At once, I was fully aware of my body again, and it filled with a burning sensation, like blood was flowing through it for the first time.

"Kass nac" the voice said again, sounding sadistic like it was requesting something horrific.

The beating in my chest repeated, and my body burned like it was on fire. I felt an overwhelming desire; something most primal, and unlike anything I have felt before. I wanted to kill.

"Kass nac!" it said again, sounding more demanding this time. I still could not grasp its words, but when I heard them, my desire to kill seemed to intensify. I clenched my hands into fists, and felt my right grip something; a handle.

It was then, I realized, that I was not on my back, but on my feet. I was standing with a sword in my hand, and I wanted to kill, but it was more. I wanted to kill someone in particular, and it went beyond hatred or rage. It was revenge that I wanted.

"Kass nac!" the voice cried, and for the first time since feeling myself leave my body, I opened my eyes.

What greeted me was not darkness, but a blinding light. The light took me by surprise, but I quickly recovered and saw that the light was coming from an archway. I was in some kind of great hall with giant pillars holding a cavernous ceiling. The walls were pained red, and the marble floor reflected that color, giving the hall an eerie glow that seemed to mirror my desire.

A figure stepped into the light of the archway and stood facing me. I stared at the figure as my eyes adjusted, and its features appeared from the light. It was a man, although his long white hair made him appear female when he was just a shadow cast by the light. He wore a suit of armor unlike any I had seen before. It was made of bands of metal, rather than plates, and what looked like leather underneath to hold it all together.

I examined his face, and saw a pair of blood red eyes staring back at me. He had a prominent jaw, and strong chin, as if he was built to play the role of a warrior. What was perhaps more interesting than his eyes were his ears, which were pointed rather than curved. I could not help but feel that this person standing before me was not human, but he was not a beastman either. He was something else; something more.

"Kass nac!" The voice cried once again, louder than before. I was shaken from my awe of the man before me and firmed my grip on my sword in preparation. This was the man, I thought. This was who I needed to kill for revenge.

The man seemed to notice my slight movement as I firmed my grip, and a small smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He had two swords on his left hip, but did not draw either one. Instead, he raised his hand into the air, its palm pointing at his face.

All around us, a red glow filled the room, and balls of light appeared by the dozens. As many voices sang out together, a single note that resonated through the entire chamber. A ghostly sound not of this world, it gave me a feeling of dread, but seemed to fill the man with confidence. His smile cracked larger, baring teeth now, and his red eyes glared at me.

I stared back, the loud thumping in my chest now drumming in my ears. It almost overcame the otherworldly singing, leaving it as a soft undertone to the beating of my heart. The man raised his hand higher and the balls of light became brighter and more numerous.

So intense was their song now, the ground was shaking. I could hear the walls cracking slowly, but that did not matter. Nothing seemed to matter as I glared into this man's eyes. I didn't know who he was, or what he had done. All I knew is that I wanted revenge. Everything came down to this moment. I could feel it coursing through my body like blood.

The man clenched his hand into a fist and it burst into flame. Within the flame I could see something burning pure white; a brilliant jewel. From this jewel, a blade was formed, and the flames too engulfed it. The man waved the flames through the air and twirled his blade like it was any other metal weapon. He lowered into a stance and beckoned me to him.

The look in his eyes was unlike any I had seen before. Like me, he too had been waiting for this moment. Everything led to this moment.

I also lowered into a stance, holding my sword in both hands low, ready to strike with all my strength. The man began to step towards me, weapon held perfectly still. His eyes never left mine as he approached, the flames engulfing his hand and sword flickering in the reflection in them.

As the man stepped close enough for us to attack, the voice spoke once more, but this time, I could understand. "Kill him!"

It all happened at once. The man lunged forward and lifted his sword to strike. I in turn raised my own sword and ran to meet him. I had become unaware of my surroundings and was consumed in killing this man. The beating of my heart drummed ever louder in my ears, and the heat surged through my body like a wild fire. I felt myself cry out with every ounce of energy in my body as I swung my sword, but I did not cut into him, nor did I clash with his sword.

It was as if I was torn from reality. The great hall around me vanished, as did the man, replaced instead by a blinding white light. I suddenly felt cool, and no longer had the handle of my sword in my hands. My hands, in fact, were no longer together, but at arms length apart, and restrained by something. Had I lost? Was I now that man's prisoner? No, that wasn't possible. I was able to remember bits and pieces of my most recent memories. It had only been a dream.

Breathing hard, and still not recovered from the intense sensation of the dream, I tried to wipe my brow, which was covered in sweat. This jolted me back into the realization that my hands were being restrained, and caused me to look left and right at them. Large chains were wrapped around my wrist and tied them to a wooden surface. While there was a little lax to them, it was not enough to move more than an inch or so.

I immediately tried to flip over onto my stomach by attempting to kick off with my feet. In that position I would be able to apply more force to pull on the chains, but my feet were also bound to the wooden surface.

Still feeling the adrenaline pumping through my body from the dream, I attempted to pull free from the chains, but could barely move at all. My hands and feet could move a few inches at best, and tugging did not build enough force to break the bindings, but I refused to give up. I began to throw my whole body into breaking free, moving my weight in one direction and then the other.

As I continued to struggle under my bindings, a pair of rough hands grabbed me by the shoulders. The hands grasped them tightly and shook my entire body, making me aware of the state of my body as my adrenaline ran out.

The pain started becoming apparent in my chest, since I was concentrating so much on breathing. Then, I felt the burning in my shoulders under the hold of the hands shaking me, which turned to soreness down my arms. My back in particular hurt the most. My shoulder blades and the bottom of my spine all felt like they had been torn a part, and perhaps they had been. I couldn't be sure until I was free and got a look for myself.

Once I was aware of my body's pain, and how it got worse when I moved, I stopped my struggling. The hands that had been shaking me stopped when I did, but remained pressing down on me.

"A calma para baixo, ou ouvir-se-ão" a man said.

I couldn't understand the language the man spoke, meaning he couldn't have been from the Empire, Ludia, or Wyndia. I could understand those languages as part of my training in the military, but was only fluent in my native tongue. This sparked curiosity inside me, and I felt compelled to discover the origin of this man, my captor.

The man had a very large build, and much taller than the average human. His whole body was covered with yellow fur, but that couldn't hide his defined muscles. I didn't need to study his face very long to figure out he was a member of the fullen clan, a clan of catlike beastmen that inhabited the plains region of Wyndia.

"W-wha…" I groaned.

The beastman gave me a quizzical look before someone shouted at him.

"Qué se está encendiendo aquí!" Another man yelled. He sounded quite angry. I quickly recognized his tongue as that of a ludian.

"Nada…" the beastman replied, also speaking in ludian. I was surprised to discover that he could speak that language as well, since Ludia was so far away from their region of Wyndia. "El hombre venía simplemente a," he finished.

I saw another man as he walked into my field of vision. His tan skin and brown hair confirmed that he was a ludian. At least, I assumed he was the man that had yelled at the beastman.

The man was dressed rather roughly, making me wonder all the more who these people were. His shirt was torn in several places, but it looked natural on his scared body. He also had well defined muscles, probably the result of a life of hardship, and his face was hardened, most likely for the same reason.

"No otro sonido!" he yelled, producing a whip that had been put away on his belt. The voice was the same one from before.

The beastman cowered immediately, bringing his arms up to protect his face. He was much larger than the ludian, at least a foot taller, and could easily overpower him, yet, he was afraid of him.

"No otro sonido, prometo!" he cried, his fear was obvious in his voice.

The man holding the whip pulled back to lash the beastman with his whip, but stopped. He looked down at me, keeping his arm raised to use the whip at any moment. I stared back into his eyes, showing no emotion at all.

"Trate sus heridas," he said in a stern voice.

The beastman bowed, still shaking in fear of the whip, and the other man turned around. As he walked away, the beast man looked down at me.

"Usted tiene que guardar silenciosamente," he said, almost pleading me.

I still couldn't understand what he was saying, but replied in what little ludish I knew.

"Mi nombre es Ryu," I said, with obvious difficulty. Each word took me a second to form, and my imperial accent only caused it to sound even stranger.

The beastman looked at me in astonishment. Whether his reaction was from hearing me speak ludish, or how poorly it was, or speaking at all, I didn't know. He blinked a few times and then smiled genuinely.

"You don't understand, do you?" He asked, having as much difficulty speaking my language as I did his, but he seemed to have a better grasp than I. I noticed a slight lisp to his speech, which could have been due to his long, sharp teeth, or his natural accent.

It took a moment for me to recover from the shock at hearing him speak my native tongue. _How many languages does this beastman know anyways? _I wondered. _And why does he know them?_ Unable to form words with my mind jumping to so many different thoughts, I just nodded to answer his question.

The beastman grinned at seeing my nod and patted my right shoulder. I flinched a little as my shoulder felt some pain from his hand hitting it, but it wasn't bad enough to make me utter a noise, much to his relief. He didn't say a word as he withdrew his hand quickly, but his eyes showed me that was sorry.

I nodded again, understanding that he probably wanted me to keep quiet. Taking a deep breath, I relaxed, and let the men take me wherever they were going. The heat of the sun brought some comfort to my aching body, but I could tell that I was going to burn quite soon; while the warmth felt good to my muscles, my skin was starting to get a little irritated.

The beastman startled me when he suddenly dumped a strange white powder on me. I coughed as some of the powder floated into the air and in my nose and mouth, and the beastman quickly put his hand on my shoulder again.

"Relax," he said.

I quickly did as I was told, not wanting to cause more trouble. The powder cooled my body considerably, a relief from the burning hot sun. I sighed in relief, when a canteen appeared over my face.

"Drink," he said, tipping the canteen a little.

As the first drop of water tapped my lips I opened my mouth with much craving. The beastman tipped the canteen over further, letting a stream of water pour into my open mouth before moving it upright again as the water began to overflow my lips. I swallowed the water slowly, enjoying the cool feeling as it moved down my throat.

"Feel better?" he asked.

I nodded and the beastman smiled, but his attention was elsewhere. His eyes seemed to trail down my body and squint every now and then before returning to my face. I didn't say anything or move a single muscle as the beastman placed his hand on right arm and rubbed it slowly, but once he did, everything changed.

A sharp pain shot through my arm as he rubbed what must have been an open wound. I tensed and grit my teeth, trying my best not to make a sound, but wasn't doing too good of a job. I began to jerk from under the restraints, forcing the beastman to hold me down until I finally relaxed.

The beastman released his hand slowly and picked something up from out of my ability to view. I couldn't see what it was he had gotten, but felt another sharp pain as he again rubbed my wound. The pain was not so bad this time. It burned worse than ever for a second, but was quickly replaced by a cool sensation. He must have been rubbing it with rubbing alcohol.

I heard him put down a bottle and then lift up another. He stirred something for a second and then leaned down to put it over my wound. The substance felt extremely cold as it covered my wound. I couldn't see what he had put on it with my body restrained, but recognized the sensation.

If I was right, then the beastman had just treated my wound with a medical catalyst cream. There were several catalyst creams discovered over the past decade through research, each meant for a certain type of wound. I had been treated for cuts with them many times, the feeling of an ice cold chill followed by a lingering warmth.

Sure enough, the ice cold feeling on my cut gradually turned into warmth, like a hot cloth was wrapped around my arm. The catalyst had already begun to clot my clod and accelerate the healing process.

The beastman smiled at seeing that the catalyst had worked and continued to treat more wounds long my body. I was thankful that he decided to apply the rubbing alcohol to all of the wounds at once. This way, I at least didn't have to put up with doing from searing pain to ice cold over and over again.

I watched the beast man work, but couldn't stand the silence. While most people would find silence a welcome break from the busy world and constant turmoil of war, I did not. The silence only reminded me of my lonely childhood.

To escape these memories, I decided to start a conversation.

"What's your name?" I asked. I was genuinely curious, but didn't want to cause the ludian to threaten the beastman again, so I kept my voice low.

The beastman did not answer immediately while he finished applying the rubbing alcohol to the wounds along my arms and shoulders. He set aside the bottle of rubbing alcohol and began to mix more of the catalyst, making me to believe that he was never going to answer.

"My name is Joachim," he said.

I tensed as he applied the catalyst to the first of many wounds. The ice cold feeling startled me at first, but as each wound was treated I got used to it.

"I am Ryu," I said, without him asking me of my name. I considered it customary to give your name after asking another, even if he did not ask for yours in return.

"You are from the empire?" he asked.

_What a silly question to ask_, I thought. One could travel the world, but he would only hear people speak the imperial language if they were from the empire itself. This beastman, Joachim, was a very rare exception, but surely he could tell I was from the empire.

At least, I thought that he should have been able to tell until the silence once again reminded me of my lonely childhood. The reason for that loneliness was that I did not have imperial traits. I was "different".

"Yes," I answered. I stared into the sun through empty eyes, even as Joachim applied the catalyst to more of my wounds. It was not until she shook me that I escaped my daze.

Joachim did not say anything, but looked relieved. Did he think that I had somehow died? I didn't want to know the reason for his relief, for when I looked into his eyes I could always make out the edge of fear no matter what emotion they meant to carry. Instead, I decided it would be better to keep thing simple.

"Where are you from?" I asked.

"I was born in the village of Tora, the chief village of the Toran tribe," he said, with just a hint of pride.

"The Toran tribe?" I asked. I did not know a lot about the fullen culture, and was intrigued by the idea that they were not unified. Could it be that there still existed a race of people that did not stand as one?

"Yes," he said.

There was another moment of silence between us as he mixed more catalyst for my wounds, so I assumed that he did not understand that I was curious about his people's tribal culture.

"So, there are other tribes within the fullen people?" I asked.

"Yes," he answered simply again. He took a moment to spread the catalyst he had mixed into a rather large wound on my chest before continuing. "There are many fullen tribes, some I do not even know of," he admitted. "Of these, however, there are three tribes to which the others are allied under," he added.

Joachim finished spreading the catalyst into my wound and took a moment to apply a cloth bandage over to make sure it had time to work evenly. Once he was sure that the bandage would stay put, he continued his explanation of his people.

"These smaller tribes only go by their true names with the people of their own tribe or within their greater tribe," he said. "When dealing with people from the other tribes, they simply address themselves by the name of their greater tribe," he finished.

"So, who are the other tribes?" I asked.

"The other two tribes are the Worrent tribe, which resides on the eastern grasslands of Wyndia," he said, "and the Euron tribe." He began mixing more catalyst in the small bottle while he spoke. "The Euron tribe occupies the dusty plains of Ludia," he finished.

"And what about your tribe?" I asked.

"My people live in the great forest that serves as a natural border between Wyndia and Ludia," he said.

Three large tribes, three distinct areas where they lived. It made sense to me.

"So, how can your people tell when someone is from another of the three tribes?" I asked.

Joachim smiled after hearing my question and seemed to grin. For the first time, I didn't see fear underlying his eyes.

"The people of the fullen clan have lived within their borders for thousands of years, hardly ever seeing marriages between two tribes," he said. "The fullen of each region have changed over the generations, resulting in distinct traits to their own regions."

"Sort of like the difference between ludians, imperials, and wyndians," I said.

"That is correct," he said.

"That's interesting," I said to myself while taking in everything he had told me.

"What's so interesting?" Joachim asked, sounding genuinely curious.

I thought about the right way to say what I was thinking. I didn't want to offend the man who was treating my wounds so caringly. It's not that I felt superior to any other race. To the contrary, my youth of loneliness and ridicule taught me to look at everyone equally, be them human or not.

"It's nothing, really," I said, dodging the question at first. "It's just that I was under the impression that all fullen looked alike," I said, chuckling halfheartedly.

Joachim chuckled back and put away the bottles he had used to treat my wounds. "I could say the same about what I originally thought of your people," he said.

I chuckled again at his reply. I guess no matter where you come from, you can't truly understand another people until you learn about them first hand.

"Speaking of your people," Joachim continued. "I am curious. What is the real name of the people of the empire?" he asked.

I thought about his question for a moment. The history of the empire was short, stemming from the discovery of ancient texts that spoke of a great emperor that caused the many countries of the west to unify under a single name, simply The Empire.

Each separate country had its own name and its people their own name for themselves. I suddenly realized that it wasn't very different from the fullen culture.

"We have many names," I said, finally. I looked up at Joachim and continued. "Just like your people do," I said.

"The history of the empire is short, but I guess you could say that as a whole, it reaches back thousands of years," I said, piecing the puzzle together as I went along.

"The empire was formed about five hundred years ago by an existing alliance of five small countries. Each of these countries was their own race of people at one time," I said. I took a moment and looked up to make sure that Joachim understood everything that I said.

The large beastman smiled and nodded, ushering me to continue.

"The alliance of these five countries goes back hundreds of years further, just at the end of the third age," I said.

"That would be nearly three thousand years ago," Joachim said, sounding a little amazed.

"That's right," I said, confirming his assumption. "Ever since then, unlike with your people, these five countries intermarried often, so we all look alike," I said.

Joachim nodded and looked me over. "Your people all look like you," he said, trying to finish my explanation for me.

I grinned and shook my head. "No… I'm a little different," I said.

"So, there are still those that have pure blood?" he asked.

"Maybe," I said after a slight hesitation. The thought had never occurred to me that I might simply be of pure blood, but I quickly ruled the possibility out. Both of my parents were as mixed as every other imperial, and it was hard to believe that there'd be only one pureblood among the billion or so people that inhabited the empire.

"Anyways, I guess I don't really have an answer for you," I admitted. "We've been calling ourselves imperials for hundreds of years, and the names of the five races have long since been erased, merely remembered as part of history."

"That is most unfortunate," Joachim said. "My people take great pride in who we are," he explained, standing a little taller. "I cannot imagine living without a name to call my people."

"I guess you're right," I said.

"You mentioned that your people formed the empire after discovering an ancient text," he said. "Could those hold the origin of your people?" he asked.

I could see a bright glimmer in Joachim's eyes. He was really interested in the origins of my people, and seemed compelled to discover them.

"I guess so," I said, not really sure. I thought about it for a moment, the formation of the empire under the name of the God Emperor. If I remembered correctly, the God Emperor was named Fou, and his people took on his name, calling themselves the iifou, a symbol of their proud empire.

"I guess if we are indeed the descendants of the people that served under that emperor, you could call us iifou," I said.

Joachim seemed to respond to what I had just said a little unfavorably. His once cheerful air had turned to one of slight contempt. "Iifou?" he asked. "Your empire was formed under the name of the God Emperor Fou-lu?"

I was amazed that Joachim knew what I was talking about. Most of the people of the empire didn't even know the true reasons for forming the empire, mostly assuming it was for the sake of unity. The only reason I knew was because I had learned it in military school as part of my training. The idea of serving in the name of the God Emperor was supposed to fill me with courage.

"Yes..." I answered slowly. I was a little apprehensive about where this conversation was going.

"I see…" was all Joachim said. He became silent after that, and seemed to be in deep thought.

"You've heard the name before?" I asked. I felt stupid. Of course he had heard the name before. Why else would he have said it?

Joachim nodded and I could see that he was as serious as anyone could be. "The legend of the God Emperor and the end of the first age has been passed down from generation to generation within the entire fullen clan," he said.

"Really?" I asked. It was surprising to hear that an entire race of people remembered something from so long ago. That had to be at least ten thousand years ago. "Records of such events were only discovered a few hundred years ago," I stated. "Your people knew about it all this time?"

Joachim did not look at me as we continued to move towards our destination, wherever that may be. His features seemed to harden as he looked forward. Something about the subject obviously was affecting him, but I didn't know what. I didn't know much about Fou-lu or the first age, so I couldn't understand at the time.

"My people are known as a warrior race," he said. "We have fought in many battles, and are proud of our place in history," he explained, but he didn't sound very proud. There was definitely pride in his voice, but it sounded like he wasn't telling the truth.

"We pass down the stories of our great battles to retain this pride," he finished simply.

"There's more to it than that," I said, a little judgmental. I didn't like how he was so blatantly lying to me.

"If there is, it is not my place to tell you," he said sternly.

I could tell by the tone in his voice that he was deadly serious. It sounded like if he told he would lose his honor, which I assumed was the greatest thing a member of his warrior race could lose. I stopped pressing on to find out what he was hiding and laid there in silence for quite a while.

The journey continued for an hour until Joachim offered me another drink of water. I accepted the offer and he poured the canteen into my mouth just as he had before, except this time he let more of the cool fluid cover my face. The water felt very soothing to my sun baked face.

The rest of the journey continued in silence, our endless traveling interrupted only by the occasional water break. It was nearly sundown when we finally stopped inside some kind of compound.

At first, I thought that maybe we were just stopping for another water break, or even possibly a meal, but the sounds of many new people and things being moved and unpacked told me otherwise. I could not see what was going on from my restrained position, but shadows constantly moved over me and the occasional person came within the corner of my eye.

From what I could tell, the men must have also been slaves. The people I did manage to get a good look at appeared worn down and poorly nourished. Their eyes seemed to lack any life except fear of death itself, or possibly the wrath of whoever was their master, whom I assumed was the man that had instilled so much fear in Joachim, who probably could easily overpower him were it not for his fear.

While I continued to watch and wonder at what was happening, I heard some loud thumping and felt the surface I was lying on shake and then suddenly begin to rotate upwards until I came face to face with a rather stout man.

The stout man wasn't very tall. He was maybe five foot six at best, but had a very large build, nonetheless. His shoulders were broad, and his arms thick. His chest was wide while his torso fell out with a visible gut. While he looked a little soft, it was obvious that the man was quite strong for his size, and it looked like he had seen more than his own fair share of battle.

His face didn't look too old. His tanned skin didn't have any deep wrinkles, and his eyes still had the spark of life in them, unlike the other men I had seen recently. The only thing that made him appear old was the fact that he was completely bald, and his goatee seemed to be graying a little along the edges.

The man tilted his head as the ludian from the trip walked over and began to whisper something into his ear. As he listened to what the younger man had to say, he raised an eyebrow and took a judging look at me. His eyes trailed over every part of my body, and when they reached my face, I looked into them for the first time.

His eyes were dark brown and had an edge to them that sent a chill down my spine. I could sense genuine evil in the man's eyes, and the twisted smile on his face only made me think that he enjoyed the way he was inside. This smile seemed to widen a little as he looked into my eyes and the man motioned to two guards standing behind him.

The two men marched up to us and stood at attention while the stout man rubbed his chin.

"I want this one tested immediately," he said.

The two men didn't say a word or salute to his command. Instead, they simply carried it out. I was quickly released from my shackles and carried off rather roughly. I was put into such a daze from the pain running through my body that I had no real recollection of the path we had traveled to get to our destination.

When we arrived, I was dropped onto the ground. I groaned as my back hit the ground and coughed out the dirt and dust that entered my lungs when I breathed in sharply. I had to keep my eyes shut for nearly a minute as the dust around me settled. When the air finally did clear, I slowly opened eyes to make sure it was safe, and saw a man standing in front of me.

The man standing before me was a giant among men. He stood even taller than what Joachim appeared to me while I was lying down, at least sex foot eight. Unlike Joachim, however, this man's frame was gigantic as well. His natural structure was broad, and his muscles filled it perfectly, creating a very imposing figure.

While I was still taking in the shock of seeing someone so massive, the man seemed to be looking me over as well. His face gave no indication of what he thought of me, however, and all it offered to me was a slight squint of his eyes as he spoke.

"Is this the one?" he asked.

"Yes," a man, the ludian from earlier, answered.

The larger man mumbled something to himself and turned his back to me as he began to walk. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I could have sworn that the ground itself shock as he took each step. As the man came to a stop he stretched his arms and turned back around. "Get up," he ordered.

I responded by slowly getting to my feet with a groan. I had to fight through the pain just to move, let alone get up, and standing straight wasn't an option either without complete concentration, so I just let myself slump forward a little.

"What is your name?" he demanded. His voice echoed through the open area we were in, bouncing off of the stone walls that stood behind us.

I let the question run through my brain and could almost feel it work everything out in its dazed state. In the end, I chose not to answer the man. After all, I didn't owe him anything, even if I was in their captivity.

The man stood there, watching me, as he awaited my answer. When none came for some time, he furrowed his brow and clenched his fist. It looked like he wanted to say something, but all he did was spit and motion his head towards the audience on his left.

A tired looking man ran over to him and handed him something. I couldn't tell what he had given him, but that problem was soon solved when he took hold of it at its end and let the rest drop down towards the ground. The object was a whip. He cracked it at his side and repeated his question. "What is your name?"

Again, I did not answer, but something inside of me clicked. I was pushed out of my daze as I watched the whip crack and my instincts took over. A bit of strength returned to my aching body, and I felt my resolve return. Alert, I glared into the man's eyes and remained silent.

The man couldn't hide his reaction, a slight movement in his legs and widening of the eyes. It was clear on his face that he saw the shift in my behavior, but this lasted for only a second. He cracked the whip again and began to shout. "Answer me! What is your name?"

When I still had not answered, the man looked over to the ludian. The ludian nodded to him and a wicked smile cracked on the man's face. He now began to walk towards me with the whip held high, ready to snap at a moment's notice. I did not move as he came closer, prepared to fight him with my bare hands if I had to.

I remained standing there as I had before, glaring at the man. He walked with a mixture of confidence and excitement. I could tell he believed that the possession of the whip alone meant that he was better than I, and he could not hide the joy at being commanded to use it.

As he stepped up to me he stopped directly in front of my face and examined me from head to toe while stroking his whip. When his eyes met mine he spoke once more. "Your name," he asked again.

I didn't make a sound as he waited a moment for one, and when he had grown tired he looked over to the surrounding crowd of slaves and guards. He nodded to some guards that were grinning and grinned back as he snapped the whip at my feet.

I did not jump when I heard the whip, nor when I felt the wind and dust hit my bare feet. The man noticed this with some displeasure, but shrugged it off with a grunt. In a second he had regained his composure and drew back the whip without the amused look on his face. Now, he looked at me with contempt.

The slaves around me all jumped and gasped as he first struck me with the whip while the guards began to grin louder. A large gash had appeared on my right side where the whip had torn my flesh, and I felt a strong desire to clutch it, but I remained defiant. This brought more displeasure to the man's face.

As blood began to run down my side the man struck me again, this time on my left. There was barely a second's time before the sound of the whip cracking snapped in my ears again and the burning on my right side grew hotter. The surrounding slaves continue to gasp with each strike. Some of them hid their faces in their hands, not wanting to see the sight of someone receiving a punishment they all no doubt had experienced on more than one occasion. Others merely shook their heads with looks of pity.

I don't know how long I stood there being beaten before I fell to my knees, or how much longer it continued after. The burning had spread all over my body and begged me to cry out in pain, but still I denied the man of that pleasure. Instead, I concentrated on keeping myself under control, attempted to block out the increasing pain in my body. As the burning washed over into a distant sensation in the corner of my mind, new feelings surfaced.

Something else was burning inside of me, growing with each crack of the whip. It was a feeling that I remembered from the dream; a longing for revenge. It made me tremble with anger as the whip continued to tear my flesh, now ripping into my exposed back.

_Just take it!_ I thought, or was it someone telling me to do it? I could not tell as my mind was reaching its limit. I was finding it harder to concentrate on control, and the searing pain from the countless cuts was starting to come back.

Each new blow from the whip felt like hot metal cutting into me. I could no longer breathe air into my lungs, and nearly all sense of control had gone. I did not feel like fainting, as I should have, however. No, instead my longing to strike back grew.

_Do it now!_ My mind commanded me, or something in my mind, for there was another thought in my mind. Something inside me told me to surrender. My last shred of control gave me a taste of foresight, and what I saw told me that now was not the time. I could not afford to draw attention to me just yet; not in this unknown land without anyone I could trust.

It was then that I felt the familiar sensation of my mind succumbing to the pain. My vision blurred for a second before vanishing into darkness, and the pain drifted away like mist. At last, with the sound of crying and malicious laughter echoing in my ears like a distant memory, I fainted.

**- x -**

A/N: Yes, it has been 18 months since I last updated, if not longer. Long story short, I started playing FFXI, and a college student doesn't have enough free time for a mmorpg and writing fanfiction devotedly. But FFXI's attraction has worn, and I've begun to pick up the pieces. Long time readers will be happy to know that when I stopped, I had already begun work on four chapters beyond this one, so there is plenty of material in place for quick updates.


	17. The Voices of the Wind

_At the frontier of my journey,_

_In a distant land where I am a stranger,_

_I remember a song passed down through the ages._

_It speaks of destiny_

_And how it is carried by the wind._

_It was here, a continent away from home,_

_That the winds began to guide mine._

**Dragon Tears**

**I: Age of Man**

**By: OmegaGear**

**XVII**

**~ The Voices of the Wind ~**

As I opened my eyes I felt a sense of panic. I felt like I had a lot on my mind, but when I tried to focus, I couldn't think of anything significant. I glanced left and right around the cart, looking for anything that might spark what was lingering in the back of my mind, but found nothing of interest near me.

I looked over to the other end of the cart and saw Cassandra sitting with her back against the wall. Her legs were crossed, and she looked like she was meditating, which she appeared to have been doing for most of the journey thus far. I felt a chill as I looked into the shadow under her hood. It was like she knew I was watching her and was in turn watching me.

"Is there a problem, Nina?" she asked.

Her words were meant to be sincere, but her voice made everything sound cold and emotionless. I felt another chill, but tried my best to hide it by clearing my throat before speaking. "I'm not sure," I confessed. I couldn't tell how Cassandra took this answer, as her face was completely hidden underneath her cloak.

She remained perfectly still as the cart continued to creak on its wheels. The creaks seemed to count off the seconds as I watched her, and time started to feel like it was slowing down to a crawl. My mind had begun to wander off, and it took me by surprise when she spoke again.

"You look like you have a lot on your mind," she said.

I looked down at my feet and thought about how I felt. It was true, my mind felt like it had a lot to think about, but I couldn't figure out what it was. "I'm not sure if I do, or not," I said. I looked back up at Cassandra as I explained how I felt when I had awoken just then, and saw her nod.

"I see…" she said plainly. She fell silent again as the open end of her hood sat looking at me. The cart creaked as we rode along the rough terrain for quite some time before she spoke again. "So… you felt pain?"

"Yes," I said, remembering the burning my body felt. "It was like my body was being cut by dozens of tiny knives."

"Do you remember seeing anything? A dream, perhaps?" she asked.

I thought about what had happened, but it was hard to, since I had been asleep. I remembered having a dream of some kind, but I wasn't sure what it was about. As I concentrated harder on the moment I felt the pain, a faint vision of a man being whipped came into focus.

"I did have a dream," I said. "I'm not sure what it was about… my memory of it is a little cloudy."

"What did you see?" she asked, pressing on.

I licked my lips and cleared my throat as I focused on that moment in the dream. "I saw a man," I said. "He was in pain… being whipped, I think."

"Hmm…" Cassandra fell silent again, but for a much shorter time. "This dream… you were in it?"

I thought back again. I could not remember it any more clearly, but I got the sense that I was not in the dream, whatever that meant. "I don't think so," I answered.

I saw Cassandra's cloak shift ever so slightly, and thought that she might have stirred. She looked towards the opening at the front of the cart for a moment and then turned back to me. "It is rare for someone to have a dream without themselves being present," she said,

I thought about what she said, and I remembered some of the dreams I had. True to her words, no matter how bazaar the dreams might have been, I was always in them, but the one I had just now it was more like I was watching from outside.

"It is possible that what you experienced was a vision," she explained.

"A vision? A vision of what?" I asked.

"I don't know, you were the one that had it," she said, making me feel a little scrutinized by her tone. "Who was the man you saw?"

"I don't know," I said. I tried to remember the details of the dream or vision, but could not make out who the man was. "I can't remember what he looked like."

"Who do you think it was?" Cassandra asked. She sounded like she thought the answer should have been obvious, and when I thought about it, it did. I had to admit, that in the situation, a vision like that had to have been of Ryu. My realization must have been readable on my face, as Cassandra did not wait for an answer.

"What you saw is very important, Nina," she said. "I cannot explain it to you in full now, but strong visions like this happen for a reason. Do you remember anything at all besides Ryu? His surroundings?"

I again focused. The image of the man being whipped came back to me and I concentrated on the area around him. He was lying on a ground made of stone, and the walls of the buildings around him looked like they were made of a sandy kind of material. There was also a crow of people standing a few feet from him. There were people of several races, nearly all of them looking deprived of proper nourishment. I told Cassandra what I remembered and she nodded.

"That sounds like a barren lands settlement, alright," she said. "We are getting close."

I felt a tingle of excitement at what she said. Thus far, our journey had been fruitless, but now I felt like we were onto something.

For the past four days we had traveled without a trace of civilization. As it turned out, we did not head to Romero as originally planned, which stood directly west as we exited the canyon. Instead, we headed a ways south, into the dry barren lands.

The barren lands were shared between the allied nations and the empire, but their borders were hardly ever disputed. Without a sufficient supply of water, no long battles could be fought on them, and with no precious resources, neither side bothered with an invasion. Instead, the barren lands were pretty much left alone, allowed to do as they pleased. I had heard that there were many small settlements on both sides of the borders and that they were used as trade routes to smuggle illegal goods across the border. This area could either be safer for our hidden identities or more dangerous for our lives.

Every night was spent with Myn, Yuri, and Cassandra discussing in near silence what direction to take, but they did not point at the sky to address the stars. So, I had begun to wonder how they were deciding which way to travel. I did not question their decisions, however, as they had not yet brought us into danger. As the days drew closer to a week, however, I began to wonder. What were we looking for?

That answer came to me on the fifth day as we finally came across a small town in the barren lands we were traveling.

It was past nightfall as we saw it in the distance, or rather when I saw it. The others didn't seem to pay the settlement any mind, and continued on like everything was proceeding as they had liked. When we reached the edge of a plateau overlooking the town I could see that it was of fair size, and much larger than what I would expect for a trade settlement in the barren lands.

It was laid out like your typical border settlement, enclosed within a giant wall with a gate on each side to control the flow of traffic in and out of the town. This type of design was very common to small trade towns, as it allowed the local government to check anything suspicious that came their way. The edges of the walls were filled with smaller buildings, mostly houses, while the larger business and government buildings were concentrated towards the center. A web of small roads and allies could be seen between the blocks of buildings while two main roads pointing east-to-west and north-to-south formed a cross right through the middle.

While the buildings were nowhere near the size of those found in the grand city of Wyndia, I couldn't help but appreciate the sight of civilization again. Golden light glowed from hundreds of windows, and I could just barely make out some people going about their business in the streets. On the north side of the town stood the largest structure, which appeared to be some kind of sporting arena. This, I found quite strange.

Border settlements were known for nothing more than trade and smuggling. Having an arena, especially one of this size, would attract too much attention and disrupt their other activities, I thought. While the arena was too small to host battleball, it looked like it could still fit in at least two thousand people within its walls, which could very well have been the town's entire population.

The cart stopped and I felt it shake as people jumped out. I retreated from the opening in the side I was viewing the town from and climbed out the back to join the others at the edge of the plateau.

Myn, Yuri, and Cassandra were standing in complete silence and staring at the town looking like they were waiting for something. Yuri seemed to be concentrating particularly hard, which was very uncharacteristic of him in my experience.

Ever since we landed on imperial soil the three of them had begun to act differently, but none so much as Yuri. He no longer seemed to be the carefree joker I had known my entire life, but rather a slightly less serious Myn.

Myn had become more serious than ever. He kept pushing on the search for Ryu, not wishing any time to be wasted. By the second day I had learned that the guardians apparently didn't need to sleep, and Myn used this to their advantage by traveling nearly all day and night. The only thing that stopped him from going nonstop was the fact that the chiik needed to rest, and Cassandra's insistence that they allow me to rest in peace for a few hours each night.

Cassandra was more or less herself, although she seemed more focused on the search than she was before. She still wore her long cloak over her face and remained silent for much of the journey, but offered her opinion openly whenever we stopped to discuss our next course of action.

"Do you hear anything?" she asked.

Yuri did not reply immediately. He continued to stare at the town in deep concentration and even looked a little frustrated. He let out a deep breath and shook his head slightly. "The wind does not carry well here," he said. "The voices are few."

I had heard him say something along those lines earlier, but still had no idea what he meant by it. I assumed it had something to do with the ryong and draconians they had brought up before.

"Then you do hear something," Myn answered, sounding hopeful.

Yuri again stared at the village a moment before answering. His face contorted into one that was confused and frustrated, like he was trying to piece together the pieces of a mystery. "They are uncertain if they have seen that which we seek," he said finally.

"What do you mean?" Myn asked in a whisper. I don't know if he didn't want me to hear, or if he was trying not to interrupt Yuri's concentration.

"They say no sign of the one we seek has entered this town," he said, now turning to Myn.

Myn glanced at the town and sighed. "This is where they sent us though, is it not?" he asked. I had no idea who it was he was talking about, as we had not come into contact with anyone since landing from the Longinus.

Yuri nodded and surveyed the town. "It has to be," he said. The voices of the wind were carried from the forest west of here and said he was taken here." No one spoke for a second and then Yuri continued. "But the voices here have not sensed the arrival of power such as I have described."

"They said he was brought here by a caravan of sorts," Myn said. "Ask them if any have arrived recently."

"Hmmm…" Yuri hummed as he once again seemed to slip into a kind of meditation. Quite a bit of time passed before he returned his attention to Myn. "One arrived in the afternoon of this day," he said. "They are unsure if the one we seek was with them, but…" Yuri trailed off and furrowed his brow.

"But?" Myn asked.

"They say that a presence appeared shortly after the caravan arrived," he said. He sounded slightly confused, and even a little ominous. "A presence like that of a ryong, but not the one we seek."

Myn's face darkened as he heard what Yuri had to say. The muscles in his face tightened, and his body became rigid. "How is that possible?" he asked. "We would have felt something like that. Draconians are one thing, but ryong are entirely different," he said, stressing the last two words.

"I know the difference," Yuri replied, sounding a little insulted. "They say it appeared only for a moment and then vanished before they could find it."

"Was it Yua?" Myn asked.

"No," Yuri answered without pause. "The winds are familiar with the seven ryong," he explained. "They would have told me plainly if it was one of them."

Myn seemed to be further troubled by that answer and closed in on Yuri until he was almost talking into his ear. "Do you think it's possible that there's another?" he asked.

Yuri didn't seem to have an answer to that question, but Cassandra offered one while he tried to think of one. "They say it appeared suddenly here, today, the day the caravan arrived. The voices of the wind have been settled here for ages long passed without sensing one of their kind before. It is too much of a coincidence, it must be him," she said.

Myn looked like he could accept that possibility, but did not seem totally convinced. He looked at Cassandra, whose face was hidden underneath her cloak as it always was and spoke to her more directly. "I agree that it is most likely him, but that doesn't explain why another ryong's presence was felt instead of his."

"You don't think maybe Yua did something?" Yuri asked.

At this question, Cassandra stirred slightly. Even covered by a cloak, I could tell she had tensed slightly, but she did not offer any suggestions.

"I don't see what she could have done," Myn said, "except join with him, in which case his presence would indeed have changed, but I think we all agree that option was not in her mind." Myn crossed his arms and began to pace back and forth in thought. Yuri and Cassandra also became silent in contemplation of what was going on, and all I could do was watch.

I had no idea what they had been going on about for the past half hour, and therefore couldn't even begin to try to think of a solution to their problem. I sat down on a large stone and rested my head on my hands while they continued to think and decided to just wait for them to figure it out amongst themselves. It had been nearly another half hour before any of them spoke, and I had become quite tired.

"Regardless of the cause of this development, we should move on," Myn declared.

"I agree," Yuri said. "There is no doubt about it. This is the town that the winds spoke of. He is here."

"What's more…" Cassandra interrupted, "Nina has had a vision."

At this, both Myn and Yuri turned and looked at me. They looked slightly surprised, but not as much as I expected.

"A vision of what?" Myn asked.

"She cannot remember clearly, but we believe it was a vision of Ryu," she answered. "Also, from what she described, it took place in a settlement like this one."

"Go on," Myn ushered. Cassandra relayed the rest of what I had told him, describing the moment of the vision I could remember, including the surroundings and the people present. When she had finished, Myn was nodding.

Myn looked at Cassandra and rubbed his chin. He glanced over to me and gazed into my eyes. I looked back into his and nodded. He nodded back and turned back to look at the small town.

"Where was the presence they felt?" he asked.

Yuri shook his head at Myn and sighed. "I told you, it vanished before they could find it."

"They must have at least some idea," Myn insisted.

Yuri became silent again, most likely asking the wind about what Myn wanted to know. After a rather lengthy silence he finally turned to face us. "They say it appeared around the arena on the north side of town," he said,

"Then that's where we'll start looking," Myn declared, already making his way back to the cart. I turned on my heels as he passed and started to walk quickly after him when Yuri called out to us.

"Myn, stop!" he said in a hushed shout. We both stopped immediately and I turned back around to look at Yuri.

"What is it?" Myn asked. From the sound of his voice, I had the impression that he had not turned to address Yuri. He probably didn't think there was anything left to talk about and was getting back to his direct action approach.

"We won't be able to just snoop around there," he warned. "It's asking for trouble."

Myn let out a laugh at what Yuri said. "Aren't you always looking for a way to spice things up?" he asked.

Yuri flashed a smile, and I could see the old Yuri I remembered coming out for the first time since touching down. "While I'd like nothing more than to stop this sneaking nonsense, not even I am foolish enough to ignore the warnings the wind have has given me."

"Warnings?" Myn asked, now turning sharply. "What warnings?"

"The voices in the wind say that slavery is a main trade in this town," he answered. "Marching in and asking questions might rouse the wrong kind of suspicion." Yuri looked over at me suddenly and then added, "especially if we're asking for the location of a slave camp like the one Nina described."

Myn suddenly looked at me very hard. He examined my face while I tried to act like it didn't bother me, but something in his eyes made me feel uneasy. "You think someone might try to kidnap Nina," he said, sounding like he was trying to read into what Yuri was saying.

"That's a possibility anywhere in these barren lands where no governing power keeps watch," he said. "I'm more concerned that certain people might think we're there to arrest them."

Myn took in what he said as he took in a deep breath and nodded. "Of course," he said. "If we ask questions looking for someone it'll draw attention to us from the slave traders," he restated what Yuri had said. "While we could handle a simple kidnapping plot, having all the entire slavery underground after us is too big. The empire would want to investigate once they caught wind of what happened…"

"Exactly, "Yuri agreed. "Which is why we must tread carefully," he declared while pulling out a piece of parchment. He looked it over and began to write something down.

"What are you doing?" Myn asked.

Yuri continued to write, but answered him. "I am writing down the up to date battleball standings," he said nonchalantly.

Myn audibly choked on his breath. He had a look of disbelief on his face and looked back and forth between Cassandra and I as he tried to figure out what to say. "What on earth for?" he asked finally.

"I think a situation as this is exactly when common subject matter such as this will come in handy," he said, finishing up what he was writing down. He looked at the parchment and smiled. "Looks like Wyndia is undefeated after two games," he announced.

Myn scoffed and resumed walking back to the cart. I didn't really know what to do, as I was still quite confused. Yuri had been so serious a minute ago, and now he was back to acting like a child as he looked at the battleball standings.

He continued to chat away to the open air as we all returned to the cart. The pair of chiiks looked worn out as I climbed in, and I suddenly became aware of how tired I was.

The long stretches of travel each day had caused me to lose a lot of sleep, and each night it felt like my body was becoming heavier and heavier. This held true as I sank down onto a small roll up futon at the back of the cart. My body felt like it was three times its normal weight.

Sleep came to me easily, as it did every night since this journey had begun. I quickly felt myself become weightless as I slipped into darkness. The world around me faded away, leaving me behind in blissful peace.

It felt like I was free from all my worries and soaring through the skies. My body no longer felt worn down from long hours of travel, and my mind had lost its heavy thoughts.

The feeling did not last, as I felt my feet hit solid ground suddenly. The blank darkness around me suddenly did not seem so endless. It felt more like I was wrapped in something and simply could not see. I struggled to escape whatever it was holding me captive, lashing with both my arms in every direction. I felt a very heavy curtain flapping around me as continued to swing my arms frantically, but the curtain was too heavy for me to move or escape from.

"Nina?" I heard someone call from beyond the curtain. It was a man's voice, but I did not recognize it. It sounded young, and had an accent I was not familiar with, even though it had spoken my native language. I stopped momentarily to listen for who was calling to me and heard him call again from beyond the curtain, this time sounding closer.

"I'm in here!" I shouted. I began to struggle behind the curtain again when a large hand grabbed my right arm and hoisted me out. The sight that welcomed me was not the cart, or the barren lands, but the inside of a building.

The walls were covered with large banners that hung from the ceiling, all a color of crimson with a golden symbol on it I did not recognize. I glanced behind me and saw that it was one of these banners that I had been behind. Tall windows were between the banners, and through them I could see the night sky.

I looked over to the man that had pulled me from behind the banner and jumped as I saw a fullen. He was tall, even by fullen standards, probably at least seven feet, and his build made him look formidable. His fur was yellow, with what looked like black stripes along his back, meaning he was from the toran clan, if I remembered correctly. He had two large swords at his sides, but from their shape, it looked like they were really daggers, or knives. To this fullen, they shurly would have been like daggers, but in my hands, I would have wielded a sword.

"Come on," he said. I blinked as the fullen began to run off and just stood there trying to figure out was going on when he motioned for me to follow him. "Nina, come on!" he said.

I ran after the fullen and we exited the large room we were in and into a long hallway. This hallway was wide, with a ceiling that was at least two stories high, meaning we were in a grand building, most likely a palace by the looks of the décor. The floor was covered by a long carpet the same crimson as the banners from the room.

"Where are we?" I asked between large breaths.

"I don't know," he said. We came to an intersecting hall and stopped to take a look around. "Damn!" he cursed. "Which way is it?"

I looked down each hall, but could not make sense of what he was looking for. We stood there for a few seconds while the fullen pondered which direction to take. He was mumbling something to himself and looking hard down each hall and suddenly snapped his fingers.

"Got it!" he exclaimed. He took a step forward and waved for me to follow him once more. "It's this way!"

I followed suit, but did not do so without question. "Where are we going? What is this way?" I asked.

"Snap out of it, Nina," the fullen said. "Now is not the time to lose our composure, Ryu needs us!"

At the sound of Ryu's name my heart began to race. Had that moment in the cart all been a memory? Were we about to find Ryu? Was this really happening? I did not have time to think about these things as we exited the hall at last and reached a long staircase leading upward.

The staircase was made of white, polished stone and lead up to an archway where a strange sound could be heard faintly. It sounded almost like singing, except the tones and notes did not come together into anything remotely beautiful, let alone musical.

Every note seemed to hang momentarily, like an eerie call, only to be replaced by another. As we climbed the steps I noticed a strange light pouring from the archway, which changed its color with each new call; red, then blue; indigo, and then green.

This strange behavior continued throughout our climb. As we neared the top I could feel the ground shaking beneath me. The sounds of clashing metal and crumbling rock came forth through the strange singing, which had become clearer.

As we reached the top the fullen held his hand in my way to halt me. I watched him as he planted his back to the wall of the archway and peered into the room. As the light changed to orange on his face I saw him tense slightly and pull out one of his daggers.

"What is it?" I asked.

The fullen watched a little longer and then looked to me. "We're too late," he said. He sounded more scared than anyone I had ever heard before. He almost sounded condemned.

I didn't know what to say. I just looked into his eyes that looked back at me with a grim face. A loud crash came from the archway and a flash of white light blasted through it like a bolt of lightning. The sounds of two men fighting was now audible, and I saw the fullen close his eyes slowly.

He pulled out his other dagger with his left hand and nodded to me. "Let's go," he said.

I nodded back and moved my hand to my hip. It moved by instinct, but to my surprise I found a sword there and pulled it out. Now ready to face what lied beyond the archway, we entered.

What I saw was like nothing I had ever seen before. A grand hall larger than that of the throne of Wyndia's filled with glowing balls of light that were floating in the air. The balls were of many colors that vanished and were replaced with new colors, appearing one or two at a time at most. These balls were producing the colored light I had seen from the stair way, and also seemed to be what were singing, as the sound was coming from every direction.

Large cracks covered the ground, and debris littered everywhere. With each loud crash the ground shock violently and I could hear the walls crumbling. I looked down to the other end, where the noise was coming from, and there I saw him.

Ryu was dressed in clothing that I had not seen the likes of before. Over a navy blue vest was a banded pouldron on his left shoulder. His arms were wrapped in white bands, which were covered by black gloves that were almost like gauntlets, only they were smaller and only armored on the top side. His leggings were plainly visable underneath what almost looked like shorts, except they were longer.

Ryu was fighting another man with long white hair. The man was dressed in a strange kind of black armor made of banded materials rather than plates of metal or chainmail. Stranger still was the sword the man wielded, which looked to be made of flame.

I watched as the two fought, summoning powers from their hands that were beyond human magic. The song of the light became louder as they're battle intensified until Ryu turned and saw me.

It felt like an eternity as he looked into my eyes from the other side of the chamber, and yet it all passed in a second as white light filled the room. I shut my eyes as we were consumed in the light and again felt weightless. Someone was calling to me, and everything faded away.

**- x -**

Long after darkness took me from the conscious world, I found myself again in the grand chamber filled with red light. The man with white hair was advancing on me, sword of flame ready to strike. Everything was as I had last dreamt, and this time I was determined to see it through.

I brought my sword forward as he reached me and charged. A strange energy filled me as our blades met. It was pouring into me like a cup, and I was overflowing. This man's might was great; I could feel it, but I knew I could match it now.

We stood with our swords tangled for a brief moment before separating. The man smiled sadistically and let out a grin as he twirled his sword at his side and circled me slowly. I kept my eye on him the entire time, and when he attacked, I was ready.

I parried every blow, but their power rattled through my entire body. Every time he struck, I met him with my sword, yet it felt like my chest and legs were being cut.

Suddenly, the man kicked off of the ground and flew back away from me. He hovered in the air a fair distance away and smiled. I glared at his arrogance, but felt a slight panic deep inside me.

_Below!_ I heard someone whisper in the back of my mind. Without thought, I leapt into the air. I looked down and saw the ground where I had been standing form several straight cracks like it had been cut into and then break apart.

I flipped in the air and landed on safe ground. When I looked up the man spoke to me for the first time.

"Acphyllazy, Ryu" he said. He raised his hand and I prepared for him to attack once more. With a swift wave, the red glow of the chamber suddenly became blue, and giant boulders of ice appeared before him.

The giant boulders came hurdling towards me. I had no time to think, and yet, an answer came to me like it was the most obvious thing to do. I summoned something deep within me. I'm not sure how, or why, but I just knew what to do. Red balls of light appeared amongst the blue ones and I raised a wall of fire from the ground that swallowed the boulders and reduced them to vapor.

As quickly as the boulders evaporated in the flames, the man came flying through the wall at me and began attacking me with his sword again. I backpedaled as he attacked with great fury. His attacks were lightning quick, and strong enough to break stone. It was hard for me to keep up, and I found my arms moving before my eyes could even see which ways he was slicing next.

His flurry of strikes suddenly stopped, and I immediately began to swing at him. The man reacted by throwing his open palm at me and the blue balls fo light were replaced by green ones. Before I had a chance to think or react, I was thrown back by a great force of wind.

I back flipped as I flew in the air and once again drew something from deep within me. A rumble traveled through my chest and my feet planted against a giant stone tabled that had erected from the ground. I was now surrounded by balls of golden yellow.

As I hopped down to the ground from the tablet I was starting to understand what I was feeling deep within me, even though I still had no idea exactly what it was. I felt confident when the man lifted a large piece of debris with just the motion of his hand and threw it at me.

I did not move as it came flying at me. I knew I didn't have to. The yellow balls of light became brighter, and as the debris was about to collide with me and slashed through it with a backhand swing and shattered it.

Before the cloud of dust and small debris could clear, the man again came flying at me with his sword. I held my ground this time and met him blow for blow, creating sharp tremors every time our swords collided. The ground beneath us shook and crackled while the ceiling began to fall onto us in bits of dust and small pebbles. It felt assured that our battle would outlast the chamber.

The man retreated once more and stood with his sword pointing at me. Violet balls of light replaced the green ones and the flames that had engulfed his sword changed to thin sparks of lightning. He then slashed his sword through the air three times, each time sending a bolt of lightning at me.

I wasn't expecting this form of attack and had no time to avoid it. I tensed every muscle in my body and shielded my face with my left arm. As I did this, my body began to harden. It was a strange feeling, almost like I was being covered in cement that dried in seconds, but my new skin was able to absorb the lightning bolts. They bit into me like sharp daggers, but the pain quickly tapered out to a warm nip, and my skin returned to normal.

When I uncovered my face from my arm the man was already bearing down on me with his sword. I quickly rolled out in time to avoid his sword as he landed where I once was and sent sparks flying in every direction.

As I got to my feet the man pulled his blade out of the stone floor and smiled. He had a very satisfied look on his face and grinned as if amused. He raised his sword to his face and the flames burst outwards and vanished, leaving the small crystal behind.

The crystal floated above his open palm and began to glow. Some of the balls of light surrounding us floated slowly towards him and joined with the crystal. The crystal and the balls of light resonated together and became brighter as they formed into one. The most eerie of cries echoed in the hall as the crystal became a blade of light, and the man grinned.

I had never seen a weapon quite like his before, and yet, I felt I knew exactly what to do. I flipped my sword in my hand so the butt of the handle was pointing up at me, and saw a small purple crystal. I don't know why, but I removed the crystal and held it up in front of my face much like the man had hi. The crystal began to glow as I held it in my palm, and I felt something well up within me.

None of the balls of light flew to my hand, or moved at all, but that did not matter. I knew, somehow, that it would work. A strong sensation flowed through my body to my hand. I left my body cool as it filled my palm completely, and put me at ease. I felt this force concentrate into the center of my palm and then suddenly rip forth from it. The crystal let off a brilliant flash of light and a long beam shot upwards, forming a blade much like his.

This blade of light was nearly weightless, and each movement seemed to summon the strength in my entire body. It brought me a strong focus, bringing all my senses to alertness. As I twirled the sword of light and readied for battle, I watched the man begin his assault anew.

The man ran at me and began to attack furiously with a speed I had not seen before. I had to constantly move my arms in every direction to meet his attacks, and was more feeling where he was going to attack next rather than seeing.

Bright flashes of light filled the great hall every time our swords clashed. The man's frantic attacks were difficult to read, but I was able to barely keep up. He hit quickly, and strong, but my body did not tire. It felt like I had unlimited energy.

Our battle continued with neither of us giving the other any quarter, when suddenly the man leapt back. He looked like he was reaching towards me, but I knew better. A feeling in the pit of my stomach warned of impending danger, and I looked behind my back just in time to see a large piece of a pillar flying at me.

I quickly spun on my heels and brought my sword in an upwards swing that sliced the pillar in half. The two pieces split around me and flew by harmlessly as I finished my spin to face my foe again. What I saw was another pillar, which I quickly cut in half as well before it was able to crash into me.

When the pieces passed me I charged at the man and readied to attack. The man picked up and tossed more large pieces of debris at me with a motion of his hand, but I dodged or cut all of them apart as I made my way to him.

As I reached him, the man spun his sword back up and easily blocked my attack. We traded swings a few times when I felt him pull another piece of debris towards us. This piece was harder to sense, as I was occupied with parrying his sword attacks, but I felt that it was coming from behind.

As I felt it draw near, the man suddenly pulled back from a little and slashed low, at my feet. I leapt over the exaggerated swing, but this was what he wanted. I sensed the pillar bearing down on me too late, and when Is pun around in mid air to cut it, it hit me in the waist.

I flew right over the man's head and slammed into the wall behind him. The pillar exploded into pieces when we collided with the stone wall, and buried me in debris. It was clear to me I would have to use tactics similar to his if I was to win, so when I broke free from the pile of ruble I sent all of it flying at him.

The man spun his sword in circles and from side to side as the small pieces of rock came at him. He stepped back and rolled as more and more came at once, smashing on the ground where his feet had just been, and flying overhead. He cut every one with ease, but I concentrated on the air surrounding him and formed a whirlwind of debris.

Now the stones came from every direction. The man was able to cut most of them, but many of the smaller ones got through and cut into his body. The man became more enraged with each one, and eventually stopped trying to stop them. Instead, I saw him focus his rage and I felt my control of the air around him slipping. It felt a lot like I was trying to hang onto something and it was being wrestled from my grip.

The man's rage peaked, and I felt control of the debris, and the air, suddenly explode. The debris flew away like a giant stone had been blown to pieces and I was thrown back by a tremendous force.

I hit the wall again, but remained on my feet this time. The man jumped up at me and brought his sword down. I shielded my face with my sword and locked blades with him. His eyes glowed bright red as they stared into mine. Now I felt more than his physical strength pushing down on me. The familiar feeling of thousands of voices crying out and crushing my mental and emotional resolve was starting to cloud my focus.

Feeling more desperate now, I pushed with all my might and threw the man back. The man grinned amusedly as I stepped towards him and began to attack more wildly. He walked backwards casually as he parried each of my swings and then locked blades with me once more. I heard a faint whisper as he stared into my eyes again, and then felt him release all of his weight.

I went tumbling forward and fell to the ground. I looked up and saw something unexpected; a man and woman in the distance. I saw them only for a second. The strangest rush of emotions overtook me and I became blinded by white light. In an instant, the dream ended.

**- x -**

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter of my fanfic. I know most of it was dedicated to a shared dream, but don't worry, the next chapter won't have any of that. Please leave feedback with a review, as any comments are greatly appreciated.


	18. What Lies Within

_There are whispers, they say._

_Deep in the mountains, where few dare tread._

_What they say, no one knows._

_It has driven the bravest of men mad,_

_And broken the strongest of wills._

_No one has lived to tell the tale._

**Dragon Tears**

**I: Age of Man**

**By: OmegaGear**

**XVIII**

**~ What Lies Within ~**

I awoke with a start, arms flailing in every direction. I laid there breathing hard and covered in a cold sweat. For the second time, I had that dream, this time getting further than before. And, for the second time, it felt so real I didn't realize it was a dream until I had awoken.

After staring at the stone ceiling for a minute or two, I decided I needed to go for a walk. Getting fresh air always helped me calm down in cases such as this, and now was the perfect season for late night strolls. I quickly rolled out of bed to go fetch my sandals.

I, however, was not in my bed, nor in my room. There were no sandals to be had, and I had no idea if the season was right for late night strolls where I was. The reality of the situation hit me like a hundred knives when I tried to roll out of the flimsy bed I had been lying in.

Indeed, this was not my home back in Chedo. The bare walls were made of a kind of sand stone, and air was stale. There was another bed in this room, and on it, sat the fullen, Joachim, that had been tending my wounds the last day I could remember.

He looked slightly terrified as he looked at me. His eyes were wide, and looked glassy in the moonlight, like he had been crying. "You had a bad dream?" he asked.

It was strange, but his tone sounded like he was not saying what he wanted to say. There was a sense of foreboding in his voice, but I decided to ignore it and answered him by nodding. "The same one I had last time."

The beastman nodded and looked out the window that sat high up the wall; too high to reach or escape through, I noticed. "I thought it might have been," he said. "You struggled in your sleep the same as back then."

"I've never felt anything like it," I said, letting my fear show for the first time. "It felt so real… and yet the things I saw aren't possible…"

"What did you see?" he asked.

I was about to answer when I caught my words in my throat and nearly choked. Surely this beastman would think I was mad if I told him what happened in my dream. The powers the man and I used were beyond any arcane magics, and swords of light did not exist.

"I… I cannot say," I said slowly, trying to sound like I wasn't ashamed.

Joachim didn't pressure me to talk, but looked at me in silence. His eyes had narrowed, and I got the feeling he was trying to read me. I was never good at hiding lies, so he was probably able to figure out I was hiding something from him.

"In the morning, they will put you to work," he said suddenly, sounding foreboding again.

"What kind of work?" I asked. I had no idea what he was talking about, but assumed it was kind of slave labor. I had heard about the kind of illegal activities the settlements in the barren lands conducted, and now I was experiencing it first hand.

Joachim dropped his head at hearing this question and looked disappointed. "Why didn't you fight?" he asked.

He must have been talking about when that man was demanding me to answer his questions and whipping me. I had chosen to remain silent, and take the lashing without any retaliation. Truthfully, something inside of me told me that fighting back would have been bad; that something terrible would happen. That, however, was too convoluted to explain, and I wanted to know what he was getting at with this change of subject.

"What do you mean? What does it matter if I fought or not?" I asked.

Joachim looked up again and gazed into my eyes. A very strong look of pity covered his face, and he dropped his head again before answering my questions.

"You are a good fighter, I can see it in your eyes," he said. "The ludian that runs this camp is looking for fighters."

"So?" I asked. I couldn't hide the fact that I thought the idea of fighting for this slave runner ridiculous. "What does that matter to me? Slavery is slaver."

To this, Joachim laughed slightly, but quickly recovered. "Perhaps it is, but around here, fighting in the arena is the top of the ladder," he said. "We may be slaves, but we are well fed, and don't bother with working long days in the fields or mines. That would wear us down. We only need to worry about the next fight."

"And what kind of work exactly is this ludian going to have me do?" I asked.

Again, Joachim looked at me with pity in his eyes. "He is going to work you in the mines," he said. "You will be subject to the harshest treatment, and hardest labor he has to offer. There may be days where you do not even get any water.

I thought about the idea of this for a moment, but could not decide how I felt. I was angry, sad, worried, and yet, rebellious. There was an open window out of this. All I had to do was show the ludian I could fight, but for some reason I felt like not giving him the pleasure.

I didn't want to continue to discuss what we were talking about, so I rolled onto my side and attempted to go back to sleep. With so many things on my mind, however, sleep did not come easily. When darkness finally did take me, it was restless, and without dreams, good or bad. When I awoke the next morning, or wrested awake more accurately, I felt like I hadn't gotten any sleep at all.

A large, brutish man awoke me by snapping a whip near my bed. I didn't have time to get my bearings as he lifted me out of bed and threw me out the door. I tumbled a few feet before finally getting up and staggered outside as the man continued to crack his whip and barked orders to me.

When we got outside the sun had barely begun to rise, lining the horizon with a golden line underneath the dark blue sky.

The large man pushed me forward on the dimly lit path and led me to a small wooden building. He hammered on a door a few times until someone answered the door.

This man was much smaller than the large man, but looked more sinister. There was a cold look in his eyes that looked completely natural, and his face looked most unhappy. He was wear rather dirty cloths, but besides that, did not look anything like a slave.

"What is it?" he croaked, sounding like he was ready to fight right there. His accent sounded imperial, and his English was flawless.

The large man jerked his head towards me and the other looked over. He squinted his eyes into slits as he gave me a once over while the large man spoke. "Another worker," He said simply. He sounded rather dumb every time he spoke. "Lord DeMarcus wants him working the chrysm mines."

At this, the other man raised an eye brow and looked me over again. "The chrysm mines?" he asked, sounding quite skeptical.

The man stepped out of the building and walked past the large man to me and tapped my shoulder with a leather tassel whip. The contact gave me some pain from my barely healed cuts from my lashing, but I did not flinch or utter a sound.

"Hmm…" the man mumbled to himself. He tapped his foot while he rubbed his chin in contemplation and then slapped my right leg with the tassel whip. Again, I felt some sharp pain, but it was brief, and I remained perfectly still. "Why has the boss ordered this man to the chrysm mines?" he asked.

The large man did not answer immediately, and wore a dumbfounded expression on his face. He seemed to be thinking hard, but it didn't look like much progress was being made. "He did not say," he said, finally.

The other man laughed and turned around. "I will put him to work, but tell DeMarcus I'd like to speak to him about this. The chrysm mines are no place for humans," he said, sounding rather grim.

"What's the matter, Theo, developing a heart?" the large man laughed.

Theo did not respond to the insult. He gave the large man a sharp look and said "Just send my message to DeMarcus."

The large man nodded and walked off, leaving me and Theo alone. He was tapping his tassel whip on his shoulder absentmindedly while glaring at me. "Well," he said," you're in for quite a treat."

I did not say anything, but glared back into Theo's eyes. I had the strong urge to punch him and run for it, but I knew it would be a foolish move. I had no idea where I was, let alone how to escape this compound. Even if I did manage to escape, without food or supplies, I'd last only a day or two in the barren lands.

Theo noticed me glaring back at him and laughed coldly. "I see DeMarcus has another one with some defiance in him" he said to no one in particular. "Not to worry, boy," he spat, emphasizing the boy part, "Soon you'll learn your place." He suddenly turned around and shouted to the distance. "Thoral! Get over here!"

To my surprise, a very tall, very large beastman walked over from a group of people. He had rough, leather looking skin and a hard shell on his back, like an armadillo. I had seen people from the shell clan before, but this was the first time I saw one up close.

"Yes, boss?" he said. His voice was very deep.

"Take this man with you to the chrysm mines," he said, pointing back at me with his thumb. "I don't care what you have him do, just make sure he hates it," he cackled.

The large beastman glanced at me and nodded. "If you say so boss, but I've never had a human down there before," he said. I noticed that, despite this beastman's intimidating appearance, he sounded sincere, and compassionate. "Is this one of DeMarcus's?" he asked.

"Of course," Theo answered. "Look, I don't care what you do with him," he said, now sounding quite irritated. "Just get him out of my sight!"

"Yes, sir," Thoral said.

Thoral led me to the far end of the mines area and onto a metal lift. He did not speak when he wanted me to do something, instead using simple motions. As the lift descended downwards, he told me why.

"Do not speak while in the chrysm mine," he said. I did not answer, and kept my stone cold glare on my face. Thoral noticed this and laughed, but it was far from amused, or cold. It sounded like he was genuinely laughing with me. "I'm starting to see why DeMarcus wanted you here. Very well, you can act that way if you wish, but don't think I'll let you get away with not working."

It was strange, listening to this shell clansman speak. Coming from anyone else, his last words would have sounded like a threat, but Thoral sounded like he was just cautioning me.

"As for your silent protest, keep it up," he continued. "Speaking in the chrysm mine is not allowed… bad things happen when you talk down here."

The thought of a cave-in came to mind, but surely the actual activity and noise of mining would be more prone to causing one than talking. I figured slaves probably were just not allowed to talk.

The rest of the trip down was spent in silence. When the lift reached the bottom Thoral opened the gate and ushered me in. We were in a large chamber that had been dug into the earth. Wooden frames braced the tall walls, and lamps hung from them to keep the area lit. Numerous groups of workers, all beastmen, I noted, were walking in various tunnels.

Thoral led me to a group gathering their equipment by the tunnel furthest down the chamber. The group was completely made up of little mole looking beastmen, with really long claws for finger nails. They were clicking chirping to each other when we appeared, which must have been their way to communicate without speaking.

Once we arrived, they all looked up at us through huge, thick goggles. Thoral pointed back at me with his thumb and made some hand gestures. All of the mole people nodded without a sound and returned to putting on their equipment.

As they finished getting ready, one of them handed me a back pack and harness. While I put them on, another of them came and shook the one that was outfitting me. The two began to chirp and squeak to each other frantically, looking a lot like they were having an argument. Suddenly, they both chuckled and they both walked off. The one that had given me my equipment returned minutes later carrying some hand tools, a chisel and sledge hammer.

When he handed me the tools, the conversation he had been having with the other suddenly made sense to me. None of the mole workers in the group had any tools. These people must have been able to dig with their claws, and probably found the use of tools amusing.

I took the tools and put them on my belt as the moles started to jabber to each other again. They waited for me to finish getting ready, and then started to march off into the tunnel.

A pair of them was pushing a mine cart along a track, which was carrying an assortment of pulley parts and buckets. The rest of the moles were carrying large back packs filled with nothing but rope.

As I followed them deep into the tunnel the lights grew further apart, and dimmer. The air had become much colder, and stale, making me feel almost numb. I was starting to shiver as we continued deeper into the mineshaft, until the moles finally stopped in a large chamber.

The giant chamber was much smaller than the main one, but still quite impressive for something dug into the earth. Small lamps lined the stone walls, but below their golden light, a faint greenish light filled the bottom. I looked down below and saw a large formation of raw chrysm settled into the floor and the walls about thirty feet below us.

I continued to stare at the large patch of chrysm as the moles started to get to work. They began to hammer rings into the floor and fed a rope over them to build a pulley. While some of them continued to build the pulley system, the rest of them began to climb down the wall. They hammered markers into the wall as they progressed, and tied ropes around them so they could climb back up when they were done.

When they finished preparing everything, one of the moles gave me a push. I looked down at him and he started to gesture to me while chirping. I didn't understand the sounds he was making, but his hand gestures told me I was to follow him.

We climbed down the wall and to the chrysm patch. When we reached the ground the surrounding area had become much brighter. Everything was filled with a bright green light, and I was able to move much more quickly now that I could actually see the ground beneath me.

The mole I was partnered with walked me over to the patch along the wall and pointed at the chisel on my belt. I pulled out the chisel and then my hammer before the mole could point to that too. He began to scrape and scratch at the rock around the chrysm, and I automatically followed suit with my tools.

The work was hard indeed, breaking the solid stone wall with just hand tools. The moles made it explicitly clear that I was to avoid hitting the chrysm while clearing the rock, as they did not want the ore mixed with the debris. This made the work more frustrating, as it required to me be a lot more precise with my chisel.

I'm not sure how long it had been, but after a sizable chunk of the wall had been removed, I began to feel a little chilly. The mines were very cold, being so deep and without light, but this chill I was feeling was not because of that. It was if we were being watched.

I took a look around, but some no one on the bottom of the chamber except the moles that were in my group, nor could I see anyone at the top of the cliff. The cliff, however, was hard to see in the dim light, and I had my suspicions. None of the moles seemed to notice anything suspicious, however, and motioned excitedly at me when they noticed I had stopped digging. I quickly returned to work, but kept my ears alert for anything strange.

For a long time, nothing happened while we continued to dig. But, as we began to clear out more rock and unearthed more chrysm ore, I could have sworn I heard someone whisper in the distance. I couldn't make out any words, as it was very faint, but it definitely was not one of the moles chattering to another.

I quickly turned to see if I could spot the origin of the whisper. The first place I looked was the cliff overlooking us, but I couldn't see anyone, or their shadows in the dim light above.

One of the moles noticed I had stopped working again and made a most unpleasant noise while throwing a small rock at me. When the rock hit me on top of my head, I snapped my face around and saw him frantically scratching the wall with one hand while pointing at me with the other.

Again, I started digging into the wall, but was starting to feel tense. The chill that had run up my spine was now crawling all over my body. Every time I turned to throw a large piece of debris into the barrel we were filling, I glanced upwards to the cliff, expecting to see something. Each time I looked, however, nothing out of place could be seen.

This went on for at least another half hour until we broke through a large patch of solid rock and revealed more of the chrysm ore deposit. Again, I heard a faint whisper, but none of the moles seemed to notice anything as they moved the debris aside to be loaded.

The whisper was louder this time, almost clear enough for me to make out the words, but not quite. I wanted to call out to whoever it was making them, but didn't want to find out what kind of things happened to those that talked in the mines. I looked hard up at the cliff and around the chamber, but still could not see anyone, if they were there. Frustrated, I went back to work before any of the moles could catch me again.

We worked for hours in that same chamber; digging, breaking, and gathering. Finally, enough of the rock wall had been removed for us to start excavating the chrysm, at which point, the moles all backed away.

I looked back at the group of moles, whom all stared back at me behind their goggles. They weren't chattering to each other, and didn't give me any hand commands; they just watched. When I didn't do anything for at least a minute, one of them finally stepped forward and started to wave his arms. From what I could gather, he was trying to tell me they couldn't touch the chrysm, and that I would have to get it out with my tools.

I stepped up to the large deposit in the wall and brushed it with my hand. The whisper came again, louder than before, and an ice cold chill nearly made me jump. I withdrew my hand and looked back at the moles, which all looked back at me blankly. After a brief moment of me looking at them quizzically, they gestured for me to get to work.

Heaving a sigh, I held my chisel to the large mass of green minerals and hit it with my hammer. When my hammer struck the back of my chisel, the most unexpected thing happened. I heard someone screaming in the distance, and my left hand suddenly felt a shot of pain. I dropped my tools and grasped my left hand and nearly cried out, but stopped just in time.

When I looked back at the moles, none of them seemed the least bit worried about the scream. I wanted to ask them about the scream, but had no idea how to communicate with them. A quick glance around showed no signs of anything, and not another sound could be heard. I reluctantly forgot about the scream and returned to the ore deposit.

I rubbed my hand for a moment, and decided I must have been off the mark with the hammer. Once the pain had gone, I picked up the chisel again and placed it in the same spot. I struck the chisel with the hammer, and heard the distinct sound of metal hitting metal. There was no way I hit my hand that time, but I still felt a sharp burst of pain, and this time it traveled up to my elbow before I dropped the chisel again.

The moles all started to chatter to each other behind me as I rubbed my left arm. I shook my hand vigorously for a second by habit, and then gave it another try. Again, the hammer hit nothing but metal. The chrysm began to crack, and the pain now shot all the way to my shoulder.

It was too much for me this time, and I groaned while grasping my shoulder. The moles started to shatter louder and faster as I stood there, hunched over grabbing my shoulder like I had been shot. I was breathing hard through my teeth while trying to will away the pain in my left arm. My hand was shaking as it lifted up the chisel again, and could barely hold it still as I brought the hammer down on it.

The chrysm ore patch broke open under the force of my hammer. As it did, I felt an unbearable pain burn from my left hand, through my chest, and up to my head. I threw my head back as I fell to my knees and cried out in agony.

My cry echoed through the vast chamber, causing the moles to panic. They began to chatter excitedly and ran for the ropes leading back up. When the sound of my cry died, most of them had already reached the top, and I could hear their chattering run off in the distance.

As I sat there in the dead silence, I began to feel a cold shill crawl up my spine. I was suddenly fully alert, and heard someone speak to me.

"Uie jyys… poar…" he said, the same strange language I had heard on several occasions.

"Who's there?" I called out, no longer caring to follow the rule of silence in the mine.

"Uie jyys… poar…" he said again.

"Where are you!" I shouted. Nothing but silence answered me back, until the voice spoke again, and this time, I could understand him.

"You feel… pain… Our pain…" he said.

"What do you want?" I asked.

The air was still while I waited for an answer. It felt like an eternity, sitting there in the silence, but finally, it came. "You feel our pain… Our pain is yours… the pain of your people."

_My people…_I wondered. It was true that I never quite felt at home in the empire. There was no one like me.

"Feel our pain… Know our pain… the suffering of your people."

The chrysm began to glow brighter, beckoning me to touch it. I was entranced by its glow, and walked forward without thought. In an instant, I placed my hand on the chrysm ore wall, and they showed me their pain.

It was like my brain had been hit with my hammer. A flood of emotions and memories filling it to quickly I could not discern what was what. All I could understand was pain; immense pain. It was over in mere seconds, but felt like a lifetime going by. When it was over, I was on my hands and knees breathing hard. I was gasping for air while cold sweat trickled down my face.

"Know our pain… Feel our anger… Become our wrath…" he said.

As I sat there remembering the pain I felt, that I saw, the resulting emotions began to boil within me. I had a strong desire for revenge as I became overwhelmed by the loss I felt. Slowly, I got to my feet and cracked a wicked smile.

"Become our wrath… Bring us revenge…"

"Yes…" I replied, feeling the anger building within me. I retrieved my tools and replaced them in my belt. Deciding what I would do, I climbed up the ropes to the top and began my journey to the surface.

When I reached the main chamber, I saw the moles I had been working with chattering to each other and making wild gestures to Thoral. The giant beastman was nodding while rubbing his chin. When I reached them, the moles scattered in every direction while Thoral stood before me.

Thoral did not say anything, but motioned for me to follow him as he stepped onto the lift. I followed without a sound, and we ascended back up to the surface.

The ride up the lift was much like the one going down. Thoral remained silent, and examined me with an unusual curiosity. I stood there looking distant, but probably not rebellious. The way I was feeling, my face probably did not hide my anger. If Thoral noticed this, he did not comment on it, or make any sign of it.

As the lift broke the surface, the light of the sun hurt my eyes. The sun had already begun to set, casting a much dimmer orange glow than its pure white afternoon glory. Despite this, the sun's brilliance was a sharp contrast to the dim lamps in the mines below.

I squinted while the lift finished its ascent, and could barely make out three figures approaching us. With the light of the sun directly in front of me, it was hard to make out who they were. The sun was casting dark shadows on them from behind, completely masking their faces, but I could make out two of them at least.

The largest of the group was obviously the large ogre of a man that had brought me to the man that ran the mines. This brute was as dumb as they came, and now that I got a clear view of him approaching, I noticed the way he moved made that obvious as well.

His whole body swayed back and forth with each step with his arms hanging numbly at his sides. His back was hunched, meaning that as tall as he appeared, he was actually taller. Despite this, he was quickly losing the intimidation his size brought. As a silhouette, he looked more like an ape.

The smaller of the two remaining people looked to be Theo by the way he moved. Quick, and with an air of importance, like he was always being unjustly troubled by everyone around him.

The last person, I had no idea who he was. From the proceedings of the day, however, I guessed it was DeMarcus, the owner of this slave camp. The man was short and pudgy, by the looks of it. He certainly appeared wider than the others as they approached, and considering the immense size of the ogre-like one, that was saying a lot.

When the three men reached us, Thoral stepped aside and let them stand in front of me. The one I did not recognize gave me a judging look while smacking his lips. The other two stood behind him looking as they always did; stupid and annoyed.

"Mmm…" the fat man hummed while smacking his lips some more. He looked over to Thoral looking quite bored and said "Thoral, I was just on my way to speak to you… but I wasn't expecting you to be out of the mines so early."

Thoral did not seem worried in the slightest when he answered. "This new worker of yours has been having… issues," he said.

"Issues?" the man said again, not quite sounding convinced. He looked at me again and raised an eyebrow. I stared back at him somewhat blankly. The hatred I was feeling made me want to kill him right there, but I remained calm. "What sort of issues?"

Thoral crossed his arms as he watched me and the fat man look at each other. "The moles told me he was talking," he said.

"Eh?" the fat man didn't seem to quite understand what Thoral was saying.

"You see?" Theo said while glaring at me. "I told you humans couldn't work in the chrysm mines. This slime couldn't keep his mouth shut!"

The fat man turned to Theo. I couldn't see the face he was giving him, but from his words, it must have been one of slight shock. "Theo, I don't care if my slaves talk, so long as they work," he said.

Theo scoffed. "Lord DeMarcus, you have no idea what he's done!" he shouted. It became quite clear at this point that Theo was not a slave of any kind, and did not fear any punishment from DeMarcus. "Talking in the chrysm mines is forbidden. The whole place is haunted by ghosts that drive you insane once they hear you and sense you have a mind they can infect."

DeMarcus laughed like he had just heard the funniest joke. "Theo… please… ghosts? Surely you don't believe in anything so silly!" he said, still shaking with laughter.

Had Theo been a tea pot, steam would have been blowing out his spout. He looked furious, and it almost seemed he was going to snap when the ogre-like man bellowed with DeMarcus. "It is not, silly! He said. You remember the last incident in the mines?"

"Eh… The one with the dragon?" he asked, sounding disinterested still.

"Yes, that one," Theo said irritably. "One of the workers freaked out, said he was hearing voices. Next thing we know, he attacks the people working by him, nearly killing most of them. Then, a dragon, of all things, appears in the mines and goes on a rampage. It took a lot of time to corner the beast and kill it."

The last thing that Theo said caused the hatred in me to burn hotter. Hearing about the dragon being killed brought a lot of confusing feelings to me. I couldn't understand why hearing this made me want to attack these two men even more.

"Eh… that doesn't mean there are ghosts," DeMarcus said lazily. "He was a slave, and bound to break one way or another sooner or later."

It was really infuriating to hear him speak so lightly of human life. I was starting to feel my control slip as they continued their argument, and it was showing. My breathing had become quite deep and quick, and my brow was slanted in what would appear to be anger to anyone who noticed.

"That wasn't the only time it happened," Theo countered. "It was the last, however, since talking has been forbidden ever since."

"Alright, alright!" DeMarcus said, surrendering. "Whatever it is, it doesn't really matter. He turned back to Thoral. "Thoral, what did you plan to do with this man?" he asked.

Thoral was standing just as he was when the confrontation started, almost looking like a statue. As usual, he spoke calmly. "I was going to take him to Theo and suggest he be relocated. The moles are all worked up now. They think another dragon is going to come up and kill everyone." From the sound of his voice, Thoral was not convinced anything was going to happen.

"I see…" DeMarcus gave me another look and tapped his foot. "Eh… Theo, you can handle it."

DeMarcus walked away, leaving the Ogre-like man and Theo behind. Theo looked on the verge of snapping as he grated his teeth. "Feh… to the coal mines it'll be with you," he spat. He jerked his head to the ogre-like man and barked, "Boris, take him to the mine down by the railway. This scum has caused me enough trouble!"

The ogre-looking man, Boris, grunted and started to walk towards me. As he approached I started to breathe harder as my anger peeked. The thought of these people was reviling, and I wanted nothing more to do with the lot of them.

When Boris's shadow came over me, I suddenly acted without thought. I grabbed my chisel automatically and plunged it down into his knee. Boris roared in pain as the sharp piece of iron drove an inch into his flesh, and fell backwards with a tremendous thud.

Theo looked positively shocked at my sudden rash behavior, and actually froze for a second. This was all it took for me to cross the distance between us and bring my hammer down on his right arm. The satisfying sound of the bone in his forearm snapping brought a sick smile to my lips, and Theo looked terrified. He also fell, and began to scurry backwards in a panic.

I turned to Thoral, my hammer still in hand. Thoral did not look scared like the others, and remained standing with his arms crossed nonchalantly. He simply stared at me with his blue eyes, which did not carry any aggression towards me. Even in my state, I did not feel it was right to harm him, and walked off in the direction DeMarcus had left in.

By now, the entire area was in an uproar of activity. Dozens of slaves and mine workers hurried to get out of my way while some others followed closely behind. Eventually, some guards got in my way. There were three in all, were armed with curved swords that were typical for thugs to carry.

The three men all pulled out their swords and advanced on me one at a time. I stood with my sledge hammer in hand, and allowed them to make their move as they pleased.

The first man didn't have much skill. He ran at me with his sword over his head in one hand, looking much like he had never used one before. Using such an open stance was asking to be killed, or made a fool of. It was no hard task to block his wild swing with the long handle of my hammer.

We stood with our weapons locked for a second before I pushed him back. The force of being pushed off made him lose his balance, and he was trying to keep standing by circling his arms frantically. I took this opportunity to grip my hammer in both hands and swing it like a bat. The giant metal headpiece made contact with the man's head, sending blood splattering as his skull cracked open.

As the first man flew to the ground, the second one ran forward. He also held his sword in one hand, but his stance was much lower, and active. He would be able to parry most attacks I tried with my heavy and slow hammer, but I did not plan to try to keep up with his much lighter weapon.

The man attacked quickly with short swings. He was careful not to leave himself open like the last man did, and I released my hammer, leaving it standing on its head as I backed away. The man pursued me as he continued to slash back and forth with his sword. I retreated until I noticed a hole in his pattern. Whenever he attacked with a backwards swing, he ended with his sword slightly raised, and his entire left side open. On his next pair of swings, I made my counterattack.

His forward swing went low, which I dodged easily by bending at my waist. When he performed his back wards slash, I side stepped a bit to have more of his body open to me, and struck him in the face with my open palm. This blow wasn't very hard, but was enough to stun him out of his attack.

The man staggered back wards from the blow, leaving him more open than earlier. Quickly, I moved in and attacked low, elbowing him in the stomach. This caused him to keel over in pain, and as his head came down, I held it in my hands and brought my knee up to it. When he fell back, I could see blood pouring from his nose.

With one man left to deal with, I began to walk back to my hammer. The last guard was standing in a stance similar to the first, except he was shaking pretty badly. His whole body was twitching every now and then as I approached him, and then he suddenly turned tail and ran.

I paused as the man ran screaming, a little surprised by the retreat. Before I could make anything of it though, a large shadow loomed over me, and I was suddenly lifted off the ground. I struggled to break free of whatever was lifting me, but it was gripping me at the center of my back, which was hard to reach. I looked down as I was brought up horizontally, and saw that it was the ogre looking man, Boris, that had grabbed me.

Boris was growling as he held me over his head. He no longer looked like a brainless ape, and a lot more like a rampaging giant.

With one mighty lunge, he sent me flying through the air. I crashed into a bunch of wooden barrels full of water, which broke, drenching me completely. Boris pulled my chisel from his left knee and stomped over to me as I tried to get up. Just as I was able to off of my back, I saw him preparing to bring the chisel down on me.

I quickly rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding the giant metal spike as it tore through the pile of wood. A large piece of debris stopped me mid roll though, and Boris was able to catch me with his free hand.

Before I could even start to try to break free, he spun around and threw me. I hit the ground hard, and rolled several feet before stopping. I was dazed, and out of breath. Only my anger seemed to have any focus, and concentrating on it helped me recover faster.

When I was finally able to get up, I noticed my hammer was lying near me. As Boris began to stomp towards me I ran over and lifted the giant sledge. Boris was almost able to reach me by now, and I acted without thought. A quick swing at his torso slowed him a step, but did not stun him. It almost felt like hitting solid rock.

I brought my hammer around as quickly as I could, but its weight made it difficult to wield effectively. Boris was almost able to grab me again when I thrust the hammer forward and hit him in the stomach. Again, Boris did not seem to be hurt much by the hit, but it was enough to make him miss his attempted grab. This left him stumbling forward as I stepped to the side, giving me more time to aim my next swing.

Bringing the hammer around, I wound it up over my head and inhaled a deep breath. Concentrating all my strength, I swung the giant hammer down as I exhaled with a cry. The large piece of metal struck Boris in the center of his back with a loud crack. The giant man screamed as he feel to his knees and then down onto the ground. When I continued in the direction DeMarcus went, he was motionless.

The rest of my search for DeMarcus went without incident. The entire camp was in an uproar, and the guards were all too busy suppressing the slaves and other workers to bother with me. I was finally able to find DeMarcus talking to the ludian that had been leading the caravan that brought me here. He looked as bored and uninterested as ever, completely oblivious to the chaos around him, or not caring.

The ludian, on the other hand, had a very serious look on his face. He didn't look like he enjoyed what DeMarcus was telling him at all, and was wrenching his whip tightly in both hands. It was him that first noticed me approaching, brandishing his whip suddenly.

DeMarcus turned to see what the ludian was looking at and glanced at me with disinterest. He stepped back with a yawn and let the ludian move forward.

The ludian shouted at me in ludian, which I did not understand while snapping his whip. His intentions were obviously unfriendly, however, as he approached. Memories of his treatment of Joachim and what he had another man do to me came to the surface. I found new resolve in my anger as I remembered each strike of the whip, and looking at the cuts along my arms made me shake with rage. When he lashed at me with the whip, it was like the last chain restraining me had been broken.

The whip hit me in the ribs with a loud snap. I rolled away from the blow to lessen the impact, but it still stung like something was burning my flesh. What happened next, I can't be sure. I thrust out my hand at him and felt a strange sensation, like my muscles were pushing against something, but I was not touching anything except open air. Amazingly, the ludian was blown back by a strong wind and onto his back. As shocked as I was at seeing this, my instincts quickly took over.

I leapt at the ludian with my fist raised. He was only beginning to recover from being thrown back when I landed on him, taking him by surprise. He tried to pull out his sword, but I struck him in the nose with my fist while pinning his arm down. The blow knocked his head back against the ground with a thud. The man groaned for a second, but then promptly went unconscious.

I remained on top of the man, firmly pressing him down by his shoulder, until he went completely limp. As I got to my feet, I retrieved his sword, which turned out to be a short straight sword, unlike the curved blades the guards had used. This weapon was much more to my liking; balanced, light, but strong.

The feel of a real weapon in my hands brought a sense of familiarity to me. It felt like it had been ages since I last held a sword, and gripping the handle gave me a thrill of excitement. As I twirled the blade around in the air, I began to calm, basking in the ease and freeness of the weapon. My mind began to wander to the first time I ever used a sword in the military academy, but this was not the time to reminisce.

The sudden yelp of a particular fat man snapped me out of my daydream. When I looked up at DeMarcus, he finally was starting to look a little nervous about the situation. He was fidgety as he looked back and forth for any help, but when none showed he became stiff.

I began to approach DeMarcus slowly, the sword dragging on the ground at my side. The steel blade made a scratching noise as the tip brushed across the hard dirt road, and clanged when it hit stones. DeMarcus flinched each time the blade clanged, and would yelp while shutting his eyes, as if doing so would make me disappear.

He was backing away slowly as I walked towards him. He was sweating profusely, and muttering incoherently as his eyes darted in every direction. His whole body was shaking violently, causing him to stumble onto his back. It was like watching a wild animal getting cornered by a predator, but he was far from an innocent victim. The anger that I felt from what he had done to so many people before me couldn't be swayed by his pathetic display.

When I stepped within striking distance I tightened my grip on my sword. The man was now crawling backwards to keep his eyes on me, but he soon came to a wall. When his back hit the wall he yelped and went pale. His eyes were shaking as they stared at me, but I did not care.

I Stepped up to DeMarcus and glared down at the man cowering beneath me. Without a word, I lifted my sword over my head and prepared to strike when a loud pair of feet came stomping from behind me. I gritted my teeth and reluctantly dropped my sword to my side and looked back. Thoral had arrived, and was watching me from a fair distance with his arms crossed.

"What do you want?" I asked coldly. It felt strange to hear the words come out of my mouth, because they didn't quite sound like me. The voice almost sounded like someone talking through me, but I consciously said those words.

Thoral looked at me with calm blue eyes and spoke softly. "Nothing," he said.

"Then why have you come?" I asked. I noticed DeMarcus trying to crawl away and stabbed my sword into the ground near his hand. It was almost comical to see such a fat man jump backwards so quickly to avoid the blade. DeMarcus fell back against the wall with a thud and did not make a move to escape again.

Thoral remained standing there calmly as he watched this little occurrence and waited for me to turn back to him before answering. "I am wondering if you'll really do it," he said.

I laughed at his comment and turned back to look at the shaking fat man. "What makes you think I won't?" I asked, glaring at the slave driver.

"Call it a hunch," he said. "But tell me this. What will you do once this man is dead?" he asked.

I continued to glare at DeMarcus as I thought about what Thoral asked. There was a mixture of hatred and fear clouding my mind, and it was hard to concentrate at all. As I began to think about the situation, his question started to make sense. I had no idea where I was, or where to go for help. Certainly traveling out into the unknown alone would be resigning myself to death.

DeMarcus seemed to notice me contemplating my options and stopped shaking a little. His voice steadied as he spoke coherently this time. "Come now… boy. You wouldn't want to do anything foolish," he said.

When I heard what he said something in me snapped and I threw my sword into the ground again. DeMarcus yelped again and started to shake harder. "Killing you would not be foolish," I hissed. I brought my face close to his and squinted into his shaking eyes. "It would be justice," I said.

"Don't say that," DeMarcus said nervously. "You've shown great skill," he continued. "I can make you a fighter. You'll live a better life than these scum."

"I won't live for your personal entertainment," I hissed. DeMarcus laughed nervously as I lifted my head and looked back at Thoral. The giant beastman was still calm as he watched me with no hint as to his intentions. "Are you saying I should spare this man?" I asked.

Thoral did not nod or shake his head. His eyes did not waver as he spoke. "All I am asking is what you plan to do once this man is dead," he stated.

Again, I thought about what I could do. Something inside of me was urging me just to do it; just to kill him. It was like a group of people pushing me, but deep down inside I was resisting them. I knew, in the end, that killing him would do me no good.

Every time I began to overcome this strong urge to kill, for revenge, the feeling would resurface again. I was at ends about what to do, when something else came to mind. A voice broke through the struggle between my rage and my conscience.

This voice was that of a memory. It was something Kai had said to me when I was struggling at the academy. "Whenever you can't decide on an action to take that might get you out of a situation, sometimes it is better to let things happen," he had said. "Another door may open sooner than you know, and offer a better solution."

I thought about what Joachim had said to me this morning, and what DeMarcus was offering me now. It was still slavery, but perhaps it would offer a chance to get more information about where I was. I slowly lifted my sword from the ground and let it rest at my side. DeMarcus was watching me like a man fearing for his life, and Thoral remained where he was calmly. I did not say a word, and stepped back from DeMarcus, who looked at me with astonishment. When I did not glare at him any longer, he gulped and motioned to Thoral.

"Thoral," he said, still shaking. "Take this boy back to the cells."

Thoral walked up behind me and place a hand on my shoulder. He was not forceful, but comforting. I allowed him to guide me back the way I had come and usher me towards the building where I had awoken that day.

I still felt the anger from earlier welling within me, but it no longer drove me to act. I knew the time would come, and when it did, I would be ready. Until then, I would play it safe.

**- x -**

A/N: Happy Thanksgiving! Yeah, I know this is 3 days after turkey day, but I couldn't finish it before heading to my relatives' house. Consider this dessert :D


	19. Live and Let Die

_The dragons are a cursed clan._

_Cursed by war._

_By blood shed._

_They are drawn to battle._

_And battle is drawn to them._

**Dragon Tears**

**I: Age of Man**

**By: OmegaGear**

**XIX**

**~ Live and Let Die ~**

The streets were more crowded than usual the next day as Yuri jostled me out of the inn. He had woken me suddenly with a firm shake and hurried me to get my disguise back on. As the sun blinded my eyes for the first time that day, I still had no idea what was going on.

Yuri led me through the crowd while pulling me by one arm. I struggled to keep up with him as I bumped into people on both sides and held onto him tightly. He did not seem to notice as he pushed through more and more people, repeating his apologies.

As we continued, I began to notice the swelling crowd around us. Everyone was rushing in a flurry of activity, but it was hardly the random everyday chaos of a bazaar or market. Everyone, despite being doing different things, seemed to all be focus on one topic in particular. This was made more obvious to me when I noticed that traffic was very noticeably flowing one way, and not two.

The crowd began to grow and tighten as we progressed, and when we finally reached the end of the street and entered a large main one, things stopped entirely. It was here that I noticed what all the fuss was about.

Up the main road, in the direction everyone was moving, was the large arena. For even a large settlement such as this one, it was probably one of the few sources of entertainment for the citizens, so it wasn't too surprising to see that everyone, even the women, were gathering for whatever was inside.

Yuri continued to push through the crowd, getting dirty looks from everyone, and more than one verbal complaint. No one openly protested him through force, however, as the rush to reach the arena was a free for all anyways.

In time, we reached the plaza of the arena and the crowd loosened a bit. Lines were forming to enter through the three main gates, leaving pockets of open space between. In one of the spaces I saw Myn and Cassandra and called out to them.

"Sh!" Yuri turned to me when I shouted Myn's name. "Don't draw attention, especially now," he said sternly; he was unusually serious.

Myn and Cassandra waited as we walked over, trying their best to look like a pair of common bystanders. With both wearing hooded cloaks, however, they weren't convincing at all.

"It's about time," Myn said as we reached them. He eyed the line, and then glanced at us. "We'll have to wait."

"Sorry," Yuri said, sounding a bit agitated. "The crowd was a lot heavier by the time I reached the inn. It's crazy how pumped up everyone is."

"Perhaps," Myn said while scratching his chin. "Although in a place like this, there's probably nothing else to do except watch and bet on these blood sports."

"Blood sports?" I asked, a bit shocked. The only time I had heard of blood sports was in my history lessons back home. If I remembered correctly, they had been outlawed many decades ago.

"Yes," Myn answered. "They're illegal, but neither the empire nor the allied nations keep watch over these parts; no gain in it."

I looked up towards the top of the stone walls of the arena and took in the spectacle; a giant stadium where people watched men and beast fight to the death. Chills ran up my spine, and I began to feel cold in the blazing heat. Even outside, I could hear the roaring crowding chanting for it to begin.

"We'd better hurry inside," Myn said. "We don't want to miss this."

It took a few seconds for me to realize we were going in when I stopped dead in my tracks. "We're going to watch!" I cried, unable to hide my horror.

The three stopped and turned back to look at me, "yes, Nina, we are," Myn said matter-of-factly. "I believe something important will happen here today."

"Important!" I asked, skeptical. "What could possibly transpire here that would warrant us watching?"

"We will see," Myn said, unmoved by my emotional display. "Come, we're almost through the gates."

I remained silent the rest of the way into the arena and to our seats. It took a while to find enough space for all of us together, but we eventually did, well up and at the back of the stands.

From where we were sitting, the entire battle area could be seen without moving my head. The people in the front rows at the bottom were about the size of my finger when held out at arm's length. Whatever we had come to see, it would be hard to actually watch from here, but the others seemed content enough.

As I settled into the surrounding atmosphere, I turned my attention to my three companions. "So what exactly is it we're looking for?"

"We'll have to wait and see," Myn said.

I turned back towards the battle area and watched as the stadium filled completely with a loud, eager crowd. They all began to chant together for the matches to begin, and begin they did. Within moments, a large, strangely dressed man began to yell loudly to the crowd. He welcomed them all to the games, and introduced the first match.

Two pairs of men entered the arena from opposite sides as the announcer introduced them. He did not call them by name, but rather addressed them as fighters belonging to a named owner. I scoffed at the situation, but no one seemed to notice.

After the fighters were introduced, the announcer called for the battle to begin, and crowd erupted into cheer as the four took up arms. Even though the men were pairs, they scattered in every direction, completely abandoning each other. There was no sense of comradory as the fighters duked it out in what eventually became a free-for-all.

None of the audience seemed to care, or even notice their failure at teamwork, completely absorbed by the thrill. The roared with applaud as one of the fighters was thrown to the ground by another's shield and then stabbed through. The killer basked in their applause, only to be clubbed in the head by another of the remaining combatants.

The fight did not take long to end, and neither did the next, which was between two solo fighters. They had been more skilled than the previous four, but that actually ended up with the fight taking less time. Still, the crowd ate it up all the same.

I was doing my best to look for anything of interest, but was completely appalled by the scene before me. "Do you see anything yet?" I asked while shutting my eyes as the victor of the match beheaded his opponent.

"Not yet," Myn answered. We did not look remotely interested in the matches as he sat perfectly straight, but his eyes were unblinking as they watched. Yuri was a bit more animated, much more like his usual self, but I could still tell he was watching for something big. Cassandra was completely unreadable under her hood.

The third match of the day was more of a survival game than anything else, with no winner. The arena was filled with crates, barrels, stones, and other forms of debris before six men were released. All of the men were completely unarmed, wearing only meager slave clothes. They looked scared out of their wits, and even from the distance I was at I could tell they were shaking. Moments later, four giant tigers were set free into the arena.

As sickening as the two death matches before were, this game of cat and mouse was far worse. Before, there was at least some chance of living to see the next day, but this was nothing more than a game to see who died last.

As the crowd cheered on the chase, I covered my ears and shut my eyes as tightly as I could. What was happening was unbearable to watch, and even the others seemed to turn away from it. I peeked a little to see if it was almost over to see a tiger barely miss one of the remaining two prey with its huge paw.

The crowd erupted once more, and I sank back into my seat with my eyes shut and ears covered, willing it to be over.

**- x -**

The sound of the crowd could be heard and felt in the stone chamber I sat in beneath the arena. It had been only a day since that scene at the mines, and I was already set up for a fight. DeMarcus was pacing in front of me and the rest of the fighters while fanning himself nervously.

"Alright… boys," he said. "I managed to get you the big one, today."

Some of the others grinned and motioned in cheer to each other. The two I could recognize, Boris and Joachim, seemed rather indifferent. Boris merely snorted while Joachim stood rather emotionless.

"That's the spirit," DeMarcus smiled. "I'll be making a good bit of coin if you bring me a victory, and you'll all be eating fine meals."

I nearly laughed to myself at hearing the 'reward' for winning this match. DeMarcus truly was a simpleton, but I didn't care much. This situation was simply better than my previous, and offered me more freedom. Winning and losing wasn't my problem, as far as I was concerned.

"Lessee…" DeMarcus mumbled while he read a slip of paper. "Says here it's an eight-on-eight match to the death. Both sides armed by their respective owners, no obstacles…" He ran his finger down the sheet and then handed it over to his ludian worker. "Right then… your weapons."

The two strode over to a giant case and unlocked it. "Boris, my boy, come here and hand these out," he called.

Boris withdrew a pile of weapons from the case and began handing them off to everyone as he walked down the line. He gave two weapons to each person at random, not really paying attention to who got what. For all he knew, he could have given the heaviest weapon to the weakest fighter, but it also didn't appear as if he cared.

When he arrived at me, I was handed a short sword and a rather crude looking dagger. I felt the weight and balance of the weapons, and while the sword seemed alright, the dagger was heavy at the butt of its handle. I had never felt a weapon quite like it, and it made for a very awkward feel.

While Borus finished passing out the weapons, DeMarcus continued to give his pep talk, but it didn't do any good. The majority of the people present were too busy examining their weapons to hear him, and besides the one person that looked ready to kill, myself and Joachim were expressionless.

"Into the tunnel!" DeMarcus yelled, finally.

We filed into the tunnel leading to the arena in a single line. Joachim and I were in the middle while a rather large man was at front, nearly completely blocking the path ahead. As we arrived at the locked gate leading into the arena, I could hear the chanting of the crowd as well as the sounds of battle outside. Cheering roared down through the ceiling as I heard someone cry out, most likely having lost the fight, and the walls rumbled as the coliseum erupted.

As the noise and rumbling died down, a single booming voice could be heard, announcing the end of the match and declaring a winner. Again, the coliseum broke into cheer, but it was not as excited as earlier.

"Are you ready?" Joachim asked me. He sounded very forboding, as if expecting to die.

I looked at him through the corner of my eye and nodded. "Are you?"

Joachim did not offer any expression to the question, but did say something that made me feel sick to my stomach. "I have been ready since this life began."

I contemplated the meaning of his cryptic words, but before I could really think them over, the loud clank of metal moving shook me back to the present state of things. Large chains along the walls began to move and massive gears turned. The metal doors outside of the gate began to slowly open, allowing the first glimpse of light I had seen that day to flood into the hall. The sudden intense light of what appeared to be high noon was blinding, and I had to shut my eyes momentarily while they adjusted.

Once the main doors were open, the barred gate began to rise, allowing us to advance into the arena. DeMarcus shouted orders to us as we walked forward, but they fell on deaf ears. Like myself, I am sure no one could hear him over the roar of the crowd. Even if they could, no doubt their focus was drowning it all out.

I began to feel the familiar tingle of adrenaline as it pumped through my veins. My senses were sharper, and I was fully aware of my surroundings; the roaring crowd, the empty arena, and the sun above us. The next event had been announced, and we were it.

**- x -**

"Nina!" Yuri shouted.

I did not respond. My eyes were tightly shut, and my hands were covering my ears as best they could. The noise of the crowd was deafening, and leaving me rather light headed at times. The sight of the events were too much for me to take, and any attempt to bring me to attention went unanswered.

"Nina!" He shouted again, this time shaking my shoulder.

"No!" I shouted back, shaking my entire body to try to wrest away from him.

Yuri removed his hand from my shoulder, but did not give up. "Nina, the next event is beginning!" he exclaimed.

This fact was all too obvious, as the habits of the crowd were easy to read, and not to mention the announcer roaring about the next battle. Yuri had let me shut myself in during the last three events, just like the others had, but for some reason he wanted me to watch this one.

"Nina, it's him!" He cried.

"What?" I asked, not knowing what he was talking about,

He did not answer immediately, and instead leaned in close. He whispered into my ear, "the man we're looking for is in the next event."

"What? Ryu!" I couldn't believe it, and stood up to get a better look. The noon sun caused the battle ground to glow a bright yellow, making it difficult to see from wear we were sitting, but as the figures moved into the field, I saw him. He was unmistakable amongst the group of rough looking men. Unlike the others, his posture was not uncivilized, and he looked much younger. There, before my very eyes, was the man I had traveled into enemy territory for. A young man that Myn said bore the mark of kings.

"What do you think?" Yuri asked. I turned to speak, but saw that he was in fact talking to Myn, and not me.

"We watch, and wait," he said, looking quite serious. For the first time, I'd have to say I saw uncertainty on Myn's face. He was still focused, serious, and alert to his surroundings, but there was something in his eyes. I didn't know what it was, or what it could have been, but I pushed it to the back of my mind and turned to watch as the crowd erupted in cheer. The match had begun.

**- x -**

The arena was nothing but bare stone and sand. Blood was splattered throughout the flat terrain, and a few pieces of debris laid still, but no obstacles to be had. There was no place to run or hide in this cage.

Across from us, the opponent team lined up. Like my own group, they were made up of slaves, looking no better for wear than ourselves, and possibly even a little worse. As we advanced towards each other, the announcer called out the event, and the crowd cheered us on. I focused on the eight men before me, and drowned the sound of the crowd into the distant edge of my hearing, but something pulled me back. I heard someone call my name.

"What's that?" I asked, looking around at everyone. No one looked back except Joachim, who shrugged his shoulders. I glanced around one more time and decided it was nothing.

"Let the battle begin!" the announcer shouted. The words echoed through the large arena, and the crowd got to its feet. At the sound of their feet stomping, we scattered.

I did not choose to attack, instead watching for my opponents. They too had scattered, completely oblivious to the fact that they were supposed to work together. Indeed, I could sense that this would end up a free for all, rather than an eight on eight match.

My own teammates were a bit better, although they were far from a squad of trained fighters. Three of them had rallied around the large man that had led us through the tunnel while the remaining four were in two pairs. Joachim had shadowed me, a blank, but focused expression on his face.

It wasn't long before someone came to face us, or rather, we ran into them. The man had a shield and a dagger, and seemed shocked at confronting us. He leapt back and raised his shield as if arrows were approaching, and yelped.

Joachim stepped in front of me and hunched down into an interesting stance. It looked like a stance someone would use when hunting an animal, not fighting a man in mortal combat. He had a spear, which he held behind him, ready to thrust forward at a moment's notice. His left hand had a dagger which he held in front with the blade coming from the bottom of his hand, rather than the top. It was a good technique for parrying attacks, and Joachim appeared well trained.

The man timidly lowered his shield and watched Joachim as he slowly circled him. My instincts would have been to circle with him, and watch for an opening, but this man did not have those same combat basics. Instead, he made a move, and a poor one at that. He attacked with his shield, probably hoping to stun Joachim, but the worren was too fast for him.

As quickly as the man had made his move, Joachim made his counterattack. He dropped his dagger arm back and thrust with his spear. The sharp edge missed its mark, however, just barely grazing the man's neck. I decided to help, but I was mistaken at Joachim's attack. The thrust had left his spear between the man's head and shield, nearly locked just over the elbow. He twisted his spear suddenly, and forced the man's shield arm outward, and leaving him open.

The man howled as his arm was pulled and bent by the spear's shaft, and brought his dagger across to cut Joachim's spear arm. Joachim made a quick move with his own dagger and locked the two blades. The two struggled for domination of the other, but it was clear that the man was no match for Joachim.

The worren used his height to give him leverage, and within a few seconds, the man's dagger arm lost. He dropped his weapon, and Joachim sliced into the man's arm. He then drew back his spear and let the man fall back. Like a true warrior, however, every action led to another, and before the man could fall down, Joachim thrust his spear again, and stabbed him through the chest.

I heard the crowd erupt at the first blood of the event, and looked around at the unfolding battle. Men were fighting with weapons and brawling hand-to-hand. I could barely tell was on whose side, and I could have been mistaken, but it looked like some people were fighting their own teammates.

My observative trance was broken when I heard a cry behind me. I spun around and saw a man ready to cut me down, but I was no amateur. As I turned, I brought my sword up to chest level in defense, and was ready for a sneak attack such as this. The man's sword met my own, and his surprise made it easy to push him away.

He had a single curved sword in his right hand, while his left was empty. This man was outmatched by me, but he did not act appropriately. Instead of being defensive, he was aggressive, and wild. He swung his sword at me, and I block it each time. I backed away slowly as he continued to attack, until I was just out of reach. This was the opportunity I had been waiting for, and I seized it.

Having to close the distance, the man lunged forward and swung downwards with both hands on his sword. I stepped forward and planted my feet as I countered and locked our blades. This position gave me more power to hold him back, but rather than drag it out with a useless struggle, I took my dagger in my other hand and slashed across his torso.

The man shrieked and fell to the ground clenching his stomach as blood poured from the wound. Again, the crowd cheered, and I took another look around.

The event was basically half done, with seven men down, leaving nine to continue. My team was down to the large man, Joachim, and myself, leaving six opponents. The odds were not in our favor, but having seen what the last two men had to offer, I was confident that Joachim and myself could handle the remaining six ourselves.

That feeling was a good thing, considering that the large man was on the other side of the arena from both Joachim and I. He stood facing two men while the other four approached us. While they didn't move like a team, I was surprised to see them moving together at all.

Joachim took his same stance as the men started to run at us, but I didn't want to wait. I charged at the group and met them head on while Joachim stood in shock.

The man at the head of the pack had a spear, which he held at his hip and kept steady as if to spear me like an animal. I swiftly dodged to the side and caught the shaft in my hand to halt the man. He tried to push through, but I held his spear tightly and began to bend it down. As the rest of the group caught up, the shaft began to splinter and I broke off the tip, causing the man to fall forward by his own momentum.

With the rest of the men now upon me, I acted quickly. I pulled my arm around as the first man fell forward and stabbed the tip of his spear down into his back. The second leapt over the falling body, sword raised over his head, and nearly on top of me. With him bearing down on me, I fell onto my back and rolled, kicking up with my feet. I felt a weight on them and pushed up as I followed through my roll. I saw the man hit the ground behind me as I completed my roll, and left him behind for Joachim.

The third man attacked me with a weapon in each hand. His main arm swung at me with a long sword while his left attempted to pierce me with a thin dagger. I blocked and parried the sword while dodging the dagger with my body. Normally, a man with a long sword would be able to overpower me, since I had a short, but with only one hand on the handle, he was off balance. His attacks were weak, and often sloppy. He compensated for this by constantly jabbing with his dagger between swings, but this hardly made up for his lack of skill.

Within a few swings he was already slowing down, and I was able to block his sword and catch his left wrist as he made to stab me. He was pushing my sword down, but I was not trying to win the sword battle. I twisted his left arm at the wrist and squeezed it as hard as I could. The sound of bone cracking followed by a yelp signaled me to release him.

I looked down and saw his dagger falling and caught it in my left hand. The man became lax as he dropped back, and I thrust the dagger into his ribs. He fell to his knees screaming, and I saw the fourth and final opponent ahead, already facing off with Joachim.

The two circled each other slowly, weapons in hand, ready to block. Joachim had dropped his spear and picked up a second dagger. His foe had a falchion; a sort of large, single edged sword, and a round shield. This left Joachim disadvantaged, as his weapons could not break through the shield, and the falchion was much heavier, and consequently un-blockable by the daggers. Joachim would have to rely on his speed and reflexes to best this foe.

I watched them closely as they continued to slowly pace in a small circle. In the distance, I could see the large man from my team bringing down a huge axe on a downed foe. The crowd erupted into a cheer louder than any of the previous outbursts, and that's when Joachim made his move.

His attack was swift, and I couldn't hear a sound other than the crowd's. This proved to be what Joachim wanted, as the man he was attacking had to rely on his eyes only, and the blazing sun made it hard on all of us. Joachim appeared to foresee this, and tilted his daggers in front of him as he rushed in. The sun flashed off of the metal blades and into the man's eyes. He jerked back and clenched his eyes shut for a split second, and before he could fully recover, Joachim was on top of him.

I had never seen such speed and skill with daggers before. As Joachim reached his opponent, he slashed upwards and cut his sword arm. The man dropped his sword and his arms flew open. Joachim's next attack was brilliant. He kicked the man in the chest and sent him backwards, but cut along his arms as he did so, and sliced the leather bands of the shield. The man fell to the ground while his shield rolled off to the side and was completely defenseless as Joachim stepped on him and pinned him down.

The crowd began to chant together as Joachim pointed his dagger down at the defenseless man. They wanted him to kill him, and Joachim raised his dagger in both his hands to strike it down.

"What are you doing!" I shouted.

Joachim looked over at me with a blank expression. "He's defenseless. You've won, why kill him?" I asked.

"It is our way," he said matter of fact-ly. And with that, he shouted and thrust the dagger down into the man's chest. The resulting cheer was tremendous as the announcer bellowed out the announcement that the match had ended. Joachim walked past me as guards entered the arena and lined up around us. "Kill, or be killed," he said into my ear. "Live, and let die."

The guards ushered us towards the gates and we walked in victorious, but I felt very hollow inside.

**- x -**

The cry of the crowd was almost too much for me to take as the final man was defeated and the match ended. To my relief, Ryu had lived, and his team was victorious, but it was sickening to watch him participate in this bloody game.

Yuri said something to Myn, and I saw him nod. The stood up, and Yuri took my arm. "Come along, Nina" he said.

I got up and followed them out of the bleachers into the halls leading out of the coliseum. No one else from the crowd had left, and the halls were quiet except for the faint sound of the crowd outside.

"So, what did you think, Nina?" Yuri asked as we began to descend the stairs to the ground floor.

"I don't like these sort of games," I said. I couldn't hide my disgust.

"Not that, the boy," he corrected.

"Oh…" I pondered what he was asking, and couldn't come up with an answer. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, we've found him," he stated. "Now we have to think of our next move."

I thought about what he was saying, but honestly did not know what to say. I wasn't here to lead the team, especially considering who was in it.

"We'll free him tonight," Myn said sternly.

I looked over at him as we reached the end of the stairs, but he did not look back. We passed by some guards walking down the hall and became silent until we turned the corner and saw no one ahead of us.

"Tonight?" Yuri asked, looking bewildered. "We don't even know where he's being held."

"We don't have to," Myn said. "You saw him. You know he's the one we've sensed here. We just have to follow that scent."

"Are you sure? So soon?" he asked. "It seems a bit rash."

"There is no time," Myn replied. "The world has no time left."

**- x -**

A/N: Two long years on the back burner… I will be trying to write this again, and actually have the whole thing from start to finish mapped out in my head. It's just a matter of time. On another note, Fanfiction's way of displaying this is messing with my format again -_-;


	20. The Coming

_The Legends date back to the beginning of civilization._

_A dragon._

_A God._

_The world of men is shaped by this figure._

_The world of men has forever seeked to control this power._

_And there is no cost too great._

_Not even their own people._

**Dragon Tears**

**I: Age of Man**

**By: OmegaGear**

**XX**

**The Coming **

It was a restless night as I lay in my bed staring up at the blank ceiling. We did not have another event that day, and spend the remainder in our cells. Joachim was unresponsive to my questions, and I was left to ponder what I had experienced alone.

The act of killing a defenseless man was sickening enough to me, but to do it for sport in front of a crowd was truly dishonorable. Joachim seemed like an honorable person, yet he had been so non-chalant about killing the man for the crowd.

The fullen shared my cell with me, and hadn't moved most of the night, but I could tell he was still awake as well. He lay there with his hands behind his head and gazing at the ceiling much like I was, until finally he spoke.

"You cannot hesitate," he said to me, although not looking at me to address me directly.

I did not answer him, but turned to look at him from my bed as he continued to look up at the stone ceiling.

"This life we live… it is not like the lives we left," he continued. "We fight for the crowd… we kill for the crowd. We must give them what they want."

I thought about what I had witnessed this afternoon, and the words he was speaking now. It was true, I was no longer living the life of a free man, but I was still holding onto my old ways of living. I had not yet abandoned the honor I was taught to uphold.

"If we do not please the crowd, then it is death," he finished.

That, I understood. Death was not a pleasing thought, and certainly was motivation to do a good job. But I could tell that Joachim did not enjoy pleasing the blood thirst of the mob in the coliseum. He was against killing for sport, much like I was; I could tell.

Joachim became silent again after that, and I was left to meditate on the future. I returned to staring at the stone ceiling and felt myself begin to drift off as the moon rose to its highest point outside the barred window. A large group of guards passed by my cell door, and I listened to their footsteps. The steady sound lulled me into sleep as I meditated on Joachim's words.

_To displease the crowd is death…_

**- x -**_  
_

I crouched behind a tree as Myn slowly made his way to his position. I could see him with his back against the wall not too far from me, slowly inching towards where the two gate guards were standing. He did not look at me, but instead continued without looking for my signal.

When I reached the pillars just before the gate, he stopped. I saw him glance at me and I nodded. Yuri had already reached his spot and given me his signal before Myn had even come into view. I slowly unzipped the back of my dress and let my wings out. The pure white feathers magically appeared from my back as I let them slowly spread out.

It had been a while since I had let my wings out, and it felt good to let them stretch, but I had a job to do. Skillfully, I lifted my wings into the air and fluttered them rhythmically. I made sure to not be too loud to alert the guards, but loud enough for Yuri to hear as Myn saw them.

Myn saw my signal and stepped out from behind the pillars. The guards did not take notice, and hopefully wouldn't get a chance. I must have done my job well, as a gust of wind blew past the guards and caused them to turn their backs to Myn to shield their eyes from the whipping leaves.

With the loud sound of the wind in their ears, they did not even hear Myn step behind them, and with one quick chop to each of their necks with a bright blue spark each time, he knocked them out.

The two guards fell to the ground without a word and the wind suddenly stopped. I retracted my wings, using the ancient magic to place them inside my body and closed up my dress. Myn motioned me over, and I slowly advanced, careful not to make a sound.

When I reached him, Yuri dropped down from above and opened the gate to let us all in. Our fourth person was not with us, however, as she was on the other side working to secure an escape.

The building we were in was a small type of prison connected to the coliseum. It was where all of the gladiators were held, with living quarters for their masters on the second and third floors. We were on the ground floor, which was mostly a large open plaza with the master quarters overlooking it and guards all along the top walkways.

"No good," Yuri whispered as he peered into the open area. "No place to hide from sight."

"The guards are more concerned with what's outside of the building. They'll be able to hear an escape before it reaches this point, so all we have to do is proceed as quietly as possible." Myn said.

We did just that, hugging the wall covered in shadow and slowly walking with our backs against it. I kept my eye on the guards above, but they never turned to look down into the plaza, and continued to pace on the walkways looking out towards the streets.

When we reached the other side, Yuri led us down some stairs and then stopped us at the bottom in front of two large wooden doors.

"These are where most of the cells are," he said. "According to Cassandra, there are two floors of cells, and Ryu is on this one, the upper floor. She also said that the only guards present are in the weapon room."

"That's good for us, let's just hope none of these lowlifes make a ruckus when they see us," Myn said.

We advanced quickly through the halls leading deep into the prison, passing by dozens of cells occupied by a pair of gladiators each. Most of them were asleep, and we were quiet enough to pass by without notice.

Myn stopped us at a cell and peered into it. I looked into the dark, empty room, and saw no sign of life.

"Myn?" I asked.

Myn flinched and looked at me. He had a look of deep concentration, and again stared into the empty cell. "Something's not right," he said.

I stepped closer to him and watched his face closely. "What is it?" I asked.

"The spirits are uneasy," he said grimly.

I did not have a thorough understanding of the spirits of the brood, but I was beginning to pick up the basics. I knew that Myn and the others could communicate them through meditation, and it was a way they could sense the surrounding area in a supernatural level.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Normally… I would be able to tell you," he answered. "That's what troubles me."

Before I could ask for an explanation, Yuri cut in. "Something's silencing them."

Myn looked at the two of us and then turned to face forward again. "We must hurry," he exclaimed, sprinting off before we could say anything else.

Yuri grabbed my hand and followed after Myn. I tried to keep pace, but was not as quick, and began to drag my feet on the ground. Yuri noticed and hoisted me up onto his back. "Be ready, your highness," he said. "I do not think we can rely on stealth any longer."

I held onto Yuri tightly and looked ahead as Myn reached the doorway leading to the next hall of cells. He stopped suddenly and motioned us to stand back.

"Yuri," he said urgently. "Protect Nina!"

With that, Myn pulled out his sword and did something I had never seen before. He began to glow brightly as he bent down on his legs and sprang forward, only he appeared to turn into blue sparks of energy, and the door exploded.

As the dust cleared, I saw a few shadowy figures, one of which was on the ground. There was shouting, and the sound of guns going off, but no sign of Myn. Suddenly, he appeared for a second, cutting down one of the figures, and then vanished again into blue sparks. He appeared an instant later, disarming a man of his weapon, and again vanished. This continued several more times until all of the men were subdued, and Yuri finally led me through the doorway.

I looked down at the men Myn had been fighting. They were the same as the guards outside; nothing strange at all.

"Myn, why?" I began to ask, but was hushed when Yuri suddenly stopped and startled me.

I looked ahead and saw more men, with Myn facing them. These were not like the guards he had just fought. They wore dark red uniforms; the color of the Imperial military.

A man standing behind them yelled out an order, and they took aim with their rifles and fired a volley of bullets. Myn barely flinched as his free hand moved as a blur in front of him. None of the bullets hit him, and as the sound of the shots died he dropped them from his hand.

The soldiers all looked at each other and began to back away, but their commanding officer yelled more orders, and they reformed their line.

Yuri let me down and crouched next to me. "Stay close, Nina," he said, "and watch our backs."

I nodded when suddenly another volley of shots were fired. Myn caught the bullets again, but instead of dropping them, he threw them back at the soldiers. The bullets harmlessly spread out slowly as they flew at the soldiers, much too slow to really hurt them, but they were bewildered by the strange attack.

This moment of hesitation proved fatal as they did not notice Myn's next move. With one swift motion of his blade, he sent a bolt of lightning into the spray of bullets. The small bolt hit one bullet, and shot to another, attracted by the pieces of metal. As it pounced from bullet to bullet n the blink of an eye, all of the guards were struck, and stunned unconscious.

As the bullets dropped to the ground, Yuri and I caught up to Myn, who was now on top of the heap of soldiers.

"What are they doing here?" I asked.

Myn did not answer me. His behavior was uncharacteristic of him, and what he did next was as shocking. He clenched his hand into a fast and swung it backwards against the barred cell door next to him. The metal gate blew open with a loud boom, and dropped to the ground with a clang.

What I saw next felt unreal. Without a word, Ryu stepped out of the open doorway and Myn turned to face him. The scene was right in front of my face, but it seemed so far away, like in a dream. I could barely believe it.

**- x -**

I awoke from my quiet slumber as I heard the distant sound of a door way breaking open. Some men were yelling, and soon after shots began to go off, followed by grunts and cries. I heard what sounded like bodies hitting the floor and then a silence.

Rolling out of bed, I saw a row of imperial soldiers lined up just outside the metal bars of my cell. I hadn't seen any imperial presence in this city before, and to see them in the prison like this was very awkward.

"Ready weapons!" I heard one of the soldiers shout, the commanding officer. The men took a standard two row position with the front kneeling to allow simultaneous fire. They lifted their rifles and took aim at whomever it was they were fighting and awaited the command to fire.

The commanding officer threw his hand forward and barked, "Fire!"

The two rows of men fired their rifles, sending a flurry of bullets. The faint green glow of charged chrysm lit up my cell for a second, followed by an all too familiar smell. I recognized their weapons by the smell alone, but looked at them closely, not quite believing what was happening. They were the newest single shot long rifles, giving only to the elite trained marksmen. For such high caliber military to be here meant something serious was happening.

I couldn't see their target from the door way, but heard a strange swooshing sound in the distance. A few seconds passed after the volley, and the soldier remained in their positions until the chime of bullets hitting the ground could be heard. They all looked at each other in disbelief and began to break formation, but their commander was not finished yet.

"Form ranks!" he yelled.

There was a moment of stumbling as the men regained their composure, and again, they formed the two rows and readied their rifles.

"Fire!" the commander yelled again.

Again, the men fired their rifles, and again, I heard the same strange swooshing sound. This time, however, I did not hear bullets hitting the ground, and the soldiers all began to panic. A bright blue flash caught me by surprise, and a bolt of lightning danced around the group of soldiers, striking them all through their bodies. All at once, they collapsed into a heap, not dead, but unconscious.

It was at this moment I began to realize who they must have been fighting, and a strange feeling began to creep into my body. I felt anxiety, and stared at my hands. My vision began to blur slightly, and I could again hear those voices from before, except they were incoherent, muffled. It was as if something was covering their mouths, silencing them.

This sensation only lasted a few seconds, and I came back to myself with a sudden rush. It was like a cool breeze had hit me, and a cloaked figure was now standing outside of my cell. I did not need to ask him his name, for I knew who it was. There was no doubt that this was the guardian Myn.

I heard some voices behind him when he suddenly broke down the iron bars of my cell with just a wave of his hand. The heavy gate fell with a loud clang and I found myself face to face with someone whom I should have considered my enemy, but I did not feel threatened. Something told me he was here to help me, and I stepped through the open door without a word.

As I stepped over the fallen gate I looked up into Myn's cloaked face. I could not see his eyes, but could sense them looking back at me, reading me as I was him. I looked over to the right at the others that were with him; a man and a girl. The man was also cloaked, and I could not make out any discernable details.

The girl, on the other hand, was not cloaked, and looked very familiar. She had light brown hair, and the most vibrant green eyes I had ever seen. Her clothes were non-descript, but there was no denying who she was. How she was able to travel like this was beyond my thinking.

I was finished taking in the people around me when the muffled voices again began to ring in my ears. I tried to listen to them; to hear what they had to say, but could not make out a single word. Instinctually, I placed my hands over my ears to try to block out all other noise, and while this did seem to make the voices louder, it did no good to clear up their words.

My head began to feel light, and the room appeared to be spinning slightly as the voices died out. I chook my head a bit, and felt it clear up and looked back up at Myn. He nodded, admitting that he knew what it was that I was experiencing.

"We must go," he said calmly. "There is no telling what danger is approaching that may silence the voices of the dead."

"Wait," I said, speaking for the first time that night. I turned back to the open cell and called into it. "Joachim, come with us," I pleaded.

A tall, muscular figure approached the open doorway. The fullen was expressionless as he exited the dark cell and into the dimly lit hall. The flickering light of the torches lining the walls accentuated his golden fur, and almost made him look somber.

He did not speak, but I could tell he was eyeing Myn. I didn't blame his lack of trust, but I felt we could not waste time establishing any, and urged him to follow us.

"You can be free," I said. "Please, come with us."

Joachim did not voice an answer, but reach down to the heap of bodies. He retrieved a large combat knife from two of the soldiers and slid them into his belt and nodded.

I looked at Myn with a bit of excitement and he shook his head towards the broken doorway. We all made our way quickly through the halls, alert for any resistance, but met none. Many of the prisoners were awake now, and shouting at each other, and into the halls as we passed, obviously wanting to be freed as well.

We reached some stairs and ascended them quickly. Myn turned his face and yelled at the other cloaked man.

"Yuri," he said, "any word from Cassandra?"

The cloaked figure appeared to shake his head as we reached the top of the stairs. "None," he said. "But I doubt I'd be able to hear anything with whatever is causing the spirits to go silent."

"Damn," Myn cursed. He was about to continue forward, but I stopped him.

"Wait!" I exclaimed.

"Do not stay my path," Myn said.

I didn't listen to him, and inhaled sharply through my nose. The faint smell of a unique mist teased my nostrils, and I recognized it as that of the long rifles I saw earlier.

"There was a fight here," I said, smelling the mist more clearly now that I knew what to look for. The new long rifles had a sort of silencer where the chrysm is charged to propel the bullet forward. This didn't do anything to silence the shot, but it did snuff the resulting scent almost completely. The smell left behind by any chrysm charge is referred to as mist when examined, as it appears as a kind of foggy substance when viewed through specific light spectrums. While in a battle snuffing mist isn't important, this technology was created specifically for assassinations and snipers.

"Impressive," a man said from afar.

We all looked around the plaza in front of us, but could not make out anyone on the ground, or on the pathways overlooking it. Myn held his arm out to prevent anyone from moving forward while Yuri stood in front of Nina.

"You've been gone a long time, soldier," the man said, obviously addressing me. "But it seems you haven't forgotten your training."

"Who's there!" I shouted to the shadows of night.

At the far end of the plaza a dark figure moved from the wall and into the moonlight, revealing a young looking man. His face was fair skinned with very light blue eyes, and slender cheeks that led to a pointed chin. He had long, straight hair that went down to his ears, and appeared an eerie silverfish blue in the moon's white glow.

While not the tallest person, he carried himself confidently, or arrogantly, depending on who you ask. He wore a military uniform, but it wasn't the standard color of a foot soldier. It was grayish blue, which meant he was a general. Being a general also meant he wasn't alone.

I began to tense and tried to make any others that may have been with the man, but could not see anything in the shadows cast by the tall walls of the prison. Myn held me back and pulled out his sword in preparation as did the others with their weapons.

"My name isn't important," the man said. He had stopped advancing, remaining a good fifty feet away from us in the middle of the plaza. "But yours is, Ryu," he added.

A very awkward silence fell on us as the voices began to whisper at the corners of my ears. I didn't know what he was getting at, but this feeling was becoming familiar to me.

"Ah, still playing the clueless one, eh?" he said, sounding amused. "No matter…"

The man began to pace back and forth with his hands crossed behind his back, as if interrogating us. None of us moved as we watched him closely.

"You don't have to know anything… yet," he said. "However…"

Myn made a choking sound and pushed me behind him as he raised his sword in both of his hands. I was taken by surprise by this, and nearly fell down, but caught myself by grabbing Myn's cloak. I looked at the man and this sudden turn of events had me on edge.

The man's arms uncrossed and flew forward faster than I thought possible. I could not see what were in his hands, but the faint green glow and rapid banging sounds left nothing to my imagination. He let off over a dozen shots in a single second, and we were not prepared.

Myn yelled something I didn't catch and threw me to the side. I tucked into a roll and looked back to see everyone else had also managed to roll out of the way of the shots. I looked back to the man, but saw nothing. Not a thing was where the man had once been standing, and not a sound could be heard.

We all got up slowly and scanned the area for the man, but none of us saw him. I couldn't see or hear anything except the chirps of bugs, until a loud click rang in my ear.

I froze. Nina gasped, but other than that, there was nothing spoken. I felt something cold at the back of my neck nudge me and raised my arms slowly.

"Your place is with us, Ryu," the man said as he held a gun to my neck. "We've been searching a long time for you."

"You can't have him," Myn said firmly. He was barely six feet away from us with his sword ready to strike.

"Mmm… you must be the one they call Myn," the man said. He seemed rather interested in that fact, and I heard him chuckle slightly. "Well, I can't possibly stand a chance against one such as you… The stories they tell describe you as an invincible knight; fast as lightning, and strong as thunder."

I felt the gun on my neck release its pressure just a bit and prepared for the worst. I shut my eyes and gulped loudly.

"However…" the man said, letting his voice trail off. I heard a flurry of shots go off and jumped, expecting to feel the sharp bite of hot metal, but felt nothing.

I opened my eyes slowly and saw that no one was hurt. It was becoming clear to me that these attacks were meant to just stun us while he moved, but to where this time? That answer came to me as soon as the thought entered my mind when I heard the faint whimper of a young girl.

There, behind everyone else, stood Nina with the man holding a gun to her neck like he had been to me. No one made a move, not even Joachim, whom was closest to the two.

"I doubt even you can save the princess now," he said, sounding quite sinister.

"You…" Myn began to hiss and took a step closer towards the pair.

"Ah, ah, ah," the man said. He pushed the gun harder against Nina's neck, causing her to yelp. I could see her shaking, even from as far away as I was, and tears began to well up in her eyes.

Myn stopped his advance, but seeing Nina like that was giving me a burning feeling in my chest. "You bastard," I said.

The man's eyes glanced at me and he suddenly lost the amused smirk. "Least of all, you," he said. "You couldn't prevent your own death. What makes you think you can prevent hers?"

I took another step forward and clenched my hands into fists. I had no weapon, but that did not matter to me; all that mattered was freeing Nina.

"Humph," the man smirked and the amused tone crept back into his voice. "You know, the briefing made no mention of any princesses or guardians," he said matter of factly. "I think I'll just kill her and let these lawless dregs answer for it."

The man pulled the trigger and we all froze. He did it. He really did it. I was stunned in disbelief, and it was like time froze as this madman fired his gun. The loud click of the trigger echoed louder than any sound I could remember hearing in my entire life, but all it was, was a click.

"What!" The man hissed, looking down at his gun. He pulled the trigger again, and again, only a click. He popped open the ignition casing, and cursed as he pulled out a chrysm crystal that had somehow been coated with ice.

Myn seized this opportunity and made for the pair with his sword drawn at his shoulder. The man threw Nina aside and pointed his other gun at Myn, but the same clicking sound could be heard. By then, Myn had reached the man and attempted to cut him down. The man ducked under the attack and rolled away while shutting his gun's ignition chamber.

As he got to his feet, the man released a volley of shots at Myn and suddenly sank into the ground. I blinked twice, not believing what I had seen, but there was no denying it. The mysterious general had really sunk into the ground without a trace.

"What the hell was that?" I asked. "He just disappeared."

"He's not gone yet," Joachim said. Joachim's ears twitched and he crouched low to the ground. He felt around the stone floor and inhaled through his nose like he was tracking an animal. He scanned the area slowly and then suddenly turned back towards the gate at the far end with his weapons drawn.

There stood the general with his guns raised. "Enough games," he said.

With a wave of his hand the area suddenly became alive with movement. Spot lights lit up the plaza and dozens of soldiers appeared on the over-passing walkways with all manner of weapons ready. People were shouting out orders and surrounding us from every direction. If we wanted to run, the only open route was back into the lower levels of the prison.

"Now then…" the general stepped forward and holstered his guns. "I was going to just sneak in and retrieve this boy without harming anyone," he explained. "But as I said, there was no mention of any princesses, or guardians… specially from a foreign nation that we happen to be at war with."

No one said a word as the general paced back and forth in front of us. I wanted to strike down this arrogant man, but I knew I could not. There were at least a hundred soldiers surrounding us, and there was no telling what was outside of the prison.

"You can hand over the boy and the princess," he said, "and no one will die, or…" he slowly turned around so his back was to us. His tone became grim as he finished his offer. "You can fight, and everyone; all the women, the children, free men, and slave will die when my men raze this city to the ground."

"Do you really think we care?" Myn spoke coldly. "These are your people, not ours," he said. "And even if we did care about them and gave in to your demands, what makes you think you could keep your hands on them?"

The general turned around looking most un-amused. "I am through talking," he said, just as coldly as Myn had spoken. "Hand over them, now."

Myn did not give an answer and instead drew his sword. "Yuri!" he shouted,"wind!"

"Right!" Yuri replied, pulling a long staff from his cloak. He began to spin the staff over his head and created a strong whirlwind around us.

Myn pulled us close together and told us all to hang on as he charged his sword with blue energy. I grabbed hold of Nina and Joachim and when Myn released the energy he struck his blade into the ground and created a huge shockwave.

The shockwave cracked the stone floor beneath us and launched us up into the air, carried high above the prison walls by Yuri's whirlwind. I gripped Nina and Joachim tightly, and they too held onto me harder as we seemed to be flying free of any control.

Everything was spinning around us as we continued to fly through the air until we landed with a thud. I landed on my back and curled my arm around Nina as she landed on top of me. Joachim demonstrated his cat-like reflexes and twisted in the air to land on his feet. I could not see Myn or Yuri land, but saw them when I was able to get up.

We had landed on one of the walkways looking over the plaza, and were surrounded by a dozen soldiers on each side. Myn and Yuri quickly dispatched the soldiers, throwing them over the edge and pushing forward through a doorway. Yuri slammed the door shut behind us and we found ourselves in what looked like a living quarters.

The room was shabby by modern civilized standards, but much nicer than the cells below, and certainly good enough to live in from someone in this place. In the corner I saw a fat man cowering with his hands over his head. It was the man that 'owned' Joachim and I.

"Now, now," he said shakily. "No need to get violent, eh?" he asked, more like pleaded.

None of us said a word as we walked past him to the doorway on the other end of the room and opened it. Myn went first, headstrong into another throng of soldiers that shouted and fired their guns uselessly at him. The fat man yelped and ducked into a ball in the corner when Myn sent a large portion of the walkway crumbling into the plaza with a strike of his sword.

With a chunk of the walkway gone, we now had a perch low enough to jump from. Myn quickly ushered us down into the hole he had formed in the wall and we jumped down outside of the prison walls one at a time with Myn and Yuri coming last.

We were just a few feet from the prison gates, by a giant well. Just as I had suspected, there were many more soldiers waiting outside of the prison, and they had more than just weapons. A mobile turret vehicle called a rancor was standing just ahead of us and its guns were aimed at us.

The metal beast stood on two giant clawed legs that could travel faster than a human could run when in attack mode. It had two gun pods with a pair of turrets on each, one that could aim upwards and the other downwards. With three hundred and sixty degrees of motion and the ability for the entire vehicle to tilt and turn, there was nothing that could hide from its guns.

"Oh shi-" I began to say, but was cut off as the turrets began to open fire. We ducked behind the giant stone well as bullets tore through trees, brick walls, and sent sharp debris in all directions. With nowhere to go, we huddled in close, trying to be as small a target as possible, but I could still feel the sting of small shards hitting me.

"What now?" Yuri asked Myn.

"There's no telling how many of them are here," he said. "We can't return to the wagon like this. They probably have the whole city locked down."

"I'm not talking about that," Yuri exclaimed as bullets whipped just over our heads. "We have to figure out how to get that far first!"

At that moment, the surrounding city came to life as citizens were awoken by the sound of the turrets. People were screaming and crying as they fled into the streets from their bullet riddled buildings and ran frantically from the soldiers.

Some of the people didn't take so cowardly a stance, and formed a small mob. This mob hurled chunks of debris at the soldiers and shouted at them with crude weapons in hand. The soldiers ducked from the stones and opened fire on the mob while the rancor continued to shower our area with its guns. The mob quickly scattered s bullets began to take them down, and the streets filled with chaos as the soldiers pursued the mob and continue to fire even when they blended in with the people simply trying to get away.

As if matters weren't bad enough, the ground began to shake violently. I was unsure of what was happening, but I also didn't have time to think.

The sound of moving water could be heard inside the well, so loud that not even the turrets could be heard over it. I grabbed Nina's hand and covered her with my arm as a torrent of water flew out of the well. The water reached high into the air and began to spread out in all directions like the branches of a tree. As this happened the water suddenly froze into a solid pillar of ice. The large drops that had already split off became balls of hails and bombarded the soldiers, causing them to retreat momentarily, but the rancor remained vigilant.

The quartet of gatling guns fired through the ice pillar and caused it to collapse. We quickly ran out of the cover of the well as ice exploded everywhere and the pillar began to tip under its weight. Yuri took his staff and created a gust of wind to push the pillar towards the rancor. The guns suddenly stopped as the pillar came toppling down, and I could hear the sound of the rancor retreating out of harm's way.

Myn shouted for us to run for it and we did. The loud crash of the pillar of ice drowned out our foot steps as we ran into the alley between some buildings. We paused in a dark pathway and caught our breath while scouting out the area. The faint sounds of shouting people and gun fire could be heard in the distance, but none of it seemed to be close.

"Doesn't look like they're around here quite yet," Yuri said.

"They're not," a woman said.

I was shocked at the sudden voice and planted my back to the wall. I made sure I was between Nina and where the voice had come from and Joachim stood in front of me with his daggers out.

"Cassandra," Myn said, addressing the cloaked woman. "Nice work back there. I suppose it was you that froze that man's guns as well."

"That is correct," she said, not really sounding flattered or proud of saving us twice. "I noticed the soldiers moving in mere seconds after we parted ways. I tried to send word of it to you, but the spirits are unable to speak."

"Yes," Myn confirmed. "Yuri and I noticed this when we had entered the prison. Most peculiar… what have you been able to find out about the soldiers?"

"They have not laid the city under siege," she said, "but they number in the hundreds. I do not know how far their influence reaches right now, but they are definitely concentrated at the prison."

"Of course," Myn said. "They're after Ryu, just like us."

"If that's the case though," Yuri interjected, "why try to kill him? I doubt that thing was shooting blanks, and even if it was, they'd rip through a human body anyways."

"They need Ryu alive," Myn admitted. "But the rest of us are expendable. Most likely they're banking that Ryu's powers will keep him alive if he's hit."

"What should we do?" she asked.

"I'm still working on that," Myn said. "Let's hope we can find a place to lay low for a while and figure out how to sneak out of here."

As if to shoot down that idea, the stone wall by us suddenly crumbled with an explosion and the rancor came stomping into the alley. Without a word we ran for it and exited the alley as the men inside of it took notice of us. All four turrets opened fire, cutting through buildings as we ran down the street and scattered.

I kept Nina with me, and Joachim followed, but Myn and the others split off, which left us nearly defenseless.

With the giant metal beast wreaking havoc, the buildings around us emptied just like at the prison. Dozens of people flooded into the street and ran as they saw the monstrous tank firing its guns. I tried to take Nina with me into the crowd, but we could not keep up. Unlike everyone else, we didn't know where to run to get out of the city, or to anyplace that might be considered safe. As the crowd began to thin out, with us slowly falling to the back, I took Nina to the side and looked for cover.

The rancor stopped firing, having lost sight of us as we ducked into a dark corner by some barrels. Its search lights scanned the area as it slowly advanced down the street, and we huddled close. The metal stomping was getting closer, and the light kept passing over us, but its angle would soon be able to cover us.

The ground shook as the rancor bore down on us and the lights revealed our position. The gatling guns in the turrets began to spin as it prepared to fire and I was quick to lift Nina in my arms and start to run.

Joachim sprinted in the opposite direction and vaulted off the barrels as the turrets began to fire. He pounced off of the walls and reached the roof tops as I ran into another open street. I looked back and forth for a place to take cover, but there were no alleys or obstacles to hide behind. The rancor's footsteps could be heard behind me and my shadow stretched down the street as its lights locked onto me.

I let Nina down and turned around as the metal beast stood before us, almost appearing alive. Its joints hissed exhaust as it came to a stop and tilted its guns down on us. We were alone, and without a weapon. The men inside sensed this, and did not open fire.

"Do you surrender?" a muffled voice spoke from a speaker on the rancor.

I gulped as I felt Nina grip my arm. I could feel her trembling, and had to admit, I was shaking too. I couldn't think for myself, but didn't want to see Nina die because of me. I made the only choice I could think of to protect her.

"I do," I said.

At that moment a loud howl echoed through the street and I saw Joachim leap from the roof of the building behind the rancor and land on top of it. The rancor turned at its torso at where the howl had come from, but couldn't spot Joachim. He crawled over its top slowly until he reached one of its top turrets.

The man inside spotted him and yelled something as he turned his gun on him. The other top turret also turned, and this proved erroneous. The two turrets blasted each other while Joachim flipped out of the cross fire and disappeared on the rancor's back. There was a second of screaming and confusion, and I took the opportunity to get Nina out of harm's way.

We ran as fast as we could to the side, but I wouldn't run away. I couldn't leave Joachim there alone.

"Stay here," I said. "They won't go looking for you if they have me."

"What? No!" Nina cried, but I ignored her pleads and made my way back towards the rancor, which was again using its search lights to spot anyone on the ground.

I could see Joachim hanging onto the back still, slowly climbing his way down to its legs. The remaining two gunmen and pilot did not seem to take notice of him, and continued to scan the perimeter.

I hugged a nearby wall as I reached the rancor, making sure to stay behind it. Joachim did not give me any sign that he saw me, but continued to go about his own mission alone. He had reached the hip of the torso and was now looking at the far leg. There was about eight feet between the legs, so it was quite a bit of distance to leap, but Joachim was up for it, and as the rancor spun in the favorable direction, he made the jump.

Joachim climbed down to the joint of the leg and watched the two turrets. I trailed the rancor's back, remaining out of sight while Joachim took out his dagger and began to cut the hydraulic joint. The joint was made up of a large metal pipe with rubber tubes that supplied water pressure. These tubes were Joachim's target, and although thick, he was able to cut through them in time.

With the sudden loss of power in one of its legs, the rancor collapsed onto its knee. Joachim leapt off of the mechanical beast as it nearly fell over and joined me at its back. The rancor did not move for a moment as steam and liquid leaked from its severed joint.

I had basic knowledge of how these types of systems worked and knew that it was not over yet. As I thought, the pilot was able to shut off that leg's hydraulic joint and run it on pure torque. While this would mean it had greatly reduced speed and mobility, it could at least stand again.

Joachim watched slightly stunned as the metal beast got back onto its feet and began to slowly turn. As the gears in its severed joint creaked and churned, Joachim sighed.

"These things mimic living creatures up until the dying part," he said.

I looked over at the fullen, amazed that at a time like this he would crack a joke.

The rancor got us in its lights and took aim with its remaining two guns. There was a wall to our right and going left would take us back towards Nina. The situation didn't give us an escape route I liked, and we stood our ground together as the rancor leaned forward, its guns barely a meter away from our faces.

"Do you surrender?" A muffled voice asked from a radio on the rancor's head.

Neither of us answered and continued to stare at the beast as it stood completely still.

"If you come with us willingly, we will not harm you further," said the voice. "I repeat; do you surrender?"

I thought it was funny that this man was talking like he had done the damage, and not us. Just as I thought that, though, doors began to open.

Out walked people of all ages to see what was happening. Women held their children to them as they saw the tank that looked more like a monster than a machine, and men stood before their families. I glanced at their scared faces, and realized what the man was talking about. He wasn't talking about harming us. He was talking about the city.

"Give your answer," the man demanded. The rancor suddenly stood up on its legs and its turrets turned to aim at the surrounding people. I heard children scream and women cry for their kids. I flinched and felt my heart sink as men shouted for us to get the hell out. I suddenly came to realize that all of this was about me; all the hunting and killing.

"Surrender," the man demanded. "Or we will open fire."

I had no choice, although it was going to be my choice anyways. The only difference now is that I was doing it with a heavy heart. I raised my arms in surrender and spoke, "I surrender."

Just then, a bolt of lightning struck the rancor's leg and sent it tumbling to the ground. The surrounding crowd reacted with shock, and some shut their doors to take cover. I nearly fell myself as the explosion was so close to me and Joachim.

I turned, expecting to see Myn, but to my surprise, the only one there was Nina. Her hands were pointing out in front of her chest with her palms open and fingers bent like they were making to grab something. The faintest hint of an aura surrounded her, and I knew then that she had used an incantation to create that bolt of lightning.

Nina waved for us to come on, and we sprinted after her as she ran down the street. There was no sound of pursuit, and we eventually stopped running. We had no idea where we were, and had not seen any sign of the others since we split up. Even if we could outrun the enemy, we couldn't leave.

"Nice work, Nina," I said, still catching my breath.

"Thanks," Nina panted back. "I'm still not used to using my magic against people," she explained. "I don't like having to hurt anyone."

I chuckled admirably at the girl. "I think you're better off that way," I said honestly.

We all shared a laugh when Joachim suddenly became stiff. He got down on all fours and placed his ear to the ground.

"Something's coming," he said.

"It can't be," I said, listening for the stomping of the rancor. No, it wasn't. It was something else; something on wheels. The sound was getting louder quickly, but I couldn't tell from what direction.

Before we could determine the direction the noise was coming from, a massive tank appeared rounding the corner into our street. I instantly recognized it as the rancor, only it had folded its legs at its sides and transformed into its transport mode. I had never seen it used in a combat situation before, but I guess the pilot had no choice but to try.

As I stood up to protect the others, Nina quickly stepped in front of me. She began to chant in a language I hadn't heard before and a ball of energy formed in her hands. The tank was nearly upon us now, however, and her inexperience started to show. She stumbled on her words, and the ball of energy began to shrink and flicker.

I couldn't watch any longer and threw Nina behind me with one arm and she yelped. A large bolt of lightning struck the tank from the sky and blew it to pieces before our very eyes. We were thrown backwards off our feet from the power of the shockwave and when I came to seconds later, debris was everywhere.

"Very impressive, Nina," I heard Myn say.

I looked over and saw him standing there with Yuri and Cassandra next to him. I was amazed at what he had said. Could that have really been Nina whom caused that massive bolt of lightning?

"However, next time I suggest you finish off an opponent when he is down," he explained. "You never know what they might bring when they come back."

"So, it was you just now that destroyed the tank?" I asked.

"That's not important," Myn said, helping Nina to her feet. "The rest of the soldiers are still far behind, and we should take this opportunity to get out of this town."

"Right," I agreed, remembering what the situation was like presently. "Where are we exactly?"

"We're not far from the road that leads out of this town," he said. "Our wagon is tied down at an inn on that road."

With everyone reunited, and well, we made our way to the main road swiftly. The area we were in was much quieter now, and nearly no one at all was awake.

We reached the wagon without another incident and Myn loaded us into it while he climbed into the front with Yuri. He woke up the birdlike creatures that pulled the wagon and started us off out of the town.

For the first time that night, I felt like I could breathe easily. Joachim and I had been freed, and now we were on our way to alliance soil. It was strange to be happy to be entering enemy territory, but at the moment, it felt a lot safer than my own. I had no idea what this was about, but it seemed that the empire was now after me for the same reason Myn and Yua are.

Myn and Yua both spoke of some kind of destiny that I could not avoid, although they both told very different stories. Myn seemed to revere me as some kind of godsend while Yua definitely saw me as the bringer of destruction.

I didn't lull over these revelations long, however, as the nights events began to take their toll on me. I hadn't had much sleep that night to begin with, and let out a yawn as my eyes began to close. I felt a light weight fall on my shoulder and opened my eyes to see Nina sleeping with her head leaning on me. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and I too fell into sleep, unaware of the journey that had just begun.

Author's Notes: Tried to finish this one before leaving town for a cousin's wedding, but was way off the mark with that, lol. I'd like to congratulate Ari Auron and Wenny Jean on their marriage June 29th, 2007. I hope you all enjoy this chapter more than the last one. I certainly enjoyed writing it more.

5/14/2011: Finished this massive repair job.


	21. Earth's Tomb

_Second Moon, Summer, 1127_

_We have been traveling for nearly two weeks now, with no end in sight. On the second day, we abandoned the roads and entered the vast sea of sand, beyond any sign of civilization. Myn and the other guardians have gone silent, and Ryu grows more distant each day. It all started a few nights after we entered this barren wasteland. He appeared to be having some kind of nightmare, of what, I still do not know. He hasn't said a word, but Myn seems to know something. I do not know what to think anymore; what to believe in. I write this now so that I might not forget this, should I succumb to madness in this unending desert. I write this so that I do not lose hope._

_~Nina De Wyndia XIV_

**Dragon Tears**

**I: Age of Man**

**By: OmegaGear**

**XXI**

**~ Earth's Tomb ~**

I awoke slowly, not quite aware I was even awake. Like so many of the past few days, this one was spent drifting in and out of sleep in the searing heat, which seemed to be getting worse as the journey drew on.

At first, I was filled with a sort of excited anxiety, but that quickly melted away when the third day produced nothing of note. The week since then has been nothing but the same routine of travel by night, and rest by day. Everyone seemed to be content in remaining silent, leaving me with a lot of time to think about what I had gotten myself into.

I had made the decision so easily, wanting to discover the world's secrets. I wanted to learn everything I could, in hopes that I could make a difference. Somehow, I thought this would help bring an end to the war that was ravaging the world, but now, I wasn't so sure.

Ryu, while mysterious, was starting to look rather normal to me. He spent his time while we traveled huddled in the corner of the wagon looking rather depressed. When we had first rescued him from his imprisonment, he was just as he was in the castle. He spoke to me openly, and rather sheepishly when he would remember I was a princess, but ever since we entered the desert, he began to change.

It all started one morning when he seemed to have a nightmare. I could still recall those screams as if he were crying out right now. They were twisted and tortured, unlike anything I had heard before. When he awoke, he looked at us with eyes that had a look of madness in them, like he was seeing ghosts.

At first, I had tried to speak to him about it, but he made it clear he did not want to. He didn't speak much since then, but no one else seemed to mind his behavior, so I let it go. I suppose there was plenty reason for him to be defensive. While we had liberated him from imprisonment, he was still technically an imperial now in the company of people from the Allied Nation of Wyndia.

Myn had been quiet the entire journey into the desert. His only concern each day was whether or not we were being followed, but Yuri always informed him of our freedom of such troubles. I can't help but wonder at Yuri's behavior. Something about this desert had him worried. Something that caused him to have words with Myn on more than one occasion. He was in fact having words with him right now, which I listened too closely while pretending to still be asleep.

"There is no need to go this way," Yuri spoke softly to Myn. "We escaped easily."

"This isn't about escaping," Myn replied. "You know, as well as I."

"I know that what you're doing is madness," Yuri replied.

"Madness would be to ignore what's been happening," Myn shot back. "The situation is changing gravely. There's only one way to be sure."

"You're just being impatient, which is unlike you," Yuri said.

"Impatient!" Myn responded, as if insulted. "Listen to the winds, Yuri, and tell me this is unwise."

For a moment, the two were silent. I could hear the wind whipping by us, but heard nothing in their wisps. I wondered what Yuri's gifts allowed him to hear.

"No matter what they say, this is unwise," Yuri said. "You would seek council with a traitor."

At that, I could barely stifle my reaction. Just where were we going? Who was it Myn was wanting to meet at our destination? I couldn't recall any traitors to Wyndia in the past century of history. Was it something beyond that?

"I seek council with the only one who can help us now," Myn replied.

"If he helps us," Yuri warned.

"He will."

The two were silent for some time after that, so I decided to get up finally. I stretched and came out of the cabin of the wagon slowly.

"Good evening, Princess," Yuri said as he saw me exit the cabin. He wore a fake smile, trying to appear as he always did.

"Good evening, Yuri," I replied. "Anything to report?"

"Nothing but sand and sky as far as the eye can see," he said with a weak chuckle.

"You should rest," Myn said.

"I just woke up," I replied. "I'm plenty rested as is."

"Get your rest, Princess," Myn insisted. "We will be arriving at day break."

"Where will we be arriving to?" I asked.

"You will see when we get there," he said.

I wanted to press Myn for a real answer, but one look at Yuri's troubled face told me to just wait, and get rest while I could. I returned to the cabin after one last look at the distant horizon.

Inside the cabin, Joachim was seated against a wall, meditating. I had gotten used to him spending long hours like this. He said that as a warrior, he meditated often to calm his fighting spirit so that it may be stronger in battle. I didn't understand such things, but knew that his people, the Fullen, were proud about their warrior tradition, and balance with nature.

The other two inhabitants of the cabin were as silent, although not in meditation. Cassandra was seated up straight with her cloak shrouding her face. Like Yuri, she had voiced concern over Myn's decisions since entering the desert, but had resigned herself a few days ago. Now, she simply sat quietly and waited for whatever was coming to happen.

Ryu was laying on his back with his eyes closed. I could tell he wasn't asleep, because he wasn't thrashing about. No, he was probably just thinking to himself about what was happening, and trying to figure out what he could.

Sighing, I sat back down on the roll out futon I had been sleeping on earlier. I was starting to long for the busy noise of home.

* * *

**- x -**

* * *

Once again, my sleep had been met with nightmares. The same twisted voices and images haunted me, becoming on clearer than before. Every since awakening, I have remained laying on my futon contemplating what I was witnessing in my sleep.

Something about this desert had to do with the nightmares. That much, I was sure about. As we continued on our journey, the nightmares became more intense, even lingering beyond sleep at times. Each time I'd look at Myn or Yuri afterwards, they'd glance back with knowing eyes, but said nothing. This frustrated me, but I was in no position to demand answers.

I wondered what Myn and the others planned to do with me. I was by all means, their prisoner. Myn, however, seemed more interested in taking me with him than imprisoning me.

I pondered the possibilities when the voices came back. My mind was filled with their loud echoes and indecipherable language. There were so many of them. Hundreds, thousands. All crying out, but for what? What did they want?

As the voices got louder, I pressed my hands around my head and fought to shut them out. I groaned from the strain, but slowly, the voices faded away. I exhaled a sigh of relief as I relaxed.

Finally opening my eyes, I glanced over to the front of the cabin and saw Nina looking at me with worry. Under better circumstances, I would try to calm her, but I couldn't even fool myself, let alone someone else. I was starting to wonder if I was going insane. Maybe I got chrysm poisoning when I was in the mines? I've heard many stories about how mad people have gone from prolonged exposure to raw chrysm.

As dread started to creep into my mind, I rolled over to look at the wall. That was something I had never considered as part of my future. A shining bright young star in the military academy, thoughts of chrysm poisoning and life in an insane asylum were never a part of my days.

A sudden weight dropped behind me startled me. I didn't turn to see who it was, because it was obviously Nina. Besides Joachim, she was the only one who spoke to me during this trip, and the weight was quite light.

"It's going to be okay," she said.

I didn't say anything. I just listened, and hoped she'd go away soon. I could feel myself on the edge, and was worried I'd lash out at anyone given the slightest push.

"I know you don't want to talk about it, and that's okay," she continued. "Myn says we're going to be there by day break. I'm sure whatever's happening will be answered soon."

She sounded hopeful, rather than confident. I envied her for that. While she had hope, I had nothing but fears now. My life had become so complicated in just a matter of weeks.

Nina left me to myself, and I spent the rest of the trip in more silent contemplation. When the wagon came to a stop, Myn announced it was time for all of us to get out.

I had to shield my eyes from the light of the rising sun when the front of the wagon was opened. How long had it been since I had seen real sun light? I had lost track of the days. When my eyes finally adjusted, I gasped at what I saw.

A massive chasm opened the Earth where our wagon had stopped. It spanned further than I could see beyond the horizon in any direction forward and to the sides. The rocky edges look scorched, and the twisted and broken remains of long dead trees were spread throughout.

"What is this?" I asked.

"You're looking at the Earth's Tomb," Myn said.

"The Earth's Tomb?" Nina asked.

"Yes," Myn answered. "This is where the Earth is buried."

"I don't understand," she replied.

"You will, Princess," Myn assured her.

I looked down into the chasm with a sense of unease. Something about this place seemed strangely familiar, but I'm sure I've never even heard of such a place before. Beyond this feeling, my eyes could see no safe way down from the cliff face we were by.

"How do we even get down?" I asked.

"You cannot enter, unless allowed to," Myn said.

"Allowed to?" I asked.

As if to answer for Myn, a storm of sand whipped up from the chasm, creating a massive wall of sand and wind. I could no longer see the chasm beyond the wall, and jumped back in surprise at its sudden arrival. When I looked back at Myn, he was gazing into the sand storm like he had been expecting it.

The sand storm towered over us, casting its massive shadow. The sands of the storm reached out, gently swirling around me and the others. As the grains grazed my body, I felt an eerie chill to their touch. It was strange, but it almost felt like the storm was searching us for something.

After a few seconds, the curious winds retreated from the others, but remained on me. They continued to circle me, searching, probing, feeling. Through the noise of their shipping gusts, I could begin to hear the voices that had haunted me begin to whisper.

The voices whispered for a moment, and the sands finally retreated back into the wall formed by the storm. The winds suddenly died, leaving behind dead silence and the falling sand. A second later, the winds returned, spilling forth in a violent punching gale. The sands spread on us like a wave, and we were helpless to escape. I felt the force of the wind grip my body tightly and suck me into the storm.

I could do nothing, see nothing. All I could do was hear the muffled screams of Nina and Joachim as the storm covered me in darkness. I felt my body twist and turn through the violent winds. Sand and rocks blanketed me, but did not harm me as I traveled quickly, carried by the wind of the storm, until I was spat out violently at the other end.

I exited the storm much how I had entered, suddenly, and roughly. Blackness became a sudden blast of light as I came barreling out of the sand storm onto the rocky surface of the chasm floor. I rolled several times before coming to a stop, and felt several people doing the same around me.

After taking a moment to let my dazed mind recover, I looked around me. Everyone had made it out of the storm looking unharmed. We were inside the chasm now, completely surrounded by massive rock walls. Light filtered in through the cracks in the Earth above us, barely enough to really see anything.

We were inside some kind of massive chamber, almost like a cave formed by the valley of the chasm. Like the surface, everything inside was dead, except for us. Dried out tree roots and massive bones were all that remained of whatever had once lived in this region.

"We have been granted an audience," Myn said.

"An audience with what?" Nina asked.

Before Myn could say anything, the walls around us began to rumble. The chamber seemed to roar gently, as if alive.

"At nol byyr o sirg tacy, Myn" a low, menacing voice bellowed.

I became alert at the sudden voice and looked for its source. There was no sign of movement around us, and the voice had come from all directions.

"Tnyhy vol ri hyolir ti hytehr, ertas riv," Myn replied in the same tongue.

Myn's words were met with silence, but I could have sworn I had felt something creeping around us. Still, my eyes saw nothing in the faint light of the chamber.

"Lehysu uie di rit cyor tnal biu?" the voice said, shaking the walls.

At that, I felt the presence shift to me. I could actually feel like something was looking at me, but could still see nothing.

Myn said nothing as I felt the presence in the chamber examining me. He stood with Yuri and Cassandra as if waiting for it to be finished. Joachim and Nina were glancing everywhere, obviously as stumped as I was.

"Ny byohl tny cohk ij kargl?" the voice grumbled.

"Uyl," Myn said.

A giant yellow eye suddenly shot open, delivering a piercing gaze upon me. Sand blew out as the creature the eye belonged to snorted. Before my very eyes, the wall in front of us revealed itself to be a massive beast, looking like a dragon from a fairy tale.

The creature moved its head forward into the light, revealing a face of rocky scales. Dirt and sand sifted from its face as it set its gaze on me. Its head was large enough to swallow us all whole.

"Tnal al tny biu vy vyhy phicalyd?" the creature said. Strangely, the voice still seemed to come from the walls all around us, rather than from the creature's mouth.

"See for yourself, but he does not speak the ancient tongue," Myn said.

"Al tnal they? Di uie rit erdyhltord cy?" the voice said.

When no answer came from any of us, the head pulled back slightly.

"Pity..." the voice said. The dragon looked down an me with curiosity in its eyes. "Tell me, what is thy name?"

"My name is Ryu Jenso," I answered.

"An interesting name," the dragon mused. "Your family?"

"I never knew my parents," I answered. "I was adopted, when I was a baby, supposedly. My adopted parents said my first name was all they found with me."

"So, you know not your heritage?" the dragon inquired.

"... I guess not," I answered honestly. I was coming to grips with the idea that I wasn't just a simple imperial orphan.

"There is uncertainty in your heart," the dragon said. "Do you feel for your adopted parents?"

"Of course," I answered quickly. "They raised me as if I was their own son. I... I am their son."

"Indeed," the dragon agreed while giving me a curious look. "Your will is strong." After a short silence, it turned and looked at the others. When he saw Princess Nina, he moved in to examine her closely.

"You are of royal blood," it said.

"Yes, I am Princess Nina of Wyndia," she answered.

"Nina... so, the Star of Hope shined brightly upon your birth."

"Yes, it did. How did you..."

The dragon ignored her and cut her off by quickly turning back to me with a more intense look than before.

"Tell me. Do you know who I am?" it asked.

"No."

"Do you know what I am?"

"No."

The dragon turned to look at Myn, and its eyes squinted as if angered. It did not speak to him, however, and returned its gaze to me. It moved in close, until it's eye was mere inches from my face. I could feel its ancient breath blowing on my whole body. The eye remained there, looking into mine as it spoke.

"Does this trouble you?" it asked.

I thought about what it was asking. Did my lack of knowledge trouble me? Did the situation trouble me? What did it mean? I decided it didn't really matter, because the answer was the same, no matter which it was. I wanted to know what was happening, no matter what.

"No."

The dragon's eye continued its unblinking stare.

"Do you know why you are here?" it asked.

"No, I do not," I answered. "I know nothing of what is happening to me."

The eye seemed to leer ever closer to me, as if trying to see what was behind my words. I could feel it looking through me, like it was actually entering into my body and mind. Memories were forced to the surface, playing before my eyes. My childhood of being bullied for being different. Then, meeting Kai and becoming fast friends. Enlisting for the military at a young age despite against my parents' wishes. Seeing Nina for the first time on that flaming battle field. That memory was the first time I had felt something beyond my own body, and when this whole thing began.

At once, the memories stopped and I was again gazing back into the dragon's eye. It regarded me like it always had, with its piercing gaze.

"You have been brought here, because a great journey awaits you," the dragon said. "Your arrival is one we have awaited for over a thousand years."

The dragon's words were unnerving to me. To think my birth was preordained over a thousand years ago was ridiculous. But I was also witnessing something I never thought possible, so I kept quiet, and listened.

"I must admit, I once believed you would never come," the dragon said, almost sounding amused. "Only Yua has been around as long as I, and that is a very long time to wait."

The dragon pulled its head back from me and looked over at Myn and the others again.

"The answers you seek are not mine to give," it said. "However, they will come, when you are ready."

"I don't understand," I said. "Why have we come here, if you won't answer my questions."

"So eager," it replied with what sounded like a grin. "You have been brought here, because I remember the last time you answered the call of fate."

"What?" was all I could say.

"This planet has seen much," the dragon said. "This will be the fifth time you've come."

"You're saying I'm... reincarnated?" I asked.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," the dragon said. "In time, you will understand. Return to me, when you can speak the old tongue."

"Why was it so important for me to come here?" I asked. "Why couldn't Myn, or the others, tell me any of this?"

At the question, the dragon glanced over at the others and almost appeared to smile.

"I believe Myn wished to restore my faith," it said. "Among other reasons."

"Restore your faith? Faith in what? Who are you?"

"Faith in you, child. For, you see, I was once like Myn, a human vessel. I waited and watched as the world tore itself apart in war. Millions died over petty disputes and ravaged the land which I was tasked to watch over. I waited for you to come, but you didn't answer, even when the world looked to be on the brink of death.

"It was then that I made the choice to end the war myself. I bonded with Sa Ryong and ruptured the Earth. The armies all perished in the quake I set upon them. Such catastrophe had never been seen before, and not since then, and still, you did not come.

"When the world was little more than ash and rubble, my crimes were evident. It wasn't until I saw how the people suffered when I realized ending the war so swiftly was a mistake. While my wrath had been set upon the armies, it spread throughout the entire world. I was a fool to take such power.

"The other Endless were outraged by my actions. They split me from Sa Ryong, and sealed me in this tomb to await the time when you would come to pass judgment on me."

"You've been waiting for me to judge you for something done over a thousand years ago?" I asked.

The dragon chuckled at my question.

"I do not expect you to understand the gravity of my decision now. You have yet to even begin your journey. As I said, return to me, once you have learned the old tongue. I'll be waiting."

The dragon looked over to Myn and spoke in the old tongue. "Siik ojtyh nac, Myn. Tny vihsd nol lejjyhyd o sirg tacy jih tnal dou."

"There is the matter of safe travel back to Wyndia," Myn said in reply.

The dragon looked at all of us and chuckled. With a mighty roar, it summoned a violent sand storm that flooded the chamber, and swept us into its winds. This storm carried us upwards to the surface, and dropped us on the desert floor before fading away.

"Well, that's great," Yuri said. He got up and slapped the sand off his coat. "What's your plan for getting us out of this one, eh?" he asked Myn.

Myn didn't answer Yuri. He helped Nina to her feet and took a look around while I did the same.

"He knows we have no way of getting out on foot," he said.

"Yeah, and after a thousand years of solitude, he doesn't seem keen on doing us any favors," Yuri said.

"I'm sure he's not going to just leave us stranded here," Cassandra said.

"Is that so? Take a look around!" Yuri shouted and spread his arms to the great expanse of chasm we were in. "There's nothing but dead Earth for miles!"

"Be quiet!" Myn shouted.

Yuri didn't object further, leaving us in silence. I couldn't see anything, and the blazing sun was already beating down on me. I hated to think how the Princess was doing. Wyndians aren't known for their tolerance of heat, having come from the cool high altitudes of their mountainous region.

As we watched and listened, nothing but the sound of the passing wind could be heard. The chasm stretched beyond the horizon in every direction, revealing a precarious path of jagged rock and sand dunes.

"This place is completely dead," Joachim said.

"It has been for over a thousand years," Myn said. "It's not called the Desert of Death of nothing."

"But I have never heard of such a place as this," Joachim said. "Something so large should be in many stories."

"Sa Ryong protects this place," Yuri said. "It uses the shifting sands to deter travelers."

It was then that the ground began to shake. We were knocked off our feet as the shaking became violent, and a giant serpent sprang from the chasm.

"There's Sa Ryong now!" Yuri shouted over the quake.

"Sa Ryong... how magnificent," Joachim said in awe.

Sa Ryong flew over us, revealing itself to be a giant sand worm that was bigger than the largest whale. While massive enough to break the rocky surface of the chasm, it looked like the Earth itself was moving with it, opening and shifting with its movements. After arcing over us a couple times, it turned to observe us with its eyeless face and circular mouth of gnashing teeth.

"Two giant creatures in one day," I remarked. "I expected this kind of thing to come gradually."

"This is only the beginning," Myn said.

Sa Ryong whelped and groaned as it came down to us. I didn't understand it, if it was trying to communicate with us, but once it was near, it spoke as plainly as anyone else.

"Yiggy says you need to return to Wyndia," it said.

Yuri snorted and laughed. "Yiggy? Man, putting up with that name for a thousand years is punishment enough."

"Perhaps," Sa Ryong replied, although it didn't sound too concerned. "Come, I will take you as far as the edge of the desert."

We all remained where we were as Sa Ryong dove under the ground. A moment later, we were lifted onto its head as it rose from the Earth again and began to glide over the splitting surface.

I was amazed beyond belief at what was happening. I had heard storied of the Endless, but that's all they were, stories. I had always thought they were nothing more than legends told to children to get them to behave, but here I was, riding Sa Ryong, the God of the Earth, the legendary serpent of the great desert.

As I got used to the ride, I slowly crawled over to Myn, whom was sitting calmly with his legs crossed.

"Who was that back there?" I asked. "This... Yiggy."

"A very old guardian," he answered. "The oldest of them all."

"What's his real name? He never did tell me."

"He is the man born from the Earth to watch over it, and protect its knowledge and wisdom," Myn said cryptically. "His name is Yggdrasil."

* * *

**A/N:** After years and years, here's a new chapter to give me a break from my Evangelion fic. It feels good to write something less convoluted, although I forgot how much effort it takes to write things in first person, especially when doing a story from two distinct points of view. I hope you enjoyed this entry, especially if you're a long time reader that has managed to come back.


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Breath of Fire, Adventure, Drama